This-N-That
Get Info On The Go With Turf Advisor
Having trouble telling buttonweed from buttercup? Don’t know nutsedge from kyllinga? Need instant solutions to weed problems while on the job? You can now be as smart as your smart phone with Turf Advisor by FMC.
Providing instant mobile access to a wealth of weed and herbicide information, the new mobile optimized tool allows turf professionals to search its herbicide database, connect with regional market specialists and distributors and properly identify weeds—all from a smart phone. For more information, visit www.fmcturfadvisor.com .
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Keystone State Games Return To York County
The Keystone State Games, Pennsylvania’s largest amateur athletic festival, will be returning to York for three years of annual competitions beginning in 2015. As part of the agreement, York will also host the 2016 Pennsylvania Senior Games, a biennial event.
The Keystone State Games attracts competitors from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, New York, West Virginia, Ohio and Washington, D.C., although baseball, field hockey and ice hockey are open to Pennsylvania residents only. Since its inception, Keystone State Games, Inc. has attracted more than 350,000 participants of various age groups to their events, which include the Keystone State Summer Games, the Winter Sports Festival and the Pennsylvania Senior Games.
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Over The River And Through The Grass
Sugar Land, Texas just got a little sweeter! River Park is now home to a universally accessible play environment with both traditional and custom play structures designed by Cre8Play. One of its most unique features is its green turf with a realistic grass texture that takes kids up and over an in-ground cave while blue poured-in-place surfacing sends them down a waterfall and through a creek. Custom designed surfacing spans and flows throughout the natural elevations of the entire park.
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Montgomery County Appoints Park Director
Silver Spring, Md.—The Montgomery County Planning Board appointed Michael F. Riley to the position of Director of the Montgomery County Department of Parks, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In this role, Mr. Riley will be responsible for more than 700 department employees including the Park Police Division, over 36,000 acres of parkland, 420 parks and an annual operating budget of $100 million. He began as director on July 21, 2014.
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ASTM Releases Concussion Compilation
W. Conshohocken, Pa.—A new compilation of technical papers, STP 1552, The Mechanism of Concussion in Sports, is available from ASTM International. It includes 17 peer-reviewed papers that examine concussions that occur in sports, including ice hockey, football and speed skating. Topics include understanding concussive forces, techniques to decrease concussive forces, and injury field data and coaching/training techniques. It is available for $85 in print or as an e-book. To purchase it, visit www.astm.org, or call (877) 909-ASTM.
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Field Notes
USA Swimming has partnered with Competitor Swim , a manufacturer of lane lines and other swim products for competitions around the world. The company will serve as the “Official lane line of USA Swimming” through 2016.
To meet the needs of homeowners, as well as commercial builders, designers, architects and business owners, SYNLawn added two more authorized suppliers to its network—Bluegrass Inc. located in Canton, Ohio, and Sports Construction Management, Inc., a sports field contractor in the Coastal Carolina area.
BSN SPORTS has acquired the assets of F&F Sport Shop, Inc. of Orange, Texas. F&F, a supplier of sports apparel and equipment, was founded in 1978.
Eco Chemical Company promoted Jeff Fisher to the newly created position of Business Division Manager for Eco TempLine Athletic Field Marking Systems. In this new role, Fisher will be responsible for all aspects of product management, business development, sales, and service for the division.
FMC Corporation named Bethwyn Todd to lead the company’s BioSolutions and Seed Treatment businesses while retaining executive oversight and brought in Pramod Thota to lead FMC Professional Solutions, the business unit within FMC Agricultural Solutions serving the pest, turf, and ornamental industries.
AquaClimb has added a new distributor for Australia and New Zealand. PlayRope, Ltd . will now be installing AquaClimbs’ recreation and fitness solutions to pools throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Profile Products and American Excelsior have formed an international sales and marketing partnership. It provides Profile with a full line of erosion-control and turf-establishment blankets, and turf reinforcement mats while offering American Excelsior the opportunity to expand its international reach through Profile’s established international distribution network.
Scranton Products , a manufacturer of HDPE restroom partitions and lockers, announced that Renco Sales will be joining their sales efforts in Southern California, Southern Nevada (Clark County) and the state of Arizona.
TempLine Athletic Field Marking Systems selected Burnett Athletics Inc . in Campobello, S.C., to join their network of distributors for their line of athletic field marking products.
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Word On The Web
Thanks For Your Contributions
Ron,
I love your articles and look forward to reading them in every publication (A Step Ahead). Thanks for contributing your thoughts, wisdom, emotion, and ethical beliefs.
Michele L. Thompson, CPRP
City of Greenacres
Director, Leisure Services Department
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Ron,
I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your articles, not only for their content, but because of your overall perspective on things. I believe you and I share many of the same values. I, too, am a long-term employee of this park district, as I started my 37th year earlier this month. Congratulations on your success. Please keep the articles coming!
Kevin L. Haver
Director
Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District
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On “Lost In Communication,” May 9 Week-Ender Blog:
Thank you again for a great column. When I have these type of encounters I remind myself that no matter how hard you try, You can’t fix stupid.
Have a great day.
Gary Stevens, CPSI
Birmingham Public Schools
Birmingham, Mich.
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Goodsnitch Give Parks Answers
Gather of group of parks and recreation professionals and it won’t be long before someone asks, “How can we do a better job of telling our story?” The words aren’t always the same but the question seldom varies.
The Albany Parks and Recreation Department (Oregon) believes a partnership with Goodsnitch, a mobile technology that allows residents to download a free app and provide real-time feedback about the city services they receive, may be the answer. Albany is the first U.S. city to implement Goodsnitch.
One of the most exciting features of the free app is that it provides real-time feedback via an iPhone, Android device, iPad, or tablet. During a large-scale event, customers can instantly alert park personnel as to how the experience is working for them and what might make it better. Out of toilet paper in the restrooms? No problem … staff is on it! Traffic is backing up at the south entrance to the park? Employees know instantly and can change the routing system. Often departments hear from folks too late to impact or change the nature of their experience. Goodsnitch provides on-the-spot opportunities for corrections as well as real-time encouragement for the staff and volunteers who make an event possible.
Be sure to check it out!
Information provided by Katie Nooshazar, Recreation Manager, Albany, Oregon
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Calendar
October
8-10 World Aquatic Health Conference, Portland, Ore.—DoubleTree by Hilton; www.nspf.org
14-16 National Recreation and Parks Association National Congress, Charlotte, N.C.
November
3-6 Georgia Recreation and Parks Association Conference, Jekyll Island, Ga. www.grpa.org
16-19 Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association Conference, Nashville, Tenn. www.trpa.net
24-25 Connecticut Recreation & Parks Association 54 th annual Conference & Tradeshow, Montville, Conn.—Mohegan Sun Hotel & Convention Center; www.crpa.com
December
6-10 American Sports Builders Association Annual Technical Meeting, Ponte Vedra, Fla.—Sawgrass Marriott; www.sportsbuilders.org