Grant Mason of Costa Mesa, Calif. along with his dad, Marc Mason of
Marc Mason Landscape Services and Kevin Cook of Costa Mesa enjoy
tacos at a tailgate party for the CLCA Angels baseball outing at Angels Stadium on August 30.
Photo: Courtesy of Larry Shield

In the midst of a tight pennant race in the Western Division of the American League, CLCA Orange County Chapter hosted a baseball outing. Tacos and soft drinks were enjoyed by the approximately 50 attendees, along with the game won, 2-0 by the Angels over the Oakland A's.

Roy Hartzog of Focus Industries attended the event with his wife, Susan. It was his first time attending an event with the association. He won a raffle to attend instead of the company's regional sales manager.

"We sell our outdoor lighting to distributors throughout the U.S." said Hartzog. "Our customers need to understand about photometrics and illumination. After they specify the projects a lot of them don't know enough and it becomes our problem."

After being involved with CLCA for 10 years, David Horton will become the chapter president. His business, SoCal Concepts, a design, build and maintenance firm, has won nearly 40 CLCA Beautification Awards.

"One of the highlights about being involved with the chapter has been the opportunity to talk to and network with peers," said Horton. "We kind of brainstorm about what's good to do in our businesses."

Horton said he has also traded work with other landscape firms that may be more suitable for the job. They're returned the favor and passed along some clients to him.

"Customers know that if you're in the CLCA, you're going to have a higher professional network," said Horton. "This great organization brings the contractor to a greater level of expertise and raises the bar for them. We've also been able to raise money to build homes for Habitat for Humanity in Orange County."