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countdown to tpi’s 5oth Compiled by Suz Trusty

Te American Sod Producers Association (ASPA) was officially established on July 11, 1967. (It was renamed Turfgrass Producers International (TPI) in 1994 to better reflect the international scope of the association.) Tis article—covering 1990 to 1999—is the fourth decade- by-decade review of the growth of the association, leading up to the 50 & Fabulous Anniversary Celebration.

Much of the information covered in the “50 & Fabulous–Countdown to TPI’s 50th Anniversary” series of articles will be drawn from the History of Turfgrass Producers International, which was developed for the 40th Anniversary of TPI. It was edited by Dr. Wendell Mathews, former editor of Turf News, and Walt Pemrick, TPI president 1983-1984. Among the others assisting with historical documentation, was Dr. James B Beard, and his “Evolution of Turfgrass Sod,” is included in the publication.

Te 40th Anniversary book drew on material included in the 25th Anniversary book, titled Turfgrass: Natures Constant Benediction, which was co-edited by Janice Betts and Dr. Wendell Mathews. Both books acknowledge and thank the multiple contributors of information and photos. A quote from Turfgrass: Natures Constant Benediction sums up not only the compilation of historic background, but also the development of the association,

“Together, all of us have done what one person could not accomplish.”

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Attendees gather under the ASPA banner during the 1990 ASPA Midwinter Conference in Orlando, FL. TPI Turf News September/October 2016

1990-1999 1990

anniversary in 2017

Environmental issues were the focus of ASPA’s 1990 Midwinter Conference held at the Hilton at Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL, February 14-16. Emphasizing that focus, Dr. James B Beard, Texas A&M University, spoke to attendees in both a pre-conference seminar and a conference session sharing the results of his research on the environmental benefits of turfgrass. A second pre-conference seminar addressed turfgrass fertility. Te post-conference farm tour visited Kirkland Sod in New Smyrna Beach and Floriturf in Kissimmee.

Midwinter Conference chair, Cecil Collings of Green Valley Turf Farms, Inc., Canfield, OH, was elected ASPA president for 1990-1991 at the Summer Convention and Field Days, held at the Westin Hotel, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, July 25-27. Te Host Farm was the Manderley Corporation, with equipment demonstrations and static displays featured in two half-day sessions at their site in Kemptville and Manderley farm equipment demonstrated during a tour of their sod farm in Alfred.

ASPA put even greater emphasis on speaking out about the benefits of turfgrass in 1990: promoting its significant role in combating the issues of “global warming” and the urban “heat island” effect, establishing nine objectives; providing members with news releases for newspapers and radio; and reaching out to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) through a booth at their annual conference. Te United States Golf Association (USGA) established a “Turfgrass Information File” at Michigan State University to give electronic access to turf science literature. Caricatures of turfgrass and turfgrass sod were introduced in the spring issue of ASPA’s Journal of Environmental Turfgrass as “spokesmen” for the positive impact of turfgrass on the environment.

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