Magazine’s second car rally a hit

With over 40 participants in 17 cars joining the event, Beach Road Magazine Second Annual Car Rally, held on May 24, was a huge success.

Susan Marchitti, Beach Road Magazine account manager and rally master, said the turnout was bigger this year, noting that there were only 13 cars in the first one held last year.

“Everybody had fun. All participants also took home prizes,” Marchitti said.

The top three winners were Amanda Hayes, a U.S. District Court staff, who won the $250 first prize; Mayuki Kebukawa, dive instructor who lives in Chinatown and winner of the $200 second prize; and Lennie M. Kalan, of Kagman III who won the $150 third prize. Kalan works at Saipan International Airport as a staff with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

All three said they did not expect to win, considering how much of a test of skill the car rally turned out to be as participants were given questionnaires to answer as they navigate from one checkpoint to another within a given time.

Marchitti said the winners were scored based on the highest number of accurate answers and on the closest they made it to the estimated completion time. She said the car rally covered approximately 32.5 miles with an estimated completion time of 86 minutes. Starting point was at the Palms Resort Saipan upper parking lot and finish line was at Kilili Beach.

There were four checkpoints in between—checkpoint 1 was in Tanapag, checkpoint 2 was in Kagman, checkpoint 3 was at Shell’s Dan Dan service station, and checkpoint 4 was at the parking lot of Saipan International School in As Lito.

Participants were given refreshments by Coca-Cola Beverage Co. (Micronesia) Inc., Foremost Foods Saipan, and Micronesian Brokers (CNMI) Inc., and duffle bags donated by Western Union at the checkpoints which were manned by Beach Road Magazine staff, and volunteers including Beach Road Magazine models Karen Hartman and Eli Espinas.

Awards party was held on May 25 at Oleai Beach Bar & Grill where the following prizes were given away: A gift certificate from Saipan Sea Ventures; a gift certificate from 360 Restaurant; two gift certificates for an overnight stay for two at Saipan Grand Hotel, lunch and dinner buffet also at Saipan Grand Hotel; an overnight stay for two at Palms Resort Saipan, and buffet at a Palms Resort F&B outlet; lunch for two at The Green Flash Restaurant; four gift bags from Boarderline; gift certificates for Megazone from Megabyte; two Wear-A-Marconi shirts; Wave Jungle passes, a gift certificate for two to Red Box 799 and a gift certificate for two to the Sunday brunch at World Café—all from Saipan World Resort; and Ensure Shakes from Micronesian Brokers (CNMI) Inc. (PR)