Rewarding Road
August 4, 2009
You never know the good places a “silly idea” can lead.
Linda Ceresani of New Jersey was chosen as the 2009 Wrangler Youth Leader of the Year. (Journal photo)
Horse show mom Linda Ceresani had a self-described “silly idea” that it would be nice for her daughter Alison to learn ride a pony at age 6. Of course, that soon led to the purchase of a little pony, then a bigger pony, and then to a trip with a friend to the All American Quarter Horse Congress when Alison was 8. Just to watch.
“She said, ‘I want to ride there some day,’” Linda recalled. “So we got into Quarter Horses. She’s been doing that since she was about 11.” Now Alison is 17 and the president of the New Jersey Quarter Horse Youth Association.
And Linda has gone from being a mom of one horse show youngster, to the New Jersey Quarter Horse Association youth adviser for about 75 youth.
“No one else wanted to do it!” Linda said with a laugh, on how she came to volunteer for the job. “But I like kids. I have a good sense of organization, and I felt like I could unify and pull them together.”
In the three years that she’s held the position, the state’s youth membership has increased by 56 percent due in large part to Linda’s efforts to recruit and retain youth. She’s encouraged 4-H participation, trail rides and community service projects and fostered a feeling of unity and friendship within the NJQHYA. She’s also encouraged her youth to attend the AQHYA Youth Excellence Seminar each summer at AQHA headquarters in Amarillo.
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To recognize her efforts, her youth nominated her for the 2009 Wrangler Youth Leader of the Year award – and she won. It was presented as a surprise at the end of the Parade of Teams at the Ford Youth World on August 3.
“It means a lot,” Linda said, “because being a youth advisor is hard work and sometimes it’s not that rewarding when things don’t go like you want. I love kids and working with them.
“It’s hard just finding the time to do it right, with all the details. And the communication, you have to communicate to unify a group. I work full time, and I have a family and a house and all that goes with it.”
Linda is a project manager for a company that manages properties across New Jersey. She and her husband, John, also have a son, Ryan, who is a senior at the University of Miami.
“I like seeing the leadership side with the kids: the friendship, the unity,” Linda said. “I think the most rewarding thing has been seeing our group come together. It’s not little subgroups any more. Having kids who are outgoing and friendly helps a lot, older kids who foster that, leading the young ones along, dragging them along to sell raffle tickets, that kind of thing.
“I’m big on the YES conference, it’s a benefit of this Association that a lot of people don’t even know about or take advantage of,” she added.
And she has some advice for other potential youth adviser volunteers:
“Compartmentalize and take one event at a time, because it can get very overwhelming. Take one thing at a time: Get through this; then work on that. Delegate. Enjoy the time with the kids. That’s why you do it, if you don’t like kids, don’t do it.
“And stick with it. When it all comes down to it, even at the awards banquet when you find that the embroiderer sewed all the logos upside down, just take a step back, and think – I have an expression I say, for most things, the patient won’t die.”
Christine Hamilton
Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal
Check out photos from the second day of the 2009 Ford AQHYA World Championship Show. Click on the photos to see the captions. Some of the photos are available for purchase at the AQHA Photo Store.
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