Around Town

    Now that the dust has settled from Halloween and I’ve had a chance to collect my thoughts, it’s time to write about our visit from WGN Morning News and Ana Belaval.
   I got a call On October 5 from a producer at Channel Nine asking if we’d like to be on their Around Town segment the following Tuesday. They would send a crew to the store and broadcast live in the seven and eight o’clock hours. I told them they didn’t have to ask me twice.
   This was our third attempt with WGN. The first was April Fool’s Day 1997 when they asked me the day before to come to the studio with some suitable tricks and jokes for the day. There was only one problem. Fox was coming to do a live remote for their Fox Thing In The Morning show with Bob Sirrott and there was no way I’d get up to the north side in time. I told them I’d do it if they landed their news chopper in the parking lot and flew me up there and back. They declined. The next time was in March of 2003 but we got preempted by the invasion of Iraq. We hoped nothing would keep the third time from being the charm.
   On Sunday, Judy and I went in to straighten everything and make it look like we had a lot of stuff. We did have a lot of stuff but it needed to be better organized. I cleaned the T-shirt printing area like it was brand new. Judy filled the holes in the costume area and filled or at least faced every spot on the shelves. The place looked great when we left. We hoped Monday’s customers wouldn’t mess it up too much.

   Monday was Columbus Day, the unofficial kickoff to the Halloween season when we start staying open til 8 p.m. every weekday. It was busy but the place still looked good by closing time so we headed home to hit the rack early.
   The alarm went off Tuesday at 5 a.m. and I was on the road by 5:40 after a bite of breakfast and doing the best I could to look good for the camera. On the way I passed an open field where the setting moon cast an unearthly glow to the miasma hugging the ground. That alone was worth getting up for. I pulled into the parking lot at 5:58 and the WGN truck one minute later. The camera operator showed up twenty minutes later, and Ana Belaval herself fifteen minutes after that.

The WGN news truck in our parking lot.

   Anyone who’s seen Ana on the air knows she’s a real high-energy ball of fire. She doesn’t stop while the camera’s off either. We had four segments each hour consisting of long and short teases and a three-minute interview. Between each segment she was looking for things to show the viewers, asking questions, and giving directions to all involved. She didn’t stop for the entire two hours. She especially had a blast with my children and grandchildren who were there to model costumes, since Halloween was the main focus of the day.
   Her two favorite items where the electronic fart machine and a pair of boxer shorts with a fake rubber butt on the back. She loved shaking that thing for the camera and we loved watching her do it. They really liked it back at the studio, too.

    All too soon it was over. The crew went on to their next assignment and Ana headed back to the station to prepare for the next day’s Around Town.
   Did it help us? Hard to tell. In the short term, several people came in to let us that they were in the store because they never heard of us until they saw us on Channel 9. One lady drove all the way from Niles because she saw a T-shirt design she liked on the wall behind me. I hope they turn into repeat customers.
   After everyone left, we had an hour until it was time to open for business so we headed out for a well-deserved breakfast. The waitress in the diner down the street recognized us and said we looked good on TV. We’d made the big time after all.
   When we got back to the store we noticed that Ana had left her jacket. I sent it back to her at the station with the note: “Ana, Tuesday was a lot of fun, but you have to stop leaving your stuff at my place.”  I hope that didn’t get her in trouble.