Asplundh's Role in the 2001 ISA Conference

A highlight of the annual ISA convention is the International Tree Climbing Championship. This year, 43 competitors, seven of which participated in the first ever women's championship, represented ISA chapters from around the world.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – home of great cheese, beer and bratwursts – also played host to more than 1,500 attendees of the 77th Annual Conference of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), which took place August 12-15.

As a Gold Medal sponsor of the ISA Conference, Asplundh supports the event (and the organization overall) in many ways. Asplundh once again sponsored a golf outing, a prize at the Live Auction and gave support to the Tour des Trees, all of which raise money for the ISA Research Trust. Asplundh continues to work hard to leverage its financial support of the Trust into a greater overall contribution from other ISA members and industry suppliers.

In return, Asplundh enjoys the benefits of networking with arborists from all over the world who work in many branches of the tree service industry – utility, municipal, commercial and research. The annual ISA conference is also one of the best places to interact with the utility and municipal foresters who contract for our services. Finally, who could pass up a chance to be in the city where such All-American icons as Harley Davidson motorcycles and Miller beer originated!

Golfing To Raise Research Dollars

After record-breaking heat had sapped the upper Midwest, the weather and the setting could not have been better for Asplundh's 7th Annual ISA Research Trust Golf Outing. Held at the Country Club of Wisconsin in nearby Grafton, about 100 golfers came out to enjoy a scramble format competition on Saturday, August 11 – the afternoon before the conference officially began.

An award-winning prairie-style golf course, the Country Club of Wisconsin proved to be an excellent course for golfers of all skill levels. More importantly, it was a great place to have some fun while raising money for important tree care research and education.

We're proud to say the amount raised for the Trust by this year's golf outing came to a little over $20,000 – many thanks to the players, hole sponsors and Terex-Telelect who provided the Awards Dinner! The winning team, and all the participants in the golf outing, deserve our congratulations for supporting the ISA Research Trust and tree research that benefits the entire industry.

The Field Day and Tour des Trees

A festival atmosphere abounded Sunday, August 12 at the Field Day exhibits and the International Tree Climbers Championship that took place on the grounds of Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. Although Asplundh did not have an employee competing this year, all of Asplundh's conference attendees were there in full force to watch the exciting competition and to see the Tour des Trees riders arrive after their 620-mile trek through the Midwest.

For the fifth time, Asplundh Technical Services Manager Geoff Kempter, raised the necessary funds and pedalled the whole Tour des Trees route from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota to Milwaukee. You would think that the upper Midwest would have been cooler and less hilly than last year's trip through the Middle Atlantic, but it was not to be. The heat indexes for the first five days of the eight-day cycling tour ranged from 95 to 112 degrees and there were numerous grueling climbs in and out of the Mississippi River Valley. But Geoff and more than 90 other riders (some of them partial tour riders) kept chugging away – and they even found time to plant trees in 10 towns along the way!

Public relations (PR) events like tree plantings are an important part of the Tour des Trees and once again, Asplundh sent yours truly, Kristin Wild, to assist with media contacts and logistics along the way. Geoff also helped with PR by participating in various radio interviews.

The company gave other support to the Tour by providing a 12-passenger van, use of a portable public address system and copies of newspaper, radio and TV press coverage. In addition, Manager Dale Enersen safely stored and delivered the riders' bikes at the start of the Tour, Manager Jeff Youngman contributed to a dinner for the Tour on the fourth night and Manager Rod Cornett provided volunteers and riders for the Chicago leg of the Tour. In the end, the Tour des Trees 2001 raised over $450,000, which will go a long way to promote urban tree research. Asplundh is proud to have helped in that achievement.

Asplundh's pole maintenance subsidiary, Utility Pole Technologies, Inc. (UPT), debuted its brand new display booth at the ISA Trade Show in the Milwaukee Midwest Express Center. UPT Management promoted the subsidiary's cost-effective wooden pole inspection and restoration services to utility and municipal foresters.

Trade Show and the 3rd Annual Gala & Live Auction

On Monday, the ISA Trade Show got under way at the Milwaukee Midwest Express Center and several Asplundh sponsors were there over the next two days to meet and greet visitors at the Asplundh booth. This year our subsidiary, Utility Pole Technologies, Inc., joined in as a fellow exhibitor and enjoyed the opportunity to meet conference attendees.

Our final contribution to the ISA esearch Trust came on Monday evening when the Third Annual Gala & Live Auction collected $1,400 for a Historic Philadelphia Weekend Tour, provided courtesy of Asplundh. We look forward to playing our various roles once again at the ISA annual conference next year in Seattle, Washington!