| Alumni Profile:
Terry Priebe, BS '72, MS '73 |
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Terry S. Priebe
High
quality photo(504Kb)
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Occupation:
District Sales Manager,
Specialty Hybrids, Inc.
Degree:
BS '72 (agriculture)
MS '73 (Extension education)
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Terry was in the middle of the "Priebe pipeline" to Purdue. For 13
consecutive years, there was at least one son enrolled in Purdue's School
of Agriculture (first was Ted, who now is the owner of Meyocks and Priebe,
a Des Moines-based advertising firm, then Terry, and then Tim).
Terry paid for his postgraduate degree in Extension education with
scholarship money he received by winning the prestigious Red Mackey
Award for his exploits in track and cross country. He was a member of
Purdue's world-record-setting 4-mile relay team.
"Running track and cross country was great for me. Not only did that
scholarship let me get my master's degree, but I had an opportunity
to visit and run at every campus in the Big 10 conference," Terry says.
Still within a few pounds of his college running weight, Priebe has
run both the Chicago and Indy marathons. But commitments to spring planting
always kept him from properly training for the Holy Grail of American
distance events, the Boston Marathon, held every April.
Priebe still runs every day, usually a 10-mile loop through the rolling
farmland of southern Montgomery County. On weekends, the route stretches
to Crawfordsville and back, a 20-mile loop near the farmland that hosted
the Progress Show 22 years ago. It was the last time a single family
hosted the show.
"From an airplane, you could see where those streets crisscrossed our
farm for several years after the show," says Terry's wife, Bonita. But
the show also left a lifetime of memories.
The show takes 18 months of planning, making sure the right crops are
rotated into the right plots. Seed companies offer neighboring farmers
free seed if they'll plant in highly visible plots along roadways. Bonita
was show secretary in the months leading up to the show. Their daughter
Elisha, a not-quite-3-year-old, took center stage to sing her version
of "Hail, Purdue!" with the Purdue University Glee Club. (Editor's note:
Elisha graduated this spring with a perfect 4.0 index in agricultural
education.)
Included was a 70-acre plot of oats and grass the Priebes had to sow,
grow and mow to create a parking lot for visitors. The nonstop parade
of car and truck traffic left a depression on the landscape that lasted
for years.
And in just 72 hours, it was all over.
"Yes, thatŐs a little depressing," Bonita admits. "We worked so hard
for 18 months, and before you know it, itŐs over."
But the residual goodwill left by the Farm Progress Show outlasted
the temporary roads that were cut through the Priebe farmland. Community
churches filled their coffers by feeding the throngs of people. Volunteers
manned seven food tents, and the Farm Progress show was a cash cow for
many area organizations.
The Montgomery County 4-H program cleared almost $60,000 by having
its members sell soft drinks.
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