TCHC in Johnson City

We had a blast at the Honors Conference in Johnson City this past weekend. We arrived on Friday and attended the reception at the Carnegie Hotel. During dinner we sat with one of the professors from East Tennessee State University who used to live in Hollywood and has been on TV and in movies. His name is Pat Cronin and he is a Theater and Drama professor very involved with the Honors College at ETSU. Following the reception we attended A Midsummer Night's Dream by the ETSU Division of Theater and Dance. There were quite a few members of the ETSU Honors College of Fine and Performing Arts in the production. It was a modern adaptation of the play with some interesting aspects: scaffolding for the set, modern dress, and a rousing performance of the Macarena. All in all it was an enjoyable evening.
Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast at the conference. We were given a brief outline of the day from the President of the Tennessee Collegiate Honors College, Rebecca Pyles, PhD. Following breakfast was the start of the presentation sessions. Helen and I both decided to take the first hour and practice for our own presentations. Helen presented at the 10am session and I followed at 11. Helen's presentation was on the Honor's Inquiry class and how it changed her perceptions and feelings about Memphis. Mine was on the composer and music of the "Quiet Man." We had saved it to her jump drive and the videos did not transfer as hoped, so about 3 minutes into my presentation, I had to adjust to no visual aids. I did manage to present the content of the work, but they missed the music examples. We then attended lunch and heard the keynote speaker, Dr. Paul E. Stanton, Jr., President of East Tennessee State University. He discussed the inception of the Honors College and why it is important to maintain and support Honors programs. His speech was followed by a performance by the "Big Cedar Ramblers" bluegrass band. They performed some very difficult pieces and it was fun to listen to these students.
After the conference itself ended, we went to an early dinner at the German restaurant, Freiberg's, that was recommended by the students at ETSU. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was very cool. The overhead lights were on what looked like antlers and there were little snippets of Germany all over. Saturday night after dinner, we met some students and a teacher from ETSU back at the Carnegie Hotel and they took us to the Carter Family Fold in the mountains of VA. This is a place started by A.P. Carter for old-time, bluegrass, and early country music. (A.P. Carter, Maybelle and Sara made up The Carter Family group and June Carter Cash is Maybelle's daughter.) Here we were treated to a concert by the "Town Branch Bluegrass Band." We enjoyed watching the older crowd get up and dance all night long. One lady even slow danced with her dog! At the intermission we were able to tour the cabin that A.P. was born in and the country store he opened. Aaron and I got to sit in a rocking chair that belonged to Johnny Cash. The store has been turned into a museum and had a lot of very interesting memorabilia from the Carter family.
The trip was a lot of fun and we met a lot of interesting Honors students from across Tennessee. Other than my technology failing me, I was pretty pleased with my presentation and very impressed by the others that I saw. I look forward to attending the one in Little Rock next month.