Mesquite Senior Services awarded $160,000 grant from State

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Mesquite Senior Services was awarded $160,220 in funding from Congregate and Homebound grants from the Aging and Disability Division of the State of Nevada Health and Human Services. According to Sally Coates, Senior Services manager, the grants were increased $14,528 over last year.

“The grant paperwork, submitted in May, consisted of over 70 pages of documentation pertaining to the Mesquite Senior Nutrition Program,” said Coates. “This included data on meals served, justification for funding, budget worksheets, projected output measures and documentation on outreach with other non-profit organizations.”

Last year the Senior Center received more than $305,000 in grants, including $41,441 from Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP). Coates said the NSIP Grant is funded according to amount of meals served.

The new grant awards, in addition to the pending funding grants, will further assist the Senior Services Division in providing meals to Congregate and Homebound Clients as well as Senior Center Programs.

For inquiries Senior Services programs call (702) 346-5290.

The Desert Tortoise

Like many desert creatures, desert tortoises spend most of their lives "holed up." In spring and summer, they roam grazing on grasses and wildflowers, then head for their burrows when it gets too hot. In fall and winter, when it is cold and there is not much to eat, they stay burrowed in for six months or more at a time.

If you see a desert tortoise, you are seeing an endangered species. Please watch out for them on the roads. Tortoises live in washes and valleys where the soil is soft enough for them to burrow into, yet stable enough so they do not collapse. Remember, desert tortoises are protected under the Endangered Species Act and may not be handled or removed.

Golf in the Desert

The city of Mesquite combines calm, small-town flavour with big-city attractions and championship golf. The Palms and the Oasis Golf Clubs are only two of the half-dozen challenging courses in the area.

Golf Highlights in Mesquite

Golf built on the dramatic Virgin Foothills of Nevada makes for a unique landscape and golf setting.
Enjoy a spa treatment at the Spa at Casablanca or the Spa at the Oasis.
Mesquite serves as a gateway to the national parks of Southern Utah and Zion National Park, which is less than two hours away.

View more information about golf courses in Mesquite

The Speedy RoadRunner

Called paisano in Mexico, the roadrunner is a well-known desert resident that only superficially resembles its popular cartoon portrayal. The greater roadrunner has adapted to life on the run. Though it can fly well, it prefers to use its strong legs and X- shaped toes to run rapidly over the desert landscape. Active predators, roadrunners aggressively chase insects, lizards, snakes, small birds and mammals.

Tolerant of humans, they sometimes nest in protected eaves and garages when they are not building large stick nests in desert trees. Their vocalizations include bill clicking noises and a mournful cooing made during breeding seasons. They do not meep-meep.