{"id":313,"date":"2013-09-03T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2013-09-03T16:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=313"},"modified":"2013-09-05T19:54:55","modified_gmt":"2013-09-06T05:54:55","slug":"another-tradition-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grumpyseniors.com\/?p=313","title":{"rendered":"Another tradition lost"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m an old-fashioned guy.<\/p>\n

That means I believe in some things that may be considered out-of-date.<\/p>\n

Things such as traditions being important.<\/p>\n

Family traditions are something that glues families together.<\/p>\n

National traditions are something that give our nation its character and make us different from others.<\/p>\n

\"Jerry-Lewis-sized\"<\/a>If you’re over 50 then the chances are one of your Labor Day traditions was drop in occasionally and check out the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.<\/p>\n

Back in another life I hosted quite a few of those telethons.<\/p>\n

Back when we were working 24 hours straight.<\/p>\n

It’s sad to see what it has turned in to.<\/p>\n

At close to 90 years of age, Lewis was overdue to retire and his participation over the past 10 years was cut back because of health problems and age.<\/p>\n

But what seemed the sad but inevitable end of an era became a moral outrage and a public relations nightmare.<\/p>\n

It’s impossible to understand how something so successful could be so mishandled.<\/p>\n

What really happened still has not been told but a few things have become clear in the three years since the breakup.<\/p>\n

Jerry Lewis was dumped by the MDA, the charity he had been identified with since the 1950s.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still bitter about it, as I would be.<\/p>\n

And the telethon is withering without him.<\/p>\n

It is no longer called a telethon, but simply an \u201centertainment special,\u201d and there was no tote board, no fun and nothing worth watching.<\/p>\n

What once was a 21-hour live TV event that many people jumped in to check throughout the night turned into a 2-hour pre-recorded series of B-list acts and pitches for money.<\/p>\n

The 260-plus strong “Love Network” of TV stations was dumped with only ABC carrying the event.<\/p>\n

The reason given is\u00a0 telethon is\u00a0supposedly “old school” and no one wants to sit through them any more.
\nSocial media is where it’s at.<\/p>\n

The proof is in the money raised – and for the second year donations are down, a lot.<\/p>\n

In fact they are down almost 11-percent since Lewis was forced out.<\/p>\n

So much for that theory.<\/p>\n

There’s a reason for traditions.
\nThese are things we do together and they tie us as one.<\/p>\n

Say what you want about Jerry Lewis, and he has his haters, he raised a lot of money for MDA.
\nAnd he started a tradition.<\/p>\n

It exists no longer and we are poorer for it.
\nThere’s nothing wrong in being old-fashioned about some things.<\/p>\n

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