The Literacy Council hosted a wonderful New Citizen Ceremony at the Morris Thompson Building. Eleven new citizens were celebrated in the auditorium with certificates and flowers. 

A few recipients told heartwarming stories about their paths to citizenship, like the young mother who delivered twin preemies in Fairbanks but still kept her citizenship testing & interviewing appointment by driving down to Anchorage three days later. 

As you may know the Fairbanks Federal Courthouse no longer hosts citizenship applications, so Interior residents now have to travel to Anchorage at least twice for fingerprinting and tests.

Another young woman gave League members more information than we dispensed to her, by explaining to us how the application process can vary from three years to 10 depending on the applicant’s circumstances. She said she chose her pathway to citizenship through enlisting in the army because she felt she “wanted to give this country something in return for everything the country gave me, and to make my mother proud”.

After the short ceremony everyone enjoyed an excellent array of delicious foods prepared by Literacy Council staff and board members. 

Carol Ann Varner brought the famous League Suitcase filled with beautiful decorations as well as Voter Information and Registration applications. Sue McHenry, David Weissman and Phyllis Tugman-Alexander assisted with Voter Registration, food sampling and clean-up.