PRESIDENT’S TURF Great Things Will Continue
2022 TPI Board of Trustees
Officers Jim Keeven
Tank you, members of Turfgrass Producers International, for allowing me the privilege of serving as your president for 2022. As I look back, I’m humbled to have been honored by an association so dear to me. You allowed me to follow in the footsteps of my two brothers, Tommy and Eddie, who both served as TPI presidents, and to build on the legacy of our parents, Ed and Vivienne, who were charter members when this association was founded as the American Sod Producers Association in 1967. You have given me the opportunity to have this unique history, and I thank you for that.
Our association was founded with the mission “To represent and advance the turfgrass sod industry worldwide through the promotion of improved practices and the professional development of members and the enhancement of the environment.” TPI has done a great job of fulfilling that mission. As our association has evolved over the years, so has our mission, recognizing that our primary role, to serve our members, extends to the entire natural grass industry. When the industry grows, so do our businesses. We’ve revised our mission statement to reflect that, “Promoting the global environmental benefits and use of turfgrass through education and research.”
TPI has done great things in the past, is doing great things now, and will continue to do great things in the future. TPI has achieved our past accomplishments with a limited amount of money. Tink of what we could do with more funding. Te Sod Checkoff could take the good that TPI does up to the next level.
As I look to the future of TPI, I’m looking at it for the next generation, our kids who are going to take over our businesses. Research, exposure, promotion— everything this industry needs—can be met with those checkoff dollars. All the background about the checkoff—why it was proposed, how it would be set up, how it would operate, how it would be controlled, how it would benefit TPI members and the natural grass industry—is on the website:
www.sodcheckoff.org. If you want to discuss the checkoff, producer to producer, please call me at 573-257-0001.
Like many of you, I grew up as a TPI kid, with the opportunity to connect and form friendships with other TPI kids, because our parents brought us along when they attended TPI Conferences and Field Days. As I took on more responsibilities in our family business, I was able to connect with other TPI members on a professional level. Tat gave me the opportunity to form relationships and build a strong network of peers I could reach out to at any time. Te sharing of ideas, questions, and problems, and working together to form strategies and solutions became a valuable asset to me in growing my business. And those relationships have grown into friendships that have become a key part of my life, it really is a TPI family.
Tank you all for your support of TPI, and for allowing me to serve as your president.
Warmest Regards, 2 TPI Turf News November/December 2022
President Jim Keeven SelecTurf Inc. – U.S.A. +1-573-634-3444
jim@selecturfsod.com
Vice President Bob McCurdy McCurdy Farms - U.S.A. +1-731-692-3515
mccurdysodfarms@gmail.com
Secretary-Treasurer Diane Mischel DeBuck’s Sod Farm, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-810-653-2201
office@debucksodfarm.com
Past President Steve Griffen Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-518-664-5038
steve@saratogasod.com
Executive Director Casey Reynolds, PhD Turfgrass Producers International – U.S.A. +1-847-649-5555
creynolds@TurfGrassSod.org
Trustees Daniel Huggett Columbus Turf Nursery – U.S.A. +1-740-983-6580
danielh@columbus-turf.com
Albrecht Knigge Rasenland – GERMANY 495 101 915361
knigge@rasenland.de
Larry LeMay A-G Sod Farms, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-559-289-2302
llemay@agsod.com
Lindy Murff Murff Turf Farm, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-281-328-2812
lmurff@murffturf.com
Ron Schiedel Greenhorizons Group – CANADA +1-519-778-7500
ron@greenhorizonssod.com
Cliff Stewart STEC Equipment, Inc. +1-864-225-3666
cliff@stecequipment.com
Wade Wilbur Sod Shop – U.S.A. +1-913-814-0044
wade@sodshops.com
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