On the Record: Prayerful work
1 Aug, 2008 By: Marty Whitford LM Direct! |
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Tom Shotzbarger |
“Today our efforts are for them — the military veterans and their families and friends.
Brave men and women have sacrificed their lives. We sacrifice a day of effort to improve the beauty and health of this sacred resting place.
Today is not about us. Today is for them.
Your state, the color of your shirt, the tractor you’re riding, the spreader you’re pushing, the shovel you’re using — today these matter not. Today is for them.
What really matters is that we offer our most-sincere efforts to honor the brave souls buried here. Today is for them.
What matters is giving our time and talents. Today is for them.
What matters is that we gratefully serve all who visit and all who abide on this hallowed site, Arlington National Cemetery.
Today we work for them.”
— Tom Shotzbarger, Renewal & Remembrance 2008 Project Coordinator, and GM of Lancaster, PA-based Tomlinson Bomberger Lawn Care & Landscape
I’ve been very blessed in my professional career. I guess you could say I’ve been around the block, and the world.
Over the past 16 years, I’ve covered hundreds of industry events across a number of markets — from tires, rubber, polyurethanes and plastics, to hotels, motels, resorts and bed-and-breakfast inns, to human resources and labor relations, to software systems and other small-business technology, to construction, waste management and “going green,” to pest management, and now onto lawncare and maintenance, irrigation and landscape design/build/installation.
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Husqvarna's Rick Cuddihe and Tom Shotzbarger |
Before that, I served four years in the U.S. Navy. At age 24, I was part of the first wave of Operation Desert Shield, the beginning of the first Persian Gulf War. I was a second-class petty officer aboard the USS Schenectady LST-1185 — now a part of Davy Jones’ Locker thanks to an Air Force-Navy exercise targeting my beloved ol’ home on the seas, I found out much to my dismay a few months ago while surfing the Internet.
Yet in all of my travels and professional experiences — including my first visit to Pearl Harbor and my Navy career-ending stint in the Gulf — I have to admit that this old salty dog has never been so moved to prayerful work and tears as I was July 21, when I had the distinct honor and privilege of participating in the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET’s) 12th annual Renewal & Remembrance environmental enhancement project at Arlington National and Historic Congressional cemeteries.
I guess you could say Tom Shotzbarger, Renewal & Remembrance 2008’s project coordinator, “had me at hello.” I will never forget the aforementioned go-get-’em speech he delivered that day to more than 400 volunteers and about 80 children, or the beautifully open and honest way this mountain of a man showed me and the rest of the Green Industry that it’s more than OK to be brought to tears sometimes.
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Today is for them
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U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk |
This year’s more than 400 volunteers from 170 companies across 27 states marks a record Renewal & Remembrance turn-out. Just as impressive, it comes during uncertain times.
“It’s a tough economic time for us… I thank each of you for donating your time, talents, crews, supplies and equipment to help preserve these national landmarks,” said Jason Cupp, president of PLANET and Olathe, KS-based Highland Outdoor.
Veteran Mac Mcllvried, vice president of TruGreen LandCare, reminded volunteers that while very admirable, their actions on July 21 paled in comparison to the sacrifices of those buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
U.S. Representative Mark Kirk (R-IL) was a guest speaker for good reason. Not only did he put himself through college operating his own lawn care business, but he’s also a Naval Reserve intelligence officer who served during conflicts with Iraq, Haiti and Bosnia, and continues to serve one weekend a month in the Pentagon.
“Freedom is not free,” Kirk said. “The U.S. and its freedoms came by no accident. This special, serene, hallowed ground reminds us of that and just how much is at stake today.”
“The Renewal & Remembrance ceremony tightens me up every time. It’s very touching,” said Bruce Sheppard, a Weed Man franchise owner and subfranchisor. “There’s a tremendous cost to peace, and today is a strong reminder of that.”
John C. Metzler Jr. (Aka Jack), superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, drove home the point when he noted more than 324,000 souls have been put to rest at the 630-acre site. Approximately 6,000 more military heroes join the ranks there each year.
On July 21, Arlington National Cemetery welcomed home to their final resting places 31 freedom fighters. Throughout the day, I heard the beat of brave hearts that have stopped: The sound of taps, three ceremonial gunshots and horse-drawn caissons carrying caskets adorned with our beautiful nation’s flag while color guards marched in perfect step as loved ones — some young widows and their children — said their final goodbyes.
It’s OK to cry.
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Rallying the troops
The Renewal & Remembrance environmental enhancement project certainly has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1997, when about 30 Green Industry professionals volunteered to lime about 38 acres at Arlington National Cemetery.
“The troops have really rallied over the years,” says Phil Fogarty, who co-owns and operates Weed Man subfranchisor Growing Opportunities LLC and was instrumental in launching this annual industry give-back event.
“In the past three years alone, nearly $1 million in time and materials have been donated by Green Industry professionals and their spouses and children, committing one day a year to beautify and honor the grounds at Arlington National and Historic Congressional cemeteries,” Fogarty adds. “Next year’s Renewal & Remembrance will put us over the $2 million mark in labor and materials donated to enhance these sacred grounds.”
Here’s a snapshot of this year’s Renewal & Remembrance work:
- 217,800 pounds of lime were spread across 250 acres of turf at Arlington National Cemetery;
- 34, 848 pounds of lime were spread over 32 acres at Historic Congressional Cemetery, where weed control services also were supplied;
- A number of irrigation installation and maintenance projects were tackled;
- 819 landscape installations were made around Arlington National Cemetery’s Visitor Center and elsewhere, including four American hollies, 50 Christmas ferns, 38 crape myrtles (“Natchez”), six crape myrtles (“Tuscarora”), 292 sedum (“Metrona”), 2,983 Russian sage, six paperback maples, five river birch (“Heritage”), two royal purple smoke trees, two red maples, two white pines, two Kousa dogwoods and 125 Bergenia cordifilia (“Rotblum”); and
- Last but not least, arborist teams worked high in the sky to cable 14 trees and outfit four more with lightening protection across both cemeteries.
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2008 Renewal & Remembrance sponsors included Bayer Environmental Science, Husqvarna, Syngenta, Dow AgroScience, IMERYS, John Deere, Nufarm Turf & Specialty, BASF Corporation, Project EverGreen, The Andersons, Federation of Employers and Workers of America, Helena Chemical Co., J. Thomas, PBI/Gordon Corporation, Shindaiwa and EverGreen Software by Marathon Data Systems. Dozens of other leading industry suppliers and landscape contractors and service companies were listed on the program handout as “in-kind contributors.”
“Most people don’t know what a true honor it is to come and work here — that is, until they come for the first time,” notes Jeff Bisker, president of Your Lawn of Ashville, OH. “Our industry is one of the fortunate few allowed to come into Arlington National Cemetery to work.”
Connected spirits
Walking Arlington National Cemetery can and should be a life-changing spiritual journey. As I trudged the sacred ground’s hillsides, I had more spiritual “moments” than I can remember experiencing in quite some time.
I was awestruck by how many military heroes served America the Beautiful faithfully through three wars.
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I was graced with the gift of a new perspective on time (and on my longtime buddy’s ongoing battle with terminal brain cancer) when I came across the grave of one soldier’s precious baby born March 18, 1950, who died March 19, 1950. None of us are promised tomorrow. Living in the present is so important.
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One larger tombstone really spoke to me: Love Makes Memory Eternal. How uplifting — and how true.
I could not deny the powerful symbolism of a wondrous tree wrapping its comforting bark-built arms around another kindred spirit who has embraced eternal life.
Last but not least, I will never forget this one:
“Entombed within this vault are the remains of … aged 57 years, and his wife … aged 50 years. They closed this mortal scene, she the 27th and he the 28th of April 1811. Only 21 hours separated their departing spirits. … Together freed their gentle spirits fly. … Also the remains of … a lovely infant aged six months, a thrice happy child who saw the light … and led his parents’ way to glory.”
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