This year, I have selected seven venues for the local high school students to pursue in their letter-writing campaign effort for "Middletown Days" - not just one.

First, I have asked students to write "thank you" letters to Fox News. Roger Ailes, chairman of the network, should be credited with sending a correspondent. That correspondent, Adam Housley, deserves to be thanked for getting Middletown mentioned on the airwaves so cleverly.

Second, I have asked students to write Steve Jobs, chairman of Apple Computer. Apple's revolutionary iPhone debuts in June. Why not send somebody to Middletown to show it off? Besides, we may have an Apple store person showing Mac equipment off at our mixer on May 17th. A little encouragement from the boss to showcase in Middletown might just do the trick.

Third, while I confess to being a Fox News fan, I am not opposed to involving any of the three major TV networks in "Middletown Days." But, we need to focus in on a specific correspondent. For this year, I have chosen John Stossel of ABC's "20/20" TV program.

Fourth, there is a San Francisco TV program that has actually expressed interest in "Middletown Days." It is called "Bay Area Backroads." The students will be encouraging the show's host, Doug McConnell, to come for a visit.

Fifth, since the local high school actually has animation software from LucasFilms Ltd., it just seems appropriate to invite George Lucas, who heads the company to come for a visit.

Sixth, thanks to a suggestion by Ryzer Marilyn Jenett, students are being asked to write Plan-It Locations, a major Hollywood film locations company.

Last but certainly not least, I am asking that students write a letter to either Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger or his wife, Maria Shriver, requesting the sending of an audio file welcome to be played prior to the beginning of the "Middletown Days" Parade. This can easily be sent as an attachment to me. I can then easily forward the file to the radio station that will be broadcasting the parade.

Each group of letters will be going into a large padded envelope and sent to the Investor Relations Dept. of the respective company. In this way, the letters end up being delivered as if they are inter-office mail (as no one letter will have postage on it). I will also be requesting that an annual report be sent to the high school for the benefit of the student body there next year.

Added to letters from the students will be letters from Ryzers around the world. (Special thanks goes to Ryzer Reg Charie for giving me the idea.) How does that work? Next week I plan to post a link to a form page for interested Ryzers to fill out and send to me. I will choose the best letters per each recipient, print them out, place each one in a separate envelope along with the letters written by the students.

At the same time, I will be requesting that the Lake County Marketing Dept. send out press kits on the county to all of the recipients but the Fox News Channel. Roger Ailes got a press kit last year.

In addition, I hope to be able to contact all of the San Francisco Chronicle's Top 200 public companies concerning "Middletown Days." While I doubt most will even respond, I do believe a buzz about this event in California will definitely have been created by the time the festival arrives.

I sincerely appreciate all the help I get to make this project a success.

Lamar Morgan
Network Moderator

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