Family Friendly Activities at Speed Street this Weekend- Free to the Public!

May 24th, 2013

The 19th annual Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola began will take place Thursday, May 23rd – Saturday night, May 25th. There are many reasons to attend this spectacular event. During the day, from noon until about 5 P.M., Speed Street will have a variety of family-friendly activities available for you and your kids including:

1. Fun for kids of all ages at the Food Lion Kids’ Zone

From Thursday through Saturday, families will have the opportunity to enjoy activities for all ages and interact with family-friendly sponsors. The local, cultural museums, including the Mint Museum and the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, will be open on the Food Lion Kids’ Zone block.

The Food Lion Kids’ Zone block will feature bounce houses, a rock climbing wall, a pitching booth provided by the Kannapolis Intimidators, face painters, Tony the Tiger, and Keebler the Elf.

In addition, the Carolina Panthers Cheerleaders and Sir Purr will be present to take photos with the kids and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will stop by for an autograph session.

That’s not all! There will also be a scavenger hunt for kids within the Kids’ Zone block to provide another chance for kids to win prizes!

2. Live Entertainment on the Coca-Cola Stage

In addition to providing all the musical entertainment for this year’s festival, the Coca-Cola Stage will also be the place of appearances for a number of drivers, including Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, and Danica Patrick.

3. Food Lion Interactive Area

Meet some of your favorite drivers and interact with the best Food Lion has to offer in the Food Lion interactive area, located on Tryon Street at Fourth Street. Throughout the three days, attendees will have the chance to win prizes by playing a variety of games based on “The Price is Right,” “Family Feud” and “Supermarket Sweep.” Food Lion will also host racing celebrities including Richard Petty, Dale Inman and Aric Almirola. Almirola will host a question-and-answer session with Petty and Inman Friday, May 24 at 1:15 p.m.

4. Test Drive A Chevy

Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola is proud to be home to the annual Chevy Ride-and-Drive program. A partner since 1995, Carolina Chevy Dealers offer fans the opportunity to test drive several of the newest models including the 2014 Silverado and Impala. In addition, attendees will have the chance to interact with Team Chevy racing displays and test drive other current models including the 2013 Cruze, Volt, Traverse, Equinox, Spark and Camaro. Test drives will be given on Brevard Street next to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

5. North Carolina Cash

A little known fact: one in eight people have unclaimed money. North Carolina Cash will be promoting its missing money program for the second time at Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola. In 2012, a total of $47,646.08 was returned to its rightful owner during the three day festival. Stop by for a chance to collect your unclaimed money.

6. NASCAR Hall of Fame

NASCAR Hall of Fame is “where the race lives on.” Throughout Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola, the 150,000-square-foot destination will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is a must-see for all attendees. The interactive, entertainment attraction tells the story of NASCAR’s history while honoring the sport’s memorable moments. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike includes artifacts, hands-on exhibits, a 278-person state-of-the-art theater, a Hall of Honor and more.

7. Flying in Style

Southwest Airlines added three straight flights from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to Houston, Orlando and Chicago in April 2013. The airline, committed to delivering a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride and company spirit, will be spreading the word about the new flights and giving away two round-trip tickets at Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola. But that’s not all. The airline also will give away 10,000 Fare Savers providing guests the opportunity to receive a discount on their next Southwest Airlines flight purchase. Stop by the display on Tryon Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Levine Avenue for a chance to win.

8. Great American BBQ Tour Comes to Charlotte

For the past five years, the Kansas City Barbeque Society has brought its Great American BBQ Tour to the country’s biggest festivals and fairs preaching the “Gospel of Q,” and this year, Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola will be one of its premier stops. True to its name, the Great American BBQ Tour is dedicated to sharing barbeque and outdoor cooking techniques with fans across the nation. Join tour hosts, Mike and Christine Peters, as they cook up a storm on the Big Green EGG with featured recipes from Castle Wood Reserve, Reser’s Fine Foods, Smithfield and Farmland. Of course, there will be plenty of hot-off-the-grill samples to go around so grab a front-row seat at the display located in the Third Street parking lot.

9. Food on the Run

The hottest trend in the cooking industry, food trucks, will make a debut at the 19th annual festival. Wingazza, The Herban Legend, Gourmet Goombahs and Queen City BBQ will serve a variety of cuisines throughout the three day festival including wings and pizza, American street food, Italian-American specialties and BBQ. Visit Tryon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd for a taste of the cult-favorite Charlotte food trucks.

10. NASCAR Appearances Galore

A part of the “10 greatest days in racing,” Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola offers unprecedented access to racing’s biggest stars. NASCAR stars including Richard Petty, Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart, Chad Knaus and Dale Inman will be making appearances throughout the festival on the Coca-Cola stage, Food Lion Interactive Area, Creative Loafing display, Net 10 Wireless display, Kellogg’s display and more.

As a precursor to the Coca-Cola 600 held at Charlotte Motor Speedway Food Lion Speed Street presented by Coca-Cola provides multi-day entertainment for fans.

Source: www.marketwire.com

Delicious, Moist, Nutritious, and EASY Banana Bread Recipe

May 21st, 2013

Alright guys, today we have a recipe for you that you can make today for an after school snack, a grab-and-go breakfast, a bake sale, or even served hot out of the oven with butter, jam, or natural vanilla ice cream as a dessert!

Not only is this banana bread muy delicioso, but it is actually nutritious as well!

Bananas are loaded with nutritional benefits. They are low in calories, high in fiber, and they add a natural sweetness(sugar that your body can recognize) to the banana bread. In addition, they provide potassium, B Vitamins, and Vitamin C!

For this recipe, we like to use a blended flour that is half whole-wheat, half unbleached all-purpose white flour. The germ of the wheat kernel is included in the whole-wheat flour, which adds extra protein, B Vitamins, and fiber to the banana bread.

The nonfat plain yogurt(or greek yogurt) adds calcium for strong teeth and bones, protein, and live active cultures for healthy digestion.

Finally, nuts are optional, but are added to this recipe for a nice crunchy, nutty flavor. We like to use pecans because they contain more Vitamin E than any other nut. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that works to fight off free radicals that cause cancer! Furthermore, they even contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and fiber.

With these three super nutritious ingredients, this banana bread will provide your family with many of the nutrients they need every day. Don’t worry, they’ll actually love the taste, too! So go ahead, let’s get baking !

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 medium bananas, sliced

1. Lightly grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth.

4. Finally, fold in the plain yogurt, walnuts/pecans, and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

5. Bake for 60 minutes in 350 degree oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf is clean when removed.

Enjoy and stay healthy!

Cramerton Middle School Talent Show

May 13th, 2013

We at Hannon Orthodontics were so very proud and honored to sponsor the Cramerton Middle School Talent Show on Friday, May 10, 2013. Congratulations to all of the gifted contestants. You all did wonderful!

Corporate Sponsor of Gaston United Soccer Club

April 22nd, 2013

Dear Gaston United Soccer Players, Parents, Coaches, Friends,

On behalf of Dr. Hannon and all of us at Hannon Orthodontics, we feel very honored to sponsor Gaston United Soccer this season. This is a privilege for us to partner with you.

We have deep respect for you, the athletes, who practice hard …day in and day out ….so you can do your very best as a team on game day and all the days you practice together.

We respect, you, Gaston United coaches and organizers, who share your energy, time and wisdom so players can learn the life lessons that will sustain them on and off the field.

We respect you, the parents, who push through all obstacles to help your players keep their commitment to their team. Through your disciplined example, your player learns the greatest lessons.

The game of soccer provides a vehicle for the players to learn so many of life’s important lessons that later transfer to the careers they choose. Here they will learn the value of hard work, discipline, respect for themselves and others, and keeping commitments that will help them on their life’s journey.

To the Gaston United coaches, organizers, and parents, we say thank you, and to the players, we say play hard.

Dr. Steve Hannon and all of us at Hannon Orthodontics are rooting for you!