Howdy SURGE fans and welcome to the 71st edition of SaveSURGE News! It's soda activism at its finest.

Sightings Report
A slow week, but a good week in that there was 1 new Sighting reported since the last edition of SaveSURGE News. It is in Dixon, IL.

There were NO deletions this week!!!

Currently, there are 152 SURGE Sightings listed. Thank you to everyone who looks out for SURGE wherever they go!

Visit SURGE Sightings at: http://www.savesurge.org/surge/sightings.shtml

Hall of Famers Inducted
On November 1, 2003 SaveSURGE.org proudly inducted three extremely dedicated SURGE fans into the SaveSURGE.org Hall of Fame. Andrew Rothacker, Salvadore & John Winter (aka Chaos Theory) have continually gone that extra mile for the soda they love:

Andrew Rothacker - Creator of SURGE Man; documented a night in which he posted SaveSURGE.org Flyers on vending machines all over his town...

Salvadore - Has written and recorded two rap songs about SURGE; has also written poetry and designed his own SURGE logo...

John Winter - Has distributed hundreds of SaveSURGE.org Flyers; is one of the most active members of the SaveSURGE.org Bulletin Board...

Of course, the above descriptions are only a fraction of what these three SURGE fans have accomplished. Their contributions to SURGE and SaveSURGE.org have been invaluable in the fight to bring our favorite soda back.

For their efforts, members of the SaveSURGE.org Hall of Fame receive permanent enshrinement in the Hall of Fame section of the site and they also receive a special, Hall of Famers only mug. It is just a small token of our gratitude for all they've done for SURGE and SaveSURGE.org.

Congratulations Andrew, John and Salvadore, you are Hall of Famers!

Visit the SaveSURGE.org Hall of fame: http://www.savesurge.org/surge/halloffame/

Coca Cola Interview Update
There is no new information to report regarding SaveSURGE.org's interview with Coca-Cola. Stay patient my friends, it will be worth the wait!

Holding Pattern - What to do while we wait
Is it coming back? Will we once again have the right to purchase SURGE? They are questions that we have all asked ourselves at one time or another (especially recently).

There have been so many positive signs that something big is about to happen. We've discovered that spec work of a newly designed SURGE logo, we've had our first real conversation with Coca-Cola and we've all worked very hard to make September's National SaveSURGE Month a success (not to mention the hard work that so many dedicated SURGE fans put in every single day).

Still, even as all of these great things are happening, we still don't have a definitive answer of whether or not a single Coca-Cola bottler plans to produce our favorite Fully Loaded Citrus Soda once again. And, as we await the answers of our interview with the great folks over at Coca-Cola headquarters, we seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern. What should we as SURGE fans be focusing on during this time?

For one, I think we must realize (myself included) that patience is vital. Coca-Cola bottlers obviously must do research and carefully analyze any decisions regarding which products they make. As much as we all would like for this to become an overnight success story, we must remain patient as Coca-Cola and its bottlers consider SURGE's future.

However, patience DOES NOT mean that we should relax our efforts to bring SURGE back. We must continue to call and write to Coca-Cola and its bottlers and convince them that bringing back SURGE will be worth their while. We will buy it, we will drink it and then we will go out and buy some more ;)

This is a crucial time for all of us. We have their attention and now we have to make sure that they know just how much SURGE means to us.

Keep fighting that good fight, SURGE fans!

For more information, visit our How You Can Help section: http://www.savesurge.org/surge/help_bottler.shtml

SURGE Fans Rush to Help Roland
In the last edition of SaveSURGE News, we told you the story of Roland who is a very dedicated SURGE fan living in South Africa. He will soon be climbing the world-famous Mt. Kilimanjaro and would love nothing more than to open up an ice cold SURGE when he reaches the summit. We then asked SURGE fans everywhere to help Roland by giving up one of your precious cans of green nectar so that his wish could come true.

As always, SURGE fans have responded! We had two people who are owners of some of the last unopened SURGE cans in the world offer to help Roland. If that's not the true spirit of giving, I don't know what is!

The details still need to be worked out but we will keep you updated. We can't wait to see that picture of Roland drinking a SURGE at the summit!

dnL Struggling in Abilene
Newly inducted SaveSURGE.org Hall of Famer Salvadore wrote in this week to inform us that citrus soda dnL is currently available only in 6 packs in his hometown of Abilene, TX. This is, of course, sad news for many SURGE fans because they also enjoy the similar tasting dnL (at least, until SURGE comes back!).

Abilene is the first area we've heard of that has dnL in anything less than full force (2 liters, 12 packs and 20oz. bottles). In fact, it appears that dnL is one of the few real bright spots for its parent company, Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. (DPSU). Sales of the original Seven Up are falling and many of their other brands aren't doing so well either.

We'll keep monitoring this situation and keep you informed of any new developments.

Poll Results - Pizza and SURGE
The latest SURGE Poll asked you: Which food goes best with SURGE?

Pizza - 49.6%
Fast Food - 36.4%
Ethnic - 11.6%
Ice Cream - 2.3%

Total Votes = 129

Mmmmmmm…SURGE & Pizza! But really, SURGE has a unique taste that really does go with everything. My personal favorite was going to Arby's and having roast beef, curly fries and an ice cold SURGE. Now that's a meal!

That's all the time we have for this week SURGE fans. Thanks to all of you for making SaveSURGE.org the #1 place on the web for all things SURGE!

Sincerely,

Eric Karkovack
Co-Webmaster
www.savesurge.org