Volunteer of the Month

Santaquin continues the “Volunteer of the Month” program. With all the wonderful volunteers in the community, city officials want to recognize them and their efforts. A small committee works together to learn about the volunteers and submit names to the Mayor for consideration. Those selected are presented to the public at a City Council meeting. They are awarded a certificate and gift basket that evening.

September 2019 Volunteer of the Month - Macie Steele

Macie Steele is our September 2019 Volunteer of the Month. Macie is always willing to help with any of the events that the city hosts. She is in charge of the Children’s Parade and Family Night for Orchard Days. She has made those events bigger and better each year. In 2019 she coordinated the teen dance for Orchard Days as well, which was a great success. She was also the Easter Bunny at our Easter Egg Hunt this year. She always has a positive upbeat attitude that radiates to those around her. She is full of energy- even with twins who were premature! Thank you Macie, for your volunteer efforts on behalf of our community!

October 2019 Volunteer of the Month - Waylon Pruitt

Waylon Pruitt is our Orchard Days Car Show Chairman and Volunteer of the Month for October 2019. He works very hard to make sure that every detail is attended to which makes the Car Show a fun family event for our community. He has chaired the event for the past 3 years. He starts contacting the numerous sponsors in January each year and then spends the next several months collecting the donations. The tangible donations are raffled off the day of the show which generates additional proceeds. 100% of the proceeds are donated to charity each year. In 2018 the funds were given to the Make A Wish Foundation to help four children. This year the proceeds were given to the Primary Children’s Hospital for four different families. His wife Heather helps him each year with the treasury duties and collecting donations. He is a father to 2 children and has lived in Santaquin for about six years. Waylon stated that he does the car show for the kids in the city to show them that if they work hard, they can accomplish their dreams. Waylon is described by our Recreation employees as having a bottomless heart and great passion for the Car Show. Thank you Waylon, for all your hard work to make the Car Show a success.

November 2019 Volunteer of the Month – Ted Roy

Ted Roy is our November Volunteer of the Month. He is regularly seen walking along Summit Ridge Parkway picking up trash, pulling weeds, speaking a kind word to fellow walkers and waving hello to motorists. In fact, for the past little while, he has been seen on his hands and knees cutting out weeds along the road that were poisoned by our public works crew. His goal was to make the Parkway look as nice as possible for the Grand Opening of the road extension. When asked why he spends time giving service in this manner, he said he feels it is his civic responsibility. When Mr. Roy was younger, he spent time serving on the sheriff ’s posse and the sheriff ’s rescue team while his profession was school teacher to children and teens. He has six children and his five boys have all received their Eagle Scout Award, which makes each one a 4th generation Eagle Scout.

Mr. Roy would like to start a campaign called Weed Angels which would focus on teaching children how to beautify their community by doing a little bit each day, such as pulling a few weeds or picking up trash on their way to the park. He is dedicated to beautifying our community and very much appreciated by all who live in Summit Ridge. Thank you for your service Mr. Roy!

December 2019 Volunteer of the Month - Kalei and Dave Robbins

The Robbins are great examples of the volunteer spirit. Dave, a lifelong resident, and his wife Kalei and their four boys have been running the Squash Head 4-H Sheep Showmanship Program in Santaquin for the past 6 years. Children between the ages of 8 and 18 are invited to participate in the program and they are taught how to feed, lead, shear, wash, and present the animals at several shows before they are sold. To help offset program expenses, Kalei and Dave approach local businesses to participate in a booster program to sponsor the children. Their Squash Head 4-H Petting Zoo has become a main attraction during our city Orchard Days Celebration.

Because many children do not live in areas where livestock are allowed, the Robbins allow the lambs to be raised on their family farm. The participants are taught money management skills to help the program be successful in future years. There is also a garden on the farm property that the 4-H students learn how to cultivate. After a successful harvest, the food is then donated to our local assisted living centers. On top of these volunteer efforts, Kalei is the Young Farmer and Ranchers Chair and Dave is the Vice President of the Utah County Farm Bureau. Their hope is that these efforts can advocate to our future generations the importance of agriculture. A big thank you to Dave and Kalei for their volunteer efforts in helping our children learn valuable life skills and promoting our agricultural heritage.

January 2020 Volunteer of the Month – Ross Williams

Ross has never met a stranger. He has a special gift for relating to anyone to find their story. He has always been this way. He is often found pulled over helping someone in need, paying for someone’s dinner or buying someone much needed groceries. His willingness to always help, in situations that aren’t “pretty service opportunities”, is inspiring.

During his 20 years as a law enforcement and parole officer he was seen doing many things quietly to serve those he was connected with, through his job. Making sure their kids had clothes, making sure they had somewhere warm to sleep and helping them find jobs so they could learn to help themselves. In the winter, he is often found on his 4-wheeler making sure all of his neighbor’s driveways are clear of snow. He has spent many years helping to coach wrestling and other sports and activities that his kids were involved with in the community. He’s the kind of guy you are glad to call a friend.

March 2020 Volunteer of the Month - Chelsea Rowley

Chelsea moved to Santaquin 14 years ago when she married her husband Rhet, who claimed it was impossible for a Rowley to leave Santaquin. They take pride in raising their four sons in an agricultural community, and are advocates for protecting that heritage. Chelsea loves being involved in the community and getting to know everyone. She is always working to support her neighbors, whether it’s watching their kids, taking over a meal, or networking together to accomplish a bigger goal. Hundreds of Santaquin’s youth have been taught by Chelsea through her church callings. She can often be found at Santaquin Elementary helping shape their educational experience by guest lecturing, gathering animals for farm day, helping in the class, making copies, feeding teachers, decorating doors, organizing chess club, recruiting volunteers, or guiding school decisions through School Community Council.

Chelsea just finished a two year term on City Council, and is entering her third year on Santaquin’s Library Board. She felt prompted to start a non-profit called The Lilly Pad Project, which makes bereavement kits for stillborn babies. Through the support of our amazing community, she has been able to deliver 275 kits to hospitals throughout Utah. As the need for this service continues to grow, she is always in need of volunteers and seamstresses. Anyone who would like to know more, or become involved in The Lilly Pad Project, can contact her at chelsea@lillypadproject.org. Congratulations Chelsea and thank you for your volunteer work in our city!

May 2020 Volunteer of the Month - The Dinosaurs

Our May Volunteer of the Month recognition goes to a group of eight-year-old boys who have taken on the self-proclaimed name of “Dinosaurs”. This group of boys meet twice a month to have fun and learn principles of character. Each has a unique personality but as a whole they are very united. For one of their projects, they chose to clean up the litter along the side of the street. “Just because I didn’t leave it behind, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t pick it up” became their motto. They shared that taking care of planet earth right here in Santaquin was a fun and fulfilling project to do. Surprisingly, no one in the group had heard of Woodsy Owl that says, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute!” From the looks of it though, these young Dinosaurs do “give a hoot!” The Dinosaurs also plastered three of their neighbor’s doors on Valentine’s Day this year with hearts and kind sayings, just because it was a nice thing to do. Thank you, Dinosaurs, for setting a great example of the volunteer spirit in Santaquin City.

July 2020 Volunteer of the Month Santaquin Mask Sewing

Santaquin Mask Sewing is a group that started on Facebook at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was formed to bring together sewers, cutters, suppliers, and deliverers to provide local first responders and caregivers with face masks, in the south part of Utah County. The group has been able to construct over 400 masks! The group consists of about 100 women in Santaquin but there were key players in the group that did much of the work. Kathleen Provstgaard saw a need in the area and contacted Rachel Cook who then helped form the group and coordinate the project. Rachel was instrumental in keeping the group going and she also created 3D Masks to donate. There were many others such as Natalie Hughes who spent a lot of time helping figure out the best way to make fabric masks and how to get supplies. When enough people were not sewing, she texted and called individuals. She asked them to sew 5-10 masks each and she got the ball rolling. Another wonderful helper was Andrea Lloyd. She has sewn almost 200 masks alone. Chyann Kindschy also made many masks and tons of bias tape. Bliss Blackburn was there in the beginning and helped get the group going as well. All these women and many more have truly shown what it means to be a volunteer and have blessed the lives of many people in our community. Thank you for sharing your talents with those who have been on the front line of this pandemic.