Fall Women’s Expo jewelry winners

Congratulations to the three lucky women who won Gold Crown Jewelers’ jewelry giveaway at our Fall Women’s Expo.

Amanda Nastally, above, was our first prize winner. She opted for Gold Crown Jewelers’ heart pendant necklace.

The 2009 fall expo was Amanda’s first. She was surprised at the variety of vendors and seeing all that was there.

“I liked it,” she said. “I’ll definitely come back.”

Andrea Wint was our second prize winner. Andrea picked the sterling silver ring with marcasite and amethyst.

She’s been to two women’s expos – March’s spring expo was her first.

“Now I’m hooked,” Andrea said. “It’s awesome.”

Justina Kukulka was our third prize winner. Justine earned the 14K gold two-tone earings.

Like Amanda, this fall’s event was Justina’s first women’s expo, and she enjoyed the hands-on activities.

Congratulations to all the women. For more photos from this fall’s event, head to our Flickr photo gallery. Look for more opportunities to win prizes at our Spring Women’s Expo, coming Saturday, March 13, 2010.

Fall Women’s Expo pics posted

See what all the Fall Women’s Expo fuss was about at our Flickr photo gallery.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the best Women’s Expo yet. Look for our Spring Women’s Expo, coming March 13, 2010.

American 1 Fall Women’s Expo guide

Thinking about heading to American 1’s Fall Women’s Expo this weekend?

If you didn’t catch the Jackson Citizen Patriot’s Uniquely You magazine with our special Women’s Expo insert, you can download it here.

Winter Wonderland added to Nite Lites

You may have read in the Jackson Citizen Patriot that American 1 is adding a Winter Wonderland event to John Spink’s Nite Lites Christmas light show at the Jackson County Fairgrounds.

The American 1 Winter Wonderland will coincide with Spink’s Nite Lites from Saturday, Dec. 12 to Wednesday, Dec. 23 at the American 1 Event Center. The event will feature decorated holiday trees, vendors offering hand-crafted items, a kids craft area, food and drinks of the season, and a visit from Santa Claus. Entrance to the American 1 Winter Wonderland will be at no additional cost to the Nite Lite visitors.

Thousands of cars drive through Spink’s Nite Lites event each year at the Jackson County Fairgrounds during the holiday season, starting after Thanksgiving.

“I’ve been looking to increase the activities we offer at Nite Lites for several years,” John Spink, owner of Nite Lites, says. “It takes a lot of work to create something from scratch and, with their success at coordinating events, I felt American 1 would be the perfect business to approach about supporting it.”

Liz Niles, our community relations manager, is looking for businesses to participate in the Holiday Tree Decorating Contest and vendors to offer holiday handmade crafts for the event.

“The Jackson community has been so supportive when it comes to getting involved with events that are focused on family, and this event is just that,” Niles says. “This is going to be one stunning sight you won’t want to miss.”

Local businesses will compete in the Holiday Tree Decorating Contest. During the Winter Wonderland, all the trees in the contest will serve as prizes in a silent auction that will take place during the 12 days. The winners will receive a potted blue spruce pine with decorations. Guests will also be able to vote for their favorite tree by making a donation to that tree’s donation box. After the event, the business with the most donations in their box wins the contest. The money collect will be donated to a charity of the winning business’s choice.

For more information on the Holiday Tree Decorating contest or vendor participation, contact Liz Niles at (517) 780-4139. To support the event with a donation, contact John Spink at (517) 937-6426.

[Photo courtesy Mlive.com.]

Movie in the Park moved indoors

Bad news yet again: we’re moving our Movie in the Park indoors because of the threat of rain Friday night.

This is the way it’s gone all summer. We schedule outdoor events for the Riverwalk Amphitheater, and then get rained out when the day of the event comes. We like to be more safe than sorry, though, because we don’t want guests getting soaked.

So we’ll show “Hotel for Dogs” Friday, Aug. 21 at the Middle School at Parkside auditorium starting at 8 p.m. Look for affordable refreshments and a free dog collar bracelet for the first 100 kids who attend.

See you then!

Video: 2009 Chelsea Supermarket Sweep

For your entertainment, here’s a short video on this year’s Supermarket Sweep at Chelsea’s Country Market.

We kicked the event off last year to celebrate the grand opening of our Chelsea Branch. We invite local businesses to race through the supermarket, collecting specially-marked items, and donating everything to Faith In Action.

This year, the teams collected 369 items worth $1,000 – and had a bunch of fun doing it.

And hey, our American 1 team (Janelle, Kari, and Lynn) didn’t get last place. Always a bonus.

See you next year!

Pictures from American 1 Teen Idol 2009

Sure, it didn’t rain, but the Middle School at Parkside autorium provided a great venue for this year’s Teen Idol singing competition.

Check out pictures from the event on our Flickr page.

Congratulations to Bridgette Powell (above) of Jackson, this year’s Teen Idol champion. Bridgette returned from a third-place finish at the 2008 Teen Idol event.

Olivia Hale was our runner-up, and Taylor Hawkins took third place.

Teen Idol locations changes due to rain

Head’s up: we’re changing the location of our Teen Idol event due to threat of rain.

Join us Friday, July 10 at 6 p.m. at the Middle School at Parkside auditorium, located at 2400 Fourth St. in Jackson. Same date, same place, just a different location.

The weather forecast isn’t looking good for Friday. Threats of rain and thunderstorms are moving our singing competition indoors.

See you Friday night!

Pictures from Kids’ Fest 2009

We had a great time at both June Kids’ Fest events in Jackson and Hillsdale.

Head to our Flickr site to browse through pictures from both days. We were lucky to be inside during the Jackson Kids’ Fest at Parkside – Hillsdale’s event was hot, hot, hot!

Our next Kids’ Fest is taking place at Chelsea’s Timbertown Park on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Rose Parade pictures posted

Head over to our Flickr account to see pictures from this past weekend’s super-successful Rose Parade and Party in the Park.

Luckily the weather held out for us, and thousands of Jackson residents watched the parade and joined us for the party afterward at Ella Sharp Park.

JTV also has a nice photo gallery (here’s part two) of pictures they took at the parade.

Let us know what you thought of the parade in the comments!