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sider it a huge privilege to be on the air, doing what | do. This event is an opportunity for me to give something back to the community for allowing me to have fun for a living. Describe the highest of the high, lowest of the low, and wildest of the wild moments durâ€" ing the campaign. Wildest wild is easy. 1 have never, in 16 years of radio, seen anything that left me totally be outside meeting our listeners, even in the rain. Year three saw the addition of a twinâ€"size maitress to replace the air mattress we used the first two years. And with the trailer that was on site 24 hours a day at the bottom of the ladder, the "facilities" were a lot closer too. Did the remote location make it tougher to do the morning show with Angie or has tech nology made that a nonâ€"factor? It would have made my job tougher if 1 were a mechanic or a brain surgeon. This is radio. It‘s impossible for this job to be tough at all. 1 conâ€" to put it. The major addition was to add a wife to the list of "comforts." Beyond that, we made a significant improvement in year two as to the location of the tent itself. We put the tent off one end of the board so that we could fit a larger tent. rhcfimym,lhtmmimqub sit upright in, much less live for an extended period of time. Year two, we also added tarps to keep the area a little drier and enable me to still What were some of the comfort improveâ€" ments in your "perch" in years two and three? *Comiort improvement" is an interesting way J L. mon Cam for t G Nort 8 have & Ns _ the $ anot in your mind as you first climbed up Sept 13, how long did you feel you‘d have to stay up there? The danger in not declaring an end date was that we had no idea how long it would take. 1 figâ€" ured it would be somewhere between three and five weeks, but I couldn‘t get much more specific than that. 4 _ Radio morning man Neil Hedley of KOOLFM 7 just completed his third â€" and most successful 4 United Way Poster Boy Campaign, living atop a billboard at King and Breithaupt Streets in Kitchâ€" ,; ener for 29 days of wacky, weird and wonderful z moments. in the three years of the Poster Boy Z Campaign, the event has raised over $250,000 2 for the United Way and shown people all over O North America the kind of caringe community we from the 1995 campaign. Although we commitâ€" ted to 30 days, more than half the money last year came in on the last five days. We figured that staying up until we reached the goal would add some urgency. We kind of happened upon the goal by acciâ€" dent. We figured that since we‘re at 105.3 on the dial, $105,300 would be a terrific goal to set. The idea of having me stay up until we reached our goalwm:rtsuhofmhl!thmm sive than ever, especially in tough economic dm.Whpm“y--Jmm go through in planning the goal of $105,300, and your commitment to staying up until you reached it? This was the third annual United Way Poualqc-p#-dhw-m'& sive than ever, especially in touch economic Now down off the _ billboard, another successful campaign under his belt, 1 asked Neil in question and answer format to share with our readers his experiâ€" ences as the Poster Boy, and what ingredients made the event as sucâ€" cessful as it was. A CLASSIC ROCKâ€"SOLID CAMPAIGK _â€"â€"_â€"â€"â€"â€" â€" s natgf" KOOLâ€"FM Poster Boy Neil Hedley talks about life on bo Tug‘s Lire replaced; they forget about the people who have bfiq:'h::’a,orfilorhfood places out their garbage just to Campaign Coâ€"ordinator where she works, and the United Way is close to her heart as well, so it‘s a cause we both believe in quite strongly. A month out of the rest of your life isn‘t a lot to ask. What kind of food did you cat on a regular basis? Did you have any counselling on what would be appropriate? Were it not for the overwhelming support of my wife, I wouldn‘t have made it much past day 2. Jacqui knew that she was marrying the Poster Boy; in fact she was instrumental in getting me through last year‘s campaign too. Trying to be newlyweds while your new husband spends a month living 20 feet off the ground in a tent is hard to imagine. But Jacqui came through speechless, the way the $25,000 donation from Steve Milhovics did. Highest high would be the same, so that would be cheating, so I‘ll say that it was the day Doug Gilmour, Kirk Muller, Dave Ellett, Mats Sundin, Tie Domi and Don Beaupre from the Toronto Maple Leafs came by for an autograph session. First, knowing that in spite of all the appearances and charity functions that he does, Doug Gilmour actually remembered this one from last year and wanted to help â€" and that he brought his teammates along; but second, looking out and seeing the hundreds of people that came out to help fill the United Way‘s pockâ€" ets. There is no low with a campaign like this â€" with the possible exception of living in a tent when it‘s â€"5 outside, the trains going by at all hours of the night just 20 yards away, and the fact we had only seven sunny days out of the 29 I was up there. Beyond those minor things, nothâ€" ing at all. When it wasn‘t "showâ€"time" or you weren‘t meeting with the public, how did you pass the time? The whole Poster Boy Campaign is the most physically and mentally demanding month I‘ve ever spent. Time spent not waving to the people and doing our show was spent trying to regroup and recuperate...and being a newlywed. it‘s an unpredictable time of year weatherâ€" wise. To what degree were you proâ€" tected from the clements and how did you keep warm and dry? Warm and dry? What are those? Personally, your circumstances were different this year. You and Jacqui are now married, what was her reaction to you being the Poster Boy again? put in more time at our King and Breithaupt location than she did. And of course one of my partners from the KOOL morning crew, Brian Bourke, the news hound. He not only put in his own time, but his entire family volunteered as well. As an example, Brian and his wile spent 12 hours on site at the billboard the day of their 17th wedding anniversary. That‘s going above and beyond the call |flcverhmdi(.flnt§being passionate about what you do, and not punching a clock and just putting in your hours. And 1 would think my wife Jacqui would also go high ond\clistofpcoplcudmwcmdm:mdbqoud lhecall,h\t'vhcnshcwasnimsiu.flnmondl phone, helping arrange corporate donations; and slnspemwzymorenmellnnshs!mldhve. gets to talk about it all on the air, but there‘s a core of people who make this thing happen each year. Our Program Director Paul Cugliari puts in an enormous amount of time and effort both on site and on the phone. He arranged a program for the advertising clients of the station to make a substantive difference in this year‘s campaign. Our Promotions Director Val Corcoran, who administers the whole thing every year and has to put up with me for the whole month: I‘m the only person associated with the campaign who It‘s funny...I‘m the front guy for this whole operation â€" I‘m the one people see, the one who those who went above and beyond the call of duty? Speaking of the station, everyone clearly got behind you. Some words for them, especially Doug Gilmour come out for autograph sessions, it has a HUGE impact on what we‘re doing. Actually, both, The entire Poster Boy Camâ€" paign is about awareness. My feeling is that peoâ€" ple know the United Way is out there, but don‘t necessarily do as much as they could because the fact that there‘s a NEED for more doesn‘t get through. So if it means sticking a guy up on a sign for a few weeks to get people‘s attention and make them aware, so be it. The celebrities who‘ve loaned their names to the cause have cerâ€" tainly helped awareness. And when people like Through your connections and the staâ€" tion‘s, you had a lot of celebrity support. Was it more for awareness or did it directly influâ€" ence the financial support for the campaign? mpeopkwhom&szoundinl}nKMt- ithaupt area a lot â€" he‘s the blondâ€"haired _ fellow you usually see wearing a tan trenchcoat and a wornâ€"out pair of shoes, muttering to himself as he walks along. He‘d pass by me every day and I‘d think about how he‘d LOVE to have it as bad as I did. That‘s what it‘s all about. n anoiod dlincnnn n ap ns ids ooo e t United Way Poster Boy Neil Hedley our King and brc‘fih;upt _ there were enough nasty lette ~ written to take down an entif ‘ forest full of trees. There wen those who suggested that thi new rock and roll station wouldn‘t do anything for its community, and that the new management didn‘t care about this region. Since then, we‘ve done, three yeats in a row, the largest community event in Can#â€" dian radio. While 1 was on the billboard, 1 was on radio stations from all over Canada and the United States, doing interviews about the paign, and how beautifully the community responded â€" people in Memphis, TN were ing about the mmnnity spirit here in Kitchenerâ€" . Last year we "Radio Station of the Year" from the Association of Broadcasters for our commitâ€" ment to the community. Lump that together, and it‘s simply the satisfaction of 2 j0 well done. Knowing that we‘ve helped community do so much to support the peoplt who need it is something Tll be proud of fa the rest of my life. donation to help put you over the top? We knew Steve was coming dol::?\mfi $5,000 cheque to pay for his successful bid the 'ldForAhfpdr*!ha}ndbm' together by CCM Canada, Then while wer thanking him, he scribbles out another chequ for an additional $20,000 1‘m 1ol "| its the highest single donation 4 from an individual that the Unite J Way has received. I‘m graicful t J Steve Milhovics to the point that P can‘t find words; he got us to th goal four days sooner than w M | â€" would have without him, and 22| means I got to spend Thanksgh ty T3)] ing with my family, but m _ important, he showed that KOOL to care" isn‘t just a saying â€" it‘s an important part ally relared, About 40 of the elementary schagllilif) .. board and coâ€"chair ; ) coâ€"chair ¢ in the region did something called "Nicke{ sibility task force, sai NdlD-y‘onOa.S,Muwmsu the task force‘s meeti bring a nickel for the Poster Boy Campaign week, the group wor When the kids came down, we made sure looking at an option mm-&flh‘flfltn&omfl 2 ::-uoflthduu made them feel special. was gratifying lor us hospitals (St. M see that their young hearts were in the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo t places. Then, we got a call from Nelco Centre, and Fréeport al,whotoldu&mnmrndby i Centre) at Thursday‘s ing to all these 7 and &â€"yearâ€"old kids on th The task force was radio, they decided to dig deep and come after the boards of be with a $2,000 donation on their own. Mary‘s Hospital and ( When did you first hear about , . River Hospital annou "quardian ange!" benefactor, Guciph lotie ,, Sept. 20 they had agr looking after her husband. Two of the Poster Boy, front man, you what you will, not ever would do what you have for three years. What has the most satisfying aspect al it for Nell Hedicy? When we launched KOOL sharing this planet with the people who live here. “-C”‘hmn , vegardless of amount raised, ard & +/ mp P Cetumonl(in‘Sum If the Queen‘s Boule site was closed, Grand Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo He Centre on King Street | would take over sole re sibility for acute care it Twin Cities. The two hospital boa at least considering clo: St. Mary‘s Queen‘s Boul site because the provinc Ministry of Health plan decrease funding to hos by 18 per cent over thre years. Dahmer said that equates to a joint $25 m Grand River‘s to determine if St. Ma Mdflfisw‘ vard site, get out of ac and take over longâ€"ter unveil 0n to m.llq::nl The task force the feasibility of how to make You‘ll learn: how to reduce energy bills all how easy it is t Register NO\ Union Gas‘ F hi We s