Utahns keep memories of 9/11 alive with community service projects

A bundle of energy, 8-year-old Alex Owen bent over and stared at the roots of an expansive weed Saturday morning as naturalist Lewis Kogan showed a community-cleanup group how best to pull puncturevine and dispose of its nasty sharp little seeds, best known as goatheads.

“I want to pull it,” Owen volunteered eagerly, taking a pronged hand tool and hooking it under a “knuckle” along the vine, then gently yanking the weed out of the ground.

“That’s our first one,” his 11-year-old sister, Athena, said in celebration, eager to proceed with an organized attack on the noxious weed that thrives along the 9 Line bicycle trail near 900 West and 900 South.

“They’re doom and gloom for bike tires — and they hurt a lot. Dogs get them in their paws and they can go through thin shoes,” said Kogan, who works in Salt Lake City’s trails and natural lands program. And along the 9 Line, he noted, “there’s a goathead forest.”

This community cleanup effort was one of seven projects statewide that received small grants from the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts for activities this weekend that honor the memory of those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a “National Day of Service and Remembrance.”

Dixie State University and United Way Dixie held a children’s book drive to support literacy programs in Washington County. The Habitat for Humanity chapter for Weber and Davis counties fixed up homes in need of repairs. A disaster-training simulation was conducted by the Six County RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program), which covers Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties.

Around Price and in Utah County, more United Way volunteers were cleaning yards, mowing lawns and painting houses. Volunteers for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northern Utah will be out on Monday doing various touch-ups.

Having her grandchildren, the Owen kids, participate in a function like this was important to Dorothy Owen, chairwoman of the West Point Community Council.

“The Jordan River is a really important part of the city, and if you’re going to restore it and make it even better, then you’re going to have to have a sense of ownership among the young people because they’re going to have control over it in due time,” she said.

Bennion Sykes brought nearly a dozen youths from two Salt Lake County Housing Authority projects for a service opportunity. “We try to do something every other week to promote community awareness and industriousness,” he said.

While he was wearing a shirt that declared “I’m not lazy. I really enjoy doing nothing,” 16-year-old Cottonwood High School student Marquis Jackson dove with enthusiasm into helping Sykes yank up some puncturevine — even after he got his first feel for a goathead.

“Ooohh, that hurts,” he exclaimed, flicking away the pointy offender. “I didn’t know it had pokey stuff.”

Bicycle riders know that all too well. Goatheads are “one of the worst enemies for cyclists” along paved trails, not just along the Jordan River but throughout the Salt Lake Valley and in St. George, as well, said Dave Iltus, editor and publisher of Cycling Utah. He helped push through a declaration making puncturevine a noxious weed statewide.

“It’s wonderful seeing so many volunteers out,” he said. “We need that participation, and we also need a valleywide plan for how to deal with this.”

Charlotte Fife-Jepperson kickstarted the project, securing the grant that paid for the garden tools. She was heartened to see more and more volunteers show up on a warm Saturday morning.

“This area of the city has been neglected,” Fife-Jepperson said, noting she grew up close by. “It’s really important that we show we care, and that it’s a vibrant, beautiful place to live. We want more people to get involved in taking care of it.”