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…