November 2007 Newsletter

1. Happy birthday: The Kudzu Coalition is now three years old. What a wild ride and fun this has been!

2. Public demonstration of our improved “Weapon of Mass Destruction”:  On November 1 Paul David Blakeley put on the first public demonstration of our new attachment to his skid loader. This was designed by Paul and built in Spartanburg by Mr. Roddy Jeffers, owner of Pressley Machine Works. By adding an extension to each side of a standard forks carriage, the working breadth of the device is doubled to seven feet. This also virtually eliminates the previous problem of vines wrapping around the wider wheel base. Click on http://www.kokudzu.com/HJ_07-11-02.html to see the Spartanburg Herald Journal article. They declined to use our WMD terminology.

3. Twenty three acre project in Sumter National Forest: Up until now, the largest kudzu infestation that the Coalition had tackled was about two acres. Mary Morrison, from the Enoree Ranger District of the USDA Forest Service, changed that. Mary wondered if it might be possible to avoid a fourth year application of herbicide at a 23 acre hunters’ camp. A dedicated group of volunteers – Paul Savko, Lou Adams, John Woodward, and Rich Mead – formed a special Kudzu SWAT team and worked four days along with kudzu savvy contractor Lynn Rhodes killing kudzu which had survived three herbicide applications at the Sedalia Hunt Camp. http://kokudzu.com/SNF_SedaliaCamp.html  Mary was correct. More on this later.

4. High Schools back in the Patch: Mr. Steve Eargly’s class at Spartanburg High, Ms. Tina Gragg’s Environmental Science class at Chapman High, Allyn Steele’s honors group at Spartanburg Day School, and Ms. Pam Peeler’s Student Government honors group from Broome High all returned to the kudzu patch in October. Welcome back!

5. 100% kudzu kills: The most satisfying part of our work is reaching the point where we have eliminated all of the kudzu at a site. We are happy to announce the addition of Peggy Romine’s site # 1 by the cove at Duncan Park, the Una Habitat for Humanity site http://kokudzu.com/UnaHforH.html, the south section of our Boiling Springs Recycling Center kudzu site, and the Oak Creek Plantation dam site. Fifteen sites now have no kudzu. Many thanks go to the volunteers who have made this happen.

6. Anonymous donor provides $1,000: A generous person has provided funding for the “Kudzu Coalition Youth Awards”, similar to the art and writing awards which were granted during Kudzu Kapers in April of this year http://kokudzu.com/KudzuKapers.html This wonderful gift enables the Coalition to proceed with the planning for Kudzu Kapers 2008.

7. Recent new volunteers: Four participants in the current Master Gardener class have already earned their diplomas from Kudzu Kollege. Yep, we actually have a diploma now, thanks to Dianne Fergusson. And we have neat refreshments, thanks to Nancy Lewis. We appreciate the enthusiasm and energy of new alums such as Michele Perrigo, who has helped out with typing, and Jim Anderson, who has used his mobile lawn mower to help us in our kudzu experiments, and Mott Bramblett, who has joined in on two work sessions. You can see them during the outside “lab” at http://kokudzu.com/Education.html.

9. Kudzu Kollege: Because of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we are shifting the next Kudzu Kollege to Saturday, December 1. See http://kokudzu.com/Education.html for details.  Sign up at (864) 582-0990.

10. Upcoming events calendar: There is something going on in a local kudzu patch every week and almost every day. Click on http://kokudzu.com/EventsCalendar.html for an update. This Saturday’s kudzu “party” is special because it will be with Dr. Gill Newberry at Peter’s Creek Preserve. Meet behind the Y at 8:45 AM and Paul Savko will lead you to the site. Paul David Blakeley will be using his WMD.