President’s Message

Paul Jester, PLA, ASLA 2021 President

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is excited for new opportunities this year. While the past year has remained challenging, our industry has shown resilience and flexibility in adapting to the changing times. We continue to design, build, and maintain beautiful projects to create landscapes we can all be proud of. LCA is striving to continue offering educational, networking, and fun activities for us to enjoy and keep building a better tomorrow.

As we look to the future, we want to remember that there are always lessons to be learned from the past. One person we can learn from is Audrey Hepburn. Ms. Hepburn, a popular actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood, starred in many critically acclaimed films. Two of her most well known being Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) and Sabrina (1954). She was popular, had a positive reputation, and loved gardening. She would devote herself to gardening and showcased this passion in her final television series, Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn (1993). Audrey Hepburn once said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” I have always enjoyed this quote and believe it relates to many aspects of our profession. There is one interpretation of this phrase that implies the idea of cultivating food, flowers, medicinal plants, and other flora for the immediate tomorrow. But my interpretation of this saying has always been more philosophical and reflects the ongoing relationship between ourselves, nature, and the future. It is a cooperative agreement between the three to sustain and support each other. By planting a garden, not only are we able to appreciate the immediate beauty, but we can grow and cultivate that beauty for future generations to enjoy. This garden can be the physical variety containing trees and flowers, or it can be a garden of actions, teachings, and behaviors that we want to pass along. The garden is not only for us, but for those that come after.

As members of LCA, this quote takes on the literal interpretation as we help to plant the gardens in our region. While we continue to plant the physical gardens, keep in mind that there are other types of “gardens” we can grow within our companies and communities to create a bright future and positive tomorrow. Every project we undertake, no matter the size, can foster a hope for a better and greener future for generations to come.

As we move forward into 2022, I wish you and your families good health, good fortune, and happiness! I hope that all of you have much success during the upcoming year, and I am excited to see the amazing projects you complete during the coming months. Thanks to each and every one of you for your continued involvement in LCA. I look forward to meeting you at our upcoming events—keep an eye out for new opportunities throughout the year.

Let’s continue to plant gardens, believe in tomorrow, and have a great New Year!

Respectfully,

Paul Jester, PLA, ASLA LCA President 2021