LAKE HAVASU CITY PATRIOT DAYS - SEPTEMBER 15 - 25, 2010
May/04/2010 08:00 Filed in:
News ArticleLAKE HAVASU CITY PATRIOT DAYS - SEPTEMBER 15 - 25, 2010
Greg Tryon, Executive Director-Lake Havasu Hospitality Association and Don Allen, American Veterans Traveling Tribute
September 15th Begins 10 days of events paying tribute to and honoring veterans who have made it possible to live free.
Greg Tryon, Executive Director, Lake Havasu City Hospitality and Don Allen, American Veterans Traveling Tribute will partner with Operation Gratitude, a non-profit that sends care packages to soldiers.
Expected Patriot Day Events will include a fireworks display each night of the event, an air show, entertainment acts, custom car shows, pineapple boat races, a BMX competition, golf tournaments Art Walk, a Native American Day and more. Event organizers are looking for the oldest living male and female veterans living in Lake Havasu to become Patriot Days' designated honorees.
Tags: Lake Havasu, AZ
Patriot Days coming to county
Apr/15/2010 06:00 Filed in:
News Article| 4/15/2010 6:00:00 AM |
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Patriot Days coming to county
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Courtesy/TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD
Dana Haley of Hisperia, Calif., holds a rubbing of a name off the American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam Memorial wall last year for Jack Brammer, of San Bernardino, Calif. |
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James Chilton
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Miner Staff Reporter
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KINGMAN - The self-described "most patriotic city in America," Lake Havasu City will have a chance to put that moniker to the test late this summer, when the American Veterans Traveling Tribute launches the first in what it hopes will become a series of "Patriot Days."
But while the event will be centered in Lake Havasu, AVTT President Don Allen hopes to bring the festivities well beyond that city's borders.
"This event we're putting on is for the Lake Havasu community, and in that we're including Bullhead, Kingman and Parker," Allen said.
"You guys are in the game. This is not Lake Havasu solely, this is everybody."
One of a number of traveling veteran tributes, the AVTT is built around the "Cost of Freedom Tribute," a series of exhibits meant to honor the sacrifice of American veterans from the Revolutionary War to the present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tribute includes an 80-percent scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, a Korean War tribute featuring photos, timelines and battle maps, a series of World War II panels, and a series of other panels and tributes acknowledging the 2009 Ft. Hood massacre, the Sept. 11 attacks, law enforcement personnel and the founding of the United States, among others.
According to Allen, the AVTT has been a huge draw wherever it travels, and it drew sizeable crowds to Lake Havasu when it arrived there last March.
"We were in Lake Havasu for four days last year, and an excess of 20,000 came out for that," he said.
This time, however, Allen is hoping to coordinate with all three cities in Mohave County to ensure that everyone benefits from the publicity and increased tourism the tribute is sure to bring. "The site is going to be down at (Lake Havasu's) Windsor Park, but we're going to have a lot of stuff going on off-site," he said. "We want to do some things in Kingman and Bullhead, too."
Discussions are still in the early stages, but Allen said he intends to meet frequently over the next several months with the leaders and economic development entities from all three cities. He said his next meeting in Kingman could come as early as next week
"There's going to be some meetings with Kingman to ask 'Okay, how do you guys want to participate?'" he said. "We're showcasing the local people, i.e. the local talent, the local flavor. Our goal is to get people to stay in one of these communities and drive back and forth."
When the AVTT exhibit comes to Lake Havasu in mid-September, Allen said his plan is to overnight in Kingman before an entourage brings it to Havasu the following morning. In the months prior to that, however, he hopes to contract with various local hotels and restaurants in order to promote the event.
""We've only got 1,500 hotel rooms in town, and this will far exceed that, so why not branch out into the county?" said Greg Tryon, director of Lake Havasu City's Hospitality Association. "Don's organization has a huge marketing system that markets all over the country, and we're working on some deals here. Hotels that want to participate will get a promotional code, and when Don books a room from across the country, they'll put in that promotional code and Don's group will get 10 percent of the price."
Allen said the overall goal of the event is to receive enough donations to afford to send 20,000 care packages to troops in harm's way overseas through Operation Gratitude, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit volunteer corporation that has assembled and mailed more than half a million such packages to date.
"They don't need things to go in boxes. What they need are the personal letters from people in the United States and the sponsorship of $11 it costs to mail these packages," Allen said. "So what we're asking is for people to write letters and sponsor the mailing of these packages."
Mayor John Salem said he's only heard a little bit about Allen's plans so far, but he did see the AVTT when it came through Havasu last year, adding that the city would do whatever it can to assist in supporting the event. And if the anticipated turnout is anything like Allen suggested, Salem added, it could be a substantial boost to area hotels during what it traditionally one of their slowest times of year.
"That would be great; it would be outstanding," he said.
Patriot Days is tentatively set to run from Sept. 17 to 26 in Havasu, with the American Veterans Traveling Tribute overnighting in Kingman on Sept. 14. For more information, visit www.avtt.org or call Tryon at (928) 208-3463.
Tags: Lake Havasu, AZ
PATRIOT DAYS IN LAKE HAVASU COMMUNITY
PATRIOT DAYS IN LAKE HAVASU COMMUNITY
Patriot Days in Lake Havasu Commuity
Apr/09/2010 20:02 Filed in:
News ArticleIMMEDIATE RELEASE----IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: GREG TRYON LHC HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION 928-208-3463
PATRIOT DAYS IN LAKE HAVASU COMMUNITY
We are excited today to announce the establishment of the First Annual “Patriot Days” in our community, during the period 15 to 26 September 2010. This will be a community wide and national event with the centerpiece being the return of the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT), Cost of Freedom Tribute and Traveling Wall. The focus is to demonstrate to the world that the Lake Havasu Community is indeed the most patriotic in the country. We will be showcasing all of our local events, talent, and establishments while combining ongoing events at the tribute which will be located in Windsor Park. The 10 days will be chocked with both ceremonial and fun activities and events for everyone. This event will be promoted nationwide and will use all the latest technology for sharing media during the event at all the different locations.
According to Greg Tryon Executive Director of the Hospitality Association, “We want to stress that this is an event that is coming from the grass roots and is self funded. No funding has been requested from any of the governmental entities. All we need is their normal infrastructure support as we bring new and returning visitors to the community to be part this event. We have no particular political agenda and simply want to come together among ourselves and invite others to join us in Celebrating the Freedom we have been given by those throughout our history whom we have asked to defend and protect us.”
A key element to Patriot Days will be in our joining as a community in support of Operation Gratitude (national 501c3 charity) in their mission to send care packages to the troops deployed outside the United States. According to Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude, “We have all the items for putting in the boxes; we just need the $11 that we must pay for postage for each box. Also we need the personal letters to go in each box so that each soldier has an immediate connection to someone caring about their service. Help us get those 100,000 packages out this year. We are blessed that Traceye Jones from LH has volunteered to be the Operation Gratitude Representative and to be the facilitator of your history making event. We can’t thank her enough.”
“We want to raise the postage for 20,000 plus packages and provide 20,000 plus letters for the troops. By doing so, we will be the first city in the US to do this together and we will be setting the standard for the rest of the country. I can think of no better way to show who we are and what we stand for, “said Dante Marinelli, President of Board, LHC Hospitality Association. Don Allen, CEO of AVTT, stated, “We are excited to be part of this First Annual Patriot Days from the very beginning. LH is a great community with the Diversity of the city, Parker, Bullhead, Kingman and the Native American tribes. By the time we get here we will have spread the word throughout the US and we will expect large numbers of visitors from both the region and the country to this community.”
Monthly updates will follow.
Tags: Lake Havasu, AZ