Groundwork For A Better St. Louis: Dirxion & Habitat for Humanity

Over the course of just a day, a group of unlikely heroes – more familiar with cubicles and keyboards – bared the elements and took their carpentry skills from laughable to workable. As volunteers for the St. Louis branch of Habitat for Humanity, Dirxion employees spent most of their Saturday going back and forth between two of the nearly twenty-five houses being simultaneously developed for a large Habitat for Humanity undertaking in North St. Louis. Some wielded hammers, others installed siding, and a few were building and falling through front porches. No matter what the task, our colleagues were like ants on a log, working together with conviction.

Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization, works with local companies and volunteers to eliminate substandard housing in struggling neighborhoods while creating affordable housing for the less fortunate. The program transforms these run-down areas and abandoned properties into beautiful streets and exceptional homes. As a policy, future homeowners of these Habitat houses invest hundreds of hours of their own labor in the way of sweat equity. Alongside volunteers, they happily contribute to the labor of building their own house and the houses of their future neighbors. The organization then finances these homes to them with no-interest loans, and because the bulk of materials and labor are donated, the homeowner’s mortgage payments can be used to build more Habitat for Humanity houses.

The program is something to be proud of. It’s a real win-win situation for the community and a rewarding experience for all those who participate. Nathan Phillips, from Dirxion’s Product Placement Department, said about his experience:

“It was definitely a team effort. There was lots of gravity defying ladder work with hammers and nails. All in all, it was a success and I feel like we accomplished a lot. We showed up to work hard and help make a difference in our community and we saw results! Go Dirxion and go St. Louis!”

Regardless of your level of experience, there are many ways to contribute to the mission of Habitat for Humanity. We encourage you to get in touch with someone at your local branch. Visit Habitat.org.

Dirxion Futbol Players Like Kissing Their Sister

The title should have read, “22-Goal Thriller” describing last week’s futbol match at Vetta-Concord. Both teams fought triumphantly and deserved victory, but both teams were once again thieved of that opportunity when the buzzer sounded. For the second week in a row the game between the Dirxion White Club and the Dirxion Dark Club ended in a draw, this time 11-11.

AWARDS:
Player of the Game: Dan Costello, 4 Goals
Honorable Mention: Goalkeeper, Jon Teson, with 3 Assists
Play of the Game: Andy Westerholt, while racing down field, fighting off the always nimble Phil Sneed, shoots, is denied, but then gathers his own rebound kindly placing it in the back of the net where it belongs.

2009 Dirxion Futbol League: Season Opener

ST. LOUIS – The long-awaited opening match of the 2009 Dirxion Futbol League is finally in the books.  Participating in this year’s commencement ceremonies were two teams that are quite familiar with one another, Dirxion White Team vs. Dirxion Dark Team.

In the opening moments of the game questions were raised regarding the defensive muscle of the White Team.  When the whistle was blown, the Dark Team came out of the gate in full speed, finding themselves with an early 3-0 lead.

Not to be defeated, though, the White Team battled back.  The silence was broken when Ron Livaudais powered down the field to finesse a quick shot to goaltender Jon Teson’s short side for the White Team’s first point.  But the real turning point of the game came in the 26th minute when Rusty Mitchener scored a goal from a perfectly placed pass from Dan Costello.  Mitchener, who lazily stood a foot in front of the Dark Team’s wide open net, could have been any inanimate object in the world at that crucial moment.  It really didn’t matter. In the grand scheme of the play, Mitchener contributed so little and Costello’s pass was so good that even veteran league official, Steve Mitchener, contemplated ruling the goal in Costello’s favor.

It was back and forth from then on.  For a while, this sportswriter can tell you that he thought the teams were intentionally taking turns sharing the lead.  After a seesaw of emotions and a taxing 60 minutes of play, the buzzer sounded.  The scoreboard anti-climatically read 9-9. With no tie-breaking rules in place and a overall lack of time, the game was called. Both teams went back to work and are left anxiously awaiting their first victory… or loss.

More Pictures on Facebook | Flickr

POST-GAME:

Dirxion Dark sweeper, Eric Sack, recalled his self-proclaimed “play of the game” in an interview:

“When Andy gave me that bouncing pass right in front of the goal, I calmly collected the ball and turned to look for Damon across the field.  He was double teamed.  So I juked left to shake one defender, then I cut back right to breeze past the remaining defenders.  I couldn’t have placed that ball more accurately in the corner. If I’m not mistaking, I believe [the White Team’s goaltender,] Nick Walz’s head blew up in between his completely outstretched hands.”

*The Dirxion Blog finds it necessary to note here that Nick Walz’s head did not in actuality blow up.  Sound sources have contacted us to let us know he was earlier spotted in the office, head in tact.

HONORS:

Player of the Game: Damon Passanise, Dark Team, 4 Goals

Play of the Game: Dan Ruder, White Team, Free kick top-shelf goal from just inside the half line.

LEAGUE RUMORS:

St. Louis local businessman and celebrity, Ted Drewe, is rumored to have interest in purchasing the Dirxion White Club and renaming them the Butterscotch Sundaes.

Due to worldly economics, demand for Dirxion Futbol League tickets is down as compared to previous seasons.  At this point, we have estimated the 2009 season will draw a total attendance of 13.

UPCOMING GAMES:

9/17 White Team vs Dark Team

9/24 White Team vs Dark Team

10/1 White Team vs Dark Team

10/8 White Team vs Dark Team

10/15 TBD

WEEK 1: ROSTERS & STATS:

White Team	Goals	Dark Team	Goals
Nick Walz	1	Jon Teson	0
Bruce Darrough	0	David Dames	1
Dan Costello	2	Andy Westerholt	1
John Neuhaus	0	Maria Padilla	0
Mari Remiger	0	Damon Passanise	4
Nathan Phillips	0	Steve Miller	0
Rusty Mitchener	1	Eric Sack	1
Dan Ruder	2	Galin Mitchener	0
Brad Gorman	0	Amber Hoxworth	0
Jen Huber	1	Rob Dames	0
Ron Livaudais	1	Tim Brown	0
Roy Yan	0	Phil Sneed	1

* 1 goal from each team was not claimed for unknown reasons.