Tennessee State Conference
More info: https://extension.tennessee.edu/MasterGardener/Pages/default.aspx
1. When and where is the 2018 conference?
The 2018 state conference will be held at Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, TN (Dickson County) on Friday and Saturday, April 6th and 7th. There will be a pre-day tour in Franklin on Thursday, April 5th.
2. What will we be doing on the pre-day tour and workshop?
The tour and workshop will take place at Carter House (1140 Columbia Ave. Franklin, TN) from 12:30 until 5:00. Our afternoon will feature a heritage fruit grafting workshop where you will be able to take home 4 grafted trees as well as enjoy tours of the house, grounds and orchard at Carter House. The Carter House is an active service and education site of the Williamson County Master Gardeners, who will be our hosts for the day.
3. What are some of the sessions and speakers for the main conference on Friday and Saturday?
We have a great slate of sessions that focus on both horticulture and outreach. They include: Statewide ‘Search for Excellence’ awards; landscape walkabouts with Carol Reese; the not so usual plants for the landscape with Lucas Holman; wildflower and photography hikes with agents and MGs from the region; tree ID, diagnosis and value in our landscapes with TN urban foresters and agents; lightning bugs and fireflies in TN with Lynn Faust; international MG service learning with the Ohio MG coordinator, Pam Bennett; a Tennessee turf tour with Dr. Tom Samples; a year of keeping bees in TN with John Gunter; Sessions on arboretums, community gardens, youth programs, surveys and outreach led by MGs from across the state; TN garden vegetable trials with Dr. Natalie Bumgarner; insect pests with Dr. Chris Cooper; tomato issues with Amy Dismukes and more!
4. Are these sessions going to be in classroom or interactive?
Both. We have 1.5 hour workshops on Friday to provide more time to discussion and interaction. Some sessions will even move outdoors to use the park as a teaching resource. We also have traditional hour long sessions on service and other horticulture topics. Our goal is to mix up delivery to provide something for everyone.
5. What about lodging?
There are several options. Obviously, with a conference site within an hour of much of the population in middle Tennessee, you are welcome to drive each day. If you plan to stay, there are a range of choices to suit your preferences. We have several rooms reserved at the Montgomery Bell State Park Inn. The inn is a bit older and has fairly basic rooms, but they have a lake view and easy access to the conference facility. If you prefer chain hotels with a few more amenities, there will be blocks of rooms reserved at the Comfort Inn, Hampton Inn, and Fairfield Inn and Suites in nearby Dickson where you have an easy (low traffic) drive to the park (~10-15 minutes). These chain hotels will generally provide breakfast as well. Registration info will have all the cutoff dates/costs/details.
6. What about parking?
Parking at the park and the hotels in Dickson is free of charge.
7. Ok, the really important question- what about food?
Our meals and snacks will be provided by The Forge park restaurant. This will include lunches on Friday and Saturday as well as dinner on Friday. The restaurant is a buffet with main dishes and a salad and dessert bar, so no need to gather specific meal needs. As we get closer, we might even be able to provide the menu. Due to the size of the dining room, we will divide into two early and late meal groups to prevent overcrowding. We’ll have an hour and a half in our schedule to enable you to eat, visit, and enjoy a few minutes of down time for lunch.
8. Can I come for some but not all days?
You will be able to register for one, two, or all three days of the conference so you can fit attendance with your own schedule. A price break is available for those attending the conference for two or three days. Remember the registration covers snacks, lunch and dinner on Friday and snacks and lunch on Saturday.
9. What about evening activities?
We know some folks will prefer to relax and visit, while others will look forward to optional activities. So, on Thursday evening the 5th, Greene County is going to host a campfire. On Friday evening the 6th, there will be an insect pinning activity (David Cook and Amy Dismukes) as well as a workshop for learning about and making an herbal sugar scrub (Roxi Phillips- Tipton Co. MG).
10. Are we going to do the table displays to share service projects?
Yes, we will have tables set up in the main conference area to enable you to display your Search for Excellence projects or other service projects in your local group. Please use the registration form to reserve a space.
11. Do we have time to network and visit with each other?
Yes, definitely! We hope the extra time around lunch as well as the pre-day, workshop sessions and time in the evening enable you to visit with each other. Sharing experiences and meeting new folks is one of the most important aspects of these meetings.
Contact info:
Natalie R. Bumgarner, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Residential and Consumer Horticulture, Tennessee Extension Master Gardener Coordinator
Plant Sciences Department, 252 Ellington Plant Sciences, 2431 Joe Johnson Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996
1-865-974-7308 Office / 1-304-615-9243 Mobile nbumgarn@utk.edu http://ag.tennessee.edu/
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