1999 Meeting Schedule Western Michigan GCSA January 12 February The Highlands GCSAA March March April 27 May 11 June 14 July 20 August *Roundtable *GAM Heritage Glen St. Ives (Joint with Mid) Country Club of Jackson (Joint with Detroit) Boulder Creek Open September 13 Kent CC October 5 Walnut Hills (Annual Meeting) November 6 *(Fall Party) * Location and/or dates to be ssmA 1 o Ol i " n«qr's Note: Please write me if you if you are interesrenW^BMng an article for us at: Western Views 3725 Cascade Rd.y S.E. Grand Rapids, MI 49546 President's Message: Another Year _ Another year wiser? Let's hope so. We'll need to be. That counts for your professional institutions and your business ventures. The WMGCSA has made "progress" over the last few years and I feel good about "where we are" on the Board and what we do as an association. We've streamlined many of the things we do and standardized how we do events. I'd like to thank those on the current board for their efforts and especially our Secretary/Treasurer, Keith Paterson, and the last two presidents, Paul Schippers and Harry Schuemann, for their decades of hard work in fine tuning the WMGCSA. There is still plenty to do, of course, and it will take some participation from the members. The more we "network," the easier it will be to address the needs of the membership. Job security issues, club management training, golfer etiquette (golfer training!), equipment sharing and Superintendent "Politics" are topics that come to mind. We must participate in our own success, and through the WMGCSA and the GCSAA is the way to do it. Get to know who is on your board and what they do. Feel free to raise your hand at a meeting to ask a question. Talk to Jon Maddern when you see him at the MTC and ask him about what GCSAA is doing for you. You may be surprised that they really are thinking about the average superintendent and not just running with the "fat cats." We need not be afraid to share information and experience. Call me anytime (I can give you AJ's number!). Have a fine '99, Doug Boyle C.G.C.S. President Michigan Room In Orlando, at the National Conference this year, the Hospitality Room for Michigan will be located in the Omni Rosen Hotel. It will be open on the 10th, which is Wednesday, after the opening ceremonies. It will also be open on the 11th and 12th. The room and format will be similar to last year's. Each night, a superintendent from one of the Michigan Associations will be recognized by their chapter for service or achievements. The room will be through supported the generous contributions of vender members and individuals. Financial support in any amount will be greatly appreciated. Donations will be accepted at the door or in advance. If you would like to contribute in advance, please send your donation to: G.D.G.C.S.A. The Michigan Room c/o Kate Mason P.O. Box 173 Troy, MI 48099 Clean the Skeletons Out of Your Closet! A Safe Way to Dispose of Unwanted Pesticides_______ Have you got some yellow ooze starting to show through that old jug of stuff (who knows what it used to be) in the back of your pesticide closet? In a crowded room, rarely do you get anyone to raise their hand to that type of question. Having some pesticides hang around a grounds maintenance operation is not uncommon. What is uncommon is the ease with which you can now dispose of these products, thanks to the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program at the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). There seems to be a variety of ways in which pesticide products can accumulate in the turf and ornamental "green" industry. Inheriting old products, changes in the scope of the business operation, label changes and new products emerging on the market are a few ways that pesticide products can become unwanted, fall out of favor and get pushed to the back of the storage room. Clean Sweep Program The MDA has been aggressively building a mechanism to move old, unusable or unwanted pesticides off your storage shelves and into the hands of disposal professionals. We have conducted several Clean Sweep projects in the past five years for the green industry, but the system just became even easier. The Groundwater Stew ardship Program has been establishing permanent Clean Sweep disposal sites. A total of 11 sites are now operating. Clean Sweep Pesticide Disposal Sites The System Now for the incredible news. There is no cost for those operations that are considered end users of the products. These include ground maintenance, golf courses, athletic fields, and m unicipalities, ...continued on page 3 Chip Hughes Lapeer County Health Department 1575 Suncrest Lapeer, Ml 48446 (810) 667-0391 Elwin Coll Macomb County Health Department 43525 Elizabeth Mt. Clemens, Ml 48043 (810) 469-5235 Darwin J. Baas County of Ottawa Health Dept., Envrionmental Health Division 12251 James Street, Suite 200 Holland, Ml 49424-9675 (616) 393-5645 Thomas G. Waffen SOCRRA 3910 West Webster Road Royal Oak, Ml 48073-6764 (248) 288-5150 Steve Kunselman Sumpter Township 23480 Sumpter Road Belleville, Ml 48111 (313) 461-6201 John Grochot Berrient County Dept, of Planning, Public Works & Land Description 811 Port Street, Room 105 St. Joseph, Ml 49085 (616) 983-7111, Ext. 8617 Brian Horst Treasurer, Delta Solid Waste Management Authority 1100 Delta Avenue Gladstone, Ml 49837 (906) 428-2311 Randall Smith Grand Traverse County 400 Boardman Avenue Traverse City, Ml 49684 (616) 527-5357 Donald Lehman Ionia County Resource Recovery Project 100 Library Ionia, Ml 48846 (616) 527-5357 Dawn George Isabella County Recycling Program 4208 East River Road Mt. Pleasant, Ml 48858 (517) 733-9631 Tom Dewhirst Kalamazoo Co. Human Services Dept., Household Hazardous Waste Center 1301 Lamont Avenue Kalamazoo, Ml 49001 (616) 383-8741 For further information on Clean Sweep or the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program, contact Jack Knorek at (517) 335-2874. Did you hear about the cannibal who passed his friend in the park? Welcome New Members We would like to welcome the following people to our organization! Brian Beridon Assistant Golf Course Superintendent, Lawton Golf Club Erik Frazier Sales & Marketing, Rhino Seeds Bob Foster Assistant Golf Course Superintendent, Fieldstone Golf Club Randy Lane Sales Representative, Century Rain Aid Allen Rigns Scott Lake Country Club Mark Tschirhart Golf Course Superintendent, Branson Bay Golf Club Clean the Skeletons Out of Your Closet, continued_________________________ homeowners. Those who are in the business of selling pesticide application services will be charged a nominal cost: around one dollar per pound. This is a fraction of the cost if you tried to arrange this yourself. Program costs are covered by the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program , a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and services provided by the local cooperators. This includes unknown pesticide products — those packages which have no take advantage of this system, simply contact the site that is closest to your operation, let them know what you have, follow their packing and transport make arrangements to drop them off at the site, and then drive away with a smile, knowing that you have helped your company, the environment and the industry. operations don't have large quantities of unusable or unwanted pesticide products hanging around in storage sheds. More commonly, small am ounts of a few products accumulate over time. This project enables everyone to easily dispose of those few jugs of product that you just don't plan to use any longer, or those that have a big drum of "stuff" in the corner. Make it work for you. A tip of the hat is in order for the MDA and the G roundw ater Stew ardship Program for this proactive approach. in participating in the Clean Sweep program should contact the site coordinator at the location nearest to them. Gregory T. Lyman, Turfgrass Environmental Education Specialist, Department o f Crop and Soil Sciences In general, green industry directions, label. To Persons interested Please patronize our advertisers as they have made this newsletter possible. Advertisers Benham Chemical............................(810) 474-7474 Boylan Sales.................................... (616) 685-6828 Commercial Turf Equipment.............. 1-800-231-5296 Ellis S a le s........................................ 1-800-962-4128 Haz-stor.......................................... 1-800-727-2067 Kubota of Grand Rapids................... (616) 364-7031 Lebanon Fertilizers...........................(810) 673-7146 Lesco .............................................. 1-800-321-5325 Michigan Turf Equipment...................(616) 554-3310 J. Mollema & Sons............................ 1-800-234-4769 O.M. Scott........................................(616) 361-2106 Parmenter & Andre...........................(616) 458-1546 Peerless-Midwest............................ (219) 272-9050 Professional Lake Management........ 1 -800-382-4434 Rhône-Poulenc................................ 1-800-334-9745 Spartan Distributors..........................(616) 887-7301 Standard Sand.................................(616) 842-5180 T.C.I.................................................(517) 725-7145 Terra International Inc....................... 1-800-412-1300 Turfgrass, Inc................................... 1-800-421-8873 Turf Services....................................(616) 842-4975 Valley Turf....................................... (616) 532-2885 Van Manen O il................................. 1-800-654-4244 W.F. Miller Co................................... 1-800-555-8189 ★ * * * * Assistant's Perspective With 1998 behind me, I have finally taken the time to stop, breathe and reflect on last year. What a start to my first job as an assistant! I had just completed MSU's turf school, moved cross-state and then I got married in mid-May. What an exhausting way to learn so much. Hot, dry weather created high ET rates and plenty of wilting. Lots of hand-watering was required, which proved to be tough. 1 had to learn to work, yet be a manager and supervise our em ployees. I had always thought my transition from labor to management would be easy — boy, was I wrong! Management, I learned, not only includes dishing out orders, but motivating employees, daily and weekly scheduling, inventories, ordering IPM management, just to name a few. It involves long hours and a great deal of stress. School can teach you an awful lot, but I seemed to get a crash course in this subject. These factors supplies, and seemed to wear on me as the summer went on. The summer took its toll on the turf as well. Early August came and we discovered that several of our greens were infected with crown-rot anthracnose. We prepared to battle this disease using both cultural and chemical control — all of this while preparing for Golf Day, only a mere couple of weeks away. This needed to be treated late into the Fall. With Fall came the loss of college help. There was lots to be done — pruning, fall projects, leaf cleanup and mowing through November?! A warm late fall that lasted through most of December gave golfers great opportunity for play. However, keeping up with everything and only having limited help proved to be challenging. Being as "green" as I was, I didn't do everything right, and some days I was a pain. But mostly, I tried to keep a stiff upper lip, learn all I could, and do my best. I learned by example and also from my mistakes. For those of you who are "green" and those that are "seasoned," I hope your sum m er was as productive and educational as mine. Aaron Cochrill Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Cascade Hills Country Club 1999 Committee Assignments Education............................... Richter, Antaya, Litogot Scholarship............................. Barton, Fulling, Thuemmel, Fulling Monthly Meeting....................Bathum (dates) Paterson (notices) Thuemmel (activities) Fall Party................................ Paterson, Hopkins, Fulling, Host Golf Day................................. Paterson, Hopkins, Litogot, Fulling, Host Hospitality Room...................Bathum, Fulling GAM .......................................Bathum, Hopkins GCSAA...................................Bathum, Hopkins M TF........................................Antaya, Fulling It's not where you've ... very im portant Newsletter.............................. Bathum, Antaya ..JJfe is about where you 're going. Bylaw and Policy...................Bathum, Boyle Finance/Membership Notification............................ Paterson Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program______ receive Please join us in the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program! Everyone enters the program by attending a workshop where you will the m aterials and information on how the program can work for you. If you m issed the workshop at the M.T.F., the next one will be held March 18 at the Treetops Sylvan Resort in Gaylord. It is a day­ long seminar, starting at 8:30 a.m. and concluding around 3:00 p.m. is This program gaining momentum throughout the state and getting attention at the national level. We welcome your participation and input to make this program grow and develop. A registration form is located in the M.T.F. Turf Conference packet, or to receive additional registration forms or information, please contact Debbie Swartz, M ichigan State University, at swartzd@pilot.msu.edu, or at 517-353-3208. 1999 W. Bruce Matthews Legacy Award ~ PURPOSE ~ To offer educational aid to the children of WMGCSA members as an additional membership benefit. We are looking to reward the well-rounded, thoughtful and charitable student. ~ DESCRIPTION ~ Upon confirmation of eligibility, an independent committee of college-level educators w ill review and judge the candidates' applications. If the WMGCSA Board determines that no student meets the minimum criteria standards, no award will be given that year. ~ ELIGIBILITY ~ 1. One of the applicant's parents/stepparents/grandparents must be a currently active A, B, C or Affiliate class member, and has maintained this membership for three consecutive years. 2. Applicants must be studying or planning to study in a field unrelated to golf course management. (Outside the scope of the Turf Student Award.) 3. Students must be enrolled full-time in an accredited institution of higher education, or accepted at such an institution for the next academic year. 4. An applicant may reapply if they do not win, but there is a limit of one award per student. 5. All other siblings in the family of a winner remain eligible. ~ CRITERIA ~ 1. 500- to 700-word essay on parents' involvement with the WMGCSA and/ or the turf industry. 2. Community service activities, including school or religious volunteer work, neighborhood activities, etc. 3. Academic achievements and honors. 4. Extracurricular activities and leadership skills, including work, sports, hobbies, clubs, etc. ~ DEADLINE ~ For more information or applications, call Roger Barton at 517-773-4331. Completed application forms must be received by April 1,1999. Send forms to: W.M.G.C.S.A. 8585 Winter Forest Rockford, Ml 49341 (616) 363-6728 Classified Ads___ Toro Reelmaster 223-D - Bad motor, reels ground once, new bearings, hoses throughout. Good for second set of reels and parts. $2,300.00 or best offer, or possible trade. Dan Litogot 616- 657-2553. EQUIPMENT FOR SALE - Jacobsen 5-gang or 7-gang Blitzers, good shape. $1,500 for 5-gang, or $1,700 for 7-gang. - Lesco Bunker Rakes, good shape, some new, others three seasons, 150 rakes, $900. - Roseman 5-gang Verticutter with Hydraulic Power Pack and Parts, $250.00 or best offer. - Call A1 Bathum, 616-493-6419. 3725 Cascade Rd., S.E. • Grand Rapids, Ml 49546 P e t e C o o k i ngham MSIJ M a in L i b r a r y W - 212 E a s t L a n s in g Ml 4 8 8 2 4 BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID GRAND RAPIDS, Ml PERMIT NO. 582