President— LEON V. ST. PIERRE Longmeadow Country Club 51 Fenwood Road Longmeadow 6, Mass. Phone LO 7-5562 Secretary— FLOYD N. WIGET Bellevue Golf Club 23 Lynn Falls Parkway Saugus, Mass. 233-1353 First Vice-President— ANTHONY CARANCI JR. Ledgemont Country Club 22 Hillview Drive North Providence 4, R. I. Phone PA 3-1688 Treasurer— ARTHUR L. CODY Wollaston Golf Club Phone Supt. Office at Club GR 2-3535 Home GR 2-7913 19 Ardell Street No. Quincy, Mass. Second Vice-President— RICHARD C. BLAKE Mt. Pleasant Country Club 211 Sewall Street Boylston, Mass. Phone 869-2737 Trustee— N. J. SPERANDIO Concord Country Club Concord, Mass. Phone EM 9-4723 Trustee— ALBERT L. ALLEN Kernwood Country Club Salem, Mass. Phone PI 4-7783 Trustee— WILLIAM ASH 9 Patton Street No. Dartmouth, Mass. Phone WY 3-8767 Finance Committee Chairman— WILLIAM ASH 9 Patton Street No. Dartmouth, Mass. Phone WY 3-8767 Educational Committee ChairmanTHOMAS CURRAN Oak Hill Country Club 37 Parker Street Fitchburg, Mass. Phone Dl 2-9198 Golf Committee ChairmanEdward J. Murphy Lexington Country Club 194 Oxbow Road Wayland, Mass. Phone 358-7410 Newsletter Committee ChairmanMANUEL N. FRANCIS Belmont Country Club 387 Davis Road Bedford, Mass. Phone 275-8830 Past President— JOSEPH BUTLER United Shoe Country Club 3 Ridgewood Terrace Beverly, Mass. Phone WA 2-1263 ( j o f p (Gourde Superintendents ^ydssocLation January Meeting The January Meeting was held at the Waltham Field Station on Jan. 18th„ A Director's meeting was held in the morning. Business Meeting An application for associate membership was received from: David Clements, Supt. Crystal Springs Golf Club, Haverhill, Mass. New Committees Appointed President St. Pierre appointed the new committees. Membership Committee -Anthony Caranci, Chairman Richard Blake Floyd Wiget Finance Committee William Ash, Chairman Arthur Cody Phil Cassidy Educational Committee Thomas Curran, Chairman Lou Duval Manuel Francis, Jr. Dave McCarthy Golf Committee Edward Murphy, Chairman William Carter Wayne Ripley Newsletter Committee Manuel Francis, J r . , Chairman Richard Blake - Burton Anderson Dean Robertson Richard Mitchell James Reidy Welfare Committee Nary Sperandio, Chairman Norman Muccirone Roger Hines Charles Gardner John Smith Arthur Anderson Employment Committee William Barrett, Chairman Publicity Committee John Smith, Chairman Lou Duval Turf Research Burton Anderson, Chairman Manuel Francis, Sr. Albert Allen Phil Cassidy Parliamentarian Phil Cassidy Richard Blake and Floyd Wiget will act as our liason team between the Mass. Golf Assoc. and the Golf Course Supt. Assoc. of New England. Next Meeting Waltham Field Station March 1, 1965 Directors Meeting 10:30 A.M. Business Meeting 11:30 A.M. lunch 12:30 P.M. 1:30 P.M. Education Program Speaker: Cliff Chatter - Head of Shade Tree Lab, Waltham Field Station He will show slides and discuss Shade Tree Maintenance, sprays, fertilization, etc. On March 8, 1965 Sawtelle will hold a maintenance clinic on repairs of: Cushman Golf Carts and Turf Trucksters. Time: 9 A.M. - 5 P.M. Lunch will be served. A Date to Remember March 11 & 12 - Mass. Turf Conference at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. Notice on April 12th Meeting Any Dealer that wants time to speak or show equipment at the April 12th Dealer's meeting - Please contact Tom Curran by the next meeting. Inquiries or notices about Golf Course employment. Contact: Bill Barrett 97 Mill Rd. No. Hampton, N. H. Tel. 964-5372 :0 F President's Message Over the last several years, at our meetings, we have had representatives from all the major insurance companies, in this area, giving their presentation on health and retirement group insurance, and how it may be applicable to the Golf Course Superintendent's Association. It is the consensus of opinionthat Associations, such as ours, will have difficulty getting agoodworkingplan for health and retirement insurance, as a group. Therefore, the problem lies in other areas. More specifically, it is the Employe r ' s problem. A great majority of our Country Clubs, have not faced up to some of their obligations. It was a lot simpler to pass the hat when old "Joe" retired or became ill. Or, possibly the thinking was we will let the incoming "Board of Governors" worry about that problem. Many of our Senior Members are nearing retirement age, and are in need of peace of mind which can be provided with a modest health and retirement plan, sponsored by the Clubs. Today's new breed of college graduates, are seeking and taking only positions that offer the most fringe benefits and possibilities for advancement. While we are not looking for a job 'Utopia', we are looking for improvements in the Country Club whose health and retirement fmids, take care of their loyal and key employees. Let us all sit down with our individual Chairman, and talk over this problem serious. TOMORROW MAY BE TOO LATE ! Leon V. St. Pierre President "It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought ?? —Theodore Roosevelt, 1894 N E W E N G L A N D What do you do during the winter? The usual question asked at our club as winter draws near is, "What does the maintenance department of the golf course do in the winter when there is no grass to care for and everything is frozen and or snowbound." To answer some of these questions I submitted the following letter to the Board of Directors during the past year. "During the winter months, which includes December, January, February, and part of March, the golf course maintenance goes on as usual with variations depending on the weather. The winter golf maintenance personnel are the Golf Course Superintendent and two men working under his supervision. These men are employed all year. "During the winter your Superintendent attends educational meetings that are held by the Massachusetts Golf Course Superintendent's Association, The Massachusetts Lawn and Turf Grass Association, and the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America, all of which he is a member. The greens are subject to very adverse weather conditions varying from 55° above 0° to 10° above 0° to 10°-20° below 0 with snow, ice, sleet, and rain with high winds which tend to dry out and kill the blades of grass. Ice forms suffocating the grass, this has to be broken up if possible. Rain needs to be drained off low greens and out of pockets that might form ice sheets. "There are several species of turf disease which attack and kill the grass. This needs to be guarded against with several applications of fungicide if the snow isn't too deep. All these conditions are doubled on greens because of the very short height of cut. "The equipment used for maintaining the course has to be steam cleaned, taken apart and all repairs made. The bedknives and reelsneedtobe sharpenedto a keen edge then lapped in. Every piece of equipment is greased, the oil changed and then a fresh coat of paint applied. This work is performed by the golf course maintenance personnel. "On good days the woods are cleaned up with cutting and burning of all dead and diseased trees and thick brush on the side of the fairways. Cleaning out the woods in this manner gives the course a much neater appearance, gives the golfer a better chance of NMfTM findingalost ball, and helps the air drainage on the course, very important to disease control. "All the work listed above is only a small part of the work performed in the winter at our club. I hope I have answered any questions about the winter operation at the club. " Perhaps you have noticed as I have the lack of knowledge concerning our profession on the part of our members and the public at large. This can be corrected only if we take itupon ourselves to do some of the educating. I believe that by passing in periodic reports such as the above to -be distributed to the membership that eventually the members will have a better understanding of my job. Thus making relations more pleasant. I think we should all give serious thought to how we might make the public more aware of our profession. Richard C. Mitchell Supt., Thorny Lea Golf Club Brockton, Mass. Anyone who has an interesting idea or article that he would like to have published in the NEWSLETTER, please send it to: Manny Francis 387 Davis Rd. Bedford, Mass. Qolf (Gourde NEW Brae Burn Country Club is rewarding Arthur Anderson with retirement compensation for his over 40 years of valuable service to the club. Arthur is to be retained as consultant during the transition. Those who can remember Brae Burn during its early years, can remark of the excellent job that has been done in the fine selection of Bent grasses. Congratulations Arthur and - enjoyment in your retirement years. The Editor Just a Thought Why does man work? One answer is that he must in order to remain on speaking terms with the landlord and the grocer. But there is another reason. Man works in order to experience the thrill of creativity, in order to know that something of himself has gone out from him to make a difference in the world. From this work man derives a richer satisfaction than that which comes to him by merely opening his pay envelope. The happiest people are the busiest. Leo Bennet ^uperintendenti ^AAociation OF Lucky Arthyr 16 FEB E N G L A N D MANUEL N. FRANCIS Belmont Country Club 387 Dovis Road Bedford, Mass. Phone 275-8830 ^