President's Message

Dawn of a New Season

Hello all, I am Rick Catalogna, and I have the honor of being the new president of the Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council. I know that most of you received the letter I sent out asking you to join this great organization of turf professionals and Penn State Alumni once again. Hopefully you read it and signed up to support this great cause and make us strong again. I want to send a quick thank you to our membership for your continued support. It’s not where it was or needs to be, and I plan to change that. But a sincere thank you to everyone who attended one of our conferences this past season or supported us with a booth or sponsorship! We could not have done it without your support.

Another ‘thank you’ goes to Pete Ramsey for his dedicated years of service to our board. He really helped groom me for this position and got the Board through some challenging times. I also want to thank another friend, Thomas Fisher, our now Past President. He was President during a difficult time and came out on the other side and brought us as an organization with him! I can’t thank either of these fine gentlemen enough for what they have done for the PTC. I couldn’t move forward as the President without the people in the past that made it all possible.

Now to the season we are about to embark on. The business that we love to a fault is a cyclical one. We go from a hard season into winterization mode, then late Fall conferences, then into the holidays, then into the Winter Conference season, and the next season is upon us just like that. We all get a sense of cabin fever and are ready to get the year rolling, making Springtime my favorite part of the cycle. A fresh start for the superintendent, landscape contractor, field manager or even a new member joining the maintenance crew. With this new beginning comes many questions: Have I put in place a staff that will work together and accomplish the goals set forth? Have I ordered an inventory of products that will make my life easier? What does Mother Nature have in store for us this year? All these questions lead to optimism for a successful year. All we can do is be ready to tackle it all head on with a new love and refreshed spirit!

I sincerely hope that all of you have a wonderful year–

Rick Catalogna

PTC President