Jonesborough merchants and Citadel Broadcasting are promoting a shopping spree and party - earmarked for military families only. Families are registering now by visiting The Lollipop Shop located at 123 East Main Street, Jonesborough and by listening to AM-910 and taking a chance on being a specific caller.

Two winning military families are being announced Thursday, July 28, during a live talk show hosted by Mike Gallagher on AM-910, WJCW between the hours of 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. One family will win the shopping spree and one family will win the birthday party.

Nationally-syndicated, talk show host, Mike Gallagher is bringing his “Surrounded by Idiots” book tour to Jonesborough on the day of the contest. He is hosting his show live, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., out of his red, white and blue motorcoach, which will be parked outside The Lollipop Shop.

“People will be able to go inside the motorcoach during the broadcast,” said Jeff Gurley, owner of The Lollipop Shop. “After the show, he will conduct a book signing event inside the store, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

“Jonesborough is the last stop on his month-long tour,” added Gurley. “He has raised a lot of money for military families over the last couple of years. This is our chance to give back to two of our local military families.

“Several Jonesborough merchants have come together offering some very nice gift certificates to their stores,” Gurley said. “The Lollipop Shop is giving away a birthday party for eight friends, which includes a Stuff-A-Buddy and a USA outfit to dress the stuffed animal.”

Gurley says he may be contacted at The Lollipop Shop, (423) 913-2663, if anyone has questions about registering for the contests or Mike Gallagher’s live broadcast and book tour.

Mike Gallagher’s road to being the 6th most listened-to radio talk show host in the country (Talkers Magazine) began in 1978 as a 17-year-old high school senior in Dayton, Ohio. He talked his way into an on-air shift at WAVI-AM in his Ohio hometown and has been talking on the radio and television ever since.

His broadcasting career has taken him from Dayton to WFBC-AM in Greenville, South Carolina (now WORD-AM) where his ratings and revenue success led to his eventual promotion to station manager. He was also host of the popular “Tiger Tailgate Show” on the Clemson Football Radio Network. From there, he became the afternoon drive-time leader in Albany, New York on upstate powerhouse WGY-AM.

From Albany, it was just a short drive south to the nation’s number one market, New York City, where Gallagher enjoyed a two year stint as morning drive host on WABC-AM, the nation’s most listened-to talk radio station. In 1998, The Mike Gallagher Show was launched nationally with 12 radio stations. Today, Talkers Magazine reports that he’s the sixth most listened-to talk radio host in America with over 3.25 million weekly listeners in top ten markets like Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. as well as cities all over the country and is the 8th most recognized talk radio personality in America (The Benchmark Company). Gallagher has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time and Forbes.

Besides his talk radio duties, Gallagher is equally comfortable in front of television cameras, too. He’s a Fox News Channel Contributor making frequent appearances on all of the Fox News Channel programs as well as occasionally guest hosting one of the talk shows on the cable news giant. In addition to his busy broadcasting career, he’s also a pundit for the popular news and opinion website, Newsmax.com. And he’s added “author” to his resume as he recently wrote his first book, Surrounded by Idiots — Fighting Liberal Lunacy in America, published by William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Gallagher is often invited to visit the radio stations that carry his show all over the country, so he spends a great deal of his time on the road, hosting listener parties and meeting with the staffs of his many affiliates.

Gallagher has said his proudest achievement is his family. He and his wife Denise live in New York City and the Dallas area. Their four boys, Bryan, Trevor, Matthew and Micah have “sprung the nest” and are living all over the country either going to college or working. However, beloved dogs Thumper and Buster are still home and require constant care and attention. (information courtesy of www.mikeonline.com)

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