By René Hardwick, National Onion Association, Director of Public and Industry Relations
The National Onion Association and its members will experience the southern beauty, culture and charm of Savannah, Georgia, and invite you to come along for the annual convention.
The four-day event will occur at the beginning of the week rather than the latter part as in previous years, from Dec. 8-11 (Sunday-Wednesday), at the Alida / Marriott hotel in the thriving Riverfront Entertainment District.
Registration for the convention is $975 per member/ $575 per spouse/friend. This incudes the cost of meals and transportation during our ag tours. Sponsors are still welcome and can find a sponsor form here.
As the convention draws near, you may notice NOA members hitting you up to buy raffle tickets. This ultimately helps the NOA’s promotions program which must rely on our members’ donations to promote onions nationwide. One lucky winner of $4,500 will be announced at our banquet dinner Dec. 9, providing there are enough sales. If you’d like to buy raffle tickets, please feel free to call the NOA office at (970) 353-5895. Staff can invoice you and enter your tickets as proxy.
We’ll kick off the event on Sunday with an evening reception. On Monday, we’ll have our general business meetings, where we will have a roundtable discussion on a new insurance program called “Cost” insurance. Later that night, we’ll have our banquet dinner, where we will drape a new 3 or More jacket on members who have recruited three or more new members to the NOA in the past year; we also will award a lifetime achievement award and our promotions champion.
On Tuesday, we will make a day of it by touring Vidalia onion country before stopping off at Stanley Lodge for skeet shooting, fishing and dinner. We will finish off the event with our crop report breakfast on Wednesday. Researchers with the Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded project on Mechanical Harvest in Short Day also will be on hand.
The event is set for the Alida / Marriott, 412 Williamson St. Guests will be steps away from shopping, restaurants, live music, and more. The hotel, built in 2018, has complimentary and wireless internet. The NOA negotiated rate at the hotel is $219 a night. Daily parking rates are $27 per night; valet is $51 per day. Book your room here.
Ready to sign up? Go to onions-usa.org to register in the member center/conventions and find the registration link.
