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Downey Happenings 4/1/02 by Penny Greaves

Ken and Donna Williams had a houseful of kids and grandkids for the Easter weekend. Daughter Melonie Stauffer and husband Rod and two sons were here from the Salt Lake City area, and daughter Angelyn and husband and children of Colombia, South Carolina, were here for an extended visit.

The LDS Church is consolidating missionary efforts, and releasing stake mission presidents in the process, so High Councilmen were in the Arimo Stake wards Sunday to release Dennis Dahlke as president of the Arimo Stake Mission presidency. Also released with a vote of thanks were counselor Lamar Stewart and Lynn Stuart, and secretary Margie Stuart.

The City of Downey has once again been named a Tree City USA, City Forester Wendy Anderson announced last week. This is the fifth year in a row the city has received the national recognition.

Anderson, who feels strongly about the importance of planting and caring for trees in the community, says the Tree City USA award is a symbol of how important trees are to the community itself.

To become a Tree City USA, a community must have a tree care ordinance, a legal tree governing body, a comprehensive urban forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance. Anderson says the honor comes to the city because of a dedicated group of volunteers, an active tree committee, support of elected officials and the public.

Tree City recipients receive a flag with the program’s logo, a walnut mounted plaque, and community signs. Gerry Bates of Three Rivers RC&D will present all recognition materials to Mayor Eugene Webb in a special ceremony on May 17 at the Downey City Office.

Earlier this year the city was awarded the Tree City USA Growth Award for the second time. More information on the Tree City Program is available on the downey website,

Downey Library will continue to sponsor weekly Story Hour through April, according to head librarian Marcy Price. Scheduled are story hours on Spring (April 8); National Library Week (April15); Gardens (April 22); and Tall Tales (April 29). The free service is open to all children of the area.

Bannock County’s chief Weed Warrior, Jerry Hobson (Director of the county’s Noxious Weed Control Office) says he and counterparts in Franklin County, Oneida County and Box Elder County (Utah) are getting ready once again to fight infestation of weeds that are toxic to area animals and crops.

The Utah/Idaho Cooperative Weed Management Association, which encompasses the four counties, will be undertaking a project in Downey to eradicate noxious weeds within the city limits. They will have a workday in the next few weeks to cover the entire town in an effort to eradicate weeds.

Members of the group will travel up and down streets and alleys to find outbreaks. Anyone who knows of such infestations can contact Hobson at the Bannock County office to have the group spray.

The UICWMA will also do a project in a Utah area, Hobson said.

Hobson had great praise for the assistance given in the weed war by high school students who are learning through ag classes how to identify noxious weeds. He recently attended an FFA Crop contest in Malad where FFA students from seven southeastern Idaho high schools participated.

Students were required to learn and identify forty plants and seeds from a possible seventy–not knowing in advance what plants or seeds would be in the contests. He says the kids were outstanding and knowledgeable about agriculture and weeds, and praised them and their teachers for their efforts.

Once again, he says, the county will focus on outbreaks of Dyer’s Woad and Leafy Spurge in southern Bannock County. Booklets on noxious weeds are available through his office. For information, or to sign up for the free newsletter, contact Hobson at his office (234-4139) or cell phone (251-0049).

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