Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
WLOSers gave all the big shots the day off yesterday, so we had Carolyn “Little Red” Ryan actually anchoring the 5 p.m. show, with Julie Blunder along side for the weather. Then is was Terrie Foster, looking like she was about ready to cry, doing the 5:30 and 6 shows. Definitely different.
The news was the usual pablum: “Americans celebrated Thanksgiving with parades, marathons and turkey by the ton,” WLOSers told us. They stretched three or four stories over an hour and a half, dribbling out tidbits from Holly Headache and Cherub Charu and John “Punnyman” Le through all three evening shows, then re-running them again at 11.
Hungry people get fed
Carolyn went out and talked to White Harvest Ministries, which set up tables on a street and started putting together turkey dinners that were delivered to the Deaverview community. Carolyn quoted some female minister as saying they had enough food to feed 1,000 people. Really?
Out in McDowell County, Holly did the story they do every year – they go to the Marion Senior Center and watch Anwar Gillani and his 90 volunteers put together meals to deliver to another 1,000 people. Holly actually went door-to-door with some cops delivering meals and had a decent story, albeit one we’ve seen over and over. This is the 11th year Gillani has fed the hungry.
The Western Carolina Rescue Mission also fed the homeless. One guy said he hadn’t eaten in two days and was very grateful for the meal.
And WLOSers reminded us that Marco’s Pizza today will donate a percentage of proceeds to a fund that’s helping pay to build a park in honor of Avery King, the little girl run down this summer in a McDonald’s parking lot.
Breaking news: time to plant spring bulbs
Standing in a suit in tie, Jay Seltzerwater showed us how to dig a hole in some dirt and stick a bulb in it, then cover it all up.
Time to shop
Charu stood outside a store someplace and said people had already started shopping at whatever was open – KMart, Wal-Mart, whatever. She got some good quotes from folks. One woman told her that Thanksgiving Day was the day that everybody who works in retail shops because they all have to work Black Friday. Another sexist old man told Charu that gals “need to shop. It’s a gene. You women all have it.” Another old cashier said Friday is going to be “meshuga” – that means “crazy.”
Turkey Bowl
The punnyman did a pretty good job on a fun story – a family’s annual “turkey bowl” flag football game. It’s the Tomberlin family Turkey Bowl, and it’s a tradition that started more than 40 years ago, Le told us.
Le quoted the old man of the family, who said the losers had to watch the winners eat Thanksgiving Dinner, so that provided the motivation to win. Over the years, injuries have included a twisted kneed, separated shoulder and concussion. Mr. Tomberlin said they started the game just to give his nine kids something to do on Thanksgiving.
On Thursday, teams ran around a field in Mars Hill and had a good game. They even suited up Le, who acted like he actually scored a touchdown. In the end, the Red squad beat the Blue team.
Breaking news: people go to the movies on Thanksgiving
