The Ag Systems Technology (AST) Club welcomed April with its annual lawn mower service day fundraiser at Sukup Hall.

Lawn mower service day is a way for the club to give back to the community while also promoting their club.

Koy Vander Leest, AST president and junior in ag system technology, is in charge of setting up this fundraiser, as well as club meetings and industry tour trips.

“We do the fundraising events to help the community out,” Vander Leest said. “Because not everyone is mechanically inclined enough to do it, and we can do it cheaper than going somewhere else where they service them.”

The club starts roughly two months prior to the event, because the shop and parking lot need to be reserved.

“A lot of us are farm guys so we’ve all done this before,” Vander Leest said. If someone doesn’t know how to service a lawn mower, members of the club will sit down with them and show them how to do it. Once they feel comfortable, they’ll let them service lawn mowers on their own.

“We always stress to please ask questions, because if they don’t know, they’ll find someone who does,” Vander Leest said.

The club has a mailing list that they send postcards to every year to past customers, and they’ll bring back their lawn mower year after year. The service includes an oil change, a blade sharpening, a power wash, a new spark plug, and a half tank of gas.

Zane Torrance, senior in agriculture studies, has been doing this event for two years after he transferred in from Black Hawk College East Campus in Illinois. He started off servicing lawn mowers and just filling in where he could, and is now in charge of the logistics of the event like checking everyone in and collecting money.

When dealing with a high pressure situation, customer satisfaction is always his main priority, Torrance said. “I got to make sure I keep the customers moving as quickly as I can, and not fall behind.

“If I don’t have to type it into the computer right away I won’t until there’s a dead minute or two.”

The AST Club doesn’t require dues as service day fundraisers are a way for them to support the club’s activities. Every meeting they generally order Jeff’s pizza, and try to take a few industry tour trips every semester.

“This is a way [for club members] to work for the money,” Vander Leest said. “You got to earn it in my opinion.”

The club has a picture book of service days in the office that dates back to 1982. The customers are interested in what the club has been doing, and enjoy seeing these young kids being ambitious.

“Being mostly a bunch of ag kids, we always find ways of having fun,” Torrance said.