Recharge and Reconnect

As we close out another year, I would like to express my thanks to all the members of your VTC Board. During this second year of uncharted obstacles, they were undeterred in the efforts put forth to ensure your education needs were met. Three such events earlier this year were our first Road Show back in June, the 11th Annual HRAREC Turfgrass Field Day plus Pesticide Recertification also in June and the Landscape/ Turfgrass Short Course held December. Great work making all these happen… but it doesn’t stop there.

Upcoming are the Annual VTC Conference (M-A-T-E), February 1–3 at a new location this year: at Virginia Crossings just north of Richmond. Also Come to the Bay will be held February 15–16 in Virginia Beach Both events have must-attend education programs and an opportunity for Pesticide Recertification, Pesticide Core Training and Testing, Fertilizer Certification and Recertification.

An important part of the Come to the Bay is the service project that will be held the day before the conference (February 14th) to plant 15,000 American Beach Grass plants to protect the sand dunes in Virginia Beach. Last year this project planted 6,000 plants. A big thanks goes out to Wes Bray for making this happen both last year and this year.

The Environmental Institute has been very busy as well. They took on a project to mitigate erosion and sediment loss in Petersburg. Planning for this project began back in the summer and it was completed in November. Take time to go to our website under “Environmental Institute Service Project” to see photos. Another project they took on with a sponsorship from Truegreen was the distribution of 25,000 Flowering Pollinators Seed Packets across Virginia.

I would like to make everyone aware of another educational opportunity that is in its second year. This is the Virtual Virginia Tech School of Turfgrass Ecology and Management (VT-STEM). This replaces the Virginia Tech Short Course for Turf in-person course. If this is the first time you have heard about it, be sure to put it in your calendar for next year. The current class started the week of November 7th. The intended audience is anyone desiring a refresher in turfgrass science and/or turfgrass industry employees with little to no formal turfgrass science training. The training is intended for all segments of the turfgrass industry and in year one we had representatives from golf, sports turf, lawn care, sod production, and industry sales all represented. All students that become Certified Fertilizer Applicators and pass all 13 weeks of post‐training quizzes can sit for the Certified Turfgrass Professional Exams upon completion of VT‐STEM in mid-February. All this training is now offered online. There are 45 students in this year’s class.

I will close with wishing everyone the best for the new year. Please take time to recharge yourself and reconnect with your family and friends. We all know how demanding this industry is and how much time you spend out in the field. I hope to see all of you at our upcoming events.

Michael Skelton

VTC President