Friday, January 29, 2021

Women’s Golf Championship coming later in 2021

First Professional Women's Tournament in Jacksonville Market since 1976 will Support and Celebrate Women in Golf. ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship has just announced PXG (Parsons Xtreme Golf) – an innovative golf company dedicated to developing high-performance equipment and apparel – as presenting sponsor for its inaugural tournament. The unique, two-week tournament series for women professional players will take place at World Golf Village in October 2021. As part of its sponsorship, PXG will be featured in the official tournament logo.

The ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship presented by PXG will feature 64 women professionals pursuing their dream of playing on the LPGA Tour, battling over two weeks in two separate, but connected, tournaments. The first week will feature a 54-hole Stroke-Play tournament on the King & Bear course, which will also seed the second week’s event, a 64-woman Match-Play championship at Slammer & Squire. There will be no cut in the Stroke-Play event and all players will advance to Match-Play.

Since the company’s inception, PXG has taken a strong stance in its support of women in golf. The company lists a dozen exceptionally talented women on the LPGA Tour on its official pro roster and provides equipment to many other top-ranking female professionals.

PXG’s clubs are built to spec for each individual golfer and the company will be providing onsite Swing Sessions for interested attendees to get a club in hand experience. There will also be opportunities to test PXG’s extensive line of putters on the World Golf Village 18-hole putting course.

In addition to the golf competition – and of equal importance – the tournament will celebrate women’s initiatives by providing programming such as leadership forums, executive networking, and education. The programming will be developed and provided by Generation W, a national nonprofit based in Jacksonville Beach (FL) founded and run by Donna Orender, whose mission embraces the guiding tenets of education, inspiration, and connection and the power of women’s leadership.

“The Generation W programming is a critical aspect of this event,” said Erica Bennett. “There are myriad career opportunities outside the ropes for women in the golf business and in the manufacturing business, and we want to promote that aspect of our industry as well.

Each tournament will have its own prize purse, a guarantee of $50,000 shared between the two events. The winner of the Match-Play event will be The ORCA Champion, and in addition to cash prize money will also receive a $2,500 Gift Card from PXG, as well as a commemorative golf bag designed by Erica Bennett of ORCA Golf Bags. The tournament series will feature a pro-am event, junior clinics, and local community-based activities and fundraising opportunities.

Produced as a collaboration among MediaShare Consulting Group, On the Green Consulting and the WAPT, The ORCA Golf Bags Women’s Match Play Championship presented by PXG represents two of the 14 official events on the Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) in 2021. The WAPT was established in 2019 in partnership with the LPGA’s Symetra Tour. The WAPT is the Official Qualifying Tour for the LPGA’s Symetra Tour, providing more opportunities for women to play professional golf and to advance their careers to the next level. “We are very excited to bring the WAPT to the Jacksonville area and, in particular, the World Golf Village”, says Gary DeSerrano, WAPT president. “We are certain the next stars of women’s professional golf will look forward to this new and exciting event.”

Information on elevated hospitality opportunities, Pro-Am spots, tickets, key sponsorships, and volunteering is available on the tournament website, and by calling MediaShare Consulting Group at (904) 838–4962. You may reach the office by email.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Monster Jam® returns safely to JAX amid COVID-19


This. Is. Monster Jam®! The most action-packed motorsports experience for families in the world today returns after a pandemic pause, roaring into Jacksonville for a high-octane weekend at TIAA Bank Field on March 6-7. Monster Jam®, one of the first family events to open its doors to fans since the global pandemic began in 2020, features the ultimate mix of high-flying action and four-wheel excitement. Tickets start at $20 and Monster Jam Preferred Customers can purchase advance tickets starting, January 27th, to get the best seats available before tickets go on-sale to the general public on February 2nd. Fans can still sign up for free to become a Monster Jam Preferred Customer and get exclusive access to the pre-sale offer code. Enhanced Health and Safety Measures Implemented for Fan Wellness.

Monster Jam is enthusiastic that fans are eager to attend a live event with family and friends and feel confident about their safety and well-being, as shown in multiple surveys. In order to meet and exceed those expectations, Monster Jam has implemented enhanced health measures to help ensure the highest standards of wellness when it comes to today’s live experience. Seating capacity will be reduced at TIAA Bank Field to a Pod Seating structure, which will allow family and friends to safely enjoy all the action while social distancing from other groups in attendance. More information about TIAA Bank Field’s safety policy can be found hereAs an additional precaution for fans, face coverings are required for those age 2 and older, unless otherwise exempted by law. More information about Monster Jam’s Ultimate Lineup for Fan Wellness can be found here.

Monster Jam has reimagined the live event guest experience and created contactless shopping for fans to order merchandise in advance or onsite from the comfort of their seat. Once ordered, guests can pick up their items at a convenient, contactless pickup station during the live event.  Additional information can be found here.

The Monster Jam Pit Party makes its return to Jacksonville on Saturday, March 6 with limited capacity and enhanced safety measures implemented. At the Monster Jam Pit Party, you can see the massive trucks up close, watch live pre-race interviews and participate in Q&A’s with the drivers, get pre-signed autograph cards, take pictures, and enjoy other family-friendly fun. Face covering, social distancing, entry screening and other rules apply.  Capacity and activities are limited based on event, venue and local authorities’ guidelines, which are subject to change at any time.

Jacksonville fans will witness a fierce battle for the event championship with each skilled Monster Jam athlete tearing up the dirt with gravity-defying feats in 12,000-pound Monster Jam trucks going head-to-head for points in Freestyle, the Skills Challenge and Racing competitions.  Plus, fans can become part of the action by voting for the winner in the Skills Challenge and Freestyle competitions via real-time, in-stadium fan voting on their smartphones.

The all-star truck lineup marks the first time in regular competition that the three Anderson siblings will battle against each other in the same Monster Jam event: the legendary Grave Digger® will be driven by Krysten; fan-favorite Adam trades his black and green wrecking machine for Megalodon®, the truck that redefined the phrase “jumping the shark” and set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD™ title for the most monster trucks jumped by a monster truck; and in a limited-time, special appearance, Ryan gets behind the wheel of Bakugan Dragonoid™.

12-time Monster Jam World Finals® champion Tom Meents will be competing in Max-D™ Fire, while Todd LeDuc aims to crush the competition in Monster Energy®.  Reigning Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle champion Linsey Read will compete in Scooby Doo.  Rounding out this world-class roster are GUINNESS WORLD RECORD title holders Bryce Kenny in Great Clips Mohawk Warrior® and Bari Musawwir in Zombie™, both featured in the August Discovery Channel TV special Monster Jam: Breaking World Records. Cory Rummell vies for the championship in Rage, while Jim Koehler returns in Avenger and Jamey Garner competes in Over Board, respectively. Black Pearl, driven by Cole Venard, claims the last spot in the epic 12-truck lineup.

Monster Jam drivers are trained, world-class male and female athletes who have mastered not only the physical strength and mental stamina needed to compete, but the vital dexterity to control 12,000-pound machines capable of doing backflips, vertical two-wheel skills and racing at speeds up to 70 miles-per-hour to produce jaw-dropping, live motorsports action seen around the world.

WHEN:
Sat, March 6, 2021 7 p.m. Pit Party 3:30pm – 5:30pm
Sun., March 7, 2021 1 p.m.


WHERE: 1 TIAA Bank Field Dr, Jacksonville, FL 32202

TRUCK LINEUP: Megalodon® driven by Adam Anderson; Grave Digger® driven by Krysten Anderson; Monster Energy® driven by Todd LeDuc; Great Clips Mohawk Warrior® driven by Bryce Kenny; Max-D™ driven by Tom Meents; Bakugan Dragonoid driven by Ryan Anderson; Zombie™ driven by Bari Musawwir; Scooby-Doo driven by Linsey Read; Avenger driven by Jim Koehler; Rage driven by Cory Rummell; Over Bored driven by Jamey Garner and Black Pearl driven by Cole Venard.  **Truck and driver line-up subject to change

TICKETSEvent Tickets start at $20 each*
Pit Party Passes start at $15 each*
Tickets will be available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com
 *
Ticket prices subject to change – venue/ticketing fees may apply.

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Rock Duo ‘Air Supply’ comes to the Florida Theatre

The Florida Theatre is thrilled to announce that world-renowned rock duo "Air Supply" will perform at the Florida Theatre on Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 8:00 p.m. Patrons attending this event will become a part of Air Supply and Florida Theatre history, as the show will be filmed and eventually broadcast worldwide this February for the band’s Valentine’s Day livestream.

Air Supply is the Australian soft rock duo of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock. The duo formed in 1975 after meeting during the first day of rehearsals for Jesus Christ Superstar in Sydney, Australia; they became instant friends with their common love for The Beatles and, of course, singing.

American music industry executive Clive Davis heard their first record, Life Support, and immediately signed Air Supply to Arista Records in 1980. "Lost in Love" became the fastest selling single in the world, leaping to the top of all of the charts. The second single was "All Out of Love," and that went up the charts even quicker.

Seven top-five singles later, Air Supply at that time had equaled The Beatles' run of consecutive top five singles. The albums Lost in LoveThe One That You LoveNow & Forever, and The Greatest Hits sold in excess of 20 million copies. “Lost in Love” was named Song of the Year in 1980, and, with the other singles, sold more than 10 million copies.

The trademark sound of Russell Hitchcock's soaring tenor voice and Graham Russell's simple yet majestic songs created a unique sound that would forever be known as Air Supply. "Lost in Love," "All Out of Love," "The One That You Love,” "Sweet Dreams," and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" have each achieved multi-million plays on the radio.

In 2013, the duo was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association’s Hall of Fame. Air Supply celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2015 and continue to delight audiences all over the world.

This will be a socially-distanced event with health and safety protocols in place. Patrons can visit floridatheatre.com/home/breaking-news for the most up to date information on The Florida Theatre’s safety protocols and general updates. Additionally, ticket purchasers will be notified by email of specific safety requirements prior to the event.

The historic, nonprofit Florida Theatre is sponsored by Community First Credit Union. For a complete list of upcoming events or to buy tickets visit the Theatre’s official website.

Air Supply
DATE: Sat., Jan. 30, 2021
TIME: 8 p.m.
TICKETS: $69.50 – $89.50

LOCATION:The Florida Theatre
      128 East Forsyth Street.
      Jacksonville, FL 32202
      (904) 355-2787

Neighboring and learning during COVID-19


This morning I asked my neighbor, who is a Fire/Rescue person, if it would be alright to record their Granddaughters releasing some energy between their homeschool classes. It was interesting that he had recently put up a trampoline to give the girls a little recess, and I had an opportunity to catch up on him, his family and his work.

I’ve known my neighbor to work long hours and he’s a devout Christian who serves as a firefighter. I learned that he and his wife contacted COVID last year (yes, all this pandemic started last year), but they did not need to be hospitalized. This disease is affecting numerous people, yet it is NOT to be feared, but respected (wearing masks, keeping as much distance as they can, and keeping hands as sanitary as possible). It’s up to every individual to do their part for the betterment of all.

Upon asking about his work, he let me know that fire stations have been doing double & triple duty transporting pandemic patients to the hospital (some who really needed to be ventilated and others who were not in need, but wanted to be checked out). There are numerous patients who need to be seen due to heart conditions, accidents, or other emergencies, but they refused to go to the hospital because of unknown COVID fear. People cannot be forced to go to the hospital and all that can be done is pray for them and get refusal to be treated forms signed.

During these times of uncertainty, keep in touch with others, stay safe and trust in God. This too shall pass. #TBR