EDMONTON INT’L RACEWAY ANNOUNCES NEW TITLE SPONSOR!

Media Release

“Blind Behind the Wheel”

Monday, July 16, 2007, Edmonton…Everyone’s heard the horror stories -- people driving while putting on makeup, reading a book, changing their clothes or even worse things!

But these incidents are nothing compared with what’s going to happen at a special charity race at the Edmonton International Raceway, where blind people will be driving in a car race Sept. 8^th.

The event is the first annual “Blind Behind the Wheel” race and Loretta Thiering, the event’s organizer, says it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “blind trust”. 

“There will be up to 20 people competing,” she says, and each blind driver will have a sighted navigator giving directions.   “We’re so excited about this event,” says Thiering, adding “It’s all to benefit Alberta Guide Dog Services, a local charitable organization that provides guide dogs to young Albertans, aged 13 – 18.”   Each driver will each do 10 laps of the track.

Some of the drivers competing are youngsters who have already received a guide dog from the charity but Thiering speculates there won’t be any guide dogs riding shot-gun in the cars.  “I think they’d much rather stay on the sidelines,” she laughs.  It costs nearly $40,000 to produce one guide dog while the recipient pays only $1.  Alberta Guide Dog Services is one of the few guide dog schools in the world that will give a guide dog to a youth, Thiering says, and “it makes an incredible difference as they go through high school and on to university.”

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For further information or to set up an interview, please contact:

Loretta Thiering,

Edmonton International Raceway at 780-467-9276.