Posted on 05/25/2003 9:53:12 AM PDT by Optimist
Any reports on the May 24 Glenn Beck Rally for America
at Marshall University Stadium in Huntington,West Virginia?
The following billboard greeted "caravan members as they entered Huntington from Columbus,OH. 
(If there is another thread already started please give the redirect)
HUNTINGTON -- Maybe you noticed it yourselves: the city’s restaurants, especially those near Marshall University Stadium, cheerily bathed in flags, bunting and yellow ribbons, celebrating radio talk show host Glenn Beck’s Rally for America.
But all the gaiety had a serious purpose -- to sew the wind of patriotism and reap the whirlwind of profits as the rally gave the area’s economy a booster shot. The estimated 20,000 to 25,000 who attended wasn’t the number some had hoped for, but it was enough to give hotels and restaurants in the area a boost.
Gerry Krueger, president of the Cabell-Huntington Convention and Visitors Bureau, expects that the 2 1/2 days including Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning will leave behind more than $3.5 million in direct economic impact, and will turn over at least one and a half times beyond that, he said.
"Hotels and restaurants aren’t the only things that will benefit," he said. "Most of the people came by car and RV. So you have gasoline sales, grocery sales and shopping."
Tom Wolf of Ashland, owner of 13 McDonald’s restaurants between I-64’s 29th Street exit and Greenup, Ky., said he increased food supplies by 40 percent at the 5th Avenue location for Saturday and had 25 people working instead of 15.
"The extra $55 or $60 that we will pay each of these people will mean that much more money will go into the local economy," Wolf said. "All those employees will spend their money somewhere else."
Judy Porter, store manager at the Captain D’s across 5th Avenue from McDonald’s, ordered several extra cases of fish and "freedom fries," and scheduled three extra people to work, she said. "Something like this brings in more people and gives them a chance to look at our wonderful city," she said.
Shoney’s, next door, called in four or five extra servers per shift for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. "We stocked up with extra food so we wouldn’t run out of everything," said Restaurant Manager Becky Lemaster. "It’s great for Huntington."
Especially, she added, for the businesses around the stadium. "We do our best during football season," she said. "Sales dwindle during the summer, so this is really good for us. Whatever it takes -- rearranging schedules, even overtime -- we’ll pay it."
It’s the same with local hotels. When Glenn Beck’s people released 50 rooms they had reserved at the Radisson Hotel Huntington -- they had "overcalculated" -- and Beck mentioned their availability on the air, it took eight people to handle the reservation calls.
"It’s been crazy, but it’s a wonderful piece of business," said Director of Sales Samanthe Hazelett.
Extra bellmen were assigned for weekend duty, and the hotel ran a shuttle to the stadium for its overnight guests every 30 minutes. Hazelett herself took reservation calls from people in Florida and Nebraska.
"This is wonderful for us," she said. "Usually on a holiday, we’re just sitting around. Most people go out of town for Memorial Day; this is bringing people in."
Indeed. They came from everywhere.
Krueger said he heard from a woman in New Jersey who was scheduled to arrive at 5 a.m. Saturday on a Greyhound bus. He got a call from a Houston, Texas, man, and his son who planned to camp in Louisville.
"He said that’s the closest place he could find," Krueger said.
Three chartered buses arrived Saturday morning from central Indiana, too. Krueger said those passengers didn’t elect to spend the night here, but he arranged for box lunches to be put on their buses. "We got an e-mail from Fresno, Calif.," he said. "They wanted to come in on the train, but because of the time frame, we suggested they fly."
Amtrak did OK, though. Spokesman Cliff Black in Washington, D.C., said 24 people got off the westbound Cardinal here Friday night, up from 15 on Wednesday and 13 last Sunday. Krueger said all of Ashland’s hotels were full, as were most of the rooms in Hurricane and Winfield. Beech Fork’s campground was sold out, and Foxfire’s nearly was. And Marshall spokesman Dave Wellman said that more than 50 people reserved rooms in MU’s dormitories.
"A lot of the hotels will have an 80 percent occupancy rate for Sunday," Krueger said. "And that’s good."
It looks like all the planning paid off. Boy Scout Troop 55 and the youth group at Twentieth Street Baptist Church did a land-office business. "We were swamped," said church member Lois Merritt.
"We had 120 hamburgers and we ran out before the rally started," said Terry Bishop, scoutmaster of Troop 55. Brenda Carman called Logan’s and they opened up for her. She went over and got some more."
"I’ve seen people from Maine, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri and Florida," said Jerry Kessick of Cigarettes Cheaper as he hawked drinks, snacks and flags outside his shop.
"It’s what we expected," Joseph Thompson of Gold Star Jewelry said in mid-afternoon. "And we’ll get more sales when the rally is over."
"It wasn’t quite as busy as we prepared for," said Alex Tschantz, assistant manager of the 5th Avenue McDonald’s. "But we always plan a little high anyway so we will always be able to serve our customers."
"We’re kind of busy," Restaurant Manager Becky Lemaster said in classic understatement at the 5th Avenue Shoney’s last night. "We were kind of expecting it, but they came in all at once."
All of this benefits Huntington in three ways, Krueger said -- exposure, exposure and exposure. "There is going to be a national pickup on this," he said. "It’s great coverage, both on the radio and the Internet. There’s no way we could afford that kind of publicity for the city." source
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HUNTINGTON -- Kyle Smithson couldn’t say the words. "Just because," he said with tears in his eyes, summing up the reason he drove from Cincinnati to Huntington, painted USMC on his forehead for "United States Marine Corps" and carted flags and signs into Marshall University Stadium Saturday.
When the former Marine found his voice, he managed an explanation: "To thank the ones who have come home and the ones who didn’t come home and to thank the families of both."
Smithson did not send that message alone. An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 patriots found their way to Huntington on Saturday from various parts of the country for the Rally for America. Philadelphia-based radio talk show host Glenn Beck hosted the event as the finale to his series of rallies throughout what he calls the "real America."
They came in caravans, on buses and planes, from as far east as New Hampshire and as far west as California. The sea of green usually sweeping the home side of the stadium on Saturday was replaced by red, white and blue. Cheering in support of their nation, president and troops, participants wore stars and stripes on T-shirts, high-tops, sun visors and even pajama pants. Children sat atop their parents’ shoulders, waving American flags in a warm breeze under a blue sky.
That sky filled with white doves, released early in the program representing freedom, and later with red, white and blue balloons, released in the final bars of Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless the USA."
"It was beautiful," said Valerie Gilbert of Charleston. "It was like family -- everybody on the same page and supporting the same thing. It’s something I hope they have more of so I can raise my daughter to know how many people support America."
Greenwood, country musician Tracy Byrd and New York City police officer Daniel Rodriguez were among those who performed, and President George W. Bush spoke in a taped message.
Bush welcomed troops home, thanked military for their professionalism and patriotism and pledged to maintain his support for the military and commitment to improving the quality of life for Americans.
To witness such support is powerful, said Maj. Bill Suver of the 2nd/19th Special Forces out of Kenova, one of several veterans and current military in attendance. "You go overseas, and you’re over there by yourself so long, the distance makes you feel alone," the Ironton, Ohio, resident said. "This lets you know you’re not."
Indeed they are not, said Beck, who urged Americans to voice support so troops overseas don’t get disheartened by negative media coverage. Beck drove in a caravan from Oklahoma, stopping in several major cities along the way. He talked about a man who stood along an Interstate in the rain, saluting and holding a sign that read, "Welcome Rally for America" and a woman in Fort Wayne, Ind., who wouldn’t accept a dime when Beck herded about 300 rally-goers into her roller rink.
He also talked about the impact military supporters make when they show up in force. "These are the forces that will change the face of the world," Beck said. "These are the real special forces. These are the forces of the real America."
Beck asked his listeners to send $1 to fund a final rally in the home state of former prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch. They needed $250,000, and got $450,000, he said. The extra money was donated to the United Services Organization.
While Lynch, a native of Palestine, W.Va., continues her recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., her sister, Brandi, and cousins Pam Nicolais and Janice Smith represented the family at the rally.
"Jessi is a fighter. I think we all know that," Nicolais told the crowd.
The family is eager to see their loved one completely recover, she said. "It’s going to be a long road, but we’re counting the days," she said.
Cheers rang out. Later, "Taps" was played while a large television screen scrolled down the names of the soldiers who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. To be there to show their appreciation, some rally-goers had made small sacrifices themselves.
Brian Kelly, 28, of Cleveland, had tickets for the Indianapolis 500 this weekend. "But I served in the Army and my whole family is patriotic," he said, interrupting his statement to watch an Air Force T-38 trainer jet make two passes over the stadium. "I just had to be here. I needed to be here, because I’m an American and I love my country."
Rita Reed road a bus from Fort Wayne, Ind., to represent what she called the silent majority, the people who "go to work and do what we have to do," she said. "We don’t grouse about things. We get it done."
Just like the men and women in uniform, she said.
Americans are fortunate that the United States has a leader and defenders who are willing to take a stand, said Jimbo Boyd, a Huntington resident and former Marine. "Sept. 11 taught us that we can no longer be complacent and sitting on our laurels," Boyd said. "I’m glad we have someone in place who makes sure our country comes first, domestically and internationally." source
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