Homes 4 Heroes Giving 60 Free Homes to Our Heroes

Coleen, John Moore, Maria Miuccio, Ray J

Ray J

 Written and Photographs by Nikki Artale

At a private press conference Andre Haynes, founder and chairman of Armed Forces Chamber of Commerce announced that actor, singer Ray J will host a new T.V. Reality show Homes 4 Heroes. Maria Miuccio, business owner of Cash Kingdom, a State Farm Insurance Franchise and a company that flips homes will be financing the project that will put 60 Veterans, fire, police and paramedics into homes across 50 states.

John Moore

The first recipient was John Moore, a 15 year veteran as a US Army Ranger. John worked on remodeling the house, thinking that an elderly woman was getting the house but on the last day of shooting he was in for a big surprise. Maria Miuccio handed John the keys to the house, valued at $200,000 and thanked him for all his years of service. Another surprise for John was that his home would be totally furnished for free from Coleens Classic Consignment Store and he would pick out anything he wanted for his entire house. John was so overwhelmed by all the generosity and still can’t believe this.

Maria Miuccio, Dan Kaminsky, Ray J

Special guests were the Queens from the Endeavor Pageant Organization who added love and beauty to the event. Andre Haynes is the founder and director and he is proud of the positive impact these Queens are making through their service. www.endeavorpageant.com  www.emgnv.com 

Andre Haynes

Ray J spent a few hours at the media event and everyone enjoyed meeting him and spending quality time talking to him. I found him to be a loving and warm young man with an open heart and he will be a great host on his new show “Homes for Heroes”. 

                                                       Ray J, Nikki Artale

Firefighters Bachelor Auction Hits the Stage for a Fabulous Evening

Written & Photographs by Nikki Artale

Las Vegas Firefighters held their 17^th Annual Bachelors Auction on June 9, 2017 inside the Foundry at the SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. Proceeds from the Bachelor Auction will support the Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation to fund six children’s camps ranging from Camp Beyond the Scars and family camps. A dozen bachelors were representing fire companies from Las Vegas and they were among the fit and handsome men that took part in the auction.  www.theburnfoundation.org 

Capt. Jason Martinez

James Johnson

https://youtu.be/OgN3rOl-ntc

The evening began with the firefighters giving out a rose and a glass of champagne to each woman that entered the room. Our firefighter Heroes mingled with all the ladies and lots of pictures were taken and the ladies started to single out the men they would be bidding on.

Master of Ceremonies Scotty Allen got the ladies excited when he announced that the Firefighters would go into the audience and give out Kisses, but to the surprise of everyone they handed out chocolate kisses. Everyone loves chocolate.

The night started out with entertainment by Aussie Heat who added more eye candy with their amazing dance moves. They are all super talented and awesome. 

Aussie Heat

The firefighters were paired off with prize packages that included LV show tickets, dinners, helicopter rides, $500 gift certificates, a Five Night trip to Mexico, Golf, spa treatments and much more. Two Firehouse Dinner were auctioned off to six lucky ladies for $7500 each. That will be such an exciting dinner for everyone.

Upon introduction the firefighters put on a show as they came off the stage and mingled in the audience, a la Magic Mike and they tore their shirts off. Guess what………..I got one of the
T-shirts.

It was a fabulous night and all the children will benefit by the thousands of dollars they will receive from our “Heroes the firefighters of Las Vegas”

Nevada Women’s Film Festival Celebrates Women in Film

Written & Photography by Nikki Artale

This is the third year that the Nevada Women’s Film Fest has shown the accomplishments of women in film in the media industry. It facilitates the production and promotion of independent films by and about women. Nikki Corda, Executive Director and Founder of NWFFest has once again put together a successful and inspirational film festival with fabulous films. She has had a career for many years in producing, writing and teaching film and video classes at the Nevada State College and College of Southern Nevada  www.nwffest.com

Nikki Corda and Ariann Black

Nevada Woman Filmmaker of the Year award was presented to May May Luong for her many incredible years as a filmmaker and producer of feature films in the Las Vegas community. Her most recent film is The Track.

An outstanding film “I Am Still Here” is a story of an African American girl who is abducted and forced into prostitution at the age of 10 and held as a sex slave for seven years. Writer, director and producer Mischa Marcus shows the brutal and horrific life of these young children who are kidnapped for sex slavery. It is a story told with brutal honesty to create awareness. People are unaware of this problem and through awareness there will be change and action. This film helps to educate the public on an uncomfortable subject matter but this ugly reality must be told. Thisfilm has been shown in over 28 film festivals and has won eight film awards. www.blur-themovie.com 

Mischa Marcus

Guest entertainers for the evening were Habaka, and international recording artist and Host and female magician of the year Ariann Black. It was exciting and we all look forward to next year’s event.

Habaka

Ariann Black