Sports Turf Manager Association

Remembering “Hank”

It is with great sorrow that I share with our members the passing of a very dear friend — Dr. Henry Indyk. Hank passed away Sunday, September 4, at the age of 84. He was one of the early pioneers of several turfgrass organizations such as the American Sod Producers Association (Turfgrass Producers Association), the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the New Jersey Turfgrass Association and the Sports Turf Managers Association. Henry assisted in organizing the New Jersey Turfgrass Association in 1970, the New Jersey Turfgrass EXPO in 1974 (served as chairman for 17 years), Executive Director Golf Superintendent Association of New Jersey (13 years), Executive Director American Sod Producers Association (5 years), Secretary, Sod Association of New Jersey (37 years) and the STMA Board of Directors, Secretary, Vice President, Commercial Vice President, Conference Chair, Certification Committee Chair, Awards Committee Chair and was a member of the STMA Historical Committee along with Dr. James Watson, John Mascaro, Coleman Ward and me.

I am one of those fortunate people who have had the privilege of knowing and working with Henry for over 30 years. I enjoyed this unique association both as a friend, colleague and educator. During the 1980’s, Hank, as friends knew him, was involved in the construction of the Los Angeles Coliseum playing field. This was one of the first sand based fields to be constructed and was a system known as Hy-Play. The Jenks family in Oregon owned the patent to the Hy-play System. Hank called on me during this time to assist in the acquisition of a uniform, medium grade sand for the field. It was interesting since several trucks from the same sand and gravel pit came to the Coliseum to unload but had different sand, which was rejected.

I recall that Hank was very persistent in pursuing a goal, and was hard working, friendly, extremely intelligent (especially when it came to turfgrass problems and their solutions), very generous with his energy and time and a man of very high integrity.

When I took over as STMA’s Executive Director in the 1980’s I would use Hank as a sounding board for concerns and other things since he had been the Executive Secretary of the American Sod Producers Association and experienced similar situations. He usually would complain and be griping so I called him, “Grumpy Hank”. He was fun to be around. He was one of the Directors with the National Sports Turf Council during the 1980's that was organized by the late Dr. Fred Grau. Many groups were represented with Directors including STMA (Dr. Kurtz), the National Football League Players Association (John Macik), Professional Grounds Management Society (Alan Shulder), University of Maryland (Tom Chambers), USDA (Jack Murray), Penn State University (Dr. Jack Harper), The Lawn Institute (Eliot Roberts), The Toro Company (Dr. James Watson), etc. The National Sports Turf Council met either at Dr. Grau’s house in College Park, Maryland or at the USDA office in Beltsville, Maryland. When the National Sports Turf Council was disbanded after the deaths of Fred Grau and Jack Murray, Dr. Indyk started the Dr. Fred Grau Scholarship for STMA with funds left from the bank account of the National Sports Turf Council.

Early Days with Henry

Henry served our country in World War II in both Europe and the Pacific with a field artillery unit. He spent several years getting his education, first at Rutgers University where he received his BS in Plant Science & Soils, then on to Penn State University where he earned his MS & PhD in Agronomy & Soils. His first position was at the University of Delaware (1954-1959) as a Research Agronomist, then on to Rutgers where he excelled as Extension Specialist in turfgrass management (1959-1990). Until 1990 he served the State of New Jersey well in the area of turfgrass management - setting up turfgrass demonstration studies, teaching short courses and providing advice to sports turf facilities and golf courses. Also during this time he was a frequent speaker at turf conferences, seminars and industry groups.

Henry - His Days with Turfgrass Extension and other Ventures

Henry spent 31 years as the Extension Specialist in turfgrass management at Rutgers University. During his tenure he was extremely active putting out many demonstration plots related to various types of weed control and turfgrass fertilizers. All of his turfgrass work resulted in many associations and organizations extending him invitations to speak at their conferences and meetings. I remember when both Henry and I were on the program in Orlando, Florida in the mid 1970's for Erick Madisen who sponsored the National Institute for Grounds Management. Between the two of us we presented 8 different 30-45 minute talks on various aspects of turf and sports turf. Usually these meetings ran for 3 days and we were expected to pay for our airline tickets, most of our meals and at least one nights lodging. We became known as the free speakers. This was the group that supported the early STMA leaders and allowed the infant STMA to hold its first meetings. This was also the group that STMA left when it became an independent organization in 1984. Those distinguished leaders were Dr. Indyk, Dr. Daniel, Dr. Kurtz, Mike Schiller, Dale Sandin, Don Marshall, Harry Gill, David Frey, Steve Wightman, Mark Hodnick and many others.

As many of you know Rutgers University leads the nation as the center for the breeding of cool season grasses. Dr. Reed Funk was a graduate student at Rutgers in Henry's earlier days and it was Henry who convinced him to forego corn research and devote his time to turfgrass breeding. This stroke of genius has resulted in many of the latest and most advanced cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue and bentgrass for the sports turf industry.

The Recent Years

Many of you will remember seeing Henry at the STMA Annual Conference speaking at sessions or helping the STMA staff with conference details behind the scenes. Henry's wife, Mary, was also at the annual conference helping with registration and other volunteer duties. The Indyk's celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary September 6, 2003. They were a wonderful couple who had been an integral part of the STMA family. STMA was very proud of Dr. Henry Indyk and awarded him the prestigious Harry Gill Memorial Award for his unselfish contributions to sports turf (1994). In 1999 SportsTurf Magazine recognized Henry as the sports turf "Man of the Year". In 2000, STMA awarded him with an honorary lifetime membership. It has been due to Henry's personal integrity and his willingness to serve STMA for the benefit of others that made this man a legend.

He claimed at 82 that he was slowing down, but no one knew that because he continued to stay involved with our industry. I thanked Henry many times in the past few years for all he had done for STMA, the Turfgrass Industry and society. As I get older I look around for some of the friends I worked with to build STMA and other turfgrass organizations and many like Hank Indyk, Bill Daniel, Harry Gill, Tom Mascaro, Fred Grau and others are gone. But if it hadn’t been for these individuals who made so many sacrifices and gave so much of themselves there wouldn’t be an STMA today. At the annual meeting in Orlando in January 2006 it is my plan and goal to honor these pioneers and share some of their achievements with all of you.

Editors Notes:

Both Henry and I worked hard to continue the Dr. Fred Grau Scholarship and want to see it continued. As a memorial to Dr. Henry Indyk I encourage all STMA professional members and commercial members to contribute to this worthwhile fund to help young, future STMA Leaders with their school expenses and their education in the sports turf industry.

The conference packs more than 34 hours of education and eight hours of networking with peers to learn from their best management practices. The conference brochure will be arriving on your desk within the next two weeks. For an early preview, click here.

Member Benefit — $50 off Study-at-Home Certificate Program

As an STMA member you can take the University of Georgia’s Principles of Turfgrass Management for $249, a $50 savings off of the regular price of $309. This 14-lesson, distance learning program allows you one year to complete it, so you can work through it at your own pace. Successful completion results in the designation of a Certified Turfgrass Profession (CTP) from the University of Georgia, which is valid for five years and is renewable by recertification. For more information, contact STMA headquarters at STMAinfo@sportsturfmanager.org or click here.

2 Weeks to Showcase your Field

The Oct. 14 deadline is fast approaching to enter your field in the Field of the Year Awards competition. There are five field types for which awards may be given: baseball, football, soccer, softball and complex. For each field type awards may be given in three categories: professional, collegiate, and schools/parks. To be considered for the Complex of the Year Award, the facility must have a minimum of four fields and host a minimum of three different sports. A total of 15 fields could be selected to win this honor! Your field could be one of them. Don’t delay. Click here for the application and submittal requirements.

Student Challenge Teams — 5 Ways to Help Pay for your Trip to Conference!

The 2nd Annual Student Challenge competition is warming up and teams are forming. Here are five easy ways to beat the cost of travel, hotel and food.

1) Conduct fundraisers. An auction is an easy fundraiser. The Iowa State University turf students are hosting an auction to raise money to send their team to the conference. The ISU students created a strong package of auction items including four tickets to the ISU and Kansas State football game. They received them at no charge from the university by following the institution’s application process. Check with your college or university to see if it offers a similar opportunity. If it does not, ask alumni or a professor to donate a pair of their tickets, a practice that the Ohio State University turf students have found successful for their auction. To read about the ISU auction, click here.

2) Contact your college or universities Student Services to see if it has any mechanism to fund a trip for your student organization.

3) Contact your local STMA chapter. Present your need to the chapter. Explain the importance of sending a team to the annual STMA conference. Each STMA chapter has $500 in funding from STMA that can be used for funding a student challenge team if the chapter hasn’t earmarked it for other approved uses such as bringing in an educational speaker. Volunteer to help provide manpower for your chapter’s field day, charitable event or other gathering in exchange for their financial support.

4) Be a SAFE (The Foundation for Safer Athletic Field Environments) scholarship winner. SAFE is STMA’s charitable arm. Winning students receive a $500 stipend towards travel or hotel. Last year STMA awarded more than $18,000 in scholarship and education related travel expenses.

5) Ask local businesses in the green industry to help support your team’s trip. Be sure to make a presentation in writing, citing the importance of sending a team to the STMA conference. Show the conference brochure to the business and point out that the team will share their learning experiences with their peers at school.

6) Mom, dad … ask them to contribute to your conference fund in lieu of a birthday or holiday gift.

All student competitors receive a full conference package absolutely free, which includes all educational sessions, the Welcome reception, Awards banquet, all breakfasts and lunches during the conference.

Be sure to include the names of your team members on the conference registration form.

Take this one step further to the public endorsement of a product, service or piece of equipment. Again, sports turf managers can learn from other’s successes. If you are the endorser, here are a few tips to stay on the ethical side of high integrity.

•Do not accept any payment for endorsement, including personal gifts or favored treatment.

•Do not do the endorsement on “company time.”

•Be sure you have no doubts about the product’s effectiveness and value.

•Avoid any conflict of interest situations. A "conflict of interest" exists whenever an employee's loyalties may be divided between the interest of the facility’s he/she works for, and the employee's own personal interests or those of a supplier. Be certain that your actions do not benefit the interests of the company that makes the product over those of your employer’s interest.

•Be especially cautious of endorsing claims supported by research that is funded by the company that makes the product.

•Always check with your employer before agreeing to publicly endorse a product or service. Many owners do not allow their facilities to appear in promotional photos. Some facilities may have policies that do not allow employees to be in promotional advertisements.
•It is a good idea to explore any product liability issues with an attorney and research the company’s track record, i.e. longevity in the business, solvency, etc. If you endorse a product from a company that goes bankrupt or is under investigation for wrongdoing, it can affect your reputation.

For links to more information on business ethics, go to www.ethicsweb.ca.