NGWA Celebrates in Music City

The 2001 Ground Water Expo -- hosted by the National Ground Water Association -- was 72 hours of fast-paced action.

This patriotic TH60 1050/350 from Ingersoll-Rand was purchased by Granite Drilling, Aromas, Calif.

The 2001 Ground Water Expo hosted by the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) was 72 hours of fast-paced action as the Nashville Convention Center provided the stage for exhibitors showing off their latest products and services, standing-room only educational workshops, interesting and topical speakers, and quite a bit more.

The Expo took place this past Dec. 7-9, and was visited by more than 3,000 attendees. They saw the products of more than 200 exhibitors on 50,000 square feet of exhibit space.

After the exhibit hall closed on Dec. 8, the NGWA delegates meeting took place and three were voted to the NGWA board of directors. Those earning seats were Ernest Pender of Pender Water Wells in Texarkana, Ark.; Brett McCarty of McCarty Drilling and Pumps Inc. in Rathdrum, Idaho; and John Christiansen of Mort's Well Co. of Latimer, Iowa.

Sweet Sue and Curt Schelle (American Drilling & Supply, Billings, Mont.) have Mark Laibe surrounded at the Versa-Drill booth.

Also taking place on Dec. 8 was the general membership breakfast, which featured the official passing of the gavel from Roger Renner to Len Assante as association president.

Other highlights of the Expo were jam-packed workshops and classes, well-attended sessions at the AGWSE annual meeting and conference, and a President's Dinner which had a light atmosphere due to the comedy of Carmen Ciricillo, a regular on the Discovery Channel show "Your New House."

The workshops on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9 were incredibly popular. The one-hour session titled "Water Well Hydrology for Contractors" was so well attended that tables had to be removed so extra rows of chairs could be added. In another class, "Selling Yourself: Profit is not a Four-Letter Word," people were sitting on the floor.

Other hot topics were "Arsenic," "Marketing Your Services to the Geothermal Heat Industry" and "Transfer of Technology."

The AGWSE conference featured a keynote address from Fletcher Driscoll, the author of the popular book Groundwater and Wells. His talk focused on being successful in your field and not being afraid to learn new things in the industry.

Jim and Brandy Logue (Rocky Mountain Drilling Services LLC, Grand Junction, Colo.) are ready to hit the exhibit floor.

The Expo's keynote address came from John Paling, an Emmy-award winning producer of wildlife films for the BBC, Nova, Nature and National Geographic. His talk, "Up to Your Armpits in Alligators?" included samples from his award-winning nature films.

The Darcy and McEllhiney lectures also were given to large groups. Dr. Mary Hill, a research scientist in the USGS, gave the Darcy lecture, while John Schnieders, a certified professional chemist and principal chemist of Water Systems Engineering Inc., delivered the McEllhiney address.

The big show returns to Las Vegas for this year - Dec. 9-11.

For more photos, please see the print edition of National Driller.