Events

Did you know founder Paul Harris named his new club “Rotary” to describe the practice of meeting in rotation at the members' various places of business? Originally formed for fellowship, the first Rotary club quickly evolved to use the talents and resources of its members to serve the community.

In keeping with its history of rotation, SGR was going to meet today at Rulon Olsen's Heartlight Funeral Services in Washington, but a construction snafu is instead finding us under the pavilion on the SW corner of Vernon Worthen Park for lunch and a speaker ... as yet to be determined.

Tonaquint cemetery - Clint and James

St. George - Ray Absher

Tonaquint - Clint and James

SG - Ray Absher

Bring the kids, the sister's kids,the neighbor kids ... this bash is going to be a blast!

The event is scheduled for June 1st, running from 10 am to 6 pm. Ideally, volunteers would commit to a 3-hour shift (10 a.m. - 1 p.m., 1 - 4 p.m. and 4 - 6 p.m.), though you are more than welcome to stay longer if you wish.  Volunteers must be 18 years or older.

There are a variety of activities planned, including a bounce house, face painting, a scavenger hunt, and much more!

We're currently seeking as many volunteers as possible.

SG City Director of Economic Development Chad Thomas still has more to say about new city projects, new businesses coming to our community and the current status of the St. George City economy.  Although he spoke to SGR in October 2023, he promises this is "a whole new song and dance."

Bring your neighbor, friend, brother-in-law or co-worker for this important SG City update encore presentation.

Hurricane Valley Rotary and Hurricane City invite you to a Boot Stomp'N fundraiser for the Hurricane Valley Veterans Memorial Park.  Join in the FUNNN on Wednesday, June 5, 7-9:30 p.m. at the Legacy Park Harmony Building, 5500 W. 700 South in Hurricane.

The evening will include renowned squaredance caller Scott Smith from St. George who records on the Caparral label.  Smith began calling in 1976 and went full time in 1982. For many years he was a popular caller at the Las Vegas Jubilee and also sponsored a winter program in St. George.

No experience necessary and all are welcome!  Come tap your boots and have some fun with other Rotarians, friends and neighbors. 

Cost is an affordable $5 for family members age 5 - 17 (children under 5 are FREE).  Those 18 and up are admitted for a cost of $10 each,  Pay with cash, check or Venmo at the door.

Questions?  Patty Nation at (435) 218-5849 has the answers,

Tani Downing, District Director in this part of the world will provide an update on Congresswoman Celeste Maloy's Committee assignments and important issues of the day she is working on.

Bring your neighbors and friends as well as your interested family members for this important meeting.

A total of 47 Rotarians, family members and friends of Rotary traveled to Guatamala for another opportunity to build or fund 125 simple, cinderblock stoves in the Mayan village of Xecoxal, bringing the total number in the 15-year history of this amazing project to 3314.

You won't want to miss this chance to hear all about this amazing travel experience for "service above self."

Bring a friend, family member, co-worker or "other" who might also be a prospective member of SGR.

It’s been a long time coming with multiple delays along the way, but on Saturday, June 22 at 9 a.m., Dale Desmond, two-time president and Dave Prisbrey, incoming president of St. George Rotary, will finally get to take their 14,000 foot “Polio Plunge” over Hurricane City.  Also taking the 2.66 mile drop is Ken Sizemore of Santa Clara, a past Rotary club president celebrating his 70^th birthday.

“We hope jumping from an airplane will draw attention to the worldwide effort to finally and forever eradicate this terrible, crippling and sometimes even fatal disease AND raise money to support the final push across the finish line on a disease which has affected millions for thousands of years,” states Desmond.

For more than seven decades, Rotary International and its 35,000+ clubs around the world - including five in Washington County and 47 in Utah - have been involved in this seemingly impossible fight to wipe out only the second disease in human history (after smallpox).

So far in 2024, Rotary and its partners, including the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation UNICEF and others, have seen only 8 new cases of the wild polio virus with paralysis in the world, compared to more than 300,000+ such cases in 1985 when Rotary International announced their intent to take on this disease which primarily affects children, ages infant to 5 years.

Thanks to the development of an effective polio vaccine in the 1950’s, the United States was officially declared polio-free in 1979; South America in 1994; and the entire African continent saw its last case in 2019.  Today, only Afghanistan and Pakistan are endemic, but as the world learned from COVID, polio – left unchecked - will once again rear its ugly head.

Donations to Rotary’s Polio Plus – matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation – can be “venomed” to @StGeorgeUTRotary.   If donors prefer, contributions can be mailed to St. George Rotary, P. O. Box 1423, St. George, UT 84771; dropped at the front desk of the Best Western Abbey Inn (where St. George Rotary meets each Monday at noon) in a sealed envelope marked “Rotary”; or at the Hurricane Airport, 800 W. 2300 South on the morning of the jump on June 22 because the fight against polio “isn’t over ‘til it’s over!”

For more information, call or text to 435-669-8020.

Welcome back those amazing and adventurous young men and women who represented their community, their school and St. George Rotary Club at Utah Rotary's Youth Leadership Awards/Academy at Wasatch Academy on June 12-15.  You'll want to hear all about it from these RYLArians who represent Rotary's future generation.

Come one, come all.

NO MEETING TODAY but tonight we'll be gathering for our annual "he's out ... he's in" event as we celebrate the successes of RY2023-24 under Bryan's leadership and look forward to more success with Dave Prisbrey at the helm. 

We will be inducting our club officers, "awarding" our members' interesting activities in RY2023-24, and "recognizing" some others.  It's going to be lots of FUNNN and you won't want to miss it.

SGR will provide the main course, but if your surname begins with A-H, please plan to bring a salad or a side dish (beans, chips, etc.).  If you last name begins with I-R, please bring your favorite dessert to share and if your last name begins with S-Z, you are asked to bring drinks.

Come one, come all.  There will be food, friends and FUNNN ... guaranteed!

In late May, Bryan and his wife traveled halfway around the world to attend Rotary International's ???th Convention in Singapore.

This three-day event included amazing speakers, breakouts sessions on a variety of important topics ... and thousands of enthusiastic Rotarians from around the world.

If you have attended an RI Convention you know the experience of "discovering" Rotary on this grand scale ... if you haven't you are certain to learn from Bryan's enthusiastic report.

Bring a neighbor, friend, co-worker or prospective "one" for this interesting report.  You won't want to miss it.

The Cedar City Rotary club - our generous partner in the Guatemala stoves project - needs SGR's help with their amazing annual car show which allows them to send us a check every year.  On Saturday, July 13 from about 12:30 to 3:00-ish, a dozen to 20 volunteers are needed to direct vintage car owners to their designated parking spot for show.

If you haven't been to this car show, you may not know they close down Cedar City's main street to make room for more than 300 cars and the thousands of vintage car enthusiasts who put this event on their calendar a year in advance.

Bring the whole family.  It's worth the trip to cool(er) Cedar City.  But don't miss it .. and please sign up to help!

Any or all SGR's board members, including Clint Beecroft (PE), Bryan Thiriot (Foundation Chair), Dale Desmond (Foundation Vice Chair), Collin Davis (Treasurer), Linda Sappington (Secretary /PI Chair), Ray Absher (Membership), Reed Noble (Service), Barbara Sizemore (Club Administration), James Jackson (Spectial Projects), Joann Coleman (Youth Programs) will share their RY2024-25 goals. Lots of good information ... with time for Q&A so bring your ????'s!

Carol Winner was officially named St. George City Director of Community Development in March 2024 after serving as interim direcrtor and senior planner for parts of the past five years.

Winner will be responsibile to help manage the "incredible growth" St. George City has experienced, especially in the past decade.  She is known to have a steady hand, a wealth of experience, a common-sense approach and, according to city leaders she is also "thoughtful and easy to work with."

Winner joins a busy department in a thriving community. In 2023, the city issued 2,419 permits with a total valuation of approximately $328.5 million. Through the first two complete months of 2024, the City issued another 563 permits for a total valuation of more than $120 million.

She is a Certified Floodplain Manager, Certified Public Manager, a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a graduate of Brigham Young University.

This is certain to be an interesting program so please invite friends, neighbors and co-workers ... especially those who might have expressed an interest in "what's Rotary?"

This meeting will be a "first" in a very long time - if ever - when members of ALL Rotary clubs in Washington County (St. George Sunrise, Washington City, Hurricane Valley, and Veterans Rotary Clubs) will join with SGR at the Abbey Inn to discuss ways in which we can collaborate and maybe find SGR's elusive "signature project" needed to increase our local presence.  Come one, come all. 

Bring your ideas, questions, as well as friends, neighbors, co-workers or others who may have experessed an interest in "what's Rotary?"

The joyfully enthusiastic pitter patter of little feet is the sound of the St. George Children’s Museum, currently housed in the 113-year-old former Dixie Academy building (built in 1911).  Located on the southeast corner of our community’s historic Town Square, the “happiest place in St. George” includes two floors of interactive displays which, in 2023, attracted 107,952 children – primarily toddlers to 12-year-olds – and their families.

Since the St. George Children’s Museum opened our doors in 2013, keeping the property and the displays attractive, interesting, and safe has been a priority in our budget … and we are fully committed to making sure every child, regardless of socio-economic status, race, creed and color, physical or mental limitations enjoys opportunities to “discover, imagine and create” while combining purposeful play with educational concepts. 

RY2024-25 District Governor Todd Boyer will be SGR's guest speaker on Monday, August 12.  He will share "The Power of We" in our efforts to grow Rotary, his goals for his DG year and other information of interest to longtime members, new members and potential members.  Bring friends, neighbors and co-workers for this informative meeting.

A board meeting with the DG is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Marc Mortensen currently serves as Director of Operations for the City of St. George with oversight for technology, golf, facilities and fleet.  He is also a board member of the Southern Utah Bicycle Alliance.

Marc is an avid cyclist and runner and has competed in marathons, triathlons, Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events. When he’s not in a meeting or at his office at City Hall he can usually be found on a trail run or bike ride somewhere in southern Utah with friends or his family, including his wife Jill and their three children.  

Marc is a graduate of the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from Walden University.  He has been a resident of St. George since 1998 when he moved from his Salt Lake City hometown to begin his career with the City of St. George as Public Information Officer.

Bring a friend, neighbor or co-worker for, what is certainn to be an interesting and informative program.

Our mystery meeting will be interesting - maybe or maybe not exciting - but will give us the chance to get in a little deeper into what's ahead of us for the upcoming 6 weeks or so ...

If you haven't already signed up for something, here's your chance after you have heard all the details.  We need "all hands on deck" to get through the month of October.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ....

It is time again for this year's 11^th Annual St. George Rotary Charity Golf Tournament.  This competition will be held on Monday, September 30 at Sunbrook Golf Course, with registration opening at 8 AM and a shotgun start at 9 AM. 

See Chairman Chris Parker for more information, including team registration and sponsorship forms.  We are looking for main sponsors for $1000 which includes a hole sponsorship, entry fee for a team of four, your company’s name (or yours) on a banner displayed on tournament day and on our website.  We also need a drink sponsor, gold ball sponsor or other; and up to 18 hole sponsors at a cost of $250 each recognizing your company or your family. 

Early bird registration is open thru September 1 at a discounted cost for Rotarians of $475 per foursome. 

The Huntsman World Senior Games starts officially on Monday, October 9 with thousands of senior athletes participating in one of more of 40 sporting events .... but the REAL first event is the assembly of more than 11,000 Welcome Bags.  This is a simple project held in the Garden Room at the Dixie Convention Center which primarily involves enjoying rhe company of about 200 amazing volunteers from all over Washington County.  And, it also involves walking, walking and walking around three very long tables filling each bag with "swag." 

Shifts on Wednesday, Ocober 2 are from 9 a.m. - noon and 1 - 4-ish p.m. with lunch at noon for volunteers on both shift. 

Please sign up at seniorgames.net.

Saturday, October 5, 2024 will be a very busy "service above self" day.

Beginning at 7 a.m. (earlier if you can get there) at milepost 18 (the Ledges offramp) Rotarians, their families and friends will enjoy breakfast prepared by Chef Dave and his crew ... all you can eat breakfast burritos and other good stuff while waiting for thousands of participants in the St. George Marathon.  There will be good music, good food, good socializing ... and just plain FUNNN while we distribute water, Gatorade, fruit ... and the occasional bandaid.

Questions?  Rotarian Reed will have the answers.

Info to come!

The Recreation Arts and Parks tax is a countywide tax that was put on the ballot in 2014 and is coming up for renewal on the ballot in November. The RAP tax applies to park and recreation-related projects, as well as arts programs and nonprofit groups. It is set up as a sales tax of one-tenth of 1% of non-food purchases – one penny for every $10. Monies generated from the tax go to the county and participating municipalities based on population and point-of-sale.

Bring a neighbor, friend or co-worker for this presentation before the election!

It's election time again - no surprise there - so this is our opportunity to "say Rotary" to those in our community while they enjoy a cookie and the opportunity to meet and greet and ask questions of those running for local offices.

Please tell your neighbors, friends and co-workers.

See you at the Best Western Abbey Inn.

Last year was so much fun bowling together, but we didn't raise any money and we didn't have any teams competing from other clubs so we're doing it again!

We will be playing in the "B" Lounge at Fiesta Fun.  There will be teams from other clubs.  Fundraising will be accomplished through pledges from friends, neighbors, co-worker and other club members at a rate of 50 cents per pin with the promise proceeds raised will be sent to PolioPlus.

David and Carla will bring their food truck and there will be lots of fun, friends and probably a few gutter balls!

Wanna be on the team?  We will save you a place!

What if you couldn't read?  How would you fill out a job application?  Apply for a driver license?  Understand your doctor's directions for your health care?  Help your children with their homework? 

In the 2022–2023 school year, 56% of first graders, 67% of second graders, and 66% of third graders met reading benchmarks at the beginning of the year. By the end of the year, 62% of first graders and 71% of third graders met the benchmarks, while second graders remained at 67%. However, according to the Utah State Board of Education, less than half of students in grades 1–3 were reading at their expected grade level.

On Monday, October 28, our speaker will be Kathy Hall, Elementary Literacy Coordinator Specialist for the Washington County School District.

Bring a neighbor, friend, co-worker or another interested individual for this important program.