Sphinx Competition

One of the times where we get a chance to talk about one of the things that we offer and at the same time promote something positive happening in the community. The Sphinx Competition is one of the premier events promoting classical music education with the minorities. This year's competition involved string musicians from Black and Latino backgrounds in junior and senior high school and took place at the Max M. Fisher Music Center. They competed and the winners (laureates) will play a concert at Carnegie Hall.

This has been founded by Michigan Alum Aaron Dworkin, a truly remarkable person with an equally remarkable cause.

A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan (B.B. and M.M), Aaron Dworkin founded the not-for-profit Sphinx Organization in 1996 to build diversity in classical music. He also wanted to help overcome the cultural stereotype of classical music, and to encourage the participation of Blacks and Latinos in the field. Dworkin and the organization have received many honors and accolades, including a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

In the 13 year history of the organization, Sphinx has made the following impact:

* More than 65,000 students reached in 175 schools nationwide
* More than 2 million individuals reached on an annual basis through national broadcasts on PBS and National Public Radio
* More than $190,000 in quality instruments provided to young minority musicians
* More than $1,620,000 in prizes and scholarships administered to Sphinx Competition Semi-Finalists
* More than 190 Laureate performances with Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, and St. Louis Symphonies reaching over 180,000 in audiences.

We have provided service to this event, and we also hope that should you be in New York in early October you should contact us or one of our affiliate companies across the country. Don't pass up this golden opportunity to see something special.

NASCAR Michigan 400 this weekend

The Tigers and Lions aren't the only major sporting events happening in Michigan this weekend. For all the racing fans in the state this is probably the biggest event of the year. With the Sprint Cup Series coming down the stretch with Tony Stewart in the lead the chase will be heating up in Brooklyn this Sunday August 16. Drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon who are not far behind him will try to get an early leg up in the qualifying and pole position this Friday August 14.

Golden Limousine will be available for any individual or group transportation needs for this weekend. We'll be there till the finish and go the extra mile for any of your needs.

Full schedule and booking information here.

Michigan International Speedway Schedule

•Aug. 14 -- NASCAR Sprint Cup Qualifying
•Aug. 15 -- CARFAX 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series
•Aug. 16 -- Michigan 400

Pinnacle Race Course Deal

Golden Limousine is proud to announce that we are now offering services to the new Pinnacle Race Course in New Boston, the newest thoroughbred race track in Michigan. With that we are welcoming anybody who is interested in taking this golden opportunity to spend a day at the races there, and to also take advantage of the deals that they themselves are willing to give their patrons for the month of August.

Visit Pinnacle Race Course any day of the week during August, sign up to become a member of the Pinnacle Players Club and you will be entered to win a $100 wagering voucher! Current Pinnacle Players Club members are also eligible to enter by presenting their active card to the Guest Services desk. The winner will be chosen and announced after the 6th race on Monday, August 31st. You must be present to win.

Golden Limousine is happy to provide transportation to this promotion that the good folks at the Pinnacle Race Course are doing for this month. We are also happy to provide transportation to a leisurely group getaway or corporate meeting there. Whatever is necessary Golden is willing to go the extra mile for you.

Reminder on upcoming events

With all that's been going on lately (especially with the Tigers division race) it's time that we remind ourselves of things that we had planned out earlier. For those of us who make plans in advance we definitely need some reminding.

For those of you who wanted to check out the Star Trek exhibition at the Science Center, it's on August 21 next Friday and if you want to check out the Science Center at some point before then you can ask about our deals on that as well.

Also AC/DC will be at the Palace this upcoming Sunday, August 16, and Peter Frampton will be at the Meadow Brook Music Festival the following week on August 22, which you can read about on our new revamped website.

We blogged about these deals well in advance of the events taking place now with them being much closer to happening it becomes necessary for us to remind the public of them.

Ford Field Tour + Tigers this week + Lions next week...oh my

Another big home series for the Detroit Tigers against a division rival means that people will be flocking to downtown Detroit for the weekend. With the drama of the Major League Baseball season going on at Comerica Park tonight and Saturday night a good way to do a pregame would be to take a look at the place next door.

With the AL Central Division race heading into the dog days of summer with the Tigers currently in the lead, there's never been a better time to look into our Sensational Detroit package. There's a lot going on, and not just sports. Whatever it is in Detroit that you're looking to do, we can get you there, and if you're just there for the series we'll get you there too.

Speaking about the place next door, the Lions first preseason game will be next Saturday August 16 at Ford Field against the Atlanta Falcons. Fans will not only be looking forward to getting over the winless season last year, but also to get their first look at the first pick in the draft Quarterback Matthew Stafford. You can have access to all these events through Golden with our sports concierge service. With everything going on this weekend you'd me hard pressed not to miss a golden opportunity like this.

New and improved website upcoming

We at Golden Limousine have been working extra hard to revamp our website. Hopefully we will go from this to something that looks like this.

We hope to continue to have the support we have received over the years, at the same time we hope to attract new customers with our revamped website. This website is going to be different from most others, we're going to have detailed articles about all of our packages, similar to the ones that you see on the blog, and the ability to purchase a package and start an account with Golden.

Shortly after our website goes live we will start up our newsletter again. We already have most of the articles written and we hope to include a message from our esteemed President Sean Duval. I don't want to give too many of the details away but we hope to have some things that no other company will be doing via the Internet, and we hope to have it done by the beginning of next week at the very least.

Golf Outings

Even though the PGA Tour has temporarily vacated the state of Michigan with the last edition of the Buick Open finishing last week, you can still hit the links and find a way to get through your meeting with a nice recreational round. Detroit Sports Travel has a great listing of courses that should cater to anyone's taste in volume of golf.

Should you be interested in getting there as part of a chartered trip or as a group outing in stylish transportation Golden Limousine is available for you. Just call us at 1-800-300-5151 and ask us about our golf packages to hear what we have to offer. No matter what's available you can always count on Golden to get you there in style. If you're lucky, you might just have a "Tiger Woods" kind of day.

Photo from the Detroit Free Press.