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TWENTY
Y YEARS LATER ER
LEAVING A LEGACY RENEWAL & REMEMBRANCE
Dateline WASHINGTON, D.C. On Monday, July 25, 2011, more than 400 volunteers braved 102 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures and Washington, D.C. humidity to lime 271 acres and aerate 37 acres of turf at Arlington National Cemetery. The group also spent the morning planting perennials, mulching, pruning, cabling, and adding lightning protection to trees and updating irrigation systems around the Columbarium and Receiving Vault.
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hat was five years ago, when Renewal & Remembrance (R & R) volunteers celebrated 15 years of dedicated
service to the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Five years later, many of these same volunteers will be at it again donating their talents and time to this sacred national landmark.
Coming to the cemetery each year is, for many, like visiting a familiar friend. But a lot has changed since Phil Fogarty, owner of Weed Man-Cleveland, Ohio, made that first phone call to the grounds department at Arlington National Cemetery. That was more than 20 years ago when he inquired about holding a day of service at the cemetery. “The grounds supervisor at the time and his department didn’t really embrace the idea like I thought it would,” recalled Fogarty. “Thinking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Arlington National Cemetery is operated by the U.S. Army and neither entity was simply going to jump in the air over an idea offered by a group with which it wasn’t familiar.” Fogarty had floated the idea of a volunteer event, on behalf of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (a legacy organization of NALP). Actually, the idea to do a volunteer event in Washington began a year earlier at the group’s Legislative Day on the Hill.
“During a group photo session in front of the Old Execu- tive Building, Tom Delaney, former Director of Government Affairs for the National Association of Landscape Profession-
als, along with me and a couple of other PLCAA members noticed the turf needed a little help. We thought there’s something the association could do to lend a helping hand. Then we found out that the National Arborist Association (NAA) had done volunteer work at Arlington,” said Fogarty. After several interviews, Fogarty and PLCAA won the right to show what they could do to help enhance the grounds, primarily by spreading lime. Logic dictated that they hold the new event in conjunction with the-already-in-place Legislative Day on the Hill. Unfortunately, that occurred in February, not the ideal time to spread lime or perform other landscaping tasks.
“That first event was small compared to today’s R & R,” added Fogarty. “Timing had something to do with that as only approximately 50 volunteers showed up. Still there was a mini ceremony with a color guard and speeches from government officials, just as there are today. That hasn’t changed. But what has is just about everything else, except our mission, which is to earn the right to show up again the next year.”
EVOLUTION
So what’s changed since that first Day of Service 20 years ago? Event attendance has grown in leaps and bounds, due in part to moving it to July and also to the merger with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, which added landscape and tree care skills to the team. Between four
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