Thursday, August 25, 2011

Our guest speaker this morning was Kent Perkins from the City of St. George Leisure Services Department. Every year for 35 years the Exchange Club has invited Kent to speak to the club about the upcoming St. George Marathon which is now in its 35th year. Kent noted that club member, Wayne Everett, has run the marathon for 25 years of the 35. Quite impressive, Mr. Everett!

Kent took the opportunity this morning to acknowledge what our club has done throughout the years for the St. George community. He thanked the club for the $5,000 donation we give each year to the tree farm. He asked the question: What would St. George look like without it's trees? Just another Barstow or Mesquite?" He reminded the club of it's involvement in "re-greening" the community and thanked us for the significant part we play in that legacy.

Kent further noted the pavilions, gazebos, and playgrounds the Exchange Club has helped build. He reminded us that the Exchange Club, in its early days, was noted for "the great projects it supported and Thursday afternoon golf." We are still involved in "great projects" and Kent explained that he had some ideas for the club to consider to further our activity in this tradition.

The Leisure Services Department has several ideas and dreams for future projects. An "all-abilities park" is a concept where children can play in shallow sand and water riverways or where play areas are designed specifically for children in wheelchairs or with autism. Villages and towns would be created within the park for all ages and all abilities. Ideas were shared about "high-tech electronic playgrounds" targeting teenagers where they can engage with the technology that is so much a part of their lives and increase their fitness at the same time. This would all come with lights and music and sound - perfect for tweens and teens.

Other ideas were to beautify and enhance our Town Square with arbors and more water features, improve the quality of our ball fields, contribute to the Nature Center where a Tree House is being built, create a Children's Museum, and upgrade our trail systems with water stops, markers, or sitting benches for a scenic rest along the way.

It was a morning of remembering just how much the Exchange Club really does as well as creating some stimulating ideas for future projects.

California Condor Reintroduction Program

Today's speaker was Linda Price, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument Manager. She spoke with us about the California Condor Reintroduction Program. Condors were first released on the Arizona Strip in 1996 and since then, with the assistance of the Peregrine Fund’s Reintroduction program, their numbers have climbed to a total of 76 free flying birds in Arizona.

Linda Price graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Range Ecology and began her BLM career as a seasonal technician in Kingman Arizona in 1989. She came to the Arizona Strip in 1991 as a Range Conservationist and was assigned to the desert tortoise habitat along the Nevada border. She has served in various positions within the BLM range program until coming to the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument as the temporary manager in 2005. In 2008 she became the permanent Monument Manager. As Vermilion Cliffs National Monument Manger, Price oversees public lands issues on the 294,000-acre national monument which includes Paria Plateau, Paria Canyon, and Vermilion Cliffs. The Monument is internationally renowned for The Wave, a unique geologic feature in Coyote Buttes.

Click here to see their website

BLM Fire Management

Thanks to Mark Rosenthal the Fire Management Officer for the BLM Arizona Strip District, for his presentation this morning.

The snowpack in our area has been almost 400% of normal which has allowed a great amount of grasses and growth in the area, which is what fires need to thrive. Weather projections show hotter than normal temps and low humidity for this summer. These conditions would be similar to what we experienced in 2005, which was an extreme fire season.Small fires have already been popping up in our area almost daily, with the conditions forecasted those fires could easily become large very quickly.

It's vitally important that all residents in our area clean up all the dry growth around their homes in order to keep your home safe from fires.

Most of the equipment used to fight fires in this area are stationed in our local area. Planes and helicopters are stationed in Cedar City and Mesquite. The ability to bring additional resources from outside our area can and will be done when needed. Much of what is dropped by the planes and copters are suppressants that slows the growth of the fire.

Tuacahn 2011

Today's speaker was Scott Raine, the Executive Director of Marketing and Development for Tuacahn Center for the Arts. In this role, he is responsible for all fundraising, marketing, advertising, sales and public relations for Tuacahn. Scott moved to Southern Utah from Chicago in 2002 after spending nearly 25 years with United Airlines in a variety of marketing, sales and travel agency automation management positions. He first became involved with Tuacahn through Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts, where two of his children have attended and grad

uated. Scott lives with his wife and children in Ivins.

He presented to us an overview of the history of Tuacahn, its struggles and successes. This year they are showing Grease and Little Mermaid. Their success last year with Tarzan has given them the opportunity with Disney to have Little Mermaid this year and Scott suggested that this may be their best production of all. At the end of his presentation he gave away a couple of tickets to their upcoming performances of Grease, Little Mermaid, LeAnn Rimes and ABBA Mania. Congrats the lucky four who won tickets. Better luck next time to the rest of you.

Visit their website to see the schedule of shows and to purchase tickets.

Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm

Today's speaker was Dr Jerry Harris, the Director of Paleontology and Associate Professor at Dixie State College and the Scientific Advisor to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm. He was born at a very early age in Chicago and has, since then, bounced around the country (schlepping a keen interest in dinosaurs with him), living in Colorado Springs, Boulder, Denver, Dallas, Albuquerque, and Philadelphia before landing in St. George. He received his B.A. in Geoscience from the University of Colorado, M.S. from Southern Methodist University, and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Jerry is currently involved in research on fossils from China, Argentina, and (of course!) St. George.

Dr Harris shared with us the vision of the Dinosaur Discovery Site and their goal of adding additional exhibits. They achieved a major milestone with the addition of Scelidosaurus (known by only a handful of people as the Jinksosaurus).

"Since it was first discovered in 1851, only about a dozen, mostly incomplete specimens of this dinosaur had been found, but in 2000, the same year that the tracks were discovered at Johnson Farm, a virtually complete skeleton was discovered in England. U

nlike most dinosaur bones that are found, this fossil's hundreds of armor plates and spikes are preserved in their life positions, providing extraordinary details about how this dinosaur looked. St. George is the only place anywhere in the Hemisphere that the 11-foot long Scelidosaurus replica has been on display, and it was able to come to the Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm because of a generous donation from local lawyers Virginius "Jinks" and Barbara Anne Dabney. Come see a truly unique specimen as well as the other remarkable fossils at the site!" (visit their

website for more details)

Ironman Kids Fun Run

We had our Ironman Kids Fun Run today. Huge turn out, I think bigger than last year. Official numbers will be coming. Yellowpics was there and everyone seemed to have a great time.

CAP Flyer and Time Out Teddy

Since our beginnings in 1911, Exchange Club members have worked tirelessly to make their communities better places to live through community service, Americanism projects, and youth programs. Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) became the National Project of Exchange Clubs in 1979, a decision of the delegates to the 61st National Exchange Club Convention. At that time, our Foundation was created to help local clubs establish community-based programs to work with at-risk parents. Today, the National Exchange Club Foundation (NECF) oversees numerous prevention programs, helps local Exchange Clubs develop and maintain community-based child abuse prevention programs, and supports Exchange's Program of Service, which includes Youth Programs, Americanism, and Community Service.

The National Exchange Club Foundation provides a variety of public awareness materials, designed to help inform and increase awareness of child abuse and how it can be prevented. Such projects are implemented through Exchange Clubs and Exchange Club CAP Centers across the country.

National Child Abuse Prevention Month – The NECF endorses the month of April each year as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The NECF produces materials for Exchange Clubs and CAP Centers to use during April, providing public awareness project ideas, public relations information, promotional materials and community involvement suggestions.

On April 4, 2011 the St. George Exchange Club kicked off the awareness of Child Abuse Prevention Month by donating 25 “Time Out” Teddy Bears to the Children’s Justice Center, along with 40 “Time Out” Teddy posters to the Washington County School District for their schools. The National Exchange Club Foundation has adopted Time Out Teddy as its national spokes bear to carry the message of good parenting across America.

Following this presentation the club has also organized and printed 65,000 Child Abuse Prevention flyers listing community resources for children and family in our area. Of the 65,000 flyers, 26,000 will be sent home with school children and the remaining flyers distributed throughout the rest of the county.

Co-sponsors of the CAP Flyer Project are left to right:

Bob Green, Washington County School District

Logan Reid, Southwest Behavioral Health Center’s Prevention Team

Brian Tenney, TenneyClemonsSaarelainen Advertising

Patricia Scheffield, Children’s Justice Center

Tom Bayles, President-Elect St. George Exchange Club

Jinks Dabney, St. George Exchange Club Foundation

Not Pictured: Neal Smith St. George Exchange Club CAP Flyer Project Committee Chair

St George News link

March Students of the Month

Today was our Student of the Month presentation.

Left to right:

Bill Hudson, St. George Exchange Club President

Patrick Kelly, Tuacahn High School, son of Michael & Gloria Kelly

Esteban Bautista, Millcreek High School, son of Esteban Bautista Sr.

Elisha Proffit, Dixie High School, daughter of Robert & Peggy Proffit

Luis Morfin, Pine View High School, son of Roberto & Cecilia Morfin

Riley Pearce, Snow Canyon High School, daughter of Brent Pearce