Clear for Landing

Today's meeting was a historic event for President Elect Bill Hudson. With our beloved Club President absent, it left our able and willing President Elect in charge of his first meeting. I think he handled it quite well, wouldn't you agree? Although, I think we need to help him lighten up a little. He looks so serious in the picture. I guess that's what happens when you start to run for public office.
Our presentation was from the City of St. George, Gary Esplin, City Manager and Marc Mortensen, Assistant Manager. They discussed the various projects and budget that the city is working on now and in the future. The main project of discussion was the Expansion Airport. There has been some false information spreading around. Gary and Marc set the record straight. Go to the link below to get information and images that were shared with us. This was a very insightful meeting.


link to website

Bull Riding

Today's speaker was Brent Shakespeare, with Edward Jones. Brent gave us some background on where the stock market has been and where it is today. He did a lot of comparisons between today's market and the market back in during the Great Depression (Ed was a valuable resource for this meeting). Here are some of the comparisons between then and now:

25% vs 9.5% unemployment
30% vs 2-3% GDP
28% vs 15% National Deficit

Also, Brent gave us a Top 10 List that he discussed in detail. For those of you who missed it, here is the Top 10 Reasons to Be a Long-term Bull:

1. The economy is bruised, but it’s not broken.
2. It’s not the Great Depression.
3. Debt/deficits won’t crush the economy.
4. 50% drops historically have been an opportunity.
5. The government continues to support the financial system.
6. Stock valuation is compelling.
7. Inflation is under control.
8. When you feel bad, it can be good.
9. Good performance often follows bad.
10. You still have long-term goals you are trying to achieve.

He also shared with us the most dangerous words you will ever hear..
"We are from the Government, and we are here to HELP!"

Today's Know Your Exchangite was Brian Tenney, he gave us an update on his Cow Calling competition and we were lucky to have a live demonstration, thanks a lot Brian.

Rocky Mountain District Convention

The Rocky Mountain District Convention was held in St George this year, June 4th - 6th. Here are some of the highlights:

Patricia Sheifield spoke about the Children's Justice Center and Child Abuse Prevention
Lee Warren gave a presentation on the Proudly We Hail
Awards were presented to the Student of the Year
Your Club President, Ryan Robison, was awarded President of the Year
Flyod Holm was elected as Regional VP
Ground breaking ceremony for the Bluff Street Park Pavilion (in honor of Stephen Nelson and Bart Anderson)
Donation to the City of St George presented to Mayor Dan McArthur

More photos to come as they get emailed in.

Bikers Against Child Abuse

Today's presentation was from BACA, Bikers Against Child Abuse. This was a great presentation, those who missed this mornings meeting, truly missed out. We heard from "Shots", the St George Chapter President. He was accompanied by fellow BACA members, "Rosko", "Pinkie", "Loco", "MZ B", "Hondo", and "Bob". When they are on BACA duty they go by their road names. (maybe we need club names, like Down Town, Chocolate Thunder, Baldy, Tiny. These were just a the first ones that came to mind.)

www.bacausa.com

BACA HOTLINE 435-673-2564

BACA exists with the intent to create a safer environment for abused children. They exist as a body of Bikers to empower children to not feel afraid of the world in which they live. They stand ready to lend support to their wounded friends by involving them with an established, united organization. They work in conjunction with local and state officials who are already in place to protect children. They desire to send a clear message to all involved with the abused child that this child is part of their organization, and that they are prepared to lend their physical and emotional support to them by affiliation, and their physical presence. They stand at the ready to shield these children from further abuse. They do not condone the use of violence or physical force in any manner, however, if circumstances arise such that they are the only obstacle preventing a child from further abuse, they stand ready to be that obstacle.

They shared some interesting statistics with us: 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before age 18, 1/3 of those abused will later become abusers, and the St George Chapter is currently protecting 12 families. Also, if you want to join BACA you are not required to ride a Harley Davidson, they do allow other bikes. (except Brandon's scooter)

Aug 24th - BACA Night @ the RoadRunners, bring your bike with you.

Crash Course on the Club Blog

Today's meeting was a presentation on the club blog. Our past president, Ryan Robison, demonstrated many of the features of the blog. Although our web connection was slow, the presentation may still have been too fast for some of the club members (based on the glossy looks on their faces). Here are some points we focused on:

• Upcoming Speakers/Events - this is an up to date list of our future meetings. If anyone is trying to arrange a speaker, they can look at this and know when we have openings. At the bottom is a link that takes you to 2007 to present list of our speakers.
• Community Projects - this is on the right side of the page and at the top. This has links to websites and blogs for our different projects.
• Meeting Time and Location - this is on the right side of the page below Community Projects. This was added to be a helpful resource for both our guest speakers and prospective members.
• Submit Photos to the Club Blog - this is at the bottom of the right side column. If anyone has pictures they have taken from any of our projects or activities, you can email them to the email address shown and they will be added to our club photo album.
• Adding Posts and Comments - we didn't get to spend much time on this. But, I wanted to make sure everyone knew that they are invited to add posts about club projects and activities, as well as add comments to any of the posts.

An email will be sent out later today inviting all club members to be part of the blog. The goal is to have active participation from several club members. All of our committees should have someone posting for that committee. (for instance, it would be great if Neal or Brian did a post for each of the Student of the Month weeks).

For those who would like to be involved in the blog but need some help to get started please let Bill Hudson or Ryan Robison know, we would be happy to help.

New President's Inaugural Meeting!

Today's meeting was a historic moment for newly inducted President Tim Floyd. When asked afterwords how he felt the meeting went, he responded "This is easier than the last president made it look. I don't know why I didn't sign up for this sooner!"

A business meeting was conducted where several issues where discussed (dues, golf tournament, other fund raisers, and membership). Two new committee (ie Task Forces) were organized based on these discussions, a Fund Raising Committee and a Membership Committee. Initially, Ed and Jinks were assigned to both, but those present wanted to see these committee succeed, so the following committee members were assigned:

Fund Raising - Jinks, Ed, June, Kevin, Vasu, and Derral
Membership - Brian, Tim, Ryan, Tom, and Dale

The Fund Raising Committee will evaluate our current fund raising activities and brainstorm on other possible activities that could be more helpful. They should be meeting together over the next few weeks and report back to the club at our next business meeting (Aug 6th).

The membership Committee will work on a short DVD that can be used as an overview of what the St George Exchange Club does and why support is necessary. It is a presentation that will be given to both the City Council and the Chamber of Commerce. They will also discuss ways to increase club membership. They will also meet over the next few weeks and report back at our next business meeting.

This Month's Hot Spot: Hacienda Matapalo