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"Winter-vention" in full swing

Icemen and their families gather in the Yukon Club during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The Fall Festival kicked off the “Winter-vention” campaign created by the 354th Force Support Squadron to help get Airmen and their families out and about throughout the winter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families gather in the Yukon Club during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The Fall Festival kicked off the “Winter-vention” campaign created by the 354th Force Support Squadron to help get Airmen and their families out and about throughout the winter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families paint pumpkins in the Yukon Club during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The Fall Festival kicked off the “Winter-vention” campaign created by the 354th Force Support Squadron to help get Airmen and their families out and about throughout the winter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families paint pumpkins in the Yukon Club during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The Fall Festival kicked off the “Winter-vention” campaign created by the 354th Force Support Squadron to help get Airmen and their families out and about throughout the winter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families watch fireworks during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The 354th Force Support Squadron puts on a 4th of July-scale fireworks show during the fall because the summer months have such extended hours of sunlight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families watch fireworks during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The 354th Force Support Squadron puts on a 4th of July-scale fireworks show during the fall because the summer months have such extended hours of sunlight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families watch fireworks during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The 354th Force Support Squadron puts on a 4th of July-scale fireworks show during the fall because the summer months have such extended hours of sunlight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

Icemen and their families watch fireworks during the Fall Festival on Oct. 28, 2015, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The 354th Force Support Squadron puts on a 4th of July-scale fireworks show during the fall because the summer months have such extended hours of sunlight. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner/Released)

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- The 354th Force Support Squadron kicked off its "Winter-vention" campaign with a bang, bringing more than 1,000 Icemen and their families together to celebrate the yearly Fall Festival.

"Winter-vention" is a program created by the 354th FSS to provide events and activities for Icemen and their families during the winter.

"This is one of many events we put on throughout the winter season," said Maj. Austin Pruneda, the 354th FSS operations officer. "We focus the entire winter on providing events and activities for Eielson families and our local community."

The extreme winters at Eielson can make getting out to do things difficult, so the main focus for the 354th FSS is to provide a variety of events and activities to help get people out of the house.

"With winter being more than half of the year in Alaska, the 354th FSS wants to make sure people aren't just staying in their house all winter, bored, with nothing to do," said Meagan Dearborn, the 354th FSS marketing and advertising specialist.

The Fall Festival was just the beginning of the "Winter-vention" campaign. Future items include performances by Tops in Blue, the Punkin Chunkin event, a snow machine trip, the Winter Festival and a performance by The Chris Walker band.

For more information about these and other upcoming events, classes and services, visit the Eielson FSS page.