Howling Diablos Clean Up at Detroit Music Awards

It was a big night for a veteran band at the Detroit Music Awards.

Funk-rock stalwarts the Howling Diablos and front man Tino Gross snared eight trophies to dominate the proceedings at the 21st annual DMAs, staged Friday night at the Fillmore Detroit.

Gross took outstanding record producer honors, while the Diablos scored trophies across a variety of categories, including R&B group, urban-funk group and rock-pop recording for the album "Ultra Sonic Gas Can."

Winners in 72 categories were recognized Friday. Last year's six-time winner, Ty Stone, swept his three nominations, including outstanding country artist and songwriter.

also see: trophies, custom pins and corporate awards

Crown Trophy Hosts Chamber Mixer

Members of the Cypress Chamber of Commerce came together after regular working hours to mix and mingle at Crown Trophy.

Al Umbarila, owner of Crown Trophy and a member of the Chamber, welcomed everyone with a smile, a handshake and a buffet spread that included shrimp, salami, cheese and wine. He also took special care to point out a new acrylic wall fixture at the front of his shop: a community display that allows Chamber members and others to place flyers and business cards in a prominent position that walk-in customers will notice. Orange County Breeze took advantage immediately.

Crown Trophy takes up two adjacent locations at 4698 and 4694 Lincoln Avenue in Cypress, between Moody and Denni Streets, in a light industrial center that fronts ExtraSpace Storage. Crown started in the storefront at 4698, then expanded into the next door space as business grew.

In addition to trophies for sports competitions and business awards, Crown can also provide pins, medallions, plaques and ribbons. Their seasonal gifts include tree ornaments, stemware, a wine gift box (wine not included!) and a wooden pen case. Specialty items cover 4H, Boy Scouts, military, fire and police, recognition medals styled like dog tags, and championship sport rings.

also see: trophies, custom pins and corporate awards

Scholarship Fund to Benefit from Car Show

A tradition that began 15 years ago continues to raise money for the Emporia State University General Academic Scholarship fund. Commercial Street from 10th and 11th Avenues will become a display for various vehicles during the 15th Annual Custom Car Show. The 2010 event raised $1,000. This year’s goal is $2,000.

Show director Gilbert Rodriguez founded the car show after assisting with a car club in Wichita. “Latino Dreams used to have car shows there every year,” Rodriguez said. “The money they raised they used to give it to Big Brothers Big Sisters. They used to have it in Century II and Lowrider Magazine was there.” From that show the idea of the Emporia show was formed.

The annual event presented by the Emporia Brown Express Athletic Club, the ESU Karate Club and the ESU Newman Kansas Association of nursing students will feature categories of antique, classic, domestic 1980 to 1995, domestic 1996-2012, corvette, street rod, hot rod, low rider, muscle car, imports, Camaro, trucks, sport utility vehicles, under construction and miscellaneous vehicles. The Camaro category is new this year.

First and second place winners will receive awards. There will also be a Dan Tebbetts Memorial Trophy, best of show awards, two foot trophy and the new Cashiuss Sky Becker Memorial Camaro Trophy. There will also be first place trophies in the paint, graphics and interior club participation, first and second place trophies in the sound off stereo contest, SPL competition classes including competition for one to two 10, 12, and 15 inch subwoofers, and the Ultimate Class.

Family entertainment will also be provided including Neil Tebbetts’s DJ T6 Entertainment, DJ Boris Monster Sound, National anthem sung by Stephanie Cervantes and Jaime Izaguirre, pinatas, mystery face and body painting, photographer, Jennifer Abbasi, Latin Illution performance dancing with Mickey Enriqez and Katy Garcia instructors, singing by Stephanie Cervantes, Angela Felipe and Jaime Izaguirre from the Sandra Burden School of Dancing, a performance by local hip-hop artist C-Major and a Zumba dance class by Genesis Health Club.

Shelvey 'We Exist To Win Trophies'

Jonjo Shelvey believes Liverpool Football Club exists to win trophies and victory in the FA Cup final would mean 2011/12 has been a good season for the Reds. A patchy campaign in the league has been offset by the club landing the Carling Cup - the first silverware brought back to Anfield in six years.

If Kenny Dalglish's men can secure the FA Cup as well, Shelvey believes the season can be viewed as a success. “If we are to win two cups in a season we must have been doing okay,” said the former Charlton midfielder in an exclusive interview with LFC magazine. If we win the FA Cup it will have been a very good season. Liverpool Football Club is about winning trophies and two out of three wouldn’t be bad, would it?”

Shelvey, 20, is ambitious to be a regular starter in the Premier League and is eyeing a place in Dalglish's plans for the cup final against Chelsea. He hopes to do enough in the next two games to prove he's worth a place in the Wembley squad on May 5.

“I would like chances in the next few league games to try and force my way into the squad for the final but it’s down to the manager. I’ll just keep doing everything I can in training and in the game time that I get to prove to him I’m worth a place.”

Oratory Contest Has Sponsors for 71 Trophies

Encourage children and watch them do wonders.

The comment was made by the chief executive officer of Save the Children Fiji, Chandra Shekhar as he acknowledged the presentation of 71 trophies for the national oratory contest.

The trophies were given by the competition core sponsor, Life Insurance Corporation of India yesterday at SC Fiji's headquarters in Suva.

"Competitions begin next week with 148 schools having registered for the oratory contest," Mr Shekhar said.

The CEO acknowledged the contribution of partners who have helped the efforts of the non-governmental organization. LICI's Fiji operations General Manager, Krishnan Narasimhan said his corporation was always happy to partner with SCFiji in their efforts towards helping children in the country.

"There is an abundance of good talent that needs to be brought forward in competitions like these," Mr Narasimhan said. Mr Shekhar sad the finals of the contest would be held in the west.

Prince Harry to Present Marathon Trophies

Prince Harry will present trophies to the winners of Sunday's Virgin London Marathon, a spokeswoman for the race has announced.

The prince, who became patron of the London Marathon Charitable Trust this year, will hand trophies to the first three finishers in the men's and women's races, and those in the men's and women's wheelchair events.

He will also present prizes to winners in the Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon. The event involves young runners aged 11 to 17 from across the country in races over the final three miles of the course.

Joint race director David Bedford said: "We are delighted to have Prince Harry with us to present awards to our runners this year. Prince Harry is a great supporter of the event and it is especially fitting to have a royal presence during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year."

Some of the runners will be started from Blackheath on their 26.2-mile journey through the capital by British Olympic medallist Dorothy Tyler. Tyler won silver medals in the high jump at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, when she was only 16, and at the London Games in 1948, making her the only woman to to win Olympic athletics medals before and after the Second World War. She also competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games.

"I still love athletics and look forward to starting the London Marathon," said the 92-year-old who lives in south London. "It's nice to still be involved even at my age."
She will set off elite women, elite men and wheelchair athletes from the blue start between 9am and 9.45am.

Mr Bedford added: "It's fantastic to have Dorothy with us to start the race. She is a true legend of the sport and it's fitting to have a great Olympian with us just three months before the London Olympic Games."

At 9.45am, Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham, will set off runners at the green start and Jim Gillman, Mayor of the London Borough of Greenwich, will start those at the red start. A total of 36,000 runners have registered for this year's marathon.

Spring Show Celebrates Corvette Club’s 20 Years

The Twin Rivers Corvette Club celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special Corvette event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Joe Alcoke Chevrolet Dealership at 3405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in New Bern.

Registration is from 9 to 10 a.m. in either the Trophy or Certificate categories.
There is an entry fee of $20, which includes a commemorative T-shirt, goody bag, hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, drink and cake.

There will also be a 50/50 drawing and door prizes.

Registration Trophy Category will have first- and second-place trophies for C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6, as well as trophies for People’s Choice and Children’s Choice.
The Certificate of Participation Category allows you to drive your car in and park.
The event goes will be held rain or shine, and it will help support the club’s charities.

The TRCC supports the Wounded Warriors, MADD, The Food Bank of Eastern North Carolina, the Honor Flight, Carteret Community College and the club’s own GYSGT Michael S. Casey Annual Toy Run to the Marines and their families at the New River Air Station.

Beckman and Trophies Go Together at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Jack Beckman cherishes each of the 12 trophies he's won in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. But when pressed, admits that two are a little closer to his heart.
And each is from zMAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

The first was earned when he won the inaugural Funny Car event title at the track in 2008. The other was won a year ago in the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals, which will be held this weekend for the third straight year.

"The two trophies in my collection I value the most are both from Charlotte. I won the inaugural race there, and you'll only ever have one of those. And I won the Four-Wide last year and it's such a unique event that it makes that trophy special."

When Beckman and his Freightliner/Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger R/T arrive at Charlotte for Friday qualifying the team will be ranked third in Funny Car points after finishing second last season to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan for the series championship.

The unique format or four-car heats throughout qualifying and Sunday's championship eliminations is another challenge for the veteran racer and drag racing instructor.

"When my friends say they're going to take a vacation and want to go to an NHRA event they've never attended I tell them the Four-Wide has to be on top of their list. It's so different. When you think how on earth can you top two 8,000-horsepower cars well, there are two choices: You either put a jump or Hot Wheels loop halfway down the track, which is not a good idea, or you put four cars side by side."

Beckman seems to thrive on a challenge and that's what the Four-Wide presents with two pairs of lanes being separated by a guardwall. "You can't see the other track because of the other wall so staging is something you have to think about. It has been challenging to synchronize how you can start four cars with engines that that only have a maximum of 2 minutes and 15 seconds to run."

Once NHRA and CompuLink developed a unique starting system for the Four-Wide concept, drivers faced new challenges in championship eliminations on Sunday when two cars advanced in each four-car heat.

"Qualifying is the same as two-wide racing but not eliminations," Beckman said. "At every other NHRA event there is one winner and one loser, now two advance. If you smoke the tires in eliminations and know you can't catch the car next to you normally you shut off. But in the Four-Wide, you can finish second and move onto the next round. Because you can't see the cars in the adjacent par of lanes you don't know if either of them had bigger trouble so you have to get your car to the finish line.”

NISD Schools Ace Junior ROTC National Championship

Twenty-eight schools throughout the United States competed at the 2012 Air Force Junior ROTC National Drill Championship on March 17 in Macon, Ga., but it was three Northside Air Force Junior ROTC programs — from Brandeis, Clark and Jay high schools — that won the majority of trophies and all four titles.

Of the 28 trophies on display in each division, NISD's armed teams won 21 trophies, the championship and the top four spots. NISD unarmed teams won 16 trophies, the championship and the top three spots.

Maj. Donald Shackelford, the senior aerospace science instructor at Clark High School, reported “A cadet from another competing school was asked by his instructor, ‘What happened? Last year, we did well. This year, we didn't win anything.'

The cadet's response was, “Sir, Texas showed up.”

“We congratulate the cadets and instructors for their outstanding performances. Hard work and dedication always pay big dividends,” Shackelford added.

Kyle Bush Looking for 1st Win at Martinsville

One look at Kyle Busch’s ever-growing trophy case reveals an assortment of trophies for his now 104 overall wins among NASCAR’s top three series, which includes 23 Sprint Cup Series wins. In fact, one whole trophy case features 12 trophies alone from the high-banked Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway half-mile oval.

But even though Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has more trophies than he probably knows what to do with, there’s one glaring omission from another famous half-mile short track – the traditional, seven-foot-tall clock that Martinsville (Va.) Speedway president Clay Campbell’s late grandfather and track founder, H. Clay Earles, began awarding Martinsville race winners more than five decades ago.

Needless to say, Busch, the talented 26-year-old driver, has his sights set on getting that long-awaited maiden victory at Martinsville, the site of Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Of the 23 venues that will host Sprint Cup events in 2012, Busch has won at least once at 20 of those venues in at least one of NASCAR’s top three divisions – Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck. There are only three current Sprint Cup tracks – Martinsville, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway – where Busch has not scored a victory in any of NASCAR’s top three series.

Despite the lack of a Martinsville grandfather clock, Busch has plenty of reasons for optimism this weekend, considering how he has been able to pick up his game at the .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval ever since being paired with crew chief Dave Rogers.
During a three-race stretch starting when he joined Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the spring of 2008, the Las Vegas native never finished better than 24th at Martinsville. But Busch’s fortunes there began to turn around with a solid fourth-place finish in the fall of 2009.