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16 WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION The Canadian International Turfgrass Conference and Trade Show is just around the corner in February. Co-hosted by the CGSA and WCTA, I am excited that such a marquee event is coming to our province this year. When I reflect on some of the correspondence and discussion that has occurred in the past year with the CGSA, WCTA and BCGSA, there are many things that occurred during the year that have me very excited about working together in the future. In April, shortly after our board meeting, I wrote the following letter to the WCTA Board of Directors: Attention: Keith Lyall, WCTA President; Jerry Rousseau, Executive Director Gentlemen, the BCGSA Board of Directors met yesterday, April 2nd to discuss the future of turf grass conferences in the province of British Columbia moving forward. Our Board is excited about the CGSA coming to our Province in 2014 and hope that this letter can express our desire to work hand-in-hand with the CGSA and WCTA to make this event a success. In previous years when the CGSA has come to the province of British Columbia they have formed a partnership with the WCTA to co-host the National Conference. It is our intention and hope that the BCGSA can take on a larger role in co-hosting with the CGSA and WCTA for the National Conference when it comes to B.C. Of even greater importance, we would like to express a desire to form a closer alliance with the WCTA in the years the CGSA is not in British Columbia and believe that a partnership effort will produce the benefits to our members that we are looking for and the financial security that is important to each Association. During our upcoming get-together during your first WCTA board meeting of the year, I hope we can set aside time to discuss future partnership possibilities. In particular, it would be helpful to our board to understand the direction for growth that the WCTA is headed in, and where you see the focus moving forward in growing the association. In any event, I would like to express our desire and commitment to work with you in any way we can to make next year's conference a tremendous success and hopefully develop a foundation and framework for continued success in the future of our associations moving forward. A letter similar to this was also sent to the CGSA Board along with a conference format that the BCGSA Board of Directors felt would enhance the experience of all involved. Part of the 'Conference Concept' included the addition of providing industry an opportunity to participate in part of the education pro- gram with break-out sessions. These sessions would be designed to provide companies the opportunity to provide solid information and education on how their products or services could improve the management programs of Golf Course Superintendents and Professional Turf Managers. I'm excited to report that this year's conference committee has embraced this concept and at this year's show during Tuesday and Thursday's education programs there is a two-hour block of education time set aside to test this concept. At the time of writing this message it looks like these ses- sions will sell out so please make it a priority during your conference experience this year to support our Industry partners and attend what will be a valuable learning experience for you to take back to your facility. The next step in the BCGSA trying to support and enhance the conference experience for this year's attendees was to form a partnership with our Industry Partners to co-host a Thursday night reception at Mahony and Sons Irish Pub during the final evening of the Conference. Our Industry partners, including Keso Turf, Brett Young, Corix, OakCreek, Turf Canada, Direct Solutions and Rollins as Platinum Sponsors, Western Turf Farms, Overton Environmental, Air 2G, Taylors Turf with Natures Gold and Terralink as Gold Sponsors and ISTRC as our Silver Sponsor, have joined resources with us to plan and host a great evening of live music and appies from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Tickets for this event are limited to 400 people and will be included first to all 'Full Conference Package' registrants or available for purchase through the CGSA office. The Dave Creamer Memorial Hockey Game, which has become an integral part of the spring WCTA Conference, will not be held this year during the Conference due to potential scheduling conflicts and lack of a suitable venue close to the convention Center. As we speak, plans are well under way to host this game a few weeks after the conference either in the Vancouver area or Victoria area. We truly cherish the professionalism and dedication Dave Creamer brought to our profession and those around him and we look forward to continuing this memorial hockey game in the very near future and at next year's conference. I am honored at this time to announce this year's recipient of the BCGSA's Industry Recognition Award will be presented to Trevor Smith of Keso Turf for his untiring commitment to serving Golf Superintendents and members of the BCGSA, WCTA and AGA at many levels. Trevor will receive this award during the Awards luncheon at this year's Conference in Vancouver. Congratulations Trevor! Our second step in attempting to work more closely with the WCTA was to invite the WCTA board to a joint meeting following our BCGSA Exchange tournament at Sun Peaks this summer. This meeting was arranged to explore the potential or feasibility of joining as one association or to work more closely to ensure that the services provided by each association met the needs of our respective memberships. Overall, I believe the boards of each association felt the meeting was beneficial but one area of concern held by me personally was that the identity and fraternity we now experience as the BCGSA might be lost if we joined under one larger umbrella as the WCTA has indicated that they feel the greatest opportunity for the growth of their association lies outside of the Province of British Columbia and the Golf Sector. The next variable in evaluating the services the BCGSA should provide to its members resulted when the Ministry of the Environment announced revisions to the Integrated Pest Management Regulations. A summary of how this affects Golf Course Superintendents is condensed here: 1. Golf courses that wish to apply pesticides on their property must have an employee who BCGSA NEWS BY DEAN PILLER BCGSA PRESIDENT'S REPORT WINTER 2014 Continued on Page 18