Brothers Dave and Peter Lucadano had a dream in 1985. They wanted to become the biggest and the best lawn maintenance company in the Tampa, Florida, area.

When Dan Fogerty asked the owners of a Bend, Oregon, apartment complex to bring lawn maintenance in house, he had no idea they would accept the idea. After all, the owners had always contracted out the maintenance and Dan had little experience mowing lawns and landscaping. In his proposal, he would take over exterior maintenance that included upkeep of 200,000 square feet of turf and a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers.

The routine is the same every Monday morning. Mark Fagnant and Leroy Collins line up their two Walker mowers. Then they peer down a one mile stretch that cuts through the center of Colonial Colony South. To the right and left of this road are more than 570 retirement homes, comprised of single and double-wide manufactured homes.

After mowing a residential property, Neil Deering, owner of TLC (Total Lawn Care, lnc.), Kalispell, Montana, looks back at the lawn. He drives away slowly, his smile seems to soak in the manicured property with its signature Walker cut.

Steve Bennet took his first close look at a Walker mower in 1987. But in his own words he "had some concerns." At the time the mower was relatively new to the industry and it was getting touch and most of his competitors used walkers. Nate encouraged his father to make the competitive connection back in 1994, and, two years later, the company now operates three Walkers, two 20-hp grasshandling models and a 16-hp model with a side-discharge deck.

Pella, Iowa is not your ordinary midwestern town, not by a long shot. Founded in 1847 by 700 Hollanders, the community still savors its Dutch roots. In early May, tens of thousands of visitors literally jam city streets for the annual Tulip Time festival and anytime throughout the year there are tastes, sites and sounds that echo a strong Dutch tradition.