A Hoosier musical tradition will celebrate its 75th anniversary at Purdue University's 2009 Home and Family Conference.

A special anniversary performance by the Melody Makers of Indiana highlights the June 10-12 conference, which will take place on Purdue's West Lafayette campus. The annual conference features workshops and speakers addressing topics related to family issues, leadership, human development, resource management, food and nutrition, and health and wellness.

The Melody Makers is the Indiana Extension Homemakers Association (IEHA) state chorus. It began in 1934 as the Tippecanoe County Home Economics Chorus under the direction of Albert P. Stewart. That first county chorus led to others, and, by 1937, music became a permanent part of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service.

The Melody Makers of Indiana will perform at 7:30 p.m. June 10 in Elliot Hall of Music, with an ice cream social following at the fountain near Hovde Hall. Those not attending the conference may attend the concert for $5. Individual county choruses will sing throughout the day June 10.

Carroll County's E.H. Chorus, The Extension Chords, includes Barbara Dillon, Eleanor Sheets, Susie Dyke, Judith McKinley, Donna McCarty, Patricia Beckham, Beverly Seese, JoAnn Smith, Ruth Crowel, Margie Bothof, Loretta Lambert, Doris Walton, Pat Meade, and Judy Collins.

The conference is open to Indiana Extension Homemakers Association (IEHA) members and the general public.

Conference workshops will cover such topics as sun safety, foodborne illnesses, travel tips, estate planning, container gardening and Monarch butterflies.

In addition to the workshops, conference attendees can participate in tours of Shadeland's Inspired Fire hand-blown glass studio, the Wabash and Erie Canal in Delphi, and Benton County wind farms, among others. A downtown Lafayette walking/shopping trip has been added to the conference agenda.