Orange City Life

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Go Les!

“I only do it about one-and-a-half hours a day, that's enough… I'm 90 in three weeks’ time and I haven't got all the energy you young blokes have!” said Canowindra’s Les Pfeiffer.

While many a ‘young bloke’ has been spending their isolation time on the couch catching up on Netflix, Les decided to do something a little more productive and community minded. Armed with a 25-litre bucket and a small hoe, he set himself the task of removing the prolifically invasive khaki weed from Canowindra’s Morris Park.

“I guess I just declared war on khaki weeds. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to but I talked to one of the Council men and he seemed quite happy,” said Les, who when done with the park, carried on his campaign at the nearby Tom Clyburn Oval.

“There's always a lot more there than you think when you are walking past. I got ten bucketfuls from Morris Park of khaki weed and then I got 26 from around the oval. I've spent about twelve days, I imagine. I haven't been in any panic to do it; some days I don’t go out and some days I do.”

It’s not the first time Les has undertaken a bit of public weeding. He first took on the khaki weed in Morris Park when he moved into town five years ago.

“See the khaki weed, when they mow it, it just spreads everywhere! So, I just thought I 'd get onto it and clean it up, but I 've neglected it a few years” he said.

“But while we are here in isolation, we are not doing much else, so I thought I might as well get started!

“It’s no big deal, but it has given me exercise and given me something to do and I think it is a worthwhile thing to happen! If I'm still about next year, I'll give it a check up again.”