Admission to Grand Canyon National Park free this weekend

June 4, 2010 GRAND CANYON - Grand Canyon National Park will join national parks and wildlife refuges across the country this weekend in offering free admission to the park

Visitors arriving in the park on Saturday or Sunday will be allowed to enter free of charge and will receive a receipt good through Sunday. Those who plan to stay in the park beyond Sunday will need to pay the regular entrance fee for the rest of their stay.

The fee-free designation applies to entrance fees only and does not affect fees for camping, reservations, tours or use of concessions. Park entrance stations will have Interagency Senior and Annual Passes available for those who wish to purchase them.

This summer's fee-free days are intended to encourage Americans to get outdoors and experience their public lands. Additional admission-free days are planned for Aug. 14 and 15, Sept. 25 and Nov. 11.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm. To learn more about visiting Grand Canyon National Park, visit www.nps.gov/grca.

Business Expo to take place June 23 and 24

June 3, 2010 ST. GEORGE - The 17th Annual St. George Area Chamber of Commerce Business Expo will be June 23 and 24, 1835 Convention Center Drive, St. George. Admission is free.

Hours for the event are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 23, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 24. The evening of June 23, the exhibit hall will be open until 7 p.m. to allow for the famous prize-filled balloon drop. Vendors will give away hourly prizes away both days.

Food will be available on site for purchase, and some exhibitors are known to entice those in attendance with a variety of tempting samples or premiums.

An adult must accompany children 16 or younger.

A reservation-only kick-off breakfast will start at 8:30 a.m. on June 23. The featured speaker will be Winfield Ivers, owner and the force behind the Zion Wilderness Survival School, a locally based company that offers wilderness survival experiences to youth groups, corporate groups, families and couples.

Ivers will share insights into wilderness survival basics and how they apply to current business reality.

Visitors to this years Expo will notice a "business safari" theme for the event.

"We want to invite everyone in the area to come and hunt down some of the very fine businesses in this area that they can do business with," said Russ Behrmann, president of the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce. "It's about business but it's about fun and we think visitors will enjoy the experience. They could find great offers on goods or services they haven't found elsewhere or they could win a fun prize.

"Either way, it's a great tradition and a great way to pass some time inside a cool comfortable place on a hot Dixie Day."

Ironman: St. George Triathlon shines

May 2, 2010- 2,000 from around the world take on grueling swim, bike and run.

St. George » Austrian Olympic mountain biker Michael Weiss led a colorful procession of 1,915 athletes from 47 states and 30 countries Saturday through Washington County's red rock country to easily win the inaugural Ford Ironman St. George.

The race included a 2.4-mile swim in the 59-degree waters of Sand Hollow Reservoir as the sunrise replaced a bright moon on a nearly cloudless morning when the outside temperature was 46 degrees.

After some of the nearly 4,000 race volunteers helped athletes peel off their wet suits at the end of the swim, the competitors then changed into bike gear and raced a hilly course 112 miles through many of Washington County's towns.

The real winner of the day might have been St. George, which impressed veteran athletes with its organization, friendliness and scenery. Though impossible to count, officials estimated that at least 10,000 spectators showed up, including hundreds who woke up in the middle of the night to ride shuttle busses to see the start where competitors churned Sand Hollow's relatively calm waters like a washing machine.

"It is a fantastic race," said third-place finisher and Ironman veteran Chris McDonald, of Australia. "The community embraced it. The course was incredibly hard, but when you took two seconds to yourself to look at the views when you were out there, they were some of the most amazing views around."