Browsing articles tagged with " Participants"
EUGENE, Ore. – Thousands of cyclists rode together in 229 rides in 31 countries this past Mother’s Day to honor, celebrate and empower women on bikes.
Eugene’s “pretty skirts” themed version of the event this year was a part of the second annual CycloFemme ride.
CycloFemme is a socially driven international movement powered by local communities of riders. The mission of the movement is to create a sense of unification among female cyclists and to encourage more riders by highlighting the positive impact they can have on the world.
Local participants gathered together at the Owen Memorial Rose Garden on Sunday afternoon to begin the ride. A team of four women, headed by Kelsey Moore and Emma Newman coordinated the event that attracted over 150 riders to join the 7-mile leisurely ride.
“It’s all about getting more women out there riding,” Newman said, “I personally find it to be such a powerful thing to be able to move around the city and do it all on my own energy.”
Sarai Snyder, founder of Girl Bike Love, an online platform for building a women’s cycling community, initiated the CycloFemme movement.
Kelsey Moore came up with the idea of hosting a ride locally in Eugene. Moore works at Arriving by Bike in town; she said her hope is that the event will encourage more women and children to bike. She also hopes that the movement will help to build support for better infrastructure in town for people who want to bike.
The ride ended where it began with the original riders as well as cyclists who joined the event mid-course. Kiva Grocery, Voodoo Doughnuts, Arriving by Bike and City of Eugene Transportation Planning donated food and raffle prizes to support the local non-profit event.
“It was really powerful to see so many people out there having such a great time.” Newman said.
The event coordinators were very pleased with the number of riders that participated on Sunday. They are planning on hosting the second annual CycloFemme ride in Eugene next year.
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By Luis Barrio on April 26, 2013
EL PASO – On a recent March morning, 76-year-old Armando Uranga sat on the gymnasium bleachers dripping sweat and catching his breath. He had just played a strenuous 20-minute game of basketball with three other competitors as part of this year’s El Paso Senior Games. After playing in the games for the last 12 years, Uranga considers them his fountain of youth.
“I felt like I was in my backyard like when I was a kid, it was so much fun,” said Uranga, who has already competed in the 5K walk, the 3K walk and plans to participate in Saturday’s track and field event at Montwood High School.
In its 31st year, the El Paso Senior Games are a beacon drawing residents to get out and be physically active or go watch the community’s senior athletes compete. With a variety of events, the games are for persons 50 years of age and older who participate in activities ranging from swimming to cycling, basketball to track and field. This year’s games began with an opening ceremony on March 2and will conclude with a banquet May 3at the Hilos de Plata Senior Center.
This year’s Senior Games have over 300 participants that will compete in over 15 events. (Luis Barrio/Borderzine.com)
“Our goal is to provide physical activities for the senior community and provide exercise and wellness, along with creating more of a health awareness and setting an example for the younger generation,” says David Lopez, coordinator of the El Paso Senior Games. Lopez explained that before he took over as coordinator two years ago, participation by seniors was decreasing. That’s when he decided to incorporate more activities. This year there are more than 300 participants.
“We were dying for a little while; participation was dying and less people would sign up to compete. Event coordinators have added new events such as pickle ball, which has similar rules to tennis, as well as racquetball, a sport growing in popularity.
“We have over 300 participants that can compete in over 15 events,” he said.
The games have provided new challenges for local seniors as well as opportunities to compete at a serious level. The activities and events also help create new friendships.
Dr. Guillermina Nunez-Mchiri, associate professor at the University of Texas at El Paso is pushing to raise community awareness and support for the senior games. She collaborates with Lopez to encourage UTEP students and faculty to volunteer at the games and serve as spectators. Volunteers help award medals, clock and record the times of the participants, and serve as crosswalk guards while the contestants are running.
“These people supported us, coming to our basketball games, football, and recitals while we were growing up, now they need us,” said Dr. Nunez, who chose “Fill the Bleachers” as this year’s campaign’s slogan. This Saturday’s marque field and track event will be at Montwood High School. She is working diligently to “fill the bleachers” by distributing flyers on campus and asking students to help spread the word on Social Media.
She realizes it will take a village to fill the bleachers on Saturday. “We need to work together, this is my community and it is such a noteworthy cause,” she said.
This week she enlisted the help of students and “their personal strengths” to fill the cheering section. “I want my students to learn from these people by seeing them in action,” she said.
Ben, 79, has been competing in the senior games for 29 years. As a young man he was a tri-athlete, but he now competes in the walking and swimming events. Asked about his motivation for continuing to compete every year since he’s been eligible, he said that he had two friends who passed away a week before the 5k walk on March 16.
“I went to a rosary on Friday and a funeral on Saturday,” he said. “Two of my friends died and as long as I stay healthy I’ll stay away from funerals and rosaries.” Ben competed in swimming events on March 9 and won eight medals in four competitions that included the swimming 25-meter freestyle, the backstroke, and the medley, which is a combination of swimming strokes. “I feel great and I’ll do this till the very day I die,” he said.
Marian Wolle, who uses a wheelchair, still finds a way to get up, get into the swimming pool and compete. She has participated in the games since 1995, holds 32 swimming records and has missed the games only once over the last 19 years.
Article Tags: Community awareness, El Paso Senior Games 2013, health, physically active, seniors, Sports
The Five Boro Bike Tour, which takes participants all around New York City, is taking extra precautions in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.
See photos from the response, aftermath at Boston Marathon explosions.
Event coordinators sent an email informing riders of a new security plan put in place after consulting with City, State and Federal agencies.
As part of this plan for the May 5 event, cyclists will not be permitted to bring backpacks, saddlebags/panniers (front and rear) or hydration packs
Additionally, the message said there will be checkpoints along the route to ensure compliance with these new regulations and confiscated items will not be returned.
The finish area will be strictly limited to registered riders.
Originally published: April 23, 2013, 9:58 a.m.
Updated: April 23, 2013, 12:38 p.m.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Community members who had planned on attending an adult prom event planned by and postponed by The LGBT Community Center of Charlotte announced today that they are holding their own event on Friday, April 26, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., at L4 Lounge, 2906 Central Ave.
“We do support the center and L4 supports the center,” said Darrell Goldson, who is working to quickly organize the new event. “This is simply for the people who have already spent money and are disappointed with the fact that the prom has been postponed with no rescheduled date.”
The center had announced on Monday that its prom event, envisioned as an event for all ages and for those LGBT community members who couldn’t attend their high school proms, was being postponed due to a family illness of one of the event’s coordinators.
Goldson said he had heard rumors the event might be cancelled for weeks. He reached out to the center on Monday regarding those rumors. As a result, the center confirmed later that day that event was postponed.
“We apologize for any inconvenience that the postponement may cause our participants, but we want to make sure that the persons who proposed and organized the event are able to see the project become a reality, so we think it’s best to postpone it,” the organization announced.
Roberta Dunn, vice chair of the center’s board of trustees, said the center’s prom will be rescheduled but that a date has not yet been finalized. Tickets to the event had been sold for $25. Those who would like refunds for ticket purchases, she said, can email centeradministrator@gaycharlotte.com. Proceeds would have benefited the center.
Dunn also said she wasn’t aware of L4 Lounge or Goldson’s efforts to organize a new event. She said she would speak to center chair Scott Coleman to see if the center could support or promote the new event.
Goldson said the new event at L4 Lounge is meant to accommodate those who had already planned on attending the event and spent money toward tux rentals, babysitting and other logistics.
“I don’t think everybody should be out of money,” he said.
Goldson had planned on bringing as many as 20 friends to the event. For some, the event was very personal.
“This affects people deeply,” he said. “I went to my prom. I was able to take my boyfriend. My current husband was not. Out of 20 people I’m going with, I’m the only one who went to prom with his boyfriend. Everyone else had to go traditionally with a friend or a girlfriend. People from the transgender community in my group were planning to be able to go as their authentic self. People were very excited.”
Goldson said he wishes the best for the center coordinator’s family member. “If someone is sick, I wish them well, of course, but business is business. The show has to go on. If a DJ cancels last minute, you don’t stop the show. You scramble and get another DJ. You don’t cancel an event, especially, four days before the event.”
The L4 Lounge prom will feature entertainment, a DJ, dancing and a drag king contest. Admission is $5, which will be waived for those who present a ticket to the center’s postponed prom. Goldson said L4 Lounge’s owners would also buy center prom ticket-holders their first drink.
The center’s postponement of their prom is the second this month for the organization, which also postponed its “Being Gay-Going Gray” art exhibit. That event was supposed to open on April 12. A new date has not been announced.
The center is currently in a state of transition. Former operations manager O’Neale Atkinson left the organization at the end of March to take a position with Time Out Youth. The center announced last week that it had hired Glenn Griffin to replace Atkinson. Griffin begins work on May 6.
The center’s prom and the new L4 Lounge prom are not related to a similar event planned by Time Out Youth. Their event, for young people ages 13-20, will proceed as scheduled on Saturday, April 27, 7:30-10:30 p.m., at Grand Central, 1000 Central Ave.
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BROWNWOOD, Texas –
Event coordinators said this will be the biggest and best Easter egg hunt in central Texas.
Organizers for the Great Easter Egg Hunt feel the pressure as a thousand kids are expected at Coggin Park Saturday, March 30.
“Getting everything together is wild and everything, and you want to pull your hair out, but when you get here and you see these kids and how excited they are and just the enthusiasm they all have, it just makes everything worth it,” said event coordinator Meghan Mask.
Mask was busy making final arrangements for the hunt, meeting with sponsors who allow the Easter egg hunt to be free.
“We make everything available for the kids, from pony rides, hot dogs and Dr. Pepper, to the bounce house, everything is free,” said Mask.
Carter Fleet is a second grader at Brownwood Elementary School. He attended the hunt last year.
“We went to the bounce houses and we went Easter egg hunting, it was really fun,” said Fleet.
Fleet’s favorite thing about the Easter egg hunt isn’t the candy, it’s, “The Easter bunny!” said Fleet.
Speaking of candy, there will be plenty of it Saturday for the kids.
“Over 17,000 pieces of candy, plus almost 2,000 eggs that will be stuffed with candy, so there’s a lot,” said Mask.
Participants are asked to bring a basket or sack for each child.
There will be designated hunting areas for Pre-K through 3rd grade children.
Four-hundred people all doing yoga together under one teacher’s instruction sounds like some sort of North Carolina record, and that’s because it would be and might be thanks to an upcoming event.
Legacy Event Planners, backed by 16 different organizations, is hosting its second YogaFest from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 6 at N.C. State’s McKimmon Center.
For $35, the event will allow participants of all skill levels to take various yoga classes all day, ending in a large group class of 400 to learn together under one instructor.
In addition to the classes, 16 sponsoring exhibitors are set to be in attendance, according to Sarah Plonk, a senior in psychology and event manager.
Exhibitors include You Call This Yoga, the primary sponsor, as well as Irregardless Café, Acupuncture Associates, Ten Thousand Villages and others. Neomonde, a local Lebanese and Mediterranean café and deli, will cater the event.
“One of my main responsibilities was getting exhibitors at the event,” Plonk said. “The exhibitors are usually willing because it’s an opportunity to promote health and wellness.”
Along with involving businesses, Plonk said she spread awareness to hype the Raleigh community.
On its second year, the event planners already anticipate a little more than twice as many participants as last year, which had about 200. Planners have shifted their focus from just adults with various wellness problems to include students as well.
“I think the main aim last year was to get adults to come,” Plonk said. “I think now that I’m involved, as a student, they want to involve more students. They’re like, ‘Oh, you enjoy yoga? I had no idea younger generations enjoyed it.’”
Established in 2008 by three N.C. State students, Legacy Event Planners works with non-profit organizations to host various events.
Plonk started working with Legacy in January as event manager, but said she has mostly worked on organizing YogaFest.
“They dove me right into [the position],” Plonk said. “I interviewed on Tuesday, I had the job on Thursday, Sunday I was leading a meeting.”
YogaFest is the signature event for You Call This Yoga, a non-profit Dr. Howie Shareff founded in 2010.
Shareff said he first found yoga while in dental school when a teacher gave a demonstration. Fifteen years later, a patient encouraged him to take a class.
Yoga helped manage stress from his work as a dentist as well as with his athletic training, Shareff said.
When Shareff had to retire from dentistry due to arthritis, he turned to yoga to manage neck pain as well as to make a living.
“As I was approaching my 50s, I felt what I was doing would be beneficial to the boomers,” Shareff said.
Shareff had once made a wellness video for the baby boomer generation before starting his organization. Seeing yoga as an opportunity to help spread the ideas of health and wellness in an accessible way, Shareff founded You Call This Yoga.
“The mission of You Call This Yoga is to bring the benefits of yoga to community,” Shareff said.
Benefits of yoga, according to Plonk, are both physical and mental. Yoga helps with flexibility and preventative wellness by reducing the risk of muscular and skeletal problems. It also improves frame of mind, she said.
“Yoga works,” Shareff said. “It’s adaptable to the person, it can be free and can be done anywhere — even in a chair.”
To the editor — On behalf of the Sukiyaki Dinner Committee of the Yakima Buddhist Church we want to thank the community for supporting our 52nd annual Sukiyaki Dinner. We are proud to continue with a tradition that began over 50 years ago and has evolved to become a major social event in the community with nearly 2,000 participants each year.
We could not put on this event without the many volunteers and donors recruited from family, friends and the community at large. We are proud to have such caring, hardworking, tireless volunteers and a community that is willing to graciously support our event. It is a perfect example of the interdependence and interconnectedness in our communities.
We are very thankful for the local news media, community event coordinators, independent businesses, and individuals who helped us to publicize our event.
Please mark your calendars for the first Sunday in March 2014 for the 53rd annual Sukiyaki Dinner.
The event, which will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., is a result of a partnership between the N.C. Native Plant Society Southeastern Coastal Area Chapter, the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher and New Hanover County.
The uncontrolled spread of invasive plants is one important factor in the decline of our native plants, according to a county news release.
This event will teach participants how to identify invasive plants and proper removal methods while working hands-on in the garden.
Event coordinators are asking that participants bring work gloves, a shovel and pruners if possible. They also recommend wearing long sleeves, long pants and closed work shoes.
Pre-registration is required. For more information, go to www.ncwildflower.org/index.php/chapters/secoast/.
– Ashley Withers
Cyclists on the Westside will be able to join the car-free bike event CicLAvia as it rolls to Venice Beach on April 21, event planners announced on Thursday.
Although the route has yet to be finalized, CicLAvia organizers tentatively planned a itinerary from downtown L.A. to Venice Beach mostly via Venice Boulevard.
CicLAvia, inspired by the Colombian bike movement ciclovia, started in October 2010 in Los Angeles with about 100,000 participants. So far, most of the CicLAvia rides have centered around downtown L.A., Boyle Heights and Little Tokyo.
[Click here to see photos from last April's Flying Pigeon Shop Ride to CicLAVia]
But on Thursday, CicLAvia Executive Director Aaron Paley announced that two of the three scheduled rides will feature completely new routes.
In addition to the Venice ride in April, a second event will take place on June 23, winding its way along Wilshire Boulevard from downtown to the SoFax area. Paley said his goal is to eventually host a CicLAvia event every month.
The Oct. 6 ride is centered around downtown L.A. and will essentially be the same route as last year with some minor changes.
