The Holiday Inn Express & Suites of Atascadero received the InterContinental Hotels Group 2011 Torchbearer Award, the company's most prestigious award.
 
The Torchbearer Award was presented in October during the 2011 IHG Americas Investors & Leadership Conference in Las Vegas. More than 6,100 franchise owners, operators and company officials attended the conference. 

Several local Rotary groups have shown their support of Big Brothers Big Sisters one-to-one mentoring programs.  San Luis Obispo Monday Rotary Club donated $1,000, San Luis Obispo De Tolosa $1,000, San Luis Obispo Daybreak $1,250, Pismo Beach $1,047, Morro Bay $250, and Arroyo Grande $500.

The organization depends on generous donations such as those from Rotary Clubs to help recruit volunteers and reach more children.  Funding is used to conduct background checks on volunteers to ensure child safety; and provide ongoing support for children, families and volunteers to build and sustain successful long-lasting relationships with positive outcomes. 

SLO Regional Rideshare encouraged county residents to change the way they commute in October during Rideshare Month - Commute for Cash. The annual event wrapped to its highest participation yet, with over 1,000 commuters logging sustainable trips online at rideshare.org and saving $92,737 in commute costs. Advocates for the program and its mission, to reduce the number of single occupant vehicles on our roads, say numbers like these are indicative of more commuters realizing the benefits that walking, biking, carpooling, vanpooling, riding the bus and working from home have on their health and their wallets.

Masters of Venice: Renaissance Painters of Passion and Power is a worldwide exclusive presentation of 50 paintings by 16th century Venetian painters Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, Mantegna and more, all on loan from the Gemäldegalerie of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Featured are outstanding examples of the work of these artists that were collected by the archdukes and emperors of the Habsburg family, which are among the most celebrated holdings in the collections of the Gemäldegalerie.

TechXpress, a leading e-commerce solutions provider, has won two prestigious international awards for a Web site it designed for the world’s largest hemp foods manufacturer, Manitoba Harvest, www.manitobaharvest.com, the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA) recently announced.

TechXpress’ entry won a Silver Davey Award in the Green/Eco-Friendly category, and a Silver W3 Award in the Food and Beverage category. The entry was selected from more than 4,000 Davey Award entries and more than 3,000 W3 Award entries from around the world. Entrants included both small firms as well as Fortune 500 companies.

Start your holiday season with colorful poinsettias and a fragrant Christmas tree from Growing Grounds Farm and Growing Grounds Downtown. Order your poinsettias and trees now so they arrive in time for holiday festivities.    
 
Holiday Poinsettias

Deadline to order is Monday, Nov. 14

Pickup Dates: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 30 - December 2 at Transitions-Mental Health Association Warehouse, 784 High St., in San Luis Obispo. Pick up is also available at Growing Grounds Farm in Santa Maria at 820 W. Foster Road (at the corner of Foster and California, next to the Sheriff station). Please make a note on your order form if that is your preference. 

Shopatron’s 10th anniversary celebrations are wrapping up, giving the company a moment to reflect on the good times, and a chance to look forward to what it hopes to celebrate in the next 10 years.
 
“The goal of the anniversary campaign was to remind us that Shopatron started out as a simple, good idea, and now, 10 years later, we are successfully competing with e-commerce giants,” says Mark Grondin, Shopatron senior vice president of marketing, Mark Grondin. “And we wanted everyone to blow off some steam and have a little fun in our community.”