Page 8 - JF25 TPW web

Conference Overview

from page 7
Chattanooga, which was chosen for support this
year. Next came the anticipated Annual Awards
presentations. Award winners are featured on
pages 16 through 19. We congratulate all the
winners and thank them for their contributions
and service to TCAPWA.
On Wednesday evening, the conference closed
out its activities with an amazing sunset dinner
cruise on the Southern Belle Riverboat featuring
food, drinks and live music. Many thanks to LDA
for sponsoring this excellent and well-attended
event. The river views were magnificent as the sun
set and the city’s evening lights reflected on the
water.
Generous Fundraising and Charitable Spirits
Each day of the conference, Public Works
professionals showed inspiring generosity and
community spirit with the various opportunities
for charitable giving and support for TCAPWA
scholarships. This year $2,200 was raised for
our chosen charity, Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Chattanooga. Water for People hosted their
silent auction and 50/50 Split Give-A-Way. They
raised their largest amount yet, over $2,100 to
help provide safe drinking water for the people of
Guatemala.
A booth at this year’s conference was dedicated
to collecting funds and non-perishable goods
for flood victims in upper East Tennessee and
Western North Carolina. Keith Pugh, APWA past
president, volunteered to deliver the collected
items and money. Over $600 was raised along
with food items and blankets.
Congratulations to All
Many thanks to our gracious hosts, all our
vendors and sponsors, and the entire Conference
Committee for their work in making the event
a big success. We also send thanks to all the
volunteers who helped make this conference run
smoothly.
NOTE: Next year’s Memphis conference is
September 22-24. This is earlier than usual, so
mark your calendars now.

8 TPW January/February 2025