August 30, 2025 • 49 mins
Full show from the Donovan & Jorgenson Heating & Cooling Studio: Saturday, August 30th, 2025
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Creative Construction of Wisconsin home improvement show
only at Fox Sports Night twenty in your iHeartRadio app
coming live from the Donovan and Jorganson Hitting and Cooling Studios,
largest employee owned HVAC company in the state of Wisconsin.
Any issues get that furnace ready to go? Go to
Donovanjorganson dot com. My co host in studio this week,
(00:23):
Bengo Emmons, Bengo, how was your week?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm doing great, but I'm glad that Donovan Jorgison got
the air conditioner turned off for us.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah. I came in really early.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Make sure that I make sure this thing was at
least comfortable because our guests soon to be. You gotta
be so proud of your sisters so soon to be.
Doctor Emmons. By the way, Virginia, how are you good?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's really good to see you.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Good, good to see you, Thanks for coming in, Thanks
for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
How were things in Miami?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Oh? Well, you know, it's when I first got up
to Wisconsin, it felt a little bit like Miami. Yeah,
and then something that happened that I never would have
expected that we had the same amount of flooding and
rain that I've seen only with hurricanes.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, well, and we're going to get to that.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
We're surely going to talk about some of the things
that are going on. And look, the farmhouse in Greendale
is what we're going to talk a little bit about.
River barn and farmhouse that you're really proud of. You
guys got nailed.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Huh.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
We got about four feet of water in the barn,
two feet of water in the house, and about six
feet of water in the land. We were actually driving
our boat around.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I got videos and pictures of it, especially with you know,
with Shelby and Samantha. Yeah, they had a blast. They
were taking a boat to go to the barn, to
go play in a barn.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah they had a blast.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
But you didn't have you know, when something like that hits, like,
all you can do is just sort of just sit
and wait. So the best thing we could think of
is to actually, in part, you know, do stuff we
would never have done.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
My sister came over to you on wine and cheese.
It was like during their party on a beach front,
it was.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Like lakefront property.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Has it all been cleaned up?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Now? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I mean, you know, I think that's that's when my
heart goes out to all the listeners too, is that
you know, this was a huge strategy for a lot
of families and we can laugh and joke about it
because you know, for us, it wasn't my primary home,
but we did have a lot of you know, significant damage,
and we lost some things that were valuable to us.
But overall, you know, the water came and it left
(02:35):
just as quickly as it came. So the cleanup has
really just been the last couple of weeks, which you know,
which is important for the Home Improvement Network here to
listen about.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
How that's the highest I've seen river my whole entire life.
Really yeah, I've seen it really high, but not that high.
That's the highest I've ever seen it.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
It's interesting because people talk about that what happened that day.
A lot of people will say talk about wall with Tosa,
and they'll talk about that area that it got hit
the hardest. But boy, there are some arius Greendale, you know,
and then in that area people when when you drive
through there, you still see things out on the front
(03:15):
lawn that they had to take and throw out from
their basement. In Pewaukee by Us, I mean there's the
subdivision next to the condo complex we live in, a
bunch of basements got flooded and they water come out.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I was up in the Manoni Falls last week, just
driving through and it's like you ever see, like like
college' day when all the college kids move out, how
to sweech it? Just full of style down the whole street.
It's just piles of garbage and the garbagemen trying to
take it. But he can't take it as fast as
he can. Is there still bringing stuff out? They got
wrecked for Jinna.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Can we talk about about why and why you got
involved with that project? And you know, I've read some
articles from from back in twenty three and twenty four
that talk about how this was getting ready to be
torn down. I think think and you guys stepped in
and said, no, that the history behind this, we.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Need to go again. Ready, it was scheduled to be
torn on.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
It was scheduled right well, and in Milwaukee County Parks
is so far behind and a lot of their red
prayers that they need to make county wide, so they
didn't actually have the money to tear it down. Otherwise
it probably would have already been gone.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Well, Thank goodness, they didn't have the money at that point,
and so what can we talk about your motivation for
stepping in and saying, listen, we don't want to have
this torn down. Let's rebuild it and make it better.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah. Well, I mean you just referred to me soon
to be doctor. My background is in community psychology and
community leadership, and there's something that's super important about maintaining
these places that we call third spaces. There are places
where community can come together, have coffee, do art together.
(04:54):
You'll be together as a community, and this ultimately helps
everybody's longevity. And so when I saw this place, it
struck a chord with me in a lot of ways.
One is I grew up in creative construction. Creative construction
was my living room. So when I see a project
like a rundown, as my brother would say, a quagmire
of dilapidation. My brother Ted always says, a quagmire of dilapidation,
(05:16):
I don't see what other people see. I see paint,
I see some shutters, I see some sanders. You know,
I know how to do all this stuff because I
grew up in the industry. So when I saw that
this historic relic, community relic was about to be what
they were saying, demolished. I felt like there had to
(05:36):
be another way, and this, this barn in particular, was
an international hostel for decades. People from all over the
world would come and stay in the barn and have
that experience right there in Wynnell Park on the Oak
Leaf Trail.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Do you know on the website and you can look
up River Barn and Farmhouse here, you can go to
Virginia mn's dot com. But the line that I like
on the website is imagine the future. Right, Imagine the future.
And when when you look at the what it was
and look at what it looks like now, it's almost
(06:10):
hard to think that it's the same place.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, one d percent. It took very little. Actually, I
mean we had j and j came in from as.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
One of them JJ contractors. Are you kidding me? Jason
is one of my favorite people in the world. His family.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, that's what you approached me, you know, that's that's Creot.
You know, he's a president of Greendale. And he says, yeah,
I heard your sister's getting that. Let me know what
I can do to help, And that was awesome of them.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Be careful when you say that right, be careful.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well in the construction community has been amazing because we
we also had trouble with our chimney, so Creative Construction
came and helped us do the chimney, and then they
were the first ones to call.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Had a down and put it back up. It wasn't
just a repair job.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
It wasn't necessarily a tear on. Wasn't it just like
a pushover situation.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It fell over when Zach was doing the scaffolding. It
was falling, so.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Kind of yeah, they had to rebuild it. We'll think
it's for Zach and Creative and Bingo and.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Well and as soon as they and they and they
were the first to respond when when they heard about
the flood, I said, we had some flooding coming in.
And then Aaron and Samantha of Creative Construction came over
with their two pumps and just got to work and
started helping us clear out the basement.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
My granddaughter, that was the most fun. She had a
blast the whole time she was there.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
She had her boots on and had to be in
the boat. And what is it being used for now?
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Uh, well, we're trying to get it eligible to be
able to use as a as an event space, as
some sort of gathering space. And and I don't know
that it necessarily needs to be weddings or anything to
that level, but definitely family reunions, places where people can gather,
you know, small groups of you know, forty fifty people.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Right. And it's a beautiful space.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Right, It is amazing. Yeah. I mean it's right there
in Winnell Park, right off the Oak Leaf Trail, and
it's on four acres. It's a beautiful space. And it's
only twelve minutes from downtown Milwaukee, right, And you.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Don't think it'll be big enough for weddings and stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
I do. I just still working through the politics of
Greendale and understanding, you know, what the what the neighborhood
will do. You know, we were sort of in this
social dynamic of the Rock Sports Complex, right, that is
in the same residential sort of area, and a lot
of families don't like the noise that's coming from the
(08:35):
Rock and so they're a little, you know, with with
total respect, a little cautious about you know what noise
sources will come.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
That's been that's been a real issue.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Ye.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And and Mike Zimmerman has been on My My, My
High school sports show a few times, and he's not
one to take anything sitting down, right. He's like, he's
spent a lot of sweat, equity and money to build
that facility, but the neighbors are like even during the
baseball games, he's just tone down the music a little bit,
(09:08):
like it's so loud, And so I get why people
get a little bit cautious. But man, that would be
a great space for a smaller wedding.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah, and we actually, I mean, as per the ordinances
and per our contract with the county, that is a
direction we could go. But right now we're just kind
of in this limbo of what the building inspector and
the community is going to allow us to do on
that space. It was used as a residential, you know,
(09:37):
international hostel, it was used as a residential. The house
is a residential, and so there's there's a myriad of
things that could be done, but right now we're trying
to battle this dialogue about you know, what is it
in a flood zone? Is it not in a flood zone?
Because there was a thousand year flood and you know,
it wasn't even one hundred year flood. It was a
(09:57):
thousand year flood. It's what you know, meteorologically speaking. So
now we just got to work with our construction people
and figure out you know, hey, we're actually thinking about
making a permanent pond that that could be you know,
one of the ways to mitigate any future disaster.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Really sure, wait what would what would that take?
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Well, so what was interesting is there was there's a
ravine right that goes right alongside of the property, and
what happened was is the ravine got so full and
the river got so full that there was nowhere for
the water to go, so it couldn't get over the
road to the south or to the north, and so
it just sort of took a left into our property,
(10:41):
just took went west into our property. So there is
a way that we could create some sort of a
long term, you know, holding pool for water. And because
of the way that the the the barn is actually
built into the earth on one side, so there's no
real restriction that wouldn't say that we couldn't actually make
(11:03):
other parts of that area also be built into the ground.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Did you when you started thinking about this project, and
that was probably in twenty two.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I would think that twenty one. If I said, hey, in.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
September of twenty five, we're going to be having these conversations.
Would you have thought at that point that everything would
have been done and this would have been up and
running how you wanted.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
It to run.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Yeah, I mean, you.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Know, politics getting a weight done that.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
It's sad because because the way that it's set up
right now is I can use this property for private use.
I can have a birthday party right now there for
me or my family. But what the politics are doing
is like prohibiting the use for the public.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And is your do you stay there when you're in town?
Speaker 4 (11:50):
I have been staying there this summer too, because just
at the farmhouse to make it easier to work on
the property when we have off time. I still have
a full time you know in Miami that I'm working remotely.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
So how many well you've got, You've got more than one.
You've got You're going to school to get your doctrine.
You have the field shop work right field workshop. You
have the coffee, I mean.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
You the coffee coffee.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, they get huge operation educate tomorrow. It's not a small.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
No, that's the big yeah. Yeah, that's the biggie and
we'll get to that. But all these you don't sleep much.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
No, no, I actually you know, people ask how do
I get it all done? One of the things I
don't watch TV.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
You don't at.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
All, Like I mean, maybe maybe way at the end
of the day, like my son.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Last night school football game of the week. You get
all this if you can channel twenty four, six thirty
All right, pre game on my twenty four. Okay, well
we're gonna be the Hartford Slinger game.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Okay, Well let me know when you're watching Greendale.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Well see me.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, they're struggling a little bit this year, but that's okay.
On that high school show. I would encourage you and
everybody else to listen to that last segment, so from
ten forty to eleven o'clock, because this is right up
your alley, and with the servant leadership part that you have,
there is there next week. Hartford Slinger is a rivalry game, right,
(13:14):
they're right next to each other. The players don't like
each other. Coaching staff, however, very good friends, and they've
all been the two head coach has been really affected
by cancer. Well, now there is a guy who is
in New York. His daughter, she's now thirty one. But
when she was younger, she had childhood cancer and they
were going through a bunch of stuff, and she was
(13:37):
a lacrosse player, and you got the Northwestern College women's
lacrosse team to adopt her just as like, okay, she's
part of us now. And it helped this young girl
so much that he started this foundation. And now he
travels all over the country and kids that young kids
that have cancer. He finds locals to adopt, and so
(14:02):
now the players are texting the kids on the sidelines
all of that. I get goosebumps telling you about it,
and it's it's really amazing. This guy's doing great work.
And so it's just kind of like that's what his foundation.
And he started it with his daughter and it had
such an effect on her that he started this foundation.
(14:22):
And again she's now thirty one. She was nine when
this all started. And he said, look, I am traveling
every week with his foundation. It's his full time job.
And he said, I've seen so much good from this
and kids just getting healthy physically and mentally and spiritually.
Of look, this is my group, and these kids by
(14:46):
fully in their sending pictures there, Hey, how you doing today.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
That's awesome. I mean in terms of like we were
just talking about before about community psychology, that is, I
mean that is the key to making sure people have
longevity and well being is finding community and finding community.
And I mean sports growing up saved my life, you know,
I you know, just I was on track cross country
(15:11):
ski team and the community that was built there created
a lot of protective factors. And it creates a lot
of what we call protective factors for you to make
sure that they don't go in the wrong path.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, and sometimes even that doesn't work. As an old
basketball coach, and anytime I have seniors in for my
high school show, and we'll have new Berlin West seniors
coming in for the high school show, I will tell
them at one point, either off there or on there,
don't let you or anybody else, if you're the leaders
of this team, make sure that you that you are
(15:45):
not doing anything foolish, right, don't show, don't go to
these parties. Don't don't do that now. You can do
that in the off season. You do that in summer. Wait,
if you're the parents, can sent whatever, but don't mess
it up now. You've been through this. You guys are
working hard, don't have one issue. I had one team
and you laugh at this. A couple of guys got
(16:06):
suspended for their playoffs and I talked to the coach.
I said, what happened. He goes, I don't have the
smartest guys on my team. And I go, what happened?
He goes, I don't want you going out of the air.
So I won't name the school. But they were out
at one in the morning doing ding dong ditch. They
weren't drinking, they weren't causing any problems, they weren't breaking windows.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
But now it's on everyone's camera, sent around all their parents.
I didn't I think I didn't their team and he said.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
My kids are.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So the police came and said, are these your guys,
and he's like, yeah, there's two of my starters. They weren't,
but they were ringing doorbells and running seniors in high school,
so let's not do that. They ended up getting knocked
out of the playoffs earlier than they thought because of that.
Now I was happy to know they weren't doing They
weren't breaking in cars, they weren't busting up anything. They
(16:56):
weren't out drinking, but how silly home go to.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Well, I'm so glad that Bingo grew up when there
wasn't anything to record his behavior when we were growing up, because.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Well, let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I imagine, imagine if that Facebook and stuff and we
well we did no, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
It would be awful. Yeah, it would be awful.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
There's no record.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
I remember, and this was not all that long ago.
My mom's been gone for a while, but.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
She was like, hey, so, did you really like crawl
out of your bedroom? I go, yeah, software in high school,
I crawl out of my bedroom window and wait for
everybody to fall asleep, and they go out.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Hang out and crawl back in. And can you imagine
if there are cameras?
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It would cameras, But there's phone tracking. There's fine your phone.
You don't even have to leave your bed, and you
can find where your kids are, what they're doing, who
they're talking to.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Unbelievable. What do you think about that as a doctor?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Well, you know, I don't know that there's a lot
we can do about some of the things that have transpired,
and but to adapt with the times, I think is
is what you know, the best thing we can.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
It's like, you know, if you tell your wife you're
going to a gym, you leave your lock you leave
your your phone in a gym locker, and you can
go get all the dunk the don'ts you watch.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
You?
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Hey, dev you hearing this?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
If he says he's going to the gym, he's just saying,
I heard you can adapt.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
But you heard you heard you could. Hey, before we
get to a break field workshop in uh five years,
beautiful downtown Greendale, can we talk a little bit about
how that's going.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
It's going very well. We're in our fifth year. You know,
most businesses don't even last a year. To the last
five years is something to say about it.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
And we're given agency, been around two and a half,
halfway there.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
We were halfway there.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
As long as creative construction with Scotts and stage with me,
we're going to be good. But the day they say
we don't work with you anymore, that might be your problem.
I might come over and work for you in Greendell,
either at the coffee shop or the field work.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
A paint room. I'm not yeah, your grandkids. I love
that paint room.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And every time I promise you that I'm bringing some
of them. Inn I've got more at that age.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Now, so yeah, I know, like I have to have
a funeral to see with some That was sad.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
I missed your dad. I miss him.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I had fun going over to his house and talking
about how we can help people his age.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
That's what we talked about.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
And yeah, I still got the phone number. We're still
helping people, are you?
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Oh good?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, I don't have too much on your plate. Huh
can you help them A giver an agency anyway?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I bet you can't. Whether I can tell you this.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
The website you built, Virginia Emmons dot com is really impressive.
And you had to do that for a class, and
it's really good on it a couple of times.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
Oh thank you yet No, well I guess yeah, I
was graded on it.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Did you get an A? I'm sure you did.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah. Have you ever gotten anything other than.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Oh I was a terrible student. Yeah, well, just in general.
Which is funny that I actually am now getting my
doctorate in education because one of the reasons I care
about this field is that in some ways the education
system didn't do as much as it could have, right,
you know, for and I my real job educate tomorrow.
(20:20):
You know, the one that I actually am compensated for
besides all this other stuff, is that I'm an advocate
for young people who've never been adopted, kids who are
in foster care and homeless, and and you can see
how social conditions can really break down a child and
make it really difficult for them to survive academically. So
(20:40):
you know, I'm an advocate for education. But one of
the reasons why is that I feel like the education
system could be so much better.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
I agree with that one hundred percent. I do.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And and you know, that's a whole nother conversation for
another show. But it'd be interesting to know if if
you and I are on the same path on how
we think it can be fixed. And one day we'll
have that conversation. Because look at being old, and I
wasn't a good student at all, you know, because I
(21:11):
was so I had little Homer Simpson in me. Right,
you know, somebody be teaching and I'd go, oh, what
was that who walked in the hallway? Right, Oh, look
at the weather are going to practice today? All of that.
I had some issues with that, and I never really
buckled down, and I should have. I regret that a lot,
and one day we'll have that. But the Field Workshop
(21:33):
age wise, what are most of the how old is
for the kids come.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Into that well. So we actually have a second site
now in Miami, Florida. So Field Workshop is really primarily
directed to our kids, who are kids, young people who
are five and older. And we have a section four
adults where you know, you can really hone in on
a craft that you know that you really want to
get interested. And basically it's like, imagine you just went
to an arts and craft supply store all the materials
(22:01):
so that you don't have to and then you can
come use them and wreck our space, right so that
your kitchen table isn't you know, full of your your
craft projects.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Guys, if you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, go to
the Fieldworkshop dot com the Fieldworkshop dot com. They you
have parties there, team groups, classes, events, homeschool, uh, tinker Lab.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Which I've been and I've seen people drop off their
kids and they go next door and I have a
couple of glasses of wine there.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Greendale. Yeah, it's perfect.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Jason's Restaurant have something eleanor room.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Yeah, I do that myself it's good there. And my
kids are old enough now that I can go to
dinner and be like, I'll see you guys. You guys
can go down on the field workshop, I'll catch up
with you. They would have to welcome there.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
My brother John was over with Jason, and Jason sent
me a text said hey, you, when are you coming?
And I said, I promise you soon. My wife is like,
you want to go there this week? I said, can't go?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
All right?
Speaker 4 (23:00):
So here, what we're gonna do? You and your wife?
You're gonna come and do the splatter room and then
you're gonna go to the Eleanor's for dinner?
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Or do we bring a couple of grandkids put them
in the splatter room there you go.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, yeah, but you're gonna find out as are growing up,
you're gonna like doing the splatter room.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
We're gonna give it a shot. I'm telling you our
special guest. And she said, I don't have to call
her doctor quite yet, but you know what she is.
She's she's soon to be doctor. So much started now
she is doctor Virginia Emmons. And we're gonna talk a
little bit more about some of the things she's doing. Again,
including the field workshop in Greendale and one in Miami,
(23:37):
and a number of other things. That that she is
doing my co host her brother, and that she's gonna
tell me some stories about him during the break and
maybe I can I can share some of her all good.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
He was the best thank you brother ever?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Maybe redacted a little bit.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Yeah, And I don't know about that.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
This is the creator everything I know I learned from
watching you bingo.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Wow, you guys are you guys are arguing when you
came in and now you're so nice to each other.
This is the Creative Construction with scottson Home Improvement show
on Fox Sports nine twenty and Your iHeart Radio App.
Welcome back to the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement Show
on Fox Sports ninety twenty, Your iHeart Radio app. Coming
from the Donovan and Jorganson Heating and Cooling Studio.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
It's not a good thing in that.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Thank you Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Wake Up everybody.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
What a perfect song and especial thank you for playing that.
As we're talking to doctor Virginia Emmons.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
You like that, you're laughing. You're gonna get the.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
First one's ever said it. You're the first one's ever
used it.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
How hard getting through getting your doctrine? Has that been
a difficult thing for you? Are you online with Miami?
Speaker 4 (24:47):
It's in person and some of it's online, but is
a University of Miami?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
What do you have left?
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Just my dissertation?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Wow? What's he going to be on?
Speaker 4 (24:56):
It's actually going to be a reflection and on the
US Constitution and the Federal's papers and where we are
as a nation right now and what that means for
community well being.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Very interesting? How long? What's the deadline for you?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
I hope to defend by March, so I can make
my corrections by May. I walk May seventh, so hopefully
I'll be all wrapped up by then.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Man, was every like Thomas Jefferson on July twenty going,
oh that's tomorrow. Yeah, I better.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Write it up right now.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Hey, Virginia, When you started a field workshop, what was
the thought process behind it? Was there something that you
had seen somewhere else in the country that you thought, oh,
this would be perfect for Greendale.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yeah. You know, everything that I've done has sort of
rooted out of this space of me being one a
Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, then starting Educate Tomorrow,
which is to help young people who are aging out
of foster care homeless. And you know, when we start
a Feel Workshop, it was at it was right in
the middle of the pandemic. People weren't going to the offices.
(26:06):
There weren't the resource centers, there wasn't a lot of
things available. And so when I saw empty space on
Broad Street in Greendale, I had been formulating this idea
based on you know, seeing other places like Poppet Project
and other you know, you know, color me mind shops
that weren't as diverse enough as we needed them to be.
For one, my own child, my own children, and for
(26:28):
the students that we were serving. I think there's really
great assets and having like a ceramics studio or pottery
studio or a painting studio, but I wanted something a
little bit more diverse that could really it's kind of
it's really like an art therapy center. You know, people
can come together and have a safe place to meet.
And what I've found, especially with the students that we serve,
(26:50):
because we provide the space, we charge the public, but
when it's our own students, our students can attend for free,
and parents who are foster parents can come and use
the space for free, you know, at a limited use
type of situation. But I find that, like when you're
sitting there doing art or or and I learned this
(27:11):
really actually from working construction with Bingo for many, many years,
is that you know what comes out when you're just
staring at a wall, you know, painting. You know, it's
like when they tell you about how to have difficult
conversations with people, it's not like looking them in the eye,
but it's like you know, in the car going for
a walk, where you're looking forward, and when you're doing
construction or art projects, you have something else to focus
(27:33):
your negative energy on, and so like the conversation just
starts to flow.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Are you creative with that?
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I am. I'm like, you know, Bingo, Bingo Bigo and
I were joking about this because he's like, well, what's
going to happen with all the chimneys now, you know,
now that my dad passed. I'm like, look, I did
a lot of those chimneys. I probably did like twenty
or thirty of those chimneys myself.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
So people, yeah, well a lot of times people say,
like when you're dead, a lot of chimneys. I never
once saw my dad up in the chimney took credit
for me.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
He did chimneys. In fact, my brother did a thing
with with that in Greendale.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
My brother did.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
It lovely piece. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
I was like, hey, yeah, that's me. Yeah, that's me.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
I did well And it is it was him because
direction he had that you know, extra crazy sort of
sense of you know, being that would like that. Anybody
would think that that was a good idea.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Do you think that.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
If if one needs to be done, another one who's
going to be done, maybe you'll you'll jump in and do.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
It or yeah, we still do it as a company,
and we still I still do chimneys. We still don't.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah, if they wanted artwork, I could, I could be commissioned. Yeah,
you know, I enjoy it and and I think and
actually the last couple of pieces were done by the
Field Workshop employees at the Field Workshop.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Hey, when you go to that, what I like about
the Field Workshop is and I had asked you age wise,
it really is for from five to my age and older.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Yeah, Well, John John goes John John's ninety two, he
goes there every Thursdays on Thursdays. And what does he
do when he you know, he's less of an artist.
He more just wants to help out. So he helps,
like you know, fold the laundry and and and checks
all the markers.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I saw a group of ladies show up and he
started making their own wine glasses and it's like painting
wine glasses.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Well on that website and you guys do a lot
of classes and stuff like that, and a lot of classes.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We do a paint and Sip with the with the
Broadstreet Coffee every month. You can come and drink wine
at the coffee shop and paint and the team.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I want to know about Parents' night out. That's what
I want to tell you know, did you have a Grandparents'.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
Night out or it's the same, it's grandparents, it's grandparents
sight out.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
We have a great team with Dylan and Chris and Julie.
You know, their amazing team and they've they've really built
that into be something beautiful. The camps, everything, it's just
a great space he talked.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
About with the Field workshop and we're going to get
to other things, I promised.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
But when people can can have parties there, yes, right,
So if if I want to throw a birthday party
for my wife and we've been together for so long,
I want something different, we can invite eight other people
or how does that work?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
The capacity is.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Eighty eight diom be different?
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Yeah, that would be Yeah, our capacity. It's a twenty
seven hundred square foot space. It's a lot of you
can fit a lot to bring everybody. Yeah, you can
bring everybody.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And and when when somebody sets up a party there
is it. Do they then decide, Okay, we want to
paint or we want to do this.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Yes, they work with our team and they can decide
if they want to do a splotter room or paint
wine glasses or wood burning or build a bird house.
Our team will work with them to that's my favorite party. Yeah.
You can order food from you know, Ricardo's or the
Eleanor Room that we've had a partnership with the Eleanor
Room where they've had meetings and people that they wanted
to you know, entertain in the community and they came
(30:55):
over and did it.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
You have to be really proud of this. What's happened there.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
I am started, is that what you kind of envisioned
where it would be kind of a place that people
from all neighborhoods and all ages can come over and
enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Yeah, you know, I have a whole community leadership theory,
and it's not you know, when I start things, I
don't you don't always know the endgame, but you know
what feeling you're trying to invoke. And my business partner,
Aaron Dummer, and I like when we saw this as
an opportunity back in you know, several almost five years
(31:29):
ago now, you know, we saw the need in the
community that there really wasn't anything for young people to
do in the village, and that the village has done
a great job at being a tourist town, you know,
where people come in and on buses and open their
pocketbook and walk down the street and purchased things. But
Greendale as a town center hasn't been that way since
(31:51):
we were like in the eighties when we used to
have the grocery store and the pharmacy and everything used
to be centrally located. And so there's some bright spots
in the community like the libraries right there, the coffee shop,
the field workshop. So all the businesses that we're doing
is really to try to bring people downtown every day
on around the corner.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Of main streets.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
When Greendale sponsors My brother's show, their commercial says it's
like Norman Norman Rockwell picture, and it really is. When
you get to the village of Greendale, you're kind of like, wow,
this is.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Got Norman Rockwell on display.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Yeah, there is Well, and you know this is that.
Every older crowds understand Norman Walkwell. But I would say
the younger crowds, it's more like Gilmore Girls, okay, and
Stars Hollow. I don't know that one, I know, but
it's so it's for the younger generation. There's this there's
this very popular show called Gilmore Girls, and it's set
in this little town called Stars Hollow. Stars Hollow.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Oh that's okay, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
The gazebo's right in the middle of the town square.
Everybody knows everybody. There's actually a character from that show
that shows up everywhere who is, like, you know, working
over at the he's the mailman, and then he's also
the guy cleaning out the gutters, and then he's also
working at the movie theater. We have characters like that
in Greendale where every time I turn around, I'm like, wait,
(33:12):
isn't that the guy who's in the choir who's also
working at the restaurant, who now also works at the
pizza shop.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
And he probably is a panther, probably went to Green.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
No, they're certainly a panther.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Yeah. I love that, I do. Hey, before we get
to it, break Educate Tomorrow. Is that the first thing
that in two thousand and three that you started.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Yeah, I guess you could say that. And that was
that was the first nonprofit area, and then the first
nonprofit foundation.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Yes, and then Seed School of Miami.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Yeah. Seed School was an outgrowth of the Educate Tomorrow
because we were telling young people they could go to college,
but they couldn't read. So we started a college prep
boarding school for similarly disadvantaged students so that they could
use the gift of time and a five day a
week boarding school not have to worry about the social
contributing factors to maybe their demise out inside the community,
(34:04):
and then they could, you know, focus on education. And
so we have one hundred percent college acceptance right for
that school.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Hey, when you started that, would you get to know
you get to know the people? Yes, As a coach,
I would, I would take it. So personal. If one
of my players got in trouble, right, one of my
players got arrested, or one of my players got in
trouble in school. For if the people that you were
(34:33):
working with didn't make it, did you take it personal?
Speaker 4 (34:38):
Yes, and super personally. I mean when we say didn't
make it, there's the worst case cceinemias where some of
our students haven't made it in life, like at all
and so not just prison or whatever, but like they're
no longer with us. And I mean, it's it's hard work,
it's it's really in a lot of ways just heartbreaking
(35:00):
and I don't know, you know, it's like what I.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Found is when when kids would struggle in the classroom
or they'd struggle they weren't getting playing time and their
grades weren't great, they they would they would they would
tend to start to go back to what they knew right,
they'd go back to where their comfort zone was, and
I would have to make sure that I was the
(35:23):
one driving them home. I'd be the one taking them
out to dinner. I'd be the one heading over there
on a Sunday afternoon to make sure I'd got them
out of tough situations and it always was.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
We have this great path for you, and it's going
to be uncomfortable, it's going to get difficult, but we're
going to stay on this path because what happens at
the end of this journey is going to be really
good for you. But when things start to get start
to go sideways, they would they would go back to
where they're the comfort level was, and that is to
hang out with their old buddies.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
And that's where the trouble came from.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
And I would take it so personal, Virginia that that
I would struggle with that.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
Well, you know, you want people to hang out with
their buddies, but the problem. But what you need to
do between here and there is give them the social
opportunity to understand that life can be different, right, because
there's nothing more beautiful than somebody making it to another
level and then going back and helping their community.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
On my high school show, we do a thing and
it'll start next month. The current Electric Superhero of the week,
and it's not sports related.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Be a kid in drama, a kid in the band.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
You have to do really well in a classroom, be
very active in the school, and give back to our community,
and I ask him this question, where did the servant
leadership hart come from? Because we're not born with it.
It's a learned behavior. And these kids when they talk
about having when they started having to give back to
our community, how they didn't want to but they had
(36:57):
to because National Honor Society or they wanted to has
made to look good for the school they want to
go to. They all say the same thing. I didn't know.
I didn't know that I was going to get more
out of this than the people I'm helping. And now
I wanted to go into this field when I got
to college, and now I'm going over here because how
much joy I got out of helping people and the
(37:19):
whole that term takes a village. These kids, when they
have to and they're forced to do this, they get
so much out of it. It's pretty amazing. That's why
everything that you do and we've only gotten to two things,
but I've got to believe that you got so much
out of Educate Tomorrow that now you're doing. Look, the
(37:39):
workshop is about giving back. These kids get and people
that go get to forget about what's going on in
their life and just for a couple of hours, just
focus on having fun and the stuff that you do
is all about giving back.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
And that's amazing to me. That came from your mom
and dad.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
It did well, and my mom and dad my family.
So you know, I'm sitting here next to Benga and
like everything you're saying is really like I'm the youngest,
so Bingo's fifteen years older than me. So my peer
group and my social you know, support group has always
been my sisters. And one of the reasons why I've
been able to take a lot of risks and start
companies and all that is that at the end of
(38:16):
the day, Bengo has always said that if you know,
crap hits the fans, I can come back and work
for creative construction. So I get a certain ability. I
have a certain comfort and ability to be able to
do crazy things because at the end of the day
he promises me a job.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
And he hadn't talked much today, But understand, when I
talk about Bingo and deb Emads behind their back, it's
always you have no idea how much good they do
in our community because they don't talk about it. They
don't they don't put it on billboards, and they don't
go out with their commercials. They run and say, hey,
look at us, look at us, look at us. But
the amount that they give back and so it doesn't
(38:55):
surprise me that, you know, the youngest of the Emmas
family learned from him and and and Dev is the
same way. You know, Dev, I wish you would come
in studio and come on the ear one day, but
she won't.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
And that's okay, But they do so much.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
My triple dog double dare you deb Oh yeah, that's
not gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
I've bribed her whatever, cash, all of it. Nothing works.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
Maybe later in the day you could give her a
glass of wine. She might loose them up.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
It's noon somewhere.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Family, I were not afraid to give opinions or anything.
I mean, you know, we got like a little siblings channel. Right,
what do you think you get? She'll get seven different opinions? Yeah, yeah,
what what she did wrong?
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Nobody?
Speaker 4 (39:38):
Nobody was watching me. That's a classic one.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
We got to get to a break, guys.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
Virginia Emmons dot com if and I would highly recommend
just take a.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Look at it. Look to see if someone took doctor
Virginia's dot com.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Oh you better, you better go. Hey, go Daddy, I
will do that.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
And whether it's Doc, Doc Emmons, Doc Virginia, would it is.
Virginny Evans is our special guest. We talked a little
bit about the Greendale Barn red the restoration project, and
then some other the nonprofits she's doing. We're going to
continue that conversation on the other side of the break.
I can tell you this that that your oldest brother,
(40:17):
he is so proud of you. Well, we talk about
you a lot and some of the things that you're
doing and accomplishing, and he's extremely proud of.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
The work that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
This is the Creative Construction, Wisconsin Home Improvement Show only
on Fox Sports. I twenty in year I heard radio
app we talked, we will not talk.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
All said, we're not talking.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
We don't know here and I got a text from
deb saying, Nope, you can.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
You can to bribe me all you want. I'm not
coming in and I'm not.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
She comes in studio, but you're not in the studio
but in the building, but she sits.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Outside behind you. I know if you started thought and
she started kicking you right.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
If one of these microphones would have gone that far,
I would have pulled it out there, but it does not.
We're coming from the dotament in Jorgas and Heating and
Cooling Studios. My co host, he's Bingo Emmons, one of
the good guys in this world. I gotta be honest
with you, the owner of Creative Construction, Wisconsin. His sister,
doctor Virginia Emmons soon to be doctor Virginia Emmons.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
It's not until.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Ye Hey, I'm going on go Daddy dot com and
I'm telling you I'm gonna.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Gonna sell it.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Those guys will lock it in.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
McGivern Agency, Doc Virginia Evon dot com, dot net, dot org,
all of it. Hey, you would you would made a
comment right before we came back on the air and
you said, hey, look some of the things that we're
doing through Educate Tomorrow. You know, we're having conversations with
people in the education world and we don't need to
(41:48):
talk about we're either here or in Miami. But you're
you're able to get into offices to principles and superintendents
and and governors and and people in in that space
to be able to talk talk about some of the
things that have worked for Educate Tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
And you've been able to guide.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Some some educational people into some of the things you're doing.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
Yeah, I mean, that's the whole theory behind community psychology,
is like you can treat in an individual and when
you put them back in the village or the community,
they're just going to you know, re establish themselves as
the same thing. So to really do long term sustainable change,
you really need to do transformational change from the top.
And we've found our way through that by creating legislation
(42:32):
and you know, passing getting some laws pass that just
make life easier for people who, you know, especially those
who are disenfranchised.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Hey, well it's not just you know, it's not you.
I understand what you're saying because I can relate because
you know, I'm an advocate for you know, for trades,
and then you know they're getting trades. And I go
to schools, you know, Like I mean, one time I
walked to some school where men I was talking to me.
He said, no, our kids will go to college. Stats say, no,
they don't. You know, they don't, right, And there's a
lot of kids and what they did is they forgot
for a while. They're starting to accept. A lot of
(43:02):
schools are accepting I mean look at we had a
signing day at Tolsa. I mean, schools are accepting. There's
a group of people that want to work with their
hands and they can make really good money at it.
Speaker 1 (43:13):
For as long as I've known your brother, he has
talked about we Creative Construction Wisconsin. We're always looking for
people to come work here. But it's a career, not
a job. So if you want to come, and he
loves getting kids at that high school age to be
able to say, hey, listen, if going to a two
year or four year school is not in your future,
(43:34):
look at what we do. And on the sidelines on
the high school game, I'm talking to a couple of
unions and I'm talking to Adam now that they're looking
for high school kids that want to be service techs
in the auto industry. And he was telling me what
those guys can make eventually after a couple of years,
and it's like, my goodness. You know that's got to
be talked about in every high school to say, hey, look,
(43:58):
if you think that this is what you want to do,
look at this and look, the further education doesn't stop
because you don't go to college, you go to creative
construction of Scots and you've got to continue to further
your education.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Well, yeah, absolutely, Like this is a home improvement show.
There are so many jobs in the home improvement trades.
And one of the things that I you know, I
actually became a dwelling contractor myself because it would be
cheaper for me than to have to hire the people
that need to be hired, because it's so expensive to
(44:31):
hire these folks, because you know, they're great jobs. And
one of the things I did learn about being a
dwelling contractor is you still have to continue your education.
And Bingo teaches in a lot of those courses that
you know, when I talk about education, it's not what
I was saying in education reforms sort of needs to happen,
like in this much broader way right where things like
(44:53):
trades are valued as superior education.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Big when you think about back when you were in
high school, was it was it was it more acceptable
that people get into the trades back then?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, back then it was more acceptable. And we said,
I mean I had shop classes, you know, I went
to all four years of shop classes, destruction shop classes,
we had all that. Just before you know, they got
rid of all that stuff. After a while, I'm a
part of the baby bloomers. We all had shot classes,
you know.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
And now it's coming back.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Yeah, it is coming back in a big way, and
and I hope it continues to come back even bigger.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
I've had kids that i've coached.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
A couple of them are working at Cernel Electric because
they knew they wanted to be electricians. And both of
them were really good students, three five, three seven students
at at Martin Luther, at Greendale Martin Luther, and they said, Coach,
we already know what we want and we want to
be electricians. Those guys are now some of their buddies
are just getting done with school. And these both of
(45:52):
these guys are one already bought his first house and
the others in the process.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
I'm not against college, but just you know, I mean,
I graduated college. You know, he did some graduate stuff
for a while. I'm not talking against college or anything
like that, but there's a you know, you can see
some people, so I went to college, I can't find
a job this and that. Right, Call electricians, see how
soon he can come over? Right, call it plumbers. Find
out when you come over, call it basement repair guy
right now and see when he can show up.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
Unbelievable, right, Yeah, the guys.
Speaker 4 (46:19):
People coming from Florida stayed in one of our houses,
are there. They came all the way from Florida to
help with the flood relief.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
You know, you could you could call and you could
probably start there at noon today. You know at some
of these places that that hey, if we talked here
in the break one day, you might run politics.
Speaker 3 (46:38):
I'll join. I'll be part of that team. And you
know what, and I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
Given given agency volunteers.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
I'm telling you, I'm I'm a huge fan doc idea.
And look it's not till May. But I don't care
because I'm calling you that.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
But I will.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
I will be part of that staff if you want
me to, because.
Speaker 4 (46:59):
I'll share you my leadership theory. It's it's you know,
servant leadership. It's it's nothing you ever, you never want
to be the leader. It's just sometimes you see the need.
You got to meet the need, and there's only so
many people willing to do it. That's how I grew
up in creative construction. You look at these monstrosity, these messes,
right and like somebody's got to clean this up.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Yeah, well, I.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Can tell you that my wife had had breakfast with
a very good friend of hers. That all she talked
about still to this day. And it's been two years now.
That Creative Construction came over after she signed a contract
with somebody else who wouldn't leave her the living room
until she signed it. And by the time we got
(47:39):
the driveway, she was crying and called me. I talked
to your brother who went over there after our show
and said, you don't need all this why? And so
she had time. She canceled that contract and Creative Construction
changed her life. And so it's been great you know
who I'm talking about, And the place looks great by
what they needed, did a lot of work and they
(48:01):
did a great job.
Speaker 3 (48:02):
Guys, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Doctor Virginia Evans soon to be you can go to
Virginia Emmons dot com and look at all the things
that she's involved with.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
So Mike as I hooked up, you can go to
doctor Virginia's dot com.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
Oh yeah, and that's going to actually come through the
mcgiverern agency.
Speaker 4 (48:16):
You and you're you're about to introduce the you know,
high school segment. I do want to put it out
there that if if they use how about let's do this,
If they use Doc Virginia as the code and call
Field Workshop, We'll give their teams a splatter room, huge,
huge splatter room discount to bring their team over to
do splatter room.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
Can I talk to the team?
Speaker 4 (48:36):
Next show is absolute?
Speaker 3 (48:38):
You got it. I'm going to do this. It's so
good to see you.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Good luck, you're getting all the education done and and
with all the things that you're doing, try to get
some sleep sometime.
Speaker 3 (48:48):
Bingo, it's good to see you.
Speaker 1 (48:49):
I got a third text from deb sand Nope, not
coming in. She is steadfast and I don't know if
I can ever change her mind.
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Guys, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
This is the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home improvement show on
Fox Sports ninet
Speaker 3 (49:02):
Twenty and your iHeartRadio app
Welcome to the Creative Construction of Wisconsin home improvement show
only at Fox Sports Night twenty in your iHeartRadio app
coming live from the Donovan and Jorganson Hitting and Cooling Studios,
largest employee owned HVAC company in the state of Wisconsin.
Any issues get that furnace ready to go? Go to
Donovanjorganson dot com. My co host in studio this week,
(00:23):
Bengo Emmons, Bengo, how was your week?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm doing great, but I'm glad that Donovan Jorgison got
the air conditioner turned off for us.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah. I came in really early.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Make sure that I make sure this thing was at
least comfortable because our guests soon to be. You gotta
be so proud of your sisters so soon to be.
Doctor Emmons. By the way, Virginia, how are you good?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
It's really good to see you.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Good, good to see you, Thanks for coming in, Thanks
for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
How were things in Miami?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Oh? Well, you know, it's when I first got up
to Wisconsin, it felt a little bit like Miami. Yeah,
and then something that happened that I never would have
expected that we had the same amount of flooding and
rain that I've seen only with hurricanes.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, well, and we're going to get to that.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
We're surely going to talk about some of the things
that are going on. And look, the farmhouse in Greendale
is what we're going to talk a little bit about.
River barn and farmhouse that you're really proud of. You
guys got nailed.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Huh.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
We got about four feet of water in the barn,
two feet of water in the house, and about six
feet of water in the land. We were actually driving
our boat around.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I got videos and pictures of it, especially with you know,
with Shelby and Samantha. Yeah, they had a blast. They
were taking a boat to go to the barn, to
go play in a barn.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yeah they had a blast.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
But you didn't have you know, when something like that hits, like,
all you can do is just sort of just sit
and wait. So the best thing we could think of
is to actually, in part, you know, do stuff we
would never have done.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
My sister came over to you on wine and cheese.
It was like during their party on a beach front,
it was.
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Like lakefront property.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Has it all been cleaned up?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Now? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
I mean, you know, I think that's that's when my
heart goes out to all the listeners too, is that
you know, this was a huge strategy for a lot
of families and we can laugh and joke about it
because you know, for us, it wasn't my primary home,
but we did have a lot of you know, significant damage,
and we lost some things that were valuable to us.
But overall, you know, the water came and it left
(02:35):
just as quickly as it came. So the cleanup has
really just been the last couple of weeks, which you know,
which is important for the Home Improvement Network here to
listen about.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
How that's the highest I've seen river my whole entire life.
Really yeah, I've seen it really high, but not that high.
That's the highest I've ever seen it.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
It's interesting because people talk about that what happened that day.
A lot of people will say talk about wall with Tosa,
and they'll talk about that area that it got hit
the hardest. But boy, there are some arius Greendale, you know,
and then in that area people when when you drive
through there, you still see things out on the front
(03:15):
lawn that they had to take and throw out from
their basement. In Pewaukee by Us, I mean there's the
subdivision next to the condo complex we live in, a
bunch of basements got flooded and they water come out.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I was up in the Manoni Falls last week, just
driving through and it's like you ever see, like like
college' day when all the college kids move out, how
to sweech it? Just full of style down the whole street.
It's just piles of garbage and the garbagemen trying to
take it. But he can't take it as fast as
he can. Is there still bringing stuff out? They got
wrecked for Jinna.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Can we talk about about why and why you got
involved with that project? And you know, I've read some
articles from from back in twenty three and twenty four
that talk about how this was getting ready to be
torn down. I think think and you guys stepped in
and said, no, that the history behind this, we.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Need to go again. Ready, it was scheduled to be
torn on.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
It was scheduled right well, and in Milwaukee County Parks
is so far behind and a lot of their red
prayers that they need to make county wide, so they
didn't actually have the money to tear it down. Otherwise
it probably would have already been gone.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Well, Thank goodness, they didn't have the money at that point,
and so what can we talk about your motivation for
stepping in and saying, listen, we don't want to have
this torn down. Let's rebuild it and make it better.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah. Well, I mean you just referred to me soon
to be doctor. My background is in community psychology and
community leadership, and there's something that's super important about maintaining
these places that we call third spaces. There are places
where community can come together, have coffee, do art together.
(04:54):
You'll be together as a community, and this ultimately helps
everybody's longevity. And so when I saw this place, it
struck a chord with me in a lot of ways.
One is I grew up in creative construction. Creative construction
was my living room. So when I see a project
like a rundown, as my brother would say, a quagmire
of dilapidation. My brother Ted always says, a quagmire of dilapidation,
(05:16):
I don't see what other people see. I see paint,
I see some shutters, I see some sanders. You know,
I know how to do all this stuff because I
grew up in the industry. So when I saw that
this historic relic, community relic was about to be what
they were saying, demolished. I felt like there had to
(05:36):
be another way, and this, this barn in particular, was
an international hostel for decades. People from all over the
world would come and stay in the barn and have
that experience right there in Wynnell Park on the Oak
Leaf Trail.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Do you know on the website and you can look
up River Barn and Farmhouse here, you can go to
Virginia mn's dot com. But the line that I like
on the website is imagine the future. Right, Imagine the future.
And when when you look at the what it was
and look at what it looks like now, it's almost
(06:10):
hard to think that it's the same place.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
Yeah, one d percent. It took very little. Actually, I
mean we had j and j came in from as.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
One of them JJ contractors. Are you kidding me? Jason
is one of my favorite people in the world. His family.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Yeah, that's what you approached me, you know, that's that's Creot.
You know, he's a president of Greendale. And he says, yeah,
I heard your sister's getting that. Let me know what
I can do to help, And that was awesome of them.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Be careful when you say that right, be careful.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well in the construction community has been amazing because we
we also had trouble with our chimney, so Creative Construction
came and helped us do the chimney, and then they
were the first ones to call.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Had a down and put it back up. It wasn't
just a repair job.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
It wasn't necessarily a tear on. Wasn't it just like
a pushover situation.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It fell over when Zach was doing the scaffolding. It
was falling, so.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Kind of yeah, they had to rebuild it. We'll think
it's for Zach and Creative and Bingo and.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Well and as soon as they and they and they
were the first to respond when when they heard about
the flood, I said, we had some flooding coming in.
And then Aaron and Samantha of Creative Construction came over
with their two pumps and just got to work and
started helping us clear out the basement.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
My granddaughter, that was the most fun. She had a
blast the whole time she was there.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
She had her boots on and had to be in
the boat. And what is it being used for now?
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Uh, well, we're trying to get it eligible to be
able to use as a as an event space, as
some sort of gathering space. And and I don't know
that it necessarily needs to be weddings or anything to
that level, but definitely family reunions, places where people can gather,
you know, small groups of you know, forty fifty people.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Right. And it's a beautiful space.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
Right, It is amazing. Yeah. I mean it's right there
in Winnell Park, right off the Oak Leaf Trail, and
it's on four acres. It's a beautiful space. And it's
only twelve minutes from downtown Milwaukee, right, And you.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Don't think it'll be big enough for weddings and stuff.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
I do. I just still working through the politics of
Greendale and understanding, you know, what the what the neighborhood
will do. You know, we were sort of in this
social dynamic of the Rock Sports Complex, right, that is
in the same residential sort of area, and a lot
of families don't like the noise that's coming from the
(08:35):
Rock and so they're a little, you know, with with
total respect, a little cautious about you know what noise
sources will come.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
That's been that's been a real issue.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Ye.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And and Mike Zimmerman has been on My My, My
High school sports show a few times, and he's not
one to take anything sitting down, right. He's like, he's
spent a lot of sweat, equity and money to build
that facility, but the neighbors are like even during the
baseball games, he's just tone down the music a little bit,
(09:08):
like it's so loud, And so I get why people
get a little bit cautious. But man, that would be
a great space for a smaller wedding.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Yeah, and we actually, I mean, as per the ordinances
and per our contract with the county, that is a
direction we could go. But right now we're just kind
of in this limbo of what the building inspector and
the community is going to allow us to do on
that space. It was used as a residential, you know,
(09:37):
international hostel, it was used as a residential. The house
is a residential, and so there's there's a myriad of
things that could be done, but right now we're trying
to battle this dialogue about you know, what is it
in a flood zone? Is it not in a flood zone?
Because there was a thousand year flood and you know,
it wasn't even one hundred year flood. It was a
(09:57):
thousand year flood. It's what you know, meteorologically speaking. So
now we just got to work with our construction people
and figure out you know, hey, we're actually thinking about
making a permanent pond that that could be you know,
one of the ways to mitigate any future disaster.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Really sure, wait what would what would that take?
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Well, so what was interesting is there was there's a
ravine right that goes right alongside of the property, and
what happened was is the ravine got so full and
the river got so full that there was nowhere for
the water to go, so it couldn't get over the
road to the south or to the north, and so
it just sort of took a left into our property,
(10:41):
just took went west into our property. So there is
a way that we could create some sort of a
long term, you know, holding pool for water. And because
of the way that the the the barn is actually
built into the earth on one side, so there's no
real restriction that wouldn't say that we couldn't actually make
(11:03):
other parts of that area also be built into the ground.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Did you when you started thinking about this project, and
that was probably in twenty two.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
I would think that twenty one. If I said, hey, in.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
September of twenty five, we're going to be having these conversations.
Would you have thought at that point that everything would
have been done and this would have been up and
running how you wanted.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
It to run.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Yeah, I mean, you.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Know, politics getting a weight done that.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
It's sad because because the way that it's set up
right now is I can use this property for private use.
I can have a birthday party right now there for
me or my family. But what the politics are doing
is like prohibiting the use for the public.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And is your do you stay there when you're in town?
Speaker 4 (11:50):
I have been staying there this summer too, because just
at the farmhouse to make it easier to work on
the property when we have off time. I still have
a full time you know in Miami that I'm working remotely.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
So how many well you've got, You've got more than one.
You've got You're going to school to get your doctrine.
You have the field shop work right field workshop. You
have the coffee, I mean.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
You the coffee coffee.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Yeah, they get huge operation educate tomorrow. It's not a small.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
No, that's the big yeah. Yeah, that's the biggie and
we'll get to that. But all these you don't sleep much.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
No, no, I actually you know, people ask how do
I get it all done? One of the things I
don't watch TV.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
You don't at.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
All, Like I mean, maybe maybe way at the end
of the day, like my son.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Last night school football game of the week. You get
all this if you can channel twenty four, six thirty
All right, pre game on my twenty four. Okay, well
we're gonna be the Hartford Slinger game.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Okay, Well let me know when you're watching Greendale.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Well see me.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, they're struggling a little bit this year, but that's okay.
On that high school show. I would encourage you and
everybody else to listen to that last segment, so from
ten forty to eleven o'clock, because this is right up
your alley, and with the servant leadership part that you have,
there is there next week. Hartford Slinger is a rivalry game, right,
(13:14):
they're right next to each other. The players don't like
each other. Coaching staff, however, very good friends, and they've
all been the two head coach has been really affected
by cancer. Well, now there is a guy who is
in New York. His daughter, she's now thirty one. But
when she was younger, she had childhood cancer and they
were going through a bunch of stuff, and she was
(13:37):
a lacrosse player, and you got the Northwestern College women's
lacrosse team to adopt her just as like, okay, she's
part of us now. And it helped this young girl
so much that he started this foundation. And now he
travels all over the country and kids that young kids
that have cancer. He finds locals to adopt, and so
(14:02):
now the players are texting the kids on the sidelines
all of that. I get goosebumps telling you about it,
and it's it's really amazing. This guy's doing great work.
And so it's just kind of like that's what his foundation.
And he started it with his daughter and it had
such an effect on her that he started this foundation.
(14:22):
And again she's now thirty one. She was nine when
this all started. And he said, look, I am traveling
every week with his foundation. It's his full time job.
And he said, I've seen so much good from this
and kids just getting healthy physically and mentally and spiritually.
Of look, this is my group, and these kids by
(14:46):
fully in their sending pictures there, Hey, how you doing today.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
That's awesome. I mean in terms of like we were
just talking about before about community psychology, that is, I
mean that is the key to making sure people have
longevity and well being is finding community and finding community.
And I mean sports growing up saved my life, you know,
I you know, just I was on track cross country
(15:11):
ski team and the community that was built there created
a lot of protective factors. And it creates a lot
of what we call protective factors for you to make
sure that they don't go in the wrong path.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, and sometimes even that doesn't work. As an old
basketball coach, and anytime I have seniors in for my
high school show, and we'll have new Berlin West seniors
coming in for the high school show, I will tell
them at one point, either off there or on there,
don't let you or anybody else, if you're the leaders
of this team, make sure that you that you are
(15:45):
not doing anything foolish, right, don't show, don't go to
these parties. Don't don't do that now. You can do
that in the off season. You do that in summer. Wait,
if you're the parents, can sent whatever, but don't mess
it up now. You've been through this. You guys are
working hard, don't have one issue. I had one team
and you laugh at this. A couple of guys got
(16:06):
suspended for their playoffs and I talked to the coach.
I said, what happened. He goes, I don't have the
smartest guys on my team. And I go, what happened?
He goes, I don't want you going out of the air.
So I won't name the school. But they were out
at one in the morning doing ding dong ditch. They
weren't drinking, they weren't causing any problems, they weren't breaking windows.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
But now it's on everyone's camera, sent around all their parents.
I didn't I think I didn't their team and he said.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
My kids are.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So the police came and said, are these your guys,
and he's like, yeah, there's two of my starters. They weren't,
but they were ringing doorbells and running seniors in high school,
so let's not do that. They ended up getting knocked
out of the playoffs earlier than they thought because of that.
Now I was happy to know they weren't doing They
weren't breaking in cars, they weren't busting up anything. They
(16:56):
weren't out drinking, but how silly home go to.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Well, I'm so glad that Bingo grew up when there
wasn't anything to record his behavior when we were growing up, because.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Well, let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I imagine, imagine if that Facebook and stuff and we
well we did no, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
It would be awful. Yeah, it would be awful.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
There's no record.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
I remember, and this was not all that long ago.
My mom's been gone for a while, but.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
She was like, hey, so, did you really like crawl
out of your bedroom? I go, yeah, software in high school,
I crawl out of my bedroom window and wait for
everybody to fall asleep, and they go out.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Hang out and crawl back in. And can you imagine
if there are cameras?
Speaker 4 (17:38):
It would cameras, But there's phone tracking. There's fine your phone.
You don't even have to leave your bed, and you
can find where your kids are, what they're doing, who
they're talking to.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
Unbelievable. What do you think about that as a doctor?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Well, you know, I don't know that there's a lot
we can do about some of the things that have transpired,
and but to adapt with the times, I think is
is what you know, the best thing we can.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
It's like, you know, if you tell your wife you're
going to a gym, you leave your lock you leave
your your phone in a gym locker, and you can
go get all the dunk the don'ts you watch.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
You?
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Hey, dev you hearing this?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
If he says he's going to the gym, he's just saying,
I heard you can adapt.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
But you heard you heard you could. Hey, before we
get to a break field workshop in uh five years,
beautiful downtown Greendale, can we talk a little bit about
how that's going.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
It's going very well. We're in our fifth year. You know,
most businesses don't even last a year. To the last
five years is something to say about it.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
And we're given agency, been around two and a half,
halfway there.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
We were halfway there.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
As long as creative construction with Scotts and stage with me,
we're going to be good. But the day they say
we don't work with you anymore, that might be your problem.
I might come over and work for you in Greendell,
either at the coffee shop or the field work.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
A paint room. I'm not yeah, your grandkids. I love
that paint room.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And every time I promise you that I'm bringing some
of them. Inn I've got more at that age.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Now, so yeah, I know, like I have to have
a funeral to see with some That was sad.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
I missed your dad. I miss him.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I had fun going over to his house and talking
about how we can help people his age.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
That's what we talked about.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
And yeah, I still got the phone number. We're still
helping people, are you?
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Oh good?
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, I don't have too much on your plate. Huh
can you help them A giver an agency anyway?
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I bet you can't. Whether I can tell you this.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
The website you built, Virginia Emmons dot com is really impressive.
And you had to do that for a class, and
it's really good on it a couple of times.
Speaker 4 (19:47):
Oh thank you yet No, well I guess yeah, I
was graded on it.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Did you get an A? I'm sure you did.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Yeah. Have you ever gotten anything other than.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Oh I was a terrible student. Yeah, well, just in general.
Which is funny that I actually am now getting my
doctorate in education because one of the reasons I care
about this field is that in some ways the education
system didn't do as much as it could have, right,
you know, for and I my real job educate tomorrow.
(20:20):
You know, the one that I actually am compensated for
besides all this other stuff, is that I'm an advocate
for young people who've never been adopted, kids who are
in foster care and homeless, and and you can see
how social conditions can really break down a child and
make it really difficult for them to survive academically. So
(20:40):
you know, I'm an advocate for education. But one of
the reasons why is that I feel like the education
system could be so much better.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
I agree with that one hundred percent. I do.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And and you know, that's a whole nother conversation for
another show. But it'd be interesting to know if if
you and I are on the same path on how
we think it can be fixed. And one day we'll
have that conversation. Because look at being old, and I
wasn't a good student at all, you know, because I
(21:11):
was so I had little Homer Simpson in me. Right,
you know, somebody be teaching and I'd go, oh, what
was that who walked in the hallway? Right, Oh, look
at the weather are going to practice today? All of that.
I had some issues with that, and I never really
buckled down, and I should have. I regret that a lot,
and one day we'll have that. But the Field Workshop
(21:33):
age wise, what are most of the how old is
for the kids come.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Into that well. So we actually have a second site
now in Miami, Florida. So Field Workshop is really primarily
directed to our kids, who are kids, young people who
are five and older. And we have a section four
adults where you know, you can really hone in on
a craft that you know that you really want to
get interested. And basically it's like, imagine you just went
to an arts and craft supply store all the materials
(22:01):
so that you don't have to and then you can
come use them and wreck our space, right so that
your kitchen table isn't you know, full of your your
craft projects.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
Guys, if you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, go to
the Fieldworkshop dot com the Fieldworkshop dot com. They you
have parties there, team groups, classes, events, homeschool, uh, tinker Lab.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Which I've been and I've seen people drop off their
kids and they go next door and I have a
couple of glasses of wine there.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Greendale. Yeah, it's perfect.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Jason's Restaurant have something eleanor room.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
Yeah, I do that myself it's good there. And my
kids are old enough now that I can go to
dinner and be like, I'll see you guys. You guys
can go down on the field workshop, I'll catch up
with you. They would have to welcome there.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
My brother John was over with Jason, and Jason sent
me a text said hey, you, when are you coming?
And I said, I promise you soon. My wife is like,
you want to go there this week? I said, can't go?
Speaker 3 (23:00):
All right?
Speaker 4 (23:00):
So here, what we're gonna do? You and your wife?
You're gonna come and do the splatter room and then
you're gonna go to the Eleanor's for dinner?
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Or do we bring a couple of grandkids put them
in the splatter room there you go.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, yeah, but you're gonna find out as are growing up,
you're gonna like doing the splatter room.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
We're gonna give it a shot. I'm telling you our
special guest. And she said, I don't have to call
her doctor quite yet, but you know what she is.
She's she's soon to be doctor. So much started now
she is doctor Virginia Emmons. And we're gonna talk a
little bit more about some of the things she's doing. Again,
including the field workshop in Greendale and one in Miami,
(23:37):
and a number of other things. That that she is
doing my co host her brother, and that she's gonna
tell me some stories about him during the break and
maybe I can I can share some of her all good.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
He was the best thank you brother ever?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Maybe redacted a little bit.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Yeah, And I don't know about that.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
This is the creator everything I know I learned from
watching you bingo.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Wow, you guys are you guys are arguing when you
came in and now you're so nice to each other.
This is the Creative Construction with scottson Home Improvement show
on Fox Sports nine twenty and Your iHeart Radio App.
Welcome back to the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home Improvement Show
on Fox Sports ninety twenty, Your iHeart Radio app. Coming
from the Donovan and Jorganson Heating and Cooling Studio.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
It's not a good thing in that.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
Thank you Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Wake Up everybody.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
What a perfect song and especial thank you for playing that.
As we're talking to doctor Virginia Emmons.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
You like that, you're laughing. You're gonna get the.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
First one's ever said it. You're the first one's ever
used it.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
How hard getting through getting your doctrine? Has that been
a difficult thing for you? Are you online with Miami?
Speaker 4 (24:47):
It's in person and some of it's online, but is
a University of Miami?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
What do you have left?
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Just my dissertation?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Wow? What's he going to be on?
Speaker 4 (24:56):
It's actually going to be a reflection and on the
US Constitution and the Federal's papers and where we are
as a nation right now and what that means for
community well being.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Very interesting? How long? What's the deadline for you?
Speaker 4 (25:13):
I hope to defend by March, so I can make
my corrections by May. I walk May seventh, so hopefully
I'll be all wrapped up by then.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Man, was every like Thomas Jefferson on July twenty going,
oh that's tomorrow. Yeah, I better.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Write it up right now.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Hey, Virginia, When you started a field workshop, what was
the thought process behind it? Was there something that you
had seen somewhere else in the country that you thought, oh,
this would be perfect for Greendale.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
Yeah. You know, everything that I've done has sort of
rooted out of this space of me being one a
Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, then starting Educate Tomorrow,
which is to help young people who are aging out
of foster care homeless. And you know, when we start
a Feel Workshop, it was at it was right in
the middle of the pandemic. People weren't going to the offices.
(26:06):
There weren't the resource centers, there wasn't a lot of
things available. And so when I saw empty space on
Broad Street in Greendale, I had been formulating this idea
based on you know, seeing other places like Poppet Project
and other you know, you know, color me mind shops
that weren't as diverse enough as we needed them to be.
For one, my own child, my own children, and for
(26:28):
the students that we were serving. I think there's really
great assets and having like a ceramics studio or pottery
studio or a painting studio, but I wanted something a
little bit more diverse that could really it's kind of
it's really like an art therapy center. You know, people
can come together and have a safe place to meet.
And what I've found, especially with the students that we serve,
(26:50):
because we provide the space, we charge the public, but
when it's our own students, our students can attend for free,
and parents who are foster parents can come and use
the space for free, you know, at a limited use
type of situation. But I find that, like when you're
sitting there doing art or or and I learned this
(27:11):
really actually from working construction with Bingo for many, many years,
is that you know what comes out when you're just
staring at a wall, you know, painting. You know, it's
like when they tell you about how to have difficult
conversations with people, it's not like looking them in the eye,
but it's like you know, in the car going for
a walk, where you're looking forward, and when you're doing
construction or art projects, you have something else to focus
(27:33):
your negative energy on, and so like the conversation just
starts to flow.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Are you creative with that?
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I am. I'm like, you know, Bingo, Bingo Bigo and
I were joking about this because he's like, well, what's
going to happen with all the chimneys now, you know,
now that my dad passed. I'm like, look, I did
a lot of those chimneys. I probably did like twenty
or thirty of those chimneys myself.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
So people, yeah, well a lot of times people say,
like when you're dead, a lot of chimneys. I never
once saw my dad up in the chimney took credit
for me.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
He did chimneys. In fact, my brother did a thing
with with that in Greendale.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
My brother did.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
It lovely piece. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
I was like, hey, yeah, that's me. Yeah, that's me.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
I did well And it is it was him because
direction he had that you know, extra crazy sort of
sense of you know, being that would like that. Anybody
would think that that was a good idea.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Do you think that.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
If if one needs to be done, another one who's
going to be done, maybe you'll you'll jump in and do.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
It or yeah, we still do it as a company,
and we still I still do chimneys. We still don't.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yeah, if they wanted artwork, I could, I could be commissioned. Yeah,
you know, I enjoy it and and I think and
actually the last couple of pieces were done by the
Field Workshop employees at the Field Workshop.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Hey, when you go to that, what I like about
the Field Workshop is and I had asked you age wise,
it really is for from five to my age and older.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Yeah, Well, John John goes John John's ninety two, he
goes there every Thursdays on Thursdays. And what does he
do when he you know, he's less of an artist.
He more just wants to help out. So he helps,
like you know, fold the laundry and and and checks
all the markers.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
I saw a group of ladies show up and he
started making their own wine glasses and it's like painting
wine glasses.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Well on that website and you guys do a lot
of classes and stuff like that, and a lot of classes.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We do a paint and Sip with the with the
Broadstreet Coffee every month. You can come and drink wine
at the coffee shop and paint and the team.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I want to know about Parents' night out. That's what
I want to tell you know, did you have a Grandparents'.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
Night out or it's the same, it's grandparents, it's grandparents
sight out.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
We have a great team with Dylan and Chris and Julie.
You know, their amazing team and they've they've really built
that into be something beautiful. The camps, everything, it's just
a great space he talked.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
About with the Field workshop and we're going to get
to other things, I promised.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
But when people can can have parties there, yes, right,
So if if I want to throw a birthday party
for my wife and we've been together for so long,
I want something different, we can invite eight other people
or how does that work?
Speaker 4 (30:13):
The capacity is.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Eighty eight diom be different?
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Yeah, that would be Yeah, our capacity. It's a twenty
seven hundred square foot space. It's a lot of you
can fit a lot to bring everybody. Yeah, you can
bring everybody.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And and when when somebody sets up a party there
is it. Do they then decide, Okay, we want to
paint or we want to do this.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Yes, they work with our team and they can decide
if they want to do a splotter room or paint
wine glasses or wood burning or build a bird house.
Our team will work with them to that's my favorite party. Yeah.
You can order food from you know, Ricardo's or the
Eleanor Room that we've had a partnership with the Eleanor
Room where they've had meetings and people that they wanted
to you know, entertain in the community and they came
(30:55):
over and did it.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
You have to be really proud of this. What's happened there.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
I am started, is that what you kind of envisioned
where it would be kind of a place that people
from all neighborhoods and all ages can come over and
enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (31:09):
Yeah, you know, I have a whole community leadership theory,
and it's not you know, when I start things, I
don't you don't always know the endgame, but you know
what feeling you're trying to invoke. And my business partner,
Aaron Dummer, and I like when we saw this as
an opportunity back in you know, several almost five years
(31:29):
ago now, you know, we saw the need in the
community that there really wasn't anything for young people to
do in the village, and that the village has done
a great job at being a tourist town, you know,
where people come in and on buses and open their
pocketbook and walk down the street and purchased things. But
Greendale as a town center hasn't been that way since
(31:51):
we were like in the eighties when we used to
have the grocery store and the pharmacy and everything used
to be centrally located. And so there's some bright spots
in the community like the libraries right there, the coffee shop,
the field workshop. So all the businesses that we're doing
is really to try to bring people downtown every day
on around the corner.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Of main streets.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
When Greendale sponsors My brother's show, their commercial says it's
like Norman Norman Rockwell picture, and it really is. When
you get to the village of Greendale, you're kind of like, wow,
this is.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Got Norman Rockwell on display.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Yeah, there is Well, and you know this is that.
Every older crowds understand Norman Walkwell. But I would say
the younger crowds, it's more like Gilmore Girls, okay, and
Stars Hollow. I don't know that one, I know, but
it's so it's for the younger generation. There's this there's
this very popular show called Gilmore Girls, and it's set
in this little town called Stars Hollow. Stars Hollow.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Oh that's okay, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
The gazebo's right in the middle of the town square.
Everybody knows everybody. There's actually a character from that show
that shows up everywhere who is, like, you know, working
over at the he's the mailman, and then he's also
the guy cleaning out the gutters, and then he's also
working at the movie theater. We have characters like that
in Greendale where every time I turn around, I'm like, wait,
(33:12):
isn't that the guy who's in the choir who's also
working at the restaurant, who now also works at the
pizza shop.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
And he probably is a panther, probably went to Green.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
No, they're certainly a panther.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Yeah. I love that, I do. Hey, before we get
to it, break Educate Tomorrow. Is that the first thing
that in two thousand and three that you started.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
Yeah, I guess you could say that. And that was
that was the first nonprofit area, and then the first
nonprofit foundation.
Speaker 3 (33:40):
Yes, and then Seed School of Miami.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
Yeah. Seed School was an outgrowth of the Educate Tomorrow
because we were telling young people they could go to college,
but they couldn't read. So we started a college prep
boarding school for similarly disadvantaged students so that they could
use the gift of time and a five day a
week boarding school not have to worry about the social
contributing factors to maybe their demise out inside the community,
(34:04):
and then they could, you know, focus on education. And
so we have one hundred percent college acceptance right for
that school.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
Hey, when you started that, would you get to know
you get to know the people? Yes, As a coach,
I would, I would take it. So personal. If one
of my players got in trouble, right, one of my
players got arrested, or one of my players got in
trouble in school. For if the people that you were
(34:33):
working with didn't make it, did you take it personal?
Speaker 4 (34:38):
Yes, and super personally. I mean when we say didn't
make it, there's the worst case cceinemias where some of
our students haven't made it in life, like at all
and so not just prison or whatever, but like they're
no longer with us. And I mean, it's it's hard work,
it's it's really in a lot of ways just heartbreaking
(35:00):
and I don't know, you know, it's like what I.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
Found is when when kids would struggle in the classroom
or they'd struggle they weren't getting playing time and their
grades weren't great, they they would they would they would
tend to start to go back to what they knew right,
they'd go back to where their comfort zone was, and
I would have to make sure that I was the
(35:23):
one driving them home. I'd be the one taking them
out to dinner. I'd be the one heading over there
on a Sunday afternoon to make sure I'd got them
out of tough situations and it always was.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Amazing to me.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
We have this great path for you, and it's going
to be uncomfortable, it's going to get difficult, but we're
going to stay on this path because what happens at
the end of this journey is going to be really
good for you. But when things start to get start
to go sideways, they would they would go back to
where they're the comfort level was, and that is to
hang out with their old buddies.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
And that's where the trouble came from.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
And I would take it so personal, Virginia that that
I would struggle with that.
Speaker 4 (36:05):
Well, you know, you want people to hang out with
their buddies, but the problem. But what you need to
do between here and there is give them the social
opportunity to understand that life can be different, right, because
there's nothing more beautiful than somebody making it to another
level and then going back and helping their community.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
On my high school show, we do a thing and
it'll start next month. The current Electric Superhero of the week,
and it's not sports related.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Be a kid in drama, a kid in the band.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
You have to do really well in a classroom, be
very active in the school, and give back to our community,
and I ask him this question, where did the servant
leadership hart come from? Because we're not born with it.
It's a learned behavior. And these kids when they talk
about having when they started having to give back to
our community, how they didn't want to but they had
(36:57):
to because National Honor Society or they wanted to has
made to look good for the school they want to
go to. They all say the same thing. I didn't know.
I didn't know that I was going to get more
out of this than the people I'm helping. And now
I wanted to go into this field when I got
to college, and now I'm going over here because how
much joy I got out of helping people and the
(37:19):
whole that term takes a village. These kids, when they
have to and they're forced to do this, they get
so much out of it. It's pretty amazing. That's why
everything that you do and we've only gotten to two things,
but I've got to believe that you got so much
out of Educate Tomorrow that now you're doing. Look, the
(37:39):
workshop is about giving back. These kids get and people
that go get to forget about what's going on in
their life and just for a couple of hours, just
focus on having fun and the stuff that you do
is all about giving back.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
And that's amazing to me. That came from your mom
and dad.
Speaker 4 (37:55):
It did well, and my mom and dad my family.
So you know, I'm sitting here next to Benga and
like everything you're saying is really like I'm the youngest,
so Bingo's fifteen years older than me. So my peer
group and my social you know, support group has always
been my sisters. And one of the reasons why I've
been able to take a lot of risks and start
companies and all that is that at the end of
(38:16):
the day, Bengo has always said that if you know,
crap hits the fans, I can come back and work
for creative construction. So I get a certain ability. I
have a certain comfort and ability to be able to
do crazy things because at the end of the day
he promises me a job.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
And he hadn't talked much today, But understand, when I
talk about Bingo and deb Emads behind their back, it's
always you have no idea how much good they do
in our community because they don't talk about it. They
don't they don't put it on billboards, and they don't
go out with their commercials. They run and say, hey,
look at us, look at us, look at us. But
the amount that they give back and so it doesn't
(38:55):
surprise me that, you know, the youngest of the Emmas
family learned from him and and and Dev is the
same way. You know, Dev, I wish you would come
in studio and come on the ear one day, but
she won't.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
And that's okay, But they do so much.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
My triple dog double dare you deb Oh yeah, that's
not gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
I've bribed her whatever, cash, all of it. Nothing works.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
Maybe later in the day you could give her a
glass of wine. She might loose them up.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
It's noon somewhere.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Family, I were not afraid to give opinions or anything.
I mean, you know, we got like a little siblings channel. Right,
what do you think you get? She'll get seven different opinions? Yeah, yeah,
what what she did wrong?
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Nobody?
Speaker 4 (39:38):
Nobody was watching me. That's a classic one.
Speaker 3 (39:42):
We got to get to a break, guys.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
Virginia Emmons dot com if and I would highly recommend
just take a.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Look at it. Look to see if someone took doctor
Virginia's dot com.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
Oh you better, you better go. Hey, go Daddy, I
will do that.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
And whether it's Doc, Doc Emmons, Doc Virginia, would it is.
Virginny Evans is our special guest. We talked a little
bit about the Greendale Barn red the restoration project, and
then some other the nonprofits she's doing. We're going to
continue that conversation on the other side of the break.
I can tell you this that that your oldest brother,
(40:17):
he is so proud of you. Well, we talk about
you a lot and some of the things that you're
doing and accomplishing, and he's extremely proud of.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
The work that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
This is the Creative Construction, Wisconsin Home Improvement Show only
on Fox Sports. I twenty in year I heard radio
app we talked, we will not talk.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
All said, we're not talking.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
We don't know here and I got a text from
deb saying, Nope, you can.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
You can to bribe me all you want. I'm not
coming in and I'm not.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
She comes in studio, but you're not in the studio
but in the building, but she sits.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Outside behind you. I know if you started thought and
she started kicking you right.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
If one of these microphones would have gone that far,
I would have pulled it out there, but it does not.
We're coming from the dotament in Jorgas and Heating and
Cooling Studios. My co host, he's Bingo Emmons, one of
the good guys in this world. I gotta be honest
with you, the owner of Creative Construction, Wisconsin. His sister,
doctor Virginia Emmons soon to be doctor Virginia Emmons.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
It's not until.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Ye Hey, I'm going on go Daddy dot com and
I'm telling you I'm gonna.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Gonna sell it.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
Those guys will lock it in.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
McGivern Agency, Doc Virginia Evon dot com, dot net, dot org,
all of it. Hey, you would you would made a
comment right before we came back on the air and
you said, hey, look some of the things that we're
doing through Educate Tomorrow. You know, we're having conversations with
people in the education world and we don't need to
(41:48):
talk about we're either here or in Miami. But you're
you're able to get into offices to principles and superintendents
and and governors and and people in in that space
to be able to talk talk about some of the
things that have worked for Educate Tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
And you've been able to guide.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Some some educational people into some of the things you're doing.
Speaker 4 (42:10):
Yeah, I mean, that's the whole theory behind community psychology,
is like you can treat in an individual and when
you put them back in the village or the community,
they're just going to you know, re establish themselves as
the same thing. So to really do long term sustainable change,
you really need to do transformational change from the top.
And we've found our way through that by creating legislation
(42:32):
and you know, passing getting some laws pass that just
make life easier for people who, you know, especially those
who are disenfranchised.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Hey, well it's not just you know, it's not you.
I understand what you're saying because I can relate because
you know, I'm an advocate for you know, for trades,
and then you know they're getting trades. And I go
to schools, you know, Like I mean, one time I
walked to some school where men I was talking to me.
He said, no, our kids will go to college. Stats say, no,
they don't. You know, they don't, right, And there's a
lot of kids and what they did is they forgot
for a while. They're starting to accept. A lot of
(43:02):
schools are accepting I mean look at we had a
signing day at Tolsa. I mean, schools are accepting. There's
a group of people that want to work with their
hands and they can make really good money at it.
Speaker 1 (43:13):
For as long as I've known your brother, he has
talked about we Creative Construction Wisconsin. We're always looking for
people to come work here. But it's a career, not
a job. So if you want to come, and he
loves getting kids at that high school age to be
able to say, hey, listen, if going to a two
year or four year school is not in your future,
(43:34):
look at what we do. And on the sidelines on
the high school game, I'm talking to a couple of
unions and I'm talking to Adam now that they're looking
for high school kids that want to be service techs
in the auto industry. And he was telling me what
those guys can make eventually after a couple of years,
and it's like, my goodness. You know that's got to
be talked about in every high school to say, hey, look,
(43:58):
if you think that this is what you want to do,
look at this and look, the further education doesn't stop
because you don't go to college, you go to creative
construction of Scots and you've got to continue to further
your education.
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Well, yeah, absolutely, Like this is a home improvement show.
There are so many jobs in the home improvement trades.
And one of the things that I you know, I
actually became a dwelling contractor myself because it would be
cheaper for me than to have to hire the people
that need to be hired, because it's so expensive to
(44:31):
hire these folks, because you know, they're great jobs. And
one of the things I did learn about being a
dwelling contractor is you still have to continue your education.
And Bingo teaches in a lot of those courses that
you know, when I talk about education, it's not what
I was saying in education reforms sort of needs to happen,
like in this much broader way right where things like
(44:53):
trades are valued as superior education.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Big when you think about back when you were in
high school, was it was it was it more acceptable
that people get into the trades back then?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, back then it was more acceptable. And we said,
I mean I had shop classes, you know, I went
to all four years of shop classes, destruction shop classes,
we had all that. Just before you know, they got
rid of all that stuff. After a while, I'm a
part of the baby bloomers. We all had shot classes,
you know.
Speaker 3 (45:20):
And now it's coming back.
Speaker 1 (45:21):
Yeah, it is coming back in a big way, and
and I hope it continues to come back even bigger.
Speaker 3 (45:27):
I've had kids that i've coached.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
A couple of them are working at Cernel Electric because
they knew they wanted to be electricians. And both of
them were really good students, three five, three seven students
at at Martin Luther, at Greendale Martin Luther, and they said, Coach,
we already know what we want and we want to
be electricians. Those guys are now some of their buddies
are just getting done with school. And these both of
(45:52):
these guys are one already bought his first house and
the others in the process.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
I'm not against college, but just you know, I mean,
I graduated college. You know, he did some graduate stuff
for a while. I'm not talking against college or anything
like that, but there's a you know, you can see
some people, so I went to college, I can't find
a job this and that. Right, Call electricians, see how
soon he can come over? Right, call it plumbers. Find
out when you come over, call it basement repair guy
right now and see when he can show up.
Speaker 3 (46:17):
Unbelievable, right, Yeah, the guys.
Speaker 4 (46:19):
People coming from Florida stayed in one of our houses,
are there. They came all the way from Florida to
help with the flood relief.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
You know, you could you could call and you could
probably start there at noon today. You know at some
of these places that that hey, if we talked here
in the break one day, you might run politics.
Speaker 3 (46:38):
I'll join. I'll be part of that team. And you
know what, and I don't even know.
Speaker 2 (46:42):
Given given agency volunteers.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
I'm telling you, I'm I'm a huge fan doc idea.
And look it's not till May. But I don't care
because I'm calling you that.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
But I will.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
I will be part of that staff if you want
me to, because.
Speaker 4 (46:59):
I'll share you my leadership theory. It's it's you know,
servant leadership. It's it's nothing you ever, you never want
to be the leader. It's just sometimes you see the need.
You got to meet the need, and there's only so
many people willing to do it. That's how I grew
up in creative construction. You look at these monstrosity, these messes,
right and like somebody's got to clean this up.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Yeah, well, I.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Can tell you that my wife had had breakfast with
a very good friend of hers. That all she talked
about still to this day. And it's been two years now.
That Creative Construction came over after she signed a contract
with somebody else who wouldn't leave her the living room
until she signed it. And by the time we got
(47:39):
the driveway, she was crying and called me. I talked
to your brother who went over there after our show
and said, you don't need all this why? And so
she had time. She canceled that contract and Creative Construction
changed her life. And so it's been great you know
who I'm talking about, And the place looks great by
what they needed, did a lot of work and they
(48:01):
did a great job.
Speaker 3 (48:02):
Guys, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (48:03):
Doctor Virginia Evans soon to be you can go to
Virginia Emmons dot com and look at all the things
that she's involved with.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
So Mike as I hooked up, you can go to
doctor Virginia's dot com.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
Oh yeah, and that's going to actually come through the
mcgiverern agency.
Speaker 4 (48:16):
You and you're you're about to introduce the you know,
high school segment. I do want to put it out
there that if if they use how about let's do this,
If they use Doc Virginia as the code and call
Field Workshop, We'll give their teams a splatter room, huge,
huge splatter room discount to bring their team over to
do splatter room.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
Can I talk to the team?
Speaker 4 (48:36):
Next show is absolute?
Speaker 3 (48:38):
You got it. I'm going to do this. It's so
good to see you.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Good luck, you're getting all the education done and and
with all the things that you're doing, try to get
some sleep sometime.
Speaker 3 (48:48):
Bingo, it's good to see you.
Speaker 1 (48:49):
I got a third text from deb sand Nope, not
coming in. She is steadfast and I don't know if
I can ever change her mind.
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Guys, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
This is the Creative Construction Wisconsin Home improvement show on
Fox Sports ninet
Speaker 3 (49:02):
Twenty and your iHeartRadio app
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