10 Most-Beautiful Finalist: Lindsay Haymes

Age: 24

Occupation: Managing editor of Ozarks Farm & Neighbor, Ozarks Farm & Neighbor– Arkansas

Background: Lindsay lives in Springfield, but she is from Mt. Vernon and has lived in 417-land since she was 3 years old. Her parents are Jason and Krista Haymes, and her siblings are Jordan, Katelyn and Seth.

Tell us why you love 417-land.

I love this area because it is home, even beyond my family and friends. It is hard to meet a stranger in the Ozarks. Everyone is friendly and will be a good neighbor in hard times and happy times. I love 417-land because it provides opportunities for people to live happy, productive lives because there are so many service organizations that reach out to our less fortunate. And because around here you’re always saying, “Well, it sure is a small world.” You never have to be alone in this area. People care, they look out for each other, and they instill these same values in their children, perpetuating that friendly, kind and good southwest Missouri citizen. I know there are a lot of great places in the world, but I think we’d all be hard-pressed to find as great a place as Springfield and its surrounding region.

Tell us about your community involvement and volunteering. (Please tell us what organizations you’re involved in, what you do to participate and how long you’ve been doing it.)

I volunteered with the Youth City League basketball program in my hometown for four years, and I volunteered with the Upward youth basketball program at South Haven Baptist Church for one year, last year. I supported and volunteered with the Missouri State University Relay for Life program and volunteered with the Ronald McDonald house through my sorority for four years during college. I have many friends who have specific philanthropies I try to support through participation and involvement, such as Unveiled ministry’s projects in Africa. Recently I have begun volunteering at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield. I am also active at St. Luke United Methodist church in Bois D’Arc.

What makes your community involvement worthwhile?

Working with kids lets me see life through the eyes of a child. It makes me reevaluate what is really important. My time volunteering as a basketball coach also made me realize how crucial it is for children to have someone they can look up to, someone they can confide in and trust. I want to help kids build confidence and learn values like teamwork, fairness and cooperation. Today’s youth are the future of our world. I always believe investing in a society’s youth will be the best money, time and resources spent. Also, I think it is important for me to not get too wrapped up in my own life, so much that I forget about the needs, the concerns, the lives of other people in my community and world. I think our lives are most fulfilled when we are not thinking about ourselves, but rather thinking of what we can do to make life better for someone else.

Hobbies (Go ahead; list them all! And tell us why you love them.)

I love to run and enjoy being outside. To me, running in all seasons, and watching the seasons change on my favorite Springfield trails, South Creek and Galloway, is so fulfilling. I also enjoy finding local and regional races and running with friends and family. (For example, Turkey Trot has become a family tradition.)

I love nature, and I enjoy being out at my family’s and my boyfriend’s family farm.

And speaking of family, hanging out with my family both here in Springfield and in Kentucky, has always been a big part of my life. Our family dinners are notorious for lots of laughs and great food.

I have been practicing yoga for nearly two years. It has opened to me a world of focus, center, balance and self-discipline.

I love to write. Journaling and blogging my emotions, thoughts and ideas is definitely a hobby.

I enjoy painting and making art. When I paint and collage, I try to take an emotion or an idea and put it all onto one canvas.

I frequent antique shops and flea markets, looking for home decor, clothes or pieces I “can’t live without.”

I grew up loving to read. I love classical literature, and I like to keep up on current events through newspapers and online news sites.

My faith would be undermined to call it a hobby, but it is interlaced throughout all I do, and I try to let it shine in all my activities, involvements and hobbies.

Finally, I am addicted to traveling, and I am constantly dreaming where I want to go next. I studied abroad in college—six months traversing Europe with two dear friends left me many memories and a longing to go back! I also spent one summer in Brazil working with missionaries and doctors in the upper Amazon rainforest, in a Yanomami village along the Mucajai River, only accessible by plane or boat. It opened my eyes to the variety of needs in this world, and it was an experience I will never forget.

Are you involved in any professional organizations? (What are they, what’s your role, and how long have you been doing it?)

I am a member of the Livestock Publications Council (LPC) through my work at Ozarks Farm & Neighbor newspaper. I have been involved with this group since I started working there in July 2006. Because of my involvement in this organization, I realized the importance of professional involvement and wanted to encourage students at Missouri State University, my alma mater, to take professional involvement seriously. As a result, I am working with students to found an affiliate chapter at Missouri State University through a national organization, Agriculture Communicators of Tomorrow. This group has its national convention concurrently with the LPC’s national convention, offering students the opportunity to network, rub shoulders and literally learn side-by-side with industry leaders. It is my hope that all students and young adults will realize the value in professional development within their industry, and beyond.

What’s something that might surprise us about you? (Or a story you love to tell.)

I think when people meet me they are surprised to hear I graduated with an agriculture communications degree and work for an agricultural newspaper. I get funny comments like, “Does that mean you talk to corn?” and “You just don’t seem like a farm girl.” To be fair, I’m not totally a farm girl. However, I was raised in Mt. Vernon, a rural community, my family has a small beef cow farm, and my dad is a high school agriculture instructor. I have always been attuned to the future of agriculture. I was a proud member of the FFA in high school (albeit despite the giggles of many of my friends), I grew up knowing where my food and clothing came from, and I recognize the challenges farmers face bringing that food and fiber to us, the consumers. I enjoy meeting the livestock and crop producers in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas through my work at Ozarks Farm & Neighbor. Agriculture is the largest industry in Missouri, and I am always honored to be a part of that industry’s endeavors. Telling local farmers’ personal stories—of life on the farm through years of economic struggle and years of bounty, of a love for the land and wanting to raise their families to appreciate hard work and perseverance—that is a beautiful thing to me.