A Surge of Hope

As we navigate these unprecedented days and times in our lives, we become aware of how nice stability is! So much has changed and been altered in our everyday routines that we’ve become somewhat accustomed to the continual adjustments. With promising news in recent weeks regarding distribution of a vaccine, and with the ending of a calendar year many of us would never like to repeat, we feel a surge of hope. Now is the time to bear down and see these last (hopefully) few months through to a point where we can see golf courses full of players, athletic fields overflowing with kids, supply houses and shops stocked to the roofs, full trucks rolling out of sod farms, and homeowners excited to enhance or improve their lawns and gardens. We can get there, and it won’t come too soon.

Our association has made adjustments to continue to offer a strong slate of events for education and learning. The Road Shows were, of necessity, virtual this year with the usual strong slate of speakers and topics chosen specifically to offer the latest information. Two dates were planned to allow flexibility for members to attend and earn pesticide points. Your ATA Board continues to meet to work out event details for the benefit of our membership. We have the Lawn and Landscape workshop planned later this spring in Gardendale, Alabama, and the Auburn University Turfgrass Unit Field Day, and the Poa annua event are both tentatively scheduled for July. Look for those dates to be announced.

This edition of the Turf Times is once again chock full of important and timely information. Dr. Scott McElroy discusses the latest research and findings on herbicide use, specifically a new herbicide combination of familiar trade names, a new active ingredient product and a new version of an old standby product. No matter what changes we are forced to undergo, there remains a constant struggle for effective weed control. As you read this information there are diabolical environmental adaptations these plants are undergoing to overcome our best efforts to put them in their place. Dr. McElroy's piece will help us work through these issues. Dr. Maria Tomaso-Peterson contributes with information concerning Take-All Disease, another issue most of us will confront or are confronting. When these articles initiate questions or thoughts as you read them through, you can plan to attend one or all of our scheduled events to seek counsel with other members, professional product representatives, or even the authors themselves. The ATA is working for you!

Longtime member Mickey Pitts is our member Spotlight in this issue. Mickey served on the Board for several years, two of which were on the Executive Board. Check out the article to see what Mickey is doing these days.

Moving into the warming months ahead, through the season of renewal, the ATA and Board wish all the members a spectacular spring. We hope to see and visit with you through the year at our events and gatherings.

2021 ATA President