Page 8 - TNPW Jan-Feb2018 Vol35 No6

Technical Sessions

With a total of eight TCAPWA Technical Sessions,
there were four which had an engineering focus and four
that included off-site tours. The new mobile sessions
took participants to tour the City of Knoxville Public
Works and Fleet Services Complex, 2016’s Project of the
Year Award Winner, and the University of Tennessee’s
Facilities Services Complex. Four SWANA sessions were
also offered. The range of topics offered a lot of variety
for attendees and many took advantage of the continuing
education credits available.

Awards Luncheon

John Anderson, Conference Chairman, hosted the
Awards Luncheon where he expressed his gratitude to all
of the attendees, sponsors and exhibitors for making this
year’s Conference such a success.

The program continued with Manny Belen, TCAPWA
President, announcing the 2017 TCAPWA Scholarship
recipients: Levi Adam Grubb and Scott Andrew Jenkins.

Next, Ryan McReynolds, President Elect, Phillip Jones,
Awards Chairman, and Manny Belen, President, presented
the 2017 TCAPWA Annual Awards (see article on page 14).

We were honored to have Keith Pugh, Region III
Director, speak to the attendees. He was followed by a
drawing for the Titans Cooler, won by Kimberly Strong
from Chattanooga.

Water for People

The Chapter has participated in many outreach programs
and the fundraising project for Water for People is an
example of Service to Community. Water For People raised
$800 through their t-shirt sales, silent auction and the 50/50
give-a-way. This money will be used to fund projects in
Guatemala to provide clean water and improve sanitation.

UT’s Neyland Stadium - Closing Reception

For the ultimate University of Tennessee Vols football
fan, the closing reception and tour at Neyland Stadium was
the highlight of the whole conference. In addition to the
generous dinner buffet, large quantity of doorprizes, and
the East Club Level location, a very special guest addressed
the crowd. Former University of Tennessee Volunteer Head
Football Coach and newly appointed Athletic Director
Phillip Fulmer graciously spoke to the attendees, took
photos and signed autographs.

Fulmer said to the group of Public Works fans, “What
y’all do is very important to your communities.” After
sharing a story about a particularly grueling game that
didn’t go in their favor, Fulmer shared what he said to his
team, “We found two or three things that would make
us better. These were things we could do better to help
the players. The team immediately went off the defense
and went into listening mode.” The team was expecting
criticism, not help. He shared this bit of advice to encourage
communication and teamwork. He said, “Because, by gosh,
we are Tennessee and we come together.”

Following Fulmer’s talk, those interested broke into
two groups for a tour of the stadium, which included the
Stokely Family Media Room, the locker room, and the
Lauricella Center for Letter Winners.

8 TPW January/February 2018