Alan Paxton found Rotary through US Bank, his employer which encourages community service and club affiliation for the members of their management team. “I was actually looking into the Kiwanis Club when our Hurricane branch manager suggested I look into Rotary. He has been a Rotarian for several years and has loved it. He also said it has greatly aided in his position with the bank because, through Rotary he has been able to connect with prominent members of the community.”Alan’s roots are deep in southern Utah (his ancestors helped settle Beaver / Fillmore areas), but it was not until he returned from an LDS mission in El Salvador and enrolled at Dixie State College that he actually lived in the Beehive State. Born in Fort Hood, Texas, he grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ... a place he came to know as home. While living in the suburbs of Philadelphia (Valley Forge to be exact) he was driving with a friend when his car was hit by an oversize passenger van. The fire department had to remove the door to get him out of the vehicle, and then rushed him to the hospital in an ambulance. “When the shock began to wear off for me I remember the doctor stating it was nothing short of a miracle that I survived the crash since the impact of the accident was directly on the drivers door where I was sitting. Even more amazing, neither my friend nor I experienced only minor cuts from the windshield breaking. Days later my mother and I visited the junk yard to see the extent of the damage of my vehicle and were surprised to see how much damage there was - particularly to the drivers side. I tried to sit in the drivers seat and could not fit as it had been crushed and shrunk, much like a tin can, and was now significantly more narrow than I was.”
Alan’s two years in El Salvador gave him a second language skill; the great experience of living in another culture; and, the chance to experience life from a different perspective. “When I heard about our club's recent return from Guatemala I must admit I was quite jealous, as Guatemala and El Salvador are neighbors, and the cultures are very similar,” states the new Rotarian.
When Alan first moved to St. George, he took the first job he could find, working 4 12-hour night shifts at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Factory on the Arizona Strip. He worked there for only a few short months before the schedule became too much to deal with while attending school full time. A friend suggested he look for a bank teller job. He found work at US Bank as a part time teller where he became friends with the bank’s loan officer. After 6 months of working for US Bank this loan officer was offered a branch management position at Deseret First Credit Union. He asked Alan to come with him, particularly because of his Spanish language skills. “I compromised with him that if he would train me to do new accounts and loans then I would move with him at the credit union. Shortly after making the transfer my manager made good on his promise and promoted me to be the new accounts specialist and trained me in processing loans. Meanwhile back at US Bank, another acquaintance I had made while working there had become the branch manager and had asked me to apply for their personal banker position. I applied and received the job and remained in it for 2 years at which point I was promoted to the branch manager. So in short, I kind of fell into banking by accident, but have found I love it.”
The general consensus among more than 200 attendees at the Utah Rotary District Conference is that the "Rendezvous at the Confluence" was "awesome," "wonderful," a rousing success and well worth the time to attend! The weather was perfect, presenters were outstanding, and food was plentiful and tasty!
