Our 2023 Convention and Show was planned to be held in Hunt Valley, Maryland, on the outskirts of Baltimore in a Marriott Hotel. Four weeks before our show was to open, the hotel advised us it was closing on October 31^st - - 3 days before our Convention and Show.

Wow - - Sandy Pine (our Convention Chair) went to work right away to find a new venue with the help of her Marriott Delta Hunt Valley contact, Craig Leigh . The search was on!

Eureka - - Just like a "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" fairy tail, the first alternative couldn't meet our dates, the second alternative was not affordable, but  the third choice was the Wyndham Gateway in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which became our new venue. Rodney did a site survey, and approved its feasibility. Sandy had to quickly negotiate a new contract keeping the costs the same as our Delta Hunt Valley location. Then all the meals had to be rearranged keeping the selections and costs consistent with our advertised Delta Hunt Valley selections and prices. Once done, MAAVS registrants needed to know what happened. New Registration Forms were developed, our WEB SITE was updated, and all registrants were contacted by E Mail, phone or rumor. I thought it would be a major disaster, but our loyal members accepted all the changes and they all came to our new venue in Gettysburg.

Everything was in motion now, and it’s Show Setup Day. We had been given a space in the Wyndham’s closed restaurant across the street from the hotel, and our Staging Committee (led by Linda Kilby and Jackie Leitzel) went into action and got all the design niches in place and all the plant categories identified. Then the unthinkable - - the outdoor temperature dropped into the mid 20's at night with a building heating system that was inoperative, and the exhibit space became unusable. Three hours before Plant Entries was to begin, the hotel staff and every available MAAVS member moved all the tables, design niches, class dividers, etc. across the parking lot into a new space in the hotel lobby. The lobby not a private room! It was an interesting morning, but we survived. Our Convention and Show finally took shape in a comfortable and affordable venue, and was a huge success. The commercials were very happy with sales, and the lobby location resulted in a lot of "foot traffic", with many visitors becoming interested in learning about African Violets.  In our Show, Horticulture had 184 exhibits, Design had 45 exhibits, and we had two Special exhibits entered by 30 attending MAAVS Members!