When our community pitched in to create the new and beautifully-landscaped Mill Pond Terrace, we wanted it to be open and welcoming to everyone. Oops. We ended up with a few uninvited guests: WEEDS. You can’t really blame them. Everyone loves the space.

Enter Jo Ellen Madden, inviting volunteers and friends to the terrace to figure out how to Politely Ask the Weeds to Leave. But weeds are stubborn, and they needed to be more than just asked. They needed to be PULLED. And so, on that very day, the Weed Team formed: a group of fun, no-nonsense, outdoor-loving, weed-pulling, sidewalk-sweeping, plant-watering, coffee-and-beer-drinking volunteers.

The team separated into four groups, each in charge of a different zone on the property. And the pulling began. It wasn’t long before a Weed War started, with team members from the best weed-free section singing their praises, always with laughter in their voices. Who knew that pulling the evil weeds could be so much fun?

This year, the Weed Team will continue its brave Weed Battling mission, showing up once a week to fight the good fight, working on behalf of healthy plants throughout the Town Square campus. If you are up for a laugh, doing something great for your community, making friends, and getting into the great outdoors, join the 2021 Weed Team!

Just drop a note to Jo Ellen Madden at maddenjoellen@gmail.com.

Thank you, Weed Team! Weeds fear you, but your community will love you.