QC Forum - 6-2-24

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 a Quad City Forum,Pat Luke and Denny Linhowe. Lexi Bowl
from Guilda's Club, the development andevent manager, has a lot of things

(00:20):
going on, always a lot ofthings on a plate. In fact,
if we just picture a dinner plate, it's completely full. There's stuff kind
of spilling out on the ends.That's pretty much Lexi's day every day in
Lexi for Gildas Club. The peoplethat have supported Gilda's Club over the years,
they know all about it. Butas you guys celebrate twenty five years
now, why didn't you tell somepeople a little bit about Gilda's Club and

(00:42):
all the great things they do.Yeah. So at Gildas Club, we
offer no cost supportive services to anyonebeing impacted by cancer in the community.
So whether that's the person with thediagnosis or their loved ones, we're here
to help them navigate their cancer journeyand give them the support and community that
they need will navigating that. Youmake it sound fairly simple, but it's

(01:03):
a little bit tougher than that,and certainly it's it's more involved in that,
and yet at the same time,all of that takes money to have
that happen. So as people arelistening to you this morning, and maybe
they want to volunteer, or theywant to find out more, or they
just want to donate, numbers ora website that they could go to,

(01:23):
so they can go to GILDASCLUBQC dotorg slash donate to make a donation,
or they can call five six threethree two six seven five zero four to
learn more about how their donation isgoing to make a difference. Last year
alone, we saw a sixty onepercent increase in visits to our facilities,
and we've just seen a vast amountof growth in this past year. We've

(01:48):
added three new support groups in twentytwenty four alone, and then we are
also offering free meals now with ameal collaboration with a local meal prepper.
And then we actually have our wigssalon opening here in the next few weeks,
which you're really excited about. We'redoing a ribbon cutting so anyone can
walk in and get a free wig, because wigs can be expensive and we

(02:10):
know that that's important to a lotof people. It's hard to lose your
hair, so we want to beable to offer that as a free resource.
Well, it's a self esteem issuetoo, and of course you still
have the food with the angerer Eachis still a great way for people to
grab something free too if they needit. Certainly, when you start talking
about somebody in the family or thatperson dealing with cancer, the last thing

(02:32):
they need to worry about is wherethe next meal is coming from. And
with Guildes's Club and anger Each,that's a fairly simple, simple answer to
that question. Right. Yes,we've actually hated out almost four hundred meals
and twelve weeks since that program hasstarted, so it's been a very in
demand resource. But in addition toall of that, we offer you know,

(02:54):
our healthy lifestyle activity so people cancome in and do free yoga.
We offer our free supportive services,resources and referrals. We really offer a
variety of programs. Typically when peoplecome in our doors for the first time,
they're blown away by everything that wehave to offer, just because sometimes

(03:14):
people don't realize until they're in needof it at that moment. Well,
how many times do people drive bya certain building and they know business is
there, but they don't even knowwhat the business is all about. And
some people they know about Guilda's Club, but they really don't realize. Okay,
yep, it's connected to cancer,but they don't know all the other
ways that you support people and theirfamilies with cancer. So all you have

(03:38):
to do is just keep up thegreat work, right. Oh yeah,
Well, certainly a big event.When we talk about fundraisers, a big
one that's coming up. By thetime this airs, we will be in
June, but this will be atthe end of the month, and it's
a big race that it sounds like, what the second year in a row
you've been in co Valley for theGuilda's Quad Cities Run for Hope. Yes,

(04:01):
we're really excited to be out inCole Valley again this year. The
village of Coal Valley has been verywelcoming and we just want to give a
special thank you to the Rock andthe police station and the fire department.
They've welcomed us with open arms.They actually donate all their time to help
us put on this event and it'sjust very special to us. We do

(04:21):
the five k and it's actually apretty unique route, so it goes through
the residential neighborhood. There's little hillsand whatnot in there, so well,
wait a minute, Lexi, ooh, whoa, whoa, who don't tell
me about the little hill because there'ssome big hills out there too. There's
one big hill. But once youknow we're that big hill, the rest
are a little well. When youknow that you're you're doing it all for

(04:43):
a great cause and you've got friendsout there there, nobody's going to leave
you behind. So hopefully we justhave some some good weather for But you've
also got that one mile fun runtoo. Yes, if you're not about
the hills and you're more of aflat land surface runner or walker, we
have something for you as well.It's just the one mile fun run and
you can actually bring your dog alongand the Indiana that says cancer bites mm

(05:08):
hmm. Our Doggie Dash is sponsoredby Purina, so we'll have Pirina down
there and we'll have some fun dogtreats and all that good stuff. But
yeah, it's just such a greatday to come together as a community.
And maybe you have a loved onewho's been impacted by cancer or a friend
in your family. Whomever it maybe. We actually have custom bibs where

(05:29):
you can pin photos of the personyou're running for to say I'm running for
my mom or I'm running for grandpa, and it's just a nice way to
honor them and show them your support. Now, even though we don't want
to say walk ups are welcome,because we also don't want to rush at
five minutes before the race starts,where two hundred people come in and say,
hey, is there still an opening? Is there a way for people

(05:54):
to maybe start this process a littleearly so they can be a part of
things on June twenty ninth. Yes, they can visit Gildas Club QC dot
org slash Run and they can registeronline. It's pretty simple if they aren't
much of a runner. We dostill need quite a few volunteers, so
there's always that option as well.But be sure to sign up before June

(06:15):
ninth, because we do have toplace our order for our shirts, so
we won't be guaranteeing shirts after Juneninth. June ninth, and again,
it could all start by going tothe website, which is again Gildas Club
QC dot org slash Run, DinaCommandatory, Quad City market coordinator and business
development leader of the Better Business Bureauserving now when they say here greater Iowa

(06:40):
quad cities, you do work intoIllinois and the Suland region too. But
Dina, it's amazing to me howlong the Better Business Bureau has been around,
what over one hundred years now,and still a lot of people don't
really know what it's all about orhow it can play a big part in
their lives. Right. Yeah,Typically people think that the Better Business Bureau

(07:01):
is just where you go to complaint, right and you know, log a
complaint or whatever, which obviously wedo take complaints. You know, we
accredit these businesses, you know,do background checks, make sure that they
have truth and advertising, integrity andtheir business, but are also responding to
those complaints. You know, we'rebehind the business. But also the consumers

(07:21):
trusth is really hard to come bythese days. Right, We just do
the work and we you know,hold them accountable. So then if you
go to our website and you searchto say, you know, say you're
going to get a roof, youcan go to the website find all the
accredited businesses go from there. There'sso many people getting scammed and taken for
money and people that kind of showup at your door, and we try

(07:44):
to get to elderly seminars and youknow, some of the other shows and
give scam presentations and make people awareof what to look out for. So,
I mean, we're all boots onthe ground, but you know there's
a lot going on behind the scenesalso. But it's very beneficial and also
for the businesses. You know,we offer a second website for them and
they can build that how much theywant. We have it people that will

(08:07):
help them, They get more marketingtools, and it just really helps the
consumers choose who they want to hirefor their job. What about a place
that's not somebody wants us to complain, but they're not a part of the
Better Business Bureau, or at leastthat business doesn't show up there. This
process still helps in that regard too. Yes, funny thing is I feel

(08:28):
like more of the complaints we getare for non accredited businesses, and so
yeah, we still follow through withthose complaints. Also, Cody and des
Moines is our main person that followsthe complaints and sees them through and kind
of one of the other For me, this seems like one of the biggest
benefits is Cody will take the complaintand wait for a response. Whether the
business is accredited or not, we'restill going to help the consumer, but

(08:52):
just to give everybody the benefit ofthe doubt, we wait for their response,
wait for them to offer a resolution, and not tell everything is completely
done. Then we put the reviewout for public or the complaint in public.
So like if you go to Googletoday or Facebook or whatever, somebody
can put a review on there,and if the person, you know,

(09:13):
if the business owner is busy andhe doesn't see it for a week,
you know, then that could causea lot of harm to their business.
So we don't put anything out forthe public until we've given everybody a chance
to put put in the complaint,respond and resolve. And I think that's
very helpful for businesses also exactly,Yeah, especially when we start to talk

(09:35):
about the knee jerk world that welive in right now, where it almost
seems like somebody wants to complain thisway where you guys are able to kind
of tap the brakes a little bit, right, right, So so a
person's not you know, we havewe have to uphold integrity also, like,
so we just make sure that everybodyhas a chance to talk before or

(10:00):
anybody in the public hears it.Because of those knee jerk reactions, Like
that's why I'm saying, people goon Yelp or Google or whatever, and
if the business hasn't had a chanceto respond, I mean, they could
grow. You know a large groupof people that now don't like that business
because of that complaint. But weresolve it before we put it out there,
because there's integrity in that also,oh exactly. And for some people

(10:20):
that think, well if I goto the BBB and they've not done it
before they go, is it goingto cost or how long is it going
to take? Not that long?And it's all free, right. And
one thing I would really like topoint out is that, you know,
and even for myself, before Icame onto the Better Business Bureau, you
know, in my mind, Ithought I just typed in Better Business Bureau,
clicked on whatever came up, andput in a complaint and that just

(10:43):
goes out to the internet. That'snot what people want to do. So
you would want to do the BBBdot org and then forward Flash for us
and our community were Forward Flash Iowa. But whatever state you're in, you
would want to add that state,and then your complaint's going to go to
actual people. Yeah, repeat thatagain, just so they know. If
you just type in the BBB dotorg and forward slash and then the state

(11:07):
that you live in, you'll getan actual like one of us, we'll
actually get the complaint. So forIowa, ours go to Des Moines and
for Illinois, I believe they goto Peoria. So your complaint will go
where it needs to go. Butalso, if you do the forward slash,
you'll find local businesses that are accredited. So if you just type in
the Better Business Bureau, that's that'snot going to work. So that's one

(11:31):
thing I've been trying to really getacross to people is that to search it
in your state specifically. Now,when we talk about the BBB, we
also want you're not a judicial branch, so it's not like you're legislatively you
can say don't do this, butyou still despite the fact that you're maybe
not a you know, it's nota judicial branch of the government, you

(11:54):
guys still get results. I thinkit's a fairly a fairly high number of
people that are you're resolving these complaintsfor sure. Yeah, and there's you
know, we can take it quitefar. Obviously, we can't recover anybody's
money that would be on the businessto do that. We can hold that
business accountable and put pressure on him, I suppose, and maybe that's not

(12:16):
the right word, but you know, nobody, nobody wants to have a
complaint holding over their head and like. And we have letter ratings, so
if you're an A plus business,whether you're a credited or not, it
means that you're resolving your complaints.If you go below an A plus for
us personally, then you know,we have to revoke the membership. Everybody

(12:41):
doesn't just get to be accredited.But yeah, so we also can contact
you know, the FTC and thingslike that and try and help people a
little bit further. And it doesn'tcost any money. We're not attorneys obviously,
but we do advocate for the consumerthat's been wronged in any way.
If you're just tuning it, talkto dena commandatory with the Better Business Bureau.

(13:03):
And when you didn't want to bragtoo much about this, when you
think about all the work now thesestats are a little old, but with
all of the complaints and the resolutionsthat have happened, over the years,
you're at about you're over eighty percentin terms of getting some sort of answer
for the consumer. And that worksin a lot of different ways. It
works for the businesses too. Andthis isn't like a I don't want to

(13:26):
use a golf metaphor, because maybeyou can't always the sports examples don't always
translate to business. But it's likepeople think with the rules of golf,
they're all there to rip us off, and that's not the case. And
it's really important for a business tobe with the Better Business Bureau because you
all of a sudden have credibility.Exactly being accredited is important, especially like

(13:50):
I said, in this day andage, I mean trust. There's not
very many of us that just outwardlytrust people anymore. You know, we're
all kind of skeptical, and soit's really nice to know that we've done
the groundwork already. We've checked thisbusiness out, we've checked out the owners,
we've done the background checks on them, and we're holding them accountable.
And I would say that our complaintresolved stats have probably gone up just because

(14:15):
people are really starting to catch onhow beneficial it is to use the BBB
for their business, but also forconsumers, it's really taken off and it
really probably adds all the more stressfor everybody involved in the BBB taking care
of it, but the results arehappening in a positive way and for people.
Again, you were just touching onit. But if you want,

(14:35):
if you need to make a complaint, the thing they should do the state
things the big thing, but itdoesn't matter what state in the union BBB,
how do you go through this processagain? Or what's the website again
to go to and make that complaint? To make a complaint. There's also
a scam tracker on there, soif you're if you've been a victim of
a scam, you can give usthat information on the web website. Also,

(15:01):
if you're and if you're searching fora business to do any work for
you, go to BBB dot org, forward slash the state that you live
in. And we are nonprofit andnon governmental, so I mean, yeah,
we're busy, but like we loveour jobs. So this is I
mean, it's so great to likeuse us for all of these things because

(15:22):
this is what we live for.Yeah, you're the passion. I can
hear the passion in your voice.There DTA and a big thing that's going
to be coming up here fairly soonis the Torch Awards with the Better Business
Bureau. Right, so we haveour annual Torch Awards. We have it
here in the Quad Cities for ourlocal businesses, and then there's one in
Des Moines as well. We usuallydo them about a week apart, and

(15:46):
so we honor businesses that you know, have practice with all integrity, kept
up on all their complaints or justshowed truth and advertising things like that,
held to their contract. And thenwe also get about a Student of Integrity
scholarship. We give that to twostudents in the Quad Cities and three students
in Des Moines and that's a twentyfive hundred dollars scholarship. It's all because

(16:08):
we have amazing businesses that sponsor thisevent. So it kind of all comes
together and it's just a fantastic eventto go to. And you know,
we have live music and drinks andfood for everyone, and then we have
our award and scholarship ceremony and it'sjust a great thing to be a part
of. Okay, now we're talkingabout how the Torch Awards can honor the

(16:32):
great businesses around the area. Canthe consumers be a part of this too,
Absolutely so. If you go tothe website the BBB dot org word
slash Iowa, there's a link onthere to purchase tickets, or you can
call us directly and you know somepeople we will invite as vip SO businesses
that are interested in learning more,consumers that just want to kind of be
part of it. Yeah, there'splenty of ways to end up at the

(16:53):
Torch Awards with us. Well.The Better Business Bureau has been doing this
for a long time for an anybodythat has questions whether they want to register
their business or going through that processto be a part of the Better Business
Bureau, or any other questions,they may have website that they can maybe
go to to find out more alongwith contacting you. The phone number is

(17:14):
five six three three five five oneseven zero five or eight hundred two two
two one six zero zero. Thewebsite is BBB dot org forward slash Iowa
for me directly, but you canjust put in your state. I personally
am located at twenty four to thirtyfive Kimberly Road, Back, North Iowa
five two seven two two. Lotsof ways to get a hold of us.

(17:36):
There it is, and let's hope, let's hope nobody ever has to
use it, but we also knowthey're going to have to use it every
now and again. And it's greatthat you're there and keep out the great
work. If you or your organizationwould like to be featured on Quad City
Forum, please visit the contact pageon our station website. Now back to
Pat Luke and Danny linhou Ron here. Ron may a name that a lot

(18:00):
of people go, wait, didI see him? Yeah, because he's
in everything now along with doing alittle multitasking. Maybe when you go to
circu twenty one you'll see some ofthe efforts of his directing on Jersey Boys
Circuit twenty one dot com. Youwant to find out more. But Ron,
this isn't about Jersey Boys, becausethis is something that I was surprised

(18:22):
I think both Dany and I weresurprised at. We have an opera troop
in the Quad Cities. Indeed,we do, yes, a professional opera
company to boot. Maybe I couldtell you a little bit about how we
got started. Would that be helpful? You know what, Ron, I
think this is the perfect forum tobe able to do that. Go ahead,

(18:42):
okay, Well, years ago Iwas real good friends with some students
who were at Mary Christ College,and one particular woman, Roseanne Duncomb,
got a wonderful scholarship to go studyin Salzburg, Austria, at a place
called the Mozarte. She was awonderful soprano and she took that leap of

(19:03):
faith, didn't speak any German,but just went over there and just bloomed
and blossomed and became a professional operasinger all across Europe and was quite successful.
Melt met her husband Mark, whowas from England doing the exact same
thing, and after singing for abouttwenty years in different opera houses across Europe,

(19:26):
Roseanne got homesick and said, myparents are aging and I want to
go home and be with them.And so they both decided to hang up
the professional career and they moved backto the Quad Cities and started teaching voices
in a studio setting. And Igot reconnected with them after all those years
after college, and said, whyis it that we have all these singers

(19:48):
in the Quad Cities. And therewere numerous over the years who were professional
singers in a classical sense, andthere's no outlet for them around here,
and they have to leave or theyhave to go off to other venues.
So we put our heads together andwe said, you know what, we
should do something about it. Sowe started Opera quad Cities in two thousand
and eleven. No, I'm sorry, two thousand and one, got that

(20:11):
wrong. You cut yourself off onten years there. Ron Come on,
that's a lot of it's flown by, hasn't it. It really has,
it really has. I mean it'salmost like we're starting over again after COVID,
like a lot of performing arts groups. So anyway, we do a
lot of different things over the year, but each year we try to do

(20:32):
a fully staged opera, and thisyear we're going to do Labom, one
of the most famous operas in theworld by Puccini, with professional singers from
the local area radius of about ninetymiles. We have some wonderful, wonderful
singers who are building their careers.You know, they're trying to establish themselves,

(20:53):
and we're happy to do that.So that's what we're doing. It'll
be June twenty first and twenty third. That's a Friday evening and a Sunday
afternoon and we'll get a hold itat 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 anice facility over at Bettendorf. I was

(21:17):
just going to say, this isa great way for people to get to
know the great singers that are herein the Quad Cities. Again, like
you're saying in a classical sense,because many people they'll go off to like
Chicago, and they'll hear the QuadCity people and they don't even know they're
from here. That's so true.In fact, there was a Kyle R.

(21:38):
Kettelsen is a famous baritone who hailsfrom Clinton, who was a voice
student of Mind at Augustana way backin the late seventies early eighties, and
he's now he sings all over theworld. He just sang at the met
with Renee Fleming in the Hours,a brand new opera that was broadcast at

(22:00):
the cinemas out here in Devenport.Yeah, we have some great history of
wonderful singers from right here, andwith some of the operas, there are
people that are not necessarily fans,But those same people that maybe aren't necessarily
opera fans, they probably know atleast two or three of the songs,

(22:22):
if not more, that come fromthose operas, even though they claim they
don't like opera, absolutely right.You know. I was just commenting to
my wife Cindy the other day.We were watching television. I don't even
remember what the show was, andthere were like three commercials in the evening
that all had opera themes as underscoringfor whatever they were trying to sell.

(22:45):
And we just found out to beso unusual. And of course, how
many of us grew up, thoseof us with maybe a few years on
the calendar. Yeah, we knowwhere you're going on is go ahead?
Remember watching Bugs, Bunny and allof those cartoons they were all full of
opera. Yeah, I mean really, I remember the Mary the Merry melodies

(23:06):
where you're watching them build a skyscraperand nothing but opera music is there,
and we loved it. Yeah,how sneaky they were. They were educating
us and they and we didn't evenknow. That's right, subliminal, Well,
this is this is fantastic. Sothis is another chance to now how

(23:27):
long has it been, Well,you had a show last year, but
or has there been a bigger breakbetween the UH the UH. The operas
we were we've been recovering since COVIDand we did the Pirates Appendance one year,
and then last year we did theDon Giovanni. We've done the marriage
at Figureo, and before COVID wedid we were even at the Adler doing

(23:52):
Rigoletto and Carmen. Oh. It'sit's been really quite wonderful. We have
a full orchestra for our annual events, and wonderfully by the Hubble Waterman Foundation,
we have some grants that support us. We just want the public to
know what great things are out thereso they can come discover it themselves and
enjoy the opera and not just comeout and support the opera, become a

(24:15):
fanatic of the opera. So andI know, Danny, you've got to
you want to say something again,but we're going to circle back on this.
The big events it's in June,but give the dates again and how
people can get tickets. Tickets willgo on sale May first on event right,
and the production is called La bom by Puccini. It will be

(24:37):
performed on Friday evening, June twentyfirst, at seven point thirty at the
Bettendorf Performing Art Center that's at BettendurfHigh School. And then it will also
be performed on Sunday afternoon, Junetwenty third, at three pm, also
at the Performing Art Center Bettonderf andtickets. Again, this is a great
way to support local entertainment the QuadCities, local musicians, from orchestra to

(25:04):
singers to backstage. Everything is withina ninety mile radius of the Quad Cities.
We are the only professional opera companybetween Des Moines and Chicago. And
I had talked to somebody else thatwas involved in the theater group. I
mean, really just the local theateron the Quad Cities. It's amazing how

(25:26):
big it is. But we haveall of these different groups. And I
talked to one of them the otherday and here it is, I'm the
blue collar snob over here that youknow, I don't want to check out
these things. But he said,don't we have enough theater groups? And
he said, no, we can'thave enough theater groups. And certainly when
we talk about opera, we're verylucky to have Quad City Symphony Orchestra to

(25:51):
be able to come out and checkout all that. The culture that's in
this market is incredible, and operacertainly is one of those that people have
to check out, you know.I'm glad you said that they have to
check it out. And I'll tellyou why. We hear opera on commercials
and we know the tunes from ourcartoon days and we grow up to it,

(26:11):
and sometimes there's even on public radio. There are some people that like
to listen to the opera broadcasts thatare done on Sunday afternoons sometimes, and
that's okay too, But classical singingand opera particularly, it's nothing really strange.
It's a storytelling event, just likeany piece of theater. But what
really is quite amazing, and whyyou have to do it in person,

(26:36):
is that you sit there and youhear this human voice soaring to the extreme
level of what a voice can dowith acting and a full orchestra underneath.
It's indescribable. And I didn't reallycare for opera that much myself growing up,
but once I discovered it in person, and once I sat in a

(26:56):
seat and I saw and discovered andwas just overwhelmed with the emotions of it
all and the power of what thevoice can do. I mean, really,
it just blows you away. Idon't have any other words to describing,
and that's why I want people tounderstand. This is something that you
have to experience in person. Youcan't just listen to it on the radio.

(27:18):
And once you know the stories,of course, officionados will go and
buy a recording and then they cansit and listen to it with a glass
of brandy or whatever you know,and it But it could be something wait
a minute, Ronnie, could besome it could be water. But I
understand what you but you gotta havePinky's up when you do it. Pinky's
up, whatever your choice of beverageis. Is what I'm saying is it

(27:42):
starts. It all starts the loveof classical singing and the love of opera
and really all kinds of classical music, even the symphony and chamber music and
choral music. It has to beexperienced in person. And that's what we
want people to think about when wesee all these events around town, and
not just opera, but all thesewonderful opportunities to experience something different. Maybe

(28:07):
that's out of the ordinary for theaverage guy. Come and try it out
and see what you think. AndI bet you anything, you'll come away
going wow, I never knew.So Ron. If somebody is listening and
they're like, oh, I dothis myself, I would love to be
a part of the group. Iwant to help out. I want to,

(28:27):
you know, whatever they want.How can they get involved, how
can they get in touch with you? What do they need to do?
We have a website, of course, doesn't everybody have a website quad Cities
dot org or Opera QC dot orgor just go on the internet and search
for Opera quad Cities and you'll findus. And there's some links in there

(28:48):
to volunteer, to purchase tickets,links to event bright to get a ticket,
and there's the ways of contacting uswith our contact info, email addresses
and all kinds of things. Butthat's probably the easiest way to find out
about auditions, how to volunteer andthat sort of thing. So it's Opera

(29:08):
QC dot org, Ron May Operaquad Cities and the big event coming up.
As we wrap up our interview,why don't you give the dates again
and the ways to get those ticketsso we can get big crowds out there
for both those events. We appreciatethat, all right. The show is

(29:29):
La bo m by Puccini, whichwas the basis for the Great musical Rent
if you remember that one, soLa Bom. It will be June twenty
first at seven point thirty and Saturday, or I mean Sunday, June twenty
third, at three pm at theBettendorf Performing Arts Center, which is at
Bettendorf High School. Tickets will goon sale on event Bright starting May first,

(29:55):
and we'd love to see everybody comeand discover opera. Our slogan is
everyday Emotions, Extraordinary Music, sohope everybody will give us a go.
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