Purdue News

May 21, 1999 Home and Family conference starts June 8 at Purdue WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Hundreds of people from Indiana and surrounding states will attend the 1999 Home and Family Conference June 8-11 at Purdue University. Gardening, cooking with herbs, computers and the Internet, tips on how to save money and reduce debt, personal and family health, and human development are a few of the workshop topics at this year's conference. There also will be well-known speakers, presentations by university specialists and professors, and music, drama and comedy. "Our mission is to strengthen the home and family through education," said Betty Krejci, assistant program leader for the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences. "We never pick a theme, because we want to have a very broad range of topics so that we have something for everyone." Although the conference is part of the Indiana Extension Homemaker Association's annual meeting, Krejci said the events will appeal to a wide variety of people. Tuesday (6/8) will focus on the Choral Festival, which features 41 individual county chorus performances and a combined performance in the evening. Wednesday (6/9) morning is set aside for the Indiana Extension Homemaker Association's annual meetings, which are not open to the public. But all events and seminars scheduled after 2 p.m. that day are open to the public. Seminar topics include year-round schooling, selecting a mutual fund, home-visiting programs for families in need, and home and family television programming. Thursday's (6/10) events will kick off at 8 a.m. with a keynote address by Michelle Passoff, a consultant and author of "LIGHTEN UP! Free Yourself From Clutter." Passoff will talk about clearing space in life to help define dreams for the home, family, job, community and self. Also on Thursday, F.B. Fogg, an internationally renowned artist from Muncie, Ind., will talk about "She Who Does the Work Reaps the Reward." Fogg will tell how she accidentally created a unique paper art form from which she makes jewelry, clocks and large wall sculptures. Some of her work is owned by movie producer Steven Spielberg and actors Kevin Kline, Elizabeth Taylor and Whoopi Goldberg. Thursday evening, participants will be able to attend a dramatic interpretation of Mary Todd Lincoln's widowhood and insanity trial presented by Donna Daniels, who has been portraying Mrs. Abraham Lincoln since 1988. "The dramatic portrayal generally brings a greater understanding of who Mary Todd Lincoln was and a better understanding of the hardships she faced," Krejci said. "You look at her in a very different light after you see this presentation." Friday's (6/11) events will begin with an address by Dee Hartman, who will present what she calls a "five-finger exercise" entitled "A Handful of Leadership Skills for Life." The speech will focus on self-respect, goal setting and respect for others. Friday's events also include morning tours or workshops about computers, leadership, herbs and performance-enhancing drugs. "The computer sessions range from beginning on the Internet to digging up your roots and doing genealogy through an advanced level of Internet searching," Krejci said. Tour options include a visit to a West Lafayette home designed by world-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, a tour of the David Ross Perennial Garden and Matt Kern Memorial Prairie Garden, and a tour of the Horticulture Gardens and plant growth facilities of the Purdue Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. The conference ends Friday with a luncheon with the Comedy Readers Group of Lafayette's Civic Theatre. Registration is $35 for the entire conference or $25 for a single day. Additional fees are required for entertainment, luncheons and housing. For more information, contact Krejci at (765) 494-8252 or krejcib@cfs.purdue.edu. Source: Betty Krejci, (765) 494-8252, krejcib@cfs.purdue.edu Writer: Kelly Lucas, (765) 494-8402, news_students@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page