Koala Vandruff arrived in Alaska in 1974 as an eager Campfire girls camp-counselor at the age of 19. Immediately smitten by the north, she came back the next year in her VW wagon for a second Campfire season and ultimately remained. A registered nurse since 1991, she still works at the Alaska Native Medical Center, which helps support her habit of traveling all over the world. Using social media, Koala has found a low-budget way to travel both solo and with her partner, often on a work-your-way basis, for life-long learning and play.

She’s been active at AUUF for the last three years.

Koala's slide presentation did not work.Koala Vandruff

Reverend Shelley Page joined AUUF as Interim Minister in January with a specialty of helping UU congregations navigate transitional periods. Raised Roman Catholic, she joined the fellowship as a young adult and has been a UU for over 35 years. After attending Cornell University and working in the business arena, Rev. Page prepared for ministry service at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in New York and at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. The mother of two grown daughters, she originally hails from the Finger Lakes region of New York and has lived in states across the U.S.

This service honors Memorial Day as we remember those who have died in wars and reflect on the meaning of war.

Reverend Shelley Page joined AUUF as Interim Minister in January with a specialty of helping UU congregations navigate transitional periods. Raised Roman Catholic, she joined the fellowship as a young adult and has been a UU for over 35 years. After attending Cornell University and working in the business arena, Rev. Page prepared for ministry service at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in New York and at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California. The mother of two grown daughters, she originally hails from the Finger Lakes region of New York and has lived in states across the U.S.

This is the sound from the youth group slide presentation and commentary on their social justice visit to Newtok, AK.

Becca Bernard is a ministry student at Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist seminary. She has been active with AUUF for the past two years.  She practiced environmental law for more than 20 years, both in California and in Alaska, representing conservation organizations, Alaska Native tribes and corporations, and community groups in their efforts to protect clean air, clean water, ecosystems, and fisheries.  She is also a public education advocate who co-founded Great Alaska Schools Anchorage and is a mother of two boys.  She teaches Nonviolent Communication at AUUF and elsewhere.

This is a celebration of our church year as we hear from our Coming of Age youth, honor our Religious Exploration teachers, and participate in the uniquely UU ritual of Flower Communion. 

Matthew Teaford is the Senior Director of the Compliance/Equal Employment Opportunity Office of the Anchorage School District. He coordinates the District's sexual harassment prevention efforts and sexual harassment investigations. Mr. Teaford has worked in the field of civil rights compliance for Alaska school districts since 2007. Before that, he represented school districts as an attorney and was a law clerk for the Alaska Superior Court. Mr. Teaford received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School. 

Kathryn Milligan-Myhre is an assistant professor in Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage with a focus on genetics.  Her research and publications explore genetic factors in host-microbe interactions and immune responses. After earning an undergraduate degree in Medical Microbiology and Immunology, she received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin.  An Inupiaq raised in Kotzebue, she works to foster diversity in her field by recruiting and mentoring Alaska Natives and Native Americans.  Her honors include funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and a blanketing ceremony from the University of Oregon Native American community. 

2018 Annual Meeting

Rev. Dr. Patricia Wilson-Cone serves as Manager for Clinical Pastoral Education at Providence Hospital in Anchorage.