The Good Fight

Mike Ufkes, past-chair of Landscape Ontario's (LO) Lawn Care Commodity Group, recently passed the torch to Pat O'Toole of O'Toole Lawn Care. Mike left the group with his trademark advice: "Keep up the good fight™

Landscape Ontario, along with the Lawn Care Group, extends a big thank-you to Mike for his hard work and dedication over the past year, and wishes him well on his new endeavors. Mike has accepted a position with the Mississauga Fire Department.

Pat O'Toole comes well prepared for his new position as Chair of the Lawn Care Group. With a degree in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba, Pat started his first company in Winnipeg, in 1981. He sold the company to Chemlawn in 1986, and the same year joined Nutri-Lawn as Director of Technical Operations. Pat developed an IPM program for Nutri-Lawn in 1989, pioneering the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) long before the term was commonplace in the industry. At the time, it was called an "Ecology Friendly" program.

In 1993 Pat started O'Toole Lawn Care, a company that has always operated on the principles of IPM, serving Kitchener-Waterloo, and surrounding areas.

Pat has enthusiastically accepted his new challenge as Chair of the Lawn Care Group. The recent Supreme Court ruling, allowing municipalities to ban the cosmetic use of pesticides, has spawned a rallying of the troops in the lawn care industry. "We're in the thick of the fight right now, but when we come out on the other side, we'll be a better industry for it," he says.

The current focus for the lawn care group is two-fold. Meeting with councilors and municipalities is still very important. 'The fact is that most municipalities have not made their decisions. They are holding back, waiting to see what the others will do," says Pat. On the flip side, the IPM Accreditation program has been set in motion and will keep the group busy with resulting issues.

In the mean time, Pat will lead the lawn care group as they rally behind the IPM flag. "The flag is very defendable," says Pat, who is confident in his ability to keep up the good fight.