Two Events Being Planned for August

With the summer upon us, members of the Western Canada Turfgrass Association are in the process of planning two separate events, one in BC and one in Alberta, both set to take place the third week of August.

Wednesday, August 20 – West Coast Groundsman Rodeo, Cloverdale Athletic Park, Surrey, BC

Hosted by Hugh Norris, Jamey Serediuk and their highly capable team at the Surrey Parks Department, all groundsmen and groundswomen are welcome to attend this full day, low-cost, high value, event focused on hands-on maintenance tips for soccer, football and baseball fields.  One speaker, Mike Hebrard, founder of Athletic Field Design in Portland, Oregon, is tentatively booked and another is in the works. 

Lunch will be provided by the Corix BBQ wagon, courtesy Jed McGeachie and his team and the afternoon will involve a variety of vendors, each hosting a turf maintenance friendly competition to engage participants.  While planning isn’t completely firm and it’s unlikely we could ever secure enough insurance coverage for some of the proposed activities, the concept includes events like ‘blind-folded line painting’, ‘backpack blower soccer’ and ‘z-turn mower obstacle course’, complete with prizes for the winners.

All parks and turf maintenance personnel, from operators to upper management, are encouraged to attend.  Watch for a complete itinerary within the next couple of weeks along with registration instructions.  Note that due to the nature of the talks, CEC points for pesticide certification will not be available.

Thursday, August 21 – Inaugural WCTA Prairie Sportsfield Training Day, Central Memorial High School, Calgary, Alberta

Mike Schellenberg, Supervisor of Grounds & Landscaping with the Calgary Board of Education, along with newly acquired team member, Tom Archibald, former Head of Grounds at Nat Bailey Stadium, home of the Vancouver Canadians, are proud to present the inaugural, ‘WCTA Prairie Sportsfield Training Day’.

After two years of discussion and planning, the decision to move forward with the first ever WCTA sanctioned educational event to be held outside the province of British Columbia wasn’t a difficult one.  Support for the concept from the Southern Alberta Turfgrass Association, along with a need to deliver education to Alberta and Saskatchewan WCTA members, created the opportunity for such an event to be organized.  The tentative itinerary is as follows: 

8:00am-8:30am:  
Welcome Coffee and Registration

8:30am-9:25am:  
Speaker #1  Dave Duncan, THP - ‘Foliar Nutrition, Nozzle Selection, Calibration’

9:30am-10:25am:  
Speaker#2 Mark Jull, Plant Health Division - ‘Soil Fertility and ISTRC Testing’

10:45am-11:45am:  
Speaker#3 TBA ‘Irrigation’

11:45am – 1:00pm Lunch sponsored by Bind Environmental/TerraLink Horticulture

1:00pm – 3:00pm 
Industry Showcase on Football Field:    8 on field equipment supplier demonstrations.    15 sideline tables open for all other industry suppliers.

Our goal is to provide an educational experience for all parks and sportsturf managers throughout the area along with an opportunity to get up close and personal with industry suppliers and their equipment/services.  At the very least, it’s a free lunch!  Note that Alberta pesticide recertification CEU’s are in the application process.

More information for both seminars will be circulated as available.  Be sure to mark your calendar now and plan to participate as they will proceed rain or shine!  

Other upcoming events:

July 15
BCGSA Interior and Kootenay Chapter combined meeting and seminar, Revelstoke Golf Club
VIGSA meeting, Port Alberni Golf Club

August 17-18     
BCGSA Exchange Tournament, Bear Mountain Golf Course, Victoria, BC

August 29-30    
Oregon State University Turf Field Day, Golf Outing and Dinner