Art Museum "Art and Worship"

28th Annual Spiritual & Religious Art of Utah Exhibition
November 20, 2013 - January 15, 2014

The SMA invites all Utah artists to enter this exhibition which celebrates the diversity of religious experience and belief in our community. Using different media to express these ideas artists create works which will engage and inspire viewers to contemplate and reflect on the vibrant spiritual traditions we share.    Important Dates     Wednesday, November 20, 2013* *Opening Reception, 7-8:30 pm All submitting artists and the public are invited to attend. Accepted artists should come prepared to engage with public and answer questions regarding their work. Award-winning works will be announced at this event.   Monday, December 2, 2013, 6:00-8:00 pm Community & Family Night - bring your family to the Museum for an evening of art-making and fun! Create original holiday cards, take a special tour through the exhibition, and enjoy seasonal music.   Wednesday, December 4, 2013, 7:00 pm Interfaith Panel "Art & Worship"  - please join us for a discussion on the role of religious traditions in art from Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, LDS and Presbyterian perspectives.   Wednesday, January 15, 2014 "Reflections on Spirituality: Artists in Conversation," 7:00 pm* *Artists may pick up artwork at conclusion of program To conclude the exhibition, invited artists will participate in gallery conversations with the public. Facilitated by Museum Staff, these informal discussions will give artists and visitors the chance to explore religion and spirituality in art. Wednesday, January 15, 2014 Exhibition Officially Closes

Quilts for Police Cars

l-r Chief Scott Finlayson, Carol Huff, Cheryl Pfeifer, Stacy Anderson

The Utah Quilt Guild, an organization of quilters throughout the State of Utah, offered to provide police departments throughout the state with quilts for children.  Their letter to the Utah Chiefs and Sheriffs in February said: "In light of recent events that have touched our country, the members of the Utah Quilt Guild would like to offer your department some quilts that may provide warmth and comfort to children touched by tragedy in your area.  The guild would like to create and donate a quilt for emergency vehicles in your department."

As a member of the Utah Quilt Guild, and also Springville Police Department, Cheryl Pfeifer "adopted" Springville Police and coordinated the gathering of these quilts. Several City employees, including Stacy Anderson (Courts), Carol Huff (Dispatch) and Doris Weight (Treasury) contributed quilts.  The ladies at the Senior Citizens' Center donated a quilt.  The rest of the quilts were made by citizens in the area.  So far over 20 quilts have been collected with more coming in .  Thanks to all who gave of their time for this effort.  The children the police officers give these quilts to will cherish them. 

Confused on Healthcare?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is about to change the U.S. health care arena. Whether you have or need health coverage—or don't know the first thing about it—it's important to understand health care reform.   

 

Wayne Rigby will be here on

Tuesday, November 12,

at noon and again at 1pm

in the Multipurpose Room

 

This is an informational meeting on healthcare reform.  You will have the opportunity to ask questions on healthcare reform, and find out how to sign up for healthcare on the Utah Exchange.

This meeting is for all employees that want more information on the Affordable Care Act.

 

 

 

A Message from Troy on Sick Leave Buy Back and Pooling

 

As an incentive to stay healthy, the City offers to ‘buy back’ up to three days of sick leave per year.   Employees will see this buy back on the pay check that comes in two weeks.  Participation in this program is optional.  Since most employees want whatever buy back they have earned, we are asking employees that don’t want to sell their sick leave to inform Hilary or Doris by November 15.

The buy back amount is calculated in a fairly complex manner.  If an employee took 4 sick days during the past year, an employee could sell back 16 hours of sick leave so long as the employee has 96 hours left in their sick leave bank after the buy back.  Here is the formula:  Hours of sick leave bought back = 24 - ((Hours of sick leave used during the past 12 months / 96) * 24.)  The hours are then multiplied by your hourly rate and the amounts are added to your check after taxes are taken out.  The City pays out about $68,000 to employees under this program. 

Another program that is offered to employees is the Sick Leave Pool.  It is with great fortune that we have not used this pool extensively over the past few years.  The Pool allows employees to donate leave time to the Pool and then Pool dollars can be used to help another employee that is suffering from an unusually grave or serious injury or sickness.  Vacation hours and/or sick leave hours eligible for buy back can be donated to the Pool.  Thus, if any of you are interested in donating to the Pool, now is a great time to do it.    

Donated hours are converted to a dollar amount and kept in the Pool until used.  No money comes out of the Pool unless there is a recommendation to use it from the Employee’s Association. 

Employee’s often are motivated to donate by a specific employee’s circumstances.  As you consider donating, please note that once the dollars enter the Pool, they are tagged for any sick or injured employee, not a specific one.  Also note that the employee receiving the benefit is under no obligation to repay any amounts used.

The Sick Leave policy has a lot in it.  Take a moment to review policy 19 in your handbook to remind yourself of all of the details.  As usual, if you have questions, talk to your supervisor or Administration.

 



National Eating Healthy Day

National Eating Healthy Day is November 6, 2013. On this day, Americans are encouraged to make small, healthy changes and raise the awareness of the importance of good nutrition. The American Heart Association has put together a free toolkit download www.myheartmylife.org  that can help you eat healthy on November 6.