RUTH LONGORIA KINGSLAND/Daily CourierCommunity members and Head Start staff andparents spent Wednesday morning, Earth Day,pulling weeds at the Cave Junction Head Start. Theweed-pulling party, organized by Head Start parentKristen Steele, left, was a way to help the centeravoid use of pesticides. Assisting Steele is CaveJunction City Councilor John Gardiner.

CJ Head Start combats weeds without chemicalsBy Ruth Longoria Kingsland of the Daily Courier

CAVE JUNCTION — Community members and parents ofpreschool children spent Wednesday — Earth Day — pullingweeds on the grounds of the Cave Junction Head Start.

Head Start parent Kristen Steele, a single mom of two youngchildren, organized the weed-pulling party as an alternative toHead Start's original plan to spray the area with the

herbicide Roundup.

Roundup is one of several chemicals deemed to be"appropriate" for killing weeds on Oregon school grounds,including Head Start facilities, according to Judy Brown,Southern Oregon Head Start's Integrated Pest Managementcoordinator.

Brown, who donned work clothes and worked alongside localparents at the event, said she stopped by the weed-pullingactivity because she had heard the Daily Courier would be thereand she wanted to be sure and clarify any misconceptions about Head Start's appreciation of Steele's work efforts.

Southern Oregon Head Start officials didn't return phone calls from the Courier prior to an article a few weeks agoabout the weed-pulling project. Head Start is the federal government's preschool program for children from low-income families.

Steele, of Kerby, previously told the Daily Courier she and other parents received a letter stating that all SouthernOregon Head Starts would use Roundup for weed eradication during spring break.

The planned spraying was despite recent French study results from the International Agency for Research on Cancer,the World Health Organization's source for information on cancer, which states glyphosate, a key ingredient inRoundup, and the insecticides malathion and diazinon are "probably carcinogenic to humans."

Brown on Tuesday said she's "not a chemist," and restricts the use of chemicals to those from Oregon StateUniversity's list of approved sprays.

"We do our best to limit pesticides and herbicides," she said, adding she was happy to hear the Illinois Valleyparents wanted to pull weeds instead of having the area sprayed.

"Lots of these (weed parties) have happened over the years. But, we have to rely on the parents to make somethinglike this happen. (Head Start has) a huge amount of acreage to maintain without their help," she said.

Southern Oregon Head Start has nearly two dozen facilities throughout the region. Brown declined to say how manyweed pulling parties occurred this year; however, she said, "I wish I'd got more calls from parents."

During Cave Junction Head Start's activity, dozens of community members pulled weeds in the front of the facilityand around the playground and also helped children plant flower and vegetable starts in a small raised-bed gardenat the back of the facility.

Several people at the Tuesday activity were there because of their general opposition to the use of pesticides andtoxic chemicals.

"If they say it 'probably' causes cancer, it causes cancer," said John Gardiner, a member of the Cave Junction CityCouncil who volunteered his time Tuesday to the weeding project.

After finding out from Steele about the proposed chemical spraying, a few dozen parents and other locals, who donot have children in Head Start quickly offered to help.

Also helping out with the activity was John Slaton, the local Head Start's landscape maintenance assistant, and a fewadministrative employees from Southern Oregon's Head Start office in Central Point.

Slaton said he was glad to help pull weeds instead of spraying. He and his family farm

5 acres and he "tries to never" use pesticides on his property. "I wouldn't spray around my family," he said.

Wednesday's activity wasn't the first time locals have tried to promote anti-pesticide practices.

The Cave Junction City Council at its April 13 meeting unanimously approved a proclamation to make the city a "BeeSafe City." That proclamation, however, amounts only to a recommendation that pesticides and herbicides be limitedin the town, not a regulation.

Steele is working on other ways to ban pesticides that could potentially harm her children or other people andanimals.

She recently launched a Facebook social media page to gain public support and began a petition asking Head Startto adopt a pesticide-free playground policy.