SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/621615
www.stma.org January 2016 | SportsTurf 7 Allen Johnson, CSFM. johnsona@packers.com T he job would start in the fall after the growing season ended: climb- ing up the silo to throw down the nightly meal of silage (that's chopped corn for you city folks) for the cows' din- ner. It would take approximately 20-30 minutes to throw down enough food with a pitchfork for all the animals to get their measured share. Upon the completion of doling out the silage in the mangers, the next task was to scrape the barn, shovel the gutter's contents into a wheelbarrow, haul the manure outside the barn into a nearby field, and dump into a pile that would freeze during the winter. In the spring that pile would thaw and then be spread as fertilizer. I share these two childhood memories with you because I think of them often when I think of long-term goals. If some- one had told me that I needed to climb to the top of that silo and start unload- ing it with a pitchfork until the silo was completely empty I simply could not have achieved that. If you could have seen how large that manure pile had become by the end of winter before it was spread, you almost wouldn't believe that someone had personally shoveled every ounce of that "&$%^." But I did. I did it all; I just didn't do it all at once. I accomplished it by doing a little each and every day for quite a long time. And so that's how it goes with most goals, especially lofty goals. Typically they aren't achieved overnight. When our association first began I'm sure the goals were quite modest. It started with providing a networking opportunity for individuals engaged in the sports turf industry to exchange ideas, better them- selves, and the playing surfaces they were charged with maintaining. In time the association grew, and the next goal was for the association to achieve financial stabil- ity. Fast forward to today; while we still are engaged with the earlier goals we are also trying to influence public perception about our industry, trying to influence our employers' view about our roles. We are trying to make people realize that the condition of an athletic surface and the level of ongoing maintenance has just as an important impact on the safety of the athletes that play on it as the seatbelt does in keeping you safe in your vehicle. We can all be proud of the STMA's accomplishments over its 35-year history. Achieving lofty goals does not happen overnight, but they can be achieved by steadily working toward them. Given what we have accomplished already, I look forward to seeing the STMA achieve even loftier goals in the future. I am proud of my peers in this industry for their everyday accomplishments, their willingness to improve themselves and their profession. I am also very grateful to them for allowing me the opportunity to serve our association in this capacity. Thank you. ■ ST PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE ACHIEVING GOALS ONE SHOVEL-FULL AT A TIME President: Allen Johnson, CSFM Immediate Past President: David Pinsonneault, CSFM, CPRP President-Elect: Jeff Salmond, CSFM Secretary/Treasurer: Timothy Van Loo, CSFM Vice-President Commercial: James Graff Professional Facilities: Dan Bergstrom Academic: Jeffrey Fowler Higher Education: Matt Anderson Parks & Recreation: Sarah Martin, CSFM K-12: Bobby Behr, CSFM Commercial: Doug Schattinger Elected-at-Large: Jimmy Simpson, CSFM Elected-at-Large: David Anderson Chief Executive Officer: Kim Heck STMA OFFICE 805 New Hampshire Suite E Lawrence, KS 66044 Phone: 800-323-3875 Fax: 800-366-0391 Email: STMAinfo@STMA.org www.STMA.org STMA Editorial Communications Committee Chairman: Sarah Martin, CSFM TJ Brewer, CSFM; Joe Churchill; Jim Cornelius, CSFM; Jeremy Driscoll; Cliff Driver, CSFM; Eric Fasbender, CSFM; Mark Frever, CSFM; Matt Hollan; Jamie Mehringer; Greg Petry; Jeff Salmond, CSFM; Troy Smith, CSFM; Scott Stevens; Dr. Joey Young SportsTurf (ISSN 1061-687X) (USPS 000-292) (Reg. U.S. Pat. & T.M. Off.) is published monthly by EPG Media & Specialty Information at 75 Pike Street, Port Jervis, NY 12271. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sportsturf, PO Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. For subscription information and requests, call Subscription Services at (845) 856-2229. Subscription rates: 1 year, $40 US & Poss.; 2 years, $65 US & Poss.; 1 year, $65 Canada/Foreign Surface, 1 year, $130 Airmail. All sub- scriptions are payable in advance in US funds. Send payments to Sportsturf, PO Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076- 7823. Phone: (847) 763-9565. Fax: (847) 763-9569. Single copies or back issues, $8 each US/Canada; $12 Foreign. Periodicals postage paid at Port Jervis, NY and additional mailing offices. COPYRIGHT 2015, SportsTurf. Material may not be reproduced or photocopied in any form with- out the written permission of the publisher.