February 2023 Greeting from MASFMA President
Happy February to All!
Thank you to everyone who made it out to the National SFMA Conference last month in Salt Lake City, Utah and enjoyed our joint Social with the Virginia SFMA Chapter! In case you missed it, the new SFMA CEO, Laura Simmons, was introduced during our National Chapter Officer Training at the SFMA Conference. One of my goals is to work closely with Laura to get the support our Mid-Atlantic Chapter needs for the future.
Your Mid-Atlantic SFMA Board met last week and is setting the groundwork (no pun intended) for a productive year to come. I am excited and honored to introduce your 2023 Mid-Atlantic SFMA Board of Directors:
OFFICERS
Vice President
Clint Steele, CSFM
UMBC
Secretary
CJ Lauer
The St. Paul’s School
Treasurer
Robert Navolis
MNCPPC
Immediate Past President
Nicole Sherry
Baltimore Orioles
DIRECTORS
College/University
Charles Lakey
Catholic University of America
Commercial
William Brown, CGCS
AQUA-AID Solutions
Education
Dr. Fereshteh Shahoveisi
University of Maryland
K-12 Schools
David Brown
Sussex Technical High School
Park and Recreation
Frederick Johnson
Prince George’s County Parks
Professional
John Turnour
Washington Nationals
I have no doubt that this team will do everything we can to make our Chapter the best it can be!
Mark your calendars! The next Mid-Atlantic SFMA Spring Education Event will be held on Thursday, March 2nd at Laurel Park (198 Laurel Racetrack Rd Laurel, MD 20725) from 7:00 am – 2:30 pm. We have great speakers lined up and will have Pesticide and Fertilizer CEU’s points to hand out! Evan Mascitti, PhD Candidate from Penn State, will be discussing Infield Skin Construction and Renovation and Measuring The Performance Of Baseball Infield Mixes. Dr. Adam Thoms, Assistant Professor from Iowa State, will discuss Plant and Soil Interactions and Examining Hybrid Systems. So, join us at the racetrack to earn your CEU points and learn something new!
Later this month, members of your Mid-Atlantic SFMA Board will be meeting with several newly elected Maryland politicians to support our BMP and lobbing efforts. Thank you to the Maryland Turfgrass Council for partnering with us this year so that collectively we have a seat at the table when it comes to impacting state laws concerning Sports Field Managers, Landscapers and Groundskeepers. Please stay tuned for updates as they come…
In the meantime, I hope you all stay warm and snowless! Please continue to reach out to me with ideas of ways to improve, and I sincerely hope to see you all at our Spring Education Event next month.
Thank you,
Jason W. Bowers, CSFM
President, Mid-Atlantic SFMA
