Article Contributed on: 6/25/2007 1:16:17 AM
The day dawned sunny, bright and hot. Great for a picnic but trouble for weed whackers. However, the 50 or so volunteers who showed up at 8 am on June 23 for the 10th Annual Community Weed Day were undaunted.
Armed with their gloves, pruners, diggers, water and presented with water bottle carriers funded by the Evergreen Park and Recreation DIstrict, these hearty souls headed out to vanquish noxious weeds.
Jefferson County Commissioner,
Kathy Hartman and her dog Clover, joined one of the weed teams for several hours of back-breaking, but oh-so-satisfying, work.
Due to the 10 years of community support for Weed Day, weeds at the Lake are noticeably decreased and native wildflowers and grasses are rebounding. Volunteers finished their assigned areas in record time and then headed into neighboring hot spots to bring those weeds into submission. After a morning of hard work under the summer sun, we celebrated 10 years of success with delicious cake, doorprizes and socializing.
It truly takes a community to pull off an event like Weed Day.
Alicia Doran and her crew from Jefferson County Weed and Pest are indespensable. Throughout the morning, interested landowners stopped by to see our display of mountain area weeds and some brought plants in for identification and suggestions for control.
Else vanErp and
Marilyn Kaussner helped
Sylvia Brockner and Alicia in this important educational component of Weed Day. Team leaders from TENAS, the Sierra Club and the Garden Club included
Larry White,
Irma Wolf,
Betsy Kelson,
Bud Weare,
Jim Shelton,
Sylvia and
Bob Robertson,
Renee Cormier,
Mark Meremonte,
Margaret McDole, and
Jane Conrad.
Support from our local businesses helps make Community Weed Day possible so thanks to Aspen Park and Bergen Park King Soopers, Albertsons, Safeway, Wild Rose Church, Jared's Nursery, and the Evergreen Naturalists Audubon Society.
Cathy Shelton is a member of TENAS.