Last Thursday we had our fifth and final WeatherDeck Party of the season in our back yard, and just like the previous four, what a time it was!   And now, in the spirit of television and radio promotion, allow me to "tease" you by saying "I have big news coming up soon!"  I can't give you all the details now, but I will tell you just a little bit more after I tell you who we honored with last weeks WeatherDeck Party, and, I must say a few thank yous!
 
Below are the folks we honored at this most recent WeatherDeck Party.

Dottie & Al Farrell. Good neighbors from Auburn. Taking in family after house fire, then she had major surgery.

Le Moyne College Physicians Assistant program:  Director, staff and clinical coordinators, many of whom are retired but voluntarily and graciously teach the students.

Roxanne, exceptional teacher at Pine Grove Middle School, East Syracuse. Takes her 50+ students each to NYC field trip with funds she raises through community events she organizes year round.

Kelly Harron. A great neighborhood in Jamesville. Just moved here from Pennsylvania. 14 years old. Dad is in Air Force and is home for the summer before heading back to Iraq & Afghanistan. Also, neighbor 7 year old just had open heart surgery. Neighbors helping this new family from Pennsylvania.

MOMs group in Syracuse. Once a month, 15 moms get together to laugh, cry and vent. Each has a child who has cancer or has had cancer.

Roberta Thornhill. Her and her family from Cicero. Roberta’s Mom passed away in 08’. Her husband was then diagnosed with kidney cancer. A few months later (January 09’), her Dad died. To top it off, a short time later her dog has to be put to sleep due to cancer.

Jim Fadden family, Baldwinsville. Battling prostate cancer for 8+ years. Fell and broke ankle this past May due to tumor on his spine. Jim and his wife had to move out of their house and move in with other family. Jim is 35 years old!

Ellen Orchard-Long from Auburn. Group of friends helping another friend battle an aggressive form of cancer.

The above are just a few of the great folks we have had the opportunity and pleasure to honor and pay tribute to at our five parties over the Summer.  Our WeatherDeck Parties could not have been more of a success!  We received more than 1000 email letter registrations from all across central NY from folks in all walks of life. Roughly 60% were from folks, families, neighbors, groups who had been or were experiencing tremendous personal tragedies, everything from young childern and family members killed in house fires and car accidents to all to many dealing with cancer and other devastating diseases. There were also numerous folks and families in this group undergoing hardship due to job loss. Roughly another 35% were written about people, clubs, organizations, businesses and families who had gone above-and-beyond with their kind works and deeds in helping neighbors, the sick, elderly and less fortunate. The remaining 5% had various reasons for writing, but not falling into the above two major categories.

The bottom line is we had five parties and honored ten groups at each party. That's 50 different groups. Erikka (my right hand man - so to speak) and I had such a difficult time choosing our honorees from the 1000 entries. Honestly, for at least 900 of the 1000 entires, anybody reading the registration emails would say "We've got to give these folks a party!".  We wanted to throw a party for every one of them, but obviously, that couldn't be done.  So, we chose as many as we could, mixing a variety of tragedies with good deeds, but there were way too many folks "left behind"....  (another tease).

Before I go on, I have some important Thank Yous I must pass along.

First and foremost, to our major sponsors, P&C Supermarkets and Tarsons Pools and Spas. P&C supplied the food, desserts and drinks for each party as well as P&C Gift Cards as door prizes. Great food, great people and a great company that really cares about central New York!  Kathy and Terry from P&C are the best folks ever!

Tarsons Pools and Spas attended every party, supplied prizes and most important, donated the brand new hot tub which we drew for at the end of the last party. More great folks who really care about the community!  Shelly, Bobby and the whole gang!  (By the way, the hot tub couldn't have gone to a more deserving person). It's like a poor family winning the lottery!  In short, a young man with cerebral palsey, in a wheelchair, needing water therapy to help his leg and overall body circulation, but could never afford a hot tub or regular physical therapy. A randon drawing out of 1000 registrations, and they get picked for the hot tub. Wow!   Erikka from the TV station, Shelly from Tarsons Pools and Spas and I all called the family to tell them the good news after the show.  The mom was so excited!  So many "God Bless Yous" amidst her crying of joy. Incredible!  We were on the verge of crying too.

I also want to thank our other sponsors that made each party, a party!  TK-99 Radio Station with Gomez, Dave and Lisa;  Able Smith Tent and Party Rentals;  Crusin' Cones Ice Cream; Syracuse Safety Lites and Carvel of DeWitt. Also, special thanks to the Syracuse Crunch and Syracuse Chiefs organizations for their support.

These are all great folks with great companies who obviously value and want to be involved in the community and it's people!  They truly care about Central New York!

My heartfelt thanks go out to Erikka here at the station who put so much time and effort into helping me pick winners and organizing each party.  Erikka is great!  Laura in Sales is also great, doing whatever it took to make each party special. And I can't forget Rae our News Director and Chris our General Manager, all of whom need to be thanked as they backed me on this project right from the start!  Finally, Nicole, Margaret, Amanda, Kathleen, Averi, Jordan, Dan, and Dean are all station folks and/or interns who each had a part in many of the parties. And Cindy from Laci's Hamburger Joint, who also helped with some of the food and cooking. Thanks to all!  Sorry if I forgot somebody.  It takes alot of people to put on our WeatherDeck Parties.

So where do we go from here?  Well, all I can tell you right now is "Stay Tuned!".  Stay tuned to WSTM Channel 3 next Monday the 28th, and stay tuned to this web site "cnycentral.com".  I have a big announcement!