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Chilly Odyssey for Special Olympics•'iV'-'J* t.' '*■;' .*'“ Ilt; t ’i»v. : • • ** ’ : v ••••' 'vs'.- .; ■ -Sfcp' ., :■ :: * * ••s / • ,v- -• -• v• ’•v/ :•^^v-Av/s-.r-vrvr*--•- .■iPMi^yVi PrV./ \? -Wendy Robbins of WUSQ Radio waves goodbye to onlookers before entering the ice enclosure devised by Dr.Star Photos by Rick FosterSilkini (right). Below, Robbins peers through a small opening that allows curious fans to see her face.woman approached Silkini and» j.By CHET BRIDGERStar Staff WriterImagine being trapped inside a big ice cube.You have a small space to move around in and you can’t eat, drink, or go to the bathroom.That will be the existence of WUSQ Radio’s Wendy Robbins for 48 hours.Wendy, a Q-102 disc jockey, was placed inside Dr. Silkini’s “Frozen Alive” enclosure at Lamar Sloan Ford in Winchester on Monday afternoon.The promotion will help the Winchester Police Department and Frederick County Sheriff’s Department to raise money for the Special Olympics.About 50 people gathered to see Wendy enter the ice block through a hole in its top. She went through a fiberglass lid which was then resealed and covered with about 250 pounds of loose ice cubes.The ice block sits inside a refrigerated van kept at about 20 degrees below zero, according to Silkini, who has been touring with “Frozen Alive” for more than three years.The promotion is no gimmick, he said. Wendy will stay in the small space—6V2 feet long, 3l/2 feet wide, and 3l/2 feet tall—until Wednesday afternoon.A human body is capable of heating the space, Silkini said. A pad lines the space, so her body will not touch the ice. The block of ice, working like an igloo, insulates Wendy from the truck’s frigid temperature. Two plastic tubes attached to the fiberglass lid provide oxygen.When asked about the prospect of going without food, water, or a bathroom for two days, Silkini said he is able to use basic hypnosis to lower the subject’s metabolism.“With people who are very imaginative and suggestible, you can usually lower their metabolism,” he said.Before she entered the iceblock, Wendy said she believed in the technique: “I’ll be in a position where I won’t need caloric intake. They’re going to lower my metabolism in there.”She said she went without food for 24 hours to prepare for the mission, which her boss asked her to accept about a week ago. “I don’t know the trick. All I know is they’ve gone to great precautions to make sure I’ll be comfortable.”Barefoot and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a Q-102 T-shirt, Wendy waved goodbye to the crowd and entered the ice shortly after 5 p.m. Just before going into her temporary home, she told the crowd she accepted the challenge for a good cause, the SpecialOlympics.The police and sheriff’s departments have booths set up at Lamar Sloan Ford to sell promotional items on behalf of the Special Olympics. For every car sold during the event, the Valley Avenue dealership will donate $50 to the Special Olympics, according to General Manager Bill Brundige.Wendy has a telephone line inside the ice, which she is using for broadcast segments on the radio station. She can also be seen inside her icy lair on a television set in the Lamar Sloan lobby.Spectators can see Wendy through the “visi-port,” a small round hole in the ice with a plastic eyepiece. When a Winchester Star reporter peered in to check her out, she smiled and waved.Sometimes the most offbeat and colorful things make the best promotions, Brundige said: “I think it’s nice for people to have something to laugh about, although I don’t think Wendy is laughing too hard in there rightnow.”Brundige said he first heard about the “Frozen Alive” promotion when Silkini was in Washington several weeks ago to freeze Washington Redskin defensive back Darrell Green.Silkini, based in Carson City,Nev., said he has traveled the United States, Mexico, and Canada with “Frozen Alive,” and has presented various types ofpromotions for more than 15 years. He added that he learned hypnosis from his uncle, who was a traveling performer for many years.After Wendy had been iced down for about 10 minutes, aidentified herself as a WUSQ employee.She had something to give Wendy, but Silkini somberly shook his head and refused her. After several minutes of discussion, he took the object from her.It appeared to be a hand-held videogame.
Newspaper Details
Winchester Star
Winchester, Virginia, US
Tue, Jun 09, 1992
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Mike S.
USA 23 Jan 2019
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