A movement, and weeds, grow

Andrew Rainer had at least one good reason to celebrate the 28th annual Wake Up the Earth Festival held at Southwest Corridor Park last weekend: his son.

Alex Rainer, 11, suffers from asthma and sometimes requires medical attention to cope with the effects of poor air quality, according to his father, who has lived in Jamaica Plain for 17 years.

''I definitely agree with not having pesticides in the park," said the senior Rainer, 48, at the festival that doubled as a celebration by the Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee for their success at reducing chemicals used on the park grounds.

Wearing bright yellow and green paper hats made to resemble dandelions, committee members gathered at the festival to cheer their agreement made last spring with the city's Parks and Recreation Department on a three-year pilot program of not using pesticides in Corridor Park.

Waving banners with the group's ''NPAC" logo and the pledge ''JP pesticide-free," participants joined the parade of performers, artists, activists, and residents that filled the 4.7-mile-long park through most of the afternoon.

The group also applauded a pledge by the Department of Conservation and Recreation this spring to stop using four out of the five pesticides they've used in the past.

The only pesticide that will still be employed is Roundup, for spot use on weeds, according to the department.

''It's an adjustment we've made based on success in other areas," Joe Ferson, spokesman for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the state agency of which the conservation department is a part, said in a phone interview.

''We will be continuing to evaluate the conditions and make adjustments as necessary," he said.

The Pesticide Action Committee was founded in the fall of 2000 with the goal to eliminate pesticide use in Jamaica Plain.

Margaret Connors, a founding member, said in a recent interview that the organization has gotten more than 2,000 people who live in the neighborhood to sign a petition asking the conservation department to stop using all pesticides in the park.

''We're on our way to a pesticide-free JP," Connors said. ''We're hoping that by the next year that will be the case."

Hilary Marcus, a 13-year JP resident and a committee member, is impressed with the organization's ability to have an impact on what is done to the park.

''We're really excited that we've gotten this far," Marcus, 42, and a mother of two young children, said at the festival.

''I'm happy and hopeful that the park will be completely pesticide-free during the years when my children are playing on the grass," Marcus said.

Julia Sapir, 30, a committee member for more than two years, voiced similar concerns at the festival.

''It's really important to me that people are able to use city parks without worrying about the toxicity of grass and plants around them, particularly people with pets and children that are in close contact with the grass," Sapir said.

Jim Cronin can be reached at ciweek@globe.com