Word: telethon
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...marathons' comeback was apparently touched off a year ago when a Montreal TV station staged a charity telethon. That gave a Montreal pianist, Andre Mathieu, an idea; he staged a pianothon, played continuously for 21 hours, and was promptly challenged and outdone by another musician, who played six hours longer. A merchant in Shawinigan Falls (pop. 26,903) recalled the rocking-chair marathons of the '30s, and promoted a bercethon in his store window...
Songstress Jane Pickens arrived at a Denver television studio to begin a telethon appeal for donations to the National Cerebral Palsy Fund. After 14 hours on the air, with the fund $158,000 richer, Singer Pickens flew back to Manhattan for her regular TV show. Then she headed west again to Phoenix, where she raised another $60,000. bringing her personal fund-raising campaign in the past year to a total...
...week's end the Olympic Fund Committee picked itself up, went back to the job of raising money on its own. Far from paying for the Olympic trip, the telethon seemed to have actually slowed down the final drive; many potential contributors, figuring the fund was already well over the top, had put their wallets away again...
...welchers were only partly to blame. Practical jokers had telephoned in large pledges on behalf of friends, neighbors and well-known businessmen. Days later came hot and embarrassed explanations from many supposed donors, denying that any pledges had been made. Telethon workers had also included amounts pledged in return for special messages, e.g., "Tell Bing to tell Lennie and Janie to go to bed"; "Tell Bob to mention Joe's Bar." Because of the rush, many of the messages did not get to the microphone, and those who were disappointed never sent their money...
...experts figure a money-raising telethon is rousingly successful if it realizes 50% of its pledges. Martin & Lewis, appearing for the New York Cardiac Hospital, took in $1,000,000 in pledges, finally got $420,000; Milton Berle's fourth Damon Runyon Memorial Fund telethon last month has so far collected $210,000 from a promised...