Reminder that the TOS Spring Meeting will be in Knoxville April 26-28, 2024
The host hotel will be the Hampton Inn Knoxville-East (7445 Sawyer Lane,
Knoxville, 37924, 865-525-3511). The Friday reception will be at the Hampton,
and all field trips will leave from there. This is at Exit 398 off of I-40. A
room block is being held at the Hampton at a rate of $149/night, but it ends on
March 27th. Use this link to reserve a room:
https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/tyseahx-tos-b8a70f51-b196-468f-a542-bdea11d2815f/
There are a number of other hotels available at Exit 398.
We’ll have a Friday evening reception, field trips Saturday and Sunday mornings
(and possibly a Saturday afternoon outing), Board of Directors Meeting Saturday
afternoon, and a banquet and plenary speaker on Saturday evening. Saturday’s
business meeting, dinner, and speaker will be on the grounds of the historic
Ramsay House (https://www.ramseyhouse.org/) in east Knoxville. We will only be
able to accommodate 70 people for the dinner and speaker program on Saturday
evening, so register soon.
KTOS will provide a potluck dinner at the Hampton Inn Knoxville -East (7445
Sawyer Lane, Knoxville, 37924, 865-525-3511) from 6:30-8:30 pm for those not
looking to search up a local restaurant. Registration packets, name badges,
and field trip sign-ups will be available during the reception as well as in
the morning prior to field trips.
Tiffany Kersten of Nature Ninja Birding Tours is currently scheduled to be our
featured speaker. Tiffany is a professional bird guide based in the Rio Grande
Valley of Texas. She is a Wildlife Ecologist, certified Interpretive Guide,
and long-time environmental educator. She did a Lower 48 States Big Year in
2021, and her presentation “Birdie Big Year: Elevating Women Birders” will
touch on the adventures inherent in such an endeavor with emphasis on a woman’s
perspective and the special challenges women face chasing birds near and far.
Learn more about Tiffany at https://tiffanykersten.blogspot.com/p/contact.html.
Dinner on Saturday evening will be catered by Bissel Catering
(https://www.bisselcatering.com/). The menu will include grilled chicken, pork
tenderloin, grilled portobello mushrooms (for non-meat eaters), red mashed
potatoes, green beans with almonds, house salad, rolls, and banana pudding.
Expect Saturday and Sunday morning field trips to local hotspots including
Sharps Ridge and Seven Islands State Birding Park. We’ll have other trip
options to be decided closer to meeting time, perhaps Cove Lake State Park
which often has Swainson’s Warbler.
To register, complete the registration form below and mail it and payment to:
KTOS (c/o Dawn Headrick)
1512 Hall Acres Drive
Knoxville, TN 37918
Make checks payable to KTOS.
You can email the information to Dawn or Chris at
cwelsh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:cwelsh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
mdheadrick@xxxxxxx<mailto:mdheadrick@xxxxxxx>
To pay online, you would need to go to the KTOS website and under membership,
select “Pay Online”. https://www.knoxbirds.org/pay-online/
That will take you to a screen where you you’ll see an option for Custom
Payment. Click Pay Now, and the next screen will have a spot to enter the
amount.
Enter the amount and click Continue.
The next screen will take you to the PayPal payment page. You do not need to
have a PayPal account to pay online. Just select “Pay with credit or debit
card”, and it will take you to a page to enter your card info.
TOS Spring Meeting Registration
Name(s) of attendees _______________________________________________________
Contact info (phone or email) ________________________________________________
TOS Chapter affiliation (n/a if none)
___________________________________________
Number of attendees _______ x $10 per person registration fee = __________
Number for Saturday dinner _______ x $22 per person = _________
Dinner preference: meat _____ vegetarian _____
Total: Registration _______ + Dinner ________ = _________
Questions? Email Chris Welsh or Dawn Headrick
(cwelsh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:cwelsh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
mdheadrick@xxxxxxx<mailto:mdheadrick@xxxxxxx>)
We hope to see you in Knoxville in April!!
Submitted by Chris Welsh, Knoxville Chapter of TOS, Knoxville, TN
