'Latrobe, not Wahoo!'

The best possible Christmas gift Santa could give this year to the people of Latrobe, Pennsylvannia would be difficult to fit into a wrapped box, no matter how big.

Residents want David Letterman to move the home office of his Top Ten List from Wahoo, Nebraska to Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

The campaign to persuade the Top Ten List home office relocation is up and running, spearheaded by Latrobe physician Howard Bursch and native Latrobe-ite Tony Novak, who works as a police officer in Somerset. Prompted by the uncanny resemblance between Letterman and St. Vincent College president Martin Bartel in a local Catholic newspaper, Novak and Bursch decided to compile their own top 10 list of reasons why Latrobe deserves to be the new home office location.

Starting out as a casually remarked notion, the campaign began to pick up speed as a serious effort while seeking support from the Latrobe community. Because Wahoo replaced Grand Rapids, Michigan last spring by sending Letterman a load of graft, Novak and Bursch made collecting bribes their first priority. Up to now, the amassed treasure-trove includes:
  • an autographed trolley from Mr. Rogers
  • a case of every beverage made by Rolling Rock's Latrobe brewery
  • the promise of an autographed football from Penn State coach Joe Paterno, whose wife Sue Poland is a Latrobe native
Organizers hope to gain more inducements which will downplay Wahoo's measly frozen enchiladas, golf club membership and fast-food coupons. Latrobe Brewing will donate T-shirts to be sold as souvenirs, in order to help fund the campaign. The shirts, imprinted with the Latrobe top 10 list, makes reference to the fact that Latrobe was one of the top 10 U.S. cities on the Axis bomb list during World War II and that Latrobe is the birthplace of the banana split.

Whether or not the campaign's attempts will actually succeed in getting a brief mentioned town-name during Letterman's weeknightly humorous satirical list is uncertain. However, some would argue that success or fail, it doesn't matter. The campaign is raising awareness about its many notable accomplishments... all from a town with a population of less than 10,000.

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