This week’s Rotarian of The Week loves to travel around the world, but don’t ask her to travel on Sunday. The last time she skipped church, things didn’t end well.
Our Rotarian of The Week was born in Denver, but don’t let that fool you - she can y’all with the best of them after growing up in Lubbock, Tex. During their time in Texas, this Rotarian became a prolific babysitter, a necessity after getting into an accident while driving a friend’s car while skipping church one Sunday. It seems our Rotarian didn’t know you had to slow down to take turns and the result of an accident meant paying repairs of $78. A lot of money at 50 cents an hour work.
Babysitting wasn’t the only job our Rotarian had while in high school, and not even the most interesting. This Rotarian was paid to demonstrate Weber grills at a hardware store, handing customers hot dogs fresh off the grill. To this day, our Rotarian of the week has never actually bought a Weber grill but said they do a great job.
Our Rotarian graduated with around 620 as a member of Monterey High School, home of the Fighting Plainsmen. This Rotarian has been a high achiever, taking piano for many years and even teaching a few extra students from mother’s load and writing for the school newspaper. Graduating high school in the top 10 percent of their class but maintaining a very active social calendar was a priority.
This Rotarian was encouraged to see the world by her parents instead of going to Texas Tech. She had an uncle who was the associate dean of arts and sciences at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. That led our Rotarian attending the University of Wyoming where she met a big handsome cowboy on a blind date during her freshman year. Our Rotarian of The Week, Lindi Kirkbride and her beau, Alan quickly became an item and married after her junior year before moving to their ranch.
In the name of getting her degree, this Rotarian commuted nearly 90 minutes each way to the University, requiring some training on winter roads, as well as changing tires, which didn’t go as smooth as planned. Lindi admits she thought she was too much of a princess to be asked to change a tire when surely someone would come to the rescue on the 9 miles of gravel roads plus the 23 on highway 85. Alan thought she had a lot to learn!
Lindi’s knowledge of tire changes and winter driving paid off as she graduated with a degree in social work before becoming one of the first women to work in juvenile probation under Ron Jeffrey at the predecessor of Youth Alternatives.
She would go on to a life of ranch wife, mother, professional volunteer and citizen advocacy. She considered herself a patriotic voice from the land as she spoke publicly against the MX missile of which three were on their ranch. She even traveled with a group from six western states to the former USSR to ask them to dismantle their nuclear weapons. They were interviewed on Russian media and she was on the Today show twice. Due to treaties both sides reduced their nuclear weapons and the Peacekeeper missiles were decommissioned and the land was eventually returned to the ranch several years ago. Lindi has lobbied for Wyoming Church Coalition, League of Women Voters and AARP Wyoming. She was a founder of the Court Appointed Special Advocates or CASA in Cheyenne. In 1986, she received the Wyoming Woman of Achievement award presented by the Wyoming Commission for Women.
The marriage of our Rotarian of the week, Lindi Kirkbride, and Alan would endure for 51 wonderful years and produce three children - her son Ryan who is the fifth generation to work the Kirkbride’s ranch; daughter Kapri, who is a nurse at CRMC; and Anduin, in Fairbanks, Alaska with her husband, a newly retired KC-135 pilot in the Air Force. Alan and Lindi also helped raise a niece, Tiffany, after Lindi’s sister was killed in an automobile accident.
Lindi was sponsored into Rotary by Lori Schoene and since that time has been on the World Service Committee and more recently the Braver Angels Committee. She says her most memorable experience at Rotary was her work as a senior counselor at RYLA, including the hike in silence to Inspiration Point to watch the sunrise. She encourages all Rotarians to be involved with RYLA and was thrilled when her granddaughter Maggie from Greeley went last summer!
In her spare time, she is a master gardener, a reader of historical fiction and whatever her book groups are reading, a world traveler who has been to 48 states and nearly the same number of countries, traveling for both leisure and on Christian mission trips. Her favorite meal would have to include her daddy and then Alan’s beef brisket, though she also likes a nice piece of salmon and lemon pie.
