CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE REGISTRATION

MOLINE, Ill. (August 27, 2014) - The Quad City Mallards will open their 66-game 2014-15 Central Hockey League season at home on Friday, October 24 at 7:05 p.m. against the Rapid City Rush and go on to play their first four games on home ice, the Mallards announced today in conjunction with the CHL.

The Mallards will play 25 of their 33 home games on fan friendly weekend dates.  The Flock will take the ice at the i wireless Center for ten Friday night games, ten Saturday evening tilts, five Sunday contests and eight Wednesday night outings.  Each of the Mallards' Sunday home games will face off at 4:05 p.m. while all other home games will start at 7:05 p.m.

"We are excited to offer so many weekend dates for our fans to attend games and to continue building up our rivalries with Brampton, Missouri and Rapid City," said Mallards president Bob McNamara.  "After winning a playoff series and reaching the semi-finals for the first time in over a decade last year, we're looking forward to the start of this season and the opportunity to build on that success."

The Mallards' home slate is weighted toward weekends from the outset.  The season opener is the first of two games in two nights between the Mallards and Rapid City at the i wireless Center.  Those two clashes will reunite the Mallards and Rush for the first time since the Mallards stoked the budding rivalry between the clubs by dramatically knocking off Rapid City in the opening round of last spring's President's Cup playoffs.

After their duo of duels with Rapid City, the Mallards will welcome the Brampton Beast to the Quad Cities for a pair of tilts.  The Mallards will host the Beast on Halloween- Friday, October 31- and Saturday, November 1.

The CHL will, for a third straight season, forgo a geographical split into conferences but still play an unbalanced schedule.  The Mallards will meet the Beast 16 times- more than they play any of their other five foes.  The season series between the two clubs will start with five consecutive meetings between October 31 and November 9.  The Mallards will travel to Brampton for a trio of games after hosting their first two match-ups with the Beast.

The Mallards' already strong rivalry with the Missouri Mavericks will only intensify over the course of 13 regular season clashes.  The Mallards and Mavs first renew acquaintances on Sunday, November 23 in Independence; Missouri travels to Moline for the first time six days later.

Similarly, the Mallards and Rush will no doubt crank up the heat on their rivalry during a dozen regular season meetings.  The Mallards will face the Wichita Thunder nine times and the Allen Americans and Tulsa Oilers eight times apiece.

The Mallards will meet two-time defending champion Allen for the first time since falling to the Americans in the seventh game of April's semi-finals on Sunday, November 16 at the Allen Event Center.  The Americans visit the Quad Cities for the first time on Friday, February 6.

The Mallards will begin December with six straight away games- their longest road trip of the season.  The Mallards travel to Missouri, Rapid City (for two games), Allen, Wichita and Tulsa between December 2 and December 13.

The Mallards kick off March with their longest homestand.  The Flock will play seven home games between March 1 and March 18, welcoming Missouri (three times), Allen (twice), Wichita and Tulsa to the Quad Cities.

Upon completing that home ice septet, the Mallards will play six of their final eight games on the road.  After playing their last home game on Wednesday, April 1 against Brampton, Coach Terry Ruskwowski's troops will close out the regular season with a two-game set in Rapid City Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4.

Other schedule highlights include :

• The Mallards will endure their two busiest stretches of the campaign during the holiday season.  They will play seven games in 11 days between November 19 and November 29 before hitting the ice six times in eight days between December 27 and January 3.
• The Mallards will play a total of 14 times in December, their busiest month of the season.  They will play 13 games in November, 12 in March, 11 in February, ten in January and three in both October and April.
• The Mallards will play three games in three nights on two occasions: November 21, 22 and 23 and December 20, 21 and 22.
• The Mallards will see ample holiday action beginning with their Halloween night tussle with Brampton.  While the Mallards will be idle on Thanksgiving itself, they will play three games in four nights over Thanksgiving week: Wednesday, November 26 at Wichita; Friday, November 28 at Tulsa; and Saturday, November 29 at home against Missouri.  The Mallards will close out 2014 north of the border.  The Flock will battle the Beast in Brampton on Wednesday afternoon, December 31.  Love is unlikely to be in the air when the Mallards collide with the Oilers in Tulsa on Valentine's Day- Saturday, February 14.  The Mallards will hope the joke is on the Beast when they host Brampton on April 1.
• The Mallards' season series against Brampton, Rapid City and Tulsa will be evenly split between home and away games.  In contrast, the Mallards will play six homes and seven road games against Missouri; four homes games alongside five away tilts against Wichita; and five home games but only three on the road against Allen.

2014-15 Mallards season tickets are now on sale.  Ticket packages are available to meet almost any budget.  A limited edition season ticket holder Mallard jersey, 12 additional ticket vouchers per seat and free parking are among a host of exclusive benefits available to season ticket holders.  For more season ticket information fans can call the Mallards' business office at 309-277-1364.  Single game seats will go on sale in September on a date to be announced.

About the Quad City Mallards
A proud affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, the Quad City Mallards are approaching their eighteenth season and their fifth in the Central Hockey League.  One of the winningest teams in all of minor league hockey, the Mallards competed in the United Hockey League from 1995 through 2007 and in the International Hockey League in 2009-10.  The Mallards' proud history has seen them capture the UHL's Colonial Cup Championship three times (1997, 1998, 2001) and secure that league's Tarry Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) for the best overall regular season record.  In 2001, the Mallards made professional hockey history, recording their sixth consecutive season with 50 or more wins, a feat that has yet to be matched.  The iWireless Center provides a unique environment for hockey and features one-of-a-kind seating areas such as the Nest for groups and functions and the exclusive Drake Club.  For more information on the Quad City Mallards or for Mallards tickets go to www.myqcmallards.com.  Fans can also follow the Mallards via Twitter at twitter.com/myqcmallards and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quadcitymallards.

The Muscatine Art Center has received funding from Humanities Iowa, a private, non-profit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to host the presentation, "Grass Between the Rails", by Denny Rehder at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014, Muscatine Art Center, 1314 Mulberry Avenue, Muscatine. A cultural resource for Iowans since 1971, Humanities Iowa offers many cultural and historical programs and grants to Iowa's communities. The performance is free and open to the public.

Denny Rehder created this program as an official Iowa Sesquicentennial event in 1996. His appearances around the state have been funded by Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities ever since. This will be his 89th performance.

Rehder has been a musician all his life. He has combined that ability with his love of Iowa history to produce "Grass Between the Rails," a celebration of Iowa's railroad heritage in words and original music. His songs cover the gamut of Iowa railroad history from the race for Council Bluffs to the Burlington Zephyr. Through his music, he visits the worst wreck ever, Iowa's best-known railroad hero, the road through Paradise, the one elephant circus and his family's ties to the Illinois Central.

He has been involved in the publication of several books on Iowa history. Four were published by his own Waukon & Mississippi Press, including his first book, "Grass Between the Rails," the history of the Waukon, Iowa, branch of the Milwaukee Road. He also wrote and published "The Shampoo King," the history of the F. W. Fitch Company and the famous Fitch Bandwagon radio show.

Now retired, he has been a professional writer and photographer for more than fifty years.  His work has received local, regional and national awards. Rehder grew up on a farm near Gladbrook overlooking the Chicago Great Western mainline.

4 Unnecessary Tests that Harm or Kill Animals

More and more, we are living in an age of information, the substance of which is increasingly difficult to ignore, says animal rights advocate Santosh Krinsky.

Are our coffee and chocolate products fair trade? Were poor workers in developing countries brutalized in the process of making our clothes? How was the food sourced in the groceries we buy, and what exactly is in it, anyway?

Increasingly, the answers to these questions matter to more consumers, Krinsky says.

In the same vein, Rep. Jim Moran is sponsoring the Humane Cosmetics Act, which would phase out animal testing for U.S.-made cosmetics within a year and imported cosmetics within three years.

"Consumers value cosmetics and manufacturers want them to be safe for daily use, but we do not have to blind, maim and kill scores of animals to ensure our beauty-enhancing products won't hurt us," says Krinsky, head of the international personal-care brand Beauty Without Cruelty (www.beautywithoutcruelty.com) -- the first to ban animal-testing for its products in 1963. BWC's products are all produced with no animal testing and contain no animal ingredients.

"In the past, testing was done on dogs, but now it's done on rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats. These are conscious creatures with the capacity for immense suffering. Think about it: Tests are done on these animals because they are biologically similar to us. Doesn't that also mean we should be especially empathetic to their suffering?"

Krinsky, who recently partnered with the Humane Society of the United States' "Be Cruelty-Free" campaign, urges voters to call their U.S. representative and ask for him or her to vote in favor of H.R. 4148. Follow up with a personalized mail or email asking reiterating your request.

He reviews some of the tests that mainstream cosmetic companies still commonly conduct on animals.

•  Acute dermal toxicity ... uses 20 rabbits, guinea pigs or rats to determine how much substance causes half of the tested animals to die within two weeks of exposure. A chemical is applied to their shaved skin for 24 hours, and a patch is used to cover the area so they do not lick or clear off the tested area.

•  Eye irritation or corrosion ... tests one to three rabbits; a chemical is applied to their eyes to determine how severe the resulting irritation or damage. The exposure tests for signs of redness, ulcers, bleeding, blindness and other forms of damage.

•  Developmental toxicity ... examines either 480 rabbits - 100 adult females and 480 kittens (babies) - or 1,300 rats - 100 adult females and 1,200 pups - to test for birth defects. Usually by force-feeding, a pregnant female is exposed at the beginning of an implemented pregnancy; exposure persists throughout the term. She is then killed on the day before she is expected to give birth, which is about 22 days for rats, or 31 days for rabbits. Her young are extracted and evaluated for signs of developmental abnormalities.

•  Acute oral toxicity ... subjects seven rats to determine how much of a chemical causes half of the exposed animals to die within 14 days of exposure, when the substance is swallowed. The rats are force-fed the substance, causing them to experience convulsions, diarrhea, bleeding from the mouth, seizures, paralysis and sometimes death.

"The European Union has already banned cosmetics that use these practices, and I think Rep. Moran's efforts are a sign of things to come here in the U.S.," Krinsky says. "In fact, many consumers prefer lipstick, mascara, shampoo, lotion and other products consisting of material that's so safe that they don't require animal testing."

About Santosh Krinsky

Santosh Krinsky has been in the natural products industry since 1974. He has founded and built a number of companies that offer positive alternatives to the toxins and environmentally unfriendly ingredients found in many products, while focusing his attention on developing awareness about the issue of animal testing of cosmetics, which he opposes. Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC) products brand www.beautywithoutcruelty.com was founded in England in 1963 by BWC Charitable Trust, an animal welfare organization. Lotus Brands obtained the American rights to the BWC brand in 2010. BWC Features a complete line of hair, skin and facial/body care products and an extensive range of color cosmetics.