night dinner were great. And the flower arrangements all through the house were beautiful, all supplied by their daughter-in-law who is a florist.”


Tough John had reserved box seats for the Cowtown Rodeo, the oldest weekly running rodeo in the USA, with the rain, he and Donna opted to keep their guests cozy and dry with a “stay-in” evening of visiting and playing games, which all called “great fun.” As Donna said, “Sometimes the best plans are the ones you don’t make!”


Clay Shoot Sunday morning everyone headed to the five-station clay shoot that John had built on their property—which all declared a “pretty neat setup” and “quite challenging.” To hold the shells, the Coombs had put together personalized, red half-aprons for everyone that stated “2018 TPI Dinner Friends Weekend.”


The Finale—Shrimp and Grits After cleanup, came a tour of the farm. Next up was the fabulous shrimp and grits—the gourmet dinner of the TLI Auction, but for eight plus. Te Kerfoots had invited the Coombs family to join them, without the grandkids this time. Tat made it dinner for 16, which was no problem for the chefs or the hosts. Hank says, “John and Donna said they designed their kitchen and dining room specifically to host big family get-togethers. Te whole family comes over for dinner every other Sunday.”


After the tour, Hank and Mary scooted everyone else out of the kitchen as they began preparations. Donna said, “But we’d all had so much fun making lunch together that I popped in and asked them to allow us to help. Tey relented, and what happened next warmed my heart. Everyone was going in a cabinet or cupboard or the frig, grabbing this and that and getting it ready. I was delighted they felt that comfortable and at home—I absolutely loved it!”


And those famous shrimp and grits? Hank said, “We added some chorizo sausage and prosciutto as a surprise for those who had eaten it before.” Donna said, “Tere are not enough words to say how wonderful that meal was.”


Lining up for a photo during the clay shoot are (from left to right) Steve, Laurie, John, Hank, Mary, Kathy, Jim, Hilda and Randy.


Pizza Everyone! Hank brought his wood-pellet-powered Uuni portable pizza oven that heats up to 900 degrees. He said, “It only takes one-minute to bake a pizza, but I need to turn it around at 30 seconds, and then once more, so it cooks evenly. We pop them in and it cranks them out, which keeps me on my toes, but it’s so much fun.”


It was a do-it-yourself Sunday lunch extravaganza! Hank and Mary make their own red sauce and had an array of other toppings set up on the counters. Tey had dough ready for everyone to roll out their own base and choose their toppings. Most snipped their individual pizzas into small slices to share. Hank and Mary supplied sides of salad, homemade potato chips, and both chocolate chip meringue and pecan shortbread cookies.


Te Coombs sons and their families—including the grandkids—were invited to join in the fun. “Te grandkids were in their glory,” said Donna. “Hank and little Jacob played catch with a ball of pizza dough. Mary encouraged Ryan to make ‘any kind of pizza he wanted’ and when he said blueberry, without hesitating, she said, ‘Okay, and what else do you want on it?’ He shopped in the frig and pulled out a block of cream cheese and some pepperoni. Once baked, it was really pretty good.”


TPI Turf News September/October 2018


Jim Keeven reported, “We had the best time! Ate tooo much wonderful food, laughed way too hard, and had one of those weekends you don't forget. John and Donna are very gracious hosts! I guess that's why everyone likes them so much.”


Randy Jasperson noted, “Tey’d planned a fishing outing, but it was raining too much, and no one minded, especially because we all knew how much they needed the rain. Besides, we had such a good time at the house, visiting, that it couldn’t have been better.”


Hank said, “We couldn’t have had better hosts; John and Donna are so gracious and welcoming. Tey are both neat, orderly people. Over the weekend, our group made a total mess of their kitchen several times, and we all laughed and had so much fun doing it!”


Donna says, “John and I really appreciate that our kids were so welcomed by the group and able to visit with everyone. Tey’d not met any of these TPI friends before. We hope this TLI auction experience will inspire them to attend the Conference and meet even more wonderful TPI people.”


So, why do TPI members continue to offer and bid on these great TLI auction items? Tey say it’s a great way to support TLI and acknowledge all it does for turfgrass producers and the future of the industry.


Te consensus: Tere’s nothing better than supporting the TLI outreach while sharing a great weekend with some fabulous friends.


Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News. All photos by Donna Coombs. 47


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