Compiled in 2001 by Pat Richardson. Historian
Pre-Board Meeting 1978
In September 1978, APW sponsored a pre-board meeting trip to Alaska in conjunction with the NFPW fall board meeting being held in Billings, Montana. National board members arrived in Anchorage on Sept. 22. The next day they toured Anchorage parks, museums, the zoo, and a fur factory. A banquet featured entertainment by a Native dance group and guest speaker, Dean Gottehrer, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner columnist and University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism professor.
On September 24, 1978, 24 travelers took a bus to Talkeetna where they visited APW member Mary Carey’s log cabin, feasted on Alaskan foods at a potluck hosted by the community, and toured a satellite tracking station. The next day they visited the Mt. Alyeska ski area and Portage Glacier. The following day a working group toured the trans-Alaska oil pipeline terminal and shipping port at Valdez. Another group went to Kenai where they toured an offshore oil-producing rig in Cook Inlet. On September 27, NFPW and APW members filled a plane to Prudhoe Bay, the only Arctic oil field in the United States.
Post-Convention Tour 1986
In 1986, APW hosted a post-convention tour featuring a three-part tour of Alaska. The national conference was held in Seattle that year. Alaska sent 16 members to the conference, the largest APW delegation ever to attend a national conference. Following the conference, tour participants could choose one, two, or three parts of the post tour, depending on how much time and money they wanted to spend. Part I toured Juneau, including a reception in the governor’s mansion. Part II included all the Juneau activities and continued on to Anchorage. Part III included parts I and II and added a trip to Prudhoe Bay.
NFPW Conference 2000
In 2000, APW hosted the NFPW national conference in September at the Westin Alyeska Prince Hotel, located 45 minutes south of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. The hotel is located in Girdwood, a famous ski resort where the scenery is spectacular.