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Rev. Al Polito Jr. is the pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in
Monticello, Iowa. He and his wife Linda have been married for 27 years.
They have two children. Their son Josiah graduated in May 2007 from
Wartburg College with a Physical Therapy degree. Josiah is employed at
Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo. Their daughter, Blythe is a 3rd
year student at Wartburg College majoring in Elementary Education. Al was born in Chicago, Illinois. At 9 years of age his family moved to Des Moines, then two years later moved to Hartford, Iowa. Al attended the Carlisle school district and graduated from Carlisle High School in 1975. He then attended Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa graduating in 1980 with a Physical Education degree and a minor in Religion and Recreation. Al and Linda met while participating in church camp ministry at Knox Knolls Camp in central Iowa. It is at this camp where Al first heard of Camp Wyoming when a friend recruited him to spend a week at Camp Wyoming as a male counselor. Al and Linda married in 1980, moved to Maquoketa, Iowa where Linda was a teacher and Al enrolled at the Dubuque Seminary School. Al graduated in 1984 and the family moved to Dexter, Iowa where Al served two churches for 6 years. In 1990 Al accepted a call at the First Presbyterian Church in Monticello, Iowa. Shortly after starting in Monticello, Al attended a retreat at Camp Wyoming for new pastors. He and Linda both attended the You & Me camps with Josiah and Blythe. Most recently Al and Linda participated in the Pastor in Residence program by spending a week onsite at Camp Wyoming. Each fall First Presbyterian holds a Camp & Conference dinner in order to raise the funds needed to send their youth to camp. The church pays 100% of the camp fee. Appreciative youth and their families rally together and take care of setting up, working the dinner and cleaning up afterwards. Several other fundraisers are held throughout the year. In his spare time, Al likes to spend time outdoors walking and hiking, and has recently enjoyed Boundary Water canoe trips with his son and friends. The last movie Al has seen was a collection entitled, Planet Earth. Al’s favorite treat is ice cream. Family and friends bring Al the greatest joys in life. Thank you Al for sharing yourself and your family with Camp Wyoming. |