My husband, Warren, spent 30 hours this week on a billboard in town, temperature in the teens. The reason?
Special Olympics, which has always had a special place in his heart. This year the weather was a factor. Last year they sat on lawn chair in sweat shirts. This year, Warren wore every high-tech article of clothing he owned and some low-tech, too, including two pairs of running tights, sweat pants, and ski pants.
He's been doing this for several years. They shoot for $10,000 in funds raised. I think this is pretty remarkable when you realize there is no phone bank, no one answering calls and taking pledges. People have to be motivated to drive over to the local Coke building and drop off a check or cash. How many people have to do this to raise ten thousand dollars in 30 hours? Gotta be loads of folks.
Warren started on Friday afternoon using one of the station vehicles to haul all the radio equipment down to the Coke billboard. Actually, the billboard is on top of a building with windows into another part of the building. So all the radio equipment spent the weekend locked up inside.
Sunday afternoon, Warren began gathering all his survival equipment for the event. This included two sleeping bags, an inflatable mattress, a small tent with built-in floor, hand warmers, at least 10 articles of clothing including parka and ski pants, all his cold-weather running things, socks, hiking boots, you name it. And don't forget the scarves, mittens and gloves, hats and hood!
He left around 4 am on Monday morning which is normal for him. But this time he was on the Coke building in front of the billboard. By 6 am, Warren's radio show began.
The wind blew the entire time, lowering the windchill to dangerous levels. Even if you're from the northern realms, you would have thought it was frigid up there on that billboard!
The fun part of this charity event is that lots of local businesses send food and beverages down for the people on the roof and at ground level. Hamburgers, tacos, burritos, rolls, cookies, chips, french fries... After the radio show was done, they spent the rest of Monday waving at cars, talking on the radio every hour or so to encourage more drivers to stop by with donations. Special Olympics or the local police officers or county officers had people groundside to collect the money and keep a running total.
Someone had to hold the antennae up every time they tried to talk into the mike because the wind was so fierce it wanted to blow it off the roof. One time Warren's chair and papers were blown off the roof. Someone on the ground retireved them and hauled them back up the ladder.
Warren's face is still red from wind chapping. I think the hardest part of the day was seeing the Central Bank's big thermometer right across the street. They knew they were cold but the almost single digit temperature reading across the street amplified the coldness.
That night, they all turned in early in their separate tents and slept till 5 am when they got up and started all over again until noon on Tuesday. Warren did his morning radio show again, they all waved at honking cars some more, ate some more, braved the cold and wind some more, and RAISED OVER TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!
This photo shows the taller front of the Coke building (to the left) and the bill board on the smaller building in the back (to the right).
Click here for an article in the local paper.
Bravo, Guys! Good job for a good cause!
