April Newsletter

1. Thanks to Paul Savko the Kudzu coalition received notice that Allegra Printing is awarding us a $500 grant for printing. We very much appreciate Allegra’s confidence.

2. Thanks to Rich Mead and Paul Savko we had a successful start on March 17 with the Spartanburg Boy's Home working on kudzu at an abandoned old stone church with the Glenn Springs Preservation Society http://www.kokudzu.com/HJ_07-03-29.html. One young man wrote a nice letter to the editor about this event. http://www.kokudzu.com/HJ_07-03-22.html. On Saturday, April 14, we will again be working at the Spartanburg Boys Home at Glenn Springs. Come on out and have fun.

3. Also on March 17 Steve Patton and Barbara Daniels worked with Broome High students on their second kudzu killing Saturday. The Spartanburg Day School also worked on kudzu the same morning. We had over 60 people working on kudzu that morning -- a new all time record.

4. The Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE) was kind to award us the Hatcher Volunteer of the Year award on March 19. It was great to see many of the Coalition Board members on stage and in the spotlight. We were all humbled by this honor

5. On March 20 we had the privilege to make a presentation at the SE-EPPC symposium in Athens, Ga. Not too many were interested in our focused initiative on kudzu. After our talk, the audience asked several questions. Then she left. (Just kidding)

6. Jules Bryant has arranged for Mayor Bill Barnet to proclaim the week of April 15 to 21 "Kudzu Awareness" week. A first!

7. This leads in to Kudzu Kapers, which will take place on Saturday, April 21. Three of the women (Juanitta Baldwin, Nancy Basket, and Edith Edwards) quoted in the recent Associated Press article on kudzu http://www.kokudzu.com/HJ_07-03-24.html  will be speaking at Kudzu Kapers about interesting uses for the vine such as making baskets, cooking kudzu, and provide samples for tasting. Click on http://kokudzu.com/KudzuKapers.html for the full story about this exciting event. Another first!

8. Kudzu Kollege continues to be a fun time to learn about kudzu stuff. It is taught from 9 until noon on the last Saturday of each month. We invite all of you to sign up for the April 28 course by calling (864) 582-0990.

9. A similar Kudzu Kollege course will be led by Rich Mead in Greenville on May 19 at the Greenville Technical College. This marks the first KK geographical expansion outside of Spartanburg.

10. On March 29, the Safe Homes/Rape Crisis team presented the Kudzu Coalition with a “Volunteer Group” award for our 2006 work in their rapidly diminishing kudzu patch. Another signal honor.

11. In the category of improving our treatments, we now have sample results which indicate that Paul David Blakeley’s skid loader removes over 50% of the rooted nodes and crowns. Significant!

12. Our web site has a neat summary of recent changes on the site. Click on http://kokudzu.com/New.html and see what Lou Adams has put together.

13. The Coalition will report on all of the above at the regular Spartanburg Men’s Garden Club 7 PM meeting on April 16 at the Arts Center on Spring Street. If you live close by, we invite you to be there.

14. The Coalition needs volunteers who are interested in working with Special Ed students one or two week days a month and volunteers who have mowers which can be transported to selected sites one or two days a month,  Please call 592-4702 or 582-0990 if you can help.