PRESIDENT’S TURF WOW—What A Convention!
2019 TPI Board of Trustees
Officers Eric Heuver
TPI’s 2019 Summer Convention & Field Day was amazing. With over 560 sod producers and suppliers from 10 countries, including every region of the U.S. and Canada, all gathered in Minneapolis, the networking was non-stop. Even better, there were folks of all ages, from the long-time members to the millennials, to the kids, as many attendees brought their families. It was neat to meet so many first timers!
Te buzz was upbeat on all other fronts, too. I head lots of positive comments on Executive Director Casey Reynolds’ presentation on the natural grass #KeepItREAL PR campaign, and on where TPI is going, and what TPI is doing. Even more exciting were the ideas people were sharing on how to take the tools now available on TPI’s new website and put them to work in their own businesses and communities.
And even the Field Day weather was great! Hats off to the Wagner family and their super team for such a warm and welcoming job of hosting everyone. Even with the last-minute change of field locations because of wet conditions, it all came together without a hitch.
For me, the highlight of the convention was being able to present the awards to two well-deserving industry leaders and strong supporters of TPI—Ian True and Larry Humphreys!
After the Convention, my family and I took a road trip from Minneapolis through parts of the east and the Midwest. We ended up in North Carolina near Asheville. It’s amazing to see the expanse and diversity of the country from the road, and the productivity, including the fields and fields of corn. We visited a tallgrass prairie in Nebraska that was filled with birds and butterflies and bees. I’m doing a lot of naturalization in our business, growing native herbaceous plants with grasses, and seeing the same effect. People say that grasses are a monoculture, but with the natives and other plants, that’s not true at all.
Along our route, I also saw what I had only heard and read about, the evidence of the flooding this past spring, with many areas still underwater. Because I was close, I was able to visit Linda Bradley and Fred and Wayne Pittillo at Turf Mountain Sod in Hendersonville, and David Shaffer, farm manager of the Super Sod operation in Hendersonville. Both farms had experienced significant flooding and dealt with significant loses. What blew me away as we were touring the farms was their attitude, how they had assessed the situation, determined what needed work, and then just moved on and made the best of it. Seeing the magnitude of what these people have done, taking their land from that devastation to beautiful fields again, humbles me and makes me even prouder of the people in this great industry.
All the Best,t,est
President Eric Heuver Eagle Lake Professional Landscape Supply – CANADA +1-403-235-8873
eric@eaglelakelandscape.com
Vice President Hank Kerfoot Modern Turf – U.S.A. +1-803-713-8873
hank@modernturf.com
Secretary-Treasurer Steve Griffen Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-518-664-5038
steve@saratogasod.com
Past President Jimmy Fox Evergreen Turf, Inc. – U.S.A. +1-480-456-1199
jimmy@evergreenturf.com
Executive Director Casey Reynolds, PhD Turfgrass Producers International – U.S.A. +1-847-649-5555
creynolds@TurfGrassSod.org
Trustees Jim Keeven SelecTurf, Inc – U.S.A. 1-573-634-3444
jim@selecturfsod.com
John Keleher Australian Lawn Concepts - Australia +61 61755430145
john@alcturf.com.au
Bob McCurdy McCurdy Farms - U.S.A. +1-731-692-3515
mccurdysodfarms@gmail.com
Aaron McWhorter NG Turf – U.S.A. +1-770-832-8608
amc@ngturf.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
2
TPI Turf News September/October 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
