Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Announces Annual Awards and Scholarships

The 40th Annual Ohio Turfgrass Conference & Show was held Dec. 5-7, 2006, Columbus, Ohio, drawing 3,717 turfgrass professionals, academia and students to its annual year-end event.  The Ohio Turfgrass Conference & Show, sponsored by the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, The Ohio State University, Ohio State University Extension, and Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center, is the largest regional turfgrass event of its kind.

Breaking from tradition, the 2006 OTF Annual Awards and Scholarships were presented as part of its keynote presentation, rather than a separate awards banquet. 

“The planning committee wanted to make this change to provide the recipients of OTF’s annual awards and scholarships the opportunity to receive important recognition in front of a much larger audience than the Awards Banquet has in the past.  More than 700 industry professionals attended the presentations, giving them a chance to learn more about the educational and research support OTF provides each year, while drawing more attention to these highly-deserving recipients,” explained OTF Executive Director Kevin Thompson. 

The prestigious 2006 “OTF Professional of the Year” Award was presented to long-time OTF member and Past President Joe Duncan.  Duncan, President of Ever-Green Lawn Care, Troy, Ohio, has worked in the lawn care and sports turf industry for 30 years. He was Treasurer when the OTF Turfgrass Research & Education Facility was under construction at OSU in the mid-nineties, served on several committees, and ultimately served as President in 1998.  He was also instrumental in the creation of the Ohio Turfgrass Research Trust, OTF’s tax-exempt, fund-raising division.  

Duncan is active in his community and church, and serves as a football official for high school, Big Ten, and Arena Football.   He is also a Past President of the Ohio Lawn Care Association.

2006 OTF “Professional Excellence” Awards were presented to David Gardner, Ph.D., OSU, Department of Horticulture & Crop Science, and Gary Rasor, Superintendent, OSU Golf Courses. Gardner, who has been at OSU since 2000, earned his Masters Degree at Iowa State University, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He is Chairman of the OSU Turfgrass Science Team, and this past summer was promoted to Associate Professor and received tenure at OSU.

Rasor has been an OTF member for 25 years and spent 36 years maintaining the OSU Scarlet & Gray Golf Courses before retiring in 2006.  All three recipients are highly respected contributors to Ohio’s turfgrass industry.

Additionally, $25,000 in scholarships was presented to fifteen turfgrass students from six different schools around Ohio.  Following is the list of 2006 OTF Scholarship recipients:

• Ryan Boston, Columbus State Community College
• Eric Conley, Clark State Community College
• Aaron Coontz, Clark State Community College
• Paul Double, Clark State Community College
• Joshua Bryant, OSU
• Christopher Frederick, OSU
• Ian Gallagher, OSU
• John Gruneisen, OSU
• Greg Holland, Clark State Community College
• Joseph Lachey, OSU
• Jeffrey Ritzert, OSU
• Erick Shreve, OSU/Agricultural Technical Institute
• Eric Sisco, University of Cincinnati
• Nicholas Stanley, Clark State Community College
• Anthony Weaver, Cincinnati State

At the conclusion of the awards and scholarships program, a check in the amount of $154,017 was presented to the Ohio State University, representing donations in 2006 to the Ohio State Turfgrass Science Program for turfgrass research and education.  In its 45-year history, the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation has donated more than $4 million dollars to turfgrass research and more than $400,000 in student scholarships.

The 41st Ohio Turfgrass Conference & Show will be held Dec. 4-6, 2007, Columbus, Ohio.  For more information about the Ohio Turfgrass Conference & Show or Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, contact OTF at 888/683-3445, or visit www.ohioturfgrass.org.