Alumni Council Update

Staying Connected During COVID

RACHELLE ANTINETTI (42), ALUMNI COUNCIL VICE CHAIR

OF THE COUNTLESS LESSONS AG LEADERSHIP TAUGHT ME, THE MOST VALUABLE HAS TO BE THE GIFT OF SELFLESSNESS. MAKING THE TIME TO GIVE AND SHARE WITH OTHERS IN THE WORKPLACE, IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND IN OUR HOMES, IS THE ULTIMATE REWARD FOR ME. IN 2020, I FOUND THAT THE MOMENTS REALLY COUNTED. ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS WAS SHARING IN THE JOY OF MEETING RICH PETERSON (25) AND HIS LOVELY WIFE, DOTTIE. RICH WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE 2020 PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP AWARD RECIPIENTS. I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF SAFELY DELIVERING HIM HIS AWARD. RICH IS A SERVANT LEADER AND HAS COMMITTED MANY YEARS OF HIS LIFE TO SERVING HIS COMMUNITY.

2020 has brought about circumstances many of us thought would only have occurred in history or in the movie business. Many of us have really had to dig deep this year and put some of those Ag Leadership lessons to use. We have been challenged to think outside the box on ways to stay engaged with our teams, families and friends. I miss the last-minute dinner invites, date nights with my husband, cups of coffee with friends and summer baseball games with my kids. I miss in-person Ag Leadership Alumni Council meetings, hosting recruiting events and interviewing candidates for the next “best” class.

Staying connected During COVID has been a gift. I appreciate text messages from Ag Leadership classmates in our group chats, phone calls to alumni who were fellows in the early years of the program and meeting new alumni on First Fridays webinars with Director of Education Shelli Hendricks. I am thankful for this Horizons magazine that comes in the mail and the emails from Liza Robertson and Deanna van Klaveren (32) with updates and activities in our regions. I am so thankful for our new president and CEO, Dwight Ferguson and executive vice president, Abby TaylorSilva (45), who have big plans, big ideas and big goals on taking CALF to a whole new level that all alumni and future fellows will appreciate and enjoy.

Here are some updates from CALF alumni throughout the state. My positive thoughts and prayers for you and your family are a healthy and prosperous 2021!

Kelly Mora (48)

Kelly Mora, Region 1 director, hosted a virtual Thanksgiving for her region. Here’s what she shared about staying connected during COVID in 2020.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, even if it was spent differently than holiday gatherings of the past. The Region 1 Virtual Thanksgathering was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the company of fellow alumni while celebrating the gifts of our leadership journeys. My thanks to Mitchell Yerxa for representing Region 1 and Class 48 in appreciating Barry Bedwell (13) and his contributions to CALF. Barry led a mini “meet and greet” after expertly introducing Dwight Ferguson and Abby Taylor-Silva (45). Barry truly is the master of introductions. However, as he passed the torch, it was abundantly clear that Dwight and Abby will be upholding the standard he so well established.

After brief introductions and sharing important personal details, such as our favorite Thanksgiving dishes, our discussion shifted to counting our blessings and we shared our gratitude for the many reasons we appreciate California agriculture. Carissa Rystrom (48) prompted great conversation by asking each participant to answer two questions: “What motivated you to take up a vocation in the agriculture industry?” and “What are you thankful for that California agriculture offers?” Regardless of the path that guided us into our industry or whether we are on “Team Cranberry” or “Team Stuffing,” we all agreed that we are blessed beyond measure to be involved in California agriculture.

As our evening concluded, the alumni team presented the Region 1 CALP Donation Drive which was introduced on Giving Tuesday. Correen Davis (45) said it well: “Wouldn’t it be great if Region 1 was known for our generosity of spirit and desire to give back to the program that gave us all so much?”

Theresa Becchetti (35)

Theresa Becchetti is Class 35’s liaison. She implemented regular virtual social hours for her class.

Class 35 has done an outstanding job of staying connected over the years. This year, they have gone virtual! A virtual social hour was launched to keep everyone in touch since the class is not physically able to get together. COVID has impacted all of us in different ways, but it has also opened up opportunities to stay connected. The ability to catch up with classmates, some of whom we have not seen since graduation a few years ago, is great. We have only recently started this virtual connection and hope to keep gaining classmates when they have a chance to pop on, even if only for a few minutes to say hello.

Class 35’s virtual social hour is set for every other Monday from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. For the link, contact Theresa at tabecchetti@ucanr.edu.

Steve Dodge (49)

Steve Dodge, Region 2 director, is working to reconnect with alumni.

Getting together in 2020 took creativity and patience. We have all had to postpone big events and vacations. Society has become accustomed to meeting through our computers and creating the best backdrops for our peers. When trying to come up with ways to interact with fellow alumni and friends of Region 2, we knew a Zoom “meet and greet” was the ideal setting.

On Nov. 17 we had an alumni meeting for the region that included the new Ag Leadership executive team. It allowed us to get a better understanding of where they hope to take the program in this next chapter and it also allowed us to catchup and check-in with everyone during these uncertain times. The meeting made me proud to be a California Ag Leadership Program alumni because it was all about the future and how we can continue to make the world a better place.

James Ewart (49)

James Ewart, Region 5 director, shared top-line take-aways from the survey his region participated in.

As a new alum and regional director, I was keen to understand what folks have done in the past and also most importantly, get an insight as to what folks wanted to do in the future. Initially, I had wanted to get out and meet folks in their communities to get a better sense. Unfortunately, with COVID-19, this didn’t go to plan and so we adapted with the help of Darlene Din (35), Deanna van Klaveren (32) and Judy Sparacino, sending out a survey to our region. We got a response of 29 surveys out of a total of 76. While there are some tactical things that people would like to see, such as establishing a social media presence, I think the general sense is that folks would like to connect in person.

With Region 5 being large, and balancing everyone’s busy schedules, it’s my hope that postCOVID, we can connect at a local restaurant or pub for lunch and build networks from there. With many folks on Zoom calls all day under COVID restrictions, the general feeling in our region has been to wait to connect in-person. We did, however, have a virtual meeting in December to check-in and introduce Dwight Ferguson and Abby Taylor-Silva (45) to our region. We hope this will springboard us into creating closer connections in 2021! continued on page 6