590 MIGHTY MEMORY #475

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S LEN WOLOSON AND GEORGE WASHINGTON.

LENNY AND GEORGE

Today we celebrate President’s Day which is part of a traditional three day weekend. But once upon a time Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12th) was celebrated as well as George Washington’s Birthday. WARM Radio once ran a type of promotion that garnered a lot of attention in its fledgling days. WARM Radio’s Len Woloson (who was doing all nights) agreed to dress up as George Washington. To set this up, the station management arranged a bogus phone call that reported a figure looking like Washington was seen on the banks of the Susquehanna throwing silver dollars into the river. The management at WARM were no fools but also were very frugal. So Lenny just threw one or two for effect. The intrepid Frank Jay who doubled as a sales rep followed Woloson uh, Washington around reporting it as if it were a news story. Like children following the pied piper, the local media followed suit and reported the pilgrimage. Woloson then walked across the Market Street Bridge from Kingston to Wilkes Barre . The plan was for Woloson to walk into the always crowded Europa Lounge on Public Square in full Mount Vernon regalia and order a piece of cherry pie. People were making such a fuss that somehow Lenny never got around to ordering the pie. It has been reported that Len wasn’t making a lot of money at the time and opted for a few steak dinners while he was there instead the less inexpensive dessert. Whatever the case, WARM’s little promotion had its desired effect. That station with “the crazy kids music” had gotten the attention of the media, adult listeners and history buffs. Again, the promotion cost little but gained a lot. In future Presidential holidays, Tommy Woods visited lucky winners with Cherry pies. (See 590 MIGHTY MEMORY #561, February 15th, 2009) WARM also gave away those pies in subsequent promotions. But it all began with Lenny Woloson taking the bait and posing as our first President.