Sunday, November 15, 2015

The Channel 6 Telethon

The 59th Channel 6 telethon--officially, the "Annual Lions Club/WPSD Local 6 Telethon of Stars Celebration Concert"--is happening this weekend.

"This is primarily an entertainment and information concert, with 4 hours of live music with features, client interviews, and officials of the four centers and area Lions clubs interspersed. The Telethon of Stars is one of the longest running, locally produced Telethons in the USA and is telecasted in the 81th largest DMA market in the USA (Paducah, KY-Cape Girardeau, MO-Harrisburg/Marion, IL). It is also streamed LIVE via this website."

The beneficiaries of the event are Easter Seals West Kentucky in Paducah, T.L.C. of Southern Illinois, UTM Infant Stimulation Program-Martin, Tennessee, and Easter Seals Southeast Missouri.  "These centers deal with disabled children and adults," says TelethonofStars.org. "All of the money raised by the Telethon goes directly to these centers." You can mail a donation to ...


Telethon of Stars
c/o Independence Bank
P.O. Box 966
Paducah, KY 42002-0966

Lee Greenwood headlined last night's broadcast, 6:30-10:30 on Channel 6, and he was great. We'd been out late Friday night, up early Saturday and out of town to a kid's birthday party most of the afternoon and evening. Man, I'm telling you, I was beat by 9 o'clock and ready to konk out. But I flipped on Channel 6 and saw Lee Greenwood coming on, and he kept me going until about 9:45--that's saying something. I didn't realize how many Lee Greenwood hits I knew ("Ring On Her Finger, Time On Her Hands" is an excellent song), and I'm sorry I couldn't stay awake long enough to catch his closer, which, of course, had to be "God Bless the USA."



Now we've got a pre-recorded gospel concert happening on Channel 6 until 8, and we might have a comment or two until the little girl gets up and wants to watch Curious George or I need to get my shower for church, whichever comes first.

34 comments:

  1. I can't tell you how excited I'd have been to be watching Channel 6 last night if I had been part of the Class of 1966, and I look forward to the "Kentucky Minute" post of the 2035, 79th Channel 6 Telethon, which I assume will feature Michael Stipe, Billy Ocean, Salt-N-Pepa and Susanna Hoffs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The 1969 edition is among the most warmly remembered by long-time telethon followers ...

    ReplyDelete
  3. At its Facebook page in July, WPSD asked, "What's your favorite or fondest ‪#‎telethon‬ memory? Staying up late? Music? Helping a great cause?"

    ReplyDelete
  4. The WPSD schedule that appeared in the Kentucky New Era failed to show that the telethon would be pre-empting Channel 6's usual programming this 1969 weekend, so Hoptown 1969 me very likely missed seeing Doug McClure. And that's a shame, because he enjoyed catching him on The Johnny Cash Show this 1969 summer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. I remember those gospel segments. In fact, I remember almost everything in this entry.

      Delete
  6. On one of our first dates, my future wife told me in terrific detail about the murder of Annville's David "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife. We got engaged pretty quickly after that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is awful. I had forgotten this, if I ever knew it.

      Delete
  7. Well, that was fantastic. I enjoyed both the 2015 and 1969 Channel 6 telethons.

    ReplyDelete