"We are pleased to announce Sara Irizarry as the winner of the 2nd Quarter 2007 Gerry Award.
In 1993, Sara joined our LA staff and is responsible for the clerical duties as well as inside sales.
Sara is described as "calm under pressure and always finds a solution to every problem regardless of how difficult the work. She never complains and each task is handled with integrity and professionalism. She is sharp and always ready to help."
Sara's commitment to her co-workers and Stafast truly exemplifies that service does comes from the heart.
This is the 7th year for our Gerry Award
program. Thank you for
continuing to recognize your co-workers for "jobs well done".
Chris Selle
3rd Quarter Winner - Eduardo Hernandez
Eduardo Hernandez and Albert Guerra
"We are pleased to announce Eduardo Hernandez as the winner of the 3rd Quarter 2007 Gerry Award.
Eduardo joined Stafast-West in 1996 and is LA's Warehouse Supervisor plus handles machine calls.
The multiple nominations Eduardo received describe him as "the go-to guy who gets the job done". During a stock shortage issue for one of our largest Canadian customers, Eduardo came to work during a shutdown to receive the shipment of parts and make sure the parts were forwarded to the customer.
It is Eduardo's "Can Do Attitude" that make him worthy of receiving his second Gerry Award since this program begin in 2001.
Thank you for continuing to recognize your co-workers for "jobs well done".
Chris Selle
Team Stafast is once again competing in the local corporate challenge
sponsored by the Metroparks, the Lake Hospital System and the YMCA.
Last year Stafast was proud to claim first place over the other
25 teams competing. This year's team is made up of the following employees:
| Betty Sharpe | Judy Bidgood |
| Chris Laganson | Pam Stalnaker |
| Diane McNabb | Sandy Stevens |
| Jeannette Alligood | Sigga Clarke |
| Jeff Booth | Trish Pitzer |
| Jen Mohr | Wendy Butcher |
| Jeremy Campaign |
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!!! 
Sometimes the lengthy list of candidates and their platforms can be overwhelming.
Here are a few good websites that summarize each person's position on key issues
and make comparing the candidates easier.
http://www.wmur.com/compare-candidates/index.html
http://www.youdecide2008.com/
http://www.candidatescomparison.com/
Below, our newest U.S. citizen who will vote for the first time - Sigga
became a U.S. citizen on
January 4th and looks forward to voting in the next
presidential election. One thing Sigga always wanted to do was to learn to
drive the towmotor. Trish and Sigga made a deal that when Sigga finally took
the time to fill out the paperwork and become a legal citizen,she could
have a lesson on the towmotor (something she's always wanted to try). Click
below for the late breaking pictures from Sigga's adventures in the warehouse.
It's Not Too Late.................
In a couple of weeks, those with health insurance through Stafast, will have the option to have some tests done. Each test successfully passed can save you money on your health insurance withholdings. Major changes take more than a couple of weeks to accomplish but even small achievements can happen in just a short amount of time. Here are some tips for lowering those numbers.
Blood Pressure - at or below 120/80
* Stop smoking
* Shed excess pounds. There's a direct link between being overweight and
having high blood pressure.
* Decrease salt intake. You should consume no more than 2,000 milligrams
of sodium per day (about one teaspoon of salt).
* Add more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products to your plate.
Eat one additional fruit or vegetable with every meal. Shrink the size
of your daily meat intake to six ounces, and designate at least two dinners
a week as meat-free.
*Limit alcohol consumption. Drink no more than one 12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce
glass of wine or one swallow (1.5 ounces) of 80-proof whiskey if you’re
a woman. Men can double these amounts. Anything more elevates blood pressure.
*Exercise. First, get the green light from your physician. Then, slowly
introduce aerobic exercise into your life, increasing the time and intensity
at a pace that feels right, aiming for at least a 30-minute workout most
days of the week.
LDL Cholesterol – under 100
* Eat soluble fiber daily, found in such foods as oatmeal and oat bran,
kidney beans, brussel sprouts, apples, pears, barley and prunes. Five
to 10 grams of soluble fiber a day decreases LDL cholesterol by about
5 percent.
* Eat walnuts and almonds. A person consuming a 1200 calorie diet could
eat a little less than 1/3 cup of walnuts or almonds a day and reduce their
LDL cholesterol by 12%.
* Eat fish and omega-3 fatty acids. Aside from fish, omega-2 fatty acids can be found in flaxseed, walnuts, canola oil and soybean oil. Doctors recommend eating at least two servings of fish a week. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are found in mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon.
*Look for foods fortified with plant sterols or stanols. These substances
help block the absorption of cholesterol. Margarines and orange juice are
some of the foods you can find that have been fortified with plant sterols.
*First and foremost you should reduce your intake of bad fats - especially
saturated and trans fats.
Body Mass Index – Under 25
Increase your height or lose weight. Your BMI is a ratio between your weight
and your height, the idea being that the normal weight for a short person
is much lower than that of a tall person, and that BMI can work across
both parameters. Hence if two people were the same weight, but different
heights, the taller person would have the lower BMI. In two people of the
same height, but different weights, the lighter person would have the lower
BMI.
So really, weight loss is the main way of lowering BMI.
Information provided by the Mayo Clinic
Top 10 Workout DVDs of 2007 - http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/theskinny/blog/2008/01/fitness_magazines_top_10_worko.html