Strangers Become Friends and Friends Become Family

It is hard to believe that summer has come and gone and the Deep South Turf Expo will be here in a few weeks. Hopefully, everyone has made their plans to attend and we will see each of you in Biloxi. I am very excited about the opportunity to say hello and fellowship with each of you.

The year has flown by, as I knew that it would. With that being said, it has been such a privilege to serve on this Board with so many great people. If I started to name each of you, I would not have room to add anything else in this message. I always joke that I joined the Board back in the 90’s and that Tricia tricked me into it. That is obviously not true and I have thoroughly enjoyed my entire tenure and this enjoyment is mostly due to you. The ATA has some of the best people in the world and most of those that I have encountered will do anything that you ask of them. This trait comes from something that Dr. Harry Ponder shared when he retired from the Horticulture Department at Auburn. Just as his parents had taught him, His entire career was predicated on him treating everyone the same. To go a little deeper into that is that everyone is special and deserved to be treated in that manner. These beliefs will lead to the philosophy that all strangers become friends that eventually become family. We may disagree about Crimson, Maroon, Orange, Blue, or even Gold but in the end we are all one big family. Thank you for being in my family, thank you for doing what you do, and thank you for making the world a little greener wherever you may be.

Thank you again for allowing me to be your President and feel free to contact me at any time. I know that next year will be another successful year with Devan Peek, Joe Collins, and Ben Anderson as our officers and, of course, Melanie keeping everyone on the same sheet of music. I encourage everyone to continue their support of the ATA and perhaps most of all support the sponsor vendors.

Sincerely,

Kim Byram

ATA President