Minneapolis - Lorie Line opens her Intimate Series tour Thursday, May 9th and plans to travel to 25 cities this spring/summer.  This is her 24th year of touring, and she will be playing all new music from a brand new album, Come Together, as well as favorites from her previously recorded 45 CDs.  

She will be bringing her Fab Five, and as always, Line has come up with new young talent to present to her adoring fans.  This year, national championship solo drummer Jean-Pierre Bouvet returns to the tour, as well as multi-instrumentalist bass player Josh Fink and the very "handsome" Derek Bromme who is currently pursuing his Doctorate degree on bass trombone at the University of Minnesota.  After a few years in full-time college, violinist/fiddler and fan favorite Robbie Nordstrom will join Lorie once again on the stage, and brand new to the group is 23-year old Mike Linden on guitar, a recent Boston Berklee College of Music graduate.  

Not only has Line recorded 45 CDs, but she has published 39 books of music of her arrangements and compositions, from beginner "practice" to intermediate/advanced level books.  She and her husband/manager Tim (famous for being Santa at the annual holiday show) own and manage Lorie Line Music, Inc., one of the largest independent labels in the country.  Line is most known for her holiday extravaganza and tours annually to 80 cities.  Lorie Line Music, Inc. communicates daily with a 100,000 diehard fan data base and two facebook sites.  Over the years, the Lines have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities, this year supporting Tee It Up For The Troops , a Minnesota volunteer group that helps to support wounded soldiers.

Ms. Line has two adult children and she and Tim are now "empty nesters," enjoying life on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.


Davenport, Iowa
Davenport Junior Theatre
Nighswander Theatre
Tuesday, June 25th, 7:30 PM
$39.00. All seats reserved. $34 for groups of 10 or more.

AMERICA VOTES CHAD PREGRACKE, A RIVER CRUSADER FROM EAST MOLINE, ILLINOIS, GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF MITCHUM'S HARDEST WORKING PERSON IN AMERICA CONTEST

(see letter from Chad below)

Documentarians Albert Maysles & Bradley Kaplan to feature Pregracke in a Mitchum Hardest Working film airing on Sundance Channel this Fall

(New York, NY - August 18, 2010) - At the culmination of Mitchum's four-month long "Hardest Working Person in America" (HWPIA) contest, America has named Chad Pregracke, the founder of Living Lands & Waters - a not-for-profit organization dedicated to cleaning up and preserving the nation's rivers - Mitchum's "Hardest Working Person in America." After receiving more than 50,000 votes, Pregracke was awarded the $100,000 grand prize from Mitchum and will be among the subjects featured in a short film by acclaimed documentary director Albert Maysles and partner Bradley Kaplan. The film is set to premiere on Sundance Channel this fall. Mitchum's "Hardest Working" campaign was Mitchum's first new brand campaign in five years and was created by director and producer Brett Ratner, founder of the creative content company Brett Ratner Brands (BRB).

"Chad Pregracke epitomizes the drive and dedication embodied in Mitchum's hardest working person in America contest," said Alan T. Ennis, CEO of Revlon, Mitchum's parent company. "Chad's work in preserving the Mississippi, Illinois and other rivers for the enjoyment of all truly justified America's decision to vote him the winner."

Pregracke founded Living Lands & Waters, a not-for-profit organization based in East Moline, Illinois, in 1998, which cleans up and preserves our nation's rivers. Today, the organization has grown to include ten full-time employees and a fleet of four barges, a towboat, six workboats, two skid steers, five work trucks and a large box truck.  With this equipment, the crew is able to travel and work in an average of nine states a year along the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and Potomac Rivers, as well as many of their tributaries.  Since the project's inception, Pregracke, his crew, and more than 60,000 volunteers have collected over six million pounds of debris from our nation's greatest rivers.

"I'd like to thank Mitchum and America for honoring me as the Hardest Working Person," said Chad Pregracke. "Although Mitchum's contest focused solely on my efforts, I can't accomplish the mission without the help from a dedicated bunch of conservationists and thousands of volunteers that allow us to keep the rivers clean."

As the Grand Prize Winner of Mitchum's HWPIA contest, Pregracke will be featured, along with other hard working Americans, in a short film by legendary documentarian Albert Maysles and award-winning co-filmmaker Bradley Kaplan. The film is scheduled to premiere on Sundance Channel this fall.

"Capturing Chad's work on the river, doing the job he loves and we admire, will be an important and inspiring story to tell," said Albert Maysles. "Along with the Mitchum brand, I am honored to profile Chad and his team as they tackle the Mississippi, and we hope to offer an engaging look at this conservation crusader, hero that he is."

Receiving the second highest number of votes, Ripley, West Virginia resident Jason Perlak was named the Second Prize Winner of Mitchum's campaign and will receive a $20,000 cash prize. He is the founder and camp director of The Wilderness Christian Camp, an organization dedicated to build character, respect, and leadership in young campers.  Mitchum and Brett Ratner also presented an "Audience Award" to Pregracke for his video, which received the most votes in the first round of the contest.  Pregracke will receive an additional $5,000 prize and a "golden" Mitchum trophy.

"From a drill sergeant, fighter pilot and working mother, to a custodian, blacksmith and an actor, Americans cast nearly 90,000 votes to determine the winner of Mitchum's Hardest Working campaign," said Brett Ratner. "Their reality films offered a rare bird's eye view into our neighbors' lives and provided a source of inspiration on the tireless efforts of Americans every day."

Mitchum's HWPIA campaign launched in May 2010 and was designed to find, highlight and reward the hardest working man or woman in the country. Mitchum received more than 150 video submissions from hard working men and women from across the country.  The top ten finalists were announced in July and Mitchum asked Americans to go to www.mitchumhardestworking.com and vote for the person they thought most deserved the title.

Brett Ratner Brands worked in conjunction with CAA Marketing, a division of Creative Artists Agency, on the marketing aspects of this campaign.

Dear Friends,

Ever since Mike Rowe, Dirties Jobs host and Ford spokesperson, called to tell me he was nominating me for Mitchum's "Hardest Working ____ in America" contest, I've been amazed at the number of people who have come up to me in random places such as gas stations, boat ramps, on the street, etc. to congratulate me. Without your votes and support, I would not have made it into the top 10, let alone win the Grand Prize and the "Audience Award". In the end, I received over 50,000 of the total 90,000 votes!

Not only is the money unbelievably cool but Albert Maysles, a legendary documentarian, will be coming to the Quad Cities to film next week. He has filmed documentaries such as "The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit" and "Gimme Shelter", a film on the Rolling Stones. He has already given me backstage passes to all upcoming Rolling Stone shows (just kidding - they're not even touring)!

Again, I can't thank all of you enough for, not only this huge honor, but all of your support through the years.

Sincerely,

Chad

River Cleanup Crusader in Final 10 for "Hardest Working _____ in America" Contest

Pregracke Receives Nomination from Dirtiest Jobs host, Mike Rowe

East Moline, IL - July 22, 2010 - Chad Pregracke, President & Founder of Living Lands & Waters, a Quad City-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to cleaning up the Mississippi River, has been nominated as the  "Hardest Working Do-Gooder in America" by Discovery Channel star, Mike Rowe.

The contest is sponsored by Mitchum Deodorant and designed to find, highlight and reward the hardest working man or woman in the country. Contestants submitted videos to the campaign's site and the winner of the contest will be selected by the American public through on-line voting.   To view the contestants and vote for Pregracke, visit the Mitchum website at mitchumhardestworking.com, select "Meet the Finalists", and click on "Chad Pregracke" and then "I Vote for Chad".  On-line voting will continue through August 15, with one vote per day, per computer allowed.

"This guy has given his life to cleaning up our rivers, getting dirty and loving every minute of it.  Let's do everything we can to help keep him happy and get him some much needed money," says Mike Rowe.

Since starting Living Lands & Waters in 1998 at the age of 23, Pregracke has worked tirelessly to clean up the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and over a dozen other major rivers.  He, his crew, and over 60,000 volunteers have removed over 6 million pounds of debris including over 60,000 tires, 5,000 barrels, 1,200 refrigerators, cars, trucks, and more.  His organization has helped plant over 200,000 native trees and has taught over 10,000 students and teachers about the value and importance of our rivers.

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Quad Cities, USA - Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) is seeking approximately 800 to 1000 volunteers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri to take part in a first-ever, multi-state clean-up of the upper Mississippi River.  The event will take place Saturday, June 19, 2010 with a goal of  involving  volunteers in 22 cities from Saint Paul, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri.  LL&W is also needing site coordinators for each location,  boats and drivers, and supply donations.

Over the past 12 years, LL&W has removed more than six million pounds of trash through clean-up efforts along the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Potomac rivers.  LL&W has also coordinated flood clean-up efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the historic floods in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. LL&W Founder and President Chad Pregracke calls the Great Mississippi River Cleanup "We've been able to host  over 440 community cleanups over the years and this is the biggest effort we've ever done."  Pregracke adds, "This has been needed for a long time, and we're so very excited to be coordinating this important effort."

Living Lands & Waters is a 501(c) (3) environmental organization established in 1998 and headquartered in East Moline, Illinois. Besides Community River Cleanups, LL&W conducts Big River Educational Workshops, the MillionTrees Project, Riverbottom Forest Restoration and the Adopt-a-River Mile program.

The Great Mississippi River Cleanup will remove debris; such as tires, barrels, propane tanks, appliances, plastic bottles and even a message in a bottle or two from the shorelines and islands of the upper Mississippi River.  For more information about what LL&W has pulled from America's rivers and our needs in this massive cleanup visit www.livinglandsandwaters.org.

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Quad Cities, USA - Living Lands & Waters (LL&W) is seeking approximately 800 to 1000 volunteers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri to take part in a first-ever, multi-state clean-up of the upper Mississippi River.  The event will take place Saturday, June 19, 2010 with a goal of  involving  volunteers in 22 cities from Saint Paul, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri.  LL&W is also needing site coordinators for each location, boats and drivers, and supply donations.

Over the past 12 years, LL&W has removed more than six million pounds of trash through clean-up efforts along the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Potomac rivers.  LL&W has also coordinated flood clean-up efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the historic floods in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. LL&W Founder and President Chad Pregracke calls the Great Mississippi River Cleanup "We've been able to host  over 440 community cleanups over the years and this is the biggest effort we've ever done."  Pregracke adds, "This has been needed for a long time, and we're so very excited to be coordinating this important effort."

Living Lands & Waters is a 501(c) (3) environmental organization established in 1998 and headquartered in East Moline, Illinois. Besides Community River Cleanups, LL&W conducts Big River Educational Workshops, the MillionTrees Project, Riverbottom Forest Restoration and the Adopt-a-River Mile program.

The Great Mississippi River Cleanup will remove debris; such as tires, barrels, propane tanks, appliances, plastic bottles and even a message in a bottle or two from the shorelines and islands of the upper Mississippi River.  For more information about what LL&W has pulled from America's rivers and our needs in this massive cleanup visit www.livinglandsandwaters.org.

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March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month and gastroenterologists  and other healthcare professionals from around the Quad Cities are joining forces to spread the word about how to prevent colon cancer.  This coalition, Colon Cancer Free QCA, includes physicians and their staff members from The Center for Digestive Health, Digestive Disease Center, Eastern Iowa Gastroenterology, PLC, Gastroenterology Consultants, S.C., Gastroenterology Associates, P.C., Gastrointestinal Clinic of the Quad Cities, Regional Surgicenter, Genesis Medical Center and Trinity Medial Center.

"We felt this partnership was necessary, because despite the fact that colon cancer is the second deadliest form of cancer, it is also the most preventable," said Dr. Erling Larson III of Gastroenterology Associates, P.C. and The Center for Digestive Health.  The disease affects men and women equally and colonoscopies are the most effective prevention method.

"Colon cancer is the second most common cancer killer," expressed Dr. Rao Movva, medical director at Gastroenterology Consultants, S.C.  "However, if the cancer is detected early, your chance at survival is about 90 percent."  People with an average risk for colon cancer should be tested at age 50.  However, screenings should begin at age 40 if you have a family history of colon cancer. Dr. Sreenivas Chintalapani of Digestive Disease Center states, "Colon cancer also does not discriminate.  It crosses all social economic lines."

Colon Cancer Free QCA will be running public service announcements throughout the month of March and will end the month with an event on Saturday, March 27 at the Radisson Hotel in Davenport.  This event will include entertainment from Comedy Sportz, along with a few local colon cancer survivors who will tell their story.  Admission to this event is just $35.00 and all proceeds will go to Gilda's Club of The Quad Cities.  Please make your reservation today at www.coloncancerfreeqca.com.

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