General Manager Erich Haidlen threw a mixer earlier this month at the Haidlen Ford Dealership on East F Street in Oakdale, participating in the “Go Further With Ford Night” promotion and activities. The showroom was filled with tables and people mingling. Over 100 people stopped by throughout the evening to take part in the festivities.

If you arrived hungry then you could follow the smells to the corner of the showroom and grab a slice of Mountain Mikes pizza. Baskin Robbins was also there and they provided the sweets. Or if you were just looking for something to quench your thirst then you could find that there as well.

Part of the promotion was to have participating Ford dealerships donate to a local charity. Haidlen set a goal to raise $500 for the Sierra View Music Festival Scholarship Fund and they were successful in reaching it.

“When these nationwide campaigns come up, local dealerships can participate and benefit our local community,” noted Oakdale Chamber of Commerce CEO Mary Guardiola, who attended the event and helped host it as part of a Chamber activity.

Oakdale High School student Amee Neathery was running one of the activities they had at the “Go Further With Ford Night” event. They had a unique opportunity to ‘Test Your Judging Skills’ with the American Idol contest. To participate in the judging contest, you had to register at the counter, then go to the designated computer, view a recording of an American Idol contestant and then record your evaluation in a 30 second video. The video will get sent to the sponsors of the contest to review all videos. The video that has the most points given by the sponsors will then win an American Idol VIP experience.

They also had two separate Sweepstakes that guests could enter. They had an American Idol Ticket Sweepstakes and a 2013 Ford Fusion Sweepstakes. Ford Motor Company will have a random drawing for both sweepstakes.