Landscape professionals traveled from near and far to attend the 30th Renewal & Remembrance, presented by NALP and powered by Hustler and DeWalt, held on July 20, 2026.
More than 280 volunteers spread across the 639 acres of Arlington National Cemetery, which stands as a testament to our nation’s history of service and sacrifice.
This year’s service projects included planting flowers, liming turfgrass, hardscaping, installing solar timers on irrigation systems and installing lightning protection in trees. Each of these tasks served as acts of remembrance.
Michael Kravitsky IV, owner of Grasshopper Lawns Inc., based in Larksville, Pennsylvania, has attended every Renewal & Remembrance since it was originally held in February 1996 by the Professional Lawn Care Association of America. He says at the time he never thought the event would last this long, but he is thrilled it has.
“It’s a little blood, sweat, and tears here every year, and it’s all good,” Kravitsky says. “I’m so honored to be here to do this stuff continually for that many years.”
First-time attendee and Air Force veteran Todd Boldin, director of safety for Visterra Landscape Group, based in Rosemont, Illinois, says his favorite aspect of the event was getting to work as a team with the other volunteers.
“It’s fantastic watching how everybody just works together, and they see something, they go do it,” Boldin says. “It’s just great teamwork. That goes back to being a veteran and being a team in the military. So, it’s nice to see that again.”
Another first-time attendee Ashley Hill, VP of HR for seasonal and specialty distribution brands with Stanley Black & Decker, says she had no idea what to expect.
“It exceeded my expectations,” Hill says. “One, just being here, I think you just take it all in and see it’s just such a huge place that hits home for a lot of people, and then just the amount of people who showed up and the work that we’re doing, you can see that it makes an impact.”
Mike Dzurenko, a key account manager for Envu, says this is his 12th year serving, and he always loves attending every year.
“It’s a combination of seeing old friends and new blood coming out here, and I just enjoy being here,” Dzurenko says. “The opening ceremony always touches me, but I think coming back this year, we were in the same area we were last year and seeing that everything we put in was actually alive meant a lot to me this time.”
Army veteran and first-time attendee Will Mack, chief of staff/general manager of north region for Visterra, says he enjoyed meeting people from all over the country with unique backgrounds.
“Everyone’s coming together for the same opportunity of being able to serve once again,” Mack says. “I think we leave this place better than we found it. Not saying that it was not already beautiful, but just the incremental things that we can do here, I think it’s going to make it that much better.”
Phil Fogarty, head of new franchise development for Weed Man, agrees that NALP’s efforts serve as the icing on the cake when it comes to beautifying and maintaining Arlington’s green spaces.
“This place has always been incredibly well maintained,” Fogarty says. “They’ve won so many awards for what they do here. It’s so difficult what they do to have thousands of visitors and up to 25 to 30 burials every day.”
Hill says her favorite part of the event was the chance to get her hands dirty and use some of their tools for the first time. She says giving back during events like this is their duty as a company.
“I think that any time that you can, you should, and when you have the opportunity, whether it be to sponsor something or volunteer time, or even just giving some products, I think you have to,” Hill says.
This year’s event also marks the end of NALP’s leadership of Renewal & Remembrance. Starting in 2027, Project EverGreen will lead this service initiative at ANC.
Many thanks to the support provided by our partners in the form of equipment, materials and labor including title sponsor Stanley Black and Decker and NALP’s additional Elite Partners Aspire Software, Caterpillar, and STIHL.
Renewal & Remembrance also receives support from gold partners Carter Machinery, John Deere, SiteOne Landscape Supply, and Visterra Landscape Group, and from silver partners Envu, Exmark/Toro Company, Heritage Landscape Supply Group, Hunter Industries, Proven Winners, RealGreen by WorkWave, and Vermeer.
