For the last 25 years, I've been a regular listener to the Paul Finebaum Show, which airs on radio and TV every Monday through Friday from 2–6. I do miss a lot between phone calls with customers and working on quotes, so when I go to bed at night, I will listen to his podcast of the show (puts me to sleep). You could say I'm a pretty avid fan.

When listening to or watching his show, you really get involved with the callers, and you feel that you really know them—even though you've never met any of them. Well, when caller Larry from Shelby passed a few weeks ago, it really got to me because he would make me laugh every day—whether at the office, working out at Lifetime, or simply driving in the car around town.

When I heard they were going to do a celebration of his life, I started thinking of something we do at City Paper that could be part of the program. When I got the invitation from Jeni Jones (Larry’s girlfriend), it had a picture of him fishing and holding a Bud Light. The invitation stated that you could bring food, drinks, or, if possible, donate money to help pay for renting the place.

I wanted to do something that people could remember Larry by years from now, so since everyone knew he was a Bud Light guy, why not a koozie? I got with Kelsey Stamps (our Senior Key Accounts Manager), and she did a wonderful job with Ella Waddell (one of our extremely talented graphic designers) getting the art to our vendor to be sure they made delivery in time. Well, it was a great idea because everyone was drinking Bud Lights with Larry's koozies.

While working out yesterday at Lifetime, I was listening to the show and heard a lady named Jane call up asking Paul if he noticed the koozies with Larry’s face, and he automatically knew what she was talking about. Jane proceeded to tell Paul that her daughter was the marketing director at City Paper, and I knew exactly who Jane was. For the next few minutes, he gave CP and me some great press and mentioned that he really wants Maggie to get in touch, possibly to do more business with his show. 

Thanks again to Kelsey and Ella for making it happen. 

Let's raise a koozie together to Larry.

- Mark Friedman, COO City Paper Company