Park Place Infiniti sponsors inaugural Dragon Boat Festival

When you think about strength, power and performance, your mind might race to images of a sleek car like the Q50 sports sedan sold at Park Place Infiniti. But you can also find these qualities in a team of fit, competitive dragon boat racers.

Both examples will come together for a three-day inaugural Nevada Dragon Boat Festival set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lake Las Vegas to benefit local breast cancer patient services, including Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada and the Las Vegas Breast Cancer Center.

“At Park Place Infiniti, we pride ourselves in being experts in excellence,” said Park Place Infiniti General Manager Joe Tortomasi. “This extends to our community service, particularly when it comes to causes like breast cancer that affect so many families.”

Sherri Weaver, president of the Dragonboat Racing Association Group of Nevada, said the festival features three days of competitive, community and corporate dragon boat races, cultural music and dance performances, a breast cancer awareness ceremony and silent auction.

Weaver, a breast cancer survivor who also found strength and comfort through dragon boat racing, said the organization has raised more than $30,000 over the past two years for a variety of breast cancer patient services.

For general information, visit www.dragonboatnv.com or call 702-596-5800.

Friendly Ford’s Paws for the Cause scheduled May 28

The annual Friendly Ford Paws for the Cause animal adoption is scheduled for May 28 at the dealership situated at 660 N. Decatur Blvd.

Scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., this year’s Paws for the Cause will include MPK9’s Gregory Conner, who will provide a dog training demonstration on site; On the Spot Mobile Dog Grooming, who will give away complimentary cleanings for dogs that are adopted; along with live remote radio broadcasts by KWNR 95.5 the Bull; the 97.1 The Point; and La Nueva 103.5 (Spanish radio); and Kelly and The Strays, an acoustic band that performs throughout Southern Nevada; free pet identification microchipping administered by Dr. Sam Lynch of Warm Springs Animal Hospital compliments of Friendly Ford.

Friendly Ford will also be providing food and beverages throughout the day. Newly crowned Miss Nevada Bailey Gumm and Miss Nevada’s Outstanding Teen Heather Renner will be at Paws posing for photographs and signing autographs from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m.

In addition, the dealership will present one of its largest sale events of the year to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend.

The homeless dogs and cats all come from the Animal Foundation, which is situated on an eight-acre site off U.S. 95 and Eastern Avenue. The foundation also operates PetSmart Charities Everyday Adoption Center, a satellite adoption facility for dogs and cats inside a PetSmart store at 286 W. Lake Mead Blvd. in Henderson.

Further information regarding Friendly Ford can be found by visiting www.friendlyfordlv.com or by calling 702-870-7221.

Further information regarding the Animal Foundation can be found by visiting www.animalfoundation.com or by calling 702-384-3333.

Findlay Chevrolet to award 2016 Spark LT to student

A Clark County School District graduating senior will receive a 2016 Chevrolet Spark LT compliments of Findlay Chevrolet to culminate the annual Drive for Excellence awards ceremony May 31 from 1-3 p.m. at Wet ‘n’ Wild in southwest Las Vegas.

In order to qualify for the Drive for Excellence program, students must have a weighted 3.7 grade point average along with no unexcused absences. Four scholarships will be awarded along with an assortment of prizes for a total of about $8,000 not including the Chevrolet Spark.

The Drive for Excellence program has been met with open arms since its start during the 2006-07 school year. With additional sponsorship provided by CBS Radio, 8 News Now, Walden University, Horace Mann Insurance Founded by Educators for Educators and Silver State Schools Credit Union, the event has grown to become a big favorite of the eligible students.

A total of 617 students are eligible in this year’s program.

More than 6,000 students in the Clark County School District have qualified since the first event was held. The event has been sponsored by Findlay Chevrolet for three years.

The 2016 Spark LT will feature a strong list of amenities including a five-year, 60,000-mile (whichever comes first), transferrable Powertrain Limited Warranty.

The 1.4 liter four-cylinder vehicle also gets excellent fuel efficiency of 30 mpg in the city and 41 on the highway.

Findlay Chevrolet is situated at 6800 S. Torrey Pines Drive. Further information can be found by calling 702-982-4000 or by visiting www.findlaychevy.com.

Titus, Manendo kick off Teen Safe Driver month

Local and national dignitaries lined up on May 7 to celebrate Teen Safe Driver month and announce the winners of the SMARTeen Driver art contest: “What Auto Safety means to me.”

The contest was created by Sarah Marks founder of SMARTeen Driver, in collaboration with Beverly Mason of Clark County School District’s Community-School partnership program.

“We had over 35 entries from driving age high school students; the top three students and their teachers were awarded money and publication in the SMARTeen Driver Car Care guide,” Marks said.

First-place winner Amy Terry spoke about her design, which reflected driving when in a bad emotional state, saying: “A lot of focus is on texting and driving, but driving when you are in a bad mood can be distracting and dangerous.”

Congresswoman Dina Titus praised the local Nevada auto safety alliances for helping to decrease teen deaths through the use of educational programs, technology and public awareness campaigns.

State Sen. Mark Manendo and Erin Breen of UNLV Traffic Safety announced plans to introduce new legislation in the 2017 legislature to ban cellphone use for all teen drivers.