The meeting was Aug 1 through Aug 4. Held At the Dickerson Friends Center in Wasilla. Approximately 100 participants were present; All ages were present with average age of about 45. The monthly meetings represented; Fairbanks, Talkeetna, Anchorage, Kenai, Homer, Juneau and Sitka. Simultaneously there was a youth conference at the Center.

Guest Speaker was Diane Randall Executive secretary of FCNL. The theme for the session was determined by their youth; Love, Joy, and Empowerment. This meeting is very involved in social and environmental issues.

My main takeaway from this body was their inclusion of the youth! The youth were seeking information about quiet time. What is the process? In answer to this the session decided to have a Spirit week for the youth where they could walk through the process and search for answers to their many questions. This Spirit week had been done in the past with a representative from one of the eastern meetings.

The center is named after Mahala Ashley Dickerson (October 12, 1912 – February 19, 2007) an American lawyer and civil rights advocate for women and minorities. In 1948 she became the first African American female attorney admitted to the Alabama State Bar; in 1951 she was the second African American woman admitted to the Indiana bar; and in 1959 she was Alaska’s first African American attorney. She was a classmate of Rosa Parks, who came and visited Mahala in Alaska. The property was donated by her to the Friends.