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“Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate” was the message of the day as Arlington National Cemetery Superintendent Jack Metzler gave the go-ahead for lawn, landscape and tree care professionals to get started on their generous day’s work.
With high humidity, temperatures in the mid 90s and a heat index over 100, the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) certainly wasn’t blessed with the most comfortable day for its ninth annual Renewal & Remembrance event at Arlington. But participants, well aware of their surroundings and its reason for being, acknowledged that there were many sacrifices greater than simply going without air conditioning for a day.
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PRIDE IN GIVING BACK. “Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps,” said Frank Dudek of Carroll Tree Service, Owings Mills, Md. In the past, Dudek said his company has participated in similar events with the Tree Care Industry Association, though this was his first with PLANET. “People give so much for our freedom and so many people take that for granted. It’s a good feeling to give back and show our appreciation personally and professionally.”
Dudek was among an estimated 250 green industry professionals visiting Washington, D.C. for the Renewal & Remembrance project – the largest turnout yet for the event. Additionally, about half of the attendees were participating for the first time. Susan Haynes was one of them.
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“We started our company about three years ago and we were always looking for new ways to network and get involved,” says Haynes, who owns North Carolina-based Lawn Master Landscaping Services with her husband Chad. “The entire time we’ve been in business, President Bush has been advocating for more volunteerism among Americans and we wanted to do our part – but there’s not a lot we felt we could really do. As we got involved with the Professional Landcare Netwrok, we were introduced to these types of events like the Renewal & Remembrance project now we’re finally able to participate.”
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Fittingly, the Hayneses inaugural experience at Arlington National Cemetery was part of another first: a large-scale landscaping aspect to the usually lawn-related event.
“PLANET is a new name in the industry, there are a number of first-timers here today and as the team gets bigger and better, we’re so happy to see some sorely needed landscaping going in at the visitor’s center,” Superintendent Metzler said during his welcome speech to attendees. “Our master plan has us continuing to develop the cemetery into the year 2060 and your participation today is helping us meet our vision.”
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ENVISIONING THE PAST. Indeed, having a vision was an important aspect of the day’s work. During the day’s opening ceremony in the amphitheater near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, industry veteran Gus Pionke of the Brickman Group dedicated the event to the military veterans’ who found their final resting place at Arlington.
“The men and women buried here have made the ultimate sacrifice and I’m proud to be associated with an industry that gives of itself in remembrance of those sacrifices,” Pionke said. “But today, I want everyone here to take a more personal approach to remembering the fallen men and women who served our country.” Pionke encouraged each attendee to pick out a headstone in the cemetery, read the name, rank, and service the soldier performed and imagine what he or she might look like. “We’re all aware of the significance of our work here today, but what would these people think of it if they could see you here today? What would they say?”
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According to project coordinator Phil Fogarty, his chosen soldier told him to “live greatfully” and “keep earning it.” “Our participation in the Renewal & Remembrance Project and the associated Legislative Day on the Hill is all about what it really means to be a citizen in the United States,” Fogarty said at a dinner held for attendees later Monday evening. “All of us here for this event are earning our citizenship by taking advantage of our access to the nation’s history and its future through our lawmakers. When we meet with senators and congressmen and their staffs tomorrow, we’ll be walking right into the middle of ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people,’ and we’ll really be able to ‘keep earning it.’”
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MORE HANDS, MORE UNDERSTANDING. As the PLANET Renewal & Remembrance Project continues to grow (the first event had just 60 attendees), the group is able to cover more ground than ever at Arlington National Cemetery.
Fogarty announced that the roughly 250-member team limed 280 acres of cemetery grounds in less than five hours; applied weed control to 40 acres; provided $30,000 worth of tree pruning, cabling and grounding; and landscaped the visitor’s center with 1,000 plants and 960 labor hours. Additionally, clean-up efforts at Old Congressional Cemetery, southeast of the Capitol building, has yielded a more beautiful property than when the group first started donating time there two years ago. Efforts across both cemeteries, including donations of a blower, bed edger, glyphosate, pre- and postemergent weed control, time, and labor, yielded a total donation of $164,000 to Arlington National Cemetery and Old Congressional Cemetery.
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Besides the thanks of the Arlington staff and feeling uplifted about such a generous donation, some Renewal & Remembrance participants noted that, over time, the event has brought about stronger, more positive recognition of the green industry as a whole.
“It’s always a great feeling to be a part of something like this, and we make sure to involve ourselves in similar events locally when we’re back in our own town,” said Jeffrey Bisker, owner of Your Lawn, Ashville, Ohio, and current president of the Ohio Lawn Care Association. “But beyond that, this is our third year participating and I can tell that the image of our industry is really changing because of the good works that we do. They don’t just see us as an industry that works with ‘chemicals’ and ‘pesticides’ without any regard for people’s well-being. Instead, when they see that we’ve put together a program like Renewal & Remembrance and that we’re trusted by an institution like Arlington National Cemetery, people start looking at us differently – better.”
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Steve Stansell, agreed. “I brought my whole family to the event and we’re really proud to be a part of it,” said the marketing manager Syngenta Professional Products’ lawn, landscape and aquatics business. “It’s not just contractors, but also companies on the formulary side of the business that have an interest in coming to Washington to talk to our legislators and get our hands dirty along side the rest of these crews. It’s a great experience.”
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PLANET President Dan Foley thanked attendees and looks forward to an even bigger turnout next year. “I’m so proud of our team and our industry that they would offer such a great gift to the American people,” Foley said. “I’m so thankful to all of our participants, some who have come very long distances and some who have closed up shop for a day to be here with us. We’re all dedicating our skills to these two cemeteries and to the environmental rewards of a healthy lawn and landscape. I think I speak for everyone here when I encourage other companies to join us in future efforts. By working together, we can make a huge difference.”
