Linda East Named Sun Bowl President For 2007

The NFL Network's Charles Davis and 2007 President Linda East spoke at the Camino Real Hotel. (Brian Kanof Photo)

The event featured the college football analyst Charles Davis as the keynote speaker. Davis played in the 1984 Sun Bowl for Tennessee and is currently the lead analyst for the Fox Network's coverage of the Bowl Championship Series East takes over for departing president John Folmer.

East, who was a duchess in the 1973 Sun Court, becomes the fourth woman president in Association history, joining Jane Thornton (1981), Joyce Feinberg (1995) and Linda Smith (2004).

She joined the Sun Bowl Association board of directors in 1998 and served as the Association's vice president of marketing from 2000-04. East was responsible for the developing and implementation of a ticket sales campaign that led to a sellout at the 2004 Vitalis Sun Bowl.

East, who was inducted into the Sun Bowl Ring of Honor in 2005, has held several positions at the Sun Bowl Association, including secretary, vice president, executive vice president and president elect. She has also been a member of the football committee for the past two years.

East's efforts as a volunteer led to her earning the inaugural Gary Del Palacio President's Award in 2001.

An El Paso native and graduate of Burges High School, She graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a Master of Arts degree in communications. East is the owner of East Communications and prior to that, she worked for 10 years at Del Sol Medical Center and 18 years with the Socorro Independent School District.

An active member in the community, East has served on several boards including the Rotary Club of El Paso, Better Business Bureau, El Paso ProMusica, United Way, Ronald McDonald House, the YMCA and the YWCA.

The former Linda Whitbread, is married to Roger East and has three children, Bryan, Adam and Jessika, who was a 2001 Sun Princess.

Joining East on the board of directors are Joe Valenzuela (President Elect), Frank Bates (Executive Vice President), Jimmy Rogers, Jr. (Chair Emeritus), John Folmer (Immediate Past President), Amen Ayoub (Secretary), Coquis Casavantes (Treasurer), Marilyn Munden (Vice President of Marketing), Wayne Thornton (Vice President of Public Relations), Bill Blaziek (Vice President of Community Relations), Chris Mott (Vice President of Legal Affairs, Linda Smith (Sun Court), David Lindhuber (Basketball), Ron Marcum (Golf), Tommy Lewis (CBS), Art Munoz (Special Events), Jim Booher (Parade), Brent Gulbus, Sean Henschel, Cary Silahian, Mike Rogers, Rex Furr, John Colman, Jeff Stevens and Joe Loya.

The 2007 SBA Advisory Board consists of Pat Abeln, Robert Almanzan, David Ash, Anthony Cobos, John Cook, Christian Daw, Richard Dayoub, Sarah Enriquez, Don Flores, Natalia Flores, David Forti, Clovis Guevara, Gary Helsten, Steve Kauitzsch, Brian Kennedy, Bob Kimble, Traci Miller-Ramos, Kay Mooy, John Oblinger, Jean Offutt, Tony Ponce, Sr., Bruce Reichman, Mike Rosales,  Allen Rystad, Mike Shoffit, Bob Snead, Bob Stull, Cindy Ramos-Davidson, Pat Valdez-Rios, Chris Van Pelt, Charles Vass, Max Weber and Deb Zuloaga.