[SkateDC] Plans for Canada Benefit Concert Unveiled [Off Topic]

[Carl Ford]

   I believe that a couple of large shipments of snow were mis-labeled  
and ended up here.  Danny, can you shoot someone an email and clear up  
this mix-up? Quoting George Marinkovich <skatewash at yahoo.com>:

> PLANS FOR CANADA BENEFIT CONCERT UNVEILED
> By Hildegard Johnson, Canada Tomorrow
>
> VANCOUVER — Canadian natives William Shatner, Céline  Dion and Alex   
> Trebek will be among the artists to participate in a massive global   
> telethon this week that aims to raise funds to help with the   
> devastating lack of snow expected for the upcoming XXI Olympic   
> Winter Games in Vancouver.
>
> Dubbed "Snow for Canada" the fundraiser will take place this Friday  
> (2/12) and comprise events in Los Angeles, New York City, and  
> Washington, DC.  Actor William Shatner will host the L.A.  
> proceedings, Dion will set up in New York City, and Alex Trebek will  
> be on the ground on Cypress Mountain near Vancouver, according to a  
> press release.�
>
> Cypress Mountain,  where
>   snowboarders and freestyle skiers will soon be competing for Olympic
>   gold, has been plagued by January temperatures which were the   
> warmest on record.   That trend is continuing this month, says   
> Environment Canada meteorologist Matt McDonald, one of 30   
> forecasters working the Winter Games.
>
> Gary Doer, Canada's Ambassador to the United States and host of the   
> event in Washington, DC, has put out the call for volunteers.  He   
> urged area residents to gather at Andrews Air Base at noon on  
> Friday  to participate in what has come to be dubbed "Operation  
> Snowbird."   Those willing to assist in the massive effort of  
> filling bags with  snow will be in great demand and be much  
> appreciated, he said.  Due  to a shortage of suitable bags,  
> participants are encouraged to bring  plastic bags with them if they  
> can.  "The plastic bags you get your  groceries in at Giant are  
> ideal, but even the little ones that the  Washington Post comes in  
> can be useful," said Doer.
>
> "Operation Snowbird," the brainchild of
>   born-in-Canada comedian Howie Mandel, came together with  
> lightening speed.  "I was reading news accounts about the snow  
> shortage in Vancouver while I was eating breakfast on Sunday  
> morning," explained Mandel, "and by Sunday evening I was in direct  
> contact with the [US State Department's] Assistant Deputy Under  
> Secretary for Inter-American Affairs.  Like a snowball rolling  
> downhill, it just seemed to gather more speed and greater mass."�
>
> "Operation Snowbird" represents the first joint humanitarian   
> operation between the 89th Airlift Wing stationed at Andrews Air   
> Base and their Royal Canadian Air Force counterparts, the 429th   
> Transport Squadron and 2nd Air Movements Squadron based in Comox,   
> British Columbia.  While the final plans are still being worked  
> out,  it is believed that the operation will involve at least two  
> C-17  Globemaster III aircraft in the snow lift.  Sgt. Rex Preston  
> of the
>   RCAF estimated that each of the huge Boeing-built transports could  
> hold approximately 17,000 of the Giant grocery-sized bags or up to  
> perhaps 50,000 of the smaller Washington Post-sized ones.  Sgt.  
> Preston explained it was difficult to be more precise about the  
> number of smaller bags that can fit in the huge transports because,  
> as he put it, "so much depends on where you tie the knot."�
>
> Once the snow reaches Canada, the bags will be ripped opened and  
> the  contents loaded onto a fleet of specially fitted Sikorsky S-64   
> helicoptors provided by Erickson Air-Crane.  For 40 years the   
> company, headquartered in the Yukon province of western Canada, has   
> dispatched its fleet of
> helicopters around the world to fight forest fires, harvest timber and
> lift giant air-conditioning units to the tops of office towers.   
> "This is the first time I can remember we've ever been involved in  
> transporting snow," declared Randy "Yukon" King, president and CEO  
> of the company.  The company is donating its services to the  
> Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.  "It does seem a bit like  
> carrying coals to Newcastle," quipped King, "but we've pleased to be  
> in position to give something back to Canada."  �
>
> Viacom's MTV Networks will produce the two-hour broadcast, which
> will air live and commercial free at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX,
> CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT.  Facebook and MySpace have also
> signed on as the official social-media partners for the event,
> according to organizers.  Tweets can be tracked on Twitter at   
> #OperationSnowbird.
> If everything goes well the first snow will be dumped from the  
> helicopters onto the slopes of Cypress Mountain during the live  
> broadcast.�
>
> Contributions will be accepted shortly at the SnowForCanada.org website.
> CT's Washington bureau chief, Fièvre D. Carlingue, contributed to   
> this report.
>
> ______________________
>
>
> Enjoy,
> George
>
>
>
>
>
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   --
Carl Ford
ford at dcaccess.net

Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane  
people who
are willing to admit that they are crazy. -Nora Ephron, novelist (b. 1941)