OC Times & White Castle Celebrate Event Page Launch

(Crystal A. Proxmire, July 31, 2017)

Ferndale, MI – A slider-tastic time was had by all Wednesday as Oakland County Times readers gathered at the White Castle restaurant in Ferndale to celebrate the launch of the White Castle Bold Moves Event Page on the local news site.

On Mothers’ Day Times Founder Crystal Proxmire published An Open Letter to White Castle which made a pitch to the family-owned fast food chain asking them to be the site’s first national sponsor.  The letter, which included a story about Proxmire’s single father and memories of their meals together, caught the attention of the White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson.

Richardson called Proxmire on Mother’s Day night and welcomed her into the Castle headquarters in Columbus, Ohio the next day to begin fleshing out their partnership. White Castles has become the naming-rights sponsor of the Time’s Event Page for a year.

“The team at White Castle is excited to be ‘feeding the souls of craver generations’ all over Oakland County through our new partnership with the Oakland County Times. It’s great to have the chance to build a business relationship with a great friend of the Castle like Oakland County Times founder Crystal Proxmire. Crave on Oakland County!” Richardson said upon announcing the partnership.

Among those who attended the three hour long fundraiser and celebration, were officials from several communities including Royal Oak, Oak Park, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, and Ferndale.  There were also business owners, residents, and folks from White Castle’s corporate team.  Store manager Tracy Lang welcomed OC Times and helped to cut the ribbon.  15% of sales during the event will be donated back to OC Times.

At least six people came to White Castle who had never had been before, including Ferndale resident Jill Hurst who said of the small, square, steam-grilled, onion-slathered sliders, “I’m hooked.”

A highlight of the evening was when Proxmire presented freelance reporter Cheryl Weiss with her first press pass.  Weiss has written over 30 articles for the Times, covering mainly Oak Park news and events.  Her write ups of Barry Manilow’s concert and donation to Pontiac Schools, a profile about a community learning and connecting place for mothers, and a piece about bicycle safety are among her contributions to the site.

The Oakland County Times began in 2009 as The Ferndale 115 News.  It was called the “one-fifteen” because it originally came out in issue form on the first and fifteenth of each month.  It has grown to over 65,000 unique readers per month with over 3,400 visitors a day.  The site primarily focuses on SE Oakland County and secondarily on the Holly Area in NW Oakland County, but will continue to grow and add more communities in.

Check out the Bold Moves Event Page at http://oaklandcounty115.com/events/.

For local business advertising, check out http://oaklandcounty115.com/sponsorshipadvertising/.