Wow — now that was an exciting 11 days, wasn’t it? This year’s Wawa Welcome America! festivities truly flew by and I can honestly say this was the most fun-filled, patriotic and appetizing festival we’ve had to date!
 
We were delighted to be part of bringing such a vibrant, engaging event to the community, most of which was free.  From the products, to the music, to the entertainment, to the food, we were thrilled to celebrate our nation’s independence in our hometown city of Philadelphia.
 
As I reflect on our second year as title sponsor of Wawa Welcome America!, I am struck by the fact that none of this wouave been possible without the volunteerism and passion of our wonderful Wawa Associates. They were there every step of the way and made it possible for us to take part in so many events. From handing out smoothies at the Independence Day Blast and Taste of Philadelphia; to being a part of Go 4th & Learn, which hosted more than 1,000 children and families who learned how to milk a cow; to movie nights like Rocky at the Art Museum, where thousands associates handed out Wawa iced teas and lemonades; to building a hoagie that weighed 4.5 tons and distributing its 15,000 hoagies on Hoagie Day -- our associates made our sponsorship seamless and ideal. We also partnered with Mayor Nutter and his office to share important lessons about reading, fitness and nutrition through the Go 4th & Learn series and the Fun in the Sun with Mayor Nutter event at Citizen’s Bank.

This year’s Hoagie Day celebration was also particularly meaningful. In addition to celebrating our great hoagie tradition in Philadelphia, Hoagie Day celebrated our troops, honoring their incredible service to our country. As I wrote earlier this month, we partnered with the USO.  During the celebration, we, with former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell by our side, presented a check to the USO for $20,000 to sponsor 1,500 care packages filled with essential items and Wawa product to be sent to our troops abroad.     
 
To all of us at Wawa, our involvement was about celebrating our company's and our city's traditions while honoring the freedoms we all enjoy today.
 
As we celebrate Independence Day, I am reminded that we embrace the concept of democracy within our corporate structure.  We are owned by our people with associates who have stock in our company, and we champion and support causes near and dear to our associates' and our customers’ hearts. Our associates love playing a leading role in this wonderful celebration of America's birthday - right here in America's birthplace.

Thank you to the city of Philadelphia. Thank you to Mayor Nutter and the Welcome America staff. Thank you to our loyal customers and associates.  Thank you to our troops and to the great men and women who keep our great nation safe.  Happy July 4th everyone and Happy Birthday America.  We can’t wait for next year!

Till next time…

It’s almost that time again.  The time when our friends and family come together to celebrate our great nation’s independence and the freedoms we all enjoy today.    And for all of us at Wawa, it’s the time when we are gearing up for our second year as title sponsors of Wawa Welcome America!.  This year we can’t wait to celebrate our nation’s biggest birthday bash with more excitement, events, entertainment, and appetite appeal than ever before!

As most of you know Wawa Welcome America! is the Philadelphia region’s biggest Independence Day celebration that for eleven days showcases all that America’s birthplace has to offer.  Beginning Friday, June 24 and running through Monday, July 4, Philadelphians will be treated to Wawa Welcome America! free family fun. All of us at Wawa are proud to celebrate great Philadelphia traditions and we’re also excited to have the opportunity to weave in our own traditions throughout the festival.

Our 2011 festival will certainly prove to be the most appetizing yet! We’re inviting the community to enter our smoothie shack and sample our exciting new Wawa strawberry, raspberry, and frozen lemonade smoothies at the Taste of Philadelphia event and the Independence Day Blast.  We’ll kick off the Go 4th and Learn series with an interactive event showcasing Wawa’s unique dairy history while passing out refreshing milk samples for kids and parents alike!

And of course we’ll be celebrating one of longest and most iconic traditions—Hoagie Day—On June 29th!   Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will join Philadelphia police officers and firefighters, Wawa associates and hoagie-lovers across Philadelphia to build a 4 ½ ton Hoagie. That’s right, a 4 ½ ton hoagie. But it’s more than that. This year we’re calling it a 4 ½ ton salute to our troops because Hoagie Day will focus on honoring our soldiers and hometown heroes. We’ll partner with the USO, to sponsor more than 1,500 care packages to be sent to our troops abroad.   And of course the crowd will have the opportunity to indulge in the 4 ½ ton hoagie feast which marks a first in Hoagie Day history—with half the hoagie being turkey and the other half Italian! 

Everywhere they turn Philadelphians will find Wawa products and associates.   During the festival we’ll be distributing more than:

• 90,000 beverages
• 50,000 coupons
• 10,000 smoothie samples
• 15,000 hoagies
• 50,000 Welcome America Hats
• 10,000 American flags
• 50,000 brochures

We hope to see you all at the upcoming events and celebrate our rich history, traditions and culture. We are thrilled to welcome you all to the second year of “Wawa Welcome America!”

'Till next time…

www.welcomeamerica.com   
www.wawawelcomeamerica.com 

I’ve spoken many times about the unique bond we have with our customers, a bond that feels more like family than the typical customer- associate relationship.  So this year as we continue on with our Wawaversary celebrations which celebrate milestone anniversaries or 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 years throughout our chain, we are holding these celebrations in a true Family Reunion style! So far we’ve held these family reunions throughout the Pennsylvania and New Jersey regions, and this week we have celebrations planned in Newark, DE and Aberdeen, MD.

These Family Reunion celebrations give us a chance to celebrate the history and evolution of our stores and, most importantly, to celebrate the generations of customers and associates that make our stores so special. We couldn’t think of a better way to commemorate these important milestone anniversaries than by hosting a good old-fashioned family reunion, complete with free coffee, games, t-shirts, and most importantly, generations of family members who make up our customer base. These generations of customers all bring the unique perspectives and experiences that make family reunions such important traditions both in our Wawa family, and in families around the world.

To mark the start of each of these events, our Mascot Wally Goose, leads the Wawa Through the Ages parade, which visually highlights our key milestones.  If you happen to be in the store, you’ll see associates parading in huge sandwich boards featuring historic photos of our famous milk man, hoagie offering, coffee cups through the years, and more.  The event is complete with a special Family Day proclamation by a community representative or Wawa official, followed by a coffee toast dedicated to the generations of customers and associates for their friendship and business throughout the years. We round it all out by presenting a check to one of our long-standing charity partners from the proceeds of in-store fundraising campaigns. Free coffee is served all day to mark the special occasion.  

One of the most important parts of these celebrations is when we recognize our very special Key Extended Family Members, milestone customers who have been frequenting the store since the day it opened, by presenting them with a ceremonial key to the store. What’s particularly special about this ceremony is that often the Key Extended Family Members include families of customers who span several generations, and who have each been coming to these stores as long as they each can remember.

You can view our family photo album from Wawaversary events, right here on wawa.com.

I can’t tell you how proud and humbled I feel by the connection between Wawa associates and customers that is so strong, it spans all generations, and is timeless in our company’s history.

From our family to yours, happy Family Day to all of our customers and associates!

’Till next time…