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The fourth annual Paris Area Ride of Silence starts at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Love Civic Center.
“It’s a funeral procession on bicycles,” organizer Brad Aldridge said. “That’s the atmosphere we’re trying to create.”
Because of that, the Ride is kept to a slow pace of 12 mph or less over a short, 8-mile route. It’s also silent – no talking, cell phones or mp3 players. Helmets are required.
Cyclists will begin gathering at 6:30, with the Ride leaving at 7 p.m. with a police escort. The ride is open to cyclists 12 years and older, and anyone under 16 should ride alongside a parent. They will leave the civic center and go down Collegiate to Lamar, downtown around the square and back via Jefferson.
Ride of Silence is an international event. Each is held as a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. It’s also designed to raise awareness that bike riders are out there. Cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, but people in cars don’t always notice the bicycles are there.
“I’ve been hit by a car. It ran a stop sign,” Aldridge said. “I got some road rash and bruised up.”
The first Ride of Silence was held in 2003 at White Rock Lake in Dallas. Chris Phelan organized the event after the mirror of a passing bus hit and killed his friend and endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz. It was supposed to be a one-time event, but as word got out about the ride, other cyclists contacted Phelan to participate.
Aldridge organized the first local ride three years ago after Richard Davenport was killed April 21, 2010, while cycling on Bonham Street. The event was held in his honor. His widow, Mary Davenport, has been at the start of the previous rides.
“The next year, we did it again. It’s a fixed date – the third Wednesday of May,” he said. “Worldwide, there will be approximately 300 rides taking place.”
May is Bicycle Safety Month.
For more information, contact Brad Aldridge at 903-491-4702 or christcommunitychurch@suddenlinkmail.com. For more information on Ride of Silence, visit http://www.rideofsilence.org/.
The Leadership Lamar County class of 2012-2013 will host the first annual co-ed softball tournament to benefit the Red River Valley Down Syndrome Society’s R.E.A.C.H. Center on May 17th & 18th at Wise Field.
The tournament is double elimination and there will be plaques awarded to 1st and 2nd place.
The Leadership class is encouraging team signups — registration deadline is Tuesday, May 14. The team registration fee is $200, and all proceeds benefit the Red River Valley Down Syndrome Society, so your playing for an amazing cause. Get your teams together and sign up.
For more information contact (903) 737-2327.
See the flyer for details.
Click to enlarge.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) East Texas is partnering with North Lamar ISD on Monday, May 13 at 6:00 p.m. in the NLHS auditorium to distribute its newest tool to prevent underage drinking. All community parents are invited and encouraged to attend. A booklet called Parent Handbook for Talking with Teens about Alcohol will be distributed. The booklet is part of MADD’s Power of Parents program.
Parental influence is the most important factor in helping keep teens safe indicates GfK, one of the world’s leading research companies. In GfK Roper Youth Report, 74 percent of kids between the ages of 8 to 17 said their parents are the leading influence on their decisions about drinking. That’s why MADD began an underage drinking prevention initiative, beginning with a community-based parent program, Power of Parents, developed and launched with the national sponsorship of Nationwide Insurance.
MADD has partnered with Dr. Robert Turrisi from Pennsylvania State University and adapted his handbook model to reach parents of high school students. The parent handbook is the cornerstone of this community-based program and is available free to communities through the website and through 30-minute parent workshops facilitated by trained MADD staff and volunteers.
The goals of MADD’s parent program are to influence parenting behavior to prevent underage drinking, maintain the 21 minimum drinking age law in all 50 states, and engage new supporters to carry on MADD’s lifesaving work.
“MADD East Texas is excited to be teaming up with North Lamar ISD to help keep our youth safe from the dangers of underage drinking, since underage alcohol use kills about 6,000 people each year,” said Kelli Hale, Program Specialist, MADD East Texas. “About 30% of 8th graders have tried alcohol. About half of all 10th graders drink alcohol. One in six teens binge drink; yet, only one in 100 parents believe his or her child binge drinks. ThePower of Parents handbook, along with 30-minute parent workshops, equips parents with the tools to have frequent, positive, caring family conversations about the dangers of underage drinking.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving® (MADD) was founded by a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver. It is the nation’s largest nonprofit working to protect families from drunk driving and underage drinking. With the help of those who want a safer future, MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® will end this danger on America’s roads. PowerTalk 21® is the national day for parents to talk with their kids about alcohol, using the proven strategies of Power of Parents™ to reduce the risk of underage drinking. And as one of the largest victim services organizations in the U.S., MADD also supports drunk and drugged driving victims and survivors at no charge, serving one person every eight minutes through local MADD victim advocates and at 1-877-MADD-HELP. Learn more at www.madd.org or by calling 1-877-ASK-MADD.
New Hope Center of Paris will host a free information session on community building from The Texas Homeless Network next month.
The session, which covers the issues of developing community collaboration and building effective coalitions, is set for 9 a.m. to noon June 11 at the Red River Region Business Incubator, located across from Kroger at 1445 Clarksville St.
This workshop is designed for case managers, and administrators of social service agencies and direct service agencies.
Using an open and informative format, Training Manager Kris Linenberger will address effective collaboration to help clients affected by homelessness. Linenberger will explain why agencies need to collaborate, and why it is beneficial for the whole community. Linenberger has been with THN in the community building role for the last two years and works to prepare agencies around the state to service their homeless populations.
Balance of State Director Eric Samuels will also discuss successful coalition building, which is key in linking communities with resources and effectively serving a targeted population. Samuels has more than five years of community resource building experience working around the state.
Both Samuels and Linenberger work the Balance of State territory, which includes over 210 counties across Texas.
Click here to register for the workshop. For more information, contact Kris Linenberger at kris@thn.org.
Comedian Jimmy Pardo
LMAO Comedy is excited to announce that Jimmy Pardo from The Conan Obrien Show will perform saturday night at 8pm in Downtown Paris Texas. As a current cast member of the Conan Obrien Show, comedian Jimmy Pardo was in the middle of the “Jay Leno / NBC / Conan Obrien War”. Aside from doing on air segments for the show, Conan tapped Pardo personally to be the show’s warm up act. Jimmy has also been seen in a few segments of the popular Comedy Central show “Tosh.O”.
Pardo has been seen in multiple TV shows including Donna’s Boss at the radio station on “That 70’s Show” to Becker and of course late night shows like Craig Ferguson. Jimmy also recorded a 30 minute special for Comedy Central. Serving as the host for shows like AMC’s “Movies at Our House” and GSN’s “National Lampoon’s Funny Money”, Pardo was recently mentioned as a possible fill-in for Jimmy Fallon by Patton Oswalt. Currently Jimmy is the host of the ground breaking podcast “Never Not Funny” landing him in Esquire and GQ magazines.
Showtime is 8pm on Saturday May 11th. Tickets are available online at www.lmaotexas.com or in person at Girls and Cake in Downtown Paris, or by calling 903-785-LAFF. LMAO Comedy is located at 12 First St Ne in Downtown Paris.
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