Linda J. Smith
Linda J. Smith, nee Merrill, was born April 26, 1947 in Hartford and lived in Somers with her parents June and George Merrill and sister, Suzanne, until graduating from Somers High School in 1965. Her time in high school was filled with a balance of academics, sports, and social action. She attended the University of Bridgeport and graduated with a degree in Dental Hygiene in 1967. After graduation, Linda joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and worked at Riverside Indian Boarding School in the Public Health Service Dental Clinic, tutored young Native American children, and ran community organization programs in Anadarko, Oklahoma. She married Gary Smith December 27, 1969, and moved to Yankton, South Dakota. From there the couple moved to Minneapolis, where Linda began doing youth work with her husband at Excelsior Congregational Church. Their next move was to Bamseville, a small rural town in northwestern Minnesota. There Linda began to teach dental health in schools as an adjunct to her dental hygiene profession; and it was in that community, she says, that her love for youth work began to mature.
From teaching skiing, organizing community service programs, and leading educational trips to historic sites, Linda developed a passion for inspiring young people to reach for their dreams and set their sights high. During this time the Smith family hosted AFS students and became a foster family for Clay County, taking in sexually abused children. Linda and Gary also led many camping programs in both Minnesota and Connecticut.
The move to Branford in 1986 was difficult for Linda, for she left behind a program that had given her great pride and satisfaction. Then in 1989 she became the youth director at First Congregational Church of Branford. At that time there were only a handful of young people involved in the church, but the group has since grown to include an active middle-school youth program of more than forty and a similar program for high-school youth. Linda's passion for working with young people is reflected in the annual baking night she supervises. Each year the youth group prepares pies and breads to sell to the congregation to support their various mission projects throughout the year. The youth are "locked in" at the church, and baking goes on all night. In the morning the well prepared and well-organized goodies are on display to be snapped up by members of the congregation, and a few tired but happy young bakers are still giggling about the night's exploits as they work.
During the past five years, Linda has organized service programs on all levels-local, national, and international. These include the young counselor program at Camp Totoket, which involves an ever-growing corps of Branford youth who serve as companions to young people whose families are affected by AIDS; Habitat for Humanity construction projects in West Virginia; and two programs in the Guasmo barrio of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The Ecuador projects involve improving homes for families living in abject poverty, and activities range from laying floors to constructing toilets and showers.
Ask youngsters who have worked with Linda Smith, and they will tell you that they had a good time. Typically they will define their "good time" in terms of how they helped a family in need and what they learned from people who are different from them. Ask them about the people they met, and soon a message about the universality of all people emerges from stories about individuals they came to know. To Linda's teen groups, these individuals became brothers and sisters, different from Branford kids only because of the circumstances of their lives.
Linda was recently awarded the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow Award for the Ecuador Project; Adopta una a Familia I.
From teaching skiing, organizing community service programs, and leading educational trips to historic sites, Linda developed a passion for inspiring young people to reach for their dreams and set their sights high. During this time the Smith family hosted AFS students and became a foster family for Clay County, taking in sexually abused children. Linda and Gary also led many camping programs in both Minnesota and Connecticut.
The move to Branford in 1986 was difficult for Linda, for she left behind a program that had given her great pride and satisfaction. Then in 1989 she became the youth director at First Congregational Church of Branford. At that time there were only a handful of young people involved in the church, but the group has since grown to include an active middle-school youth program of more than forty and a similar program for high-school youth. Linda's passion for working with young people is reflected in the annual baking night she supervises. Each year the youth group prepares pies and breads to sell to the congregation to support their various mission projects throughout the year. The youth are "locked in" at the church, and baking goes on all night. In the morning the well prepared and well-organized goodies are on display to be snapped up by members of the congregation, and a few tired but happy young bakers are still giggling about the night's exploits as they work.
During the past five years, Linda has organized service programs on all levels-local, national, and international. These include the young counselor program at Camp Totoket, which involves an ever-growing corps of Branford youth who serve as companions to young people whose families are affected by AIDS; Habitat for Humanity construction projects in West Virginia; and two programs in the Guasmo barrio of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The Ecuador projects involve improving homes for families living in abject poverty, and activities range from laying floors to constructing toilets and showers.
Ask youngsters who have worked with Linda Smith, and they will tell you that they had a good time. Typically they will define their "good time" in terms of how they helped a family in need and what they learned from people who are different from them. Ask them about the people they met, and soon a message about the universality of all people emerges from stories about individuals they came to know. To Linda's teen groups, these individuals became brothers and sisters, different from Branford kids only because of the circumstances of their lives.
Linda was recently awarded the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow Award for the Ecuador Project; Adopta una a Familia I.