By René Hardwick
Director of Public and Industry Relations
National Onion Association
The National Onion Association is headed to Grand Rapids, MI, for our summer convention June 14-17 at the Amway Grand Plaza, Curio Collection by Hilton. Register and book your room by May 12.
Grand Rapids, also known as Beer City USA, will be our launchpad for great networking, a tour of some Michigan onion fields and informative discussions about the Farm Bill with representatives of the Senate Agriculture Committee. And friends and spouses will be treated to a fun Charcuterie class.
Don’t forget our live auction that benefits the NOA’s promotions program. Without this program we couldn’t continue to promote onion consumption on social media and the internet.
The auction this year will bring back some DIY goods. We have two original framed paintings by Lindsey Weimer, whose family farms onions and potatoes at Dean Kincaid Inc. in Wisconsin. One is a red onion leaf using a technique called gouache, which is a mix between acrylic and watercolor; the other is a watercolor of a yellow onion leaf.
Mitch Young of American Takii from his home workshop in New Hampshire has carved some beautiful 14-inch wooden plates, plus some wooden salt and pepper grinders. We also found some hand-crafted jewelry from a local artisan in downtown Scottsdale during our annual convention. And Top Air Inc. out of Idaho will once again build a rod lifter for the auction. More donations are welcome.
Registration is $700 for the event ($350 for spouses/friends), and you can register through the Member Center at onions-usa.org. If you want to sponsor, please call Courtney Herbst at 970-353-5895 for payment options and sponsor levels. If you are not a member and would like to attend, please call Courtney at the office.
The NOA hotel room rate of $154 a night is available to all convention-goers, so long as they register by May 12. Feel free to call (866) 238-4218 to reserve a room or go to the NOA member center / Convention page at onions-usa.org for a direct link. Parking at the hotel is $35 per day. Valet is $39 per day. There is no hotel shuttle. You’ll fly into Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
For more information on the convention, call the NOA at 970-353-5895.
