The announcement caught town and federal officials off guard. In a hastily arranged news conference, Emmitsburg's constable Odo pleaded for calm following the Mayor's announcement that the Governor has put the National Guard at his disposal to help handle crowds expected to be in excess of 100,000. Residents have begun to complain that cars bearing license plates from as far away as Maine are blocking the street and their ability to dance in the street when Joe plays their favorite song. In an effort to ease the congestion, Constable Odo announced that Thurmont has agreed to serve as Emmitsburg s parking lot.
Plans call for buses run on five-minute intervals to and from the Mount.
While officials agreed that paving over Thurmont will help ease congestion in the short term, several county and federal officials admitted off the record that they have been looking into the feasibility of constructing a major airport just east of the Mt. St. Mary s athletic center. Joe Meanwhile, in anticipation of record-breaking weekend crowds, FEMA has canceled all employee vacations and said that it will have its emergence operation center in full operation four hours before Joe goes on the air on Sunday. In a related story, Bell Atlantic announced emergency plans to install a dedicated fiber optic telephone line directly into the radio station. The existing copper lines are unable to handle the flood of calls from listeners requesting Joe to play their favorite song. A spokesman for Bell Atlantic noted.