Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

Bringing the Telethon Home

For 15 to 20 minutes each hour, the Telethon "cuts away" from the Hollywood stage to allow some 200 local "Love Network" stations to broadcast appeals and information about MDA programs in their individual markets. They also tie in special events that help boost pledges and donations. Some examples of the local touch planned for this Telethon:
    The Chavez family is set to hold its 17th annual Telethon carnival in Clovis, NM.
    The Chavez family is set to hold its 17th annual Telethon carnival in Clovis, N.M.
  • In Clovis, N.M., the Chavez family will hold its 17th annual carnival in the parking lot of the Clovis K-Mart, featuring its own pledge center and fishbowl, with coverage from KFDA, out of Amarillo, Texas. For Victor and Patsy Chavez, the carnival is a true "Labor of Love": Three of their seven children are affected by FSH muscular dystrophy.
  • WCVB in the Boston area has carried the Telethon for more than 30 years. For the past 15 years, WCVB has featured a live remote at the Telethon Activity Center at Citizens Bank in Plymouth. With auctions, live music, dance and martial art displays, a craft fair and kids' games, the oceanside festival is the place to be. Local fire fighters will be there with open boots to fill with Telethon donations, and a series of food booths will offer "A Taste of Plymouth."
    Springfield, Mo. Telethon viewers make the phones ring at Bass Pro Shops-Outdoor World.
    Springfield, Mo. Telethon viewers make the phones ring at Bass Pro Shops-Outdoor World.
  • In the Dallas area, the Telethon will be broadcast from the Lone Star Park at suburban Grand Prairie — a horse-racing venue. The glass-walled grandstand building serves as the pledge center, while the Jumbo-Tron scoreboard carries the toteboard figures. There's also a drive-through fishbowl. KXAS is in its 29th year in the MDA "Love Network."
  • In Las Vegas, KLAS will broadcast live from the massive Las Vegas Harley-Davidson dealership — one of the largest in the world. The pledge center and the fishbowl will be inside the showroom. In past years, the parking lot has offered a giant street festival — with food, games and live music.
  • On Labor Day weekend, the Bass-Pro Outdoor World in Springfield, Mo. — Bass Pro Shops' original location and national headquarters — sets up a stage and plays host to station KOLR-10's Telethon broadcast. Bass-Pro and KOLR also redefined the term "fishbowl" last year by conducting an entire local segment under water from the bottom of a giant fish tank.
Springfield, Mo. Telethon viewers make the phones ring at Bass Pro Shops-Outdoor World.
Springfield, Mo. Telethon viewers make the phones ring at Bass Pro Shops-Outdoor World.
  • Those who live in southwest Florida will enjoy the Telethon on WFTX. The stores at the Miramar Outlet Mall in Estero have banded together to create an assortment of activities that offer something for everyone. Further south on Marco Island is a traditional Telethon viewing party at Mustang Sally's bar and grill.
  • The folks in Cleveland are so proud of their MDA clinic, they decided to hold the Telethon there. WBNX-TV broadcasts the show from the Rammelkamp Atrium in the heart of Cleveland's MetroHealth Medical Center — home of the MDA clinic. One bonus: 40 to 50 hospital employees volunteer their time to help out.
The Twin Cities Telethon in Minnesota experiences a Mystic Loose Moose sighting.
The Twin Cities Telethon in Minnesota experiences a Mystic Loose Moose sighting.
  • Telethon Hawaiian style pits island against island. Moderated from KITV's Oahu studio, the Telethon has sites in Hawaii, Maui and Kauai with family-oriented events, while island fire fighters try to fill as many boots as possible.
  • Fifth-year "Love Network" station KSTC in Minneapolis takes over a bingo hall near the Mystic Lake Casino at Prior Lake, Minn. And while members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, who operate the casino, can't guarantee that dropping money in the MDA fishbowl gives one better odds at the casino — it certainly couldn't hurt.