Grounded in his work: Don Fleming
|
Don Fleming, grounds and athletic field supervisor, knows the USI campus so well that he can tell you exactly when the redbud trees bloomed (Saturday, March 7) this year. Fleming is out on campus every day, including weekends and - often - vacation days. Litter is his pet peeve, and since he lives near campus, he will sometimes pick up litter on his days off.
Fleming is responsible for supervising the grounds staff at USI and University properties in New Harmony, as well as a variety of contractors. His pride in the University and in his crew is evident. “I’m lucky. I have a great crew that enjoy working for the University and enjoy what they do, and I think it shows on the campus,” he said.
The first couple of hours of his day are spent cruising around in his white USI pickup truck, making sure that nothing is amiss. “Anything can happen overnight. I check to see if there are things more urgent than I had planned for the grounds staff that day,” he said.
During one day of spring recess (when he generously allowed a News and Information Services writer to join him in his mobile office) crews were attending to many projects throughout campus: trimming trees damaged by January’s ice storm; clearing and relocating trees for the loop road project; replacing trees on the quad; repairing pavement in campus housing; reconfiguring an intramural field for women’s softball; landscaping around the Residence Life Community Center; installing table umbrellas, readying fountains, and generally preparing for the students’ return.
Though Fleming’s role is supervisory, he’s willing to get his hands dirty. “Some days I’m out with the guys, working,” he said. “We’ve been laying sod on the baseball field for the last two days.”
In addition to regular upkeep, Fleming and crew prepare for special events such as the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, which USI will host in November. They will tidy the trails, mow the grass, and stripe and paint an NCAA stencil on the field.
Fleming is responsible for the large Screaming Eagle painted on the grass at athletic events. He ordered a stencil of the design last year, and he and his crew have used it to decorate the baseball, soccer, and softball fields, in addition to its appearance in front the PAC for the GLVC Tournament.
Perhaps the work for which grounds staff receive the most accolades is USI’s gardens and landscaped areas. They are designed by professional landscapers, but USI staff are responsible for their upkeep.
“Landscaping can depend on the architect of the building,” Fleming said. “Sometimes the firm will have their own landscape architect and sometimes we use an independent landscaper.” Fleming and his staff review the landscaping designs. They avoid high maintenance plants, plants that haven’t worked in the past, and trees that attract pests. Sometimes, Fleming will make recommendations. For instance, in high visibility areas he wants lots of color.
This is evident from “the tulip program,” as Fleming calls it, in which grounds staff plant 11,000 tulips a year. In the Grounds Center greenhouse (which was attached to the Wright Administration Building many years ago) the staff grow annuals that replace the tulips. “We grow about 6,000 plants a year in there – marigolds, zinnias – all planted from seed,” Fleming said. The cost-saving measure allows them to get 25 plants out of one bag of seed.
“One day you’ll see tulips, the next day blooming annuals,” Fleming said.
Fleming has worked at USI for 17 years. He was hired as a grounds worker in New Harmony and was named lead grounds worker after six months. Two years after joining USI, he was appointed grounds supervisor. He oversees 11 ground crew members, additional seasonal workers, and student workers, but said he considers himself “one of the guys.”
“When anyone compliments me, I tell them, ‘It’s my crew.’ I’m not out there getting my hands and knees dirty nearly as often as they do.”
Wendy Knipe Bredhold
News & Information Services
812/461-5259 or wkbredhold@usi.edu
USI Home | Academics | Calendar | Athletics | Visitors | Events and News | Administration
8600 University Boulevard - Evansville, IN 47712-3596 - 812/464-8600
Copyright © 2009 University of Southern Indiana. All rights reserved.
