2012 Convention

The American Peony Society’s Annual Convention

June 1–3, 2012

Ramada Plaza Omaha Hotel & Convention Center

3321 South 72^nd Street; Omaha, Nebraska

All activities, except tours, at the hotel.

APS is pleased to announce that the 2012 Convention will take place in Omaha, Nebraska, “The Gateway to the West”.

During the afternoon and evening of May 31, a registration table will be available in the main lobby of the hotel. Adjacent to the lobby there will be a no-host social gathering at the hotel bar/restaurant.

On Friday, we will have an early start with buses leaving the hotel no later than 8:00 am, headed for Joslyn Castle. This is a spectacular Scottish Baronial Mansion that was completed in 1903, being built by George and Sarah Joslyn, at the time Nebraska’s wealthiest couple. We have been invited to tour the interior of the mansion in small groups while the rest of the group explores the beautiful surrounding gardens, containing 90-year old peonies.

From Joslyn Castle we will head to Mahoney State Park near the Platte River to view the Sass Memorial Iris and Peony Collection maintained by the Greater Omaha Iris Society.

For lunch we will be at Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha’s Botanical Center. This is a beautifully maintained 100-acre botanical garden featuring many outdoor garden areas, including a large assortment of peonies. We will be spending about two and a half hours here allowing plenty of time for a nice visit and for an open judges training session for judging Award of Landscape Merit nominees.

After a trip around the gardens we will head back to the hotel for a relaxing evening. There are some wonderful restaurants in the area as well as a super restaurant at the hotel.

There will be ample time and space to prepare for APS’ Annual Exhibition. After judging on Saturday morning, the Exhibition will be open to the public, with additional public viewing on Sunday.

Saturday evening’s activities will include the Banquet consisting of a meat/fish/pasta buffet, Annual Membership Meeting and Auction.

A complete schedule of events, to include seminars, will be published in the March 2012 issue of The Bulletin.

Convention Reservation Fee: $95.00 USD for each attendee. Fee covers the Friday tours, transportation and box lunch, plus Saturday’s dinner.

• APS membership required.

• Add $25.00 after May 6.

• Convention reservations will be accepted until May 19.

• Refunds will be available for reservations cancelled before April 30.

Please use the form on page 39 of the December 2011 issue of The APS Bulletin to make your reservations.

APS accepts payment by check, money order, Discover, Visa, MasterCard or PayPal.

To pay via PayPal go to www.paypal.com.

• Click on the “Send Money” tab and then select send money online.

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Convention Hotel Information

The Ramada Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Omaha is centrally located, immediately off I-80 at the 72^nd Street exit. It offers a 60,000 square foot Coco Key Water Park with three thrilling four-story slides, activity pool, adventure river and interactive play island. The hotel also features a restaurant, lounge, room service, two fitness centers, heated indoor pool and sauna, business center, on-site guest laundry and same day dry cleaning.

The Ramada Plaza Hotel Omaha is all non-smoking with 383 spacious guest rooms and suites. Standard guest room amenities include cable TV with pay-per-view movies and video games, complimentary high speed internet, telephone, coffeemaker, iron and ironing board, hair dryer and bath amenities, alarm clock and radio, work desk with lamp and individually controlled air conditioning.

Standard Room -- King Bed $85.00

Standard Room -- Two double Beds $94.00

Individual reservations may be made by calling the Hotel Reservations Department at 1-888-288-4982. In order to receive the contracted guestroom rate (listed above), attendees must ask for the group rate associated with the American Peony Society Convention—before May 17, 2012. Check-in: 4:00 pm; Check-out: 11:00 am.

Other “must see” attractions in Omaha for attendees to visit on their own:

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo—The zoo maintains the world’s largest indoor rainforest, desert and nocturnal exhibits. The world-class Scott Aquarium is a favorite destination at the zoo.

Strategic Air and Space Museum—This museum has aircraft, missiles and hardware spanning the history of the Air Force and Strategic Air Command.

The Old Market—A historic area of Omaha with an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants and claims to be Omaha’s #1 tourist hot spot.

Joslyn Art Museum—This world class collection opened to the public in 1931 as the Society of Liberal Arts. Since that time, the Museum’s collection has grown to include over 11,000 works representing artists and cultures from antiquity to the present.

Omaha is served by Eppley Air Field, located four miles northeast of downtown Omaha. Airlines flying to Omaha include United, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta and Frontier.

Questions—(918) 232-8995 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .