Maple Sap is Flowing at Glen Echo

I tapped a few maple trees to day and Glen Echo and the sap is flowing nicely. Below is a video of this beautiful sight.

Friday Night Dining Message from Rob Stewart

From Rob Stewart regarding Friday night Dining.(editors note, Beth and I came to the wine dinner last Friday and it was excellant!)

Dining choices at the Club this Friday. Once again Matthew Daughaday will be presenting a wonderful Wine Dinner for you to enjoy.  Last Friday was a smashing success so you don't want to miss out on this one.  The choice menu will consist of a Kale Salad, Ricotta Gnocchi with Chicken Bolognese, Sous Vide Pork Loin, Grilled Teres Major and much, much more.  The complete menu with wine parings will be online soon. There will also be an Ala Carte menu offered for those who do not wish to take part in the Wine Dinner. The Wine Dinner will be served in the Living Room with Ala Carte being served in the Olympic Room and McGrew's Pub.  (Go to gecc.org and make your reservations for either the Wine Dinner or Ala Carte. Thank you to all who have come out the last few Friday's.  The energy around the Club those evenings is something you don't want to miss out on being a part of.  Also, don't forget to sign up for Valentine's Dinner.  The menu is being finalized by Matthew today.  It could be one of the last times to enjoy his spectacular food before he opens his own restaurant in Maplewood this spring  The club is also taking Valentine's reservations for the club reopening.    We look forward to seeing you Friday evening!

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

Well, I thought I heard the phone from my bed as I was preparing to get up not too early Sunday morning.  As I got up and realized it was my phone ringing again, I saw the recall number and it was Skip and I thought, Houston we have a problem because I rarely get calls in the winter from work. I called him back and he said I've got water pouring out of the middle of the tennis courts across 18 and 1 fairways.  I'm thinking to myself why would water be coming across that area?  The pumps are shutoff, no irrigation water is in the system. Well, Skip has been here over 30 years and I asked what do you think it is? Well, he went back into his memory and recalled that it could be a water line that was used to keep water on the clay courts in the days before the courts were running automatically. Luckily, the club was closed so he shutoff the water to the clubhouse and I said we will look at it on Monday.

We thought the leak might be only a foot or two deep so they started hand digging this morning. I was working in the office and was planning on coming up to look what they had discovered once they dug it up but before I could get up there, Skip called and said we will need something to dig deeper.  Our backhoe is too large so I went out and rented a smaller track-hoe that would fit into the gate of the tennis court area and would create a smaller footprint as we drove across the courts.  We used plywood to help reduce the track marks as the machine drove to the middle of the court. Skip dug down a few feet and we started to hand dig again. We always try to finish by hand so that the pipe is not damaged further by the bucket.  Russ found an additional cavity deeper into the court and a possible pipe but we needed to dig another 1 1/2' of material out of the hole.  We had to dig nearly 5' into the court when we finally exposed the leak. It was a 45 degree joint that had failed.  It was a 4" line that we believe fed the golf course back in the day. It had to be installed after 1928 when the existing clubhouse was built. There is no shutoff for the line that we are aware of.  I'm assuming there is a shutoff somewhere for that line but it must have been covered by now. We also found the 1 1/2" line about 2' under the surface of the courts that actually fed the tennis courts while we were digging.

We purchased a cap and One-Lok mechanism which helps to hold the cap in place.  Repair made and water is back on.  We will fill the hole back in tomorrow and will have to scrape up the mud from the clay so additional sections of clay are not contaminated.  The gravel subsurface and clay area will have to be patched once the area settles over the next couple of months. It is very difficult to walk on the courts right now because of the freeze/thaw cycles.  The courts hold moisture and become very sloppy during the day. I would expect the court to be in good shape once we put them back into play in May.

You never know what you might find on an nearly 114 year old property.

After the area was dug out. The brown material is the dirt that washed out onto the clay surface from the blowout.

Russ beginning to hand dig down into the small cavern created by the blowout.

More digging.

The actual pipe and the joint that failed.

After cutting out the joint. significant crack around most of the joint.

Repair made by Skip and Tom, water on and not leaking at this time.

Dormant Fairway Pre-emergent/Poa Annua Spray

Our winter pre-emergent/winter weed application is taking place this week.  You will notice a little dye on fairways marking these areas. We will be spraying the warm season tees next week and doing some touch up around greens.

Normally the app is done in February but no snowfall and moderating temperatures pushed our decision a little early. You never know when a big snowfall might come and push the application late into winter. We are using a generic glyphosate product called Prosecutor Pro.  The glyphosate kills poa annua that has emerged since last fall.  Poa has become active when temperatures for a few days in a row go into the upper 40's-50's. The effects on the poa will become more visible in about 2-3 weeks if temperatures stay moderate. The plant begins to yellow and then bronze and dies.

The pre-emergent is called Ronstar(Oxidiazon) which is the best product to use on warm season fairways. It protects our turf from crabgrass/goose grass outbreaks. It is pricier than other products that we use on our rough but it does the least harm to rooting and is the best goose grass control product. Our fairways are probably the next most important area of the course besides greens so the extra expense.

We have sprayed and used granular product in our rough from year to year depending upon our work schedule. Prodiamine is the chemical name of the product that we use and probably most of the lawns are treated with in St. Louis.  We use this around our tees, greens, a lap or two around the rough and in our club lawn/highly visible areas of the club. There are areas that are more out of play that we do not treat because they are out of sight/mind and not necessary to be completely clean. Wall to wall applications are not environmentally nor are they fiscally responsible to be applied.

Our total acreage sprayed is a little over 25 acres plus a couple of acres of tees and warm season surround areas.

Yours truly spraying 2 fairway on Wednesday.

Friday Night Dinner and Special Wine Dinner from Matthew Daughaday/Andrey Ivanov

This sounds pretty tasty for a January Friday night.  Regular Dining Available as well.  Please see Rob's letter which came from an email sent earlier this morning.  

From GM Rob Stewart

Dear Glen Echo member,

This Friday at Glen Echo offers a special treat as guest chef Matthew Daughaday serves up a spectacular four-course dinner complete with wine pairings. The meal promises to be a sneak preview of the new restaurant Daughaday will open later this year with partner and wine expert Andrey Ivanov.

Created just for Glen Echo, the menu will offer two choices from each of the four courses and a wine selected to match. The entire menu is below.  Matt, formerly of Taste restaurant, and Andrey will attend the dinner to talk about the food and wine as well as their new venture. 

This special event starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be served in the Living Room. The cost is $75, with a food-only option offered as well. Seating for the Wine Dinner is limited to the first 72 reservations.  For reservations, please click here. 

We'll also offer a more casual menu in McGrew's Pub for those not attending the dinner. For dinner reservations for that menu click here.  That menu will feature steaks, seafood, sandwiches, salads and more, so there should be something for everyone at the club this week. We hope to see you here!

Guest Chef Wine Dinner

Course 1

Warm Mushroom Salad

shittake &  oyster mushrooms, goat cheese panna, roasted grapes, walnut vinaigrette and frissé

[2010.  Château Soucherie, "Clos de la Perrières".  Chenin Blanc.  Savenierres, FRA]

or

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

pickled apples, black pepper croutons, crispy bacon

[2013.  Estate Argyros.  Assyrtiko.  Santorini, GRE]

 Course 2

Red Wine Braised Chicken with house made fettuccini

cremini mushrooms, lardons, parsley and lemon

[2012.  Daniel Bouland, "Delys".  Gamay.  Morgon, FRA]

or

Maple and Soy Glazed Pork Belly

shaved brussels, preserved lemon, dates

[2012.  Kiralyudvar, "Sec".  Furmint.  Tokaji, HUN]

Course 3

Pan Seared Trout

crispy chili potatoes , kale, roasted peppers, onions and sauce vert

[2012.  Michel Gahier, "La Vigne de Louis".  Trousseau.  Arbois, FRA]

or

Braised Beef

roasted winter vegetables

[2010.  John Duval, "Plexus".  Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro.  Barossa Valley, AUST]

Course 4

Bittersweet Chocolate Pave

brown buttes caramel, whipped cream, almond croquant

or

Olive Oil Cake

lemon custard, whipped cream, sugared pistachio

Passing of Beth's Mother Fleta Roth

Fleta and Beth

On Sunday evening at our home, Beth's mother Fleta Roth passed peacefully from a life she lived for 97 years and 11 months.  Fleta, Beth and her two brothers moved to St. Louis from Louisiana in 1952 and lived with her sister and her husband in a house across the street from Norwood Hills East Course until around 1990.

Fleta's family includes 3 children, 9 Grandchildren, 13 Great Grandchildren, and 9 Great Great Grandchildren.

Even though it was time for her to go, you rarely ever heard her mention anything except being determined to continue to live life.  Vision was poor, walking on her own was no more, but she had a strong desire to be on this earth.

Our house is now quite.  Fleta stayed with us for almost exactly one year since leaving rehab and her own apartment, yes that's right her own apartment last year.  No oxygen machines, no busting-ling activity from her aide during the day helping to get Fleta ready to face the world, and especially no Fleta.

She has a great memory of her life and told many stories from long ago.  She could also get digs into you from time to time. Sometimes pissing you off and other times leaving you laughing and shaking your head at how did she come up with that one.  Excuse my phrasing but she was full of 'piss and vinegar' which pushed her to nearly 98 years.

We know she is in a much better place. Even Lady has been walking around looking for Grandma. It's going to take us some time getting back to normal in the Wachter household.

                                                              

  Fleta Roth Obituary

Oops, I jumped the gun!

I mentioned in my most recent post that Matt Daughaday will be cooking the next 3 Friday nights.  I understand now that he will cook the 2nd and 3rd week for our members and guests.  It was mentioned that he will be here the 1st night.  Sorry for the incorrect information.  We will still have a great dinner service available Friday night so come out and see us.  Last years January Friday nights were a smashing success!