The Whitefish Bay Garden Club wants to keep Klode Park free of pesticides and weeds for the Fourth of July festival coming up in less than two weeks.

The village has not sprayed pesticides at Klode this year. To keep the park beautiful using natural methods, the group is now soliciting volunteers to pull weeds at the park from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. June 30.

To sign up, visit this website to join a group or sign up as an individual.

"This is a great way to meet a few new friends, teach your children or grandchildren about "ownership" and "stewardship" of our public spaces, and help strengthen our greens space management so we can all enjoy fields and parks that are beautiful, healthy, and safe," said Jennifer Riggs, one of the event coordinators in a Patch calendar listing.

The use of pesticides in public parks has become a popular topic of conversation in the past couple months.

This year, the Village Board adopted a turf care plan allowing one pesticide spraying per year in public spaces. As part of that plan, the village allowed Friends of Bay Baseball to spray pesticides on Cahill Park in early May. The pesticide spraying prompted more than a dozen residents to voice their frustration with the pesticide spraying at a Village Board meeting the next day.

The Village Board has agreed to discuss the pros and cons of pesticide application at a listening session scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 16.