Our program this week will be Bethany Muffley-Ahlin, Program Specialist from the Idaho Dept of Agriculture. She'll tell us about invasive species, prevention and eradication programs.

 

"Noxious weeds / invasive plants are one of the largest disruptors of ecosystem function. They can colonize a variety of habitats, reproduce rapidly with a variety of mechanisms, and aggressively out-compete native species.  A plant is designated noxious in Idaho when it is considered to be injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife, or property."

 

We have been "challenged" by our good friends from Boise Centennial Rotary to have a kick ball match on Saturday, October 23rd to KICK OUT POLIO! Ann Morrison Park softball field. Networking begins at High Noon and the game begins at 1PM.

 

The purpose is to Kick Out Polio, which internationally is October 24th, to raise awareness and funds to end polio. We want families, neighbors, and maybe the kicker from BSU to join our team and show Boise Centennial who's the boss of Kick Ball and raising more Polio funds! (Hint: Bring some cash for donations.)

 

We need 11 players to make this happen! Mary Reiman is our Team Captain so please coordinate with her at 208.401.4258 or mcreiman@gmail.com. We also need spectators and cheerleaders! So there's a role for everyone to play. 

 

Snacks are provided. Bring your own beverages. 

 

(And if you're planting trees for the Wetland Peace Preserve, you can do both!)

 

Let's win this challenge, Team Boise Metro! 

Our service project last week was to spend our time at Boise Bicycle Project, helping them on a variety of tasks as they get ready for the big bike give-away on December 18th. They are getting 500 bikes ready for the event where each kid gets a bike, helmet, lock and light! Very impressive operation! We worked on unpackaging locks and lights, cutting towels in to rags, new member kits, and more. They have lots of volunteer opportunities that you might be interested in.

We can be very creative! We didn't use all of last years' District Grant for Everyday Leadership so, with a little help from Marianne Barker we were able to redirect those funds to a different project. But we had to move fast! It so happened that Tyson's son was working on a project for his Eagle Scout to build a "loafing shed" out at Idaho Youth Ranch. So, we stole his project! The Ranch uses horses for its equine therapy programs. More details will be forthcoming.