And the ‘Most Delco Town of 2018’ crown goes to ...
ON THE BORDER OF GLENOLDEN AND RIDLEY » Straddled between these two Delco towns and standing behind a tower of boxes of canned beer, Hollywood Holbrook of Rambo’s Delco Radio raised a shiny golden trophy wrapped in red-and-white Wawa paper shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, Delco time.
It had come down to this moment — after the Facebook radio channel launched “Delco Live” and then the “Most Delco Town 2018” behind it with a bracket of 64 towns, communities and, as Holbrook said, “one somewhat fictitious location, Midgetville.” More than 800,000 votes were cast and the contest was whittled down to two top contenders – Glenolden and Ridley Township.
As Holbrook raised the trophy, wearing a star-laden blazer, he pronounced, “Start a motorcade of red cop cars because, Ridley, this is yours.”
Ridley Township Commissioner Tom Donahue quickly came up to the forefront to take his town’s victory as he and another commissioner sported suit jackets and emerald green ties for the occasion.
“Go Ridley!” he said, hoisting the trophy in the air.
Glenolden Borough Manager Brian Razzi, dressed in a grey sweatshirt and jeans, held onto his palm-sized secondplace trophy and spoke of his own pride.
“We came in second,” he said. “We’re proud of that, we’re very proud. We got pretty far. A lot of our residents were pretty excited about it.”
Before the prize was distributed, Holbrook paused to honor all.
“Delco is a mindset — a way of life, not just borders,” he said. “You can break the habit but you can’t quit the urge for more Delco.”
After thanking all those who participated near and far, Holbrook turned his attention to the two contenders.
“Glenolden,” he said, “you fought a fight of fights. You channeled the spirit of your resident ‘Invincible’ Vince Papale and never gave up the dream of being labeled ‘Most Delco’ ... You may be down right now, but your town will rise from the ashes much like Dino’s Bar & Grill did after the fire.”
His words then focused on the champion, starting with Ridley’s victory over Rutledge in Round One.
“In Round Two, you faced Marple, a dry town that was soaked in tears of defeat,” Holbrook said, adding defeating Aston, then Havertown in the Battle of the Barnaby’s followed.
In the closest fight of the Delco bracket, Ridley eked out a win over Clifton Heights by a margin of 0.6, Holbrook added.
“In true Delco fashion, it left basically renewal of the Interboro/Ridley rivalry for all ages as you were pitted against Glenolden in the Battle of the Boulevard,” he said.
Holbrook noted that Ridley is home to Tom & Jerry’s, Barnaby’s, Applebees and one of the county’s largest employers, Boeing, while also being “ground zero” for the turf war between Wawa and Royal Farms.
His co-host Al “Big Al” Zaffiri said despite the competition, Delco blood runs deep.
“Delco is always behind Delco,” he said. “Ridley, Glenolden, Clifton – don’t matter, we are behind each other 100 percent.”
Those at the event had their own defining words of what Delco means to them.
For Razzi, Delco is tradition, family and blue collar.
Donahue tied it to the victory.
“Delco’s the people and that’s the same as Ridley,” the commissioner said. “Each community is made up of great people and that’s what makes Ridley great.”
Becky and Bob McLaughlin, owners of McLaughlin Beverage, where the winning announcement was made, shared their own vision of Delco, after verifying that their store is, indeed, in the middle of Glenolden and Ridley.
“His parents still live in Glenolden,” Becky said. “My parents still live in Folcroft. This is where our family is ... Our family is still here. We speak Delco.” For her husband, Delco is also deep. “It’s where we were born and raised from,” he said. “Whether fortunate or unfortunate you are, you always know where you came from.”
Besides, he said, “It’s fun to come back here.”