It’s Telethon time!
Everyone always asks me what my plans are for Labor Day weekend. And I say, “Same thing I do every year Pinky, the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon.”
Here’s a picture of me from my very first Telethon appearance back in *cough cough* (yes I’ve gotten to the age where I cough instead of saying a year). I’m the one in the middle, standing next to Sally Jessy Raphael and John Tesh, proudly displaying my NJ State Poster Child pin. This morning I’ll be a guest on my radio station’s morning show with Lou and Liz to promote what will be my 19th year appearing on the Telethon. (I’m hoping for my 20th next year I can make it out to the national show with Jerry himself.)You can listen to the morning show online if you aren’t in the area. I’ll be on at 7AM.
As far as the Telethon itself this year, I’m outrageously excited as usual. I’ll be on the local NY portion of the show on Labor Day Monday. From what I know right now I’ll definitely be on during the 5:30PM segment but I’m getting to the studio around noon and they might wind up putting me on earlier as well. This year I’ll be presenting the NY State Achievement Award (when you watch, pay attention to the guy’s name) and also having a chat with my buddy John Shatesky about Facebook and other social networking sites that MDA is now involved with. I’ll also talk with John about him and his brother Josh’s Rock Against Dystrophy fundraisers.
Of course the main goal this weekend is to raise as much money as possible to find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy. You can read a little more about what MDA means to me in my post from last year, Why I’ve never been to Dragon*Con. I know times are tough for everyone but every dollar counts and anything you can give would be great. MDA is also running their special auctions like they did last year to raise money. They’ve got all kinds of cool stuff you can bid on and all the proceeds go to MDA.
I know a lot of you aren’t in the NY area and won’t be able to see me on TV but please take a few minutes out of your holiday and find your local broadcast. If you’re on Twitter, or even if you’re not, you can follow my tweets for updates throughout the day. I’ll be sure to alert you when I’m about to go on. I can’t get replies on my phone but if you do, please add #MDATelethon to your tweet. It would be great if we could make it a trending topic this weekend to raise awareness for the cause. The MDA Telethon is something a lot of younger people aren’t even aware of and Twitter is a great resource to educate them.
Thank you to everyone for your support, it really means a lot. :)
Thanks Zenidiot! Those firefighters are amazing fundraisers!
Dave, I believe he was already on ET at this time.
Jollyrgr and Justabill, you guys weren't *supposed* to guess the year you know. :)
My goodness, this picture makes me feel old. I've been watching the telethon since 1966, and still am today.
By the way, the picture is from 1991.
I'm guessing this was 1990….
John Tesh was still doing local news in NY at that time, was he not? I think that was before "Entertainment Tonight" and the music career.
I may be doing family things but I'll check the telly Monday afternoon.
I won't be able to see you, but just today I made a donation to the fill the boot campaign!
My wife and her family watch the telethon at various points every year. Unfortunately, living in Chicago, we will not be able to see you.