# Wizard of Oz-pital

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2013-01-10  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/wozdonation.html

---

## Analysis

Joe Newhart, owner of PinballSTAR Amusements, successfully fundraised and donated a Jersey Jack Pinball Wizard of Oz machine to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia in December 2013. The donation was motivated by his son's childhood medical care at the hospital and funded through sales percentages, tournament entry fees, and merchandise sales, with support from Jersey Jack Pinball. The machine has been well-received by patients and staff, with plans for additional donations to other children's hospitals.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Joe Newhart's son Taylor spent two weeks at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia in 1994 and had multiple return visits for surgical procedures — _Article states this as direct motivation for donation project_
- [HIGH] Joe Newhart is owner of PinballSTAR Amusements and a distributor for Jersey Jack Pinball — _Explicitly stated in article body_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack Pinball donated tournament prizes and provided a machine at special discounted price to support the project — _Directly stated in article_
- [HIGH] Funding goal was reached by early December 2013 and machine was installed by December 17, 2013 — _Article provides specific dates and ceremony documentation_
- [MEDIUM] Joe Newhart plans to donate several more Wizard of Oz machines to other children's hospitals — _Stated as future intention with ongoing fundraising strategy; not yet executed_

### Notable Quotes

> "Kids are just attracted to it when they walk in... every time the room is open, someone is playing. We even get a lot of kids playing with and against each other. The machine really is encouraging kids to engage with each other on a different level. The machine is a huge hit!"
> — **Ben Broxterman, Manager of Child Life Department at St. Christopher's Hospital**, Post-installation feedback, circa December 2013
> _Validates impact of donation; demonstrates unexpected social/developmental benefits of pinball machine in hospital setting_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Joe Newhart | person | Owner of PinballSTAR Amusements; initiated and led fundraising campaign for machine donation to children's hospital |
| Taylor Newhart | person | Joe Newhart's son; received care at St. Christopher's Hospital in 1994 and subsequent years; inspired father's charitable motivation |
| PinballSTAR Amusements | company | Amusement/pinball distributor company owned by Joe Newhart; serves as distributor for Jersey Jack Pinball; contributed sales percentages and tournament proceeds to donation fund |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; provided Wizard of Oz machine at discounted price and donated tournament prizes to support charitable donation project |
| St. Christopher's Hospital for Children | organization | Children's hospital in Philadelphia; recipient of donated Wizard of Oz pinball machine; beneficiary of ongoing charitable initiative |
| Ben Broxterman | person | Manager of Child Life Department at St. Christopher's Hospital; provided feedback on machine's positive impact on patient engagement and social interaction |
| Wizard of Oz | game | Jersey Jack Pinball machine; chosen as theme for hospital donation due to perceived appeal to children |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Charitable giving and community impact in pinball industry
- **Secondary:** Jersey Jack Pinball business practices and corporate support, Pinball machine pricing and accessibility concerns, PinballSTAR Amusements business model and operations, Social and developmental benefits of pinball in institutional settings

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.92) — Article celebrates charitable act and positive community impact. Tone is appreciative of both Joe Newhart's generosity and Jersey Jack Pinball's support. Hospital staff feedback is enthusiastically positive about machine's effect on patient engagement and social interaction.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** PinballSTAR Amusements operates as distributor for Jersey Jack Pinball with business model supporting charitable causes through fundraising mechanisms (confidence: high) — Article identifies PinballSTAR as 'distributors for Jersey Jack Pinball' and describes funding strategy derived from 'machine sales...tournament entry fees...and sales of T-shirts and posters'
- **[community_signal]** Jersey Jack Pinball provided tournament prizes and discounted machine pricing to support charitable donation initiative, demonstrating corporate social responsibility and community engagement (confidence: high) — Article states 'Jersey Jack Pinball donated tournament prizes and made a machine available at a special discounted price'

---

## Transcript

Date:
10th January, 2013

We always enjoy being able to report on charitable acts of generosity, and with many people bemoaning the high price of new machines, it's good to see one being given away free to a good cause.

When Joe Newhart's son, Taylor, was born in 1994, he spent two weeks under the care of doctors and nurses at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, and had several return visits for surgical procedures in the years since.

Joe is the owner of PinballSTAR Amusements with his own collection of pinball and antique arcade machines at home. He thought is would be a good idea to improve the play facilities the children and their families were able to enjoy at the hospital with the addition of a pinball machine.

PinballSTAR Amusements are distributors for Jersey Jack Pinball, and Joe thought The Wizard of Oz would be an ideal theme for the hospital's play area. So he started a donation fund to buy a The Wizard of Oz machine, taking a percentage from his company's machine sales, as well as tournament entry fees from The Wizard of Oz competitions he ran at pinball shows he attended and sales of T-shirts and posters.

To help the project along, Jersey Jack Pinball donated tournament prizes and made a machine available at a special discounted price.

At the start of last month Joe was able to announce the funding goal had been reached and the pinball machine would be donated to the children's hospital in time for Christmas.

At a ceremony on 17th December, 2013, Joe was joined by local pinball enthusiasts, tournament organisers and collectors to see the donated The Wizard of Oz set up in the play area and enjoyed by the hospital's patients.

The ribbon is cut on the donated pinball machine

The children get to enjoy the new pinball

More playtime at the St. Christopher's

Following the machine's installation at St. Christopher's, the manager of the Child Life Department, Ben Broxterman said, "Kids are just attracted to it when they walk in... every time the room is open, someone is playing. We even get a lot of kids playing with and against each other. It truly has been great to watch the kids interact around the machine. Some of the kids who have played it before have been giving newer players pointers and helping them learn to play. The machine really is encouraging kids to engage with each other on a different level. The machine is a huge hit!"

But Joe isn't finished after the donation of one machine, as he plans to donate several more The Wizard of Oz machines to children's hospitals. He will continue with his fundraising from machine sales and tournament proceeds, and would welcome any donations which can be pledged through PayPal to Joe@PinballSTAR.com.

Back to the News page
Like this page? Share it with your Facebook friends:

Back to the front page

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: eb297eaf-e372-4586-9e10-abe22744c782*