WVC at Omak student senate sponsors Helen Thayer lecture on March 15

Motivational speaker Helen Thayer will present the lecture “Polar Dream,” based on her best-selling book of the same name, at the Omak Performing Arts Center on Thursday, March 15, at 7 p.m.
 
In 1988, Thayer became the first woman to walk and ski to any of the world’s poles when she trekked solo to the Magnetic North Pole without dog sled or snowmobile. She was also the first woman and first American to circumnavigate the Magnetic North Pole. Her book “Polar Dream” (Simon & Schuster, New Sage Press second edition) tells the story of her historic adventure with her companion Charlie, a Canadian Eskimo Husky trained to alert humans to polar bears. Thayer’s lecture will include photographs of the Polar Ice Cap and the polar bears that live there.
 
Thayer has gone on to explore the far corners of the world. She recently returned from a 900-mile expedition through four Sahara Desert countries, following an ancient trade route and accompanied by a 12-member family of the Berber tribe. Other adventures include living with the Massai tribe in Tanzania in 2009, studying indigenous cultures and water issues in the Amazon in 2008, and trekking on foot across the Mongolian Gobi Desert in 2001.
 
Thayer has received numerous awards and recognitions for her achievements and expeditions. In 2010, she was chosen by the University of Washington as one of Washington state’s “100 Women Who Have Made a Difference.” She was also named “One of the Great Explorers of the 20^th Century” by National Geographic in 2002.
 
This event is free and open to the public.
 
This presentation is part of Women’s History Month and is sponsored by the Associated Students of Wenatchee Valley College at Omak.