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WE ARE FAMILY By Jay Brooks, Sales Representative, Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation
Alabama Turf Times >>> S u m m e r 2011
It
was a cold, dreary morning, with rain pounding the pavement outside my house in Sylacauga. As I sat at the breakfast table, I received a phone call that would change the remainder of the day and many to follow. “Dude, FarmLinks is burning to the ground!” exclaimed Michael Howell, my co-worker and sales representative from Jerry Tate Turf & Irrigation. When we arrived at the FarmLinks Golf Course maintenance facility, the fire trucks were already there, and the building was engulfed with flames. It was painfully obvious that nothing could be done to tame the situation. It was surreal to stand there with the
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maintenance staff, some with tears in their eyes, and watch helplessly as one of the premier facilities in Alabama burned to the ground. I won’t soon forget the look on the face of David Deweese, superintendent at FarmLinks, while we watched the travesty unfold. As Mark Langner, Director of Agronomy at FarmLinks, walked up to the barn, he could only let out a chuckle and shake his head in pure disgust. At this point, Michael and I realized there was nothing more we could do on site. We let Mark and David know that we were there for them and would exhaust every effort to get them going as soon as possible. When we got in the
truck to leave, we immediately contacted the Jerry Pate Turf & Irrigation Pre-Owned Equipment manager, as well as Andy Cook, our director of sales, to develop a plan of action to get some type of equipment on site as soon as possible. We spent the rest of that day looking for loaner equipment both from JPTI and the Toro Company. What was to follow in the coming days were the most visible acts of kindness, selflessness and professionalism I have experienced within this industry. As news of the fire spread, my phone began to ring with customers calling to find out what had happened, and every single one of them asked the same