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ISA Honors Ken Palmer and Rip Tompkins

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At the ISA meeting in Columbus, Ohio, the International Society of Arboriculture presented its Alex L. Shigo Award for Excellence in Arboricultural Education to Ken Palmer and Rip Tompkins.  The award was presented to each of these ground-breakers in arboricultural education individually, in recognition of their efforts through ArborMaster Training, Inc. to advance working safely and effectively in tree care.  Through their company, Ken and Rip helped establish a new plane upon which the standards of arboricultural safety and safe practices continue to be built.

For Rip and Ken, this award is a double honor.  Not only have they been recognized by their peers for their high accomplishments, but the award is named in honor of fellow New Englander Alex Shigo.  Both Ken and Rip knew Alex personally, worked closely with him and consider him to have been a good friend.  Dr. Shigo, of course, is one of the transformational figures in modern arboriculture.  To have their work now associated with his is something both men take great pride in.

Their receipt of this award breaks a long chain of recipients of this award with largely academic backgrounds.  In announcing the award, ISA acknowledged the innovative nature of the ArborMaster approach.  As Paul Ries, until recently ISA Board President, stated, “When ArborMaster Training came along they changed the way that training was viewed in arboriculture”.   ArborMaster Training was founded 22 years ago, based on a systematic approach that highlighted professionalism, innovation and hands-on practicality. Through in-person classes, videos and other training tools, the company continues to reach a widely diverse and truly worldwide audience of tree care workers and arborists.

It is without a doubt that Rip and Ken have changed the way arborists and tree care workers approach their work.  The field is safer and more safety conscious because of their efforts.  Tree work is being done more efficiently and effectively.  It is also without a doubt that Ken and Rip’s efforts have saved lives.  It is reasonable to say that this award reflects, not just the respect but also the gratitude of the arboricultural community for their accomplishments.

ArborMaster Training is an Allied Member of CTPA

Click to see the official ISA videos of Rip Tompkins and Ken Palmer

 

VA Healing Garden Dedication

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The VA Healing Garden dedication took place last Friday, August 3rd.  It was a magnificent day with the sun shining upon the garden and all who attended.

Bud Neal, President of CTPA

This project started out as a vision of  Bud Neal’s being an Arbor Day tree planting in 2014 and grew into what it is today, a beautiful garden with five trees that represent the five branches of the armed forces, five benches representing the last five wars, an inspiration garden, a rock garden, a scented garden, a patriotic garden and a flag pole with the American and P.O.W. flags.  The Healing Garden overlooks the most amazing view of trees with the sun rising behind them each morning.

Through the support and involvement of the CT Tree Protective Association, the Healing Garden was made possible.  We would like to thank the membership for it’s support, big or small, through monetary contributions and to all who helped with labor, time and materials.  The veterans at the Healthcare Facility appreciate your generosity and are truly grateful to be blessed with this gift that was given so freely by so many people.  Bud Neal and Sandy Ingellis took this vision with their strong leadership and worked tirelessly, through many adversities, to bring the healing garden to the veterans to enjoy for years to come.

We would like to humbly thank F.A. Bartlett, The Tree Wardens’ Association of CT, Eversource, Almstead Tree and Shrub Care and the CT Tree Protective Association for donating the five trees and planting them in the pouring rain on Arbor Day.  We also would like to acknowledge and thank Chris Donnelly, F.A. Bartlett, Phyllis Kelleher and Distinctive Tree Care for their generous donation of purchasing a bench for the veterans to sit and enjoy the outdoors.  And a special thank you to O&G Construction for the donation of the labor, time and material for the sidewalk and stone wall, to Hartford Fence Company who donated the time and labor to put up the fence and the American Legion Post #155 of Woodbury for the donation of the flagpole, flags and solar light.

The honor of cutting the ribbon at the dedication was given to two veterans with Sandy Ingellis, Commissioner Saadi, Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman and Bud Neal.

 

 

 

 

And the very great honor of raising the flag was given to a veteran who has been helping Bud and Sandy with not only his support during the project but watering the trees, plants and grass each day.

Summer Meeting

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Dr. Neil Hendrickson

Field Exhibitors

Airspade

Tent Exhibitors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Summer Meeting took place last week and it was a huge success!  We saw approximately 670 people and a handful of kids at the day’s events. Dr. Neil Hendrickson’s talk on Storm Damaged Trees received great reviews as did the Tick Talks by Dr. Kirby Stafford III and Dr. Scott Williams from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station, the Pre-Flight Bucket Truck Inspections by Matt Anderson and Ben Sewell from Altec Industries, and the Soil Decompaction Using an Airspade by Michael Almstead and Dan Dalton from Almstead Tree and Shrub Care.  We thank all the speakers for their time and energy to come and speak at the meeting.

The weather was beautiful and it made for an easier time of being outdoors to visit the numerous exhibitors both in the tent and in the field.  And as always, the copious amounts of food didn’t disappoint.

Lastly, an enormous thank all the exhibitors that donated to the Oscar P. Stone Research Trust Fund by giving so generously with items and gift cards.

CTPA Renews its Alliance with OSHA and Conn-OSHA

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Back in 2005, CTPA first joined with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and with the Connecticut Department of Labor Division of Health and Safety (Conn-OSHA) in a formal Alliance. Through this Alliance, these three organizations have dedicated themselves to sharing information and promoting training, for the purpose of increasing safety among those who practice tree care in Connecticut.  That initial Alliance was formally signed into being at the 2005 Summer Meeting.  At this year’s Summer Meeting, the three organizations came together to renew their shared commitment to safety and safe practices, through an updated Alliance agreement.

The original Alliance was an outgrowth of the impassioned work of CTPA’s Safety Committee.  When the Safety Committee was first organized, in the early years of the 2000’s, the common understanding was that everyone who works in the tree care industry should have the expectation of arriving home safely at the end of the day.  In those early meetings, the CTPA members who made up the Committee recognized the importance of inviting entities such as OSHA and Conn-OSHA into the discussion.  This was for a variety of reasons.  Partly, there was a desire to demonstrate to the regulators that we as an industry take safety seriously.  It was also in part a search for insight, through improved access to and understanding of the information that OSHA collects.  This included the statistical details on accidents, which have the potential to show how to avoid similar outcomes in the future.  Mostly, the Committee membership was expanded out of a sense of shared mission, as we as a group explored ways to get the key messages out to where they would do the most good.

The Alliance was a natural outgrowth of that shared commitment.  Members of OSHA and Conn-OSHA, as well people from insurance companies, equipment suppliers, utility line clearance specialists and other tree care companies, both large and small, continue to meet as the Safety Committee, and continue to come up with new ways to promote safe practices and increase safety awareness within the industry (see, for instance, the post on the Spanish EHAP course).

CTPA members (and others) who are interested in participating in the work of the Safety Committee are encouraged to contact Emmett Shutts, Committee Chair, or Cathy Dvorsky, CTPA Executive Secretary.

Full Text of the Alliance Document

Clustered around the OSHA banner.  Emmett Shutts, CTPA Safety Committee Chair, has joined the group

Steve and Bud shake hands on the agreement

Ken Tucker (Conn-OSHA), Steve Biasi (OSHA Bridgeport Office), Bud Neal (CTPA President) and Dale Varney (OSHA Hartford) sign the 2018 Alliance Agreement

 

CTPA Code of Safety

The Dedication Date for the Veterans’ Healing Garden Nears

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On Friday, August 3rd, at 1 pm, the Veterans Home and Hospital Healing Garden in Rocky Hill will be officially dedicated, in a ceremony and celebration being organized by the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, with input from CTPA.  It has been a long and winding road, but under the leadership of Bud Neal and through the design skills of Sandy Ingellis, along with the funding efforts of many individuals and groups, the crucial donation of specific items such as the trees, the walkway, the fence and the benches, the many hours of sweat and labor given by many dedicated and willing conscripts to the cause, and the support of the veterans themselves – the Healing Garden is ready for its close-up and its prime time debut.

The Garden is already becoming integrated into the activities around the Home and Hospital, as the walkway has become a site for physical therapy and a place to get outside, shoot the breeze and just enjoy the view.  In some ways, it already had its own, informal dedication when the flagpole was installed on the afternoon of July 12th.  With Sandy and her husband and friend helping out in the 4 gardens that compose the Healing Garden, with Cathy Dvorsky and the Dvorsky children there to lend their support, and with Bud overseeing it all, a crew from Distinctive Tree Care used their bucket truck to lift the flagpole and guide it into its holder.  Nick from Husqvarna, who just happened to stop by to drop off a raffle prize for the upcoming Summer Meeting, also got drawn into the action, as he soon found himself helping to drive wedges to ensure that the flagpole was set perfectly vertical.  That’s the way things happen with a project like this – what’s starts as labor soon starts to feel like a gift, and soon enough even more, as one gets caught up in the spirit and common cause of the moment.  It is good to look back on the work that has been done.

August 3rd will be a day for a certain amount of formalities, for thank yous and for generosity, all well earned.  CTPA members, under whose banner this effort is soon to be completed, are all welcome and invited to attend.   Those who have donated to this effort might like to stop by, on August 3rd or some other time, to see how well it is all turning out.

As for the flagpole, as soon as it was raised, straightened and rigged with the ropes needed, Bud called one of the veterans over to officially raise the flag for the first time.  Soon, the whole Garden space will be turned over to the veterans, to use and enjoy as they will.  For them, and at that time, dedication will be the right word.  Not just for what we have helped create for them.  Much more so, for what they showed themselves, that makes this small gift so worth giving.

The Healing Garden, nearly done

The first raising of the flag up the flagpole

Readying the flag for raising

The Garden being watered by one of the Hospital Residents

Tommy watering the Garden

 

CTPA Summer Meeting – July 19, 2018

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The CTPA Summer Meeting is July 19, 2018 and there is a great lineup of speakers, food all day and plenty of exhibitors to visit!!

You will have the opportunity to earn CT Arborist (3D) – 5.0 CEU’s, (3A) – 1.25 CEU’s, CT Forest Practitioners – 1.0 CEU,  Advanced Certified Tree Wardens – 5.0 CEU’s, ISA – 5.0 CEU’s and TCIA CTSP – 2.75 CEU’s.

Tree Infection and Wood Decay Following Storm Injury – Kevin Smith, USDA Forest Service

Ticks: It Isn’t Just Lyme Disease Anymore – Kirby Stafford III, Ph.D and Ticked Off About Japanese Barberry by Scott Williams, Ph.D

Pre-Flight Bucket Truck Inspections – Matt Anderson and Ben Sewell

Soil Decompaction Strategies Using The Airspade – Michael Almstead and Dan Dalton

On-Line Registration

PDF Registrations
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Thank you 2018 CT-TCC Volunteers

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Group Photo – CT-TCC 2018

Morning Instruction

Work Climb

Scoring

Climber and Volunteer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The climbing competition committee would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped on Friday and Saturday to make the 2018 climbing competition a huge success! Special thanks to Shawn Emmons and Bartlett Tree Experts for donating the use of their bucket trucks, Distinctive Tree Care for help with pruning, Shelter Tree and KONG,USA for coming and supporting the climbers with supplies.

A list of the Volunteers from 2018

Patrick Archain, Eric Barber, J.P. Barksy, Matthew Buck, Chris Donnelly, Melissa Duffy, Bruce Duffy, Cathy Dvorsky, Allan Fenner, Christopher Happ, Rich Herfurth, Charlie Iselin, Al Krivickas, Greg Lukos, Bud Neal, Kate ODell, Jonathan Paragrine, Cindy Placko, Ken Placko, Jose Ramirez, Sean Redding, Matt Reynolds, Danny Rodriguez, Dave Ross, Claire Rutledge, Dennis Ryan, Emmett Shutts, Isaac Taylor, Casey Tresp, Dan Weise, Doug Williams and Kevin Wyatt.

2018 CT TREE CLIMBING COMPETITION A SUCCESS!

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Ready for a great day!

This past Saturday, May 5, 2018, CTPA held its 14th annual CT Tree Climbing Competition.  This year’s competition was held at the CT Veterans Healthcare & Residential Facility in Rocky Hill.  The Department of Veterans Affairs and the veterans themselves were great hosts, while the climbers and others who participated were more than happy to share their love of trees and of tree-climbing with such a great audience.

Twenty-three climbers took part in the competition – 21 men and 2 women.  The location and its trees were right for the role, including the beautiful view provided down towards the Connecticut River.  The competition was also an opportunity to give the many attendees a first look at the Healing Garden being constructed by CTPA.

As in every tree climbing competition, this year’s contest had its moments of drama, grace, bravado and fun.  Drama, perhaps, was watching two relative new-comers to the CTCC, Melvin Garcia and Cassandra Bryant, make it to the Masters Challenge round for the first-time, and each do an excellent job.  Grace is a word that could certainly be applied to Brick Reilly as he flew through each one of the preliminary events, with smoothness and skill.  As Brick is not from Connecticut, he was not eligible to participate in the Masters Challenge round.  He is sure to be a challenger in any future tree climbing events he enters.

Bravado, perhaps, and most definitely fun came in the form of Kyle Davidson, the ultimate champion in the men’s division, who wore a headset during this Master’s climb, so that he could broadcast to the audience as he paced himself through this difficult event.  In the Master’s Challenge, the competitor is given wide discretion as to how he or she approaches the climb, including choosing the means of setting the line and of ascent, as well as the order in which the climber reaches each of the assigned stations.  There was drama, also, as people waited for the final scores from the men’s Master Challenge.  No one knew for sure, before the totals were announced, that Kyle had outscored Tim Reynolds, as both climbs were done efficiently and with clear professional skill.

An equal as highlight of the day came earlier in the afternoon, when the climbers, volunteers and spectators met with the veterans resident in the Healthcare Facility and presented them with t-shirts.  Throughout the day there had been plenty of opportunities for the veterans and the participants to interact.  The t-shirt giveaway was just a nice way to tie together that tie together the fun and excitement of the day with the gratitude that all wished to extend towards the veterans they met.

The final results of the preliminary rounds are available here.

The results of the Masters Challenge are as follows:

Men’s Competition

First Place – Kyle Donaldson, Danielson, CT
Second Place – Tim Reynolds, Watertown, CT
Third Place – Melvin Garcia, Bridgeport, CT

Women’s Competition

First Place – Cassandra Bryant, Stratford, CT

Congratulations all, on a great competition!

More Pictures will be Forthcoming.
See Last Year’s Results

Setting up his next move.

Making her way out on a limb.

Sticking the landing on the work climb!

Crossing over in the work climb.

Aiming high.

The rescue of a dummy in a tree.

Reaching for the next

Exchanging a t-shirt and some stories

The view from the top!

Footlocking!

Moving to the next station.

Taking a break from the climb.

CAES has published the 2018 edition of the Gypsy Moth Fact Sheet

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The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has published the 2018 version of the Gypsy Moth Fact Sheet.  The publication, led by Dr. Kirby Stafford, includes a review of the recent history of the gypsy moth, with maps showing the extent of the 2017 outbreaks in eastern Connecticut and the results of the 2017-2018 egg mass survey, conducted following the completion of the 2017 growing season.

The publication is available as a pdf on the CAES website – this is the publication address: http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/gypsy_moth/gypsy_moth_fact_sheet_update_2018.pdf

Readers might also like to visit the CAES Gypsy Moth Web Site or the CT DEEP Gypsy Moth Overview page.

The CT Tree Climbing Competition – Saturday, May 5

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All are invited to attend the 14th annual CT Tree Climbing Competition, to be held on Saturday, May 5th, at the CT Veterans Healthcare & Residential Facility in Rocky Hill.  If seeing 25 of the state and region’s most spirited climbers participate in the competition is not enough of a draw, this is also an opportunity to see the substantial progress in the construction of the Healing Garden that is taking place under CTPA’s leadership.

The CTCC has become a time-honored tradition of the CTPA because it is fun and engaging for those who watch.  It allows the climbers to show the skill, the knowledge and the dedication to detail, athleticism and technique that it takes to climb a tree well.  Although there are very good climbers – men and women – who participate in the event, the competition is not just about finding out who is the best.  There is a range of people who participate, virtually of whom are testing themselves against their own expectations as well as seeing how they do against the other climbers.  This leads to a strong sense of camaraderie among the participants.  This spirit can be sensed by all who are there – to climb, to volunteer or to watch.  It is a fun day.

This year’s competition will be special because it is to take place at the Veterans Healthcare & Residential Facility.  In part, it is being held there as an outgrowth of the work on the Healing Garden.  In the course of working on the Garden, the volunteers noticed that there are some pretty good trees nearby and that this would make a good place for the climbing competition.  More importantly, the CTCC organizers saw that choosing this venue would be an opportunity to give something back to the veterans who need to spend a lot of time at this facility.  It is not about entertaining the veterans, it is about meeting them, where they are today, in a way that says ‘thank you’.

The Competition starts at around 8 am on the morning of May 5th and will run through most of the day.  The preliminary events tend to wrap up by the early afternoon.  The Masters Competition, to determine the Connecticut champions, will be held after that, finishing by mid-afternoon.

The Veterans Facility is located off of Exit 23 on I-91, at 287 West Street in Rocky Hill, across the street from Dinosaur State Park.

It is worth the effort to come spend part of a Saturday at the event.

Contact CTPA

P.O. Box 1946 60 Church Street,(Rte 68), Suite 3A Wallingford , CT 06492
Phone: 203-484-2512 | Email: info@ctpa.org

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