NACON 2003 in Nashville, TN

Saturday-Tuesday, August 23-26. “Ee-yaw,” the smell of barbecue perfumes the air and sounds of Faith Hill and Hank Williams massage your eardrums…. Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee, Music City, USA. All around are the ghosts of Ernest Tubbs and Patsy Cline who join in chorus with local guitar strummers and blue grass fiddlers. We are in the heart of country music and the site of the Auxiliary’s 2003 National Conference, NACON 2003.

Nashville is a sort of crossroads of the United States. Interstates from all points of the compass charge into the downtown, meet, clash and move on to their final destinations leaving bits of their personalities as they go. The city, sitting on the banks of the Cumberland River, reflects that diversity with its ultra modern skyline (they even have a “Batman” building), it’s country western entertainment, the Grand Ole Opry, and paddle boat/plantation laid back attitude.

It is really simple to fit right in…. don a Charlie Daniels style cowboy hat and paint a smile on your face…. Brush up on saying “Howdy,” and “How y’all,” all the while touching the brim of that big black hat and folks from far and near will echo your words…. And “by gosh” they’ll mean it, “I reckon.”

This year our conference is situated at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Conference Center, the eighth largest hotel complex, under one roof, in the world. The central areas, there are three of them, are truly a horticulturist and landscape designer’s dream. Under the immense glass roof are numerous waterfalls, rivers, streams, fountains and lush tropical plants and trees.

Display Area

Each registrant is provided a map of the hotel, and it is mandatory “equipment”.... a GPS would be an added plus. I heard one hotel guest say, “I’d drop breadcrumbs to help find my way back, but the staff of this hotel is so efficient they would probably have someone following me with a vacuum cleaner.”

I took a peek this morning at the exhibition hall. Imagine, if you will, two or three football fields laid side by side. This will give you a rough idea of its size. Tractor-trailers at the opposite end looked like miniature toys.

The general assembly auditoriums are equally large, there are five of them (yup five) and each will seat hundreds, if not thousands. I stepped into one of the boardrooms, the Presidential, and I could feel the power infused in the heavy woods and luxurious appointments. Major decisions were made in this room.

The Auxiliary’s conference office is a beehive of activity. Schedules are typed, copied and at the ready. Seating charts, signs and the necessary organizational materials are being prepared.

The staff is courteous, efficient and down homey. After a big greeting hug, Auxiliarist Lenore Combs, offered up a photo of her new puppy, to the oos and ahs of everyone around.

Information Desk

The logistics staff’s handiwork is already in effect. Auxiliary direction signs are starting to appear among the signs of other organizations holding similar conferences at the hotel.

Auxiliarist Phil Helmer, turning from his computer screen said, “Hi there Mel, seems like I just saw you a week ago.” It was actually over six months ago at N-Train, but the feeling of fellowship is a continuous thread that binds our Auxiliary into one big family and erases all periods of separation.

I hope my descriptions are giving you some idea of this town and this hotel. We are in store for a great conference and in the following days SITREP will strive to bring all of the excitement and flavor to your computer screen.

Well, it’s time to head off to the first round of meetings…. “See y’all in a bit!”