Mickey Hirni spent the first 18 years of his life enjoying everything Exeter had to offer a young man. He never forgot that experience and has spent the last 22 years of his life making sure that future generations don't either.

“I had a wonderful experience growing up in town with summer sports, high school sports, FFA, everything,” said Hirni, the 2008 Alumni of the Year for Exeter Union High School. “I want to make sure that kids today have that same kind of experience.”

Hirni has spent the last 19 years serving on the Exeter Union (Elementary) School Board making decisions that affect over 2,000 students and overseeing a budget in excess of $13 million. He has served as president of the board five times and has been the driving force behind most of the construction and modernization projects in the district.

“My 19 years on the school board have been a wonderful experience,” he said. “There are not that many people on school boards who can say that. It is a tough job that comes with a lot of criticism. Many boards have a lot of conflict, but we really haven't had a lot of arguments on the Elementary School Board. We all have the childrens' best interest at heart.”

During his time on the Facilities Committee, Hirni has led in the development of plans for Lincoln Elementary's Multipurpose Room, oversaw the planning and construction for Rocky Hill Elementary and is currently leading the way to build a new Student Services Center and Multipurpose Facility at Wilson Middle School through the use of funding from bond Measure D passed by voters in February. The district is also working on the development of a districtwide food services center and district office at the former Memorial Hospital at Exeter complex.

“There are not many things I can look at in our district and say that we need to do this, except at Wilson Middle School,” Hirni said. “If there is a school that is not pretty, it is Wilson. But this project will change that.”

Hirni is also past president of the Exeter Lions Club. Since 1986, Hirni has yet to miss a meeting or function and has helped the club provide a free Fourth of July Fireworks Show, judged the Fall Festival Parade and restored interest in the East-West All-Star Game for high school baseball players.

“The club does a lot of good in town raising $30,000-$50,000 per year for kids in Exeter. I am proud of what our club has accomplished, especially with the All-Star game.”

Hirni said his dedication to youth goes back to his own childhood. Born on April 5, 1935 to Mark and Hulda Hirni, Mickey grew up on a ranch where his father worked on List Avenue southeast of town. He attended all Exeter schools beginning with Lincoln Elementary through Exeter Union High School. While attending EUHS, Hirni was involved in just about every extracurricular activity from four years of FFA to four years of football, baseball and basketball.

“I think my involvement while I was in school translated into being involved in the community later in life,” Hirni said.

Upon graduation from EUHS in 1953, Hirni attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. “Most fathers then didn't want their sons to come home and farm because they had been through the bad times,” Hirni said. “Some did stay, but most, like me, went away to college.”

He worked his way through college by working at packinghouses and picking fruit during the summer. He graduated with a degree in Ag Science in 1958 after a brief departure from school when his father died in 1957. Hirni worked the family ranch, but continued with his education at College of the Sequoias before returning to Cal Poly to finish his degree.

Instead of farming, Hirni decided to work in ag-related fields and began his lifelong career in agriculture as a salesman for Niagarra Chemical. He later went to work with Wells Fargo, advancing to the position of Vice President of the Agriculture Department. During his 23 years with Wells Fargo, Hirni learned to evaluate the finances of every kind of crop and livestock operation from small vegetable farms to large-scale dairies.

“There is no greater agricultural diversity in the world than right here in the Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties,” Hirni said. “I was blessed to work most of my life in the San Joaquin Valley.”

Today, Hirni runs his own business, Sierra Western Ag Services, in the brick building behind Mixter Park. The building has special significance to Hirni because he grew up visiting the same office space when it was an electric repair shop owned by Willard Shirk.

“I grew up in this building because my father was good friends with Willard and Paul Chambers, who owned the business next door,” Hirni said. “Downtown had a lot of blight so I wanted to redevelop this area. You can't find buildings like this anymore, and the atmosphere is worth a lot more than any new building.”

By taking an abandoned structure and remodeling it into a building that serves as part of the centerpiece of downtown, Hirni lead the way for a downtown restoration and encouraged other business owners to do the same. Downtown has benefited from another part of Hirni's community service: The Exeter Mural Committee. For the last eight years, Hirni has served as a member and past president of the committee which was formed to create a historical tapestry woven through downtown to catch the eyes of tourists and locals alike. The committee recently dedicated its 24th mural on the south wall of the Exeter Police Department depicting Exeter's first motorcycle cop Red Anthony, a family friend of the Hirnis.

For the past 10 years, Hirni and his wife Wilma, both EUHS graduates, have served as co-chairs of the Old Timer Luncheon held during Fall Festival in October. Each year more than 300 people, most of whom are EUHS alumni over the age of 50, return to Exeter to share memories and reminisce about their hometown.

While the days of tackle football may be behind him, this old timer has not stopped challenging himself athletically. Hirni has gone on 500-mile bike rides and climbed 14,000 feet to the top of Mt. Whitney during an eight-day hiking trip through the Sierra Nevadas after turning 65 years old. This week, the 73-year-old will ride 73 miles on his bicycle, a birthday tradition he began at the age of 50.

“It sounded like a good idea at 50 but it gets harder every year,” Hirni said. “But I like to challenge myself.”

Hirni said he and his wife Wilma are blessed to be able to live in their hometown along with their three children and eight grandchildren, whom he looks forward to watching for many years during his continued involvement and passion for EUHS sports.

“If I had to do it again, the only thing I would change is that I never would have left,” Hirni said. “But by leaving, I became more valuable and was able to come back and start my own business. Things worked out for the best.”

Mickey Hirni will be honored as the 2008 Alumni of the Year during the EUHS Alumni Foundation's annual banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at the Exeter Memorial Building. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at the Exeter Chamber of Commerce, or by sending a check to: EUHS Alumni Foundation, P.O. Box 1035, Exeter, CA 93221.

- Wilma Hirni and Samantha Sario, Mickey Hirni's wife and granddaughter, contributed to this report.

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