October 15, 2009
All reports from the CHT certification program in Ottawa, on Aug. 13 and 14, reveal that it was a great success. The event took place at Kemptville College.

“Not only did we finally get some sunshine for the first time this summer, but we now have 10 more CHTs in the Ottawa Chapter,” said project coordinator Rachel Burt. “We have never had such a successful event.  We had a total of 26 candidates come out for the day and 10 left with either their first CHT designation, or some were up to their third.”

The site, which received highest commendation from the international observer, was in beautiful condition thanks to the committed industry volunteers who worked so hard in the weeks prior to the evaluations.  

Those candidates, who are now qualified to put CHT after their name, include:  Ornamental Maintenance - Lynda Blackburn of Garden Creations and Kennedy Johnston of Peter Knippel Nursery; Softscape Installation and Ornamental Maintenance - Dianna Dawson of Rockcliffe Landscaping; Softscape Installation - Serena Hubbs of The Scott Wentworth Landscape Group and Lindsey Ross of Garden Creations; Turf Maintenance - Derrick Boyd of  Greenscape.ca, Chris Smith and Andrew Thompson, both of  Ganden Landscapes; Hardscape Installation and Turf Maintenance - Ryan Kearney of Garden Creations and Hardsape Installation - Rejean Gervais of Paysagement Trillium Landscaping.

In order to make it all possible, the CHT certification requires the assistance of generous sponsors. In Ottawa, they included, Gro-Bark, Permacon, Ganden Landscapes, RJ Rogers, Geosynthetic Systems, Manderly Turf Products, Distribution Viking, Garden Creations of Ottawa, Greely Sand and Gravel, Upper Canada Chapter of LO, Stihl, Echo, Battlefield, Hertz (Matthew’s Equipment), B&T MacFarlane, Allan Johnston Repair and Sales, Kemptville College and Ritchie Feed and Seed.

Great support was also received from a good group of hard-working volunteers. They are: Dan Clost CHT, Rick Mowry CIT, Will Winson, Ben Winsor, John Taylor B.A., CHT, PMC, Stephen Anderson, Shane Jordan CHT, Richard Coleman CHT, Richard Rogers CHT, Chad Smail CHT, Jeff Scott CHT, Paul Doornbos CHT, CLP, Bill Steen, Trevor Cullen CHT, Chris Klingbeil CHT, Bill Bitz, Brad Koski CHT, David Stewart CHT, Sonja Hirsig CHT, John Bloskie, Phil Lindsay CHT, Sally Harvey CHT, CLP, Sarah Johnston, Darrell Kekanovich CHT, Tim Kearney CLP, Jeff Lowartz CHT, Clifford Ruth CLT, CLP, Rachel Burt, Nina Vanderlinden, Chris Burns CHT, Lynn Lane, Welwyn Wong, Tim Dyer, Bruce Morton CIT, CIC, CID, CLP, and Kassie Harvey.

Caption: Hard-working volunteers