Landscape Architect Articles

LCN Movers & Shakers December, 200412-01-04 | News

Movers & Shakers

Debra Holder

Debra Holder has stepped down as chief executive officer for the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, or ALCA. Holder served in the position for 25 years. She leaves to spend time with her family in Atlanta and to complete a house-building project in Delaware. ALCA staffer Tanya Tolpegin will fill in as CEO while a nationwide search is conducted for Holder’s permanent replacement.

Doug Fender

Turfgrass Producers International, or TPI, has announced the retirement of Doug Fender, the group’s executive director. Fender served for more than 20 years, guiding TPI’s expansion to more than 1,100 members in 40 countries.

The Low Voltage Lighting Institute of the Americas, or LVLIA, has two additions to its Board of Directors. Jim Boyd of San Antonio, Texas-based Boyd Lighting Designs and Matt Bowers of Ashland, Ohio’s Diamond Lites are the board’s newest members. They join fellow board members Michele Swetesich, Andy VandeHey, Duane Koehler and Heinrich Fischer. The LVLIA is based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Advanced Management Institute for Architecture and Engineering, or AMI, has announced several changes at the top. Joseph Rei takes over as manager from Roy Johnson. Also at AMI, Cynthia Crenshaw will supervise corporate learning programs. The AMI is based in Napa, Calif. and offers education programs for architecture and engineering businesses.

Nick Hannappel is Toro Irrigation’s new marketing manager for residential and commercial products. In the position, Hannappel will guide the development of the Toro brand’s long-term marketing strategy.

Dennis Scott Day has moved from his job as Associated General Contractors of America’s executive director of public affairs. With his departure, assistant director of communications Carla Julien is the AGC’s current information contact.

Elizabeth Benac is WilsonMiller, Inc.’s new Principal partner. Based in Naples, Fla., WilsonMiller provides engineering, surveying, planning and architectural services in the southeastern U.S., the Carribean and Latin America.

Bob Piper joins the Associated Builders and Contractors as vice president of workforce development. Piper has been active in ABC for many years and was named “ABCer of the Year” in 1996.

Chris Vasiloff

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has an addition to the group’s board of directors. Chris Vasiloff of Ingersoll-Rand Company, the maker of Bobcat and Club Car vehicles, will serve on the board and oversee policies on product safety and technical support.

Moment of Silence

Gustav Wojke, a longtime landscaper for California’s Department of Transportation, died Saturday, Oct. 9, at his home in Dublin, Calif. He was 79.

Houston B. Couch

Turfgrass researcher Houston B. Couch passed away on Sept. 12 after a heart attack suffered in July. Couch was a professor of plant pathology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the author of numerous scientific papers on the control of turfgrass diseases.

Chester Halka Sr.

Nursery pioneer Chester Halka Sr. passed away on Sept. 11 at the age of 80. Trees from Halka Nurseries in Millstone Township, N.J. have been used at high-profile sites up and down the East Coast, including the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center and The White House.

Trade show pioneer Donn W. Sanford died on Aug. 30 in Tucson, Ariz., aged 64. Sanford served as managing director of the Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show from 1977 to 2000 and founded EXPO, the trade-show magazine, in 1989.

Janie Melsek, a 54-year-old landscape contractor, died July 23, two days after she was attacked by a 12-foot alligator as she worked behind a home on Sanibel Island, Fla.

Alaska electrical engineer Dave Adams died on June 30 in a traffic accident near Humansville, Mo., where he was accompanying his son to a shooting camp. Adams was well-known for his work on landscaping projects and was an expert on electrical design and installation in cold climates.

Lesley Wheel, a board member for the Nuckolls Fund For Lighting Education and an affiliate of the International Association of Lighting Designers, died on April 1. As a tribute, the Nuckolls Fund’s $20,000 annual grant for an introductory lighting program at a college or university has been named the Lesley Wheel Introductory Lighting Program Grant.

Robert M. Morgan, the author of Water and the Land: A History of Irrigation, and president of the Irrigation Association in 1957, died on March 18 in Oregon. He was 91.

Landscape worker Rodney W. Bogdonas died in July when he was thrown to the ground and pinned by his 800-plus lbs. riding mower in Rockford, Ill. Bogdonas was known for organizing and coaching local softball teams.

R. Wayne Skidmore, a former president of the American Seed Trade Association, died on Dec. 28, 2003. He was 93 years old. Skidmore started work with the Hi-Bred Corn Company in 1934. before becoming president and chairman of the board in 1970 and later ASTA president.