Mayor Whitaker with "Naked". Naked was set to be euthanized, his lucky day came along not one minute to soon.
The Naked Caper:
When the Mayor Walked Naked
Our Mayor Jim Whitaker walking naked
on the streets of North Platte?
It's outrageous! Preposterous! Shameful! He should be arrested!" was
the public outcry.
But walk naked is exactly what Mayor Whitaker did.
The idea began innocently enough in 1998 as a fund-raiser for Paws-Itive
Partners, a North Platte group that finds homes for lost and abandoned animals.
The late John Cox, then a radio host with KELN in North Platte, conceived
of the idea.
"He explained the situation to me and asked if I would be willing to
help them raise funds with this ‘gimmick.' It didn't sound like too
bad a deal," Whitaker said.
While the full story couldn't be revealed, Whitaker did tell his wife Nancy.
He said her comment was, "Are you out of your mind?"
The first part of the story came in a newspaper interview. Whitaker said
he was quite careful to always refer to walking the dog Naked. However,
when the story appeared in print, it used various phrases such as "without
clothes" and "walking nude."
Whitaker was attending a meeting in Lincoln when the story was printed in
North Platte. Whitaker was called out of the meeting for a long-distance
call.
Incensed residents had called Whitaker's wife, they had called city hall
and some had called the police station. Some people were even asking for
Whitaker's arrest.
Whitaker said he realized the spoof could not be maintained throughout the
whole month, and planned for a press conference in North Platte when he
arrived home that afternoon.
By the time Whitaker arrived in North Platte a dog from the animal shelter
was ready.
"They had cleaned up this cute little dog who would have been euthanized
the next day. We had the press conference and the dog sat in my lap, shivering
the whole time," Whitaker recalled.
Now the true story was out; a fully clothed Mayor Whitaker was going to
walk a little dog named Naked.
That could have been the end of the story, but from then on the story had
a life of its own, Whitaker said.
"Paul Harvey did a story on it, the story hit the wire services and
I started getting calls from radio stations. I was interviewed by stations
in Kansas City, Miami, one in England and one in Michigan."
Whitaker even did a telephone interview that was broadcast on CNN.
People began sending clippings from Switzerland, Greenland, England, Canada,
Japan and New Zealand," Whitaker said.
Then the money started coming in. What could have been a ruined fund-raiser
ended up raising more than $9,000.
Marvin and Marie Spivak in Bethlehem, Pa., heard about the fund-raiser and
they began sending donations periodically. In September 2002, the couple
announced they were willing their home and personal belongings to Paws-Itive
Partners.
As for Naked, he has a new name and a new home. He has been renamed Nate
and lives in Des Moines, Iowa. Whitaker gets letters on occasion from Nate.
He is healthy and happy.
The ending of the story gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You
lucky dog!"
NPTSummer 2003 Issue
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