Plant/Tree of the Month
March 2003

Meet The Grounds Crew

There are 12 people that comprise the GROUNDS DEPARTMENT at The College of Wooster.

Two provide tender loving care to Wooster's 8 athletic fields.

Three members focus on maintaining the 9-hole L.C. Boles golf course.

Six others attend to campus proper. They take care of the landscapes, walks and parking lots near the dorms, academic, administrative and service buildings and the urban forest areas.

Last but not least is the Director of Grounds Phil Williams who coordinates and oversees all three areas and chooses the path to the future for each area.

Today you meet the men who care for the athletic fields and much of the equipment needed to make athletic events happen.

Jeff Moser (above) - Jeff has worked with athletic turf at Wooster for 14 years. He is a 1989 graduate of OSU/ATI here in Wooster, has had the opportunity to immediately apply what he learned and has continued to expand his knowledge of Athletic Turfgrass Management. He also holds an Ohio Pesticide Applicators License and can diagnose insect, disease and weed problems nutrient and moisture deficiencies and can prescribe and implement curative action. He is well versed on turf pesticides, their appropriate uses and safe handling and application. He has painted many many miles of field lines, mowed untolled acres of turf, repaired irrigation systems, planted hundreds of pounds of grass seed and spread tons of fertilizer.

A man of experience. Lee has cared for the athletic fields at Wooster for over 38 (no it's not a misprint) years. He began manicuring athletic turf about the time the Beatles (the band Paul McCartney was in before Wings) began the British invasion. He points out that he has been here long enough to see the creation of some of the fields he maintains. During his tenure he has seen Wooster evolve. Both the college and the town. There was a town and a college before Wall Mart. There was a time when businesses were closed on Sunday (excepting an occasional restaurant or gas station). Lee has seen Presidents, faculty and staff come and go and in his time a number of campus buildings have popped up replacing green fields.

He projects the steadiness, reliability, patience and understatement that time and experience can bring. His experience gives him the knowledge that whatever a current crisis seems to be, it is in reality no more than a bump in the road.

Things known for certain are that the grass still grows and must be mown 2 or3 times a week and the field must still be painted on time because THE GAME MUST GO ON.

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