2000 TMS Annual Meeting: Optional Tours Program

OPTIONAL SIGHTSEEING TOURS

Helen L. Moskovitz & Associates has been designated the official tour company of the annual meeting and has scheduled the following events for your enjoyment. Tours depart from the Opryland Hotel/Veranda Canopy. You may register for the plant tours by downloading the Tour Registration Form, presented in portable document format, using the free software, Adobe Acrobat Reader. Do not mail this form to TMS. Please complete form and mail along with check to: Helen L. Moskovitz & Associates, 95 White Bridge Road, Suite 500, Nashville, TN 37205. All tour price quotes include applicable taxes. Tickets will not be mailed in advance. Upon arrival in Nashville, your tickets will be ready for you to pick up at the Tour Desk located near the conference registration desk. In order to guarantee operation of tours, please make your reservation before coming to Nashville. Registration hours on-site will be as follows:

• Sunday, March 12, 10:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m.
• Monday, March 13, 7:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 14, 7:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 15, 7:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m.

All tours will depart from the Opryland Hotel/Veranda Canapy.

Evening at the Grand Ole Opry

Date: Saturday, March 11, 2000 Time: 8:30 p.m.—12:30 a.m. Cost: $38.75 per person

Originally called "The Barn Dance", The Grand Ole Opry was a radio program sponsored by National Life & Accident Insurance Company. Always seeking ways to connect with the "rural" clients, agents for the company could discuss the latest programs and build good will. A new name for the program came from the announcer George D.Hay "The Solemn Old Judge" who compared the show to the classical program "The Grand Opera". He joked, "For the past hour we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera, but from now on we will present the Grand Ole Opry."

For over 70 years, the Grand Ole Opry has given us performances by the legendary entertainers who represent country music's elite. It is the longest continuous running radio program in history featuring "Hall of Famers", legends and hot new stars on the famous Grand Ole Opry stage.

Belle Meade Plantation and Lunch at Belmont Mansion

Date: Monday, March 13, 2000 Time: 9:00 a.m.—2:00 p.m. Cost: $52.00 per person

Belle Meade Plantation, a Greek Revival mansion, was once the center of a 5,400 acre plantation, which developed into a world-famous thoroughbred nursery and stud farm. Completed in 1853, Belle Meade was the "Queen of Tennessee Plantations" as well as a survivor of the Civil War.

Inside the beautifully restored mansion are antique furnishings and decorative arts of the 19th Century exemplifying the way prosperous Southern plantation owners lived during this bygone era. Each room has been decorated with special attention to historic detail, down to the colors of the walls and the type of carpeting. Also many original mementos of the halcyon days of the stud farm remain, including a splendid collection of oil paintings of Belle Meade and other equine greats.

Through the mansion-filled streets of Belle Meade, the tour arrives at the Italian villa-style Belmont Mansion built in the 1850's by Col. Joseph and Adelicia Acklen as a summer home to escape the blazing heat of her 8,400 acre Louisiana cotton plantation. Adelicia Acklen, a true southern belle as well as an astute businesswoman, was indeed the original "Steel Magnolia" - sweet as honey on the outside, tough as steel on the inside. She even drew-up the first pre-nuptial agreement of that time to protect her wealth from her later husbands.

We will have a wonderful southern lunch served in the Grand Salon at Belmont Mansion. Today, Belmont Mansion is part of Belmont University and contains her treasures collected during this by-gone era.

Music City Swing

Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 Time: 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m. Cost: $51.25 per person

On this exciting tour your guests will see the many surprising facets of Music City, USA. We will blend old and new, country music and culture as you travel around the sights and sounds of Nashville. The tour begins with a drive through historic downtown Nashville. Here you will tour the newly restored Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry. We won't let you miss Second Avenue, known as "The District," with its unique shops, restaurants and, of course, a multitude of entertainment venues. Downtown is home to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and the Wildhorse Saloon, the country's premier dance club where The Nashville Network films many star-studded programs.

Then it is on toward Music Row and the Country Music Hall of Fame. At the Country Music Hall of Fame we will get a behind-the-scenes look at country music's beginnings and development. Established in 1958, the museum highlights all of the stars from the early greats to contemporary artists. Further on down Music Row is where all of the "hot licks" are put together in the major recording studios.

After learning all there is to know about Country Music you will need some good ole Tennessee barbecue to satisfy that hunger. We will eat at Jack's Barbecue for some country favorites.

Our final journey is a drive through Centennial Park, home of the Parthenon. Built for Nashville's Centennial Celebration in 1897, this is the only full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Behind the largest bronze doors in the world, stands the awe-inspiring 42-foot sculpture of the Greek goddess Athena. Nashville's Athena is the tallest indoor sculpture in the western world. Further inside the Parthenon is an impressive art museum containing permanent and traveling art exhibits, as well as castings of the famous Elgin Marbles from the British Museum.

Family Tour to the Nashville Zoo

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 Time: 9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m. Cost: $21.25 per adult, $19.50 per child

At the Nashville Zoo you'll see over 500 endangered and exotic animals from all over the world, including rare White Bengal Tigers, the Komodo Dragon and the Red panda. They're all in wild, naturalistic habitats, just 20 minutes from downtown Nashville.

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Fine Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 Time: 1:00 p.m.—5:00 p.m. Cost: $25.25 per person

The tour will begin with a drive through Belle Meade, one of the world's richest and most impressive housing communities, constructed on the lands of the original Belle Meade Plantation.

At the end of Belle Meade Boulevard, is Cheekwood, the estate of Leslie Cheek and home of the family who brought Maxwell House coffee to our tables. Their home is considered one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the South.

Cheekwood has been newly renovated to combine the classic pieces of the time as well as the magnificent art galleries which has made Cheekwood famous. The first two floors of the home are decorated with beautiful furniture of the period. The top floor is an art gallery filled with priceless American art and a rotating gallery for guest artists.

Outside the mansion you will go through a sculpture trail that will lead you to the contemporary art galleries located in the renovated stables and the Frist Learning Center which houses art from regional artists.

After you have strolled through the gardens and visited the home, browse through the museum gift shop for some lovely souvenirs. After experiencing the elegance and grandeur of the Old South, you will find it hard to return to your hotel and this modern age.