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Marynance Schellenbach
SUNLAND-TUJUNGA LIONS CLUB
Watermelon Festival
818-353-4554
stlionsclub@yahoo.com
July 21, 2004
Annual Watermelon Festival Promises Fun For All Ages
The 43rd Annual Watermelon Festival, sponsored by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club, will open its gates at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 13. Lion Bill Petteplace, Chairman, has announced that the three-day Festival will take place at a new location this year, All Nations Church at 10000 Foothill Blvd., Lakeview Terrace. It may be accessed from the Wheatland Ave. off-ramp of the 210 Freeway.
The Festival will open on Saturday and Sunday at noon and will close each night at 10:00 p.m. Free shuttle service will be provided Saturday and Sunday from two locations: the K-Mart parking lot and the turn-around in the parking lot at the Sunland Park Recreation Center. The shuttle will operate from noon to 10 p.m. at approximately 15 minute intervals. The shuttle stops will have signs posted. Free parking is available at All Nations Church on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday after 3:00 p.m.
The Festival Queen will be crowned by Los Angeles Councilwoman Wendy Greuel in a 30 minute ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the Festival stage. The organization selling the most tickets for the opportunity drawing will name the Watermelon Festival Queen on Monday, August 9. In the race to name the queen are the Blue Shadows Equestrian Drill Team, Boy Scout Troop 315, Cub Scout Packs 307 and 326, Shadow Hills 4-H Club, American Legion Post 377 whose candidate is Tina Kolguin, and Sarah Tannous, whose ticket sales will benefit Tierra del Sol.
Carnival rides, game booths, a petting zoo, and live free entertainment will provide activities for the whole family. There will be food booths serving Mexican food, a Korean barbeque, hamburgers and hotdogs, pizza, corn on the cob, ice cold sodas and water, ice cream, cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones. On Saturday and Sunday, free watermelon will be served from 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Each evening at 9:00 p.m. a winning ticket will be drawn for cash prizes; the Grand Prize of $1000 will be given away on Sunday evening. Winners do not need to be present. In addition, drawings will be held during the intermissions between acts for a variety of prizes donated by local merchants. Tickets for these drawings will be available at the Festival and these winners must be present at the time of the drawing.
A special event will take place on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. with the gathering on-stage of the Shawntays, a 60's and 70's Girls Club at Verdugo Hills High School, who will be holding a reunion at the Festival. Organized in 1964, they were sponsored by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club, and the club always had a booth at the annual Watermelon Festival, a highlight of the year for them. Former Shawntays who would like to join the reunion should contact Linda (Lyn) Peters Yuro at lindatheshawntay@earthlink.net, or gather at the stage at 6:30.
A variety of musical groups, from Folk music to Blues to Rock, will provide entertainment, and will be anchored by Karaoke Station, according to Lion and Karaoke artist Lester Coultas, who will act as M.C. throughout the Festival. Karaoke lovers will have an opportunity to sing for a dollar a song when Karaoke Station takes center stage each day. For more information about the musical groups and the Festival, please check the website or contact Public Relations Director Marynance Schellenbach at 818-353-4554, stlionsclub@yahoo.com.
All funds raised at the Festival are used by the Lions for their service and philanthropic projects. A list of the groups funded by the money raised at the 2003 Festival may be found on the Festival website - www.lionswatermelonfestival.com .
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