Pinch Hitter

Blogging on a Saturday? What's this? Well to be honest I'm actually just finishing up work I began yesterday. Why start a blog if you have no intention of finishing it? So I sat down this morning at the keyboard, and now I'm banging away. The week is over, and what a week it was.

The weekend is here. So what do I have on tap? Virtually nothing! You can't beat that. This was a busy week. From the news desk it was busy, and outside work it was busy too.

One of my favorites events to go to each year is the Washington Business Hall of Fame dinner each year. One of the reasons we like it is because it's a benefit for Junior Achievement. Every year some teen gets up and speaks and you think to yourself I'm looking at the next Bill Gates. This year it was a teenager from Northern Virginia who has started her own jewelry business. The kids are a true inspiration. One of the other reasons we like to attend is that it gives us a chance to hang out with our good friends Ed and Lynette Grenier. Ed is the CEO of the local chapter of Junior Achievement. That's him on the right delivering a stirring speech at the dinner the other night.

After Ed came back to the table we thought we'd have a lot of time to chat and catch up. But instead his top lieutenant Kim Denis arrived and huddled with him. Ed turned to me and said "You don't have to say yes if you don't want to." By now Kim had stepped in front of him. She's about to have a baby boy in a few weeks. "You can't say no to a pregnant woman, we need you to emcee this event."


The emcee is another well known anchor in town. But @@#### had problems with his voice and said he couldn't go on. Without @@#### they needed a pinch hitter. So why am I calling him @@####? Well he works at a competing station and chances are he isn't given me any free publicity on his blog, so why should I give him a mention here?

Before long I was on stage. It was a lot of fun. I wanted to wing it, but the event is tightly scripted. That's why it always gets done on time and runs so smoothly. But I did ad lib some off the top, and here and there. All in all it was a good time.

One of the best speeches came from Vernon Jordan. What an incredible imprint he has left on this city. We may know him as a confidante to Presidents, but he didn't waste any time talking about the politicians and the powerful. No on this night he honored his mom. He also reflected on his humble beginnings, his sacrifices, and his perseverance. He and the other inductees into the Business Hall of Fame all had things in common. They all worked hard, met every challenge, and were gracious in thanking everyone that helped them along the way. If you ever get a chance to attend this event you should. It's a lot of fun and it will leave you inspired. I would like to thank Freed Photography for sharing their photos of the event on my blog.