Godfrey Funding Will Help Combat Walkway Weeds At Master Gardeners Site
Investment will allow volunteers to focus more on gardening and education, less on pulling weeds; village also seeking new Good Neighbor Award nominees.
Godfrey Trustees Discuss $3 Million Stormwater Proposal, Placer Data Tool and Garden Funding
GODFREY – A volunteer group of “Master Gardeners” recently secured funds to help control weeds overtaking walkways at a garden in Godfrey for the next two years.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Joan Funk, leader of the Master Gardeners project, made a presentation and funding request to trustees at the Sept. 15, 2026 Godfrey Village Board meeting. She was joined by former project leader and Godfey Good Neighbor awardee Nancy Orrill, as well as fellow volunteer and plant sale organizer Nancy Dooling.
A group of 13 volunteers helps maintain a demonstration garden at Homer Adams Park, located on the campus of Godfrey Village Hall, as part of the University of Illinois Extension’s “Master Gardeners” program.
“All the food grown in that park is donated to the local food pantries,” Funk said. “Over the last several years, we’ve donated approximately 1,100 pounds of food to those food pantries.”
She said volunteers also teach kids from Little Knights Daycare how to garden during educational visits that include reading, scavenger hunts and learning about various “critters” around the park.
Funk first notified trustees on July 22, 2026 of an emerging problem in the garden, mostly on the southern end of the site, where weeds are “taking over all of the walkways.” As a result, volunteers are spending less time teaching kids and growing food and more time trying to keep the weeds under control. She said some weeds have grown to be over a foot tall and require hours of digging with pitchforks to remove from the ground.
“We’re spending most of our time through the later part of the summer working in those walkways,” Funk said, noting there are less volunteers available during hotter months. “We need to apply chemicals – we need spray to kill the weeds and we need a pre-emergent put down, probably once this year and then twice next year, that would help control all of that so that we can spend more time focusing on the garden beds, on doing demonstrations, educating the children that come through the park.”
Funk said that while none of the Master Gardner volunteers currently have the required certification to apply these chemicals, Parks and Recreation Director Chris Logan said his staff could handle that work.
To control the weeds for the rest of the 2026 season, Funk requested $410 from the village. She also requested $740 for the 2027 season, bringing the total for both years to around $1,150.
Trustees took little time to make their decision before voting unanimously to grant the funding request.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Trustee Craig Lombardi said.
Trustee Sarah Woodman added: “It’s a no-brainer, in my opinion.”
Woodman said Funk and her volunteers would make ideal Good Neighbor of Godfrey candidates. She encouraged the public to nominate their fellow good neighbors for the village’s next award honoring outstanding residents. Nomination forms are available on the village website.
A full recording of the Sept. 15, 2026 Godfrey Village Board meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
More like this:
- Most Popular
- Top Stories
- Most Recent
