The holidays were great, and the new year is here. And, while January is a cold, typically dreary month up here in the Northern U.S., baseball and softball will be starting to ramp up down South and out West come January. Yet, despite the cold, January was always the beginning of the season for me back in my days of minding a Major League Baseball field in Baltimore. That was the month I would take inventory of everything we had, from tools to chemicals to seed. That annual exercise provided a snapshot of what I had on hand and made for easier planning when it came time to make some purchases. Plan in hand, I would layout and execute my buying over the month of February so that everything I needed was on the premises by the time we would begin prepping for Opening Day.

A long-standing program that is in the spirit of this planning and effective buying idea is our annual “Poolcar Program” that begins in early January. With the bulk mindset of the program, it’s the time to take advantage of the lowest prices of the year for our bagged product and unfired clay brick. Just like the plan mentioned above, when you place orders in January and February, the materials will arrive in early March for many all the way up to the end of March or early April for those along the Canadian border. This program is great for everyone because orders to close-by locations are “pooled” together for more efficient shipping, and those lower shipping costs are passed on to you.

All essential bagged products are available in Poolcar Program. Things like calcined clays (Turface MVP, Pro League & Quick Dry; Diamond Pro Topdress, Professional, and Drying Agent), vitrified clays (Diamond Pro Infield Conditioner), Crushed Aggregate (Magic Mix), shredded bagged mound & home plate clay (Diamond Pro & Turface), unfired clay bricks for high wear areas, and field marking chalk (Sparkle No.6).

I use the Poolcar Program every year for the West Madison Little League, a local organization that I help out with maintaining their fields. This year we will be purchasing mound clay, chalk and drying agent for the facility — and it will save them a lot money. But now is really the time to get that planning done, because these prices really are for a limited time. It’s only while a heavy volume of bulk shipments are taking place that the savings can be had. Go to the Poolcar section of our site for information and for the super easy automated online ordering, or keep an eye out in your mailbox for information just after New Year’s. Won’t be long now, opening day isn’t far away!