Mother's Day Champagne Brunch on Sunday, May 13 from 9am-3pm

Thunder Bay is having a special Mother's Day Champagne Brunch from 9am-3pm on Sunday, May 13, 2012. The Brunch will Prime Rib, carved ham, peel & eat shrimp, smoked salmon, omelet station, homemade waffles and salad bar, pastries, fresh fruit and your favorite breakfast items. Also the brunch will be featuring a chocolate fountain and a champagne fountain.

Adults will be $20.99, Children 5-10 years old will be $9.99 and Children 2-4 will be free.

The restaurant is now taking reservations for this Mother's Day Brunch so call today to reserve your table. The dinner menu will be available after 3pm. For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Thunder Bay Grille 563/386-2722 or now you can make your reservations online at www.thunderbaygrille.com.

Thunder Bay is located at 6511 Brady St, Davenport

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The Mississippi Valley Blues Society presents its annual Fundraiser on Saturday May 12 at Martinis on the Rock (4619 - 34^th Street, Rock Island, just south of Blackhawk Road). Admission is $20, which includes food and entry into drawings for door prizes.  The party, which includes a silent auction, begins at 6:00 p.m., with the music starting at 7:00 p.m.  All proceeds will benefit the 2012 Blues Festival, to be held June 29-July 1 at Davenport's LeClaire Park.

Music will be provided by three bands who have won the Iowa Blues Challenge and represented the state of Iowa at the annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis TN.  The Steady Rollin' Blues Band, The Candymakers, and The Mercury Brothers will each take the stage in Martinis' brand new outdoor music pavilion, situated in back with a stunning view of the scenic Rock River.  After the three sets, the MVBS will host a jam session.

The theme for this Fundraiser is Beale Street, the storied avenue in Memphis where the blues was born and raised, and where Iowa Blues Challenge winners have pursued blues fame and fortune at the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge.  It's fitting that the MVBS bring Beale Street to the Quad-Cities, considering that since 2000, 10 of the 12 Iowa Blues Challenge winners have been from the Quad-Cities.

Over the years, local blues fans and MVBS members could always be counted on to have a strong presence at the annual International Blues Challenge on Beale Street in Memphis, arguably the greatest concentration of live blues in the world, and always the guarantee of seeing a great band?usually from the QCA?representing  the State of Iowa and making us proud.

On May 12, $20 will get you in the door, a ticket for door prizes and a trip through the buffet line.  In addition, MVBS will be featuring prize drawings, a 50/50 raffle, and a silent auction of valuable merchandise and gift baskets donated by area businesses and organizations, as well as rare blues memorabilia from the MVBS archives.

Along with our sponsors, donors, volunteers, members and supporters, the non-profit MVBS depends heavily on fundraisers such as this to keep our musical standards as high, and our Festival admission prices as ridiculously low, as they've been in the past.

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 6:00pm

Thunder Bay Grille has teamed up with Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery from Cedar Rapids, to host a Whiskey dinner on Thursday, April 25th at 6:00 p.m. Jeff quaint, Master Distiller and proprietor of Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery will host the dinner, answering questions about the handcrafted Whiskeys, brandies and Limencello. "We are very excited to have Jeff come and answer questions and share his knowledge of high-quality, handcrafted whiskey, It's going to be a very enjoyable event," comments Nick Cox, Chief Executive officer of Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport.

Guests will enjoy a four-course meal, prepared by Executive Chef Andy Wildermuth Each course paired off with samples of Whiskey which is selected to compliment that course. Dinner starts with a Whiskey reception and the last course will allow guests a choice of enjoying a dessert inside or the gentlemen can enjoy a cigar and a bonfire on the patio while sipping whiskey.

The cost per guest is $60 per person . If you have any questions, or to make your reservation please call Thunder Bay Grille at (563) 386-2722 or visit www.thunderbaygrille.com

Thunder Bay Grille is located at I-80 and Brady Street, in Davenport, IA. # #

CHICK BEER: NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND'S BEER

Chick Beer, a new beer created by a woman, exclusively for women, is now available in Iowa stores and restaurants, and bars. The superior light lager with a big beer taste weighs in at only 97 calories and 3.5 carbs. And make no mistake about it - this isn't your boyfriend's (or any man's) beer. Chick Beer was created for fun-loving, smart, independent women who embrace life with a passion.

Chick Beer is no gimmick. Brewed in Wisconsin, Chick Beer is actually crafted for the feminine palate. Its flavor emphasizes soft malt over bitter hops. Many women prefer a less bitter flavor. In fact, some scientists claim that women are genetically predisposed to avoid bitter flavors, a vestige from the time when women were "gatherers." Bitter flavors warned of potential poisons, so women quickly learned to avoid them. Additionally, Chick Beer is lightly carbonated, a feature that women also embrace.

Iowa joins a select number of states in the country where Chick Beer is available. It debuted in Maryland (home of its founder) in August 2011, and has since taken off like a rocket. One liquor store manager in Indiana recently said, "Women love this beer! They buy their first six-pack because it's different and fun, but they come back to buy a case because they are, frankly, really surprised at how good it tastes. Chick Beer is going to be hot!"

Shazz Lewis, founder of Chick Beer, tells how the idea was, well, hatched. "For many years, my husband owned a wine and spirits store in Maryland. One day, I was looking at the beer cooler, which had more than 400 different beers in it, and I had an 'aha' moment: Why wasn't there a beer that shouted out to me? I'm a woman who enjoys drinking beer. I'm a wife, daughter, sister and mother of five daughters. Why wasn't there a beer that celebrates, or even acknowledges my, well, 'chickness'?"

I couldn't let go of that idea, and so began doing some research. I found that women consume 25 percent of all the beer in the United States - that's 700 million cases a year - but no one has ever addressed this segment of the market. Until now."

Although the name of the beer came to Lewis in a dream, in retrospect its moniker is obvious. "For years," Lewis chuckles, "men have dismissed lighter beers as chick beers that are so not what 'real men' drink. But since when is chick a bad thing? I decided to turn the pejorative 'chick' upside down and use the word as a celebration of the strength and power of women. I also decided that Chick Beer packaging would be anything but subtle. There's no mistaking the bright pink logo against the silhouette of a little black dress and an over-the-top feminine font. No one will mistake Chick Beer for a dude's beer."

Chick Beer is being distributed in Iowa by Johnson Brothers, who sold out of their initial shipment within days of receiving it. The distributor is reloading and working hard to get Chick Beer to all the Iowans who are asking for it. If you don't see Chick Beer on your stores' shelves or at your favorite watering holes, get uppity! Tell the proprietor you want Chick Beer now. Retailers can call Johnson Brothers at 515.262.1199.

Consumers looking for places that are selling Chick Beer can visit www.chickbeer.com and click on the Chick Finder map. Chicks are hatching in Iowa at a fast and furious pace. The map is regularly updated, so please keep checking back.

Chick Beer is more than just another beer on the shelf. Lewis has pledged to donate 5 percent of its net profits to charities that empower women, primarily in the communities where the beer is sold. "I don't believe that there is another beer company in the U.S. that has made this kind of commitment to women," she says.

"I've been fortunate all my life in that I've had a loving, supportive family, educational opportunities, and jobs that have been professionally and personally rewarding. I'm now at a time in my life when I can fulfill a long-held dream of mine - to give back some of my good fortune to other women who haven't been as lucky."

The Chick Cares initiative, which contributes both to national charities that empower women and to local organizations in the states where Chick Beer is sold, has recently announced its charitable giving plans for 2012. Details are available at www.chickbeer.com

If you want to be among the first in the country to taste Chick Beer, you'd better hurry. Its Facebook page has nearly 6,000 "likes" from all over the globe. Women are asking for it in all fifty states, and around the world.

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