FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

During the regular monthly meeting of the Caspar Community on the second Sunday in February, residents of Caspar heard plans for two very different events themed around the invasive weed that plagues the town: gorse!

On Saturday evening, March 6th the Gorse Grubbers Ball will be held at the Caspar Inn. The event is a benefit for the Caspar Community and will feature Caspar recording artists Meridian Green and Gene Parsons, Lily Parsons, Bill Botrell, Phil Dunn, and Richard Feinburgh. The music will start at 9:00pm, and admission will be $10 "Öor more, if you care to help us out," according to Green. The ball is intended to inspire Caspar residents to become Gorse Warriors, fighting the invasion of this exotic plant pest, which has infested one out of every four parcels of land in Caspar.

Thus motivated, Caspar residents (and all other interested persons) are invited to attend a Gorse Workshop one week later on March 13th, at Jughandle State Reserve on Caspar's northern border. Representatives from the California' State Parks Department and other local experts will teach techniques for removal of invasive exotic plants such as gorse. The event will begin at 11:00am at the Jughandle parking lot, and is scheduled to end at 3:00pm.

Those attending are encouraged to bring shovels, pry bars, mcleods, weed-wrenches and work gloves. Sturdy but light-colored clothing should be worn to make it easier to spot ticks, which are found this time of year in gorse-infested areas.

written by Jerry Juhl
for publication in the Mendocino Beacon and Fort Bragg Advocate