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FIELD DAY

46 Members See a Variety of Facilities
In Chaska/Shakopee Tour-on-Wheels


MSTMA held its annual Tour-on-Wheels on August 4.

The first stop was at Shakopee Jr. High School at 8:00 a.m. Dale Wysocki, showcased his softball field and football field's lush bluegrass. Shortly before 9 a.m, 46 members boarded the bus and traveled through the old town of Chaska enroute to the Chaska Athletic Park which was established in 1950, Hosts at Chaska will be Tim Weibe, Public Works Director for the City of Chaska, and Brian Jung, public works foreman for the City of Chaska. The pair, along with Reinders' Jeff Schmidt, talked about some trials and tribulations they have dealt with and still deal with. Most of the issues centered around water. Located just off the Minnesota River, any overflow creates big time issues.

Attendees then moved on to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska where Certified Golf Course Superintendent Jim Nicol showed the group the improvements being made to the nationally-recognized championship course. The group saw various stages of green construction and seeding. Nicol explained the game plan. Although Hazeltine will host the 2016 Ryder Cup, Nicol insisted that the members were the one's who made the call to close the club and deal with the issues that needed attention. It was not a PGA decision.

Mark Erickson hosted the next stop at Canterbury Park. Members learned about Canterbury's facilities and maintenance practices on the grounds track and turf track. Canterbury Park is built on 400 acres. Attendees were able to walk on the track and check out the turf in the infield where races take place. The turf is cut to 6 inches.

The last stop was Winter Park, practice home for the Minnesota Vikings Football Club. Grant Davisson showed the group the outdoor practice fields and the indoor practice facility and the maintenance practices that go along with each.

Reinders, Inc. sponsored a picnic-style lunch featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwursts, chips, cole slaw and more.

Other sponsors of the day included Property Props, The Tessman Company, JRK Seed, Kromer Co., Superior Tech Products and MTI Distributing Inc.




2009
Tour-on-Wheels

MSTMA held its annual Tour-on-Wheels
on July 22. Forty-eight MSTMA members
attended the event. Members registered
and met at the University of St. Thomas
where Coffee and donuts were provided
in the parking lot.

At 8:15 a.m. University of St. Thomas
hosts Roger Weinbrenner and Robert Reed showed members St. Thomas’ new softball field. The group then boarded the bus and traveled to the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium where Mike McDonald,
Josh Graham and Andy Johnson led tours around the classic new stadium.

The opening of TCF Bank Stadium has made
this a fun year for University of Minnesota
Head Groundskeeper Mike McDonald and his
assistants, Josh Graham and Andy Johnson.

Mike McDonald is a past president of the
Minnesota Sports Turf Managers Association
and Josh Graham currently serves on the Board of Directors.

MSTMA members have taken advantage of an opportunity provided by McDonald and the University of Minnesota to be a volunteer on the Gopher Grounds Staff for home football games. McDonald hopes to offer this opportunity for the 2010 season as well.

At 11:30 a.m. the bus headed for Goosepond
Park
in Oakdale where
Randy Bastyr talked
about and showed
where improvements
were made on
the softball fields.

Attendees then went to Woodbury High School and had lunch. MSTMA President Paul Griffin talked to the group shortly after lunch about the sodding and seeding that took place on a mammoth project.


 

The well-fed group traveled to the State Capitol and looked at the grounds. Jay Johnston talked about the way things get done around the Capitol.
 

 



At 3:15 p.m. the group arrived at Macalester College. Jerry Nelson hosted a tour of Macalester’s impressive inside sports facility and the various fields outside. The bus returned to the University of St. Thomas shortly after 4:00 p.m.

 

All destinations were informative and worth the trip.



THANK YOU
SPONSORS!


Special thanks
to our four sponsors of the event: Darrell Ervasti, D. Ervasti Sales Co.; Tom Thul, The Tessman Company; Kevin Manley, JRK Seed and All Pro Turf, and Joe Churchill, Reinders, Inc.
 



 

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Minnesota Sports Turf Managers Association
217-D Minnetonka Avenue South
Wayzata, MN 55391

Phone: 952-473-3722
Fax: 952-473-2586

E-mail: info@mstma.com

Last modified: August 05, 2010