Terry Lindley hails from Humboldt County. While attending Ferndale High School, he met Steve Olson, the agriculture instructor. Steve would later become a professor and chairman of the SRJC ag department, and eventually, a dean of the college.
After high school, Terry moved to Santa Rosa and lived with Steve and his wife while studying ag business at SRJC. Terry said that the Olsons became trusted friends and mentors, providing counsel and guidance as he embarked on his career and focused on community leadership.
Terry is a lender, leader, rancher and agricultural visionary, in a career that has spanned four decades in Sonoma County. Terry retired as the Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice-President of American AgCredit, a farm lending agency that has become the fifth largest Farm Credit Association in the nation.
In retirement, Terry is still on the go, running Lindley Cattle Co. on mostly leased land in Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties. He also serves, or has served, on dozens of committees and boards, including more than 20 years on the Board of Trustees of Santa Rosa Junior College, of which he is still a member.
“It’s absolutely vital for agriculture to maintain its important place in the economy and way-of-life of Sonoma County.”
Ben provided a very detailed description of his thoughts on what we can expect for the County economy over the next few years. His information generated lots of interest from the audience resulting in many questions that by providing additional information.
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, as well as Club Public Relations-Image Director Jack Strange, submit pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
This past week the landscape of my Rotary experience expanded beyond a "pen" to a pasture.
Top above, Paul O Rear, Jen Adams and Peter Hoberg pose following their successful run in Santa Rosa's annual St Patrick's Day 5K (3 mile) Run. They an boast of their finishing details. Suffice it to sY, ALL have something to boast about. Below is the Interact Club at Elsie Allen High School. More on that below.
Following their run for the the finish, they joined fellow Sunriser's Penny Millar, Don Floriani, Ralph Harryman, Steve Zwick, Stacy Drucker-Andress, Roy Jphnston and yours truly and served nearly a thousand thirsty runners and fans to one of three popular Hen House brews.
Barbara Johnston,& friends joined the celebration!
Roy & fido added savoir faire.
Stacy posed once with her back to the camera to show off her Rotary brand shirt. Frankly her smile and cheer are best representative of Service Above Self!
Yes, ht is Gerard Nebesky from Santa Rosa's renown Paella Restaurant of the same name was also on Courthouse Square cooking up a special St Patrick's Day Paella. It quenched my appetite after hours standing and with a "to-go" treated Betsy to one of her fave's.
Earlier last week at Elsie Allen High School's Interact meeting, their 28 members present taught me how incredibly active they are. In a pictoral show, they recapped their tree planting recently at Laguna de Santa Rosa. Despite rain and soggy ground, they schlogged through mud and cold and dug deep in their energy and planted needed trees to restore this vital ecologic resource.
Three members have also applied to SRKSEP. An Earth Day commemoration activity April 6 for a beach clean up is also planned.
Interact President Trinity, left conducts her meeting with clarity, succinctness and Inspiration!
Can you understand now why I choose to expand my view from a pen to a pasture? Serving with so many giving, happy people, and a fluffy white Binchon is a wonderful way for this Pres bullish on mutual benefit to find ample fodder for a great green pasture, this week, the next, and as far as the horizon rises
Sporting a full head of dark hair, a perfect cherubic face and a pensive gaze that finally interrupted her peaceful slumber, Zoe Gutierrez Fuentes made her first appearance at Sunrise Rotary, (although she had been virtually present many months before). With apologies to the speaker and President Rich, Zoe took the opportunity to enjoy an early morning nap, snuggled in her carseat carrier until the end of the meeting when she was set upon by admiring Rotarians.
Penny Millar captured the baby and would not let her go, causing Paul O'rear to look rather apprehensive. But a knowing wink from the snuggled (and nearly smuggled away) infant, assured all (including mother and grandmother) that she knew exactly where she belonged and would put up with all this fuss for awhile...
Especially since mommy received a special gift, courtesy of a drawing conducted by Jim Kirkbride, who also won for guessing closest to the exact day and time of her birth. Little Miss Zoe considered all of this and decided that her first Rotary appearance was definitely a success. She is reportedly considering a return visit, sometime in the near future to show off her growing beauty and charm.
Driven to service: In Accra, Ghana’s capital, snarled traffic that can quadruple normal driving times during peak hours was taking a toll on the young professionals of the Rotaract Club of Accra-East. The club shrank to three active members not long after its inception, falling victim to its members’ long work hours, job transfers, and the infamous commute. With a burst of energy and the embrace of technology, the Rotaractors regrouped in a big way. Now they focus on support for literacy and public health, with contributions of time and treasure arriving with the click of a mouse.
Club innovation: To revive the faltering Rotaract Club of Accra-East, members dispelled misperceptions — particularly that the organization is solely for the wealthy — and pitched the club as a great way to develop leadership and professional skills. Member numbers and engagement soared when the club started streaming in-person meetings on Facebook Live, a platform that easily allows even club members who live abroad to remain plugged into projects and activities.
The Rotaract Club of Accra-East, Ghana, partnered with the Rotaract Club of Amuwo Main in Nigeria for a water project at a school in Lagos.
Club members plant trees in response to former RI President Ian H.S. Riseley’s call to action.
At least once a week, Opoku Minta-Afari reconnects with old friends — fellow Accra-East Rotaractors — when he logs on to Facebook Live to “attend” club meetings and alternating workshop group sessions. “Social media has changed the way clubs and societies operate in many ways,” says Minta-Afari. In 2015 he relocated to the United States, but sticking with his old club made sense. He still works on fundraising efforts, including the club’s Hope Project, which supports the construction of a classroom building in the Sefwi Akontombra district of western Ghana, a nine-hour drive from the club’s home base. “It’s like the club’s baby, and we all need to work hard to ensure its success,” he says.
Minta-Afari is not the only virtual attendee, says club member Emmanuel Deho. “Let’s assume the 36 members [who reside in Accra] should be meeting in person. We get about 50 percent. Some are late and follow us on Facebook until they arrive. It’s a discussion, a kind of real-time interaction.”
The club maintains an ambitious agenda. The Hope Project, which is about a third of the way through construction and expected to cost more than $40,000, is “one of the most challenging projects,” says Deho, noting how club members had been energized for an earlier, $5,000 effort to provide thousands of Rotaract-branded exercise books and stationery to schools in some of Accra’s most impoverished neighborhoods. Education in Ghana “is free, but it isn’t free,” Deho says. “The resources that schoolchildren need to have a quality education are not always provided. We try to identify those basic needs and to alleviate the pressure on parents by providing them.” The Rotaractors couple that initiative with visits to schools to encourage children. “The only way they can make it is through education,” Deho says.
Over the past couple of years, the Accra-East Rotaractors have visited Sefwi Akontombra to chart progress and promote healthful living. “We’ve held health screenings, and we do it for the whole community,” testing blood sugar levels and blood pressure, screening children’s eyesight, and giving presentations on oral health along with toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The internet has been a boon for planning as well as maintaining membership, notes Deho, recalling the tough period before video streaming and real-time commenting were possible. “It was no fault of theirs that members were missing meetings” because of work obligations, he says. “We needed a way to get them to continue their participation.” They found it online. “You share ideas, you laugh, and you have fun.”
— Brad Webber
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Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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