My Favorite Time of Year
By Laura Kunkle, AIB Executive Director
Tomorrow morning, two co-workers and I will hop in a van crammed full of boxes, conference materials, and a lot of luggage (come on, it’s three women – we have a lot of luggage!), and will be driving to Holland, Michigan, culmination and celebration of the 2015 America in Bloom Symposium & Awards Program that begins on Thursday. It is the culmination and celebration for everything that AIB-participating towns have done to plant pride and prosper.
Tomorrow morning, two co-workers and I will hop in a van crammed full of boxes, conference materials, and a lot of luggage (come on, it’s three women – we have a lot of luggage!), and will be driving to Holland, Michigan, culmination and celebration of the 2015 America in Bloom Symposium & Awards Program that begins on Thursday. It is the culmination and celebration for everything that AIB-participating towns have done to plant pride and prosper.
The
annual symposium is my favorite part of serving as America in Bloom’s executive
director. This is like all the excitement of the holiday season packaged up
early and gifted to me in the fall each year.
If you’ve
never attended a symposium, please consider this a personal invitation to join
us. I think you will find yourself inspired by the innovative ideas that are
shared during the symposium, and you will be grateful for the people you get to
spend several days with as we celebrate excellence in AIB communities.
I have
been involved in AIB since it was just an idea in someone’s head about what we
could do to make America a better place to live, work, and play. What an honor
it’s been to be involved from Day 1 and see how the organization has impacted
communities.
Every
year about this time, as we put the finishing touches on preparing for the
symposium, I find my thoughts drifting to symposiums of the past. The first one
in 2002 was in Washington, DC. We didn’t know what we were doing but we did it
anyway and had a blast. Or in 2006 when we were in the quirky but amazing Eureka
Springs, Arkansas and many of us dressed in Victorian-era clothing. Take a good look at that
picture! In 2009 we all gained weight when we went to the symposium in
Hershey, Pennsylvania. Or in 2013 when we enjoyed a one-of-a-kind Disney
horticulture tour in Orlando. Oh, I can look back at each symposium and
remember fondly the experiences we all shared.
And
that’s why I’m looking forward to the next several days in Holland, Michigan,
an All-American city that serves up the right balance of excitement and
hometown comfort with a delightful Dutch accent. I know you will be as
impressed with the town and people as I am. We’ve found a lovely community to
serve as the host and backdrop for this year’s symposium and awards program. Amazing
experiences await those who are coming to the symposium. I can’t wait to see
old friends and make new ones as we celebrate heritage and cultivate the
future. It’s my favorite time of year. See you soon!
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