Coalition to Control Kudzu Infestations without Chemicals

May 2008 Newsletter

Kudzilla - New Name for Skid Loader, Boom, and Grapple Hook: Thanks to a brainstorm by Howard Miller, Paul Savko, and Don Oldham, we have a new name for our unique weapon of mass destruction. To project this new nomenclature, Paul David has attached a red, reptilian looking comb to the top of his skid loader.

Faye Guest – an answer to our prayers: We are delighted to announce that Faye has begun to work on the www.kokudzu.com website. Her enthusiasm and computer skills are much appreciated. For example, you can see a small image of Kudzilla and its boom in the lower right section of page two of our new brochure.

http://www.kokudzu.com/Shared/PDF/Brochure_08-05.pdf

Restoration: “Hay” mats have been rolled out to cover the very steep banks behind the Beacon restaurant. The grass is up. Take a look if you are in Spartanburg. We have learned a lot about how to handle bare slopes. This is a part of SC-EPPC Joint Kudzu Control Task Force Study.

Youth Art and Writing Awards: The student winners of this year’s Art and Writing Contests took home $ 475 in prizes. The winners for grades 6 to 8 were: Ben Abrams (first in art), Kelly Atherton (second) and Sebastian Hernandez (first in writing). All are from McCracken and the teachers are Mrs. Melissa Smith and Mrs. Shelia Sistare. We think of these teachers as being the winners behind the winners.

The winners for grades 9 to 12 for art were: Christine Sawda (teacher Mrs. Corbin at the Day School), and Matt Hood (teacher Mr. Steve Eargle at Spartanburg High). The writing winners were: Christina Nayfa (teacher Mrs. Zurenda at Spartanburg High) and Jennifer Palmer (teacher Mrs. Zion at Oakbrook Prep.) We are very grateful to the anonymous donor who generously funded these awards and the other prizes. Mott Bramblett and Betsy Teter arranged for the artists at Hub-Bub to do the judging.

Student community service awards: Thanks to the same anonymous donor, cash awards were handed out during Kudzu Kapers to the school groups which have contributed the most hours in the patch controlling kudzu since January 1, 2008. First prize went to Spartanburg Day School followed closely by Spartanburg High, Broome, and Chapman. The Spartanburg Day School Interact team won the largest attendance prize. Some real partying is going on among these winning students and their organizations.

Largest Kudzu Crown Contest: You should have seen the giant kudzu stump and roots that Mrs. Beth Blumfield’s Spartanburg High students turned in to win this contest. Mr. Steve Eargle’s class, also at Spartanburg High, won second place followed by the Day School Interact team. Mrs. Chris Harrelson’s Day School class won fourth. This is the first middle school to win a large crown contest.

Thank you for your continuing interest and support for the environment, the community, and the students. Newt Hardie, Kudzu Coalition