Courtesy of Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Wear Orange Wednesday

And then there were three… Three days separate Orioles players and fans alike from the 2014 baseball season. The team has made several changes to their roster over the off season. From trading and letting go of players to signing free agents, the Orioles front office has done a stellar job in getting fans excited for the season that is about to unfold.

If the team needs any more ways to get excited for the season, then they should listen to the initiative that a former Baltimore County Schools employee has created. Near the beginning of the 2012 season, Nancy Cook started what is known as “Wear Orange Wednesdays.”

Her thought process was a simple one. The entire Baltimore community takes part in “Purple Fridays” during the Ravens’ season where everyone wears purple on the Friday before a Ravens game. Cook thought the community should pay homage to the other professional sports team that is located on Russell Street with the same type of initiative.

Just like the team has become better since the start of the 2012 season, so too has Wear Orange Wednesdays. The initiative even now has an official Facebook page.

Why Wednesdays you ask? The initiative’s Facebook page explains the reason behind the selected day. It reads: “Wednesday is Hump Day and I want us to help the O’s get over the HUMP!”

Through networking, Cook has grown WOW (Wear Orange Wednesdays) and, according to MASNSports.com, she now has about a dozen volunteers helping her in her efforts to make everyone in the community to wear orange and cheer on our beloved O’s.

The Facebook page now has over 2,100 likes and Cook’s Twitter page has over 215 followers. Everyone wants to get involved in WOW any way they can, including Dempsey’s Brew Pub. Dempsey’s has been most supportive in Cook’s mission to spread the Orioles spirit.

On Wednesdays, they actually have a Orange Wednesday special on the menu. On that day, they offer customers (21 and older) Camden Crush Specials. The catch is though you must be wearing orange or some form of Orioles gear on to get the special prices. Sorry Yankee and Red Sox fans; you all have to pay for your drinks at full price.

When I first heard about this initiative, I thought it was solely for increasing the Orioles support in the community. However, once I did a little digging on what WOW was all about, I quickly found out that was only half of what WOW’s goal is.

“It is also to help reduce obesity in children by getting them back on the ball fields and eating properly,” the description of their Facebook page read.

Baseball is America’s pastime; yet as of late, it has lost its popularity for many of our country’s youth. WOW and Cook will try to change that and as the Orioles keep winning this season and become more popular, hopefully so will this initiative.

Orioles fans, listen up, Cook is giving a simple command: Wear orange on Wednesdays. So get your favorite Orioles jersey washed and dust off that Orioles cap because when the Orioles take the field this Monday and continue to shock the world this season everyone will be saying one thing…. “WOW!”

Check Out the entire Original Article on BirdsWatcher.com

We are please to announce that Wear Orange Wednesdays has created a new website to promote their efforts in creating a tradition, growing our economy and reducing childhood obesity, while promoting the Baltimore Orioles baseball team as well, by enticing all of their fans to Wear Orange Wednesdays! We just can’t wait until the new season starts!

Fan creates Wear Orange Wednesdays to unify Orioles supporters

February 19, 2014 12:19 PM by Olivia WitheriteView Comments

Head to Camden Yards for a packed night game, and you’ll see the stands flooded with a sea of orange and know that you are are surrounded by thousands of Orioles fans.

Nancy Cook, creator of Wear Orange Wednesdays, wants to create that sense of community and Orioles pride away from the stadium. She started the grassroots campaign toward the beginning of the 2012 season. Cook said that she selected Wednesday for a specific reason.

Wear Orange Wednesday_Nancy Cook Rick Dempsey.JPG “I came up with the idea. Well, we know that Purple Fridays are really popular in Baltimore,” Cook said. “You know, why not pick a day for the Orioles? I thought about it and came up with the idea that Wednesday was considered hump day, and I thought it might be fun to tie the two together and make it Orange Wednesdays and help them over the hump.”

As the Orioles began to pick things up on the field, so did Cook’s initiative, with local news outlets beginning to cover Cook’s initiative, including ABC2 News and WBAL Radio.

By meeting people at Orioles games and through social media, Cook has grown her initiative and her team, which now is made up of roughly a dozen volunteers.

“I just kept building my time around Orioles baseball both through MASN with the live chats, through attending the games and meeting people at Dempsey’s Brew Pub, which became a nice place for me to go, and I made friends there,” Cook said.

Wear Orange Wednesday_Dempseys.jpg Cook, a retired Baltimore County Public Schools employee, now works to rally Orioles fans, a cause she feels called to.

“I feel like it’s a mission, and that the blessings and people I’ve met, the opportunities that are given to me, are just kinda coming right and left. … For me, it’s a personal mission,” she said.

By using social media and by networking with fans at various events and games, Cook and her team hope to continue to grow Wear Orange Wednesdays and unify Orioles fans.

“In my mind, by being on Team Orange Wednesdays, we can do a lot of things, not only to help our children, but to help our team, the Baltimore Orioles, as well as help our city and our state,” Cook said. “And I think that it can be a win for all of us.”

For more information on Wear Orange Wednesday or to see how you can get involved, be sure to give them a like on Facebook or tweet Cook.

WBAL Radio interview by Mary Beth Marsden with Nancy Cook of Wear Orange Wednesdays, May 2012

Woman proposes Orange Wednesday

5:08 AM, Apr 25, 2012

5:35 AM, Apr 25, 2012

DUNDALK, Md. – Purple Friday for the Ravens has taken off in the Baltimore area. But are you ready for Orange Wednesdays? One local woman thinks you should be.

Nancy Cook from Dundalk wants to start a tradition where people wear orange on Wednesdays. She says she picked “hump day” to try and help the O’s get “over the hump.”

“I think maybe it’s better to support the person that is the underdog,” she says. “The person that needs a lift up and I’d like to see our town turn into a supportive group and be wearing a sea of orange because I think it would give confidence to our young players. I think it would make our older players happy.”

Cook pitched her idea to the Orioles, but got a thumbs down from the team. So she turned to social media and hopes to gain momentum for Orange Wednesday that way.