Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Red Brick Bench Press Championship VII on Saturday, February 20, 2010 in Lewiston, NY. Proceeds to benefit our brave military men and women overseas and their families waiting for their safe return. This year we would need to raise $13,000 to break the $50,000 mark raised so far for our troops. Help us in our effort to boost the morale of our troops and show we care. 100% of all donations will go to the Military Family Support Group.
Click on the picture to open the 2010 Red Brick Bench Press VII Meet application in Adobe Reader, Complete the fill-in application online, print, sign, enclose cash, check or money order payable to: Village of Lewiston and return to: Village of Lewiston, 145 N 4th St, PO Box 325, Lewiston NY 14092.
Kenny Anderson and Titan Equipment is a returning sponsor for Red Brick VII
Pictured is Tom Schmidt [light blue shirt] and his team Titan 
2010 Red Brick Banner ready for new sponsors
Sunday, November 29 2009
Why are we sanctioning our event?
Over the years we have been honored by a great many elite lifters. Many of whom are ranked in the top 100 in the country and some in the top 10! Sites such as POWERLIFTING WATCH understandably do not recognize a lifters achievement unless it is a sanction event.
To give everyone a chance to become recognize we decided on doing it this way. POWERLIFTING WATCH has top 50 categories in male/female divisions, all weight classes and whether the lifter is raw or assisted, single and multi-ply divisions.
Why WNPF and WCPF?
The World Natural Powerlifting Federation (WNPF) has been around for a number of years and a strict enforcer of drug free powerlifting. They have many local events throughout the year run by NYS chairman Ron Deamicis, including the NYS WNPF Championships held in either Buffalo or Rochester, NY and the WNPF National Championships in nearby Ohio.
The World Class Powerlifting Federation (WCPF) is for our elite pro division lifters that participate at our Red Brick event. The WCPF is a fairly new organization with ties to the WNPF. There also has been some minor talk about the WCPF having a national meet here in the WNY area.
To encourage our Red Brick growth, I have worked out a great deal with Troy Ford, president of the WNPF/WCPF. Normally a sanctioned card costs $40.00 for each of our competitors that is good for one full year. Many of our competitors compete only once a year and we are honored to say it is to show their patriotism to our great servicemen and women at our Red Brick event. Because of this, Troy has offered to sanction our event with a one event charge of $10.00 for each of our competitors. All competitors will have a chance to break or set new WNPF or WCPF NYS records plus the chance to make POWERLIFTING WATCH's top 50 chart.
If we should happen to get any bigger, we may be forced to move to a larger facility. If it does, we will have the option to purchase a one day insurance liability protection plan from the WNPF at a low cost. Using the Red Brick School's insurance policy would not be available to us if we do happen to move.
I hope everyone understands our reasoning for this and the $10.00 increase to our applications. The benefits, I feel, will outweigh the costs and hopefully help us to grow and show more support to our brave men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why not AAU, USPF, SSA, etc?
AAU, USPF, SSA, APF, IPA and down the line are all excellent federations and I encourage everyone to support all those that have supported us in the past. Good people like Mike Kenney (USPF), Steve Rogers (AAU), Sandi and Zane McCaslin (SSA) and Big Gene Rychlak (IPA) to name a few. They all put on the best events in the area. Just check the pictures out of our past banners and you'll see those that have supported our troops. To date, the WNPF/WCPF has given us the most of what we need at this time (raw/assisted, single/multi-ply, pro/am, insurance).
I'm from out of the area, where can I stay?
I talked to the owners of the Portage House Motel located at 280 Portage Rd, Lewiston NY and they informed me that they will only charge $35.00/night for people attending our event. The Portage House is about 1/2 mile from the Red Brick School but is a no frills motel. Phone number is 716-754-8295.
There are two nearby restaurants about a block away from the motel plus some great dining places up and down our main street (Center St). About 9 miles away in Niagara Falls are tons of places to stay at if you're looking to also do some sightseeing while you’re here. Attractions, Accommodations and Restaurants in the River Region
Where is Lewiston, New York?
We're a small historic village just about 7 miles north of Niagara Falls, New York along the lower Niagara River. Anything and everything you're looking for in the village is within one or two blocks off Center St.
Big question, where does all this money go to that you raise?
To date we have raised $37,400 over the past six Red Brick competitions. Every person you see there working is a volunteer. Other than what we pay the Red Brick School for the use of their gym, insurance, personnel and costs of food and trophies, everything goes to a Military Family Support Group. I quit keeping track but estimate that I spend about $300-$400 of my own money every year to do this and couldn't do it without all the volunteers, competitors, sponsors, and even the spectators.
What is the Military Family Support Group?
The Military Family Support Group tries to take care of military families who may be going through a hardship while their brave loved ones are away overseas. This can be done in many ways such as sending packages overseas from a family to a specific soldier. This package may include hard-to-find items such as candy bars, phone cards, and even pictures of their families possibly even a picture of a new addition to their family.
They also use the money we raise for them to have holiday parties (Halloween, Christmas, etc.) for military children. One big party they have is a "welcome home party". They have military family picnics that are normally paid for by each military family but because of our past support, most of it has been covered.
I don't have the money, can I donate another way?
Many of our sponsors have donated items for our basket auction we have at our event. We have received powerlifting gear, gym memberships, toys and items for the house, workout shirts, pants, gift certificates for restaurants, stores, powerlifting meet applications, etc. Whatever it is, if we can use it to raise money for our military men, women and their families, we'll take it. Nothing is wasted and all of it helps us raise money.
We also are in need of volunteers to help set up/take down, for spotting and loading the bar during the competition etc.
I don't have the money to compete and I would like to but:
Any competitor that can get a sponsor to donate $100.00 or more competes for free. If you can get your boss, church, organization (Kiwanis, Moose, Elk, Lions Club, etc) to donate in your name with your application attached, you compete. Also note that all sponsors names will be hand printed on our Red Brick Banner which will be sent to either Iraq or Afghanistan for our troops to see and read after Red Brick VII.
Why do this?
What? This shouldn't even be a question. "We're here for them because they're there for us" PERIOD.
If you have any questions
Please feel free to ask through the above "contact us" page or email me at cdbrochey@roadrunner.com.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009.
2009 Red Brick Bench Press Championship VI Meet Results