Wow! Anyone who missed the 46 Annual MTC Winter Conference on December 14, 2021, at Turf Valley Resort missed a real opportunity for up-to-date education, fantastic networking, and of course picking up needed Pesticide and Fertilizer Law Applicator recertification from MD and surrounding jurisdictions plus Education Points from the GCSAA.

We had nearly 350 attendees at the first “live” conference after being required to go virtual last year. Everyone followed our covid policy including not coming if you woke up the day of the conference and didn’t feel well. Thanks to Sara Ellis, these folks were able to join the few who were still not comfortable in a crowd, and 21 gained their credits by watching the Lawn & Landscape Management Session by Zoom.

The speakers were fabulous and included such Turfgrass Specialists like Dr. Doug Linde from Delaware Valley, Brad Jakubowski from Penn State, Brad Parks from Rutgers, Dr. Joe Doherty from Univ. of MD, Steve McDonald from Turfgrass Diseases Solutions, Geoff Rinehart from Univ of MD-IAA, Shavya Peddigari from Univ of MD, David Clement from Univ. of MD H&GC, Dr. Kevin Mathias Univ. of MD Emeritus, as well special presentations from Elliott Downing of USGA, Pete Wendt from Congressional CC and Kyle Steidel from Caves Valley CC, Tom Kirsch from MT Branch GC, Jason Bowers from MNCPPC-Montgomery Parks, and Gordon Kreitser from Chesapeake Valley Seed. A Special “Thank You” one and all for all the fabulous presentations and particularly Geoff Rhinehart and education committee for putting the program together.

But the conference would not be a conference with out all the fabulous displays featuring products from Hydro-Seeders to seed to chemicals to Tiny Robots. Thanks again to all our great vendors. We had 29 booth displays this year including: BASF, Bayer Environmental Science, Central Sod Farms, Finch Turf Equipment, Fisher & Son, Genesis Green Supply, Univ. of MD Institute of Applied Agriculture, K&C Grounds Maintenance Inc., Landscape Supply Inc., MASTMA, Neudorff USA, Newsom Seed, Nutrien Solutions, Sepro Corporation, Spectrum Analytic Inc. Tiny Mobile Robots, and Turf Equipment & Supply. Visitation with all the vendors took place while eating a delightful buffet during the extended lunch provided by Turf Valley Resorts.

Lastly, we wouldn’t have the conference without the generous support of our Sponsors, who each year donate to help defray the cost of the conference and provide more funds to support our University of MD Turfgrass Programs. A very special thanks to Bayer Environmental Science and Pro-Lawn-Plus for being a Friend of the University; Fisher & Son, Noble Turf, Nutrien Solutions, and Syngenta for sponsoring a BreakOut Room; Coffee & Sweets were provided by Harrell’s LLC; while lunch was provided by Landscape Supply and Newsom Seed; and Turf Center Inc. provided for all the mailings.

But don’t fret if you could not join us for our 46th conference. The 47th annual conference is already scheduled, and planning has already started. Mark your calendar for Tuesday, December 13, 2022, and join us right back at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City. Also, none of this would be possible without all the hard work by your MTC Officers and Board of Directors. Thank them when you see them.