Growing Up

I grew up in Amador and Calaveras counties, where my great and great-great grandparents settled in the 1860s.

My mom Marilyn Fischer Lynch (1936-2018) grew up in a ranching family. Her father also worked in mining and was the Mokelumne Hill town constable for a dozen years in the 1940s-50s. Her mom was a homemaker with a full-time job raising 5 kids.

My father Brian Forsterer Lynch (1932-2009) was an only child. His parents were both college educated. His mom studied Art at Berkeley in the 1920s, and his father studied Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. My dad passed on college. He served in the Army in Korea and spent his life working in logging and construction..

My parents separated when I was one and my brother was four. Neither remarried.

My mom had always dreamed of college, but her father felt it would be a waste for a girl. After I went to college, my mom did too. She earned a BA in Social Science in 1995, which she was in her sixties. She loved learning and never stopped.

My brother Martin still lives in Calaveras County where he works in construction and fighting fires. My niece Linayea is a vampire in a hospital, my nephew Garrett works with his dad and is attending community college, and my great niece named Ellie is going into 1st Grade.

Marrying Up

Need I said more? If you know my "Priority Male" Alan, you know that I am blessed to be married to a great guy. Besides loving his job as the 93526 mail man, Alan is an accomplished photographer and loves to garden.

Alan's parents Art (1935-2021) and Connie (1942-1998) moved to the Owens Valley with their three kids in 1969. After working for Bishop schools and as caretaker for Camp Inyo, Art became an Inyo County Park Ranger. Connie worked in a variety of positions.

Alan has a brother and sister who graduated from Big Pine High School. David is a Fire Captain in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Lynnette runs three "Three Dog Bakery" stores near Sarasota, Florida. She has three young grandchildren: Max in Texas and Katelyn and Elijah in Florida.

By the way, next time you are in Big Pine, check out the little exhibit panel south of the picnic shelter in Mendenhall Park. We placed two iron benches and planted two ash trees and one weeping willow dedicated to his parents in 2021. Art built the park in 1976. On Oct. 11, 1976, the Big Pine Civic Club passed a resolution calling it "Art Broch Day" to "...express sincere appreciation for Art Broch and family for the truly fine service rendered to this community."

Moving Up

I have worked as a History educator around the country since 1989. It's been more about moving around than moving up, and the learning experience of a lifetime at:

• a World War II Civil Rights site in California since September 2001;

• a big volcano, meadow and forest park in Washington from March 1999 to September 2001;

• an amazing mountain, desert, and river park on the Texas-Mexico border from March 1993 to March 1999;

• the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, and home of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from July 1991 to March 1993;

• as a clerk in the office of the Director of the agency in Washington, DC, from November 1990 to July 1991;

• as a seasonal employee at a site celebrating the performing arts in northern Virginia from June 1990 to September 1990; and

• as a seasonal employee at a giant California park on the other side of the mountains—the name starts with a "Y"—and has spectacular granite, cliffs, stunning meadows, and giant trees from June to September 1989.

Stepping Up

School boards are non-partisan and should focus on students as learners, not as pawns in adult squabbles. The kids' lives will—God willing— stretch far beyond our own, and offer them challenges, hopes, and horizons far beyond our own.

I am running for a seat on the OVUSD Board because:

• I have passion for learning and compassion for learners;

• While not a parent, I love kids;

• I have devoted my life to learning and creating/supporting opportunities for others to learn;

• I earned California Teaching Credentials in Single Subject English and Social Studies and Multiple Subject K-8 in 1990;

• I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Drama and English from California State University, Stanislaus in 1989;

• Your kids will be running the world as I head into the twilight of my own life. They may be doctors, plumbers, waiters, librarians, mechanics, pilots, store cashiers, and more. I want them to have the best education possible for wherever life takes them;

• I am involved in many community activities and events; and,

• last and least, I am an Independence and Inyo County taxpayer.

Hopeful...

Curious...

Annoyed...

Exhausted...