Chad

Chad is involved in so many things in the community; I thought I needed to start documenting a few of the things he has been involved in. Recently he received a special recognition for all his volunteer time and for the work and effort he puts into his job. He was selected for the 2009 Citizen of the Year Award. He was presented his award at the Chamber Meeting the night of Saturday April 18.
He did such a great job even though he wasn’t expecting to have to give a speech, but as always he did great. My mom sent him a congratulatory e-mail and this was his response, thought it was sweet and wanted to remember it.
Thanks so much, but Lindsay deserves the honor for putting up with me and taking care of things at home while I am off volunteering my time. She should be recognized for all of the things that she does (and does well). I am certainly glad that she is getting better.
Take care, Chad



Chad Lindsay Outstanding Citizen
Chad Lindsay: Giving back to the community that raised him
By David Peck

A man with a strong desire to give back to the community he loves was honored Saturday night as the 2009 Outstanding Citizen by the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce.
Chad Lindsay was honored Saturday for his tireless work on behalf of the youth of Big Horn County. Currently the director of the Big Horn County Health Coalition, he said he is a living example of the phrase: “It takes a community to raise a child.”
“I’m certainly a product of that concept. So many people have played such an integral role in my life and have helped me to be successful,” he said.
The son of Chet and Joy Lindsay, Chad lost his dad at age 4 when a drunk driver hit him near the Oasis Junction as he was riding his motorcycle, and Chad then lost his mom from ovarian cancer eight years later when he was 12.
That might have been enough to send the average person over the edge, but thanks to the love and support of several adopted parents like Dale and Carol Walker, Carvel and Patty Despain and his sister Jodi, as well as many, many others in the community, Chad not only survived his adolescence, he thrived. He said he can name at least 10 people in the community who took him to events as an extra son and made him feel welcome and included in family events.
Lindsay became a top-notch student and one of the best athletes in Lovell history, excelling in football, basketball and track and field before his graduation in 1989.
He still holds the shot put (62-2½) and discus (175-4) records at LHS, even though they were set 20 years ago. He also still holds the Wyoming State Class 2A record in the shot, 61-10¼, and the record for the Meet of Champions, 61-4, and he continues to compete in masters track and field events nationwide.
Lindsay went on to earn a degree in kinesiology at the University of Wyoming in 1997where he starred for the Wyoming Cowboys track and field squad. He worked as a lab tech at American Colloid in Lovell during and after college.
Health Coalition
Then in 2003 he landed his dream job – director of the Big Horn County Health Coalition, which funds and establishes programs for young people and at-risk students such as after-school tutoring and enrichment and strategies to prevent substance abuse.
The Health Coalition also sponsors smoking cessation programs, parenting programs, New Year’s Eve, After Prom and After Homecoming parties, the Mustang Days Teen Roundup and a brand new program to help at-risk students attend college, the Today’s Choices for Tomorrow program.
“I said it in my interview (for the job),” he said. “I’m addicted to kids. This was an opportunity for me to try to help kids in an expanded role from just coaching. I would have been classified as an at-risk kid. This gave me an opportunity to help kids like me.”
Volunteering
Lindsay administers the many-faceted coalition, writes grants to sustain it and performs hands-on work at many functions and meetings, but it is the work he does on a volunteer basis, away from his “day job,” that most-often puts him in touch with the kids he enjoys working with.
For some 14 years, Lindsay has been a volunteer coach in the Lovell school system for football, outdoor track and field and, recently, indoor track and field. He has also been a paid assistant but likes the flexibility being a volunteer gives him.
Away from the playing fields, Lindsay and partners Kevin Walker and Ken Ferbrache spend time at their business – Better Body Fitness – working with students during weight training or exercising.
He has also served on the Lovell Recreation District Board, the Lovell Fitness Club Board and the Big Horn County Tobacco and Prevention Control Board. He currently serves on the Family Treatment Court Board, the Lovell Inc. Economic Development Board (treasurer), the Big Horn County Suicide Prevention Coalition, the Big Horn Basin Regional Substance Abuse Prevention Board and last fall was elected to the Lovell Hospital Board.
It’s all part of giving back to the community that raised him.
During college, as Lindsay was working his way through school and throwing for the University of Wyoming track and field squad, Chad lived for one summer with the Godina family in Cheyenne. He said they helped him through some tough times, and when he asked what he could do to repay them, Bill Godina said, “Help one kid and you’ve repaid me.”
“Every child I help repays Bill and every person in the community that helped me,” he said.
Chad and his wife, Lindsay, have three children: CJ, 6; Quinn, 4; and Carissa, 2, with a girl due in May.