Central Coast Section representative Mary Engebreth and I recently attended the 4-H Western Regional Leaders Forum in Fairbanks, Alaska. The annual conference rotates between 13 western states. Over 300 leaders attended from as far away as American Samoa. Fairbanks was sunny and cold (-2) although the locals were walking around town in shorts and flip flops. Apparently it was unseasonably warm, with the average February temperature hovering around -43.
Excellent workshops were given over the 4 days with a wide range of topics. A few of the workshops I attended were Creating Resilient Youth, Teaching to Engage Participants and Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn. This information will be shared with Sonoma County 4-H leaders at the summer annual training.
Along with a full day of workshops, the evenings were set aside for local tours. Mary and I were fortunate enough to embark on a midnight dog-sled ride under the dancing lights of the winter skies. The Aurora Borealis was out in full force. As you can see from the photos, the Northern Lights should be on everyone's bucket list. They were breathtaking, amazing, magical and awe inspiring! So beautiful that it makes you forget the cold. I could have stayed out all night watching those lights. Everyone should be so lucky.
Photos of Northern Lights were taken by a professional photographer who was with the sled ride; remaining were taken by Judy or Mary.
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