Mike J. Gilmore’s Passing Leaves Industry Void Mike J. Gilmore passed away on August 27, 2017 leaving a large void for many industry professionals Another unpredictable Mid-Atlantic summer is upon butwon will the soonbattle, be coming to an end. thego on for in the Mid-Atlantic region. Esophageal cancer mayus, have but Mike’s heartAtwill time of writing this letter it is 58 days to the first NFL game of the year. There were only two days in winning the war. the entire month of May with less than 30% cloud cover (courtesy Tom Tasselmyer). On those two Mike built Growing Solutions’ reputation by providing quality service and solutions for his customers days, we set record highs for the Baltimore area. June quickly followed and was dry as could be including golf courses and athletic fields since 2000. He diversified his company with cultural practices, expected. Latenew in the first week of most all received some No much-needed andsmall. allowed construction andJuly, cost-effective solutions. job was toorainfall big or too He relied renovations, us to the reset button before the final Duvall, push begins. on thehitleadership of Joe Pishtey, James Mario Fonseca, Mauricio Mendoza with over 90 years of industry experience between them. Their portfolio of accomplishments ranged from all levels of clients, Hopefully, there were not many and dentstotodetail your facilities duringofJune July soSolutions your but the common threshold wasdings the attention and execution theand Growing team. members have their properties healthy heading into the final stretch of summer. July has certainly “Mike’s legacy will certainly live on with the team he put in place running the company that he built,” placed a premium on water management. Some facilities went weeks without rain, while others said Paul Schultheis, a friend and partner of Growing Solutions. took on more than they could handle. If it gets funky at your course I want to share some old words Eric Snelsire, Mid Atlantic Area Sales for Bayer, remembers vividly how Last Mikeyear, welcomed him of advice. Sometimes the hardest thingManager for a superintendent to do is to do nothing. I to the area 15 years ago when he first took over Lighthouse Sound in his early days. Growing Solutions followed this old adage with one of my greens, while only mowing it four times over a 2-week contracted out all five Ruark courses before the company invested in it’s own equipment to complete period. Backing off of mowing, rolling programs and herbicide applications will not be the end of the work internally. After the properties handled aeration work internally, Mike routinely stopped to the world. There willequipment be a time in andsupport place inofthe near future to add those programs back into the provide labor and their efforts. rotation safely. “There were numerous accounts of Mike sending equipment in to help get our work done quicker,” said Snelsire. “He help us complete rained when needed additional support.” Hopefully, you would have found some time to work reviewthat thewas initial draftout of our newwestate BMPs, and will offer input to improve the content. Our goal as will be to adopt BMPs at the No facility The consistency of Mike’s willingness to an helpassociation out long after a sale stuckthese out to Snelsire. matter how level down the road, so it is important that everyone understands what is currently in the document. inconvenient it was for him or his business, Mike was always there to be a support system for golf course superintendents. In June, we celebrated the careers of a few individuals. Dr. J. Kevin Mathias was joined by many “He was always there tothehelp whether it was ear retirement to listen, equipment, peers as we celebrated career of “The Goodlending Doctor” an at his celebration labor on theor morale support. Mike was one of the best in the business,” said Snelsire. University of Maryland campus. The turnout was awesome, and it was so cool to see all four of his students from his in first class. traveled from great to honor to their friend, colleague Actively involved both the They GCSAA and STMA, Mike distances took his expertise both arenas. High school fields, soccer, baseball and football were all under the portfolio of turf attended to by Mike. He had a and mentor. great relationship with Nicole McFadyen, head groundskeeper for the Baltimore Orioles. She credits Mike for helping herweteam annually topRick notch the players and fans. It is not a Later in the month, celebrated theprovide career of Fritzconditions at Brettonfor Woods. Many MAAGCS members surprise his devotion to thetheOrioles, they were Mike’s favorite team and punching bag on social media. were on hand to celebrate life of as Rick Fritz at his scholarship fundraiser that will directly
Mike J. Gilmore
“ More important than the quality of service, were the visits. I always looked forward to listening to Mike tell stories about his experience and background” Brad Novotny, Golf Course Superintendent, Hillendale Country Club
support programs Virginia Tech17and the and University Maryland. $40,000 was raised and Park I “Mike had my backatfor the last years, playedofan integral Over role in the success of Oriole at thank all Yards,” those who contributed Camden said McFadyen.in organizing this great event and for all who helped donate such a Continued on p. 5 tremendous gift that will live on. Sadly, we lost a dear friend of the association recently too. Tom Mynaugh will be missed by many and I am sorry that I never got to know him. I learned a lot about him from some of his close friends, and felt we could have been good friends if we had spent more time around each other. That’s why I would like to continue to encourage our members to get out to events and keep meeting your colleagues around the region. I’ve grown so much professionally from the conversations at these meetings and gained many lifelong friends as well. We all share so many things in common just being in this industry, but it’s the things you learn about people outside of the workplace that truly lead to special relationships. Best wishes to all of you for a great summer season and I look forward to seeing you all soon. Michael Bostian Growing Solutions team completes shockwave aeration TurfgrassMatters | Fall 2017
Growing Solutions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards 3