FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2011

50TH ANNUAL WATERMELON FESTIVAL
FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 13 & 14, 2011
SUNLAND PARK, SUNLAND, CALIFORNIA 91040
What’s New for the Golden Anniversary…

Sunland, CA…The 50th Annual Watermelon Festival, presented by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club, will be held Friday, August 12 from 5pm to 11pm, Saturday, August 13 from noon to 11:30pm and Sunday, August 14 from noon to 10pm, at Sunland Park located at 8651 Foothill Boulevard, Sunland, CA 91040. Tickets are $5.00 for adults, $2.00 for kids up to 40” tall and babies are free. Additionally, adults who come in watermelon costumes and outfits get in for $2.00 and kids are $1. For additional information visit www.lionswatermelonfestival.com or www.facebook.com/watermelonfestival or call 818-353-4554.

As usual the celebration features free watermelon slices, watermelon carving demonstrations, watermelon eating contests, greased watermelon relay races, watermelon seed spitting contests, watermelon growing contests, wearable art contests and nightly prize drawings. The International food court features the Lion’s fresh corn booth, a beer and wine garden, tacos, BBQ, wraps, crepes, Thai-Chinese food, ice cream, kettle corn, candied apples and more. There’s is also a dining tent, community courtyard, and a huge bazaar marketplace featuring arts and crafts, clothing, jewelry, personal services and product marketing. Two stages of live entertainment with music on the Main Stage and the Pavilion Stage featuring poetry readings and storytellers, a special appearance by Ronald McDonald, face painting and classic clowns. Kids will further love the carnival rides, arcade games, petting zoo and pony rides as well as the water slide, so bring along your bathing suits.

100% of funds raised by the Watermelon Festival are used by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club to support local youth and community activities, disaster relief, and to support health and vision conservation programs in California, across the nation and throughout the world.

In honor of the Golden Anniversary new attractions and highlights include:
A Watermelon Recipe Contest featuring four categories: salad/appetizer, entrée, beverage and dessert. Contestants must email their recipes to farmersmarket@lamission.edu by Monday, August 8th. Finalists will be invited to come to the judging which will be held in the Watermelon Pavilion at 1:00pm on Saturday, August 13th. Executive Sous Chef Jesse Sanchez of Los Angeles Mission College of Culinary Arts Program will be the judge. He is a leader in the Raw and Super foods movements and won the 4th Annual Chef of the Year in 2006 sponsored by the American Culinary Federation.

The Coronation of the Watermelon Queen and new this year, the Coronation of a Watermelon King on Friday, August 12th at 8:30pm.on the Main Stage.

There is a large group of young people vying for the crowns – there are four candidates for Queen, three for King, and four for Junior Queen. Contestants earn points to win the crown by selling tickets, contributing service to the community and through votes from the public during the month of July. The income from the tickets sold is divided between the Lions Club and the organization sponsoring each candidate. Several of the athletic teams at Verdugo Hills High School have candidates running, and community organizations sponsoring a candidate include the Wildlife Way Station, Verdugo Hills Family YMCA, The Desi Geestman Foundation, Boy Scout Troop 315, the Sunland-Tujunga LEO Club and McGroarty Cultural Arts Center.

Attendees can also meet the King and Queen in the Watermelon Pavilion and have photos taken with them at various times over the weekend.
Spin the Watermelon Wheel in the Pavilion! You will receive a Spin ticket with your admission, or they may be purchased for $1. Win one of these prizes: a watermelon, an ear of corn, a raffle ticket, a bottle of water, or 3 seeds to use at the Spitway!

An historic retrospective photo exhibit will also be featured in the Watermelon Pavilion, and former Watermelon Queens will be on hand for the festivities.

Need a discount on the entry fee? Make a watermelon costume, outfit or wearable art and qualify for a $2.00 admission charge! And…free raffle tickets will be awarded each hour for the most words spelled from the word watermelon in five minutes.

The musical entertainment on the Main Stage this year includes returning favorites Sink To See, an alternative rock band; classical rock band The Heist; high school students perform rock covers in The Garage Band; blues legends Artwork Jamal & Deacon Jones; Clean Slate with their brand of classic rock covers; and Latin vocalist and musician Iliana Rose. New additions in the lineup are Monte Mar an Indy rock band; the acoustic sounds of A Painted World; the rock and blues band Delta Rose; alternative rockers and classic covers by Sonic Mojo; the Michael Ragonese Jazz Trio; the country sounds of 29 Mules; bluegrass music by Rose’s Pawn Shop; and swing and dance to the Happiness Jazz Band; along with Andy DiMino’s tribute to crooner Dean Martin. Additional acts include Hula dancers, and Irish and Israeli Dancers from Aletheia’s Multi-Cultural Dance Team.

For additional information contact: John Forrester at 323-702-3684 or email john@johnforrester.com
or Marcia Groff at 310721-1592, entertainmg@gmail.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2011
50TH ANNUAL SUNLAND-TUJUNGAWATERMELON FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES MUSICAL LINE UP AND EXTRA ADDED ATTRACTIONS
FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 13 & 14, 2011
SUNLAND PARK, SUNLAND, CALIFORNIA 91040

Sunland, CA…The 50th Annual Sunland-Tujunga Watermelon Festival is pleased to announce the Main Stage Musical Lineup and Extra Added Watermelon Attractions. The festival will be held Friday, August 12 from 5pm to 11pm, Saturday, August 13 from noon to 11:30pm and Sunday, August 14 from noon to 10pm, at Sunland Park located at 8651 Foothill Boulevard, Sunland, CA 91040. Tickets are $5.00 for adults, $2.00 for kids up to 40” tall and babies are free. Additionally, adults who come in watermelon costumes and outfits get in for $2.00 and kids are $1. For more information visit www.lionswatermelonfestival.com or call 818-353-4554.

The musical entertainment, featuring new acts and returning favorites, on the Main Stage, opens at 5:30pm on Friday, August 12, with the Indy rock band MONTE MAR, a featured pick on My Space Music. At 7:00pm returning favorite SINK TO SEE take the stage for an hour’s set. The alternative rock band has been showcased in Nissan Commercials and television shows on MTV, Spike, ABC Family and Nickelodeon. THE HEIST closes out the evening from 8:30 to 11pm with classic rock covers. The band is noted for their four part vocal harmonies and has appeared on KTLA’s Morning News and is also a returning favorite of the festival.

Saturday, August 13 performances begin at noon with, back by popular demand, THE GARAGE BAND, Sunland-Tujunga’s own very talented high school students who switch instruments during their rock cover set. 1:30pm to 2:00pm features newcomer A PAINTED WORLD with Travis Mersola celebrated for this intricate guitar work and melodic vocals. At 2:30pm returnees ARTWORK JAMAL & DEACON JONES. Jamal was named 2010 West Coast Blues Male Vocalist of the Year and Jones is legendary for his organ playing. Additional newcomers to the festival include DELTA ROSE at 4:30pm with hard hitting songs and shredding solos, followed at 6:00pm by SONIC MOJO with alternative rock originals and classic rock cover tunes. The evening ends with another audience favorite CLEAN SLATE. The classic rock cover band known for their crisp harmonies, beat bucking bass, high octane southern piano, rim-rolling drums and panning guitars. Interim entertainment includes performances by Alethia’s Multi-Cultural Dance Team. Morris English dancing at 2:00pm and Israeli Dances at 4:00pm.

The festival’s closing lineup for Sunday, August 14 begins at 12:30pm with the debut of the MICHAEL RAGONESE JAZZ TRIO followed at 2:00pm by Latin Salsa and Cuban jazz festival darling ILIANA ROSE. More new acts for this year’s festival include 29 MULES hitting the stage at 4:30pm with their brand of country fusion and southern rock, followed by bluegrass touring sensation ROSE’S PAWN SHOP at 5:45pm. The day’s entertainment concludes with the upbeat swing sounds of the HAPPINESS JAZZ BAND taking a turn prior to backing Dean Martin Tribute artist and crooner ANDY DIMINO.

Special Added Watermelon Attractions for the Golden Anniversary include:

Watermelon Growing Competition judging at 6pm on Friday, August 12
Watermelon Cooking Demonstrations by Chef Jesse Sanchez on Saturday, August 13 at 1pm, 5pm and Sunday, August 14 at 3pm and 5pm
Chef Sanchez is Executive Sous Chef for the Los Angeles Mission College of Culinary Arts Program. He is a leader in the Raw and Super foods movements and won the 4th Annual Chef of the Year in 2006 sponsored by the American Culinary Federation.
Watermelon Recipe Contest for Best Salad/Appetizer, Entrée, Beverage and Dessert at 3pm on Saturday, August 13. Finalists will be judged and winner announced.
Watermelon Carving Demonstration by Chef Martin A. Gilligan on Sunday, August 14 at 1pm

Chef Martin A. Gilligan brings more than twenty years of experience to his current position at Los Angeles Mission College. He recently held the position of Resident Chef with Sur La Tables’ Culinary Program and in 2005 he was awarded ‘Chef of the Year’ from the Chef De Cuisine Association of California.
Spin the new Melon Wheel for free prizes
Tasty treats include Deep Fried Watermelon on a Stick at Cardinali Wood Fired Pizzas, Watermelon Ice at Moustache Mike’s and Watermelon Lemonade at the Aeco SRL.

The Watermelon Festival is the only fund-raising project of the Sunland-Tujunga Lion Club, part of an international service organization found in over 200 countries. Lions all over the world focus on sight conservation and work on eradicating preventable blindness, providing help to people with impaired vision and helping those who are blind. All profits made from the Festival are used to fund the club service projects and provide financial help for many local groups, schools, youth and community services.

So come join the fun and enjoy carnival rides, arcade games, live music and dance, poetry, food, arts and crafts, clowns, a petting zoo and don’t forget the raffle tickets for great prizes.

For additional information contact:
John Forrester at 323-702-3684, john@johnforrester.com
or Marcia Groff at 310-721-1592, entertainmg@gmail.com

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2010

49th Annual Watermelon Festival Debuts

The WatermelonOmatic
A watermelon slicing machine…
the best invention since sliced bread!

Sunland, CA… Come join the fun and witness the debut of the Watermelon Festival’s original watermelonOmatic slicing machine!

The 49th Annual Watermelon Festival will debut local businessman Ara Zeithlian’s WatermelonOmatic slicing machine at the event being held at Sunland Park, 8651 Foothill Boulevard, Sunland, California, 91040, August 13 through August 15, 2010. The Festival is sponsored by the Sunland-Tujunga Lions Club. For additional information, complete schedule and times log on to www.lionswatermelonfestival.com, www.facebook.com/watermelonfestival or call 818-353-4554.

Necessity, always the mother of invention, dictated the creation of the WatermelonOmatic. The machine creates uniform slices of the succulent melon and deposits them on to a conveyer belt at the speed of forty slices a minute. This best invention since sliced bread was created by Zeithlian who owns and operates the Breadmaster Bakery (www.breadmasters.com) in Pico Rivera. It is possibly the only industrial watermelon slicing machine in the world and saves the volunteers working in the Watermelon Pavilion’s free watermelon booth both time and energy. The long lines will be a thing of the past as the masses of melon lovers can pick up a slice right off the conveyor belt at a record breaking pace.

Zeithlian, a Lions Club member and director of the Watermelon Festival for the past three years also has other inventions to his name. One of them is a rotisserie oven that cooks twenty chickens at a time. He also builds and sells ovens specifically designed to bake flat bread. Using his knowledge of the yearly event and his expertise in manufacturing he created the new watermelon slicer specifically for Sunland-Tujunga’s annual Lions Club event.

Additional events featured at the Watermelon Pavilion include the Watermelon Spitway, the All-Day-Every-Day Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest with a $100 cash prize, watermelon carving demonstrations, the Watermelon Eating Contest and the Greased Watermelon Relay Race.

After filling up on watermelon the kids will love to visit the newly created KidsZone with pony rides, petting zoo, water slides, a sports cage, laser tag, and Spider Mountain. Or they can get their faces painted, laugh with the clowns and have fun in the shade with arts and crafts.

Also, don’t miss the coronation of the annual Watermelon Queen and her court on Friday and August 13 at 7:30, or enjoy the numerous musical acts and dance troupes non-stop on the main stage, eat in the International Food Court and shop in Marketplace, then check out all the rides and arcade games.

For additional information contact Marynance Schellenbach at stlionsclub@gmail.com or call 818-353-4554

For press credentials and interviews contact Marcia Groff at entmg@adelphia.net or call 310-310-3937. A video is also available upon request.