More Than a Check: Opportunities to Learn (and grow) In Nature
This morning I received a text message from a friend and long-term client. While brief, it was dual-purpose, and gave me the chance to reflect on some of the values myself and the majority of our staff members hold dear. First, he congratulated us (the whole YardScapes team) for raising $10,000 at our 12th Annual Quad Am Golf Classic for Pratt Nature Center this past fall. It turns out that The New Milford Spectrum ran a photo of the formal check presentation with a brief description of the event and outcome this morning on their website. Secondly, it has been a while since we had the opportunity to see each other face-to-face, and he wanted to point out a few grey hairs that snuck in since. Fortunately, time slows for no-one, so I will be sure to scour his Facebook photos for material to fuel my own observations at our next encounter.
Praise, “atta-boys!”, and good natured ribbing are nice, but really, it made me so proud of our staff, outside volunteers, sponsors, and the 120 men and women that signed up for this year’s tournament. While nature and the outdoors are not everyone’s passion, we feel as a company that a connection to these elements is incredibly important. As technology and social norms constantly shift, this link to each other and the world around us seems to become weaker by the day. For example, it is now perfectly normal behavior to stare at a tiny glowing screen instead of making eye contact and holding a face-to-face conversation while out to dinner with family. Technology and all of the ways it allows us to manage our personal and business lives is great, but my hope is that we will never forget to appreciate the very simple things just outside the window and those around us.
Thankfully, Pratt Nature Center has both provided access to and tailored education regarding the natural world to children for over fifty years. I honestly couldn’t think of a more worthy cause than this one, and for that reason we will continue to work with Pratt and their mission as it becomes more important each passing day. It is an uphill battle to cultivate the adoration for the world around us, but they do a great job getting kids and their families outside hiking, playing, learning, and going “wow!” at the simpler things.
Thank you again to our volunteers, players, and sponsors/donors for making the 12th Annual Quad Am Golf Classic a huge success!
