Update by Dean Willis & Paul Miller
Published in The Newsletter of the GCSANE
November 2003
Letter from Cleve Willis, Dean
College of Natural Resources and the Environment
I am pleased to share some exciting news. This past month, I committed the necessary funds to hire a site design consultant to finalize the plans for the construction of a new building at the UMass Amherst turf facility in South Deerfield. In short, we are fully committed to the final steps for the construction of a new multi-use turf facility at our turf plots, a long-identified need of our turf program. This is a significant investment at a critical time, and we expect to have a building that we can move into by the end of 2004.
Once the site design process is finalized, the project will be put out to bid. The building will be approximately 3,000 square feet, roughly half of which will be open space to store and repair equipment. The building will also contain a laboratory to wash, sort and dry plant materials, a conference room, office and bathrooms. This facility will enable our turf team to collaborate on a number of research projects aimed at solving problems faced by the turf industry in New England and beyond.
I am grateful to the many individuals and professional associations who have already committed gifts and pledges. It is because of their leadership efforts that we are able to move forward at this time, despite challenging economic circumstances. Success follows success, and this building is a critical first step in our overall investment in the UMass Amherst turf program. Faculty recruitment is our next critical initiative, and our new facility will be a great help in attracting top candidates to our turf team.
Throughout the winter, our campaign efforts will raise the additional funds necessary to complete the building fund and to establish an endowment to operate the new facility. This is where we need you! While many have already made their commitments, now is the time for all our alumni and friends to stand up and be counted.
Paul Miller has agreed to organize a campaign structure to establish lines of communication with you, and his message follows my own. Working together, we will revitalize our turf program and build on the tradition of teaching and research that has been the hallmark of our efforts for the past seventy-five years. Ours will be a success that we will all share in, and I am grateful for the participation and support of the golf course superintendents of New England.
Letter from Paul Miller, CGCS
Nashawtuc Country Club
This last year has been a very active year of research, design, and positioning on the journey to finally achieve our goal of a new research facility at the turf plots at UMass. We are better than half way there in funding and now need all the alumni to help.
It is golf that will ultimately benefit from this facility’s research findings, and as stewards of the game we now have a responsibility to our alma mater to help fund this ambitious project. It is with that goal in mind that we will be approaching you for help. You have just read the Dean’s report on our progress to date, and the following plan of attack is how we will organize ourselves to play a role in the new building.
We have established a “leadership council” of ten industry representatives (all superintendents) who will be meeting later this fall to establish a fund raising approach that will not only include individual gifts but also matching gifts from our golf facilities.
These gifts can be one-time contributions or pledges payable over the next five years. Our council members will be contacting you as the winter unfolds. Please be receptive. They will have options as to how to accomplish our mission when they contact you. This structure is designed to be informal, but will also ensure that we will be effective at reaching our financial goal. By using this approach we can minimize a lot of mailings and impersonal advances.
This communication marks the start of our campaign, and the following is a list of people who will be contacting you.
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John Clark – Rochester C. C.
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Thomas Colombo, CGCS – The Ridge Club
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Jim Conant, CGCS – Country Club of Pittsfield
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Charlie Cross – Nassau Suffolk Turf Services
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Steve Curry – Berkshire Hills C. C.
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Gregg Grenert – The Samoset Resort
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Peter Hasak – Tedesco C. C.
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Don Hearn, CGCS – Vesper C. C.
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Wayne Lacroix – Andover C. C.
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Ken Lallier, CGCS – The Quechee Club
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Jim Medeiros, CGCS – Wannamoisett C.C.
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Paul Miller, CGCS – Nashawtuc C. C.
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John O’Keefe, CGCS – Preakness Hills C. C.
We will do our best to see to it that you will only be approached by one of the following. Please keep in mind that this is our chance to re-establish UMass Amherst and Stockbridge School as one of the leaders in turf management, and it is also an opportunity to give something back for what our education has given us.
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