Snider: Agendas go online, health survey available, Veterans’ events set, time to give thanks

It’s November and the signs are obvious. Our nighttime temperatures are “nippy,” while the daytime thermometer is somewhere in the 80s. Relatives and friends back East or up north either call to make reservations to stay with us or they’re reporting snow flurries and freeze warnings where they are. Everyone else in the country changes their clocks – and we don’t. And, in the case of this year, campaign signs come down after the 6th of November.

Before I share some information on interesting and rewarding things for your calendar, I’d like to brag on Pinal County’s clerk of the board office. This little known three-person operation is responsible for the mechanics of assembling and publishing the agendas for the board of supervisors, recording and keeping track of all the various ordinances and resolutions enacted by the board, posting the appropriate public notices of official county meetings, as well as notices of events at which one or more of the supervisors may be present, etc.

With the support and encouragement of the board, Clerk of the Board Sheri Cluff has spent the last several years on making all of the board’s agenda documents available through the county’s website.

We’re proud to announce that all county ordinances available through the clerk’s office are now online – new ordinances will be added as they’re approved. Although resolutions are not yet key-word searchable, that is a goal of the clerk’s office. At present only 2012 resolutions are available online but the goal is to have them ultimately available as far back as 1998.

The Pinal County Public Health Department invites residents to participate in an electronic survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/pinalcounty) as part of a statewide health initiative. Results from the study will be used to create Pinal County and Arizona statewide community health-improvement plans. The survey takes a mere 10 minutes and will be online until Nov. 15.

On to your calendar.

“Hiring our Heroes” (a veterans’ job fair) takes place on 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 7th 2 at the CAC Corporate Center (in the Palm Center Shopping Center). It’s sponsored by Arizona Workforce Connection and DES.

Thanking our military veterans and their families is the theme of this year Veterans Day 6th annual Veterans Day Parade 9 a.m. on Nov.10 in downtown Casa Grande.

The parade will enter Florence Boulevard at Brown Avenue and travel west to Florence Street, following the same route as the annual Electric Light Parade. The intrepid aviators of the Arizona Antique Aircraft Association will perform a fly-over at 9 a.m. to start the parade.

The Ak-Chin Indian Community also will honor all veterans on the 10th with a run/walk and a ceremony at noon.

And Central Arizona College will have a Veterans Honor ceremony in the M Building Pavilion (Signal Peak Campus) at 10 a.m. Nov. 5.

Our veterans and their families deserve our thanks and our support every day of the year – but especially on these days and during these ceremonial events. I hope to see you there.

Nov. 17 is a very busy day with several choices of things to do that will make you feel good about yourself and the community. At 7 a.m. in Carr McNatt Park, Special Olympics of Arizona is holding its “Walk So We Can Run” 2nd annual walk in Pinal County. Organized to raise funds for our special athletes so they can compete in this year’s Special Olympics, it’s a great event. For more information, call Leslie Garcia, 520-450-0195 or email [email protected].

Your second option is Casa Grande’s annual “Paint Your Heart Out – Neighbors United Service Project.” The event is designed to have volunteers help paint over graffiti in and around downtown and help brighten commercial buildings in historic downtown.

Volunteers should be in Peart Park (the event starts at 8 a.m. and goes until 2 p.m.) to get instructions, paint and partners. For more information, contact Sheila Chavez a [email protected] or 520-421-8711, ext. 6570.