The gala featured a concert by country music singers/songwriters Bridgette Tatum and Danny Myrick. The pair wrote the song "She's Country," which was performed by Jason Aldean on the 2008 Country Music Awards.
The charity bass tournament was Boats and facilitated by FLW Outdoors. Three hundred and nineteen fishermen competed for the grand prize which was Ryan Newman's Z-20 Ranger Boat equipped with a 225 H.O. Evinrude, Minn-Kota Maxxum 80 trolling motor, Lowrance x135, and trailer. Alfred Kiesling of Mooresville, NC and Cliff Kirby of Catawba, NC won the tournament and took home the grand prize package, valued at $45,000.
Ninety percent of the proceeds raised will be used to fulfill the mission of the Ryan Newman Foundation Endowment-to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters; to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation so the beauty of the great outdoors can be appreciated by future generations; and to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program to students interested in auto racing careers. Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated directly to the Humane Society of Iredell and the Humane Society of Catawba County, both located in NC.
"I'm very proud of all that our foundation has accomplished with our projects like Racing For Wildlife and opening the S.N.I.P. Regional Spay/Neuter Clinic in Catawba County," Newman said."Krissie and I are working to make an even larger impact across the nation by supporting more spay/neuter programs, animal shelters and conservation programs. We really appreciate everyone's support to help us raise funds for these important causes."
For full weigh-in results, download the FLW Outdoors tournament results and big bass contest results from http://ryannewmanfoundation.org/news/eventresults2008.
For more information about the Ryan Newman Foundation, visit http://www.ryannewmanfoundation.org .