4-H forum planned March 2-4 in Fairbanks
February 26, 2016
Debbie Carter
907-474-5406
More than 300 4-H leaders, agents and teens will visit Fairbanks March 2-4 for the
4-H Western Region Leaders Forum.
The annual forum rotates among 13 Western states and will be hosted in Fairbanks for
the first time. Conference coordinator Jan Hanscom, a 29-year 4-H volunteer, said
the forum provides 4-H leaders and agents opportunities for top-level training they
can take home to their clubs.
4-H is a youth development program administered in Alaska by the University of Alaska
Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.
More than 100 workshops will include everything from making kuspuks and swine matchmaking
to finances for teens, public speaking and affordable forensics. A panel of Alaska
Native and Native American youth from North Dakota and their leaders will discuss
clubs for Native youth.
The event is largely coordinated by 4-H volunteers assisted by 4-H program staff.
An organizing committee has been meeting for five years. Hanscom, who has attended
forums in every Western state, advocated for the location.
“I wanted people to come to Fairbanks and experience what Alaska is like,” she said.
Most workshops will take place at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel and Conference Center,
but activities are also planned at the fairgrounds and other locations around Fairbanks.
Activities will include Alaska sports such as snowshoeing, ice carving and dog mushing.
Preconference activities include three northern lights tours and visits to Delta Junction
farms, the Chena Hot Springs Resort and various sites around Fairbanks, including
horse farms, the University of Alaska Museum of the North, the Fountainhead Auto Museum,
UAF's Large Animal Research Station and UAF's Reindeer Research Program. Fifty-five
teens and their chaperones will also spend a day at UAF touring Wood Center and the
campus, including the veterinary science facility, the reindeer program and the museum.
Details about the forum are located at www.alaska2016.com. Donations of desserts and fruit are sought for the forum’s hospitality room. Anyone
who wants more information about the event or wishes to make a donation may contact
Hanscom at 479-3259.
ON THE WEB: www.alaska2016.com
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Marla Lowder, 907-474-2427, mklowder@alaska.edu