Allyson_Wilson's Blog

Its Friday morning and I have a mere 24 hours before I return and head back to work.  Yesterday, after getting into the city I hit the ground running at the Unity conference and attended a few seminars.  But one of the best things about this conference is connecting and reconnecting with friends after the day's work is done.  Last night everyone was talking about going to an ESPN sponsored party.  It was at a club called Crobar and true to the hype it was ridiculously crowded!  When Maureen and I got there we tried to hook up with other co-workers and friends but the crowd was so thick we could not find everyone-- In fact i must have walked the place twice looking for Wisdom and never found him!  We did run into CNN's TJ Holmes who had a circle of girls "sharking" around him trying to meet him.  It was so funny, I thought-- his ego must be ginormous!  We also saw a few of our co-workers-- Gwen Tolbart, tape producer Michelle Dunham, and tape coordinator Brian Balbuena

The club ended up being just too much, meaning too many people- I began to feel claustrophobic so we left.  Oustide, Maureen and I ran into WRC's Miguel Almaguer and decided to go with him to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists after party.   After a quick cab ride across town we were at a restaurant/bar type place called the Alhambre.  This was more my speed-- live salsa music, spacious dance floor and the bar area was seprate from the dancing so you could actually hear a conversation.    We had a blast-- however it did make me miss my colleagues Raquel Amparo who remained in DC to produce the 10pm news for you, our viewers; and Javier DeDiego, our old 10pm producer who just abandoned us to go clinch a golden opportunity producing at CNN, and Roby Chavez.  I wished I could share the fun with them.  One highlight for me was seeing NBC's Ron Allen salsa dancing.  When I see him live in war-torn middle eastern cities he's always, understandably, so serious. So it was good to see him having a good time.

I am posting my pictures.  I will type more later! 

Well you may notice that some of your favorite FOX 5 personalities are missing this week.  Many of us flew the coop to head  to the Unity journalism convention in Chicago.  Unity is a convention that happens every 5 years that brings together all minority jousnalists.  It is a great opportunity to attend personal and professional development workshops and network.  I got in to Midway Airport around 7 this morning and hopped on the Chicago "L" train to head into downtown. The first thing I noticed about the train was that it was made in the style that WMATA officials say they want to convert Metro trains to-- hard seats, vinyl floors, no frills.  I guess it works, but its not at all aesthetically pleasing.  It feels very utilitarian.  I am posting some photos so you can see what it looks like.  After riding, i decided that I like my Metro and don't want it to change.

After a day on the convention foor I am tuckered out-- but we have a big night planned.  I met up with Maureen, Roz, Wisdom, Sherry Ly and WRC's Miguel Almaguer.  ESPN is throwing a party and a bunch of us plan to stop by.  Stay tuned for more details and more photos.

Allyson

links of interest:

www.unityjournslists.org

Hi guys!  I'll admit, today (Saturday) I was a little lukewarm about my assignment-- covering the "Rosie the Riveter" National Convention in Towson, but boy am I glad I went.  I met amazing women from all walks of life who blazed trails leaving home to work in munitions and industry during World War II.  I met two sisters who were orphaned as teens and went to work to keep their brother and sister with them.  They moved from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania to Baltimore to work in the Glenn L. Martin plant building war planes.  Kay Bentley and Mae Graybil's salaries paid for a home and food so the siblings woul'd be split up.  I met Susan King, a retired Baltimore school teacher who was one of the first African-American "Rosies."  She built pieces of elevator wings at Eastern Aircraft in Baltimore in 1941.  These women were a wealth of history. Around 6 million women went to work during WWII.  Of those, its estimated around some 2500 are still alive to tell their stories.  Is your mom or grandma a "Rosie?"  If so that makes you a Rosebud!  Rosie founder Fran Carter says you are eligible to join the national organization and help preserve these ladies amazing stories.  Call your mom and grandma and ask what they did from 1942 - 1945, if they worked in defense plants or worked farmland or even stayed home folding bandages for soldiers-- they're "Rosies."

Log onto this site for more info.  And watch my report tonight at 1045!

http://www.rosietheriveter.org/links.htm

Also take a look at my pictures from tonights "USO" Dance.

Tonight (Friday 6/20) at 10, get an exclusive look at a new walking tour that takes you back to 1865 to investigate Lincoln's assassination.

Ford's Theatre is currently closed for renovations, but it's taking theater off the stage and onto the sidewalk with an actor playing Detective James McDevitt who investigated The President's death in the moments and hours after it happened.

You'll go from the theater on a 1.4 mile tour runs that runs to the White House.  Tours started tonight and run through October-- but they will sell out fast.  You don't want to miss my story tonight on FOX 5 news at 10!  I'll show you how to get tickets.

 http://www.fordstheatre.org/Performances/

I just spoke with an official from WSSC who says initial test results on the safety of Montgomery County water will be in at 1am Wednesday.  I'm in the field now working on gathering the very latest information on the situation with the break, the water quality, and I'm also looking into how Montgomery County and WSSC handled notifying the county's 250,000 residents.  As you may have seen in Stacy Cohan's 6pm report, many restaurants had no idea they shouldn't be serving customers.  Take a look at the pictures I took today at the site of the break in Rock Creek Regional Park in Gaithersburg and please tune in for FOX 5 News at 10 and The News Edge at 11 for a complete report.

--Allyson