SOLON & BEYOND: 4-H’ers active over holidays

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club met on December 8, with Cooper Dellarma presiding. There were 20 members, three leaders and ten visitors present.

The club is doing a Christmas dinner for a family and it will be delivered on December 19.

East Madison Grange has invited three 4-H members to come and do demonstrations and talk on 4-H. This will be done in the spring.

A craft project using mason jars was done by the members. After awards, a gift enjoyed and refreshments were served.

The next meeting will be on Saturday, January 12, at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Station. Debra Kantor, extension educator will present officers training to the members.

Received the following e-mail from Linda French: We will not be moving the thrift shop and food cupboard to the location on South Main Street, in Solon, as we couldn’t come to an agreement with the owner of the property. The food cupboard will remain in operation at the old location on Pleasant Street. The hours will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the second and fourth weeks of the month. December hours will be different because of the holiday. They will be open Dec. 13 and 14, and December 20 and 21. They will be giving out the Christmas dinners on the 20 and 21. They will also be selling a few winter items and Christmas decorations starting on the December 12. Call 643-2855 for info.

Received the following SWT E-News: First a story of great achievement! Entitled My Personal War on Knotweed. You may have recently noticed a bare spot along the river at SWT’s Kennebec Banks Rest Area, This area has become overgrown with an invasive plant called Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) or Mexican Bamboo. It is very hardy, can grow to ten feet tall, and chokes off native plants. The knotweed had grown so thick and high that it was blocking the view of the river.

On April 23, 2018, Earth Day, Somerset Woods Trustees held a Volunteer Clean Up Day and a crew tackled the knotweed patch resulting in two pickup truck loads of knotweed.

Returning two weeks later, spring was in full bloom and so was the knotweed! It had grown back to knee to waist high.

My knotweed war began! I hit it with the weed whacker. But this stuff is tough and when the string hit the stalk it was like hitting a branch. I used two spools of string. The knotweed grew again and came back thicker and stronger. People would walk by, see me cutting the knotweed and they would say “oh, good luck,” or use Round-Up, kerosene, vinegar,” or ” you are never going to win.”

Looking up another weapon that can be a little more selective I dug around in a corner of my garage and found an old weed whip. It works like swinging a golf club! Once a week the war continued; don’t even think of skipping a week!

After this summer routine, success was apparent. Wild parsnip appeared and other ground plants covered the bare earth but then inexplicably, someone dug them up! But, milkweed and other flowering plants have started to return. Next year, if the knotweed returns, maybe I’ll get a goat. (This interesting story was written by SWT Trustee, Tom Hendricks.) I can relate to the story, because I was plagued with the persistent plant at my house on Ferry Street, in Solon.

There will be a bag sale Dec. 12, 14 and 15 (Hours: Wed. 10 a.m – 12:30 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.) at the Embden Neighbor to Neighbor Thrift Shop. Small bags $1 and large bags $2 The Lending Library is open when the Thrift Shop is open.

And now for Percy’s memoir: There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow. (words by O. S. Marden.)