TURFGRASS OUTREACH PROJECT TAKES ROOT IN NEW LOCATION
By Darrell J. Pehr
Editor’s note: Tis article originally appeared in the July 2022 issue of Golf Course Management magazine and is reprinted with the permission of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA).
An outreach project at the U.S. National Arboretum that welcomed more than 150,000 people to the world of turfgrass will see another day, and a revamped version could lead to similar projects sprouting up across the country.
An Idea Becomes a Reality
Te idea for a national display of all things turfgrass took root in 2011, and by 2014, tens of thousands of visitors to the Washington, D.C., area were visiting the Grass Roots turfgrass exhibits each year.
Geoffrey Rinehart, lecturer in turfgrass management at the University of Maryland’s Institute of Applied Agriculture, got involved in 2013, as did Kevin Morris, president of the National Turfgrass Federation (NTF) [and executive director of the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP), the governing board of which gave him the go- ahead to get involved in the national initiative].
Trough NTF, about $450,000 was raised, which funded the costs of construction and paid a coordinator for the duration of the project. Rinehart, a 15-year GCSAA member, took on the project with enthusiasm. Te exhibit covered 1.2 acres near the entrance of the arboretum and included 12 displays. Te project was so successful, the initial schedule of 2014-2018 was extended to 2020.
In his role managing the displays, Rinehart saw the impact Grass Roots had on people’s understanding of the benefits of turfgrass.
“When you experienced this exhibit, perceptions were influenced,” Rinehart says. “It was an eye-opening experience.”
54 Finding a New Home
As the project concluded and the arboretum leadership decided to move in a new direction, the Grass Roots project was momentarily without a home. But the commitment and momentum from Morris, Rinehart, and others would not be lost. As word spread about the need for a new location, help was soon to follow.
“I was very passionate about the original exhibit at the arboretum,” says Jon Lobenstine, director of agronomy for Montgomery County Revenue Authority since 2006, a GCSAA Class A superintendent, and 21-year association member.
Every time he visited the exhibit, Lobenstine was energized seeing people learn about turfgrass and get a deeper understanding of what goes into managing turf. Seeing how well Grass Roots worked led to the idea of relocating the exhibits and continuing the project.
“It’s our duty to look for ways to tell the good story of turfgrass,” Lobenstine says, and in his position, he was able to turn words into action. MCRA operates nine public golf courses across Montgomery County, MD. Among those are Needwood Golf Course, which offers golfers both an 18-hole course as well as a nine-hole executive course.
With the help of Rinehart, Morris, and Harlyn Goldman, CGCS, a 29-year GCSAA member, and superintendent
TPI Turf News September/October 2022
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