Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Southern Utah Housing Market Improving? What?

2012-01-27T09:36:00.003-07:00

The Sunrise Rotary Club had the distinct honor Thursday of hearing from our former President and member Vardell Curtis. He has been the CEO of the Washington County Board of Realtors since 1996 and seems to know what he is talking about. He gave us an encore presentation from his break out session at the Economic Development Summit and he is cautiously optimistic that the housing market has bottomed out and is on an up tick. You wouldn't know it by looking at the graph of building permits over the last five years, but as you look at the last two bars you see that they are on the rise. Like I said, cautiously optimistic. It was great to have Vardell back in the club and we hope he considers coming back to us soon. Thanks Vardell for your expertise, knowledge and wisdom.

In other club news, Carl is seen in this picture presenting a certificate of appreciation to Shayne for his participation with the Marine Corp. League in the Toys for Tots campaign and other philanthropic endeavors. Nice job Shayne.

Sheriff Pulsipher Gives His Progress Report

2012-01-23T08:20:00.003-07:00

The Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club had the honor of having Sheriff Cory Pulsipher pay us a visit on Thursday the 19th of January. He expressed his appreciation for our clubs support of the Search and Rescue team (called out twice over the weekend) and told us how much our efforts mean to WCSR. He has been actively involved in Search and Rescue since joining the Sheriff's Office over 20 years ago when he was 16. He also did something that was very refreshing for a public servant and that was to give us a progress report on the platform he ran on for Sheriff. He went through what he promised to do if elected as Sheriff and by golly he is doing what he said he was going to do. He reported on the changes at the Jail and with his deputy's not being allowed to drive their vehicles when they are off duty. He also said he answers his own phone and his home phone number is published. Now there is a Sheriff for the people. It was great having him and we are thankful for our partnership with WCSR.

Reps from Metcalf Mortuary Discuss one of the Sure Things in Life!!

2012-01-09T11:30:00.006-07:00

The Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club had the privilege of hearing from two well respected members of the community on one of the only two sure things in life--and it wasn't taxes! Ron Metcalf and Todd Bonzo gave us a very informative presentation on Aftercare Plans which help families prepare for the ultimate demise. It is less stressful on families dealing with the loss of a loved one if there have been plans put in place and arrangements made for the final event. They shared some interesting stories from their long careers in the funeral arrangement industry and they also gave us some good advice for advanced planning when it is our turn. Very good information from two who know what the heck they are doing. Now I am off to plan for my demise.

Highlights from the Dixie Sunrise Christmas Party

2011-12-23T08:54:00.015-07:00

Members, spouses, friends, entertainers, and one Special Guest helped make the 2011 Sunrise Rotary Club Christmas party a great event. El Presidente Wilcox started the festivities by presenting our tireless Abbey Inn staff, Maria and Calvin, with a token of our esteem and appreciation. (What? Nothing for Shayne. No. Bummer for you) We then had a tremendous program provided by Carol Sue and her awesome students on the violins. Angels could not have sounded better. The meeting was topped off by a visit from the skinniest Santa we have ever seen. He graciously delivered white elephant gifts to club members. Wow, the stress of the season has really taken a toll on Santa this year. Anyway, a great party. Now enjoy the photo recap. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club.

SGMT Makes an Appearance at Rotary

2011-12-12T12:07:00.002-07:00

We all enjoyed real togetherness last Thursday as we met in the small room in the main building of the Abbey Inn. We were honored to have the muckety-mucks from the St. George Musical Theatre make a presentation to our club and bring us up to date on the status of the community theatre. Dan Olsen, Bruce Bennett and Doug Bishop gave us the run down on how they are planning to bring the SGMT back on line. The new home will be in the old Sunroc corporate building on the top of Flood Street by the movie theatres. Their new fund raising model is to commit business to pledge money to help raise the nearly $500,000 to renovate the building and get the cast and crew self sustaining once again. With possible money available from an Eccles grant, they were very optimistic that they could raise the pledges by the end of January 2012. They also shared stories of how SGMT has helped the community and the actors and production people associated with the company. It was a very informative meeting and we all need to dig deep and contribute to support the arts in the community. That is all.

An Education on The Rotary Foundation

2011-11-21T11:03:00.002-07:00

We had a very educational and informative rotary meeting Thursday the 17th of November. It was our pleasure to hear from Errol Eernisse, who is a member of the Sugarhouse Rotary Club, and he reviewed the workings of the Rotary Foundation and where the money comes from and where it goes. The numbers are very impressive and here is an example, as of September 2010 there has been $248 million donated to the foundation. We have 1,304,583 Paul Harris Fellows, which benefits TRF as well. These donations are used for projects ranging from local, national, small international and large international. It is important that we as rotarians are supporting this foundation for the impact it is making in the world. Keep the money coming everybody.

We also had a member focus by Annette Basso. She has had a storied life and career in rotary and it was great to get to know her better and hear her cool stories. Thanks for being a member of our club Annette. We love having you with us.

Snow Canyon Ranger Station Welcomes Dixie Sunrise

2011-11-15T07:54:00.002-07:00

This blogger was not at the Rotary meeting on the 10th of November so I can only speculate on what happened. I do know that we met at the Snow Canyon State Park Ranger Station for some education and enlightenment on the Park. Pictured here is a lovely young Park Ranger educating club members on the history of the park and the programs offered to park goers year round. What a great opportunity to experience a vocational excursion. Those who were absent really missed out. This blogger included.

RYLA Highlights and Gilbert Jennings combine for a memorable Sunrise Rotary Meeting

2011-10-31T08:10:00.003-06:00

The Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club was treated to a great meeting Thursday. Pictured in this blog are two of the RYLA participants we sponsored this year and they gave a enthusiastic recap of their experience and their new found passion for Rotary. Also pictured is one of our newest members, Lisa Davis, who was a facilitator at this year's RYLA. We heard about the speakers and the activities and the commitment level of these two participant's is off the charts. We look forward to working with them as a club and the possibility of helping them start a Rotaract club.

We also had a presentation from Gilbert Jennings representing the Spirit of Dixie II. This group is one of the major contributors in helping make improvements to the campus of Dixie State College in an effort to help them achieve university status. The idea is to make the campus a place where members of the community want to come and chill and soak up the atmosphere of an institution of higher learning. There are plenty of avenues of service for our club and I could see the wheels turning in President Wilcox's head. Overall, a great meeting. It is great to be a Rotarian. Especially in our club.

This just In: Rotarian Joe Christopher steps up and contributes!!

2011-10-21T12:57:00.004-06:00

Rotarian Joe Christopher came through for the club in a big way by scheduling our speaker for our meeting on the 20th of October. With his experience with the American Cancer Society he brought in Christina Goodman, Patient Services Manager, with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Christina is seen in the pictures getting recruited by President Wilcox and signing a dictionary for our dictionary project. Christina gave us an awesome presentation on the L&L Society and how it is helping people on a daily basis with their battles with cancer. She also told us about the bone marrow donors list and how to get on it and there was a lot of interest by members of the club. We hope to be able to help in some way. Thanks for your time Christina.

A Visit from the Youngest District Governor in the World!!

2011-10-19T09:59:00.004-06:00

Thursday the 13th of October was an historic day for the Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club. Our program began with the inuduction of a great husband and wife team into our Club. President Wilcox, with the help of District Governor Rick Cambra, inducted the Davis' into our club and gave them all the rights and priveleges of being full fledged, card carrying Rotarians. We are excited to have them in the club and look forward to getting to know them better and serving the community with them.

For the second part of our program, it was our distinct pleasure to hear from the youngest Rotary District Governor in the world, Rick Cambra. He was able to attend our bored meeting the day before and this morning gave us some great words of encouragement about Rotary and District 5420's direction in the upcoming year. (which is nearly half over) A couple of take home messages that impacted this blogger were the PR campaigns to be run by the district featuring real live rotarians' pictures on bill boards; and the charge to make Rotary fun. Because if is not fun, your club will be shrinking. We were all impressed by the DG's professionalism, except for the time he swore when he talked about Mark Heiner. Well, who doesn't? Anyway, a great meeting and if you missed it, you really missed it. See you next week.

Habitat for Humanity Makes Dixie Sunrise Feel at Home

2011-09-16T13:07:00.003-06:00

On Thursay, September 15th, Mike Gburski was our guest speaker. He originally hales from Connecticut and finds himself as the Executive Director of the Southwest Utah Chapter of the Habitat for Humanity. HFH focuses on helping low income families get into affordable housing by acquiring property and building homes with donated materials and labor from the community, contractors, and building suppliers. They have been averaging about a home a year but want to increase that to around three to four houses per year. Mike did a very good job informing us of his organization and there were many good questions from the crowd.

In other news, Lynn Spafford, informed the club of his disatrous week. As many of you know, his business was hit by lightning Sunday evening which ruptured a gas line and burned his store. As is typical of Lynn, his attitude is very positive and he is on his way to rebuild and get his store back to better than ever. Saturday the 17th, our Rotary Club will be spearheading a project in the community to help Lynn clean up from 8 am to around noon. Fab Freddy's will be there with a pressure washer and Alsco will have a truck there with coveralls, gloves and rags. If you want to help leave your younger children at home, wear some sturdy shoes and come join the effort.

Sunrise at the Black Bear Diner

2011-09-08T12:31:00.002-06:00

Due to a scheduling conflict at the luxurious Best Western Abbey Inn, the Dixie Sunrise Rotary Club showed its flexibilty by meeting at the new 5 star restaurant The Black Bear Diner. We had a good showing for the road trip and the folks at the BBD were very gracious and accomodating. If you missed it; you missed it.

Our speaker was Splendor Sargent from Cherry Creek Radio Cares. We found out that in addition to being on every board and committee in the county, she also worked for our very own Dr. Gooch for about four years. Wow, now that is some staying power. Cherry Creek Radio Cares helps connect individuals and organizations with resources in the community to help meet their needs. CCRC has different levels of involvement from PSA's to full blown involvement and Slendor is happy to meet with organizations to assess needs and determine a level of involvement to ensure a successful outcome. She said she had a very impressive PowerPoint presentation but we weren't set up for it this morning. So, we will have to have her back. That is all for today.

Sunrise Rotary Gets a Law Review

2011-09-01T13:31:00.005-06:00

We were priveleged to hear from one of our own members this morning. Greg Walker, Esquire, Attorney-at-Law and all around good guy gave us a review of the law. He came with a computer and a slide show and everything. We learned about the origination of the law, why they call it the bar and where the Judge sits and everything. It was very informative and only reinforced the fact that Greg was the captain of the Law Review team at his law school.

One thought question: Why do they call them an Attorney-at-Law? What else can you be an Attorney at? 50 bonus points to the first non-attorney with the answer.

DOCUTAH Premiers at the Sunrise Rotary Club

2011-08-25T09:52:00.002-06:00

Phil Tuckett, Docutah Festival Director and well decorated NFL film veteran, was our speaker this morning. Along with his Operations Manager, Lani Puriri, they previewed the event which will be hosted by DSC and the southern Utah area September 8th thru the 17th. There will be 100 films entered this year in honor of DSC's 100 years in business. They range from two minutes forty five seconds to two hours fifty six minutes. This will be a fantastic event and everyone is encouraged to support the festival. We also saw our own Lance Greer in the promo materials. His is asking for a new contract with more money. Good luck Lance.

On a service note: Don't forget our service project on September 17th at the Family Crisis Center. Hey, come to the service project and then go to the final day of Docutah. Just a thought.

2011-06-14T09:08:00.006-06:00

We finally received John Kinsman's name badge and President Wilcox is shown here presenting it to him. He is now a fairdinkum (Australian for bonafide) member of the club.

John also gave a 5 minute and 960 second member focus which was very informative and helped us get to know him better. Thanks John for sharing with us!!

We had a very informative speaker who told the club about the website stgeorgenightout.com. A website dedicated the exciting night life of Washington County.

We had some awesome visitors on Thursday. These two youngsters came for a hot breakfast while their mom is backpacking across Europe for the summer. And we still don't know who the guy with the beard is shoveling food in his mouth like he just got back from some trek experience or something. Well, that is all for this week. See you all Thursday.

Rotary Torch Run was HOT! HOT! HOT!

2011-04-21T08:15:00.007-06:00

We had a good turn out yesterday as we carried the torch to eradicate polio. We had representatives from all of the Rotary clubs in Washington County (I think) and we all had a good time. We were welcomed by the President of the Red Rock Club (name is escaping me) and then we all hit the track for the run/walk/meander/stroll depending on how you felt and how you were dressed. The obvious absence of super athlete/marathoner Shayne Wittwer was felt as we were looking for about 5 miles from him. Since the event was in his backyard we were sure he would be there. I think we had breakfast afterward, but this blogger had to leave after his 10 mile effort to go earn a paycheck. All in all it was a great morning for the event and we all felt good about the effort. By the way, Kaylnn Larson walks really fast.

Rotary Clubs get all Boxed in at All Clubs Meeting!

2011-04-15T15:54:00.008-06:00

The four Washington County Rotary Clubs were represented at an all clubs meeting on Thursday the 14th of April. PDG Wally Brown gave us an excellent presentation on the Shelter Box project started by one Rotary Club in Scotland. We were told of where the Shelter Boxes have been employed since 2005 and what natural and man made disasters were covered. The contents of a Shelter Box were displayed and Wally let us know what it would take to be involved and sponsor a box.

He was introduced by Past President of the Sunrise Club, Marla Shelby-Drabner, and we found out that Wally is an alumnus of Dixie High School. (Who knew, right)

We were also entertained by a bull story from Paul Gooch that was hard to believe. Only a kid from Mona could pull off that tall tale.

PDG Gil Trujillo also had some great things to say about the Rotary youth programs and all in all it was a great meeting. Shame on those who missed it.

Next week promises to be exciting as we meet Wednesday at Hansen Stadium for the torch run to eradicate polio. Wear your running shoes and be there at 730 am to put in your 10 miles. Then you can go to work sweaty.

The Learning Center for Families Shines in a tag team presentation at the Sunrise Club!

2011-04-04T15:35:00.003-06:00

Thursday morning we were joined by Debbie Justice, the Director of the Learning Center for Families and Carol Hollowell, the Program Director for the Volunteer Center of Washington County. Debbie presented information on the palacial building they are constructing to help thousands of infants and toddlers and their families in their coverage area which reaches to Fredonia. Carol presented different opportunities for sponsoring rooms in the new building and I think John Johnson committed to the library and a play room for about $120,000. We will rename him St. John. You won't want to miss next week when our own green thumb, Dan Rak, will present everything you want to know about forestry and growing and harvesting trees. Bring you dogs, I am sure they will be interested. See you Thursday.

WOW! What a meeting. Action Packed. Something for everyone.

2011-03-07T07:57:00.007-07:00

This blogger will attempt to summarize the Sunrise Rotary meeting on March 3, 2011. I was present for breakfast, which was fabulous, but I missed the program due to a job I have.

New Member Induction: In my opinion the most memorable aspect of the meeting was a New Member Induction. John Kinsman was inducted by President Wilcox in an emotional ceremony. John is the one in the middle and that skinny guy on the right is his sponsor.

Speakers: We had two great speakers; Del Beatty, the Dean of Students for DSC and Katy Peterson the Director of the Dove Center. Below are couple of photos of them signing dictionaries for our project.

We also had a visit from Her Highness, the Dixie State College Homecoming Queen, Jessica Baird. She is quite striking and our President seemed smitten by her and if I wasn't having technical difficulties I could post the picture. Maybe later I can edit it in. Check back. That's the cliff notes version for March 3rd. See everyone on the 10th. Except if you are in Costa Rica. (and you know who you are)

Soup in a work of Art!

2011-02-17T09:18:00.002-07:00

The St. George Art Museum has much to offer, including Soup in a work of art!

Our Club was introduced or re-introduced to the work of the St. George Art Museum at our meeting on February 10th. Museum Manager and Curator, Deborah Reeder brought the members up to date on new acquisitions, current shows – including a large Zions National Park exhibit entitled An Art Voyage through Zion. She also introduced us to the work of Charles Becker whose exhibit, Into the Mysteries of the Super Real, is most intriguing.
When considering the impact of the current economy, Deborah and her staff have done a marvelous job of maintaining a high quality museum with interesting collections and exhibits. Deborah did express her sadness of being unable to bring traveling shows to St. George right now but hopes to resume those in the future as the area experiences some recovery.
She also reminded us that the economy has not put an end to the Art Walks! Enjoy an evening of gallery strolling – be sure start at the Museum for your visit card to win prizes – refreshments and good fun.
And, Deborah told us about the upcoming Soup ‘N Bowl Fundraiser, a luncheon which will include a hand-made bowl of your choice in which to enjoy your soup and take home for your personal collection. Advance tickets are available at the museum and will prevent the delay of standing in line for a ticket on fundraiser day, March 4th.
For more information on these activities and the broader perspective on the museum, visit their website: Museum@sgcty.org.
After a program on February 17th by our Membership Chair John Johnson, we will hear on February 24th from Kristy Pike on the Art Around the Corner Foundation as well public relations tips for our Club. See you then.

And, with this post, I pass the mantel to Todd Watts, the new “blogmaster.” Be sure to send him information you would like included in the blog.

Handing off once again, Marla

IronMan volunteer Registration

2011-02-10T12:00:00.002-07:00

If you wish to help us at Run Aid Station Number 9, please click the link and scroll down to find us, and register.

Please click here

We are re-energizing!

2011-01-30T16:56:00.005-07:00

We are re-energizing!

Newly installed President of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise Jeff Wilcox led the members of the Club in a wonderful vision of getting our energy level up!

He began with asking long time member Herb to tell us about the journey his life took to get him to where he is today. Wow, who knew? The Space Program, astronauts, science and a lady named Pancho what a path! It will be fun to learn more about each other as Jeff invites us to tell our stories over the next year or so.

Paul stepped in for John for horseplay this week and as you can see, immediately got our new President involved!

Jeff discussed various things we need to do to get us out of second gear and on down the road. We will be looking at the structure of our committees, our obligations, our by-laws and our projects. And, we are jumping in with both feet as Lynn is finalizing the plans for the trip to Costa Rica to support the library project we have help to fund. And, Lynn and Paul are getting in gear for the Ironman on May 7th. Aid Station #9 is in the planning stages!

We talked about resuming activities such as trail cleaning and other things we have enjoyed in the past with members and families.

It will be fun to pick up speed.....stay tuned for progress reports!

See you all next week at the Abbey Inn!

Marla

Just what IS a Physiatrist?

2011-01-26T13:53:00.001-07:00

The Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise was “On The Road Again” this week, January 20th. (Yes, we are returning to the Abbey Inn next week.)

Marla invited us to meet at the Knight Education Center of Dixie Regional Medical Center where we learned from Dr. Rusty Moore the answer to the question “Just What Is a Physiatrist?” Dr. Moore, Medical Director of the Acute Rehabilitation Unit of Dixie Regional Medical Center, gave a presentation explaining his work and the work done at The Acute Rehab Unit. He explained that the work of that unit is to restore function to the patients who have come to the unit after a life changing event such as a stroke, a broken hip, or a spinal cord injury. He brought with him Lindsay Pugmire, Physical Therapist and Steven Wallenfels, Occupational Therapist. These gentleman spoke about the Interdisciplinary nature of the work of the unit in that the entire focus for physician, nursing and therapy is the Whole Person. Marla also invited Mitchell Cloward, Operations Officer of Dixie Regional and Ted Hugunin, Director of the Therapy Services at Dixie Regional who were able to answer other hospital and therapy related questions as well.
Please remember next week, Jan. 27th we are back at the Abbey Inn and will be having a Reorganization and Planning Meeting. Please plan to attend so we have the voice the whole group in planning our next activities.

See you then!
Marla

The Children's Justice Center is a VERY nice facility!

2011-01-26T13:52:00.002-07:00

The Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise was On the Road on January 13th.

Trish Sheffield was good enough to invite us for breakfast and to tour the Children’s Justice Center . Trish told us about the special features that make the building so effective is working with the children served by the center and shared with us a video they use for abuse prevention education. If you were there you know what an impact it had, if you missed it you missed something important. I am sure that if you stop by the CJC, Trish or her staff will be glad to show it to you.

Thank you Trish, breakfast was great, fellowship was great and it was very educational to see your facility.

This meeting also brought us a new Club President. Jeff Wilcox has agreed to assume the position of Club President early due to Mark Heiner’s need to have help with this obligation during this time of high stress for him and his family.

Jeff and the group engaged in a most beneficial and energizing discussion regarding the future of the Club. On January 27th, our meeting – back at the Abbey Inn – will be a reorganization meeting. It is Jeff’s goal is to quickly get people in place to conduct the tasks we have ahead. Please plan to attend that meeting, it is vital to have input from everyone.

Next week will be On the Road Again. We will meet at the Dixie Regional Medical Center’s Knight Education Center where we will learn about Physiatry from Dr. Rusty Moore.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, Past President

Southern Utah Senior Coalition

2010-12-28T16:24:00.011-07:00

The final meeting of 2010 was a small, informal meeting of 14 Rotary friends! We had a little fun with the Marla's Tell me your Secrets questions and laughed as usual at the antics of our own John Johnson.

Tom Jennings, the energy behind a newly formed coaltion focusing on the needs of the over 60 population of St. George gave a brief presentation of his groups goal of expanding coordinated health and social services for seniors in St. George. He told us he is not asking for our time or our money but hopes to generate awareness of the gaps in the system here in St. George. Stay tuned, I'm sure we will hear more of this group in the near future.

With this post, we conclude the year 2010 as we will not meet on December 30th.

So, let me wish one and all a most Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

Blessings to all....

Marla

Breakfast With Santa!

2010-12-28T16:05:00.010-07:00

It was great FUN! The Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise celebrated Christmas AND the changing of the gavel AND the 2009-2010 Club Awards in a very fun Breakfast meeting on December 16th!

Marla thanked members of the Board of the 2009-2010 year and recognized our Club's highest honor The Rotarian of the Year which in this case was Rotarians of the Year.

It was my great pleasure to thank Paul Gooch and Lynn Spafford for the contribution they made to our Club last year in putting together Aid Station #9 for the Ironman. It was a great deal of work and managed only due to their high energy and enthusiasm. I can't thank you enough!

Mark honored me with my Past President's Pin and a beautiful recognition plaque for my office. Thank you Mark.

Mark also expressed our appreciation to Maria and Calvin for their continued devotion to feeding us each Thursday. It was our pleasure to offer them a small token of appreciation.

After a lovely breakfast - thank you Shayne as always for the hospitality of the Abbey Inn- we were entertained by the Santa Clara Friends! We most certainly enjoyed their music and fun spirit. A talented group of friends indeed.

And, breakfast with Santa is most certainly not complete with out Santa! And his (garbage) bag of gifts for one and all. Thank you for stopping by Santa, and it's to your left.......

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year one and all!

Now officially, Past President, Marla

Breakfast with Santa - Dixie Sunrise Rotary Style

2010-12-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Many thanks to those who were in attendance yesterday - we missed those of you who weren't able to attend.

At yesterday's meeting Carl announced that he's having an open house and invited all his fellow Rotarians to attend. I've emailed a small flyer to everyone announcing the same. Don't worry about Carl's Detroit background - the Kulyk's home is located in SunRiver (the High Rent - Low Crime section of St George) plus he's a Marine.

Marla has offered to correlate a Breakfast of Christmas Cheer and Gratitude which will be on the 16th - the flyer is also attached.

Next week - December 9th, I've arranged for Dave Hawk of Servpro to join us and advise us on the fire dangers that are so frequent this time of year and how to avoid them in our own homes.

Information on Servpro can be obtained by clicking here.

Thanks for all your support and service.

Yours in Rotary,

-Mark

Fw: [MINI Club] 2006 MINI Cooper S Convertible For Sale

2010-11-01T13:39:00.001-06:00

text MHEINER to 50500

-----Original Message-----
From: Julie Preneta - SCMC President <president@sincityminiclub.com>
Sender: member_list-bounces@sincityminiclub.com
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 09:18:10
To: <member_list@sincityminiclub.com>; <currentmembers@sincityminiclub.com>
Subject: [MINI Club] 2006 MINI Cooper S Convertible For Sale

Hello Everyone,
Attached is a flyer sent to me by someone who is trying to sell their
2006 MINI Cooper S Convertible. It's a JCW with low mileage and looks
awfully niiiiiice. All the details, including contact information, or
on the attached flyer.

If you or someone you know is looking to buy a used convertible, this
might be the car.

--
Jules - SCMC President
http://www.sincityminiclub.com

Happy Motoring!

--
BEGIN-ANTISPAM-VOTING-LINKS
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Teach InfoWest Spam Trap if this mail (ID 04DpTyzeQ) is spam:
Spam: https://spamtrap.infowest.com/canit/b.php?i=04DpTyzeQ&m=2124b4457205&c=s
Not spam: https://spamtrap.infowest.com/canit/b.php?i=04DpTyzeQ&m=2124b4457205&c=n
Forget vote: https://spamtrap.infowest.com/canit/b.php?i=04DpTyzeQ&m=2124b4457205&c=f

REMEMBER: Never give out your account information, password, or other personal information over e-mail.
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Detectives arrest eight on drug charges - Dixie Press Online | St. George, Utah News

2010-10-30T08:14:00.000-06:00

Detectives arrest eight on drug charges - Dixie Press Online | St. George, Utah News

Growth Through Challenge: Devil Pups - Youth Program for America

2010-10-21T12:13:00.000-06:00

Devil pups – dixie sunrise rotary

View more presentations from magilla800lbgorilla.

Update on Rotary Youth in Utah

2010-10-05T09:06:00.001-06:00

From DG Penny Atkinson

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!

Mike Wells, District Youth Services Chair sent this to all the RYLARIANS and Youth Committee members this morning. Just wanted to increase the spread of the news and include all of you also.
PLEASE LET YOUR YOUTH (RYLA, Interact, Rotaract and Youth Exchange) kids know about this Conference. Mike has done a FABULOUS job and it will only strengthen our youth programs. This will become an on-going program in the District and we hope to train these kids, just like you were all trained at PETS and in the Assembly so they can lead their clubs and take that with them to become future Rotarians.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND ALL YOU DO. YOU ARE ALL AMAZING, FABULOUS, SPECTACULAR......ROTARIANS!

Penny
Dear district youth committee members, club youth chairs, and others that serve the youth in rotary district 5420. One of my goals is to create greater communication amongst our youth participants in the district. We now have an Interact club website www.utahinteract.com that has information and links for all of the youth programs, and now we have found an angel in the form of Charity Jessop that is taking the lead in creating and maintaining a facebook page for all district Rotary youth programs. PLEASE, everyone click on the link and get yourself in the information loop, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/search/?o=2048&q=utahrotaryyouth%40gmail.com It will take some time, but we hope to have every youth participant and adult Rotarians leaders in the database, so that we can have more effective communication. Please spread the word to the clubs and the youth that you serve. Thank you everyone, and THANK YOU Charity. In Rotary Service, Mike Wells Hello RYLA 2010 participants!

We hope that you had a blast at RYLA and are implementing the knowledge gained there into your lives:) Just a couple of items on the agenda we wanted to inform you of:

I) Stand by for the first ever FALL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE in District 5420. The Fall leadership conference is scheduled to provide training and support for your Interact and Rotaract clubs. There will be special training for the club officers, as well as lots of information for the rest of the club members. We will especially be focusing on the district wide youth service Purple Pinkie Project. There will be binders for all of the club presidents to help them in running the PPP. Fall Leadership Conference will be held will meet in Salt Lake city, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, at the First Congregational Church on 2150 foothill dr. Both sessions will begin at 9:00 am and end at 12:00 noon. Be there between 8:30 am and 9:00 am to register and get some snacks.

II) Next, we have a facebook group. Please add Rotary Youth to your list of friends so that you can stay connected with Interacters, Rotarians, and rylarians and keep yourself updated. PLEASE click on this link to add Rotary Youth Of Utah:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/search/?o=2048&q=utahrotaryyouth%40gmail.com
III) We have a website! Check it out at
www.utahinteract.com
We hope you are all doing great things! Please let us know if you have questions, or better yet, post it on facebook so that others who may have the same questions can see:)

Charity Jessop
Roteractor, Rylarian, and Interactor

-Mark Heiner

text MHEINER to 50500

Flag Notification for Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Wagstaff

2010-10-04T14:07:00.002-06:00

FYI.

Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert has authorized you to lower the Flag of the United States of America and the Flag of the State of Utah on Tuesday, October 5, 2010, in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Matthew Wagstaff.

Warrant Officer Wagstaff, of Orem, died on September 21 while serving in Afghanistan. The flags shall be flown at half-staff on all state facilities from sunrise to sunset.

Andrea Street
Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Jason P. Perry
Office of the Governor
Utah State Capitol
350 North State Street, Ste 200
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
p: 801-538-1000 f: 801-538-1344
astreet@utah.gov
www.governor.utah.gov

text MHEINER to 50500

Paywalls work for papers in small markets with little competition. Otherwise, they're a disaster

2010-09-23T12:17:00.001-06:00

Today at our weekly meeting we were joined by Todd Seifert, Managing Editor of The Spectrum.

Todd informed us of the recent changes affecting not only The Spectrum but Newspaper Organizations and Companies all across the State and Nation.

The online paywall model has been a big issue as of late and Todd explained it, using small words so Marge could understand.

The Spectrum's parent Company has been testing the online paywall model in 3 markets for several months, resulting in the following benefits to occur in the St. George, Utah market:

subscriber growth each week (less Labor Day weekend) and an increase in ad revenue due to lower online traffic.
moving to paid has enabled The Spectrum to retain print subscribers since they gain free access to the online content along with those who pay only for online, and/or the E-Edition.

One other benefit is critical, and it's one that many who dismiss the online paywall model often miss: Newspapers that charge for content online will likely be able to retain their paid subscribers longer.

More information about The Spectrum can be obtained by clicking here.

The Spectrum At A Glance

Publisher: Donnie Welch

Managing Editor: Todd Seifert

Founded: 1962

Joined Gannett: 2000

Employees: 137

Circulation: 21,807 (AM); 22,846 (S)

Milestones:

The Spectrum had its beginning in 1963 when Errol Brown started a weekly newspaper, The Tri-State News Advertiser, in Kanab, Utah. About two years after its beginning in Kanab, the newspaper was moved to Hurricane, Utah. In 1970, the Brown family sold the newspaper to Gail Stahle. The name was changed to Southern Utah Free Press. At that time circulation was 10,000, but after four years, grew to 15,000. It was under Stahle's ownership that the newspaper's office was moved to St. George, Utah. In 1976, the weekly publication became a five-day-a-week newspaper - The Daily Spectrum. Thomson Newspapers Inc. purchased The Daily Spectrum in September, 1984. On August 23, 1986, The Spectrum became a seven-day publication. In June, 1994, the name of the paper changed again to The Spectrum. In July of 1997, The Spectrum converted to morning delivery.

In addition to publishing the only daily newspaper between Provo, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada, The Spectrum produces numerous other products and provides other non-newspaper services. In December of 1995, The Spectrum acquired Preview, the leading monthly real estate publication in the Southern Utah market. In August of 1996, it acquired the Dixie Datebook. In April of 1997, thespectrum.com was launched. In 1999, weekly newspapers in Mesquite, Nev., Desert Valley Times and Desert Echo were purchased and merged into one weekly newspaper. Also in 1999, the St. George Magazine was acquired.

Dixie Care & Share

2010-09-14T10:32:00.000-06:00

text MHEINER to 50500

Dixie Care & Share

2010-09-14T10:29:00.000-06:00

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Walter Orenstein: Lessons Learned from Smallpox: When Eradication Is the Goal, One Case Is One Too Many

2010-09-13T09:33:00.000-06:00

Walter Orenstein: Lessons Learned from Smallpox: When Eradication Is the Goal, One Case Is One Too Many

Rotary Club Events - FYI

2010-09-13T09:12:00.001-06:00

Subject: Rotary Club Events - FYI

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Just wanted to pass this information onto you. Draper-Riverton Club and the West Jordan Club are having events that you might want to participate in or at least be made aware of. All of you have such wonderful projects and events. I just wanted to share these with you so if you can/want to participate you can. These two events are coming up real soon so I am emailing the flyers to you. If you have events you want to share with everyone please send me the information and I will get it put on the website at www.utahrotary.org and then just let everyone know it is there and available.

Thanks for all your support. You have welcomed me to your clubs and events with open arms and enthusiasm. I appreciate you all so much and look forward to visiting those clubs I have not visited yet. Please let me know if you need anything from me and I'll do my best to help in anyway I can.

Thanks again

Penny

ROTARY -- RYLA - HUGE SUCCESS

2010-09-13T08:34:00.001-06:00

RE: an email received 09/13/2010 from District Governor Penny Atkinson:

RYLA was a HUGE success thanks to Sunny Street and all her staff.

Wow, it just BLEW ME AWAY!

Many changes this year made it an even more difficult task but we had a record number of kids come and the program was absolutely OUTSTANDING.

Thanks to those clubs that sent such FANTASTIC kids. They were all incredible.

Your investment will come back to you 100 fold!!

Make sure you follow-up with them and have them report to your club about their experience. Also, make sure they join or start an Interact Club.

THAT WAS PART OF THE DEAL when they were chosen to go to RYLA. They may need your help and encouragement but they were all excited about it!!

For those clubs who were unable, for whatever reason to send any kids, please make sure you start early next year and send kids to RYLA.

Brian Gorum, MR. RYLA himself will be the RYLA Chair next year and I'm sure he will make it even better....following suit as it has gotten better every year since the beginning.

Following Brian will be Shelly Dansie from the Cedar City Club. When they say, Dynamite comes in small packages....she lives up to that!

Also, plan on being a Facilitator next year. YOU WILL HAVE THE MOST INCREDIBLE TIME OF YOUR LIFE! DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS OPPORTUNITY. The facilitators this year were just amazing and we would love to have YOU be there next year!

THANKS TO ALL WHO MADE RYLA POSSIBLE.

It is a HUGE job so please Thank Sunny and all her staff for a job well done. Keep these new RYLARIANS involved with your club and the Interact. They will just be AWESOME, I guarantee it!

Thanks again to everyone who made this possible.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY AND THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOU DO!

Penny

on 9/11 the American Flag is to be flown at Half-Staff

2010-09-10T16:58:00.001-06:00

Under the direction of President Barack Obama, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, has authorized you to lower the Flag of the United States of America and the Flag of the State of Utah tomorrow, Saturday, September 11, 2010, from sunrise to sunset as a tribute to the heroes who came to the aid of their country.

See President Obama's statement below:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2009, as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. I call upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half-staff on Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of the individuals who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and interested organizations and individuals to join in this observance. I call upon the people of the United States to participate in community service in honor of those our Nation lost, to observe this day with other ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
BARACK OBAMA

Andrea Street
Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Jason P. Perry
Office of the Governor
Utah State Capitol
350 North State Street, Ste 200
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
p: 801-538-1000 f: 801-538-1344
astreet@utah.gov
www.governor.utah.gov

-M Heiner

text MHEINER to 50500

DocUtah - Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival

2010-09-08T12:55:00.000-06:00

On the 703rd All Time meeting and the 10th of the 2010-2011 year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise we were pleased to have Mr. Phil Tuckett and Mrs. Lani Pururi of DocUtah join us.

What is DocUtah?

(taken from DocUtah.com) Have you ever seen a film that made you laugh? Cry? Taught you something about yourself? Or about the world around you? Documentary films play an important part in the way we communicate with one another. DOCUTAH Festival Director, Phil Tuckett, understands this perhaps as well as anyone.

For many years Phil, the mastermind behind DOCUTAH, worked as a producer, director, writer, editor, and cameraman for NFL Films and in 1982 was named Vice President of Special Projects. During his tenure, he won 30 Emmy Awards for shows like "Football America", "The 100 Yard Universe", "Autumn Ritual", and "Lost Treasures of NFL Films". He also produced non-sports related programming like "Blood from a Stone" for the History Channel, "Faces of Evil" for TNT, and music videos for a wide variety of artists including B.B. King, Santana, Def Leppard, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. In addition, Phil and his wife Judy have started their own production company, Bristlecone Films.

Before his career at NFL films, Phil attended Dixie College where he played football and majored in English. He finished his BA at Weber State and played one season for the San Diego Chargers before embarking on a 38-year career at NFL films.

Phil has returned to St. George as an associate professor of digital film and executive director of the Dick Nourse Center for Media Innovation at Dixie State College of Utah. During the past year, CMI has grown from a gleam in the eye of Dr. Randal Chase, chair of the communication department, to a full blown multi-media production unit. All projects in the CMI are student driven with faculty oversight and represent a wonderful blend of academics and real world practical application.

With a film background this rich and his roots going deep into the Southern Utah soil, it was only logical for Phil to want to create a documentary film festival in the canyonlands that he loves. Thus, DOCUTAH was born.

One of the important aspects of DOCUTAH is having an academic component. Dixie State College will play a significant part in this area of the Festival. Being one of the few college-based festivals will provide an established infrastructure to DOCUTAH. A festival committee of industry professionals who have relocated to Southern Utah from around the world lends even more credibility to our endeavor.

Another aspect of the festival is the fine art vision for DOCUTAH. Artist Jeff Ham has created the festival artwork for our inaugural poster. His iconic images will brand DOCUTAH as a festival worth considering both now and in the future.

The final elements of our vision relate to providing more than just a place to watch films. We will provide master class seminars as part of the festival for students and attendees alike, as well as a distributor marketplace.

By blending the attractions of breathtaking Southern Utah with a love of documentaries, we hope that many professional and student film makers embrace what DOCUTAH has to offer. Brace yourselves because DOCUTAH has arrived—now and for the future; 2010 is just the beginning.

Mr. Tuckett gave us a preview of one of many films to be screened at DocUtah which truly was an inspiring story involving our Armed Forces and those involved in the Vietnam War.

The festival will be September 16-25, 2010 - the DocUtah website has all the information you need to identify which films or all films you choose to watch during the festival.

Next week Mr. Ruben Garcia, XO of the Dixie Care and Share will join us.

Until then,

Yours in Rotary,

-Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (this is my SAG name)

"Dad, I think I snagged a rock."

2010-09-08T12:17:00.000-06:00

The adventures of Rotarian Dr. Paul Gooch and his family are too good not to share.

By reeling in this monster I'd say if we didn't have an angler for life, we do now.

Well done young man!! What a catch!!

-Mark

(Johnson, this was the fish we spoke of the other day, I'm sure you picked up on that, but I just want to make sure.)

USU Extension Services in Washington County

2010-09-08T12:12:00.000-06:00

On the 26th of August, 2010 we were pleased to have Carolyn Washburn of Utah State University Extension join us and provide insight and information on the services USU Extension offers here in Washington County.

This was the All Time 702nd meeting and the 9th of the 2010-2011 year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise. Special thanks to Darrin, Greg W, and Chantra for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, 4-Way Test, and Blessing.

I think most of us were impressed and I dare say amazed by the unique and specialized services offered to Washington County residents by and through USU's Extension Office.

USU's Extension Office has many focuses, mainly: 4-H & Youth, Agriculture, Diversity & Civil Rights, Emergency Preparedness, Energy, Families and Communities, Finance & Economics, Food & Nutrition, Horticulture, Natural Resources, and Yard & Garden.

Carolyn's emphasis and presentation revolved around strengthening marriage and the marriage survival course offered by USU Extension (free of charge) on Monday evenings at the Extension Offices. Contact Carolyn for exact details at 435-634-5706. She also brought information related to nutrition and quizzed our knowledge regarding canning procedures and which foods provide our bodies with the most nutrients.

For more information about the services offered by USU Extension check their webpage, and become their fan on Facebook.

More about Carolyn Washburn:

BS of Elementary Education at USU 1972, MS SUU 1999. Elementary Teacher @ Ashman, Richfield, Utah 15 years. Alternative High School Richfield, Utah 8 years. Sevier School District Board of Education 10 years. American Legion Auxiliary Utah Girl's State 30 Years.

Our next program will be Mr. Phil Tuckett presenting about DocUtah

Yours in Rotary,

-Mark

2010 Quepos Library Fundraiser at Karolas

2010-09-04T21:22:00.000-06:00

Save Quepos Library

2010-08-19T11:37:00.001-06:00

A fellow Dixie Sunrise Rotarian, Lynn Spafford, has joined a noble cause benefiting the children of Costa Rica.

The children who attend the Inmacalada School rely upon the Quepos Public Library, which is in dire need of funds to remain open. The 28th of August is the event (in Costa Rica) to raise funds for the public library. Local business leaders, Rotarians and others, are joining with Lynn to support the same. Please contact Lynn on how you can support the library.

Do you have "Wilson" in your life?

2010-08-19T10:03:00.009-06:00

Today was the all-time 701st and the 8th meeting of the 2010-2011 year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Special thanks to Lance, Herb, and Paul who opened our meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, 4-Way Test, and Blessing.

Our presenter today was Geoff Steurer, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who enlightened us with information regarding how important our level of attachment is in our most important relationships.

Geoff utilized the example of a well known movie called "Castaway" wherein Tom Hanks plays the role of a busy executive who, due to a plane crash (FedEx cargo plane) over the ocean, becomes the sole survivor on a remote island. Out of the isolation and lack of companionship he seeks out and creates a deep rooted meaningful relationship with "Wilson" a volleyball that washes ashore the island. Geoff compared the emotional connection Tom Hanks' character

developed with "Wilson" to today's trying economic and stressful times noting how important it is for us to have healthy relationships in any survival situation.

About Geoff Steurer:

For over ten years, Geoff has been helping couples and individuals improve their most important relationships. "It has been deeply rewarding to watch clients move out of patterns that have held them and their loved ones back from experiencing their full relationship potential."

Geoff completed a masters degree in marriage and family therapy at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. Also holding a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University in communications studies. Following his graduate work, he worked in community behavioral health where he gained experience working with a wide-range of mental health concerns affecting individuals, couples, and families. This experience helped him discover his strong interest in working with couples, especially couples affected by pornography addiction, affairs, and other betrayals. This led to his association with the LifeSTAR network and subsequent move to St. George, UT in 2006 where he opened up a private practice and LifeSTAR of St. George.

Geoff continues to seek advanced training in both pornography/sexual addiction treatment as well as Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT). His focus in both couples work as well as the group work in the LifeSTAR program is helping individuals and couples heal the patterns of attachment in their relationships.

You can follow Geoff on twitter at: @geoffsteurer

Join us next week as we will hear from Carol Washburn of Utah State University Extension, speaking on USU's Extension services in Washington County.

Yours in Rotary,

-Mark

Summer of Service

2010-08-18T17:33:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, August 12th, the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise heard from the Youth Volunteer Corps and their advisor Kayla Shenfeld who is a Vista Summer Associated.

These young people are participants in the Summer of Service program which is 100 hours of service in 100 days. Their project was “Reduce Reuse Recycle.” They tackled 2 big elements of the project this summer, Green Mapping of which local businesses recycle and public relations/publicity. Working in conjunction with Plan 94.1 radio they recorded Save Our Planet public service announcements addressing various aspects of recycling. They recorded a terrific video on the subject which can be viewed on You Tube under Vista Volunteers St. George. And, they put together a most informative Power Point Presentation which they had the opportunity to show to service clubs such as ours.

Just a few of the facts the group presented to us:
“Binnies” are large yellow receptacles for recycled material and can be spotted all over town.
You can recycle plastics numbers 1 though 7.
You can recycle paper, copper, aluminum and tin.
You can recycle red, blue, brown, green and clear glass. Please be kind and rinse/wash containers before putting in local binnies.

And, some rather sobering facts:
Every household discards 5.2 lbs of trash per day or 1,892 lbs per year (that is the weight of a killer whale.)
Landfills grow by 6 inches EVERY DAY!
The cost of what we throw away each year would buy 80 MILLION Wii game systems!

Definitely food for thought. Good for the Summer of Service youth to attempt to make a difference on our planet.

In addition to our program Lynn Spafford and Paul Gooch presented a service opportunity to the Club: Saving the Quepos-Manuel Antonia Library in Costa Rica. The Board met after the meeting to discuss contributing to this project and more information will be given at the next meeting. Check out Lynn’s BLOG for more details.

Next week: Geoff Steurer on the toll the current economy is taking on relationships.

See you then! Marla, subbing for Mark

Utah Shakespearean Festival

2010-07-16T14:35:00.002-06:00

This week our Speaker Guest was Michael Don Bahr, Education Director of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. An educator at heart – many years teaching – he shared with us not only information on the Festival and the plays but on the educational opportunities which surround the Utah Shakespearean Festival.
For instance, did you know that for each actor there are 7 support people? And this year there are 65 actors! The actors perform in repertory 2 to 3 plays each season. This year Festival will offer 6 plays through the summer and 3 in the fall. The summer productions are: Much Ado about Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations – a New Musical, and Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps.
The Utah Shakespearean Festival came from the dream of Fred Adams in 1961. Today the operating budget is $6.2M, with 2 theaters and a dream of a 3rd. What made this Festival outstanding form the beginning was that Fred initiated performance “pre-talks” to take away “Shakes Fear.” Today the calendar is overflowing not only with performances but with seminars including Prop Seminars, Backstage tours, Play orientations, Actor seminars, and Literary seminars which draw up to 200+ people each and every seminar. All at no cost. This season the USF volunteer corps has a roster of 350 people!
Michael, Education Director for 10 years, is very proud of the educational opportunities of numerous classes for student groups and Camp Theater experiences for young people. USF and Tuachan participate in educational exchange and all the student opportunities draw students nationwide.
The Theater schedule is packed full and rotates such that tourists in the area can see 2 or 3 plays in a short visit. Be sure to visit their web site: http://www.bard.org/. It is an AMAZING place. You can buy tickets, see video clips AND there are study guides on just about any play you can think of! Check it out!
On a personal note, this was a most amazing happening for me. Last year I contacted USF for a program and it just never quite happened. This year I phoned was informed it would work out well to send someone to speak to us and I was asked to call a few days ahead to verify which person would be coming to speak. When I made the follow up call I was told Michael would be our presenter. I thought at the time, I know this person but could not place where. Upon arriving at the Abbey Inn Michael and I looked at each other and both knew our paths had crossed but neither of us could place where even after chatting quite a while. Suddenly at the end of the program, I realized this was the family that purchased by parents home when my Mother was no longer able to live in it. And I was flabbergasted to find that the Bahr family has one of my family’s heirlooms. It is a VERY small world.
Mark will be back next week and our speaker will be Darrell Eaves on the subject of Internet Marketing. You won’t want to miss it.
Past President Marla – pitch hitting for President Mark.

Cultivating Prosperous Business Relationships through Dynamic Networking

2010-07-14T15:43:00.008-06:00

Thursday July 8th 2010 was the 695th all time and 2nd meeting of the 2010 - 2011 Rotary year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Special thanks to Trish, John, Kaylnn and Carl for volunteering and assisting with our Pledge, 4 Way Test, Prayer and Greeting all in attendance.

This morning it was our pleasure to have Rebecca Monson, PHsD join us. She is the Founder of Networking's the Secret the fastest growing business professional networking group in Southern Utah. Her presentation about the Forgotten Art of Listening and Creating Your Elevator Pitch had everyone in attendance sitting on the edge of their seats.

Some of Her Listening Tips included:

Develop the desire to listen

Always let the other person to most of the talking

Don't interrupt

Learn active listening

Ask for clarification if needed

Get used to listening for nonverbal messages

Ask a question.....then SHUT UP and wait for a response

Some of Her Tips for Asking Questions:

Ask open-ended questions

Don't ask questions that put them on the defensive

Ask "What if?"

Ask for their advice

Offer alternatives

Ask about their feelings

Repeat back what they said

Rebecca also challenged us all to create an Elevator Pitch. We were instructed to create a brief statement that gives just enough information to our target audience to create curiosity but not enough to satisfy their hunger. We want them to ask us more about what we do and then engage them in a dialog/conversation.

Dr. Gooch was brave enough to share his Elevator Pitch which created quite a laugh. Perhaps next week we should take a few minutes of Horseplay and pitch ourselves to each other.

I'll be in SLC next week and have asked Past President Marla to conduct on my behalf.

Many thanks to you for your service above self.

Yours in Rotary,

-Mark

Day One - A Day of Days INDEED!!

2010-07-14T14:40:00.009-06:00

Well, it had to happen. On July 1st, 2010 the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise began the 2010 - 2011 Rotary year under the direction of President Mark Heiner.

We had a bit of a slow start to the meeting, yet luck was on our side because the STP showed up and all was right with the world.

Rotarian Darrin Hallman and I were ready, willing and able to present part 2 of our infamous social media seminar, however due to the small numbers in attendance (due to the July 4th holiday and not the new management) our weekly meeting took a unique turn.

Following the Pledge, 4 Way Test, Prayer, and Breakfast, Rotarian Marge Shakespeare arrived and became the only XX chromosome member in attendance.

Since our numbers were few and our mood was mellow it was decided that we should postpone social media part 2, and get to know our fellow Rotarian Carl Kulyk a bit better and learn about his experiences and memories of Detroit, MI

Carl's life experiences as a young man in Detroit were amazing. He informed and enlightened us about the glory days of old Detroit, how the city used to shine and thrive, as well as explaining first hand the details of the now vacant and abandoned blocks of properties he formerly called home.

Even though any and all one could ever want/need to know about Detroit can be found by following this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit

Getting it first hand from Carl made it that much more unique.

Sorry it took me so long to update our Blog

See you all next week.

Happy 4th of July to all!!

Yours in Rotary,

-Mark

Mr. Mayor himself!

2010-06-25T15:58:00.002-06:00

This week we had a chance to hear from and ask questions of our Mayor, Dan McArthur. Mr. McArthur has been the Mayor of St. George for 17 years and has seen a great deal of change over those years. He has life-long area ties originating with his parents who raised the family and operated businesses here in St. George. The Mayor’s father was recently featured in a Spectrum article as the “Grandfather” of St. George. We also know that both the Mayor and his Father have long histories with Rotary. Good for them!
We learned that the new airport opening with coincide with the City’s Birthday celebration which will commence on January 1, 2011. The new airport will make it possible to bring commuter jet traffic into our area. The city is working with various airlines to expand possible destinations to include Phoenix, Denver, and Los Angeles as well as fly larger jet aircraft to Salt Lake City.
The group asked many questions, seeking information on the new I-15 Interchange and Southgate Golf Course among other topics. Water and the cost and management of water is always a concern and we were informed pipeline discussions are on hold for the moment with the decline in growth in the area. However, the City Council is still working on guidelines for water conservation including Xeroscaping percentages in new and existing areas.
A great source of information is the InSide St. George magazine which can be obtained locally in hard copy or can be read and downloaded from the City’s web site: http://www.sgcity.org/. The web site is a vast resource on the many issues of concern to local residents and the Mayor strongly suggested we visit the site regularly to keep up on the latest City happenings. Be sure to check out the concerts at Vernon Worthen Park and the movies on the Town Square. Note: 2 of this summer’s movies were shot here in St. George. Check out the web site http://www.sgcity.org/ to see which movies those are. Watch the news in upcoming months on the City’s Year Long Birthday Party.
Next week Mark Heiner will take over the President’s chair, table, and this Blog.
It has been my pleasure to have served this past year and I thank you all for your support. I look forward to the energy Mark will bring to this position. Thank you one and all for a great year.
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

"Someday" is not on any calendar.

2010-06-17T16:57:00.002-06:00

Today we had the privilege of hearing from Penny Fox and Susan Hayward about the endeavor called Send Out Cards. This is an internet based company designed to take the work out of staying in touch.
Penny Fox is an entrepreneur and Storyteller. She has been a community advocate for years dabbling in service to Neighborhood Watch, The Alzheimer’s Association, and the United Way among others. She spoke to us of the geneology of networking and the need to network constantly to maintain business and personal viability. For each of us, our geneology tree would include branches to family, friends, church, community, Rotary and others. Because “someday” is not on any calendar it is so easy to let networking and/spiritual connection opportunities slip away. We must make a conscious effort to reach out.
Susan, whose background is insurance but whose passion is golf, then spoke about the benefits of sending cards regularly to maintain those contracts on the branches. Send Out Cards makes it possible to get on line, create and personalize a greeting card, sign it and push a button to have it printed and sent via U.S. Mail. It is possible to upload photos for the cards as well as place a signature on them.
Penny and Susan invite you to check them out at http://www.sendoutc ards.com/79381 /79381.
Watch for upcoming events including the Changing of the Gavel and the recognition of our Public Services agencies.
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President (for 2 more weeks)
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Social Media Part 2 - Facebook!

2010-06-12T20:28:00.005-06:00

For those of us who continue to be challenged by today's technology, Mark Heiner and Darrin Hallman introduced us to Facebook, a social networking internet site. We got an overview of how to create an account, personalize an account, invite friends and - thank you Dan Rack for asking - about privacy.

While I think most of us assumed Facebook, and similar sites such as MySpace, were for young users who appear to spend all their time connected on-line. What we found is that most families, grandparents, etc. use this media to stay connected with families, share photos,history etc. Very surprisingly, we learned also that 70% of Facebook users are outside the U.S. The whole world seems to be connected.

We learned that no one can get to a Facebook site without being invited to do so. We can't see your site and you cannot see ours without both parties agreeing.

Now here is the down-side: the average user spends more than 55 minutes a day on the site!

How silly we were to think we could do social media in one meeting. Twitter took up one whole meeting, the Introduction to Facebook took up a whole meeting and we didn't get to the hands-on part. So in the future, we have Social Media Part 3. Thanks Mark and Darrin.

Next week, Penny Fox of SendOutCards. See you then!

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Lots of stuff going on!

2010-06-06T18:08:00.005-06:00

This week our Blog is a mixed bag!

This week it was our pleasure to hear from Lani Puriri who is facilitating the move of the Huntsman World Senior Games International Festival from the small event previously held at Dixie College to a larger community based event. The event will be held Friday and Saturday, October 15th and 16th and focus on cultural education. Rotary clubs from around the world are invited to sponsor artisans to bring their crafts to sell at the festival.
The three fold mission for the International Festival is:
· To create an event where HWSG athletes and citizens of the community can participate as one
· To cultivate worldwide health, friendship and peace
· To work with Rotary Clubs and promote the motto of Service above Self.
Lani asked for volunteers from our club to help with the Festival. She is especially in need of someone with the ability to help create a web site and related social media marketing.

In addition to Lani, we heard from Kevin Lewis with a final re-cap of the Ironman. He brought great video footage and again expressed his appreciation to our club for our participation. And just in case you missed this announcement the first time, AID STATION #9, SPONSORED BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF DIXIE SUNRISE, WON FIRST PLACE IN THE AID STATION CATEGORY! Go Pig!

Just a quick aside, this past week was my final Board Meeting as your President. Wow where did this year go? So John had to record it for posterity……

And finally, I failed last week to mention that Dan Greathouse , President of the local Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Association, visited our Club to let us know the traveling Vietnam Wall will return to St. George this Fall. Many of us volunteered our time in honor of these whose names appear on the wall when it was here the first time. Dan hopes many of us will help again. It is a very touching experience for visitors and volunteers alike. More as the date get closer.

Have a great week one and all!

Marla

Are you a Twitter? Do you have Tweeps?

2010-05-27T16:29:00.002-06:00

Since most of us have no clue what a Tweep or a Retweet is, we invited Mark Heiner, our President Elect, to educate us on social media at the 690th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise – the 45th meeting of this year! Wow, where is it going?

Mark gave us a brief “Twitter for Dummies” class or, as he pointed out, a “Twitter for smart people who feel dumb when using technology” class. Communication is changing and it is not wise to fall behind. While many of us assumed Twittering was for teenagers, Mark pointed out to us that many many businesses are using the vehicle to communicate information to customers, employees, colleagues. It is yet another vehicle to keep followers abreast of news. We also assume Twitter is all about cell phones, not true. The messages go to our computers unless we designate messages go to our “smart” (internet capable) phones. They can pile up fast, however. If you have become a “follower” of many sites you could get hundreds of Tweets per day.

It comes down to Twitter being a method of communication one might call micro blogging. It is the passing of information is very concise messages (a maximum of 140 characters). One can join Twitter sites for news updates, weather updates, traffic updates or selected deals such as vacation packages.

There are currently 3 BILLION (YES, BILLION) Tweets every day. Mark suggests that if you choose to have a Twitter site you should use the “rule of thirds” in posting information. 1/3 should be about yourself (your business), 1/3 should be about your competition, and 1/3 is the forwarding of information called a “retweet”. (Oh yes, if you are wondering what a “Tweep” is, it’s a follower of your Twitter.)

Did you get all that? If not, we’re going to invite Darrin Hallman to pick up this education in the near future and carry us forward into places like Facebook. It is all making my brain hurt, I’ll think I’ll take 2 aspirin, lay down, and hope the whole phenomenon passes.

Next week, more on the upcoming International Festival!
Have a great week! Marla

The Dictionary Project--photojourney

2010-05-25T11:19:00.003-06:00

P.A.W.S, for paws and more paws!

2010-05-24T14:30:00.009-06:00

On Thursday it was our pleasure to welcome Pat Dalpiaz, President of CarePoint Group Purchasing and Supporter and Advocate of PAWS to speak to the Club. Pat’s husband Paul, also a P.A.W.S. volunteer joined her to share with us the work of this organization.
The sad news is that more than 12 million dogs and cats are turned into animal shelters each year. Almost half are euthanized. Enter P.A.W.S. P.A.W.S. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization formed for the primary purpose of decreasing euthanasia rates at local shelters through spay/neuter programs, public education, and the location of quality homes for homeless animals.
She told us why people have pets:

Unconditional Love

People ages 50-64: 45% have a dog - 27% have a cat

24% of pet owners over 55 celebrate their pet's birthday

57% of pet owners 55+ say their pets are more likely than their significant other to give them enthrusiastic welcome-home greetings!

P.A.W.S. had made significant contributions to our area: look at this slide!

Next week please join us for a great presentation on the use of Social Media. For many of us figuring out social media and how to use it is like “going where no man has gone before.” Let’s take the leap and learn it. See you then!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

All Clubs Meeting welcome GSE Team

2010-05-17T19:54:00.007-06:00

Thanks to the Red Rock Rotary Club for hosting and inviting us to share in the All Clubs Breakfast meeting on May 13th to meet the GSE Team and learn of the members, their vocations, their families and their culture.

Below, thanks to John Johnson in my absence, are some details of the group.

Each GSE Team member provided a personal Power Point presentation introducing us to their families, their places of employment, their personal interests, passions, hobbies or avocations.
Albertina Seillant, an English teacher, was the first presenter. She shared her passion for saving the Earth, it’s natural resources such as forests and water, with statistics that were impressive and educational.
One of the teachers, Maria Belen Garay and vice principal of her school, mentioned her school has over 1000 students and the staff of 40 teachers have access to only 2 computers.
Ann Marina Petrovic, the Team Leader has been President of her Rotary Club and is a recent graduate of Ancient Chinese Medicine, teaches Tai Chi, designs jewelry and is very active with several of her club’s projects.
Gustavo De Luca is a biomedical engineer and university professor. He works mostly with cancer research.
Lawyers Ana Maria Acchitte and Grima Machado described the type of law they practice and were delighted to be in Utah to experience snow for the first time.
All members commented on the beauty of Dixie and the friendly and kind people here. After the meeting, Brad Christensen Hurricane Elementary School Principal said all GSE members were taking a field trip of his school and then touring Zion Park.

And after this meeting our guys trooped off to deliver dictionarys.

Aid Station #9 is #1 and Paul Harris Awards at last

2010-05-09T13:11:00.004-06:00

Our meeting on May 6th was a celebration!

First, it was our pleasure to present the Paul Harris certificates, pins and medallions to Tyler Todd, Greg Walker, and Chantra Gooch. While the accomplishment was acknowledged some time ago the very special tangible awards were very delayed in coming. Paul was finally able today to complete the awarding of these recognitions which completed the acknowledgement of the second time this Club has achieved the status of a 100% Paul Harris Club, a goal of Paul's year as President.

Mark Heiner than took us to an update on the projects on-going from this year to next including the Rotary Licence Plate. If you have not signed up for one there is still time.

Then we celebrated the First Place win of Aid Station #9! It was GREAT FUN! See photos on the BLOG below. Thank you all who helped in any way, on the road, driving the shuttle (Herb, that would be you), the cooks, the photographers, the helpers, the runners, the entertainers, the volunteers one and all. While certainly not close to enough "thank you", it was my great pleasure to award to Paul and Lynn (with Lance as a proxy) the prestigious, first time every "U" Rock Award for organizing and pulling off this great fun and fundraising event. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Remember no Thursday meeting next week. All Clubs Breakfast hosted by the Red Rock Club on Wednesday and District Conference Thursday - Sunday! Attend as much as you can.

And, again Aid Station #9 "U" Rock!
Marla

Aid Station # 9 of the Ironman St. George

2010-05-09T12:50:00.014-06:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are about a million words on the Aid Station #9 project. :-)

Great Fun! Thank you all participants!

Thank you All who participated.

CERT

2010-05-05T11:30:00.003-06:00

CERT

We had the pleasure of hearing from Valerie and Dave Seeley on April 29. The Seeley’s came to tell us about CERT – The Community Emergency Response Team. CERT is designed to be all hazard training for the general public. It is training for local citizens to be ready to help victims of a disaster AND to be better prepared themselves in times of disaster. Because Emergency Services are overwhelmed in times of disaster, CERT seeks to train local residents to be first responders and to put emergency preparedness in the hands of individuals.

Dave reminded us that all disasters are local. FEMA assistance takes 11 days to arrive and the effects of any event are felt where the disaster occurs – locally! CERT brings varied groups together to prepare for the unexpected. It bridges churches, school, clubs and citizens. With the current class there will 519 trained CERT volunteers in our community. The training is extensive and provides hands-on and practical experience to prepare volunteers. Training includes not just what to do but also what not to do in a disaster.

To learn more visit: http://www.bereadyutah.org/.

Dave and Valerie, thanks for coming!

Ironman NEXT:

And as a preview, we had a Rotarian visitor from Scotland who came all the way over to watch his son participate in the Ironman! Best of luck!

The Crossroads

2010-05-04T10:13:00.005-06:00

Thanks PE Mark for conducting this meeting. The group heard from Dr. Thibault about The Crossroads program. Welcome Dr. Thibault.

CERT is our next program. Ironman coming up!

Who Knew?

2010-04-15T15:24:00.003-06:00

Today we had the pleasure of a visit from Betty Archambault, a very active member of our local Elks Lodge. I’m sure I was not the only person who was just blown away by the amount of good work done nationally and locally by the Elks Lodges. The Elks focus strongly on veterans AND on youth. Who knew? Past President Joe Christopher introduced Betty telling us how she came out of retirement to Chair the local lodge’s Youth Activities Committee and the energy she brought to the Committee and the award of a $10,000 impact grant for youth.
The St. George Elks Lodge is the first and only Lodge to receive the maximum $10,000. That funding has been/will be used for programs for underprivileged youth in the Millcreek Alternative School. These are high risk youth often living on the street or in cars who are struggling with the basics of life. The Elks Grant purchased freezers and shelving and set up a Food Pantry of staples and fresh produce with the only purpose being to feed those young people many of whom have no access to other food. Hygiene supplies and baby care needs are also available.
Betty emphasized that this program is about becoming independent and is not a “welfare” type program. It is designed to meet some basic needs so a young person can continue his/her education and be launched into independent living. By making basic food, toothbrushes, etc. available these very high risk youths do not need to steal food or earn money for food from stolen goods, etc.
The program is very successful with many young people graduating from high school and some going on to college at Dixie and elsewhere. A last piece of trivia about Elks Lodges, as an organization they are the second largest provider of scholarships in the US behind only the US Government.
Thank you Betty, for sharing your work with us.

Next week, The Crossroads. Ironman coming up! Have you registered for Aid Station #9? Dictionary delivery soon. District Conference May 13-15th, don't miss it.

Wow! Lots on our plate!
Have a good weekend!
Marla

Plotting and Planning for The IRONMAN!

2010-04-13T20:04:00.005-06:00

Reaching out, truly making a difference

2010-04-09T09:05:00.002-06:00

This week, the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise had the opportunity to hear of the work of a small group of St. George medical practitioners who made their way to Haiti to serve the injured. Our speaker, Colby Petersen, PA with The Heart of Dixie, spoke of traveling with Dr. David Grygla, Dr. Ed Prince, and Trevor Schmidt, PA to Haiti to treat, operate, and offer medical care in any form they could to victims of the Haiti disaster. The group made a spur of the moment decision to accept the offer of local philanthropist Jeremy Johnson to fly them to Haiti.
The group arrived on day 12 of the disaster and stayed through day 19. The photos of the injuries and the devastation of the country were sobering. Colby showed us photos we did not see on the evening news. He spoke of the countless persons buried under the rubble, the lack of electricity – which cannot be restored without pretty much starting all over again – the homeless and orphaned children and the great need for medical care. The group took 5, 000 lbs of supplies which they purchased, begged, and haggled in Florida. They used common household tools since they were unable to obtain hospital grade ones. They used hack saws, a Black and Decker drill and a Leatherman to operate on fractured and severed limbs. Antibiotics were scare and anesthesia close to non-existent.
However, the underlying message was the resilience of the people. Colby reported there was not a time they did not feel safe. He spoke of warm friendly people, laughing children, and a country where people sing day and night.
As Tyler Todd, who arranged this program, pointed out, the media has moved on to newer “news” but the needs of those in Haiti are far from met. Colby, thank you for sharing.
Reminders: Ironman service project May 1st. We need your help and the help of your families and neighbors. District Conference HERE IN ST. GEORGE May 13-15. Do plan to attend.
Until next week…..
Marla

Keeping Children Safe

2010-04-01T19:26:00.004-06:00

This week the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise convened for the 682nd time - the 37th of this year - to hear from Patricia Sheffield, Director of the Children's Justice Center.

As a member of our Club, Trish needs little introduction. What we know most about her is how much fun she things it is to be a Grandma.

The message from Trish this week is Keeping Children Safe. The numbers related to child abuse are staggering. 95% of abused children are victims of a know perpetrator, often as close as a grandfather, uncle or adult. The typical sex offender will abuse 117 children before being caught. Close to 300 children were served by the Children's Justice Center in 2009 alone. A representative display of that work is currently in place at their location on 5th South. The cost to society of child abuse exceeds $94 BILLION each year! Many abused children have health issues, mental health issues or travel in to a life of gangs or other crime and spend years in our prisons and jails.

Trish warned of the dangers of the Internet, a vehicle by which we let pedophiles into our homes. Parents MUST monitor a child's internet use. Facebook and My Space can be highly dangerous doorways into children's lives and cell phone "sexting" is simply unacceptable.

It does take a village to raise a child, it IS our job. As Theodore Roosevelt said "if society does not protect its children today, it will one day have to protect itself from those children."

See you next week!
Marla

It's a cordless Spell Checker!

2010-04-01T16:26:00.002-06:00

The 681st meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise was a special event for our club. We were honored to host the second All Clubs Meeting for Southern Utah and even more honored to welcome PDG Wally Brown as our guest, speaking on Literacy.
Our guests also included District Governor Gil Trujillo and AG Glade Hamilton who got up at an incredibly early hour to drive down from Cedar City to join us. We were so pleased to be joined by so many members of the St. George and Red Rocks Clubs. It was a room FULL of Rotary Energy. Governor Gil and AG Glade reminded us of the upcoming District Conference (May 13- 15) and encouraged us all to attend. Linda Sappington, Conference Coordinator outlined details of the exciting agenda.
PDG Wally’s program was absolutely eye opening. He spoke of the great cost to society as a whole of illiteracy. The statistics are sobering regarding how poverty, unemployment, crime, incarceration, and lack of development in “developing” countries is so strongly tied to the ability to read. It is sad to know that so many of the world’s women are unable to read and thus are unable to help their children out of ignorance and poverty. He stressed the need for Rotarians to be involved in literacy. We can, as we have been doing, gather books for the prisons and jails, we can continue with The Dictionary Project, we can volunteer to read to and with children in schools, and any number of other options to open the world of the printed word to those who have not experienced reading.
I could go on and on about the quality of this meeting but will let the photos speak for themselves.
And, again, thank you for sharing this great meeting with us.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Gateway to Wellness!

2010-03-22T16:46:00.002-06:00

This week our Club welcomed Locke Ettinger, Director of Wellness with Dixie Regional Medical Center to speak to us about Health and Wellness and the new Gateway to Wellness program being piloted at Dixie Regional Medical Center.
Locke, a Licensed Physical Therapist and long time community resident – known to many members of our Club – has worked with Dixie Regional Medical Center for 20 years. He has a passion for wellness and is currently completing a PhD in the subject. However, the fact about Locke that so catches me attention is that he is now living his dream to pursue a career in Wellness. How often do we think “wouldn’t it be nice? Or wouldn’t it be fun?” Locke took that dream to reality and is obviously enormously energized by the opportunity in front of him.
He did point out some very scary facts. Obesity is completely out of hand nation-wide. And, obesity is an underlying cost of many very costly medical conditions. Diabetes, heart disease, respiratory compromise, and many cancers just to name are directly related to obesity. Let’s think about it, a normal size muffin of 10 years ago is now 4 times the size of the original! We used to cut grass with an old fashioned push mower, then we went to a power mower, then to a self propelled power mower, then to a riding mower. I ask you, how many calories do you burn on a riding mower with a 44 oz soda in the cup holder?
Locke also discussed the potential health migration from wellness to illness over the course of a life which does not value healthy living. I think we all know the cost of health care is skyrocketing but did you know the bulk of the expenditures come in resource utilization related to unhealthy living?
So the message is: exercise and eat in an appropriate manner. And Locke, who practices what he preaches, is providing us with a very real example, he will be a participant in the Ironman! As we volunteer our time in Aid Station #9, be sure to cheer for Locke as he runs by!

Next week: PDG Wally Brown on literacy. Don't miss it!

Marla

Brainstorming at its finest!

2010-03-14T20:07:00.003-06:00

The past Thursday we plotted and planned, thought and thought, discussed and debated and we came up with a plan!

We used our time to work out the details of our participation in community service to the Ironman Competition on May 1st.

Just in case you have not heard, we will be staffing Aid Station #9 serving the competitors who are in the running phase of the race.

We need lots of help! Please plan to participate. In order to participate with us as a volunteer, please go to the Ironman St. George web site Ironmanstgeorge.com and register. When you get to the site click on volunteer and complete the form. In the comment section, indicate you wish to serve with Aid Station #9 manned by the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise. You will receive a confirmation and Paul Gooch, who is coordinating the service project, will also be notified of your registration.

Coming up next - Locke Ettinger of Dixie Regional Medical Center on the new Wellness Program and the Health and Performance Center.

See you then!
Marla

Health Care Reform

2010-03-08T19:17:00.005-07:00

Our Club met on Thursday for the 678th time, the 33rd meeting of this year. We were very privileged to have as our guest speaker, Terri Kane, Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of Dixie Regional Medical Center and Terri Draper, Director of Communications.

Ms. Kane has been the CEO of Dixie Regional Medical Center Since 2006. Prior to that time she was an Operations Officer of Dixie Regional. Her career spans 30 years of working with Intermountain Healthcare where she began at McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden. In 2003 she received one of Intermountain's most prestigious recognitions, Manager of Distinction.

She has demonstrated a leadership energy that has allowed Dixie Regional to earn numerous awards including the Triple Achievement Award from the American Hospital Association for Excellence and Gold Plus Stroke Award, the HealthInsight of Utah and Nevada 2008 Quality Award (the only hospital to three-peat 2007-209) and the Cleverly 5 Star Hospital and Top 100 Hospital in 2009. Dixie Regional Medical Center ranks in the top 11% of US hospitals on CMS data.

Terri, a former member of our Club, and her right hand communications person Terri Draper, brought a most informative program on Healthcare reform. She discussed the up-sides and down-sides allowing us to understand the problem from new perspectives. The bottom line for all of us to consider is that we cannot continue on the current path of spending. Choices will have to be made and we as citizens of this great nation have an obligation to be informed and to express our feelings to our elected officials.

Next week our program will be a full Club planning meeting for the upcoming Ironman competition. Please come and be a part of the process.

See you then!
Marla

Wha's behind the electrical outlet we take SO for granted?

2010-02-28T13:59:00.005-07:00

Those of us who shared the 677th Meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise learned some of the behind the scenes strategies and work that make it possible to turn on our lights and plug in our computers. It was our privilege to host Phillip Solomon, the Energy Services Director for St. George City. Mr. Solomon, who has been with St. George City water and energy departments for 25 years is a Registered Professional Engineer in the states of Utah and Arizona. He has a Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Utah and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Utah State University. And, on top of his very heavy work schedule with the City Energy Department is an adjust professor in the Business Department at Dixie Sate College.

It would be impossible to do an adequate summary of all we learned about power and how it get to us. So let me just highlight a few points.

Power is traded HOURLY! Not only is the actual power bought and sold, the transmission of the power must be traded. And, purchased power must be balanced with City generated (Natural Gas) power. Those of us who live in the covered areas of the City benefit from a very low electricity rate of $.071 per kwh because of the department's ability to balance all the elements of providing power. Currently 27,000 customers are being served.

Challenges for the City's Energy Department include the balance of green house gases, carbon tax or CAP and Trade, and renewables (solar and wind). Please visit the ST. George City web sit to learn more, it is fascinating.

Next week: Terri Kane, CEO/Administrator of Dixie Regional Medical Center who will bring us up to date on Healthcare Reform.

See you then!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

BLOG Special Edition

2010-02-28T13:46:00.004-07:00

It is my great pleasure to honor a member of our Club and his very dedicated spouse in the BLOG Special Edition.

It was my great pleasure on February 18th to pin on Carl Kulyk's shirt the Paul Harris Plus 2 pin. Carl joins a very elite number of Rotarians who have reached this level of support of the Paul Harris Foundation of Rotary International.

Not only does Carl have the distinction of Paul Harris Plus 2, his wife Caroline has been bestowed a Paul Harris Fellowship - a gift from Car. While we did not have the honor of awarding the Paul Harris Fellowship to Caroline, on February 25th it was my great pleasure to present to Caroline the "Chauffeur Extraordinaire" Special Award for Service Above Self. In case anyone does not know, Carl had a significant injury, surgery and recovery which made it impossible for him to drive. So his dedicated Caroline has been "driving Mr. Carl" to the meetings for weeks. It was her dedication to him and to Rotary that earned her this prestigious (and unique) award.

Thank you Carl and Caroline. It is a privilege to know you and to share Rotary with you.

And, in your honor, one of John Johnson's great shots of the beautiful

area in which we live

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

This meeting was "SWEET!!!!!!!!!"

2010-02-28T13:32:00.003-07:00

This meeting, the 677th all time meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise was undoubtedly one of the sweetest meetings we've ever had. We learned about and samples (YUM) Amber Lyn Chocolate. This nationally distributed sugar free and no sugar added chocolate is made right here in St. George. Ben Peterson of the family owned business told us of the growth of the company started 10 years ago by his father.

The product, Amber Lyn Chocolate, is named for his sister and uses only high grade raw product which is primarily raw chocolate imported from Belgium. The dark chocolate is sugar free and the mild chocolate is classified as "no sugar added" as the milk product sugars must be recognized. It is sweetened with maltetol, a wheat based sweetener as opposed to the common corn based sweeteners which are much harder on the system.

The Amber Lyn products are gluten free an diabetic friendly. The company, which started in the family basement, now has a full factory location with retail outlet and an affiliation with Costco which helped launch the new very successful internet portion of the company's sales. See their web site: http://www.amberlynchocolates.com/ to be tempted. It you haven't tried it, you're missing something terrific.

Reminder: District Conference here in ST. George, May 13-15. You won't want o miss it.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

A adventurous young man came to share.

2010-02-15T15:15:00.007-07:00

The 675th all time meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise welcomed Rotary Exchange Student Adam Dalton.

Adam, currently an employee of the Abbey Inn and student at Dixie State College was born in Florida, raised in Arizona, and has adventurer/traveler deep in his soul He tells us he was honored to be selected as a Rotary Exchange Student to Germany in 2003 and spent what would have been his senior year in high school in Arizona in Germany. While he did attend classes in Germany, he had completed his credits for graduation in his home high school so that he was free to focus on what he could learn from his exchange. He took classes in Germany in which the focus was language to get a solid understanding of the communication.

The travel bug in him was not satisfied with just Germany. In 2005 he traveled to Korea, again very interested in submersion in the language, and later spent many months in Central America. He told us of being robbed in Guatemala and learning to adapt to the good and bad of a new country.

He introduced us to a Rotary Program we don't have in our area, Rotex. This program connects exchange students with others who have experienced Rotary Exchange. While mostly social and supportive, the Rotex Adam experienced traveled around the country giving him an even broader exchange experience.

I'm sure more adventures await you, Adam. Thanks for sharing.

Speaking of sharing fellowship, Joe, if we promise not to take your picture with the hog snoot, will you come back again?

Steve, remember we meet EVERY week, on Thursday, and almost always at the Abbey Inn.

Next week: Amberlyn Chocolate! If you don't know about Amberlyn, you need to be informed. :-)

See you next Thursday!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Christmas in February

2010-02-09T07:35:00.004-07:00

This past Thursday the 676th all time meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise and the 30th of this year was an opportunity for our club to offer needed equipment to the incredible valuable Washington County Search and Rescue Service.

The annual "State of Our Safety" report

2010-01-29T17:52:00.001-07:00

This week we were privileged to hear from Marlon Stratton, Chief of Police for St. George City. As always, it was a pleasure to have him join us and also, as always, it was very informative.
He began by sharing with us the terrific news that St. George has been named by State Farm Insurance as The Safest Place to live in the category of communities under 150, 000 population. In addition we heard the good news that type 1 crime is down 23% in our city and that there were less motor vehicle accidents in Washington County in 2009 than there have been in 12 years (1,500, down from 2,500).

While St. George has faced declining revenues like the rest of the country cuts have been made in other areas allowing the Police Department to retain its full compliment of officers which right now is 103 with 5 motorcycles and 2 cars assigned to traffic management, and 12 officers in local schools.

We heard that drugs continue to be a problem in our area with continued marijuana grows in the Pine Mountain area. Chief Stratton also confirmed what many of us have heard that the drug(s) of choice on the streets these days are prescription drugs obtained by various criminal methods including convincing people with legal pain medication prescriptions to sell the drugs for very inflated amounts. Sadly we continue to have a gang presence in the area. Currently there are approximately 35 gangs with give or take 700 members. However, the gang task force continues to focus on both the problem and prevention and has been successful in keeping the numbers as they are rather than growing.

A final word from our Chief was a warning about the dangers of text messaging while driving. The results of the distraction of texting are not only as bad a drunk driving, but probably worse. Distracted driving is UNSAFE.

Chief Stratton, we thank you and your officers for keeping us safe.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

2010 Tax Update: Facts, Myths, & Opinions

2010-01-25T09:49:00.008-07:00

Welcome one and all to the all time meeting No.: 672, and the 27th of the 2009-2010 year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

News/Announcements for this meeting included the Birthdays of Herb Van Vliet and Trish 'the dish' Sheffield, as well as the Club Anniversaries of Carl Kulyk and Dan Rak.

This weeks meeting started out with a real bang as Joe Christoper and Todd Watts identified themselves as twins. How lucky can 2 guys be to find the same shirt at the DI!!!!!

Our guest and presenter this morning is one of our own. Mr. James E. Sippel who kept us on the edge of our seats by dispelling any/all myths about the tax changes for the year 2010 and beyond.

Jim's passion about financial planning and knowledge regarding the Internal Revenue Code was evident from the start. He provided us with detailed information about 2010 Tax Filing Deadlines, Individual Tax Rates, the allowed and quasi allowed Deductions and Exemptions as well as providing insight on how the current system of Capital Losses v Capital Gains needs to be re-engineered to better benefit the tax payers.

He also brought into the light a topic most of us don't wish to speak of and that is preparing a Tax Strategy and Estate Planning for financial security after your death.

Jim, a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Public Accountant, maintains a local office known as Sippel & Company, P.C., and can be reached at (435) 656-8407

On a side note, we had a slight miss-communication with the Washington County Sheriff Search and Rescue members who also joined us today, however the presentation to them is scheduled for February 4, 2010. While with us, the representatives from WCSSAR gave us an update on certain WCSSAR members who have traveled to Haiti to assist in matters there.

Join us next week as St. George City Chief of Police Marlon Stratton will be joining us, unless you have any outstanding warrants against you. ;-) Following Chief Stratton it will be our pleasure to present the WCSSAR with specialized equipment that will greatly benefit the recipients of their efforts/service.

Thanks for your attendance today and for your Service above Self!!

Yours in Rotary,

-M Heiner

Another Road Trip!

2010-01-20T10:23:00.006-07:00

Last Thursday we hit the road again for a most interesting vocational tour. John Johnson arranged for us to visit Southwest Marble and Granite Custom Slab Fabrication plant and showroom. Owner/Manager Jeff Eggertz made us most welcome and introduced us to the processes of mining, cutting, and finishing the beautiful granite that those fortunate enough to have them enjoy in kitchens and bathrooms throughout the St. George area.

The selection and possibilities were amazing and viewing the huge cutting tools that turn a slab of granite into a counter top was VERY interesting.

Please visit Southwest's web site http://www.swtilesupply.net/ to learn more.

And, thanks Jeff for your hospitality. Thanks to Grandma Toblers for the yummy breakfast treats enjoyed here by Herb as well as the rest of us.

Next week, Jim Sippel on tax matters.

Jan. 28, St. George City Police Chief, Marlon Stratton

Yours in Rotary,
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Not your Father's Navy!

2010-01-10T17:41:00.003-07:00

This week we were held captive by retired Navy Commander Eric deVita. Commander deVita does not sail ships, he is a Naval Aviator.

In case you thought the Navy was only about boats and ships, you have much to learn. We learned from Commander deVita that Naval Aviators fly some of the worlds most exclusive and technical planes. And, unlike the Navy’s Air Force counterparts, these ladies and gentlemen often have to take off and land from moving targets – namely those ships (aircraft carriers) one thinks about when thinking of the Navy.

Only a small group of those in the Navy are able to fly for the Navy. Pilots must be officers, which means they must first have attended Annapolis or West Point, must have gone through ROTC, or must have completed post college Office Candidate School.

We learned about the Super Hornet (FA18EF) which Commander deVita flies. This plane is built at a cost of $40M EACH. However, they maintain at much lower cost than planes such as the ones we saw in Top Gun. This plane can be used for combat or peace keeping. The video we had the opportunity to watch of this plane had us riveted to the screen. This plane can do amazing maneuvers. The decision to build and operate this specialized aircraft is a balance between immediate and future needs. It can fly up to 2 ½ hours without re-fueling and, if necessary, can be refueled in the air.

One final AMAZING piece of information I must share. Did you know that an aircraft carrier can launch the Super Hornet at a rate of 40 planes and 30 minutes! And can land them at the same rate! Holy Cow! Talk about precision work.

We also held election of our President Elect for next year and the President Elect Nominee for the following year. Congratulations and thank you to Jeff Wilcox our Preisdent Elect and Shayne Wittwer our President Elect Nominee. We look forward to working with you.

Next week we have a vocational tour. John Johnson has arranged for us to visit Southwest Tile at 1512 S. 270 E. (off Riverside Drive behind Rainbow Sign and Banner) to learn about granite countertops and other applications. As always, breakfast will be served at 7:00, the tour will start at 7:30. Please join us should be very interesting.

See you then,
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

We "missed" you a Merry Christmas

2009-12-20T17:06:00.009-07:00

Our Christmas Party was wonderful! Great food - thank you Shayne and the Abbey Inn - the room was lovely, the fellowship great always, and the entertainment was Spectacular! For those of you who missed this evening of Holiday Feasting, I'm attaching a whole batch of photos to entice you never to miss a Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise social again.

Lots of great food, as I said.

Lots of great fellowship, as I said.

And, Lana Jo Holt is a most talented and lovely young lady. She shared her lovely voice with us and I'm sure I can speak for one and all, it was wonderful . Lana Jo, thank you for sharing your gift. And, for the gifts of music we took home.

Maria and Calvin, again we thank you for putting up with us week after week after week. You take very good care of us! And feed us very well!

A reminder that we will not meet on Dec. 24th or 31th. Our next meeting will be January 7th at the usual time and place.

May I conclude with my sincere wishes that the Holiday Season finds you with much to be Thankful for. I hope your Christmas is full of what matters to you most.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Propsperous HEALTHY, New Year.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Can you do it?

2009-12-14T18:58:00.003-07:00

Welcome to the BLOG of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise! Last week we had our 667th meeting all time meeting and the 22nd meeting of this year.

This week we were – with visions of many aches and pains – educated about the newest St. George major event the Ironman! On May 1st of 2010, St. George will debut the 7th venue for Ironman in the U.S. This event has so much potential that 750 tickets were sold with the introductory announcement.

Kevin Lewis, event coordinator working with St. George City and Jeff Gardner, an event survivor gave us an insider’s view of the event which is slated to bring 10,000 people to St. George next spring. With 2,500 participants – the event is fully sold out – our economy should see a positive bottom line from this. And, the even will donate up to $50,000 to local charities. Rotary has jumped in to help, so we could share in this donation!

Our event will be extremely unique and should grow each year because of the very unique terrain over which the event – of swim, bike and run – is staged. Most, such as Florida’s Ironman run on flat ground. Not here! Elevation everywhere!

For more information go to ironmanstgeorge.com.

Next week, Christmas Feast! 6:30 p.m. Grab your best guest and join us for an evening with friends, good food, and GREAT entertainment.

Remember your gift bags!

Marla

Finally a name tag!

2009-12-08T16:52:00.005-07:00

Jim, we are glad to have you with us!

Including another of John Johnson's great shots. Great eye John!

So, Mark and Todd, awfully deep conversation here........

See you all Thursday

St. George has an Igloo!

2009-12-08T16:48:00.004-07:00

At the all time 667th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise last week, we learned of the about to open IGLOO Ice Rink! What an exciting addition to our community. James Mitchell, part owner or the facility, and John Crosier, Director of Hockey for Dixie Igloo and Kids on Ice were joined by Kids on Ice Board Member, Shannon Walker to introduce this new addition to our city to our members.

While the Igloo will indeed be open to the public for figure skating and other open skating, the goal of the Kids on Ice Board is to offer young people the ability to spread their wings in athletics. Their goal is to encourage young people to be athletes rather than single sport players who then have a narrow focus as adults. The Kids on Ice Program follows the American Developmental Model – Play LOTS of sports and BE KIDS! Visit http://www.kidsonice.org/ for more information.

The new facility is slated to open before Christmas and will be a welcome addition for families looking for healthy opportunities for kids and families.

Next week: The Ironman!

Followed by our Holiday Feast! We will have our annual Christmas Party at the Abbey Inn on December 17th at 6:30 p.m. (No, no breakfast meeting.) We look forward to a delicious Abbey Inn menu and entertainment by Lana Jo Holt. Sign up at this week’s meeting.

Marla

RYLA report

2009-11-26T11:10:00.002-07:00

Our meeting on November 19th was our wonderful opportunity to hear from Justin Gooch and Levi Spafford about their experience wtih the Rotary Youth Leadership Award experience. For anyone who is not familiar with RYLA, it an opportunity for high school juniors to have an intense experience in leadership principles with youth from around our State. These young men told of the lessons learned, the experiences, the great Northern Mountain location AND the number of girls who attended RYLA! It was great to hear the enthusiasm of these young men as they start their journey into Rotary and Leadership.

Remember, no meeting on Thanksgiving!

December will bring exciting events - stay tuned!

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

A picture is worth 1,000 words!

2009-11-14T10:41:00.013-07:00

Wade and Vicki returned! Great fun!

Did you notice the average age of the our club attendance dropped geometrically this week?

Next week, RYLA! Hear from the kids who were there!

Marla

The Rotary Foundation

2009-11-04T18:50:00.004-07:00

This week the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise joined with our fellow clubs; The St. George Rotary Club, The Red Rock Club, and The Hurricane Rotary Club to hear Past District Governor, Fred Berthrong's update on the Rotary Foundation. If you were not able to be with us - we missed you! If you were not able to be with us, please go to the RI web site to view the new Future Vision Plan for the Foundation. Many opportunities to give of ourselves and the ways to do so just got easier. Please check it out!

Thank you PDG Fred for your visit and thank you St. George Club for hosting us all!

Remember, we won't meet on Thursday this week, BUT next week The Snake Lady will be our program. You won't want to miss this. Bring you kids, they'll love it.

See you on the 12th!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Shayne, how does luncheon compare with our breakfast?

Nature Captured

2009-11-01T10:12:00.009-07:00

We have among us a member with a great camera and an eye for the capture. Here is a sampling of the Fall colors courtesy of John Johnson

Enjoy!

The Amazing Dixie Center

2009-11-01T10:01:00.001-07:00

Wow! Our meeting last Thursday was held at the Dixie Center where we were not fed a delicious breakfast we got the “back lot” tour of the operations of the Dixie Center and for those of us who hadn’t done that before it was eye-opening!

JoAnn Gordon, Dixie Center Marketing Director for 19 years, Cindy Curtis, Sale and Decorating Coordinator, for 12 years and Susan Duncan who is 1 of 3 event Coordinators welcomed us to the insiders look at the Dixie Center.

Did you know the Dixie Center began at Dixie State College and was originally comprised of the Burns Arena, Cox Auditorium and Smith Convention Center? The current facility opened 11 years ago – we were there on the anniversary! – with 31,000 sq. ft of meeting space. Today the Dixie Center encompasses 32,000 sq. ft of flexible meeting space and 46,500 sq. ft. of column-free exhibit space! Trade shows may host as many as 240 booths. The facility can accommodate small meetings or weddings or events the size of the largest user, What Woman Want. And the center includes a full theater.

The center is managed and funded in an amazing shared manner by The City of St. George (32%) and Washington County (68%). Each entity has a Director and City/County Representative. Marketing staff, Convention and Tourist Office is the responsibility of the county, operations including set up staff, event coordinators, custodial staff, etc. All in all quite, an extraordinary operation.

Remember, we will be participating in the All Clubs Luncheon next Monday, November 2, 2009 at the Holiday Inn on Bluff Street at 12:15. Please plan to attend to hear PDG Fred Berthrong tell us about the amazing work of the Rotary Foundation.

We will NOT be meeting on Thursday. However, next week, Nov. 12th ,The Snake Lady returns. Be sure to bring your kids, it is really great fun.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Laughter, the BEST Medicine

2009-10-25T13:54:00.002-06:00

This week’s meeting was the 662 all time and 17th of the year meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise. And what fun this one was! We bent down, we stood up, we stretched out, and we laughed and laughed.

It was treat to hear this week from Ronald Harrison, a lifelong student of the “all things funny.” Ron’s path to living has taken him from a biologist by education, to a former medical student and a former stand-up comedian. For 30 years is worked in the information systems industry then in 2004 he started studying the use of laughter in the wellness process and in the spring of 2009 he was certified as a Laughter Yoga Leader. This past summer he began a collaboration with the Huntsman Cancer Center to add laughter therapy to the mix for cancer patients. His company, Laughter Unlimited, is expanding this form of wellness to the workplace.

We learned some science this week. For instance, laughter is innate, all mammals are born with the ability. We learned there are 3 elements in life that have the potential to make us sick: genetics (cancer, for example); environment (flu, for example); and stress which has the potential to suppress the immune system making us vulnerable. We learned that STRESS IS POISON but LAUGHTER IS THE ANTIDOTE. We learned that laughter is 80 times more powerful than morphine!

Halloween is coming! Can you say "Thriller"?

The science is now being offered in Laugher Yoga Clubs, Laugher Social Clubs, and workplace programs that focus on starting the day with the laugh. The two gems of advice from Ron that stuck in my mind, are 1) start your day with something funny and 2) end your day with something funny – you’ll sleep much better.

Thanks Ron for sharing.

Don’t forget next week we have a vocational visit to the Dixie Center. Same day, same time, different location. Come join your fellow Club members to see and hear things you probably didn’t know about the Dixie Center. Breakfast will be served.

See you next week!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

The Business of Art and other great things......

2009-10-18T18:05:00.005-06:00

Janet O’Riley and Christina Schultz came to educate us at the October 15th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise on educational opportunities at Dixie State College. Wow, who knew so much was going on right here at our very own DSC?

Janet, Director of Community Education for DXC and Washing County School District has both BA and MS in Education and has been in her position for 15 years which has given her the opportunity to be involved in community education and after school programs. Christine Schultz is the Vice President of Institutional Advance at DSC which means she oversees fundraising, alumni relations, public relations/marketing and publications and cultural arts. The program today focused on two of her projects, a documentary film entitled “Return to Little Hollywood” a promotional documentary featuring the movie making heritage of heritage which is currently being used as a tool to bring production back to the area. And, DOCUTAH, the Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival to be held in St. George and Kanab in September of 2010.

Moreover, these ladies came to announce the free artist seminary in Kanab on Nov. 14, 2009 featuring Eric Dowdle, artist, and Margaret Hunt, Executive Director of the Utah Arts Council.. This is fantastic opportunity for local artists to showcase their work and learn how to expand that showcase in Utah.

I could go on and on as the presentation also included expansion plans for Dixie State College, the Celebrity Concert Series and the Performance Series. However, a BLOG is meant to be a teaser for bigger things. So, let me suggest you get lots more detail on “The Business of Art’ and Dixie state college and the full offering of events at http://www.dixie.edu/. For more information on the Business of Art contact Janet at oriley@dixie.edu. You can register online at ce.dixie.edu.

And, thanks to Trish for inviting our guests.

Teaser: watch for an upcoming BLOG on the folks who visited us while attending the Huntsman games and see what else Tris has been up to to help our club.

Until next week,
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Crime on Campus

2009-10-09T21:35:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the 660th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise. In addition to our very interesting program, we were honored to induct James Sippel into the Club. James, whose classification is CPA was sponsored by John Johnson. Thank you John!

It was my pleasure also to announce that Greg Nielsen has accepted the appointment to the Board, replacing our departed Kyle Ashby. Thank you Greg!

Our speaker today was Don Reid, Director/Chief of Dixie Campus Police. He brought with him Assistant Director Ron Isaacson. These gentlemen bring an extraordinary number of years of experience to the safety of the Dixie State College Campus. Don has a total of 34 years in campus police, 28 or those years as a Director. He also has experience as an Investigator with the Medical Examiners office. He holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Ron has 17 years as a law enforcement professional. He joined the DSC force a year ago after being a part of the St. George City force.

The presentation focused heavily on why crime, on campus or elsewhere, has risen so rapidly and why it is so different today then in past generations. In past generations, teenage “crime” consisted to cutting classes and maybe smoking a cigarette in the school bathroom. Today we see gangs, drugs, and concealed weapons. Don expressed his strong opinion based on experience and the research of others that the techno smart youth of today have no social contract. There is an amazing social disconnect. While fully connected moment to moment the connection is not personal. This is the most violent generation this country has ever known and the blame rests heavily on violent movies and video games which have desensitized the audience.

The nature of a BLOG is such that it presents just a brief taste of our meetings. This topic, however, is serious and Don suggests anyone wishing to delve deeper into it read the books of Lt. Col David Grossman on the subject.

See you all next week! We'll learn about The Business of Art!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Washington City Public Serivce

2009-10-06T17:13:00.001-06:00

The 659th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise took place on Thursday, Oct. 1st. The group was privileged to hear from Jim Keith, Police Chief/Public Safety Director for the City of Washington.

The past 4 years of Chief Keith’s career have been as Chief of Police of Washington City where he was given the opportunity to start a Police Department and Fire Department for the City. His 25 year career in diverse aspects of law enforcement have given him the foundation to tackle this start up. His career has included dignitary protection as well as a number of years with the Utah Police Academy.

The Washington City force has grown in just 4 years to 16 officers who are faced with crimes driven primarily by drug use and gangs. Today, officers are finding the drug of choice in young persons and adults to be prescription drugs generally stolen from in-home medicine cabinets. Kids are using left over pills at “parties” where pills are passed around at random with the result of creating a heroin type high but can just as easily result in death.

He told us, as we have heard from others, that Washington County has members of all the “national” gangs. In fact there are over 500 documented gang members in our area and crime is what gangs do. Period. He reiterated that drugs and gangs equal crime.

On the positive side, he gave us great information on the use of drug dogs. St. George City has one and shares when needed. Washington City would very much like one but the total cost to bring a dog up to speed as a drug dog in time and training is over $30,000. The City is working on grants and other possible sources of funding and will continue to pursue the dream.

At the conclusion of the presentation the group had lots of questions and learned much about safe living in our area.

President Marla reminded the group of next week’s Board Meeting and invited everyone to return for more great information next week!

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Our Sargent at Arms has been enjoying Fall!

2009-09-28T18:12:00.005-06:00

Enjoy these fantastic shots of what our Sargent At Arms did with his weekend!

Marla

Are you a potential Big Brother or Big Sister?

2009-09-26T16:47:00.002-06:00

The topic of the 658th Meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise – meeting #13 this year- was Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah – Southern Utah.

It was our privilege to learn from Teri Iverson, the Southern Utah Program Coordinator, of the work and success of the Big Brother Big Sister Programs throughout the state and in the St. George community. Dr. Paul Gooch introduced Teri telling us she has lived most of her life here and has been this programs coordinator for 6 years. She has degrees from Dixie State College and SUU in Psychology and in addition to her other interests will start teaching Yoga next month.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is 105 year old. The program started in New York City with the “brothers” part and was followed with the early “sisters” part being lead by the nuns of the Catholic Church. The organization has been working in Utah for 30 years. The St. George office has been operating for 6 years. There are two programs within Big Brothers Big Sisters; a community based program and a school based program. The community based program asks volunteers to spend time 2 – 4 times a month with a child. The school based program gives the volunteers the opportunity to have lunch at school with a child each week and has a more educational focus such as reading with a child or just offering encouragement. Either commitment is for a year but often volunteers stay connected with the child for a number of years. Most of the children in the program come from single parent families but regardless of family situation the families must make application to the program and be supportive of it.

Fundraisers are key to the organization’s success and we were invited to participate in their next event; a 5K Run/Walk and 1K Kids Race The Monster Dash on Halloween morning. For more information on the Monster Dash or the organization, phone 986-9776 or go to http://www.bbbsu.org/.

See you all next week!
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

We Cleaned the Sugarloaf!

2009-09-19T16:22:00.002-06:00

Members of the Club and their families - the entire Gooch clan, minus Paul, included - gathered Saturday morning, September 19th to clean the picnic area and trails around the Sugarloaf. Great breakfast! Great fellowship! AND, it was really great to see how so much of the area had so little litter. Hikers are getting better all the time about not leaving trash all over paradise. Thanks Darrin for organizing, feeding, and hauling away the trash bags!

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Life in the Utah State Senate

2009-09-19T16:11:00.004-06:00

The Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise met on Thursday, September 17th for the 657th time!

Today we were privileged to hear from Utah State Senator Steve Urguhart. While originally from Houston, Senator Urguhart’s wife, Sara, hails from St. George and they have lived here since 1994. The Senator attended Williams College and BUY where he obtained his law degree. He was elected to the Utah State House of Representatives in 2000 and jumped to the Senate in 2008.

Senator Urguhart – Steve to most in the room – told the audience he choose to run for the Senate to have the opportunity to be more involved in policy. He spent his time addressing two matters of importance to him: the recent adoption of the Bill on Legal Notices and the budget of the State of Utah.

The Bill on Legal Notices will now remove some of the financial burden to posting legal notices, which are mandated to be published in a newspaper and could cost up to $1,000, by adding the option to post a legal notice on a newly designed, searchable web site. This is an innovative step that The Senator feels may quickly be copied by other states.

On the matter of budget, Steve reinforced that the Utah government budgets on real dollars. When one time money comes into the State it is used almost exclusively for one time projects and does not fund routine operations. We were given the news that indeed, Utah will have to make a 13% cut in the state budget. Up to now of the 21,000 state employees there has been only a loss of 71 jobs and that by attrition. However, as the budget cuts continue we will probably see actual jobs cuts. Economic recovery may help but the State of Utah will face tough challenges along with the rest of the country.

In conclusion, Marla reminded everyone that we are doing a Trail Cleanup this Saturday morning. Breakfast will be served at 8:00 at the loop picnic area and we will attack the trash around the picnic area and the Sugarloaf. Families are invited to help!

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President
Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Election Time

2009-09-10T09:19:00.004-06:00

Welcome to the 656th meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Our Club was honored today to have Jimmie Hughes, candidate for St George City Council, speak to us about current issues and trends in our city. Jimmy is native to St George, and comes from a family with a tradition of ranching on the Arizona Strip. His career background includes work as a certified residential appraiser, independant mortgage broker, parnter in a small business finance company, and cattle rancher.

Jimmie spoke of his love for the original principles upon which our country was founded and wanted us to know his political center. Then he shared his feeling on a few important issues that face our city.

One concern that we face, especially this off-season election is very low voter turnout. It is a very small group of voters that determine the makeup of our city leaders at a time like this and he stressed the importance of getting out to vote. He also spoke about how important it is for good people to get involved in our civic duty to participate in our government and work to maintain our freedoms.

Other concerns that he shares with citizens of St George include some struggles with out sign ordinances that may restrict the flow of business to some degree. And he spoke about the struggles many of the small business FBO and private aviation activity that will have as they move to the new airport at prohibitive expense. Jimmie reports that they make up 90% of the business activity at the current airport and represent an important voice in the logistics of the replacement airport.

Remember to VOTE in the Primary elections, this Tuesday, September 15!

Lynn Spafford shares his passion for Costa Rica

2009-09-05T22:17:00.005-06:00

Lynn was invited to speak with the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise, in St George, Utah, Sept 3, 2009. He shared his family experiences over the last 20 years, in the beautiful county of Costa Rica. It began with the vacation spots, the surfing camps, the zip lines and tree climbs and then the problems that a small support community town of Inmaculada, Quepose Costa Rica was dealing with. It was a horrifying site to see a beautiful county with major flooding occurring each year at this time. The rainy season floods this area. Some of the tico's have to relocate, out of their casita, rent a place until the water recedes. This is something that boggled his mind but the local people of Inmaculada seems to just live with this yearly situation. When the flooding occurs, the septic tanks over flow and contaminates the areas ground and water table. Lynn explained that he had established a group of Quepose and Manual Antonio residences which come from many countries to help facilitate the rebuilding of foundations and structures to help elevate this problem. It is a great project to teach and to serve, the Rotary slogan Service Above Self . It is just one of the latest projects that he has organized and now with the help of all, we can achieve the goals of Service above Self . Click on Lynn's name above to link to his Blog for LOTS more information on this work and pictures to tug at your heart.

Lynn's passion for this area will surely be caught by this club. Hopefully, we can hear more from him in the upcoming months about his passion.

Next week PE Mark Heiner will be conducting in my absence. Come to see what Past President Paul is bringing us next week.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION!

2009-08-29T13:36:00.002-06:00

In honor of the start of the 2009-2010 school year, the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise welcomed Dr. Max Rose, Superintendant of the Washington County School District to speak to the 654th Meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.

Dr. Rose, well known to many of the members of the Club, has devoted his life to his passion for teaching. Dr. Rose, born and raised in Garfield County, has Bachelor’s, and Masters’ degrees in Mathematics and a doctorate in Math and Chemistry from BYU. He keeps his fingers in the classroom not only in the public schools of the district, which he visits frequently carrying his crusade for study of the sciences, but retains his title as a professor of math and chemistry at Dixie State College where he also currently serves on the Board of Trustees.

In his engaging style, he talked about “the kids”, it’s all about “the individual kids”. He is proud of the District, the 7th largest in the State of Utah with its many leading edge programs. The District offers “Success Academy” which allows completion of a high school diploma along with a 2 year Associate Degree from Dixie State College, and is able to boast of a 90% high school graduation rate, staggering considering the national graduation rate is only 60%. The dual immersion, bilingual school Dixie Sun is accumulating great success stories.

Dr. Rose addressed member’s questions about Trust Lands, Charter Schools and N1H1 preparation in the schools at the end of his presentation. We were informed that the Washington County School District does not intend to close schools in response to “flu” due to the disruption to the community that could cause. Instead prevention such as strong emphasis on hand washing is in place. In conclusion, Dr. Rose invited any one with a few minutes to spare to volunteer at a school. Another example of how Rotarians can make a difference “one person at a time”.

With very mixed emotions this club accepted the resignation of President Elect Nominee, Kyle Ashby who will be leaving the community for a career opportunity. Kyle, we will miss you.

Next week: Lynn Spafford on Costa Rica and related ways to make that difference “one person at a time”. You won’t want to miss it!

See you next week,
Marla Shelby-Drabner, President

What is PHotovoltaics?

2009-08-24T19:31:00.003-06:00

This week, the 653rd Meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise and the 8th of this year, we were privileged to learn about Energy from Dr. Kim Mitchell of EnergyWise Consultants. His program, “We Are Challenged, not by Problems but by Opportunities” including some truly thought provoking information.

Dr. Mitchell is proud to have been a member of a Rotary Interact Club in High School. Surely that connection helped his career path through a B.S. from California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Stanford.. His work with Sandia Labs in Albuquerque and the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden, Colorado focus on Photovoltaics or, to simplify, complex solar energy.

The photo above clearly paints how Photovoltaics has applications which can help the most isolated parts of the world. The camel is carrying a Solar Powered vaccine refrigerator. Solar power has applications in water acquisition with solar water pumps, health care applications in places such as Afghistan where 400,000 children are amputees by bringing light to hospitals, clinics and operating rooms.

In Utah 82% of our electricity comes from coal while only 49% of electricity nationwide comes from coal. Here in southern Utah where the Sun Mostly Shines we have a huge opportunity to make a difference.. Sustainable electricity could help our area with renewable energy, energy efficiency, and a substantial influx of jobs, Dr. Mitchell suggests this is the way of the future.

Please join us next week when we will welcome Max Rose, the Washington County Superintendent of Schools.

Marla Shelby-Drabner, PresidentRotary Club of Dixie Sunrise

Scott Hirschi--Washington County Economic Development

2009-08-13T09:31:00.004-06:00

Welcome to the 652nd meeting of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise!

"Every time a dollar leaves town, it takes seven dollars to replace it." Scott Hirschi, Executive Director of the Washington County Development Council.

We were delighted to have Mr. Hirschi reflect on the changes he has seen in St George over his life time. He reminded us of the quality of life we enjoy here, much of which has been fueled by positive growth. We do face challenges with the economic downturn that has affected everybody. In particular, as construction is such a big part of our economy, the loss of 42% of our construction based jobs over last year has a huge impact. The only two sectors of our economy to experience growth in Washington County this last year were Education/Health/Social Services at 3%, and Government at 5%.

Mr. Hirschi spoke about the psychology of the market and felt that both sides of the political spectrum worked to scare us, and the stats show that the downturn seems to coincide with the election cycle. He also used the current economics to remind us how much we depend on each other and how important it is to keep our business local. Studies show, he told us, that a dollar we spend changes hands seven times before getting back to us.