QC Forum - 4-28-24

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Quad City Forum, aweekly community service program produced by iHeartMedia to
look at the issues and opportunities thatexist in our community. Now here's your
hosts for Quad City Forum, PatLuke and Denny Linnhowe, talking with former
NASCAR driver, current racing analysts,philanthropists, TV star and all around great

(00:26):
human being Kyle Petty. Kyle,thank you so much for being here on
QC Forum today. Hey, thankyou for having me today. This is
really big doings. We're just sohappy to have you coming into town with
your huge charity ride, the KylePetty Charity Ride across America and this year,
just describe a little bit about whereyou start, why you end up,

(00:48):
where you end up, because thisis just such a great event we
want everyone to know about it.Thank you very much. Yeah, we've
been doing the Cow Petty Charity Rideacross America for this our twenty eight year.
In the last few years we've goneto doing regional routes, but this
year we're doing something a little bitspecial, a little bit different. We're
leaving Deadwood, South Dakota. We'regoing over to Mount Rushmore, then we're

(01:11):
headed down to North Platte Nebraska andthen over to Omaha, and then you
got there in Betton Dorf. Tostay on the Mississippi. That was a
big, big, big thing forus. We wanted to be close to
the Mississippi. And then we leavethere and we go to Indianapolis, Indiana.
That same day we're having lunch atChurchill Bounds. We go through Kentucky

(01:33):
and then into Bowling Green, Kentucky, to the National Corvette Museum, spend
the night there, and then wego into Bristol, Tennessee, where we
race the fastest half mile in theworld, and then back to Victy Junction.
The Victory Junction is a camp inNorth Carolina for children with chronic and
serious medical needs that our family foundedwhen my oldest son Adam, was killed

(01:56):
in a racing accident in two thousandand It is just it's an amazing place.
We've seen one hundred and twenty fivethousand kids have either walked through the
gates or we've touched with camp insome way, shape or form. It's
our twentieth anniversary for Camp. It'shard to believe it's our twentieth anniversary,
but it's the twentieth anniversary for Campand we're just so excited to be doing
the ride. And we call thisI said, I'll go back and mention

(02:19):
it. We call this our iconride because we are. The icons of
this ride are Rushmore, the Mississippi, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Churchill Downs,
the Corvette, and Bristol, Tennessee. These are American icons that we feel
like we're going to spend some timevisiting with. I love the fact that
you're coming across what I consider tobe you know, your flyover states,

(02:43):
and I just think it's so importantfor people to understand that there's so much
great stuff, Like you're talking abouticonic things that are here right in the
middle of the US, and whenyou're talking about the charity ride, so
you're doing more than just visiting iconicthings, but you're raising awareness and money

(03:04):
for Victory Junction. And I justthink that's so important to get that message
across. Yeah, listen, ithas been. It has been obviously,
it's been my mission since since welost our son, and it'll be twenty
four years this year. We startedraising money instantly to build a camp.
The camp was up and running intwo thousand and four. Like I said,
we've touched the lives of one hundredand twenty five thousand other kids.

(03:27):
It's totally free of charge to allkids that come to camp, and that
is the important piece that sometimes sometimesis overlooked. We've seen kids from all
fifty states, from four or fiveforeign countries, again totally free of charge
to them and their family. Andbecause that we didn't want to be We
didn't want camp to be a burdenfor a family. You know that obviously

(03:49):
everything that a family goes through witha child that has a child, or
that the child has chronic medical conditionsor serious medical needs, that's that's enough
for a family. We didn't wantto add to that. So the totally
fit charge things is while we're alwaysraising money, always looking for opportunities,
to think as the camp. Soif anybody's listening and knows a kid that

(04:09):
can come to camp, go tothe website fix junction dot org and please
fill out the form, put theirname on it, and we'll get in
touch with them and get them thecamp. I love that. And now
say somebody now probably a little latethis year, to get involved in the
ride. If somebody wants to,because you've been doing this for a while,
if they want to be a partof the charity ride, and they

(04:30):
obviously can't get to South Dakota andget or you know, get all that
happening. That's the reason you're doingthese stops all along the way is for
people to be able to participate likethat. Yo, shoot, yeah,
yes. Go to go to thewebsite Colpitticharity Ride dot com. You'll see
where we're going to stop for fuel, where we're going to be, the
things we're gonna do. Uh.And we want fans to come out.

(04:53):
We won't We're staying at the AisleCasino there and Bettendorf, and we want
fans to come out to the parkinglot to say hello. I'll have my
dad, Richard Petty will be withus, Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace,
Kenny Schrader, David Reagan, MaxPapas who ran Formula one and and Indy
Cars, Rutledge Wood from top GearAmerica, and Herschel Herschel Walker who's a

(05:14):
Heisman Trophy Winter NFL Superstar. He'llbe there with us. So they'll sign
autographs and take pictures. So itwas funny. I was there on our
site inspection and I ate over atsports Fans pizza. Oh yeah, great
pizza. Let me go ahead andjust give them. They've given them big
and ran into like two or threeNASCAR fans over there and they were like,
no way, Kyle Petty's standing inhere. This is the off season.

(05:36):
He wouldn't come to Betton door fileand I'm like, yeah, I'm
ready for my motorcycle ride. Sothat was pretty cool. There are race
fans there, so I know you'rethere. Come out and see it.
Oh absolutely, Yeah. They probablythought it was like dinner drive or something
like where's the camera? Yeah,that's exactly they thought. I was going
to have another celebrity there, abigger celebrity there. I was going to

(05:58):
have dinner with. Let me tellyou the pizza is the celebrity there.
I will tell you that. Okay, well good, Yes, so people
should come out and they should seeyou, And yes, you're right,
there's some huge NASCAR fans that areright here in the Quad City area,
including Danny, who is talking toyou right now. Oh So if I
get a little tongue tied, it'sjust because I'm just so darned excited to
talk to you and to get themessage out about this because I've been following

(06:20):
the Kyle Petty Charity Ride for likea long time, but this is the
first time it's coming into our area, so I definitely want people to come
out. So again, Ile Casinoand you're there, just check the website
and maybe you're going to be somewhereelse along the route. We would love
you to stop out at those placesand get involved. How can people donate

(06:42):
Kyle? Yeah, listen, youcan go online to Kyle Petty Charity Ride
or dot com or Victory Junction dotorg, or just come out and see
us. We do a program calledbecause we stop at a lot of gas
stations and inconvenience stores, and wedo a program called Small Change, Big
Impact. And you know you goin to buy a pack of gum or
buy a coffee and you got anextra twenty nine cent in your pocket,

(07:04):
just drop it in the tire.That twenty nine cent will helps send a
kid to camp and help change achild's life, and that that small change
has a huge impact on these children. So please, you know, if
you fill it in your heart todonate, please do If you're fill it
in your heart to pray, pleasedo that too, because we these kids
and us on the road and whatwe're doing. Prayer always helps us along

(07:28):
the way. It kicks off onMay fourth. And if you're wondering where
they're going to be at, andyou all of a sudden see like a
load of motorcycles, that's where theyare all the way to. Yeah,
that's you, guys. I assumethat you're going to have maybe some kind
of an escort or do you justsort of go just with the wind.
No, So here's what we do. We have a paid car that goes

(07:50):
with us, my wife and anotherguy riding the past car and they pace
us in. And a Dodge LosDodge Chargers that just looks you'll know you
know it's a cop car when yousee it. We bring one from from
North Carolina that escort us and helpus along the way. We have two
doctors and two nurses that go withus. We have two or three paramedics

(08:11):
that ride bikes that are in thepack with us. We have our own
group, We have our own We'rea moving city in a lot of ways.
But yes, the local jurisdictions listen, the Iowa State Patrolled and the
local Sheriff's department, the local municipalitiesthere their police force have. These guys
have gone over and beyond, beenover backwards to help us get into the

(08:33):
city and get out of the city, so you'll know we're there. We
don't want to cause havoc, butwe want you to know we're there.
Yes, yes, absolutely so again, it's kicks off May fourth. It
ends up in North Carolina on Maytenth. Around this area. You're probably
going to start seeing them on Monday, May sixth, and then seeing them

(08:56):
depart sometime on May seventh, Sobe looking for them. Make sure you
get out and donate, get anautograph or two, but make sure you
support Victory Junction. It's so importantfor the Kyle Petty charity right across America.
Kyle, thank you so much.You just made my day, my
year, my lifetime. Thank you. Thank you so much. Danny,

(09:16):
thank you for having us and listen, you get a chance, come out.
We'll get a picture taken with youbetween me and my dad. Oh
my gosh. Well yes, Imight faint, but I'll be there if
I promise you that. Thank you. If you or your organization would like
to be featured on Quad City forHim, please visit the contact page on
our station website now back to PatLuke and Danny linnowe we've got Ron May

(09:41):
here. Ron May a name thata lot of people go, wait,
I think I've heard this, Yeah, because he's in everything now along with
doing a little multitasking. Maybe whenyou go to Circa twenty one you'll see
some of the efforts of his directingon Jersey Boys Circa twenty one dot com
you want to find out more.This isn't about Jersey Boys, because this

(10:03):
is something that I was surprised Ithink both Dany and I were surprised at
we have an opera troupe in thequad Sees. Indeed we do, yes,
a professional opera company to boot.Maybe I could tell you a little
bit about how we got started.Would that be helpful? You know what,
Ron, I think this is theperfect forum to be able to do
that. Go ahead, Okay.Well, years ago I was real good

(10:26):
friends with some students who were atMary christ College, and one particular woman,
Roseanne Duncomb, got a wonderful scholarshipto go study in Salzburg, Austria,
at a place called the Mozartee.She was a wonderful soprano and she
took that leap of faith didn't speakany German, but just went over there

(10:48):
and just bloomed and blossomed and becamea professional opera singer all across Europe and
was quite successful. Melt met herhusband Mark, who was from England doing
the exact same thing, and aftersinging for about twenty years in different opera
houses across Europe, Roseanne got homesickand said, my parents are aging and

(11:11):
I want to go home and bewith them. And so they both decided
to hang up the professional career andthey moved back to the Quad Cities and
started teaching voices, you know,in a studio setting. And I got
reconnected with them after all those yearsafter college, and said, why is
it that we have all these singersin the Quad Cities And there are numerous

(11:33):
over the years who were professional singersin a classical sense, and there's no
outlet for them around here, andthey have to leave or they have to
go off to other venues. Sowe put our heads together and we said,
you know what, we should dosomething about it. So we started
Opera Quad Cities in two thousand andeleven. No, I'm sorry, two
thousand and one got that wrong.You cut yourself off on ten years there,

(11:58):
Ron, Come on, that's alot of us going by, hasn't
it It really has? It reallyhas. I mean it's almost like we're
starting over again after COVID, likea lot of performing arts groups. So
anyway, we do a lot ofdifferent things over the year, but each
year we try to do a fullystaged opera, and this year we're going
to do La bom one of themost famous operas in the world by Puccini,

(12:22):
with professional singers from the local arearadius of about ninety miles. We
have some wonderful, wonderful singers whoare building their careers, you know,
they're trying to establish themselves, andwe're happy to do that. So that's
what we're doing. It'll be Junetwenty first and twenty third. That's a

(12:43):
Friday evening and a Sunday afternoon,and we're going to hold it at the
Bettendorf High School Performing Arts Center.Oh that's all right, Yeah, that's
a lovely setting Ron to do that, and they really have a nice facility
over at Bettendorf. I was justgoing to say, this is a great
way for people to get to knowthe great singers that are here in the

(13:05):
Quad cities again, like you're sayingin a classical sense, because many people
they'll go off to like Chicago,and they'll hear the Quad city people and
they don't even know they're from here. That's so true. In fact,
there was a Kyle R. Kettelsenis a famous baritone who hails from Clinton,

(13:26):
who was a voice student of mindat Augustana way back in the late
seventies early eighties, and he's nowhe sings all over the world. He
just sang at the met with ReneeFleming in the Hours, a brand new
opera that was broadcast at the cinemasout here in Devenport. Yeah, we
have some great history of wonderful singersfrom right here. And with some of

(13:50):
the operas, there are people thatare not necessarily fans. But those same
people that maybe aren't necessarily opera fans, they probably know at least two or
three of the songs, if notmore, that come from those operas,
even though they claim they don't likeopera absolutely right. You know. I

(14:11):
was just coming to my wife Cindythe other day. We were watching television.
I don't even remember what the showwas, and there were like three
commercials in the evening that all hadopera themes as underscoring for whatever they were
trying to sell, and we justfound out to be so unusual. And
of course how many of us grewup, those of us with maybe a

(14:33):
few years on the calendar. Yeah, we know where you're going on is
go ahead. Remember Watching Bugs Bunnyand all of those cartoons and they were
all full of opera Ye, Imean really, I remember the Merry Melodies
where you're watching them build a skyscraperand nothing but opera music is there.

(14:56):
And we loved it. Yeah,how sneaky they were educating us and they
and we didn't even know that's right, subliminal. Well this is this is
fantastic. So this is another chanceto now how long has it been,
Well, you had a show lastyear, but or has there been a
bigger break between the the the operaswe've been recovering since COVID and we've did

(15:20):
The Pirates at Penzance one year andthen last year we did the Don Giovanni.
We've done the Marriage at Figureo,and before COVID we did we were
even at the Adler doing Rigoletto andCarmen. Oh, it's it's been really
quite wonderful. We have a fullorchestra for our annual events, funded wonderfully

(15:41):
by the Hubble Waterman Foundation. Wehave some grants that support us. We
just want the public to know whatgreat things are out there so they can
come discover themselves and enjoy the operaand not just become come out and support
the opera, become a fanatic ofthe opera. So and I know,
Danny, you've got to you wantto say something again. But we're going

(16:03):
to circle back on this the bigevents. It's in June, but give
the dates again and how people canget tickets. Tickets will go on sale
May first on event Bright and theproduction is called La bo M by Puccini.
It will be performed on Friday evening, June twenty first, at seven
point thirty at the Bettendorf Performing ArtCenter that's at Bettendorf High School. And

(16:27):
then it will also be performed onSunday afternoon, June twenty third, at
three pm, also at the PerformingArt Center Bettendorf. And tickets again.
This is a great way to supportlocal entertainment in the Quad Cities. Local
musicians, from orchestra to singers tobackstage. Everything is within a ninety mile

(16:51):
radius of the Quad Cities. Weare the only professional opera company between Des
Moines and Chicago. And I hadtalked to somebody else that was involved in
the theater group. I mean,really just the local theater on the Quad
Cities. It's amazing how big itis. But we have all of these

(17:11):
different groups. And I talked toone of them the other day, and
here it is, I'm the bluecollar snob over here that you know,
I don't want to check out thesethings. But he said, don't we
have enough theater groups? And hesaid, no, we can't have enough
theater groups. And certainly, whenwe talk about opera, we're very lucky
to have Quad City Symphony Orchestra tobe able to come out and check out

(17:34):
all that. The culture that's inthis market is incredible, and opera certainly
is one of those that people haveto check out. You know, I'm
glad you said that they have tocheck it out. And I'll tell you
why. We hear opera on commercialsand we know the tunes from our cartoon
days and we grow up to it. And sometimes there's even on public radio.

(17:56):
There are some people that like tolisten to the opera broadcasts that are
done on Sunday afternoons sometimes, andthat's okay too, but classical singing and
opera particularly, it's nothing really strange. It's a storytelling event, just like
any piece of theater. But whatreally is quite amazing, and why you
have to do it in person,is that you sit there and you hear

(18:19):
this human voice soaring to the extremelevel of what a voice can do with
acting and a full orchestra underneath.It's indescribable. And I didn't really care
for opera that much myself growing up, but once I discovered it in person,
and once I sat in a seatand I saw and discovered and was

(18:41):
just overwhelmed with the emotions of itall and the power of what the voice
can do. I mean, really, it just blows you away. I
don't have any other words to describeit. And that's why I want people
to understand. This is something thatyou have to experience in person. You
can't listen to it on the radio. And once you know the stories,

(19:03):
of course, officionados will go andbuy a recording and then they can sit
and listen to it with a glassof brandy or whatever, you know,
and listen to it. But itcould be something Wait a minute, Ronnie,
could be some it could be water. But I understand what you but
you gotta have Pinky's up when youdo it. Pinky's up, whatever your
choice of beverage is. Is whatI'm saying is it starts. It all

(19:26):
starts the love of classical singing andthe love of opera and really all kinds
of classical music, even the symphonyand chamber music and choral music. It
has to be experienced in person.And that's what we want people to think
about when we see all these eventsaround town, and not just opera,
but all these wonderful opportunities to experiencesomething different. Maybe that's out of the

(19:51):
ordinary for the average guy. Comeand try it out and see what you
think. And I bet you anything, you'll come away going wow, I
never knew. So, ron Ifsomebody is listening and they're like, oh,
I do this myself, I wouldlove to be a part of the
group. I want to help out. I want to you know, whatever
they want. How can they getinvolved, how can they get in touch

(20:14):
with you? What do they needto do? We have a website,
of course, doesn't everybody have awebsite quad Cities dot org or Opera QC
dot org, or just go onthe internet and search for Opera quad Cities
and you'll find us. And there'ssome links in there to volunteer, to
purchase tickets, links to event brightto get a ticket, and there's the

(20:37):
ways of contacting us with our contactinfo and email addresses and all kinds of
things. But that's probably the easiestway to find out about auditions, how
to volunteer and that sort of things. So it's Opera QC dot org,
ron May Opera quad Cities and thebig event coming up. As we wrap

(20:59):
up our interview, why don't yougive the dates again and the ways to
get those tickets so we can getbig crowds out there for both those events.
We appreciate that, all right.The show is La bo M by
Puccini, which was the basis forthe Great Musical Rent if you remember that
one, So labo M. Itwill be June twenty first at seven point

(21:22):
thirty and Saturday, or i meanSunday, June twenty third at three pm
at the bettnder Performing Arts Center,which is at Bettendorf High School. Tickets
will go on sale on event brightstarting May first, and we'd love to
see everybody come and discover opera.Our slogan is everyday Emotions, extraordinary music,

(21:45):
so hope everybody will. If youor your organization would like to be
featured on Quad City Forum, pleasevisit the contact page on our station website.
Now back to Pat Luke and DannyLinnowe. So we're talking to Kathy
Brandt and Scott Nauman, and we'retalking about the American Heart Association and their

(22:07):
walks that are happening all over thecountry, but certainly about the Quad Cities
Heartwalk. And I'm sure Kathy probablyhas a little bit more of a regional
look at the whole things, butguys, let's start talking heart Walk.
Yeah, thanks so much, AndI'm forever grateful for Kathy and her leadership.
She's been a dedicated volunteer and tremendousleader for the American Heart Association for

(22:29):
many, many years. And itdoesn't seem to have a clock or a
timetable at whatever I need. She'sthere to help our community. And whether
that's education, advocacy, or justbeing there for a friendly year to try
to build a sponsorship or something fora company. She's phenomenal, So we're
glad to have her on board leadingour efforts here in the Quad Cities.

(22:52):
Well, and Kathy, I thinkit's interesting as much experience as you bring,
You're like twenty two, Now,how does that happen? And you've
been around for and you know whatit probably is? It's because you've been
walking forever. So that's you've kindof reversed the aging process. Well,
you know what, having Scott isour heartwalk chair certainly reduces stress. So

(23:15):
I don't age as quickly as Icould. So Kathy, why don't we
start with you? Yes, weare. The Quad Cities has challenged to
step up to Dubuke and so ourgoal is two hundred thousand dollars this year.
But within the Quad Citi's Heart Walk, we very much want it to
be a community inclusive event. Wewant everybody to be involved. My goal

(23:38):
for the Quad City's Heart Walk isthat so many people are at the walk
that the Quad City shuts down becauseeverybody's at the heart walk. Heart disease
impacts absolutely everybody. Losing one outof every three Americans heart disease means that
nobody is untouched by heart disease andwe want to create healthier communities. We
want people to live happier lives.So that's what the Heart Walk is all

(23:59):
about. It's getting people up andmoving, it's creating a sense of community,
and it's raising funds for research,education and training as well as community
awareness. I like how she slippedin that total. There, Scott,
you know, two hundred thousand.Okay, Scott, how are we going
to do that? Well, wecould get one person to write a check
for two hundred thousand dollars. Yep, there we go. Now, Mike
could do it right now, guys, but that check would be bad.

(24:22):
So I don't think we can dothat. I mean we could, right,
But honestly, if everybody does alittle bit and every dollar does matter.
People are in their workplaces, they'recoming up with creative ways to raise
funds. Some of the teachers aredoing like a casual Friday where they can
wear jeans. Some people are doingchili cookoffs. There are many, many
creative ways to raise money. Somepeople are just digging into their pocketbooks and

(24:48):
sending us you know, amounts.But at the end of the day,
there is some some place for everyonewithin this walk. I mean, when
you talk about community, right,you talk about people coming together, So
if people have means, then theycan throw some dollars at it, but
sometimes they're they're walking in memory ofor in support of a survivor, and

(25:11):
it's very personally meaningful to that person. So if they get together with their
other family members or with their companyand they all have their personalized T shirts,
that's a heck of a moment forthose folks, and that's what matters.
You know, you come to thisthing either in need of support or
you know some collegial relationships, oryou're there to offer support. So it's

(25:34):
pretty cool the way this thing evolves. And when we talk about the pandemics,
it's certainly changed a lot of waysthat some of these fundraisers were done,
Kathy, it still brought out somegreat options. Well, and you
brought up the pandemic, which there'sI had just learned something recently. The
pandemic did change how we did things. We've have gone back to our in

(25:57):
person events, which we are extremereally excited about and really want to make
it a very festive and celebratory event. Before the pandemic, we've been the
number one killer since nineteen nineteen andThe only reason we weren't in nineteen nineteen
was because of the Spanish flu,which was our previous pandemic. But then
during COVID we actually got more heartsurvivors and stroke survivors because of COVID,

(26:22):
So we were you know, atnineteen we were waiting for the CDC to
come out with the numbers. Wewere so close to dropping to the number
two spot. The good news iscancer dropped, and they dropped enough to
stay in the number two spot.Because we don't want to get it by
them increasing. We want to getit by both of us decreasing. But
then in twenty twenty, our mortalityrate from cardiovascular disease jumped back up to

(26:45):
two thousand and three rates. Wehad been going down every year for seventeen
years, and that work was undonebecause of COVID. So we are working
on changing that trajectory back to adecline instead of an increase, and we
are again working towards getting closer tothat number two spot, and eventually we

(27:06):
want to get down to number three, number four, and to the point
where we don't know heart disease doesn'texist. But to your point about getting
people up and moving that's a bigpart of it. The American culture is
just not cooperating with heart health.People need to eat healthier, people need
to be mentally well, they needto take care of themselves, they need
to get good sleep, and theyneed to move more. So the Heartwalk

(27:30):
embodies all of that, which iswhy I think it's such a such a
great event for people to participate in. All Right, Scott, Now we
talk about activity and getting people moving. How can people get involved right now
to help out and get some nicemomentum for June eighth for the Quad City
version of the heart Walk. Yeah. Well, we've learned a lot over
the last couple of years that I'vebeen partnering with Kathy and kind of sharing

(27:52):
the executive leadership team. But whenwe got our act together last year and
even a little bit the year before, it's like, Wow, if we
only we had talked about this inFebruary March, we would have had time
to get more engagement and understanding andbuy in at the workplace level. So
I think it's critical right now thatwe do our jobs to get into companies,

(28:15):
to get into you know, thecommunication media as we're doing now,
to be able to make sure thatthis thing is it does? Is there
a heart walk coming up? Anddidn't I hear about that? You know,
so it's due. It's time toget the word out as we're doing,
and then try to get people tosay I see myself as a part
of this event because you know,prickly without having a real official entrance fee,

(28:37):
you know, if you have abeautiful day on June eighth, a
wonderful Saturday morning, I mean,there's really no reason why folks couldn't or
shouldn't come down to the Schwebert Parkand be a part of this thing,
because, like Kathy said, everyone'slife is impacted by this. So again
we want to encourage as many peopleas possible and it's open to anybody and

(29:00):
everybody. There's we want to seeeverybody from the surrounding communities as well as
from the five quad Cities. Andto register and get more information or to
find my contact information, you goto Quad Citiesheartwalk dot org, qu A
d c ti S heartwalk dot org. You've been listening to Quad City Forum,

(29:22):
a weekly community service program produced byiHeartRadio. If you are your nonprofit
organization would like to be featured,please visit the contact page in our station
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