Pride in Workmanship

What do you notice first?

 

Chances are it’s the fields and landscaping.

 

The place looks pretty good, don’t you think?

 

Of course, it does, but it didn’t happen by accident. There’s a plan. There’s execution of that plan. There’s the TLC that makes every planting, lawn, field, and garden present just so. And there’s pride in workmanship. Yes, definitely pride in workmanship…in the humblest sort of way.

 

Collegiate’s grounds department – seven strong – do their jobs to the best of their ability, you see, but they’re not ones to toot their own horns.

 

Their work, though, speaks volumes about their commitment.

 

Picture this: the North Mooreland campus with the sparkling dew at morning arrival. Or this: the lush, green expanse of the Robins Campus at sunset on a fall afternoon. Or either, really, any day, any time.

 

Pristine? If not so, as close as you’ll get when you consider that hundreds and hundreds of people use each facility on any given day.

 

“I’ve told my crew that I don’t give them enough credit,” said grounds manager Jeremy Clark. “But I’ll say this, the whole crew takes pride in what they do.”

 

Clark, who earned a horticulture degree with a landscape design specialization at Southern Illinois University, came to Collegiate in January 2018.

 

Previously, he worked 15 years in a variety of grounds-related posts at the Richmond Country Club. Here, he oversees the care of all athletic fields and open areas, signage, landscaping, sidewalks, parking lots, trash pickup, recycling, and composting.

 

Enough to keep him and his team busy?

 

“Yes,” he replied. “Very much so.”

 

Jesse Garrant and Arthur Johnson man the Robins campus and its roughly 20 acres of fields. During growing season, they cut the grass, weather permitting, each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, ensure the safety of the 1,200 meters of cross country trails, and tend to any other responsibilities assigned them.

 

Robyn Hartley serves as horticulturist and Mike Hamby as irrigation technician.

 

George Cooke is responsible for recycling as well as mowing and edging on the north end of campus. Andrew Stanley, the newest staff member, handles a variety of duties including track collection and landscaping.

 

All pitch in elsewhere when needed. Pitching in, you see, goes with the territory at Collegiate

 

While the school term ends and many take a respite before the next, the grounds folks (indeed, the entire physical plant staff) operate year round. They never sleep, you might say. In fact, they hardly ever doze.

 

There’re routine duties, of course, as well as special projects.

 

“We supervised the drainage enhancements that were contracted out,” Clark said, referencing work during the summer just past. “We ripped out a lot of shrubbery along the loop road by (the) Seal (Athletic Center). A fence company installed a new fence along the parking lot. We’ll come in this fall and fill in some bare spots.”

 

There’s an added push once August arrives.

 

“To get the school ready,” Clark continued, “about three weeks to a month out we start power washing sidewalks and sitting walls. We focus on shrubs that need pruning so when people get here for class, everything looks manicured.”

 

Since Clark came on board, you might have noticed designs different from the familiar up-and-back on some athletic fields.

 

“I try to get creative so when you’re watching a sporting event, you see different mowing patterns on the grass,” he said. “For baseball, we switch up the directions in the outfield. One soccer field, we mowed circles to give it a bull’s-eye look.”

 

Weather is always a factor, especially with the Robins fields.

 

“It plays a huge role,” Clark said. “Last year, it was constant rain. We were trying to figure out when we could even get out there to cut the fields. This year, it’s been the opposite. It’s been dry.

 

“You basically get out there when you can. We’ll put down several applications of fertilizer. Bermuda (grass) likes to feed a lot. It’s nice to have Bermuda. You can do pretty much anything to Bermuda, and it’ll come back.

 

“Shortly, we’ll overseed all the fields with rye grass and get that to grow in and continue to maintain that throughout the winter. So come springtime, there’re nice, green fields to play on. The fields are as time-consuming as any landscaping we do on campus.”

 

First impressions. Right?

 

“Yes,” he said. “The expectation is high. When you drive on campus, the landscape is the first thing you see. It has to be presentable. Curbsides need to be blown off. It’s a tough task. I give full credit to my crew. Without a great crew, none of it gets done.”

     -- Weldon Bradshaw