During the January 2022 Legislative/State Presidentโs conference in Washington, D.C., EANGUS President Karen Craig issued a challenge to the audience; make the EANGUS Conference Roll Call more colorful and interesting; much like the NGAUS Conference.ย That night, over beverages, the presidents of Area VII started devising a plan.ย
โWe started with an idea of a Totem Pole with each state of Area VII representedโฆ but we would have to figure a way to ship it to the conference.โ K. Cory Nydam, Alaska State President.ย
Area VII continued discussions at the Area VI/VII Mid-Winter Conference in Reno, NV; eventually landing on the idea of mascots representing their respective states and combining their 1 minute per state to have 6 minutes to perform a skit as an area.ย
The Presidents of their respective States within Area VII met virtually monthly leading up to the EANGUS National Conference to go over the skit, the mascots and to ensure everyone on the call was prepared from the upcoming conference.ย
On the day of the EANGUS Conference, all the planning and preparation paid off and resulted in one of the most memorable States Roll Call in recent memory.ย The audience was treated to a polar bear from Alaska, the VP of CAL-EANGUS riding a bear, Maui Quizon dancing a hula dance to song (of his choice), a Sasquatch from Oregon lurking thru the crowd and an apple from Washingtonโฆhanding out apples.ย At the conclusion of the Area VII skit, the narrator, Josh Baker from California, issued a challenge to the delegates to step up their roll-call game for Rochester, MN.
โI am very proud of Area VII and how we came together and the bond we have in our area.ย We lean on each other and work very well together,โ Josh J. Baker, California State President.ย โThe goal was to shake things up and get people talking.ย I think we were successful.โ
During the All-States Night, the states of Area VII collaborated again to make a sangria that combined something from each state and territory of Area VII.ย The โSasquatch Slewโ combined wine and watermelon from Oregon, ice from Alaska, citrus (lemons, limes & oranges) from California, pineapple from Hawaii, apples from Washington and a palm umbrella from Guam.ย ย
