Mr. Mayor himself!

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.

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.sendoutcards.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!

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!

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?

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

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

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

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.

More on that later.

May 20th, Pat Dalpiaz will tell us about the work of PAWS! See you then!

Marla

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

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

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

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

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!