Here’s a trio of personalities: Ryan Cameron of V-103, Vinnie Politan and Crash Clark of 11 Alive. Clark and Cameron used to work together at V-103 so this is a mini-reunion of sorts at the 11 Alive Canathon, held December 4, 2015 by Turner Field. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, December 10, 2015
For the third year, I visited Turner Field’s parking lot last Friday to check out one of the sites for 11 Alive’s annual Canathon for the Salvation Army. This year, at multiple sites, the station collected 220,000 cans.
The NBC affiliate fell just shy of last year’s record 229,000 cans.
The breakdown shows how supportive the folks in the Northwest corridor of Georgia can be:
Rome: 68,840
Turner Field: 31,008
Infinite Energy Center: 55,041
Cumberland Mall: 40,392
In-studio & text: 25,582
Vinnie Politan, morning host at 11 Alive, was packed with energy, obsessing over Periscope at Turner Field. (I did some Periscope too just for fun and someone from Moscow even stopped by.)
I also caught up with Jaye Watson, Chesley McNeil and Crash Clark for 11 Alive as well as Ryan Cameron and Wanda Smith over at V-103, which simulcast from the parking lot. Here are some more shots I took that morning:
Some students took the Canathon literally. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
Vinnie Politan does a Periscope video of Ryan Cameron and Wanda Smith. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
Several schools came by with students to drop off donations, separated by category. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Jaye Watson interviewed some dude who is running for president. Didn’t catch who he was but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Donald Trump. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com
Vinnie Politan pals with Christopher “Crash” Clark, who has been doing traffic for 11 Alive the past couple of years. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
Wanda Smith kept warm by keeping a heater between her legs. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
Every year, I see the massive Wiz-ometer balloon and chuckle. That name has survived five years. And the timing was good. This happened a day after “The Wiz Live!” aired and featured promos of Crash (right) dressed as the Cowardly Lion. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
Chesley McNeil, morning meteorologist, said now that Vinnie Politan and Crash Clark are around, he no longer feels pressure to be wacky in the mornings. He said he can play the straight man now. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com
