WDSY - Wookie Walking in Memphis Part 3

Wookie Walking in Memphis Part 3

Okay so today is travel day back to PGH. My flight leaves at 9am Memphis time, so I'm on my way to the airport as soon as I'm done with this entry…..

So yesterday (Saturday) we spent the day in a bunch of meetings on just about anything and everything you can think of that deals with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I was able to talk with radio people from around the country on what they did that was successful and what wasn’t. We also, got to listen to some of the parents and kids being treated at St. Jude. They ranged from ages 11 years old to a baby of only 20 months…..from California to the Bahamas and all points in-between. This is the tough part of the weekend to sit and listen to parents tell the emotions of what they felt when they found out that their child had some form of cancer….there weren’t may if any dry eyes in the room it took everything I had to keep from breaking down I tried the old trick of thinking of something else to distract me but it didn’t work as there were tears rolling down my cheek just like everyone else in the room including Alabama’s Randy Owen.

At night on Saturday something VERY special happens, you have the Song Writers Dinner. It’s a elegant sit down dinner in the Peabody’s Grand Ballroom where you sit and mingle with everyone at the seminar include several country artists and patients and their families. After dinner 6 song writers took the stage and sang some of their biggest hits……they included: Victoria Shaw who wrote Garth Brooks’s hit “The River”, Chris Tompkins who wrote Carrie Underwood’s hit “Before He Cheats”, Dave Berg who wrote “Going Through Hell” for Rodney Adkins and “Stupid Boy” for Keith Urban, Don Poythress who wrote Kellie Pickler’s latest “Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind”, Arlos Smith who wrote Rascal Flatt’s hit “Mayberry” and John Michael Montgomery’s Home to You”, and Mark Slaughter the lead singer of the 80’s Hair band Slaughter with “Fly to the Angels” it was an hour and a after of some of the best music, and the best musicians in country music! Plus, Alabama's Randy Owen debuted his new single called "Braid My Hair" with all proceeds going to St. Jude…this is the last thing we do at the Country Cares seminar. Myself and some of the ALSAC reps (ALSAC stands for American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities) headed to Beale Street for one last night to unwind after three pretty intense of brain storming on how to raise in more than the $34 million the Country Cares radiothons did last year.

Well, I have to go or I’m going to miss my flight, I’ll talk to you tomorrow on Y108……Just remember this….. I’m glad St. Jude is there for me if I should ever need it, but I second Danny Thomas’s wish…… help me close St. Jude by helping everyone there find the cure for Childhood cancers…..be sure to join us and become a Partner in Hope during our radiothon on February 7^th and 8^th!!!!!!