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The advertising manager at the radio station where I stumbled around
a bit came up with the idea of promoting the station while doing
something good in the community. His idea was to raise our station
manager in the air, five or six stories up, for two days from
sunrise to sunset. Only local residents purchasing food for the
local food pantry at the IGA where the high wire act was located
would cause Jim Ash to be lowered back to the ground.
Being a person who will try anything once, I did my radio show in
the air with Jim and hung around for a few hours more. Jim and I
both discussed the notion that perhaps people would come in droves
to donate food if I was left up in the air rather than lowered back
down.
The next day I went up with Jim to chip in a few words here and
there but mainly to keep him company as the station played Christmas
music with frequent live feeds from the ticket box swinging in the
air.
Without a doubt the novelty was given its due by the media. Two
local television channels and the two area newspapers covered the
story of WLCN and the IGA trying to re-stock the local food pantry
before Christmas.
Now to be honest these things are often done to try and benefit
all parties including in this case the radio station.
We received incredibly positive press and kudos from the community.
The IGA and the car dealership supplying the trucks to haul the food
to the pantry paid for airtime and were given extensive thanks for
their help. The IGA also made back some of their money on the food
sales but not much as the owners gave a great deal of food
themselves to the drive.
There were a few other great sponsors including the industrial
crane company who helped pay the costs and received very positive
advertisement in return.
The event was working as well as we could have hoped for. There
had been seven pickup trucks full of groceries collected plus almost
$500 in cash donations and more coming in every minute
It was a marvelous blend of promotion, good business and charitable
giving. And then came my gift.
A sleet storm started to move in the second day and we needed to
bring everything down. We needed to let the crane operator get
stowed away and back on the road before it became too treacherous to
drive the huge piece of equipment back home.
It was also a great chance for me to go back into the grocery
store's bathroom to soak a finger that I had errantly burned a few
hours before. While moving a small kerosene heater over for warmth
in the small booth, my hand came in contact with the blazing hot
mantle forming a painful heat blister. The frigid air felt good but
running cold water on it felt better.
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As I walked through the store, I spent time glad- handing with folks
I knew as we joked about the crazy stunt that we were doing and the
great good everyone was accomplishing for area families who needed a
little help.
While walking around in the store thanking people, I caught a
moment of a mom and her two children chirping enthusiastically as
they walked down an aisle. A little girl about five and her brother,
perhaps seven, were yelling that this cereal was good or this soup
was a favorite. I remarked to myself how curiously animated these
two children were to what they were picking out to have in their
home. I was wrong.
About fifteen minutes later the trio came out of the store with the
mom carrying two full bags of serious groceries. She and her two
wards brought them over to one of the food pantry trucks and I just
had to go over and say hello and thank them.
It dawned on me as I saw their actions that the children had been
enthused about their choices because they were picking things out
they liked for children they didn't know. Children like themselves
who would find as much contentment and joy in consuming the foods as
these youngsters had found in picking them out.
The mother proudly stated that her children chose the food
themselves. In just a whisper as I gathered myself I responded that
I knew that.
As they walked away, the little girl turned smiling and wished me a
Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas.
No sweetie, Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas to you. You
taught an old man to remember that the magic in this world is always
in the eyes and the heart of a child.
You also reminded me there is no age restriction on being one.
[MIKE FAK}
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