Wednesday, April 15, 1998 | 9:20 a.m.
Benefits
* SECRETARIES DAY LUNCHEON -- Professional Secretaries International presents the official observance of Professional Secretaries Week with a secretaries day luncheon 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m. April 22 at the Stardust hotel-casino. Sponsored in part by the Howard Hughes Corporation and Southwest Gas, this year's theme is "Success By Design." Kenny Guinn is the guest speaker. There will be opportunities to win raffle prizes. Proceeds benefit the Arthritis Foundation. Tickets are $25. To become a corporate sponsor, donate raffle items or for reservations, call the Arthritis Foundation, 367-1626.
* STARSTRUCK '98 -- A celestial-themed gala, StarStruck '98, to benefit the Community College of Southern Nevada will be 6:30 p.m. Saturday on the Cheyenne Campus. Students will host and cater the event which will include a cocktail reception, a gourmet feast, dancing, a live auction and a preview from the musical "Carousel." Throughout the night, guests will be shown different areas of the campus and the work being done by students. Tickets are $150 -- a portion of which is tax-deductible. Cocktail attire is suggested. An RSVP is requested by today. For more information, call Norma Bucelato, 651-4319.
* CAMPAIGN FOR KIDS -- A fund-raiser and bowling parties to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada will be Saturday and Sunday at the Santa Fe, Gold Coast and Orleans hotel-casinos. The 1998 goal is to raise $175,000 to match 100 children with a Big Brother or a Big Sister. For more information, call 731-2227.
* CATTLE BARON'S BALL -- The American Cancer Society's Cattle Baron's Ball, a black tie affair -- minus the black tie -- will be 7-11 p.m. Saturday at the Legends in Concert Arabian Ranch. Ballgoers will have southwestern food, country-western dancing, an Arabian horse show, pig races, a live and silent auction and performances by Legends in Concert, direct from the Imperial Palace. KLAS TV Channel 8 and KLASSY 100-FM are sponsoring the event. Tickets are $125-$150 and may be purchased by calling 798-6877. All proceeds will assist the American Cancer Society with research, education and a variety of patient services.
* BAKING A DIFFERENCE -- In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Marie Callender's is Baking a Difference at local high schools by donating a portion of pie sales made through April 30. Local restaurants are adopting an area high school and will donate $.50 for every slice of pie sold above and beyond April 1997 sales, with a minimum donation of $100 per school. Ask your server for more details.
* COLOR US FRIENDS -- The Sunrise Children's Hospital Foundation presents "Color Us Friends" gala and celebrity art auction with a tribute to Red Skelton. Proceeds will benefit pediatric education and research. The evening, which includes dinner and auctions of gift packages, Red Skelton paintings and celebrity memorabilia, begins at 6:30 p.m. April 25 at the Las Vegas Hilton, 3000 Paradise Road. Cost is $125 per person. Other activities include the "Color Us Friends" circus luncheon and "Under the Big Top" kids' day. The luncheon will be 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. April 24 at the Las Vegas Hilton. Cost is $20. Kids' Day, presented by Circus Circus hotel-casino and sponsored by Klassy 100-FM, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Prime Cable TV, Universal Events, Pepsi, Wienerschnitzel and Meehan & Assoc., will include circus acts, games, singing/ dancing groups, hot dogs, drinks, popcorn and desserts, clowns, arts and crafts and karate demonstrations. The "world's largest crayon box" will house the ticket booth. The event runs from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the Boulevard Mall, 3528 S. Maryland Parkway.
* TRAVELING ART EXHIBIT -- An art exhibition, presented by the Bridgewater Corp., National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and hosted by Allied Arts Council of Southern Nevada, will be presented through April 25, at 401 S. Fourth St., Suite 110. A special reception will be 5-9 p.m. Monday. The traveling art exhibits, "Sunshine from Darkness" and the "1998 Celebration of the Light" are done by gifted artists challenging mental illness. Proceeds from the exhibit will strengthen the guidance programs at Bridgewater. For more information, call 386-4804.
Getting results
* FEEDING THE HUNGRY -- Philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein's offer to match up to $1 million nationwide to emergency food providers from Feb. 4-14 prompted an overwhelming response of $32,961,228 from donors all over the country. Being donations were well over the $1 million mark, Feinstein's million will be divided among the respondents. Checks will be distributed by mid-April. In Nevada, $48,480 was raised to help the hungry.
* COW DONATION -- The Wells Fargo Foundation is matching the public North Las Vegas Community Development Block Grant dollars in order to provide preschool services to the youngsters in North Las Vegas. Classroom on Wheels is a free, bilingual preschool and accredited drug prevention program. Parenting classes are part of the program and are held twice monthly with parent-driven topics including everything from discipline to sibling rivalry. Fondly known as the COW Program, the children being served are identified as at-risk 3 to 5 year olds.
* TWICE THE SUPPORT -- The Boys and Girls Club of Las Vegas received a contribution of $1,779.14 from the employees of Two Dogs Tavern. The grand-opening party at 3740 S. Nellis Blvd., on March 31, was successful not only in introducing the new establishment to the public, but also in generating "Twice the Support" for the Boys and Girls Club. The funds were generated by the donation of employee tips, proceeds from the "balloon pop" and Big Dog's Hospitality Group. The "balloon pop" offered guests a variety of offers on their next visit for $2. For more information, call 433-3383.
Good sports
* MS WALK -- This month, a walk around the block can make a difference for more than a thousand people in Southern Nevada. The public is invited to form "TeaMS" and participate in the 1998 MS Walk, the annual charity fund-raiser on behalf of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, to benefit those in Southern Nevada afflicted with MS. The walk -- part of a national event that involves more than 300,000 walkers at 400 sites across the country -- will be 9 a.m. Saturday at Hughes Center, between Sands Ave. and Flamingo Road. David Cassidy, star of "EFX" is this year's spokesperson. Rest stops, refreshments and entertainment will be available along the route, which will offer participants a fun and interactive way to raise funds for local programs offered by the MS Society. To participate, call 736-7272.
Honors
* HOSPITAL COMMENDATION -- UMC was awarded a commendation in a recent survey performed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. An independent, not-for-profit organizations, JCAHO evaluates and accredits nearly 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. The accreditation status, effective for three years, applies to all services offered by UMC that were surveyed by the Joint Commission. The Joint Commissions' commendation comes after the recent announcement by HCIA that UMC is one of the Top Performing Hospitals in the Nation (1997).
* UNLV FOUNDATION DINNER -- Three new members of the UNLV Palladium Society of million-dollar donors will be honored during the UNLV Foundation Annual Dinner Friday at the Mirage hotel-casino. The honorees are Alliance Gaming Corp.; Jimma Lee and Donna Beam; and Kitty Rodman. They will be recognized for their supporting academic programs at UNLV. The foundation also will celebrate the university's 40th anniversary. Former first lady Barbara Bush will be the keynote speaker. The dinner is by invitation only to member of the UNLV Foundation. For more information, call 895-3641.
* MILLENNIUM BUG -- Robert William Bemer, will be the keynote speaker for this year's Tandy Technology Scholars ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Ballroom B at the Las Vegas Hilton Towers. The Tandy ceremony honors outstanding teachers attending the 1998 meeting of the National Science Teachers Association. Each teacher will receive a $2,500 prize and a certificate of recognition. Bemer, a computer programmer, will discuss a method he has devised to help solve the year 2000 problem -- often called the "millennium bug." Since much of the existing code assumes the "19" and interprets "00" as 1900 instead of the year 2000, many people fear this problem could have a catastrophic effect on the world's information systems. Bemer has developed a program to recognize and automatically correct erroneous years.
* SAFE DRIVER -- Julia Kirby, a delivery team member for the Domino's Pizza store located at 4777 E. Charleston Blvd., has been honored for accumulating 5,000 hours of safe driving. Kirby received a specially designed uniform cap and shirt. A safe-driving hour is one in which the delivery team member has no at-fault accidents, no traffic tickets on or off the clock, nor a Domino's Pizza safety violation citation.
Special needs
* GOOD TURN DAYS -- This month, several hundred of Clark County's youngest citizens will make a contribution by helping Las Vegas residents with disabilities and other special needs. The project, which involves hundreds of hours contributed by local Girl Scouts, is called Good Turn Days. During the project which runs through April 30, Frontier Girl Scout Council Girl Scouts will ask family, friends and neighbors for gently used clothing and other household items. People with disabilities will be able to start new lives of independence through work at Goodwill of Southern Nevada. Each Girl Scout troop and individual Girl Scouts who participate in Good Turn Days receive special awards and recognition. For more information, call Kelle Boteilho, 385-3677, Ext. 236.
* MMM... MMM... GOOD -- St. Jude's Ranch for Children is asking people not to throw their Campbell's soup labels away, but instead mail them to St. Jude's and they'll be turned in for minivans, which are used for field trips or even just for the children going to the store. To obtain one seven-passenger Dodge minivan, St. Jude's has to collect 874,000 labels. With public participation, St. Jude's has acquired seven minivans and four larger 15-passenger vans (which require 1.1 million labels). "If people only have two or three labels, and there are thousands of people, that adds up," says Eloise Blue, a volunteer at St. Jude's. To help St. Jude's obtain a van, send your Campbell's soup labels to St. Jude's Ranch for Children, 100 S. Jude's St., 60100 Boulder City, NV 89005.
* VEHICLE DONATION PROGRAM -- The American Lung Association of Nevada is working to help clean the air and raise much-needed funds to help children in the Las Vegas suffering from asthma. Residents are being urged to donate old cars, trucks, boats and other vehicles for ALAN's ongoing Vehicle Donation Program. Proceeds help support the American Lung Association's fight to control and prevent asthma and other lung diseases, the third leading cause of death in America. Residents may receive a tax-deductible donation for the fair-market of the vehicle, which ALAN will pick up. For more information, call 431-6333.
* SPRING CLEANING -- Goodwill Industries Attended Donations Center trailers are open for donation collection 9 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week and are located in the parking lots of: Mountain View Hospital, Tenaya Way and Cheyenne Ave.; Sam's Club, Spring Mountain Road and Rainbow Blvd.; Cheyenne Self Storage, Cheyenne and Rampart; and Wal-Mart, Nellis and Charleston boulevards. Lots of people will be doing their spring cleaning of their closets, garages and sheds and have a collection of stuff too nice to throw away. Goodwill is hoping you'll drop your stuff off at one of their four locations. For more information, call 597-1107.
Volunteers
* CHRISTMAS IN APRIL -- Christmas in April, a local volunteer organization, which partners with the community to rehabilitate the homes of low-income homeowners, particularly the elderly and disabled, is looking for volunteers with knowledge and expertise to assist in the renovation of homes selected for repair on April 25. If you wish to volunteer, call 474-2425.
* NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK -- Beginning Monday through Sunday, the Arthritis Foundation is celebrating the 25th annual National Volunteer Week, sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Points of Light Foundation. "Volunteer! Get Connected!" is this years theme. To find out about ways you can volunteer, call 367-1626. The Arthritis Foundation supports research to find ways to cure and prevent arthritis diseases, and seeks to improve the quality of life for those affected by arthritis.
* ANGEL BABIES -- Community Angels Inc., a nonprofit organization, provides handmade baby layettes to babies in need in Nevada hospitals and shelters. Volunteers are needed to knit, crochet, quilt and sew premature and full-term baby hats, booties, sweaters, clothing and blankets. Some materials and patterns may be provided. Community Angels also collects new and good-condition blankets, coats, clothing, food, diapers, formula and books to donate to shelters, along with collecting school supplies for at-risk schools. If you would like more information or to volunteer or donate, call Melinda Gorley, 361-6321.
* WE CAN VOLUNTEERS -- WE CAN needs volunteers for public awareness events. Volunteers will distribute material and help inform the public about their programs and child abuse and neglect issues. For more information, call Poco Davis, 368-1533. The Family to Family Connection is also looking for volunteers to work as family specialists or parent-family representatives on a board or council If interested, call Leanne Earnest at 486-3530.
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