Don Price, Guest Blogger

Hi, Don Price here again with another guest submission ("The Magic We Make" - Don Price, April 6, 2009). 

This summer, as Woodstock celebrates its 40th anniversary, Wawa associates and customers alike have embraced a summer of Peace, Love, and Shortis with Hoagiefest, www.hoagiefest.com a 60’s inspired celebration of our great hoagie tradition.  It’s a fitting theme since Wawa is a product of the 60’s, having opened our first store in 1964.  Plus the groovy spirit of the era is engrained in our culture.   And if you time your Wawa visit just right this summer, you’ll be greeted by tie-dye-clad associates spontaneously singing and dancing to original Hoagiefest songs.

Howard asked me to write this blog because I am privileged to have played a unique role in shaping the culture of the 60s. Believe it or not, I was the guy who introduced America to tie-dye and popularized it in fashion, at summer camps and, of course, at Woodstock!
 
Flash back to the 60’s when I joined a company that made dyes.  They were about to close the factory because nobody bought dyes any more, but I had an idea.  I went down to Greenwich Village in New York and began to teach the movers and shakers and rock musicians my version of an ancient technique to make fabric designs called tie-dye. This included teaching Woodstock-bound stars like Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, and Joan Baez the technique. It caught on and, well, the rest is history.  By the time of Woodstock, tie-dye was the uniform of the day.  Celebrities like Cher and Ali McGraw wore tie-dye gowns from big name designers. Tie-dying became a signature activity at summer camps and scout outings. Even today, tie-dye remains a surprisingly resilient part of pop culture.

It gives me great pride that tie-dye lives on as an enduring symbol of the 60’s and has been embraced right here in our stores by our Wawa associates. Our Hoagiefest may not compare to Woodstock, but it’s a groovy way of bringing together our associates, our customers, our friends, and our neighbors. It’s our way of spreading the good vibes of the 60’s and ensuring that each day is full of cheer – and hoagies! After all, if tie-dye is my contribution to pop culture, the hoagie is certainly Wawa’s culinary contribution.

I hope you can join us on the Peace, Love, and Shortis tour as we bring Hoagiefest across the mid-Atlantic on a four stop tour. But if you can’t, rest assured that the spirit of Hoagiefest lives on in each and every one of our associates. And as you pull into your favorite Wawa this summer, you just might be greeted with those familiar lyrics:

Come on down, to the Wawa Hoagiefest
The Wawa Hoagiefest
The Wawa Hoagiefest
Down at the Wawa they only serve the best
Won’t ya come on down
To the Wawa Hoagiefest?

Hoagiefest-ComeOnDown.mp3