To celebrate a calm hurricane season, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s WPDE-TV in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina will be hosting a Pizza Palooza on Saturday at Pelicans Ballpark stadium.
Earlier this year at the start of hurricane season, WPDE chief meteorologist Ed Piotrowski promised viewers a pizza party if the area did not see an impact from a hurricane. It happened for the first time since 2013, and Piotrowski is paying off.
Piotrowski invited Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel, who is expected to attend as a special guest. The event will be broadcast live during the 9 a.m. hour of Good Morning Carolina. The station will also be posting updates on Facebook Live throughout the day.
A number of local pizza parlors will participate by providing pies, including Papa John’s Pizza, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Benito’s Rolling Oven, Scatori's Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant, Piana's Pizza, Little River House of Pizza, Tavern in the Forest / Tavern in Surfside, Dicarlo's Original Pizza, Scottos Pizzeria, Captains Quarters Resort, Mozzarella's, Coast Pizza and Extreme Pizza.
Papa John’s will be holding a pizza eating contest.
In addition to pizza, the event will feature live music from the 100 Grand Band, opportunities to take pictures with Santa and children’s activities.
“Like so many residents in our area, I was hurricane weary after 7 consecutive years of hurricane impacts. Early in the hurricane season, I joked that I'd throw a pizza party for everyone if we got through the season with no hurricane hits. With each passing day and month with no impacts, the pizza party buzz grew louder and louder. By the last month of hurricane season, the pizza party took on a life of its own! Thanks to so many awesome sponsors, we're throwing a massive pizza party to celebrate our community finally having a quiet hurricane season,” said Piotrowski.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a new unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots and/or a canned food nonperishable item for the Lowcountry Food Bank.
The event is being sponsored by Conway Medical Center, Mister Sparky, Monarch Roofing, Seaside Furniture and Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Special thanks to Caledonia and True Blue Golf Club for covering the cost of the band and sound equipment and Special Events Productions LLC for providing the stage.
“We are thrilled for this occasion, to celebrate that we had no hurricanes in our area in 2021. I want to thank Ed for such a great idea and to our sponsors for helping us put on this event. It’s going to be a good time,” said Mary Margaret Nelms, VP and GM of WPDE.
The event will follow DHEC and CDC guidelines for COVID safety, the Sinclair station said. ■
