Martinsburg seeks 'Downtown Winners'

April 11, 2001

Martinsburg seeks 'Downtown Winners'

By BOB PARTLOW / Staff Writer, Martinsburg

Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of a television game show, Main Street Martinsburg officials are organizing a May 5 fund-raising event called "Who Wants to Be a Downtown Winner?"

Businesses have agreed to sponsor teams and tickets are being sold for the event at Martinsburg High School.

Sponsors hope to clear $5,000 to help in downtown development efforts, said Becky Linton, board president of Main Street Martinsburg.

The game will be patterned after ABC-TV's "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?," with individuals competing to answer questions so they can sit in the "hot seat" and play the game. The event will be professionally run by Howard Entertainment from Rockville, Md., Linton said.

"They've done this many times before, but always for entertainment, like for big companies," she said. "This is the first time they've done it for a fund-raising event. It will have the lights and the music, everything, just like the TV show."

While it will not have Regis Philbin asking the questions, it will have West Virginia native David Selby. He was born in Morgantown and earned both a bachelor's degree and master's degree from West Virginia University.

He has numerous theater, movie and television credits. Among his movie credits are "Rich and Famous," directed by George Cukor, "Dying Young," with Julia Roberts and Scott Campbell and "White Squall," directed by Ridley Scott and featuring Jeff Bridges.

He created the roles of Quentin Collins on the television series "Dark Shadows," Michael Tyrone on "Flamingo Road" and Richard Channing on "Falcon Crest."

"We really wanted to get a celebrity here and because he was from West Virginia, I think that helped," Linton said.

Businesses have paid between $150 and $1,000 to sponsor teams of players. Many of the contestants will be from the businesses, although they can go outside for players, Linton said.

No major prizes will be awarded, with the payoff being "mostly bragging rights" for those that make the best showings.

Teams from Martinsburg High School, Musselman High School and Hedgesville High School will take part in a separate competition. A scholarship will be awarded by the law firm of Pill & Pill. It could be as much as $1,250 if the student makes it all the way through the $1 million question.

"We really want to stress education," Linton said. She said the recent success of Martinsburg resident and Herald-Mail employee Bob Fleenor on "Jeopardy!" highlighted the kind of people and the kind of education system the state has.

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