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Get ready to venture to Northeast Texas this fall and learn about a part of our state that’s more than just the corner doorway for travelers. It’s a crossroads for ecosystems of all makes and models.
Texarkana is the destination of the Society’s 2014 Fall Symposium. Set for October 16-19, the symposium will focus on Northeast Texas: Diversity of Ecosystems.
Registration will open in late summer, so please save the date.
Photo by Belinda McCoy
Located literally on the border of two states, “Twice as Nice” Texarkana is actually two cities—Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas. Less than an hour to the northwest is Oklahoma and about a half-hour to the south is Louisiana. It’s truly a four-state region.
Not only do those four geopolitical state lines converge in or near Texarkana, but several ecological regions also converge here. Two of Texas’ ten vegetation zones—Piney Woods and Post Oak Savannah—bisect Texarkana’s Bowie County diagonally and ecosystems converging all around include pine and hardwood forests, grasslands, deserts, swamps and even subtropics.
Photo by Belinda McCoy
The Symposium Planning Committee is busy arranging speakers, field trips and breakout sessions to reflect the diverse ecosystems found within the four-state region of Texarkana. Field trips are planned to all four states, and speakers from all four states are being recruited. More details will follow. The planning committee is composed of members from all five chapters from the region: Four Corners (Texarkana), Caddo Wildflower (Linden), Lake Country (Mt. Pleasant), Tyler and Northeast Texas (Longview).
Our symposium headquarters and the host hotel are newly built, both going online in late 2012. Headquarters will be the Texarkana Convention Center. Located at 4610 Cowhorn Creek Road—on the Texas side of Texarkana, just off Interstate 30—the spacious, environmentally friendly convention center boasts the prestigious LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Conveniently adjoining the convention center is the host hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Texarkana, also green-built. Each Hilton room offers a mini-fridge, microwave oven, coffee pot, flat-screen TV, free Wi-Fi and more. Shopping and dining abound within a mile or two of the convention center and hotel, though most meals will be provided with the symposium registration fee.
Texarkana is located on Interstate 30, about 175 miles east of Dallas (just more than 2 1/2 hours) on the border with Arkansas. The convention center and host hotel are located 13 minutes from Texarkana Regional Airport, which is served by American Eagle Airlines, and 9 minutes from Amtrak’s Texas Eagle station on the Arkansas side.
A block of rooms has been reserved for $89 per night plus tax for single or double rooms for up to two people Reservations may be made now by calling the hotel at 903.792.1065, or register on-line. The hotel address is 2910 S. Cowhorn Creek Loop.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: belindamclaughlin
