Director’s Corner

It has Always Been About People

Written January 19, 2023

Stan Stagg died a few days ago. His obituary was in yesterday’s paper. Stan is a turf and lawn legend in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. His business specialized in helping clients establish and maintain golf course quality lawns. Yeah, he was that good.

Last summer, the signs were ominous: his latest cancer attack was without mercy. Although he successfully fought this crippling disease for nearly a decade, the finality of the latest surge was evident. Treatments robbed him of his voice and prevented him from being outside. Shame. He loved conversation and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.

Stan was a fighter.

His pesticide applicator certification was expiring at the end of June and he needed a class to meet recertification requirements. He knew about the program we were conducting at the Hampton Roads AREC. He attended that event many times throughout the decades. Mostly held outdoors, under a merciless summer sun, the training class was an annual tradition, and Stan was a regular fixture at the front of the crowd soaking up the latest studies and asking insightful questions.

Two years ago, Dr. Derr, head of the Hampton Roads AREC, understood Stan’s health concerns and made sure he had a seat in the cab of the water truck that followed the 200 participants as they moved from research plot to research plot. Stan could still hear, but his cherished spot in front of the crowd was taken by another.

Stan contacted me last spring. He wanted to attend the annual recertification class but even the provision of an air-conditioned truck was not adequate. He needed to remain indoors.

An online class (several are available) was not possible. Stan wanted to be with people – not alone staring at a computer screen.

“Do you have another class I can attend? I need it before June 30 or else I will lose my pesticide license,” his email read.

“We have one,” I replied, “but it is a private event for TruGreen at their Norfolk facility. I’ll check with them. Perhaps they will allow you to attend.”

“My wife needs to be with me to care for some of my physical needs,” he typed back. I could hear the sheepishness in his words.

“Of course!” was the answer from TruGreen’s manager when I told them of the situation and asked if Stan and his wife could attend their pesticide recertification class.

Stan and his wife arrived on time. No surprises there. His weakness and cancer’s toll on his body were obvious. He walked slowly and deliberately and he “talked” through a mini-white board and markers. They sat in the back of the training room. During breaks, Stan made his way to me and used the white board to ask questions and to make insightful comments on the lesson.

Everyone knew this would be Stan’s last recertification class. The disease would not allow him to attend another. He lived just six more months.

It is always about people.

Jeff Derr, the leaders at TruGreen, and many others enabled Stan to maintain his dignity and pesticide applicator credentials to the end. They could have said “No. It is too much of a bother.” They didn’t. They, and many others, recognized the importance of the individual.

We work in a great industry.

Tom Tracy, Ph.D., VTC Executive Director