Biz Buzz

Celebrations! There's nothing like celebrating your one-year anniversary -- to commemorate surviving that first year of business. So, hats off to River Spirit Casino! They're throwing a bash of a party, too, with an 11-day celebration at the casino. On March 31, the casino will give away its second BMW 1 Series Coupe to a casino guest who has registered within this month. In addition, the casino will host commemorative gifts, $1 beer, $5 lunch buffet, $10 dinner buffet, free live entertainment in the Mystic River Lounge and hourly $1,000 drawings. I guess the casino and the guests end up being winners during this celebration. For more information, visit RiverSpiritTulsa.com.

Bigger and Better. To say Beautiful Brands International has been busy would be an understatement. They have added another local restaurant to its growing company of franchisers. In the Raw has stepped up to the plate to grow its company to new proportions. "In the Raw is about an experience in dining that few others can recreate," said Greg Hughes, CEO and owner of In The Raw. "Our desire is to outdo ourselves creatively in appealing to our guests with an array of dishes in a fresh, high-energy atmosphere. We know our brand will resonate very well with customers worldwide looking for the best in inspired sushi cuisine with terrific service and best ambiance anywhere." The store currently has five locations throughout Oklahoma, including two in Tulsa. For more information about the company and its franchising efforts, visit intherawsushi.com.

Reporter

Presidential Commendation

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum will honor President Bill Clinton for his work in helping Oklahoma City transform following the bombing of the federal building almost 15 years ago and for his international peace work during his presidency and during the past decade.

President Clinton founded the William J. Clinton Foundation to focus on worldwide issues that demand urgent actions, solutions and measurable actions. The Foundation's mission is to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and around the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. The Clinton Foundation has several initiatives which work to fight climate change, promote sustainable development, expand economic opportunity, and encourage healthier lifestyles. In addition, the Clinton Global Initiative, established in 2005, convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.

The Reflections of Hope Award honors a living person or active organization whose conduct exemplifies in an extraordinary fashion two core beliefs of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation: that hope can survive and blossom despite the tragedy and chaos of political violence and that, even in environments marred by such violence, peaceful, nonviolence approaches provide the best answers to human problems.

"President Clinton and the work of the Clinton Foundation exemplify the core mission of this award and the Memorial and Museum," said Kari Watkins, Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum executive director. "He stood by this city 15 years ago and helped lead the way to rebuilding the heart of our city. Since then, he has done a tremendous job of bringing together the private sector and the non-governmental organizations to combat global issues."

President Clinton will be honored at a reception and a dinner on April 21, 2010, just two days after the nation marks the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The reception and dinner will be at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Grand Ballroom in downtown Oklahoma City.

For ticketing information go to reflectionsofhopeaward.org. The Reflections of Hope Award, established in 2005, is made possible through the generous support of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum educates visitors about the impact of violence and terrorism, teaches the lessons learned from the Oklahoma City bombing and inspires hope and healing from those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. For more information on the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum, call 1-888-542-HOPE or visit oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org.

Catching zzz's

An unique oral appliance created by a Canadian dental practitioner to treat snoring and sleep apnea will soon be fabricated in a dental office in Oklahoma as part of a pilot project.

After extensive research and careful consideration of a large pool of highly qualified American dental practices, Patrick Strong, President and CEO of Strong Dental and developer of a new dental sleep appliance has teamed with RiverWalk Dental Spa in Jenks, Okla.

"RiverWalk Dental Spa was the chosen dental practice because of their passion and commitment to dental sleep medicine and the treatment of sleep-disordered patients," Strong said. "Dr. Carrie Sessom and Ms. April Fitzgerald both are very dedicated to their practice. From the way they treat their patients to their philosophies, they are in line with Strong Dental's values.

"We equally appreciate that people who are suffering from the effects of snoring and life-threatening sleep apnea are in need of immediate treatment," Strong said.

To help more people get the treatment they need sooner, Strong Dental determined it needed dental offices across North America for the onsite fabrication of TSAs. "We wanted to test it out with one dental office before going through with this idea," Strong said. "By outsourcing production, patients can go to their local practitioner, have impressions of their teeth taken and then the dental office can fabricate the appliance onsite, generally allowing the patient to receive treatment within 24 hours."

To make that happen for Oklahoma patients, Dr. Sessom and Ms. Fitzgerald at RiverWalk Dental Spa are currently involved in an extensive training process with Strong Dental. They are learning how to fabricate the TSA, a temporary dental sleep appliance that is FDA-cleared to market for snoring and sleep apnea. When worn at bedtime, the TSA comfortably positions the patient's lower jaw in a forward position, allowing relaxation of the tongue and tissues in the back of the throat, which stops snoring.

Snoring is more than a loud annoyance. It can also be a sign of sleep apnea, a life-threatening medical disorder that causes breathing to stop briefly and frequently while sleeping. Untreated, sleep apnea can increase the risk of heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and work related or motor vehicle accidents. Sleep apnea can also cause fatigue, irritability, confusion, loss of productivity and sexual dysfunction.

Once Dr. Sessom and Ms. Fitzgerald have completed their training, they will be able to manufacture the appliance at RiverWalk Dental Spa. Strong said, "If this relationship indicates that outsourcing production is the best way to help our patients receive real-time treatment, then we will outsource to more dental offices across North America."