PRESIDENT’S TURF A Strong, United Voice!
2017-2018 TPI Board of Trustees
Jimmy Fox
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things,” this quote, made famous by Mother Teresa, resonates so true as I reflect on the people I have been blessed to work with. Success is best achieved by embracing a diversity of talents, rather than by people who all think alike. When we all think alike, there may be fewer disagreements, but we rarely challenge each other to think outside the box.
Working with the TPI board and staff has definitely been an embracement of diversity. Cool-season growers, warm-season growers, Australians, Norwegians, Canadians and Americans, large corporate farms, small family farms, low tech and high tech. At times we are polar-opposites on certain issues, but we always find common ground and move forward as a team. Henry Ford, speaking on teamwork, said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” TPI is successful!
As we face future challenges, it’s important for us to work together for the common goal of promoting natural turfgrass. In the ‘60s and early ‘70s, ASPA (American Sod Producers Association) was a major source of information for Golfdom magazine and regarded highly by golf course superintendents. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, TPI had a presence in Golf Course Management magazine. I was privileged to speak at a golf course superintendents’ meeting a couple weeks ago. As I presented the challenges we face as an industry, I asked the group if they were familiar with the Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance (TWCA) varieties, or the A-List. Not one hand was raised. I asked, “Who is familiar with TPI?” Still no hands raised, and no, they were not sleeping. We have lost some of our influence in the golf industry.
What is our influence outside of our industry? Our preliminary research from FleishmanHillard tells us that 71 percent of our Facebook followers are male, but only 48 percent of gardening decisions are made by men. Te early research shows that the turf industry is looking for TPI to be a voice, and members are looking for us to help promote natural turfgrass for them. We are a million-dollar organization in a 60-billion-dollar industry, with a $100,000 marketing budget—yet we are being asked to be the voice of hope for natural turfgrass. Daunting!
What legacy will we leave behind for the turfgrass industry? Will we help rejuvenate the demand for natural turfgrass, or will we watch silently as our industry is slowly replaced by a true environmental hazard made of plastic and rubber tires? We need your involvement, your engagement, and your financial support to be a strong, united voice for natural turfgrass. We need to act as a team, embrace our diversity, overcome our differences, and work together for success.
May God continue to bless your family and your business.
Officers President Jimmy Fox Evergreen Turf, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-480-456-1199
jimmy@evergreenturf.com
Vice President Eric Heuver Eagle Lake Professional Landscape Supply – CANADA +1-403-235-8873
eric@eaglelakelandscape.com
Secretary-Treasurer Hank Kerfoot Modern Turf – U.S.A. +1-803-713-8873
hank@modernturf.com
Past President Linda Pittillo Bradley Turf Mountain Sod, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-828-685-3642
turfmountain@bellsouth.net
Executive Director Casey Reynolds, PhD Turfgrass Producers International – U.S.A. +1-847-649-5555
creynolds@TurfGrassSod.org
Trustees John Coombs, Sr. Coombs Sod Farms, LLC – U.S.A. +1-856-358-4763
jhc@coombsfarms.com
Steve Griffen Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-518-664-5038
steve@saratogasod.com
Randy Jasperson Jasperson Sod Farm – U.S.A. +1-262-835-2826
rj@jaspersonsod.com
Jim Keeven SelecTurf, Inc – U.S.A. 1-573-634-3444
jim@selecturfsod.com
Mark Tribbett JB Instant Lawn, Inc. - U.S.A. +1-503-581-7823
mark@jbinstantlawn.net
Keith Wittig Central Turf Farms, Inc. – U.S.A. 1-979-657-1122
kwittig@centralturffarms.com
Tim Wollesen Sales Midwest, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-913-254-9560
tim@salesmidwest.com
Legal Counsel Monte B. Lake CJ Lake 525 Ninth Street, NW- Suite 800 Washington, DC – U.S.A. +1-202-789-8644
2 TPI Turf News November/December 2018
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