Sunny Conley holds a Master of Arts in Professional and Technical Writing from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. She is author of Cafe Hopping in the Southwest: 100 Charming Places to Eat, Plus Tips for Tourists [May 1996, June 1997, Arroyo Press]. The book received a 1997 New Mexico Press Women's Book Award.
Sunny has penned over 600 columns and articles for a variety of media. Her column, "Chile Knights: Chile Lore, Tales & Tidbits" and the accompanying photograph, are featured Fridays in the Las Cruces Sun-News. Her work has also appeared in the Journal for the Society for Technical Communication, Independent Business95, New Mexico Magazine, Southern New Mexico Business Journal, and elsewhere.
Sunny edited Mesilla Valley ROTARIANS HOT ON CHILE! cookbook [1997], a collection of chile-inspired recipes donated by members of the Mesilla Valley Rotary Club of Las Cruces and members of the Las Cruces community. All proceeds benefit non-profit organizations. Her work has received more than 20 state awards (ten for first place) in the past 5 years for her book, food columns, travel and business features, and desktop publications.
Sunny's restaurant commentaries can be heard monthly on KRWG-FM, southern New Mexico, West Texas and northern Mexico public radio. The reviews also appear on-line at http://SouthernNewMexico.com.
She is active in the community. Sunny is president of the Las Cruces Mesilla Valley Rotary Club and serves on the boards of Southern New Mexico Press Club, the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History, and on the Hugh Downs Media Awareness Council. Sunny is also a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce.
She is a frequent lecturer at New Mexico State University, the Las Cruces Public Schools and for civic organizations. Sunny's upbeat and fun Café Hopping in the Southwest slide show, and "My Love Affair with the Chile Pod" presentation is especially popular.
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Most of these sailors are members of the Southern New Mexico Windsurfing Club, a prestigious group of aging baby boomers who escape the pressures of work by heading to the lake for an afternoon of adrenaline mirth. You might even catch me there. Windsurfing, for those not in the know, is the solo sport of sailing while standing on a kind of surfboard while manipulating a sail attached to a pivoting mast. Windsurfing has been around since the 60s, the brainchild of two Southern Californians - one a sailor, the other a surfer. The duo patented the new hybrid sport, dubbing it windsurfing, and the board, a Windsurfer, which was the only equipment massed produced in the early 1970s. But by the late 70s, windsurfing was hot in Europe . . . one in every three households had a "sailboard" stashed in their garage. So turned on by the sport were Europeans, they began producing their own versions of the craft, which Americans then, as they do today, consider unmatched. The number of windsurfers grew enormously in the 80s, both in Europe and the United States. Today, windsurfing is well ensconced. Pros participate in the World Cup and in the Olympics.
I learned to windsurf from my later-to-be husband Ed, 16 years ago in my native Michigan. My first day on the water I felt like a four year old learning to ride a bike. My knees trembled uncontrollably, my teeth chattered, and my heart thumped in my ears. Worse, the threat of drowning loomed. I never much liked watersports. I wasn't into getting wet, unless it was a bubble bath or a hot shower. But to impress my boyfriend, I said, "Yes" when he offered to teach me how to "ride the waters."
Three hours of lessons that first day left me numb and exhausted. I spent a lot of time in the water - not on the board. Most of my fears were, however, misconceptions. First, I assumed that windsurfing would be hard to learn, but it's not - certainly no more difficult than learning to ride a bike. After my second lesson, I was cruising. In two weeks I was freestyling - making turns and doing sail spins, albeit awkwardly. Today, I'm satisfied with cruisin'. I gladly leave slalom sailing (high-wind), bump-and-jump-sailing (high winds, choppy waters) and wavesailing (high winds and open swells) to the pros.
Second, I was convinced that you had to be strong, almost Herculean to master the sport. But that too is a fallacy. Rather, windsurfing requires finesse, not muscles. (And women possess more finesse than men do, as everyone knows.)
Third, although windsurfing may appear perilous, it's not. It happens to be one of the safest activities around. In fact, windsurfing doesn't even rank on the National Sporting Goods Association list of dangerous sports. Don a lifejacket and you're ready to rip.
Fourth, you don't need a graduate degree to learn how to "rig" (putting the sail, mast, boom and board together). A little practice is all it takes. Nevertheless, rigging is my least favorite part of windsurfing. Fortunately, Ed does it with finesse, which is one of the reasons I married him.
Yep, there's no other sport quite like windsurfing. It's fun; it's exhilarating. It combines the titillation of surfing with the serenity of sailing. You can sail alone or amongst throngs of comrades. More important, you need not be daring, muscular or 20 to "do it." Just ask me.