| It was a dark and stormy night. Whoops, wrong | | | | Shawna were more familiar than I with Mrs. |
| story. It was the early 1980's and my girlfriend | | | | Whitney as they also ran a horse-drawn carriage |
| and I at the time were hanging out a lot with our | | | | business that Marylou had used the services of. |
| good friends Rick and Shawna, the original owners | | | | The event was to take place at Siros, a popular |
| of Madame Jumels restaurant in Saratoga Springs, | | | | upscale restaurant and watering hole near the |
| New York. I'm not sure what's there now, but | | | | Saratoga Racetrack. Everyone agreed this would |
| Madame Jumels was at the bottom of Caroline | | | | be a blast. As seasoned veterans for several |
| Street and quite the popular place in it's day. I | | | | years at the infamous Bolton Landing Bed Races |
| was a big fan of the early morning radio show on | | | | on Lake George, we had a fair idea on how to |
| WPYX hosted at that time by Bob Mason and Bill | | | | make headlines while having a good time. It's kind |
| Sheehan, a gnarly pair of shock jocks known for | | | | of a Ratpack thing. Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, |
| their over-the-top pranks. (It is now known as the | | | | Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Angie |
| Wakin' Up With the Wolf show, hosted by Bob | | | | Dickinson; we had learned from the best. Back |
| Wolfeld.) They came up with the idea of having a | | | | when men were men...and booze was your buddy. |
| Marylou Whitney look-alike contest. For the | | | | Growing up in the sixties surely had it's benefits. |
| ill-informed, Marylou Whitney is the widow of | | | | We set about making our strategy.It was decided |
| millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and a local | | | | the horse and carriage would help make our |
| celebrity, socialite, philanthropist, and all-around nice | | | | entrance memorable. As Rick and Shawna would |
| gal. The thought of spoofing her in a look-alike | | | | be manning the carriage and I was ugly enough as |
| contest was more than I could stand. I set out to | | | | a man, let alone the well-preserved Whitney, that |
| talk my friends into joining the contest.Rick and | | | | left my girlfriend to be Marylou. |