Educational Excursions

Enhance your Annual Conference experience by participating in one of seven informative and fun educational excursions coordinated by the Tennessee Association of Family & Consumer Sciences. All tours include lunch and last the entire day, approximately 8:00am - 5:00pm. There is a separate cost for these excursions, and they are subject to change. To register, download the registration form. Be sure to register by May 21, 2009 to avoid a late fee.

The International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE)-US is also sponsoring an evening tour. Scroll to the bottom of this web page for more information. To register for the IFHE tour, download this form.

June 24, 2009

Walking Tour of Knoxville (Full Day, 6 PDUs, $45) - Put on your sneakers and join us for a walk through historic downtown Knoxville. You will tour the beautiful Tennessee Theatre (www.tennesseetheatre.com), the Official State Theater of Tennessee, which underwent a $25.5 million renovation in 2005. “The Tennessee” has hosted such performers as Helen Hayes, the Glen Miller Orchestra, Bill Cosby, and B.B. King. The theatre opened in 1928 with a Spanish-Moorish décor and included a Mighty Wurlitzer organ, which was recently restored to its original splendor. You will be treated to an organ concert during your tour. We will also visit the Bijou Theater (www.knoxbijou.com), which opened in 1909 in the Lamar House, a hotel and tavern built in 1817. The first performance was Little Johnny Jones, starring George M. Cohan. The theater has been host to such performers as the Marx Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, and Phyllis Diller. After lunch at Club LeConte, you will stroll over to the Blount Mansion (www.blountmansion.org), the territorial capitol of the “US South of the Ohio River.” Construction began in 1792 to provide a home to William Blount and his family, his law office, and the territorial capitol. The final stop on our tour is the East Tennessee Historical Society (www.east-tennessee-history.org). The society began in 1834 to interpret East Tennessee History and to preserve artifacts of this unique region.

Secret City Excursion (Full Day, 6 PDUs, $75) - Tour the city that was part of the Manhattan Project during World War II. You will see the Graphite Reactor to learn how plutonium was produced from uranium during World War II and the new Spallation Neutron Source, the world's most intense pulsed accelerator-based neutron source. The morning will be devoted to the American Museum of Science and Energy (www.AMSE.org), which is a “hands on” museum that teaches about energy and how it affects our lives. Lunch will be at Big Ed’s Pizza, an Oak Ridge landmark. In addition to delicious pizza, you will receive a Big Ed’s t-shirt, which can be seen on the streets in countries around the world. Be sure you have identification as well as your Annual Conference name badge as some of the sites are for US citizens only!

Social Issues Tour (Full Day, 5 PDUs, $75) - You will visit the Highlander Center (www.highlandercenter.org) in New Market, which strives to present programs designed to build strong and successful social-change activism. When it was founded in 1932, the Center wanted to build a strong labor movement in the South. After lunch at the Highlander Center, you will visit Alex Haley’s Farm (www.haleyfarm.org), now the conference and training center for the Children’s Defense Fund (www.childrensdefense.org), which seeks to provide strong advocacy for children. The final stop on the tour is a trip to the Green McAdoo School and Museum to learn about the first integrated public high school in the South. You will have an opportunity to speak to one of the people involved in community events during this turbulent time.

Culinary Teaching Facilities in East Tennessee (Full Day, 6 PDUs, $75) - You will travel to Carson Newman College (www.cn.edu) in Jefferson City to tour the new Blye-Poteat Hall and the Child Development Lab. You will see the new family and consumer sciences teaching facilities, which include a demonstration food preparation lab with state-of-the art appliances donated by BSH Home Appliances. From Jefferson City, you will travel to Sevierville in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains to see the new facilities of the Culinary Arts Program at Walter’s State Community College (www.ws.edu). The culinary students will prepare our lunch to show off their culinary talents. After our lunch, we will return to Knoxville to visit the Knox Area Rescue Ministries’ (www.karm.org) Abundant Life Kitchen, a program to teach culinary skills to the unemployed and the homeless. UT Culinary Institute is the last stop on our tour. Nationally renowned Chef John Antun has developed a culinary program designed to help individuals qualify for positions in food facilities in the community.

Tour of the Smokies (Full Day, 6 PDUs, $75) - You will visit the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (www.arrowmont.org), a nationally renowned center of contemporary arts and crafts education, to gain an appreciation of the fine crafts available in the area, including ceramics, fibers, metals/jewelry, painting, drawing, photography, warm glass, woodturning, woodworking, sculpture, and book and paper arts. A trip to the Smoky Mountains would not be complete without stopping at the Sugarlands Visitor’s Center followed by a scenic tour of the Mountains. After a drive highlighting the beautiful vistas of the Smokies, you will have lunch at Miss Lily’s Barn (www.lilybarn.com) in Townsend, located on the other side of the mountains. A trip to the Smoky Mountains Heritage Center (www.gsmheritagecenter.org) completes the tour of the area surrounding the most visited National Park in the country.

Tennessee History Tour (Full Day, 5 PDUs, $75) - Your bus will take you to Northeast Tennessee to visit the home and tailor shop of Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States (www.nps.gov/anjo). Then we will have lunch at the recently restored General Morgan Inn (www.generalmorganinn.com), which was built in 1884 and is a member of the National Trust of Historic Hotels in America. After lunch, you will travel to Jonesborough, Tennessee’s oldest town for an afternoon of storytelling (www.storytellingcenter.org) and shopping (www.jonesboroughtn.org) at the many craft stores that line the streets.

Industrial and Community Sustainability Tour (Full Day, 3 PDUs, $60) – You will have the opportunity to visit Bush Brothers' new plant (www.BushBeans.com) in historic Dandridge, the second oldest town in Tennessee. After our tour of the Bush Brothers' plant, you will be served a delicious regional barbeque lunch at Smoky’s Steak and BBQ (www.smokyssteakandbbq.com). This local favorite restaurant is located in the completely remodeled old Gass General Store Building, built in 1826. After lunch, you will be given the opportunity to wander among the shops in Dandridge before getting on the bus. On the way back to Knoxville, you will take the scenic route to see Douglas Dam, one of the many dams in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) System.

Ready to Register? There is a separate cost for these excursions, and they are subject to change. To register, download the registration form. If you have questions, call Velma Howell at 865-525-7250 or email Beverley Hammond at. Be sure to register by May 21, 2009 to avoid a late fee.

There is a separate registration form for the evening tour below. To register, download this form.

Evening Tour - The Museum of Appalachia ($50)
Sponsored by the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE)-US

After a short drive from the hotel, we will visit a Smithsonian Affiliate that was opened in the late 1960s by John Rice Irwin, whose grandparents were descendants of early East Tennessee pioneers. He has sought to present a “living” picture of early Appalachian life, making the cabins appear as if the family has just strolled down to the spring to fetch the day’s supply of water.  This extensive farm-village complex encompasses dozens of historic log structures with period furnishings.  Display buildings containing tens of thousands of authentic Appalachian artifacts, gardens surrounded by split rail fences, and a variety of farm animals in a traditional farm setting, including family cabins, a one-room schoolhouse, log chapel, sawmill, and several barns, cribs, smokehouses, outhouses, and other structures typical of mountain homesteads. Of particular interest is the Appalachian Hall of Fame, paying tribute to both the famous and the ordinary men, women, and children of Appalachia.  After the self-guided tour we will enjoy a traditional Appalachian supper, featuring beans, potatoes, cornbread, and cobbler.  This event will also include traditional southern folklore as told by native Tennessean storyteller Elizabeth Rose. A bus will be provided from the hotel to the museum for an additional charge of $12.00.

To register for the Museum of Appalachia tour, download the form and send payment to the IFHE-US Development Fund. One check can be written for the tour and bus. If you have questions, please contact Sharon McManus at (616) 546-3394 or