Submitted and
Review staff:
This past summer, 16 eager 4-H members along with two daring adult chaperones departed for Edmonton on the annual 4-H Alberta/Northwest Territories Agriculture Development Tour. The group traveled by bus throughout northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories camping enroute to reach their destination of Yellowknife.
The trip consisted of various tour spots including an up close and personal tour of a bison ranch near Slave Lake, a tour of an alfalfa processor plant, exploring Devonshire Beach with its’ unique forest growth and bird conservatory, exploring the city of Yellowknife, and the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Department at the NAIT – Fairview Campus. A highlight for the group was definitely the afternoon spent with the Hay River Territorial Farmers Association in the Northwest Territories. This included a tour of Paradise Gardens just south of Hay River and a fish bake on the shore of Great Slave Lake.
The group enjoyed the scenery as they traveled in a charter bus to various points of interest by day and setting-up up their tents at numerous campsites along the way. They enjoyed driving through the MacKenzie Bison Sanctuary and seeing the breathtaking Alexandra, Louise, and Lady Evelyn Falls. One of the trip chaperones commented that a trip highlight was being in Yellowknife and seeing the midnight sun.
After spending ten days with each other on the bus and enjoying nature as they slept in tents, the group becomes extremely close with each other. Numerous inside jokes were developed and life-long friendships were formed.
Trip delegate Russell Gallelli said, “It is a time of your life when the sun only goes down for 30 minutes. It is an experience I will never forget.”
Delegates for the 4-H Alberta/Northwest Territories Agriculture Development Tour are selected each year from more than 90 of the top senior 4-H members at the Provincial Selections Program.