Amoena and Young Survival Coalition Celebrate Breast Cancer Survivors With Contest and Cruise

/PRNewswire/ -- Amoena USA Corporation, the worldwide leader of post-surgery breast care products, is sponsoring the 4th Annual Breast Cancer Survivors Cruise. In 2010, for the first time, Amoena will honor survivors and the people who helped them through their recovery by awarding a cabin for the one with the most inspirational story to tell.

As part of the contest, Amoena wants to hear about young mothers who bravely endured treatments; women who, despite their diagnosis, remain positive and optimistic; friends who were there when a survivor was diagnosed, went to appointments and made the recovery process a little easier. The contest is a celebration of survivorship and friendship.

"Amoena's mission is to help restore dignity and a positive self-image to women who have fought breast cancer and won. No woman can go through the battle alone. They need someone by their side encouraging them," said Malissa Magyar, Marketing Manager for Amoena. "We're inspired by the women who have fought this fight, and we're inspired by those who helped them every step of the way to recovery. This contest is our way of celebrating them."

Amoena approached the Young Survival Coalition (YSC), an organization focused on addressing critical issues of women under 40 diagnosed with breast cancer, to help sponsor the contest and spread the word among its affiliates.

"As a survivor, I know how important it is to have a support system while you undergo treatment and the emotional ups and downs following a breast cancer diagnosis," said Courtney Bulger, Executive Director, YSC, Greater Metro Atlanta. "We're happy to join Amoena in promoting a contest that honors that support system."

Nominations are now being accepted through March 1, 2010. To nominate, write in 500 words or less, the inspirational story of the woman who never gave up and the people who encouraged her to keep fighting. Amoena will select one winner to receive a cabin for two on the 2010 Breast Cancer Survivors Cruise, May 2-8. YSC will cover travel costs for the winner and guest to the cruise's port city, Ft. Lauderdale.

To nominate someone, simply fill out the online form available at www.amoena.com/cruise.

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National Hot Dog & Sausage Council Extends Deadline for 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' Video Contest

RJ Note: Mmmmmm. Love those hot dogs at the baseball field. Guess I'd best head on out to see my hometown team soon.

/PRNewswire / -- Due to popular demand, the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council (NHDSC) today extended the deadline to June 13 for its song contest to create an updated version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" that includes a reference to hot dogs.

"The Council has received such positive feedback and requests for more time that we will extend the deadline one week to June 13," said the Queen of Wien -- NHDSC president Janet Riley. "We've received entries from people ranging in age from 5 to 70. We want to give Americans one more week to don their creative hats, fire up their cameras and send in a new version of this age-old song."

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game," which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008, includes a glaring omission. While hot dogs are the number one food served in major league ball parks, the song only references peanuts and Cracker Jack(TM).

Entries may be submitted online at www.hot-dog.org or by mail. Props and costumes are encouraged. Complete contest details may be found at www.hot-dog.org.

A panel of judges will review entries for their originality and excellence. Judges include: Washington D.C.'s "Man About Town," Bob Madigan, of WTOP radio; Chicago news and sports personality Bob Sirott of NBC5; hot dog historian Bruce Kraig, author of the new book Hot Dog; Agri-talk Radio Host Mike Adams; and Eric Haman, corporate communications manager at Hatfield Quality Meats and star of the YouTube sensation "The Hatfield Hot Dog Launcher."

Winners will be announced at the start of National Hot Dog Month July 1 and will be featured in an online video on www.youtube.com/hotdogcouncil.

Awards will be presented in the following categories:

-- Honorable Mention -- Five (5) pounds of gourmet hot dogs and a $50
gift certificate to MLB.com to be used for merchandise or game tickets
to select teams.
-- Third place -- Ten (10) pounds of gourmet hot dogs and a $100 gift
certificate to MLB.com to be used for merchandise or game tickets to
select teams.
-- Second Place -- Fifteen (15) pounds of gourmet hot dogs and a $250
gift card to MLB.com to be used for merchandise or game tickets to
select teams.

-- Grand Prize -- Twenty-five (25) pounds of gourmet hot dogs and a $500
gift card to MLB.com to be used for merchandise or game tickets to
select teams. Winner also will receive a souvenir baseball autographed
by Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.


"This year, Americans will consume 22 million hot dogs in Major League baseball parks," Riley said. "We thank America, in advance, for helping us correct this cultural oversight and for helping us give hot dogs their rightful place in 'Take Me Out To the Ball Game.'"

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Great American Cookies Launches Nationwide Search for the 'Great American Dad'

RJ Note: Dads are so very important to our lives. I just know Fayette County is the perfect place to find a great American dad. Why, I bet we have tons of them. Why not take a moment and let the world know about your special hero? I better put my pen where my mouth is and get to work on this!

/PRNewswire/ -- Great American Cookies announced today that the company has launched its first-ever search for the "Great American Dad." The Great American Dad Contest began Wednesday, May 13 and runs through Friday, July 31. During the contest, participants will be asked to tell the world, in 200 words or less, what makes their dad a "Great American Dad." The contest will be conducted completely online, with submissions accepted through the entry form available at www.greatamericancookies.com.

Prizes for the contest will be awarded in September and include:

-- Grand Prize: The "Ultimate Dad Den" courtesy of Great American
Cookies. Essential "ingredients" for creating a great in-home getaway
for Dad include a Sony BRAVIA(R) 52" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Sony Blu-ray
Disc Player and Sony BRAVIA(R) Home Theater System.
-- First Prize: Sony BRAVIA(R) 52" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV.

-- Runner Ups: (5) $50.00 gift certificates to Great American Cookies.


The contest opens during Great American Cookies Celebrating Everyday Heroes promotion and is supported by NexCen Franchise Management, Inc., a subsidiary of NexCen Brands, Inc.

"Customers tell our franchisees every day how much they appreciate the heroes in their lives when they order Cookie Cakes and gift tins," said Jenn Johnston, senior vice president of brand marketing for NexCen Franchise Management, Inc. "During this contest we expect to hear some wonderful, funny, touching and even quirky stories about some of the most unsung heroes...dads."

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Georgia Army Officer Wins Week Three IWantMyManCave.com Contest Prize

RJ Note: Man Cave? Hey, remember that women have come a long way and also like their own spaces! Ever think about "I want my woman spa"?

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sports fan Lloyd Dillard from Savannah, Ga., is the third weekly winner of the IWantMyManCave.com contest sponsored by Bill Me Later®. Upon his return from Iraq, the Army Chief Warrant Officer faced stiff competition, with thousands of entries received in the third week of the contest. He is also eligible to win the grand prize – a Man Cave makeover valued at up to $15,000. As a weekly winner, he receives prizes from Fathead.

“I’m not sure what hurt more – watching Lloyd break down in tears over his busted big screen TV or the glare from the bright yellow paint in his Man Cave,” said Chris Williams, vice president of marketing for Bill Me Later, Inc. “While Lloyd’s TV looks to be a Man Cave casualty, the Fathead wall-size poster prize will quickly resuscitate Lloyd’s Man Cave décor, and kick start his Cave’s recovery. In less than a month, Bill Me Later has studied thousands of Man Cave calamities, but there’s only one remedy – the grand prize Man Cave makeover!”

What is a Man Cave?

A Man Cave is a room that includes male-centric style and is used for watching sports, shooting pool, and being with the guys. It is frequently where the cave dweller displays items considered undesirable for display elsewhere in the home by their significant other. The 2008 Man Cave Survey of 1,000 consumers found there are 11 million Man Caves in America and 24 percent of Man Cave dwellers spend more than 20 hours a week in their Cave.

Bill Me Later’s retail partners have everything needed to build a man’s paradise in his home, and the grand prize winner will fill their Man Cave with up to $15,000 of merchandise from merchants, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Newegg, Fathead, Sports Authority, FogDog, Lenovo, Blendtec and TigerDirect.

How to Enter the Bill Me Later “Win a Man Cave” Challenge

Contestants can log onto www.IWantMyManCave.com for a complete list of sponsors, rules and deadlines for the “Win a Man Cave” Challenge. Each cave dweller must submit a short essay detailing why they deserve a Man Cave. Essays can be augmented with a video or photos further detailing the need for a Man Cave. Contestants can also browse the Bill Me Later merchant prize pool and select the items they’d like to win to build their dream Man Cave.

Video and photo submissions can be posted, and will be viewed and shared online at www.IWantMyManCave.com. Visitors to the site can comment and vote for the Cave they feel is most in need of a makeover or the contestant who they think needs a Cave the most. Caves for consideration can be posted until November 19, 2008, by the cave dwellers themselves or by friends and family members that feel that the time has come for a change. The ultimate Man Cave winner will be announced on December 2, 2008, at www.IWantMyManCave.com.

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Girls-- Get Your Creative Game On!

RJ Note: Come on. Get off that sofa and out of the pool. This sounds like a fun activity for a hot summer day.

Girls-- Get Your Creative Game On!
Rack Rooms Shoes Announces Shoe Naming Contest for Girls 7-12

The Milly’s? The Emma’s? The Cindy’s? Just like girls themselves, girls shoes go by very cool names these days. Since it can be such a tough job to think of all these highly creative brand names, Rack Room Shoes is asking some of its most important customers to weigh in. Girl’s ages 7 to 12 are invited to enter their most creative shoe name and even a logo design if they like, for Rack Room Shoes 2008 Name That Shoe Contest!

Entering is easy. Sales associates at any Rack Room Shoe stores will happily provide an entry form or the entry forms and rules can be downloaded from rackroomshoes.com. “This is a fun way to get our younger customers involved in the process. We encourage them to get creative, and share their most zany, brainy or fun shoe names. They can also sketch a logo for the shoe if they like, it’s optional,” says Jan Mauldin, Rack Room Shoes director of marketing. Entry forms must be returned to stores or mailed by July 12, 2008. A parent or legal guardians signature is required on the form.

Rack Room Shoes creative team will select a winner based on originality. The Winner will receive a year’s worth of free shoes (valued at $600) and a $1,000 scholarship. The Winner and their shoe name will also be featured on the Rack Room Shoes website.

“You can enter as often as you like,” says Mauldin. “We’re counting on getting flooded with entries from all the up-and-coming shoe lovers, designers and marketers out there!”

Soldiering on to Miss America title?

Ramling' Jan: Wow. That's my first reaction to reading about this impressive 24 year old from Utah! She typifies true American spirit and would be an outstanding poster child for everything USA!

Photo: Utah Army National Guard Sgt. Jill Stevens, who is competing in the Miss America pageant as Miss Utah, plays with children while serving as a medic in Afghanistan in 2004.

Guard Medic Focuses On Miss America Title
By Staff Sgt. Rebecca Doucette, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 - Utah Army National Guard Sgt. Jill Stevens' "personal combat zone" has shifted from Afghanistan to Nevada, from a minefield to a beauty contest, from combat boots to high heels.

The 24-year-old Stevens also is Miss Utah, and she is a contestant in the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas, which will be televised Jan. 26 on The Learning Channel.

Stevens, a combat medic with the Utah Guard, has a resume that isn't what you would typically expect from a soldier, or a pageant contestant, for that matter: graduate, summa cum laude, Southern Utah University; soldier, Army National Guard; veteran, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan; contestant, 2008 Miss America Live.

If she wins the crown, Stevens will be the first Miss America to have served in a combat zone, a pageant spokesperson said. She would become the 80th Miss America overall for the pageant, which began in 1921, according to the Miss America Web site. (There were eight years when a new Miss America was not named).

In her duties as Miss Utah, Stevens has traveled from Florida to California, from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana to the streets of Washington, D.C. She has spoken to generals from 40 countries.

Back in Utah, she talks about her military experiences with students from preschool through college and challenges them to push-up contests.

"We have our personal combat zone," Stevens tells students. "I served in one in Afghanistan. We all have them in life, whether it be with school, family, peer pressure or finding a career. It's our own minefield and we have to learn to dodge the mines by keeping focus on the target, not doubting ourselves, and believing what our potential is and what we can do."

Like other citizen-soldiers and -airmen, Stevens stays busy and balances life out of uniform with life in uniform. She recently said she hopes the pageant audience and judges see beyond her military uniform to the full complexity of her life.

"I don't want to showcase this in a, 'Oh, look at me, I'm a soldier, I serve my country, you should pick me' kind of way," she said. "I want them to think. I want them to look at Jill Stevens and see the whole picture of everything that I do, and being a soldier is a huge part of that, but there's a lot more."

Nevertheless, her pageant platform mirrors the Guard's domestic playbook: "Ready when disaster strikes – emergency preparedness for everyone."

"That comes from my soldier side of being ready for anything," Stevens said. "As a medic, we have to be ready for any injury that we face on missions."

And Stevens draws on her Guard experiences – from Basic Combat Training to a combat zone – in her talks with students.

"I talk about going through the gas chamber, and I relate that to doubt in our lives," she said. "I talk about shooting at a range, relating that to goals – how we need to keep focused on the target. I talk about running through a minefield in life."

The final stop on her run for the title of Miss America is a four-day competition in Las Vegas, culminating with the crowning of the winner on national TV.

Conspicuously absent from the competition will be Stevens' military uniform. But with the help of the American Legion, at least 50 of her fellow soldiers will attend the final night of the pageant at Planet Hollywood on Jan 26.

That arrangement started when a former Miss America, Sharlene Wells, called the Miss America Organization to say that a group of Utah National Guard soldiers wanted to come to the pageant and show their support, but had no budget to buy tickets.

The organization in turn called the American Legion, which offered to sponsor the soldiers and pay for their tickets to attend.

"The motto for the American Legion is 'for God and Country,' and that's exactly what Stevens is doing," said Joe March, the Legion's public relations director. "She stands as a great example of a proud American who is dedicated not only to her country, but to her community and her comrades."

As she goes into the competition, Stevens said "My target is Miss America. The military has taught me if I practice, work hard at it and keep focus on the target, I'll be ready."

(Editor's note: Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill contributed to this report. Greenhill and Staff Sgt. Rebecca Doucette work for the National Guard Bureau.)

James Brown Memory

A few years back a group of us were in Augusta for a convention. One night we hit a local bar and restaurant on the river for dinner. We hadn't been there long before James Brown and his entourage dropped in. We didn't know it was one of the places he liked to frequent, but we soon learned he was somewhat of a regular.

It was interesting talking with him for a few minutes. If I hadn't been at the right time at the right place that little tiny exchange wouldn't have happened. Can't tell you the name of the restaurant 'cause I don't remember, can't tell you what I said to him 'cause it was no more than typical surface talk that you have with someone you don't know.

What is interesting is how when paths cross, no matter how lightly, some sort of connection is formed. I payed attention to new articles and was saddened to hear of his death. He was so alive it was hard to imagine a world without him.

Now I find that I click on stories about all the hoopla that continues to occur after his death.

Five of his children are contesting his will. It's a family brawl that I imagine will leave scars that will never heal.

Money has a way of tearing people apart. Brothers and sisters who have shared their closest confidences become bitter enemies when a parent dies and things have to be split.

Brown left a large portion of his estate to charity. Commendable. He also took care of his grandkids. Again, commendable. I would assume he felt his older children were capable of standing on their own two feet, taking care of themselves. Obviously, they disagree.

While he definitely didn't lead a perfect life by any stretch of the imagination, most of us will remember Brown for his antics, his enthusiasm, his music. I think it's time for me to stop reading articles about James Brown and let the memories of his music be what I think about when I hear his name.