Page 6 - ND25 TPW web

TCAPWA/SWANA CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS By Klair Kimmey & Lisa Hood Skinner
2025 Conference Highlights

With a nod to the 1991 Marc Cohn song
“Walking in Memphis,” our TCAPWA and
SWANA chapter members might not have worn
blue suede shoes “down on Beale Street” and
probably didn’t evoke the ghost of Elvis.
But the land of the Delta Blues was warm
and welcoming, brimming with hospitality in
mid-September, as over 200 members of the two
chapters met in Memphis for their annual joint
conference, presented by Germantown.
This year’s meeting was held in the spacious
Memphis Hilton & Conference Center, a
revisited location for hosting our organization.
The gathering had something for almost
everyone, featuring three busy days of education,
competition, networking, charitable events (and
some fun.)
Monday: Golf Open and Industry Tour: the
Madonna Learning Center and Bo Mills Water
Tower in Germantown
Twenty-two teams enjoyed a sunny and
temperate 10 a.m. shotgun start for the Golf
Open’s yearly competition held at Memphis
National Golf Club, Collierville. Competition was
lighthearted, and everyone seemed to enjoy the
time spent outdoors on a beautiful day. One team
featured three generations of family members.
Thanks to all of the hole sponsors, contest
sponsors, and the lunch sponsors, BHS Concrete
and TN Concrete Pipe Association.
Later that afternoon, a tour bus left the
hotel with about 15 passengers, headed for the
Madonna Learning Center to hear about the
private, independent and faith-based school
for children and adults with disabilities. The
organization was the recipient of this conference’s
charity contribution (and the Monday tour
participants scored some delicious free toffee
samples made by the center’s entrepreneurial
students). Thanks to A2H for joining the tour and
sponsoring the tour bus. Thanks to OHM Advisers (above) and Gresham Smith (below) for sponsoring the TopGolf YP event.
The final tour stop was the Bo Mills Water
Tower in Germantown, where the group heard
about the construction of the 500,000-gallon
elevated water storage tank. The impressive
pedesphere, made of approximately 238
tons of steel, is named after our very own Bo
Mills, leader of TCAPWA and APWA fame,
Germantown’s former director of Public Works.
Mills championed the need for the tower for
over two decades and was successful in seeing its
completion before he retired. Thanks to Tiffany
Howlett for coordinating the tour and being our
Tour Guide for the outing.

6 TPW November/December 2025