September 3, 2025 • 42 mins
The Proffitts had a fun time hosting the Wises at the beginning of August in Wichita. Donnie and Rhonda join Johnny and Eric to talk about their trip. A two part episode, we get into the drive to Wichita, and discuss the first two days of their stay in the ICT. Make sure to tune in next week to hear about their Memphis trip and their final day in Kansas.
Be sure to follow the Wises online.
Donnie Wise -
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/wisedrjr (@wisedrjr)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisedrjr (@wisedrjr)
Rhonda Wise -
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Rubes4real (@Rubes4Real)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Rubes23SC (@Rubes23SC)
Earned Fun Average -
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earnedfunavg/ (@EarnedFunAvg)
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/earnedfunavg/ (@EarnedFunAvg)
Blue Sky: https://www.bsky.app/profile/earnedfunavg.bsky.social (@EarnedFunAvg.bsky.social)
Curved Brim Media -
Website: https://www.curvedbrimmedia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curvedbrimmedia/ (@CurvedBrimMedia)
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CurvedBrim/ (@CurvedBrim)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:17):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome toanother episode of the Earned
Fun Average Podcast.
I'm your host Eric Profit,coming to you from Wichita,
Kansas, and with me as always.
I have, Johnny Bowen, of course,coming tonight, under the light
of a neon baseball.
It from the, Bayou BroadcastCenter, course designations of,
uh, honoree member of theAbilene Flying Bison.
(00:38):
Charles Gumbo Gator Super fan,and, and again, always part of
the Chateau Dave baby King.
Well, I think he's got that downpretty well at this point.
That's a nice long introductionto where he is recording from.
He just keeps adding onto itevery time.
But Johnny, we uh, have a couplespecial guests with us today,
so.
(00:58):
for anybody that might've seenonline, uh, we had not one, but
two wises that were here inWichita, so we're gonna do Wises
to Wichita.
And so we're gonna have a littleconversation, kind of how the
trip went, but we have not onlyMr.
Mayor Donny Wise, but we alsohave Mrs.
Mayor Rhonda Wise.
Rhonda, how are you?
I'm great.
(01:18):
How are y'all?
Good.
I'm glad you could join us.
Uh, very good.
Mr.
Mayor.
How are you?
I'm doing fine as well.
Awesome.
Well, coming at you from the,the Mayor's mansion in
Lexington, South Carolina.
I'm on the second floor.
She's on the first floor.
He's gonna do an introductionlike you there, Johnny.
I don't have all of the, uh,accoutrements that Mr.
(01:39):
Boland has.
I've been called Plenty Thingsin life.
Lemme get this wrong.
Well, like we said, we justwanted to have both you on here
since you guys recently made atrip to the great state of
Kansas, came to Wichita to hangout with the prophet, group, and
went over to see some, uh, notonly the city, but get to see
some Wichita wind surge game.
(01:59):
So we'll talk about that here ina minute.
We have some questions just tokind of see how the trip went,
but.
Rhonda, one of the first thingswe like doing is talking about a
hat that we are wearing.
Would you mind sharing your hatwith us please?
I am wearing a Columbiafireflies 47, I guess this is
the dad hat.
it is Navy with, uh, the wordfireflies across it in neon
(02:21):
yellow.
That's a very awesome hat.
I do appreciate you sharingthat.
Donnie, what were you wearingtoday, sir?
So I'm wearing one of the, themany Wichita hats that I already
own.
this is the two-tone red, uh,with blue Bill, franchise fitted
from 47 brand.
It has the ICT across the backand it's the home plate, uh,
(02:43):
Wichita flag front to it.
And, uh, it's one I think ofnine that I counted.
I didn't even buy a hat on thetrip because I already had so
many hats.
Yeah, Johnny.
So when he first got here thefirst night we went to the team
store and he is like lookingthrough everything.
He is like, I have most ofthose.
I don't really need a hat.
(03:04):
So I guess that would save you alittle extra money.
Not having to buy any extra hatswhen you're there, when you
already have most of them.
Yeah.
I um, I know people aren't athome aren't gonna see this, but
I'm gonna just show you guys'cause uh, I know you'll wanna
see which ones they are.
I do have the Marvel Fit at 5950.
And the, uh, Wichita Wrangler 5950.
Those are the two fitted I have.
(03:24):
Most of mine are dad hats, sothe one I'm wearing, I've got
the, uh, orange and purple,turbo tubs with a W on it.
I have the all teal turbo Tubsdad hat.
I have the, uh, tomb of Vodkas.
In the, uh, lime and, and pink.
I have the chili buns dad hat aswell.
(03:45):
I have the standard wind surgelogo with the Wichita flag on
the side.
And finally I have the foamtrucker turbo tubs hat.
So I am well versed in theWichita wind search hats.
They, they have, they even havea ton more that I probably could
have bought and would've bought.
(04:06):
But, I tried to be good and notbuy a bunch more.
Oh, this is audio only so no onecan see.
But, uh, Rhonda's over here kindof just shaking her head at
Donnie.
So it's a good thing that you'rein separate parts of the house.
'cause otherwise we may be downto one wise.
But he did state when we gothome that he was disappointed
(04:26):
that he did not buy a hat.
At least one.
You know, I, I should have atleast bought a hat to buy a hat.
So that's, that's his logic.
Now I just need to buy a hatjust to buy one.
so, well, it's tough to go to astadium and when we, and our,
our whole thing is buying hatsand talking about hats, and to
go to a stadium and not buy ahat at the stadium.
(04:47):
It's kind of crazy.
But, uh, and you were evenupset.
You didn't buy me a hat.
and, and I know Mr.
Boland loves a good deal thatthat Sunday deal is where I
should have done it because itwas, uh, 47 brand, uh, buy two
get one free.
Mm.
And I should have really takenadvantage of that and gotten me
and her, one, Joe, Joe said, uh,he would pitch in if, uh, if I
(05:10):
buy one and Rhonda buys one, hegets one free, then that, that
would work for him.
So.
That's classic Joe right there.
But yeah.
and obviously, we'll, like Isaid, we'll talk about it here
in a little bit to see if, uh,Wichita was worth coming back.
And if it is, then maybe you canbuy a hat the next time you come
to Wichita.
So, yeah, they should have somenew ones next year.
So I'll, I'll, uh.
I'll definitely make sure I atleast purchase a hat.
(05:32):
I did buy a couple of shirtsthough, so that's, it's not,
and, and a pen for my map, whichI've gotta get my map updated
with all my pens still, so.
Yep, you gotta do that.
Uh, Mr.
Boland, what hat do you havetoday, sir?
I brought out tonight, Mr.
Prophet is, you know, I mean Ireached into the EFA archives.
I went deep into the three yearhistory tonight for a hat
selection.
(05:53):
I mean, if we got Rhonda and wegot the mayor, I mean, you can't
just wear any hat, right.
I'm bring back at one time, acontroversial purchase.
Is this a wind surge hat?
Ladies, gentleman, the tealnicknamed the Kansas Law Dog Hat
Wichita Wranglers, in tribute tothe greatest Western ever made
(06:14):
tombstone.
How about that?
from the archives and the answeris no, that's not a Wichita wind
surge hat.
So if you go back to the veryfirst, what, five or six
episodes or so, we talk a lotabout that hat and the
controversy it brought.
So, very cool hat that you havethere.
Uh, for myself.
(06:34):
So I am wearing the Malmo oatmilkers hat.
Uh, I'm gonna let, uh, Donnieget into this, uh, here a little
bit later, when he is talkingabout his trip.
So it's a all black 59 50 fittedhat has om for oat milkers in
pink.
Uh, but there's a little moreconnection to that that we will
get in here, uh, a little bitlater.
(06:55):
And Johnny, if they would've hadthat hat.
If they'd have had that hatyou're wearing for sale in the
store, I definitely would'vebought a hat.
'cause I actually looked forthat one on, on Friday night.
Their sale was, uh, 40% off, uh,Wrangler's hat 47 brand
Wrangler's hats.
But they only had two hats thatwere kind of the, the hitch one
was a hitch with a rope.
Eh, it's not, not my taste onthe designs that were on them,
(07:16):
but if that one would've been upthere and on sale, it'd have
been coming home with me forsure.
I love that hat.
I the one like you have in the47 MVP with the Velcro.
Yep.
And its nicknamed, uh, JohnnyRingo.
That's the Johnny Ringo hat.
I also at tribute to the greatmovie Tombstone, so I have
(07:37):
Johnny, Ringo, and the Kansaslaw dog.
Well, one of the, uh, firstthings that kind of a classic
that we like doing is asking,uh, just kind of the itinerary.
So, and either one of you feelfree to jump in, but would you
mind just kind of giving thelisteners a little bit of the
itinerary as far as, uh, on yourtrip, kind of where you, uh,
went through, I know you made uspit stop on the way out here and
(07:59):
just kind of the timeline ofeverything.
Sure.
So, uh, we weren't sure whattime we were gonna leave on
Thursday.
Rhonda was thinking she mighthave to work.
it started with me trying to,uh, to make it to a Redbirds
game in Memphis.
'cause that was gonna be kind ofour stop over Midway.
and then she came up the next orthe day before we went to leave,
and she's like, you know what,let's just leave really early
(08:20):
and let's go to Graceland.
In Memphis.
She's like, I've always wantedto do it.
You've always wanted to do it.
So we decided we're leaving atfour 30 in the morning so we can
get to Memphis in time to spendseveral hours in Graceland.
that was kind of the, theitinerary was to take off, get
to Memphis, do do that duringthe day, and then get to the
Memphis Redbirds game.
Little hit hiccup in our, uh,plans was that, uh, our battery
(08:44):
to the car was dead at four 30in the morning.
Had to jumpstart it.
and then just before we left thegreat state of Alabama for the
great state of Mississippi, westopped at Love's Truck Stop.
Cut the car off thinking it wasgonna be fine, it would not
start back.
We had to get jumpstarted by thegood people at love's, roadside
assistance go down the streetand buy a new battery.
(09:04):
So we, we eventually made ourway with a little bit of a
delay, but, uh, anyway, we, wemade it to Memphis, did the Red
Birds game, and then our, tripthe next day was gonna be just.
do everything we can to get toWichita.
Plenty of time to, uh, catch thegame.
As we were going through Tulsa,I realized that, uh, when we
were there two years ago, I hadnever gone to see the outside's
(09:26):
house from the movie, theOutsiders.
And I said, let's take a quickdetour.
so yeah, one hour delay in, uh,Tulsa to go to the outside's
house.
And uh, that was very cool too,to, to see that.
And, um.
Glad we did that.
So, uh, made it, which resultedin a broken a rock flying up
that hit the window and broke mywindshield of my car.
(09:49):
Let's add that into, yes,exactly.
So the signs were all pointingtowards, uh, we should turn
around and go home.
But we were, we were not goingto, uh, be deterred.
We were like, we're gonna makeit to Wichita, for whatever we
gotta do.
We're gonna get there.
So, uh, Yeah.
That, that was our, ourThursday, Friday was, was
getting there for that.
And then we had several gamesand you had some things planned
(10:10):
for the rest of the weekend forus and so forth.
Uh, yep.
Uh, Rhonda, one of the, uh,things, obviously leaving South
Carolina and making your way.
From Oklahoma up to Kansas andthen into Wichita.
Any, uh, general firstimpressions as you were driving
into the great state of Kansasor Wichita?
I think definitely it seemedmuch different when we got to
(10:32):
oak.
Oklahoma.
Um, I think everything sort ofstarted to look a little more
flatter, at least on the drive.
Seems like you could see furtherout.
I'm very impressed with the windturbines.
but HOT is pretty much what Ithink I originally thought.
we left South Carolina, which isnormally very, very hot.
(10:56):
We had had a very big cool down,I think Friday in Columbia, the
high was 81.
And when we got to, Oklahoma onFriday and stopped to get some
fried pies, which Tony can talkabout those in a little bit.
The car said 1 0 5.
So it was very war, but verybeautiful.
(11:19):
Very be.
Yeah.
So Johnny, unfortunately forthem that Friday that they got
into town was the first, day, in2025 where it was over a hundred
degrees and it happened to belike 1 0 5.
I think at one point my car said1 0 7.
So, very, very warm, for theiroriginal, uh, day they got into
town.
Now on Sunday morning there wasa, rain, uh, storm that came
(11:43):
through with some rain.
Uh, delayed our morning just bya little bit, but that cooled
some things down, Sundaymorning.
But yeah, first day here inWichita in 2025 where we had
over a hundred degree weather.
Now it's been pretty hot uppernineties, but hadn't gotten over
a hundred until Donny and Rhondacame into town.
Yeah, we just kept looking atthe temperature gauge on the,
uh, car and it got to 1 0 1 andit was 1 0 3.
(12:06):
And it's like, I think I eventexted, uh, Erica a picture.
I'm like, oh gosh, it's at 1 03.
And then like.
10 minutes later it was hit at 10 5.
I was like, holy crap.
How, how high is this thinggonna go?
I mean, one thing is it was verywindy, but even though it was
very windy, it's still justblowing hot air.
Actually, so didn't make much ofa difference.
(12:27):
So I had had to work on Fridayduring the day, so we didn't
really get to meet up till rightbefore the game started, go in
there on that Friday night.
but you just wanna talk a littlebit kind of about the first, uh,
night you were here with theballpark, first impressions.
Any other, uh, anything elsegoing on for that first Friday?
yeah, we got in.
you know, I wanted to check outa little brewery.
(12:49):
Uh, we, we, you and I weren'table to meet up yet for that
because of the timing, but wegot situated in the hotel, nice
little hotel in, uh, in old townpart of Wichita, which is kind
of an interesting little, uh.
Area of restaurants and stuffgoing on there, which, you could
probably describe it better, butthat, that hotel Rhonda got a
great deal on.
It's a really cool hotel.
(13:09):
And Cattycorner from that wasRiver City Brewing.
So I was able to just walkacross, go, go try a flight of,
uh, some of the local beersthere and, just sort of get a
little, little taste of, uh, uh,Wichita to start with.
And then we headed over to theballpark.
Turns out I dropped Randolph onthe wrong part of the parking
lot or the, the, the wrong partof the stadium to the, to the
(13:32):
gate we were going in.
so she actually ended up walkingfurther than she would've if she
did have stayed in the car withme when we got to the parking
lot.
But we didn't know where we wereparking until meeting up with
you and kind of getting an ideaof where we were gonna be.
And, uh, but as far as thestadium, it is a beautiful
stadium.
I mean, it really is a beautifulstadium when we walked in.
It's a lot, lot of wideconcourse area.
(13:52):
Great team store out there.
I know you've talked about itbefore that, you know, it's kind
of crazy that it's way out inthe outfield.
but, you know, because of that,I guess it's got a lot of space
to it, uh, out there.
but yeah, the, the, the field,the, the park itself, the layout
of everything is, uh, is, isreally good.
I really did, uh, enjoy thatfirst night.
We had a good time, uh, kindaseeing everybody and, uh, I was
(14:15):
glad that, uh, Zach was able to,uh, to make it to the game that
Friday night, get to meet him aswell.
we just had a good time.
It was a, it was a nice, uh.
ballpark.
And, um, we got to meet, uh, upwith Colton, who had come from
Columbia and was now with theNaturals.
And so, uh, I was able to sayhey to him before the game and
introduce you and, Zach to himbecause, uh, you didn't get to
(14:36):
meet him when you were herebecause the game got rained out
and that was one of the planswhen you were here in Columbia,
was to meet up with him.
So, uh, kind of cool to, uh, tosee him and, uh, we didn't get
to see him play till Sunday,but, uh, but.
Friday night was really good.
We, we really enjoyed that.
So the biggest nineties,nineties nine, sorry, it was
nineties, was nineties night andthey were giving away free
t-shirts and they were playingnineties music.
(14:59):
And that was very fun.
Very fun.
Yeah.
One thing I was gonna take awayfrom that, Johnny, is that he
said he dropped her off at thewrong, entrance gate, but to me,
all I got was that he at leasthad her in the car.
He didn't forget her at thehotel.
That's true.
It may have been a hundred, butthat take is cold.
(15:19):
I think in fairness to, to onemayor Donnie Wise is, uh, recent
episode that.
The time of this recordingdropped last week.
I believe.
You know, we need to get themayor side of the story.
I wanted to give him a chance,uh, to, give his point of view
because I believe that DonnieWise had no malice in his heart
(15:40):
toward one Virgil Brooks.
So we need to him plead his casetonight on EFA first version
courtroom.
So, Mr.
Wise, the floor is yours.
Please defend yourself, sir, infront of Judge Pro.
there's really no defense exceptthat, uh, old age and memory
are, uh, not as good as theyused to be.
(16:02):
'cause that's all it was.
I, uh, I had agreed to, uh, thatwe would pick Virgil up from
the, his hotel when we wereheading over to Kelly and
Christina's house for the, theCBM, pre meet or the meetup
before the game, on that, uh,Saturday.
Yeah, we, you know, we, Jordan,our son, came with us and we
decided to go down to the, uh,aquarium in, in Chicago that
(16:23):
morning.
And so we kind of got.
Doing that.
And then Jordan didn't want togo to the game necessarily, so
we were like, okay, we gottatake him back to the hotel.
So we dropped him off.
We kind of got situated, figuredout where Kelly and Christina's
house was at, and I actuallythought we were running way
late.
And unfortunately, the fact thatI was supposed to go get Virgil
(16:45):
just.
Was just not in my brain.
It just totally didn't appear inmy brain.
We got to Kelly's, we wereactually one of the first ones,
uh, to get there.
and I thought we were runninglate.
after a little bit, I said.
Where Virgil is again, my memorywas just, it was blank.
It was, I, it was a totalaccident.
I plead old age, uh, and memoryloss in, in, uh, forgetting that
(17:10):
I was supposed to pick Virgil upfrom the hotel, save him having
to drive, separately.
Well, you, you, you're wronghonor.
Let, let me put it this way,speaking of the nineties, just
because you forget, we stillneed to acquit.
Well, and I, I owe Virgil a hat'cause he did purchase a hat for
me on his trip.
and that was supposed to be anexchange for me picking him up.
(17:31):
We were actually supposed topick him up the night before
when we were going to go toJoliet as well.
Unfortunately.
Timing, it was not gonna be goodfor us to drive all the way to
the hotel in Chicago andbacktrack to Joliet.
he just met us in Joliet aswell.
Uh, otherwise we'd have wastedtwo extra hours of driving just
to come to the hotel, pick himup and come back.
(17:51):
And so I guess in my brain, Ijust didn't think about the next
day also was also a time I wassupposed to pick him up.
I apologize here publicly to Mr.
Virgil Brooks.
Your Honor, it is clear, uh,defense rests that, uh, there
was no, malice of forethoughttoward one Virgil Brooks.
Uh, so I, I'm asking forleniency from the court.
(18:13):
Uh, for one, Mr.
Mayor Donny was.
We'll need to take a recess and,uh, conjoin later on that, uh,
let's get back to, uh, Wichita.
So Rhonda, I did want to ask alittle bit, so then on Saturday,
so kind of the first full daythat you were here, breakfast
and sight seeing, would you mindjust sharing a little bit about
how the day before the ball gamewent on Saturday?
(18:35):
Absolutely.
Well, a little bit about thenight before.
So I had the pleasure of goingwith, your wonderful wife,
Shannon, and the boys andSamantha to have ice cream and
thoroughly enjoyed my time withthem that evening.
And then the next morning we allmet and at the Doah Diner, which
(18:56):
was a wonderful experience.
The food was.
just amazing.
I had banana bread, frenchtoast, and I would highly
recommend it to anybody, whoevergets the opportunity, to go
there.
And then after that, we went, Idon't remember the name of the
coffee shop, but it was thecoffee shop.
I think the Shannon likes to goto coffee days.
(19:18):
Okay.
she knows I love iced coffee.
And so we headed down there andenjoyed that.
And then we decided we'd letthem in, go off and do their
brewery thing and Sightsee, andshe was just gonna take me back
to the hotel.
Well, she said, I should havetaken you to see this side of
(19:41):
town.
And I said, well, I, I, I'll go.
And that just turned into usenjoying the morning, riding
around.
We saw, different neighborhoodsand different sites and, then I
rode, I don't remember what thename of that town was that she
took me to.
Goddard.
Goddard?
Yep.
Godard Goddard.
Mm-hmm.
Got it.
But she showed me such.
(20:03):
Unusual different houses.
Um, the Frank Lloyd Wrighthouse, this house that looks
like a castle and just sort ofenjoyed our time talking.
And Easton was in the backseatand I enjoyed my conversations
with him very much.
And it sort of just turned intoan impromptu little ride around
(20:23):
Wichita and I had a lot of fun.
Johnny, so Donnie and I were outand about and I get a text
message and it's Rhonda in frontof the ballpark that Zach plays
at during the summer out atGoddard, and I'm like.
We were just out in EastWichita, Goddard's, far West
Wichita.
So it was like, good 25, 30minutes.
I'm like, why'd you guys go wayout there?
(20:45):
So, uh, they did get to seequite a bit of, you know,
Wichita and the surroundingareas.
But yeah, they took off and thatpicture, and that picture was to
make, Patrick jealous.
if he hasn't seen it yet, we'llmake sure that he gets to see
that.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, uh, Donnie, how about you?
How was your experience then onthat first full day prior to
(21:07):
going the game on Saturday?
like Rhonda, you, well, again,to say the night before we, we
had a few beers at the, uh, atNorton's.
and part of the reason we kindof split up is you and I wanted
some beers and everybody elsewanted some food, and Norton's
wasn't gonna serve any foodanymore.
So the, the girls and, kids tookoff and got some ice cream and
hung out.
You and I kinda had a few, fewbeers there and crossed another
(21:29):
brewery off of our lists,together.
But, uh, the do Die diner, waseverything I expected it to be.
And, and then some, it was kindof a, a just a great little
place with the great food.
I ended up getting, I had justhad to look it up.
I got the shocker scramble.
it was a, a pancake and then ithad, uh, this.
Jalapeno bacon, cheddar cheese,scrambled eggs with bacon, ham
(21:51):
and sausage the sweet potatoespork belly on top.
I mean, it was just a, it wasjust one of those breakfasts
that.
you get at a place called the DoDo Diner.
It just was like a little bit ofeverything, all in one big
plate.
so I, I thoroughly enjoyed thatdiner.
We got to meet the new owner, aswell.
You and I did talking to him alittle bit.
really cool guy and uh, seemslike he's stepped up to keep
(22:15):
that going, uh, after someissues with the previous owners
and health and everything.
So, great experience with that.
And then, uh, of course, you andI took off and went to get a,
some beers and try out some ofthe, uh, local brew breweries.
well, we went to, we, well, Idon't know, I don't even
remember the order we went in,but I know we went to hopping.
No, which is one that I wantedto get to on my list that
everybody had talked about.
Lynn especially had had broughtit up a few times.
(22:37):
fantastic little spot.
Uh, really enjoyed, uh,everything that they had there.
That's in a newer space than Ithink they had been in before
with some of the other peoplethat had been there.
Kind of expanded into a space inthe back, behind the original.
and then we went to, um, centralStandard, which is another cool
little brewery.
had a good time with that one aswell.
(22:58):
We rode around, went to yourhigh school.
I took a million pictures ofyour high school.
just because the architecturewas, was fascinating to me.
you talked about how they usedto be the Redskins, so they
can't really do that anymore.
They changed the name up to theRed Hawks, but the, the
architecture itself with the,uh, native American, The whole
thing, the Native American, uh,figureheads and, uh, the buffalo
(23:20):
head sculptures in the, in the,brick work and everything.
it's so cool.
You just don't see stuff likethat around here.
so that was very cool to seethat.
And then just see some otherparts of, Wichita driving
around.
You took show, showed me thecastle, which, uh, if I had the
money and moved to Wichita, thatwould.
Probably wanna buy a castle'cause that looked like a really
cool house and who wouldn'twanna own a castle?
(23:41):
So, but, uh, it was, it was agood time riding around and, and
hitting some spots that, uh,that we wanted to hit too.
Yeah.
So the castle's, it's calledCastle and Riverside, or that's
kinda what the name used to be'cause it's right there in the
Riverside area.
And then both Shannon andRhonda, and then Donnie and I
went through College Hill, sokind of an older neighborhood on
(24:01):
the east side.
Shannon used to live in CollegeHill and we also, Donnie and I
stopped by the, uh, university.
Yeah, I forgot to mention, we,the first place we actually went
to before the breweries was, uh,you took me over to Wichita
State to see the ball field.
so we got out, we saw, uh, the,the stadium walked over there
and took a few pictures of that,saw one of the, I guess, current
players that just walked outthere and was sort of working on
(24:23):
his stance in the batter's box.
And, uh, then right across thestreet from the stadium's, the
original Pizza Hut, which isjust a tiny little brick
building.
Nothing like.
Anybody would picture a pizzaHut looking like.
But, uh, the original buildingthat it was, uh, started in, I
think in 58, if I remember the,the date right.
We couldn't go in.
It was closed, but we looked inthe windows.
A lot of cool stuff in there anddefinitely on the list, to go
(24:46):
back to, as well.
And, uh, we did go to have alittle tap room over there.
I can't remember the name of it,but you can.
Social tap.
Social tap.
Yeah.
We went over there too and hada, had a beer at social tap and,
uh, checked out the, uh, theShockers team store or campus
store that, uh, is right there.
Uh, we were gonna go over to themain one, but, uh, just timing
(25:07):
wise, after we went through allof that, we decided to go ahead
and just head over to couple ofthe breweries and, and I'd like
to get back for actually aWichita State game and, and then
make a, a trip to the, uh, teamstore at that point.
So after a fun-filled, you know,Saturday morning with breakfast
and then kind of going aroundtown, going to some breweries
and just traveling aroundlooking at the city, uh, we were
(25:28):
able to get to another game thenon Saturday night.
So, Rhonda, I'll let you start.
Talk about the experience andwhat we got to do, where we got
to eat and everything during thegame on that Saturday night.
It was a wonderful experience aswe got to go up to this.
It's a sweet area.
I guess I'm not, I don'tremember exactly what it was
(25:50):
called, but it was a wonderful,open buffet of different types
of Mexican foods that we got toexperience in that, in the.
Air conditioned area.
and then it had the nice littlearea that you could go outside
then and be able to watch thegame.
So it did feel like we werebeing treated extra special.
(26:12):
We were in a, sweet area, sothat was very nice and the food
was delicious.
Yeah, so the area, it's new thisyear in terms of the name, so
it's called The Vault.
Okay.
And yeah, exactly like Rhondadescribed.
So it's kind of like this bigarea where I think you could
actually rent the space out'cause it has like a big open
area and you could have like areception or do some other
(26:35):
events there.
So it's big open area.
Now, obviously they had like alot of tables, seating and
everything.
And buffet that runs through, Ithink like the third inning, so
from when gate's open to thethird inning and then they have
a little side area that you canget like popcorn, hot dogs.
and pretzels that last throughmost of the rest of the game.
So fun little area.
(26:55):
It's been there since the,ballpark open in 2020.
Uh, obviously didn't play till2021, but they had just got
bought out by a corporatesponsor this past off season, so
they renamed, it's called TheVault.
But yeah, fun little, area toget up to.
So hadn't been up there for acouple years, I think first time
we've been up there for a while,but.
season ticket holders have, uh,opportunity to get up there for
(27:18):
one game.
So we use that to go up therewhen they were here.
and then Donnie, would you mindsharing with everybody?
So I talked about my hat, uh,kind of what the teams played
as, and then there was a specialevent that we got to participate
in as well.
so the, Wind surge were playingas the oat milkers on that
Saturday game.
It was Bobblehead giveaway.
so we all got a, a bobblehead.
(27:38):
who was the player?
McCusker, who I think at thetime of this recording is still
up with the twins.
He might have got sent backdown, but he is been with St.
Paul got called up one time, Ithink maybe.
Late last year, maybe early thisyear, uh, I've been back with
the Saints, but he was withWichita, early last year I
(27:59):
believe, and had a very early inthe season, had a three home run
game, so, big six foot eightleft fielder out of Oklahoma
State.
went to OSU and then got draftedand been with the twins
organization.
But yeah, I was with Wichita fora while.
And they got called up late lastyear to the Saints and then,
yeah, he actually, what was coolis that he got recalled back up
(28:21):
to the Minnesota twins the daythat they had the Bobblehead in
Wichita.
So that was kind of a fun littleexperience.
So yeah, Carson McCusker.
So, uh, we enjoyed that getting,uh, you know, always good to get
a giveaway, but get a bobbleheadwas kind of, extra special
there.
and yeah, so we, uh, we gotthere.
They're playing as the oatmilkers.
I wish I had brought my, uh, myhat in Jersey, but I, I didn't.
(28:42):
Even think about it, even thoughI think I had seen earlier in
the year that they were going tobe playing as the oat milkers.
One of the games we, we weregonna be there and I just
forgotten about it again, thatmemory thing, Johnny, so old age
kicking in there.
but then, uh, during the game,so the night before, one of the,
uh, interns had asked, uh, usabout.
(29:03):
Participating in a, uh, on fieldgame for Saturday with water
balloons.
And Shannon and I were going todo that.
They came up to us as, we camein the gate on Saturday and said
they can't do the waterballoons, because they had, uh,
the amazing Tyler balancing.
All kinds of stuff on his, uh,his face.
And they didn't wanna take achance on getting water balloons
(29:23):
burst all over the grass andhaving the grass wet over on the
same side of the field he wasgonna be on.
So I said immediately, well,what else have you got?
And they came back and said,we've got knock balls or the
costume race.
And before they could evenfinish saying costume race, I
said, we'll do the knock balls.
I'd always wanted to do that.
And as soon as that wasmentioned, I'm like, I'm in.
(29:44):
I don't know if Shannon and Ericwere ready for that.
But they looked at each otherlike, well, what do we do?
I guess we're gonna do it.
So they obliged my desire thatI've always wanted to do the
knock balls, which is the biground ball you get in the middle
of, and you go and you hit eachother and bounce off of each
other.
the fireflies have done it foryears.
Mostly their interns get outthere and do a contest.
(30:06):
They don't let, uh, Fans do it.
So I was like, I'm all in forthis.
So they're like, okay, we'll doit.
And uh, so we go down there, uh,sixth inning.
We gotta wait for most of aninning to get ready.
And of course Eric's like, Hey,we gotta gang up on Shannon and
let's, let's take her out.
I'm like, okay, sure, noproblem.
as soon as we all get set up, weget introduced.
(30:26):
I turned heel on Eric and I wentstraight for him.
And you could see in the videothat he starts for Shannon,
takes about four or five steps,sees me out the corner of his
eye and turns towards me.
And I, I honestly did notrealize.
He would go down so fast, but Ihit him and he went feet in the
air and he was done.
He was outta the game.
So one hit, took him out,blindsided him, uh, all that
(30:51):
good stuff.
And then Shannon and I had apretty good battle.
she almost got me, but I waslike, I just was determined to
win.
I I was not being the, uh.
The gracious guest in lettingone of them win.
so I finally got Shannon, uh,flipped over as well.
Got got a little leverage onher, but it was hard'cause she's
a lot shorter than me, so I hadto really get down low to, uh,
(31:12):
to knock her over.
But, uh, that's a highlight of.
Several seasons for me, thatwas, that was the highlight of
the trip.
that was the highlight ofprobably this year in minor
league baseball.
For me to participate in thatand have fun doing and
blindsiding, Eric was justbonus, I literally didn't think
he would lose his footing thatquickly.
I thought I'd hit him and he'dbounce back, and then we would
(31:33):
both double team Shannon, but itdidn't work out that way.
I've seen this footage.
I'd like to get Mrs.
Mayor's opinion.
Rhonda, please jump in.
What, what was it like seeingthis carnage, uh, in person,
seeing the prophet, husband andwife just laid out like a piece
of sod, by the mayor?
Uh, what was that?
What was I, I wanna get yourfirsthand experience.
(31:54):
I've seen the footage.
It's shocking.
It's troubling.
I imagine you'll be getting acall from Dabo maybe soon for
Why not?
I still have eligibility left,Johnny?
okay.
I will tell you for sure thatthis was something that Donnie
has wanted to do for a long,long time.
(32:14):
So it, it is not surprising thatthis is going to.
be the, best memory he had fromgoing to Wichita because this
has been high on his list,wanting to do it.
Now, he says he's going to buyknock balls so that he can do
this with our friends.
And I, say, okay, great, but youremember we are all in our
(32:36):
fifties.
so I'll just say that.
but I told Shannon before shewent down that I was pull
pulling for her to take both ofthem out.
That is what I wanted to see.
But you gotta, you, you did havea gleam in your eye when you saw
that I won, I think.
'cause you were filming it fromup there.
So you had to be a little proudof your husband.
(32:58):
I was, I was proud of you.
But, I will admit that I didtell Shannon to take you out.
So, I was sitting with Eastonand we were, we were both
videoing and we were having agood time.
Listen for that little boy to befour years old.
He knows how to work a camerabetter than all of us and could
video better than I did.
(33:18):
but just having him there and heand I talking, I, I thoroughly
enjoy spending time with Eastonand listening to him tell me
different stories.
So, just the comments you weremaking while that was going on
was great.
See, I wish you could haverecorded him because he had some
great sayings throughout theweekend.
He did.
Um, I already have a t-shirtidea that I think's gonna make.
(33:38):
Uh, he and I millionaires, uh,at some point.
But, uh, yeah, that kid's, Eric,you gotta start writing down
what he says.
'cause that guy, that's a goldmine right there.
I'd have to be nonstop justwriting it down.
'cause it's always it.
He just keeps going and goingand he's just like his mom and
does not stop talking.
And so, yeah, Donny was talkingabout doing a t-shirt business
(33:58):
and Easton said something atbreakfast at Doon.
He is like, hold on, hold on.
And he ru jotted it down inthere and he is like that a
great t-shirt idea.
He was a little impatient.
He was, you know, little, littlegrumpy that morning and he was
ready to get his food.
And, uh, one of you, I don'tremember which one of you said
you just, I think it made havebeen Shannon.
She's like, you need to wait.
(34:19):
And he just bear bowed up.
He's like, waiting is not mything.
And I said, that's a T-shirtright there.
Waiting is not my thing.
Wow.
I jotted that down right away.
I'm like, I gotta, I gottaremember that one.
Hmm.
So I am very thankful thatDonnie did get to do that.
Very thankful, but unfortunatelyit's not out of his system
(34:41):
because he now has said when weall get together at the 4th of
July with our friend group, thatthat's gonna be what they do to
try to knock each other in thelake.
So we'll see.
Maybe more video to come fromthat.
Yeah, I definitely have to findout where I can buy those.
Let me recommend some liabilityinsurance.
just, just saying maybe old boatinsurance salesman.
(35:03):
Go into liability insurance now.
Old insurance tells me Mr.
Property and Casualty back yearsago.
So had a fun time at the theball game on Saturday night, but
kind of the fun thing that I waslooking forward to showing you
guys was Saturday night.
Uh, we have what's called thekeeper of the planes, and so we,
uh, left the ball game righttowards the end of it and headed
(35:26):
over there because it's duringthe spring and summer.
It's nine 9:00 PM and so wewanna make sure we cut that in
time.
So, either one of you, if youwant to jump in and talk a
little bit about that and theunfortunate, uh, happenings that
took place with the keeper ofthe plains.
Well, I will say that I will nowalways refer to it as the Statue
of Liberty.
Because that is what Easton kepttelling me that we were going
(35:49):
to.
So it can be that, but it's alsoknown as the Statue of Liberty.
Yeah, it was, he's a hoot.
it was one of those things Ididn't know what to expect.
'cause I mean, I've heard Erictalk about it.
but I didn't really look at, atanything to find out what, what
exactly we were going to see.
Uh, we dropped the, uh, theladies in Easton off, up, uh,
closer so they didn't have towalk from where we were parking
(36:11):
at.
And, uh, Eric and I walked alongthe riverfront there, which is
a.
Beautiful riverfront.
There's, I think it was alibrary across the river from
where we parked.
Uh, huge library, but just thatwhole riverfront right there
looking at downtown was reallycool.
We stopped and saw the troll,that's underneath the grates
there on our way to see thekeeper.
(36:31):
And then as we kind of camearound the bend, I kind of saw
what, what this was.
This was a really beautifulNative American statue, right
there at the, uh, the fork inthe, uh, the Arkan River, the
little and big Arkan river, Ibelieve.
And, the bridges, this I, Itook, I was just.
Mesmerized with the sun setting,the skyline, the everything.
(36:54):
Just taking as many pictures asI could of the bridge and the
statue and the, the rivers.
And, going across the bridgeover there to, uh, to the statue
is really beautiful area.
so we all congregated right downthere at the base of the statue
where they have the, uh, I guessthe flame, the, the circle flame
cauldron looking things aroundit, that are supposed to fire up
(37:15):
at nine o'clock.
And of course, you know, we'reall sitting there, it's getting
dark and it's, you know, we'recounting down, you know, we're
almost at nine o'clock.
And then right as it gets tonine o'clock this.
Loud voice comes over thespeakers and says,
unfortunately, due to highwinds, we're not gonna light the
flames tonight.
And all of us just sunk.
(37:36):
I mean, I know Eric sunk becausethis was what he wanted to show
off, and this was something thathe was excited for us to see.
The wind to me, didn't seem likeit was very much at all.
not so much that they couldn'thave done it, but again, I don't
know what their parameters are,but it, we were all like.
Why wouldn't you tell us this 20minutes ago?
So we didn't all spend this timegetting over there congregating
(37:57):
and finding our spot and gettingready, but they just, I guess
they wait till right then anddecide if they're gonna do it or
not.
Yeah, I don't say that I wouldgo down there every single
night.
It's pretty close to where Iwork, but also maybe 10 minutes
or so from my house.
I'm pretty close.
IG I've gone there many, many,many times and I've never once I
guess I shouldn't say never oncehad that happen.
(38:18):
We took the boys, got them allbundled up in the, Winter, I
believe it was still winter timeor when it was still pretty cold
out and went down there and theysaid that it, was not gonna run
because of the, flame or the,you know, where the flames come
up was iced over, So theycouldn't get the flames to,
although if you get the flamesgoing, it probably would melt
(38:40):
the ice.
But they had the bridges on theends blocked off with the rope,
so you couldn't even go throughthe bridge.
But whereas Donnie mentioned, wewere all down there at the base
of the keeper.
It was packed.
There were people on kayaks thatI'd never seen out there before
that were sitting out there towatch it and everything, and
they come on and said.
They're normal.
Hey, make sure you don't climbon the rocks or whatever, and
(39:03):
did their normal spiel.
And then all of a sudden itsays, due to high wind.
We're like, I've never seen thatbefore.
So I said, well, maybe that'sone reason that'll, uh, convince
you to come back is to try itnext time to see the keeper with
the actual, uh, flames lit up.
So you did get to see the keeperand the keeper was lit up, but
it's really cool when the flamesstart going as well.
Yeah, and it was very windyFriday night.
(39:24):
It was not very windy Saturdaynight.
It was a beautiful, clear night.
I mean, there was nothing, no,no, no clouds in the sky.
It didn't seem like it was.
Very windy.
It was a little, I would call ita gentle breeze, basically, at
most.
it was very windy Friday night.
It just had died down a lot onSaturday.
So it really was kind ofsurprising to me.
But, yeah, it was one of themany things that we kind of
(39:45):
added.
Okay, well we gotta come back tosee this.
We gotta come back to see that.
A couple of things that we'veadded that we missed out on,
like that, we gotta catch nexttime.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome toanother episode of the Earned
Fun Average Podcast.
I'm your host Eric Profit,coming to you from Wichita,
Kansas, and with me as always.
I have, Johnny Bowen, of course,coming tonight, under the light
of a neon baseball.
It from the, Bayou BroadcastCenter, course designations of,
uh, honoree member of theAbilene Flying Bison.
(00:38):
Charles Gumbo Gator Super fan,and, and again, always part of
the Chateau Dave baby King.
Well, I think he's got that downpretty well at this point.
That's a nice long introductionto where he is recording from.
He just keeps adding onto itevery time.
But Johnny, we uh, have a couplespecial guests with us today,
so.
(00:58):
for anybody that might've seenonline, uh, we had not one, but
two wises that were here inWichita, so we're gonna do Wises
to Wichita.
And so we're gonna have a littleconversation, kind of how the
trip went, but we have not onlyMr.
Mayor Donny Wise, but we alsohave Mrs.
Mayor Rhonda Wise.
Rhonda, how are you?
I'm great.
(01:18):
How are y'all?
Good.
I'm glad you could join us.
Uh, very good.
Mr.
Mayor.
How are you?
I'm doing fine as well.
Awesome.
Well, coming at you from the,the Mayor's mansion in
Lexington, South Carolina.
I'm on the second floor.
She's on the first floor.
He's gonna do an introductionlike you there, Johnny.
I don't have all of the, uh,accoutrements that Mr.
(01:39):
Boland has.
I've been called Plenty Thingsin life.
Lemme get this wrong.
Well, like we said, we justwanted to have both you on here
since you guys recently made atrip to the great state of
Kansas, came to Wichita to hangout with the prophet, group, and
went over to see some, uh, notonly the city, but get to see
some Wichita wind surge game.
(01:59):
So we'll talk about that here ina minute.
We have some questions just tokind of see how the trip went,
but.
Rhonda, one of the first thingswe like doing is talking about a
hat that we are wearing.
Would you mind sharing your hatwith us please?
I am wearing a Columbiafireflies 47, I guess this is
the dad hat.
it is Navy with, uh, the wordfireflies across it in neon
(02:21):
yellow.
That's a very awesome hat.
I do appreciate you sharingthat.
Donnie, what were you wearingtoday, sir?
So I'm wearing one of the, themany Wichita hats that I already
own.
this is the two-tone red, uh,with blue Bill, franchise fitted
from 47 brand.
It has the ICT across the backand it's the home plate, uh,
(02:43):
Wichita flag front to it.
And, uh, it's one I think ofnine that I counted.
I didn't even buy a hat on thetrip because I already had so
many hats.
Yeah, Johnny.
So when he first got here thefirst night we went to the team
store and he is like lookingthrough everything.
He is like, I have most ofthose.
I don't really need a hat.
(03:04):
So I guess that would save you alittle extra money.
Not having to buy any extra hatswhen you're there, when you
already have most of them.
Yeah.
I um, I know people aren't athome aren't gonna see this, but
I'm gonna just show you guys'cause uh, I know you'll wanna
see which ones they are.
I do have the Marvel Fit at 5950.
And the, uh, Wichita Wrangler 5950.
Those are the two fitted I have.
(03:24):
Most of mine are dad hats, sothe one I'm wearing, I've got
the, uh, orange and purple,turbo tubs with a W on it.
I have the all teal turbo Tubsdad hat.
I have the, uh, tomb of Vodkas.
In the, uh, lime and, and pink.
I have the chili buns dad hat aswell.
(03:45):
I have the standard wind surgelogo with the Wichita flag on
the side.
And finally I have the foamtrucker turbo tubs hat.
So I am well versed in theWichita wind search hats.
They, they have, they even havea ton more that I probably could
have bought and would've bought.
(04:06):
But, I tried to be good and notbuy a bunch more.
Oh, this is audio only so no onecan see.
But, uh, Rhonda's over here kindof just shaking her head at
Donnie.
So it's a good thing that you'rein separate parts of the house.
'cause otherwise we may be downto one wise.
But he did state when we gothome that he was disappointed
(04:26):
that he did not buy a hat.
At least one.
You know, I, I should have atleast bought a hat to buy a hat.
So that's, that's his logic.
Now I just need to buy a hatjust to buy one.
so, well, it's tough to go to astadium and when we, and our,
our whole thing is buying hatsand talking about hats, and to
go to a stadium and not buy ahat at the stadium.
(04:47):
It's kind of crazy.
But, uh, and you were evenupset.
You didn't buy me a hat.
and, and I know Mr.
Boland loves a good deal thatthat Sunday deal is where I
should have done it because itwas, uh, 47 brand, uh, buy two
get one free.
Mm.
And I should have really takenadvantage of that and gotten me
and her, one, Joe, Joe said, uh,he would pitch in if, uh, if I
(05:10):
buy one and Rhonda buys one, hegets one free, then that, that
would work for him.
So.
That's classic Joe right there.
But yeah.
and obviously, we'll, like Isaid, we'll talk about it here
in a little bit to see if, uh,Wichita was worth coming back.
And if it is, then maybe you canbuy a hat the next time you come
to Wichita.
So, yeah, they should have somenew ones next year.
So I'll, I'll, uh.
I'll definitely make sure I atleast purchase a hat.
(05:32):
I did buy a couple of shirtsthough, so that's, it's not,
and, and a pen for my map, whichI've gotta get my map updated
with all my pens still, so.
Yep, you gotta do that.
Uh, Mr.
Boland, what hat do you havetoday, sir?
I brought out tonight, Mr.
Prophet is, you know, I mean Ireached into the EFA archives.
I went deep into the three yearhistory tonight for a hat
selection.
(05:53):
I mean, if we got Rhonda and wegot the mayor, I mean, you can't
just wear any hat, right.
I'm bring back at one time, acontroversial purchase.
Is this a wind surge hat?
Ladies, gentleman, the tealnicknamed the Kansas Law Dog Hat
Wichita Wranglers, in tribute tothe greatest Western ever made
(06:14):
tombstone.
How about that?
from the archives and the answeris no, that's not a Wichita wind
surge hat.
So if you go back to the veryfirst, what, five or six
episodes or so, we talk a lotabout that hat and the
controversy it brought.
So, very cool hat that you havethere.
Uh, for myself.
(06:34):
So I am wearing the Malmo oatmilkers hat.
Uh, I'm gonna let, uh, Donnieget into this, uh, here a little
bit later, when he is talkingabout his trip.
So it's a all black 59 50 fittedhat has om for oat milkers in
pink.
Uh, but there's a little moreconnection to that that we will
get in here, uh, a little bitlater.
(06:55):
And Johnny, if they would've hadthat hat.
If they'd have had that hatyou're wearing for sale in the
store, I definitely would'vebought a hat.
'cause I actually looked forthat one on, on Friday night.
Their sale was, uh, 40% off, uh,Wrangler's hat 47 brand
Wrangler's hats.
But they only had two hats thatwere kind of the, the hitch one
was a hitch with a rope.
Eh, it's not, not my taste onthe designs that were on them,
(07:16):
but if that one would've been upthere and on sale, it'd have
been coming home with me forsure.
I love that hat.
I the one like you have in the47 MVP with the Velcro.
Yep.
And its nicknamed, uh, JohnnyRingo.
That's the Johnny Ringo hat.
I also at tribute to the greatmovie Tombstone, so I have
(07:37):
Johnny, Ringo, and the Kansaslaw dog.
Well, one of the, uh, firstthings that kind of a classic
that we like doing is asking,uh, just kind of the itinerary.
So, and either one of you feelfree to jump in, but would you
mind just kind of giving thelisteners a little bit of the
itinerary as far as, uh, on yourtrip, kind of where you, uh,
went through, I know you made uspit stop on the way out here and
(07:59):
just kind of the timeline ofeverything.
Sure.
So, uh, we weren't sure whattime we were gonna leave on
Thursday.
Rhonda was thinking she mighthave to work.
it started with me trying to,uh, to make it to a Redbirds
game in Memphis.
'cause that was gonna be kind ofour stop over Midway.
and then she came up the next orthe day before we went to leave,
and she's like, you know what,let's just leave really early
(08:20):
and let's go to Graceland.
In Memphis.
She's like, I've always wantedto do it.
You've always wanted to do it.
So we decided we're leaving atfour 30 in the morning so we can
get to Memphis in time to spendseveral hours in Graceland.
that was kind of the, theitinerary was to take off, get
to Memphis, do do that duringthe day, and then get to the
Memphis Redbirds game.
Little hit hiccup in our, uh,plans was that, uh, our battery
(08:44):
to the car was dead at four 30in the morning.
Had to jumpstart it.
and then just before we left thegreat state of Alabama for the
great state of Mississippi, westopped at Love's Truck Stop.
Cut the car off thinking it wasgonna be fine, it would not
start back.
We had to get jumpstarted by thegood people at love's, roadside
assistance go down the streetand buy a new battery.
(09:04):
So we, we eventually made ourway with a little bit of a
delay, but, uh, anyway, we, wemade it to Memphis, did the Red
Birds game, and then our, tripthe next day was gonna be just.
do everything we can to get toWichita.
Plenty of time to, uh, catch thegame.
As we were going through Tulsa,I realized that, uh, when we
were there two years ago, I hadnever gone to see the outside's
(09:26):
house from the movie, theOutsiders.
And I said, let's take a quickdetour.
so yeah, one hour delay in, uh,Tulsa to go to the outside's
house.
And uh, that was very cool too,to, to see that.
And, um.
Glad we did that.
So, uh, made it, which resultedin a broken a rock flying up
that hit the window and broke mywindshield of my car.
(09:49):
Let's add that into, yes,exactly.
So the signs were all pointingtowards, uh, we should turn
around and go home.
But we were, we were not goingto, uh, be deterred.
We were like, we're gonna makeit to Wichita, for whatever we
gotta do.
We're gonna get there.
So, uh, Yeah.
That, that was our, ourThursday, Friday was, was
getting there for that.
And then we had several gamesand you had some things planned
(10:10):
for the rest of the weekend forus and so forth.
Uh, yep.
Uh, Rhonda, one of the, uh,things, obviously leaving South
Carolina and making your way.
From Oklahoma up to Kansas andthen into Wichita.
Any, uh, general firstimpressions as you were driving
into the great state of Kansasor Wichita?
I think definitely it seemedmuch different when we got to
(10:32):
oak.
Oklahoma.
Um, I think everything sort ofstarted to look a little more
flatter, at least on the drive.
Seems like you could see furtherout.
I'm very impressed with the windturbines.
but HOT is pretty much what Ithink I originally thought.
we left South Carolina, which isnormally very, very hot.
(10:56):
We had had a very big cool down,I think Friday in Columbia, the
high was 81.
And when we got to, Oklahoma onFriday and stopped to get some
fried pies, which Tony can talkabout those in a little bit.
The car said 1 0 5.
So it was very war, but verybeautiful.
(11:19):
Very be.
Yeah.
So Johnny, unfortunately forthem that Friday that they got
into town was the first, day, in2025 where it was over a hundred
degrees and it happened to belike 1 0 5.
I think at one point my car said1 0 7.
So, very, very warm, for theiroriginal, uh, day they got into
town.
Now on Sunday morning there wasa, rain, uh, storm that came
(11:43):
through with some rain.
Uh, delayed our morning just bya little bit, but that cooled
some things down, Sundaymorning.
But yeah, first day here inWichita in 2025 where we had
over a hundred degree weather.
Now it's been pretty hot uppernineties, but hadn't gotten over
a hundred until Donny and Rhondacame into town.
Yeah, we just kept looking atthe temperature gauge on the,
uh, car and it got to 1 0 1 andit was 1 0 3.
(12:06):
And it's like, I think I eventexted, uh, Erica a picture.
I'm like, oh gosh, it's at 1 03.
And then like.
10 minutes later it was hit at 10 5.
I was like, holy crap.
How, how high is this thinggonna go?
I mean, one thing is it was verywindy, but even though it was
very windy, it's still justblowing hot air.
Actually, so didn't make much ofa difference.
(12:27):
So I had had to work on Fridayduring the day, so we didn't
really get to meet up till rightbefore the game started, go in
there on that Friday night.
but you just wanna talk a littlebit kind of about the first, uh,
night you were here with theballpark, first impressions.
Any other, uh, anything elsegoing on for that first Friday?
yeah, we got in.
you know, I wanted to check outa little brewery.
(12:49):
Uh, we, we, you and I weren'table to meet up yet for that
because of the timing, but wegot situated in the hotel, nice
little hotel in, uh, in old townpart of Wichita, which is kind
of an interesting little, uh.
Area of restaurants and stuffgoing on there, which, you could
probably describe it better, butthat, that hotel Rhonda got a
great deal on.
It's a really cool hotel.
(13:09):
And Cattycorner from that wasRiver City Brewing.
So I was able to just walkacross, go, go try a flight of,
uh, some of the local beersthere and, just sort of get a
little, little taste of, uh, uh,Wichita to start with.
And then we headed over to theballpark.
Turns out I dropped Randolph onthe wrong part of the parking
lot or the, the, the wrong partof the stadium to the, to the
(13:32):
gate we were going in.
so she actually ended up walkingfurther than she would've if she
did have stayed in the car withme when we got to the parking
lot.
But we didn't know where we wereparking until meeting up with
you and kind of getting an ideaof where we were gonna be.
And, uh, but as far as thestadium, it is a beautiful
stadium.
I mean, it really is a beautifulstadium when we walked in.
It's a lot, lot of wideconcourse area.
(13:52):
Great team store out there.
I know you've talked about itbefore that, you know, it's kind
of crazy that it's way out inthe outfield.
but, you know, because of that,I guess it's got a lot of space
to it, uh, out there.
but yeah, the, the, the field,the, the park itself, the layout
of everything is, uh, is, isreally good.
I really did, uh, enjoy thatfirst night.
We had a good time, uh, kindaseeing everybody and, uh, I was
(14:15):
glad that, uh, Zach was able to,uh, to make it to the game that
Friday night, get to meet him aswell.
we just had a good time.
It was a, it was a nice, uh.
ballpark.
And, um, we got to meet, uh, upwith Colton, who had come from
Columbia and was now with theNaturals.
And so, uh, I was able to sayhey to him before the game and
introduce you and, Zach to himbecause, uh, you didn't get to
(14:36):
meet him when you were herebecause the game got rained out
and that was one of the planswhen you were here in Columbia,
was to meet up with him.
So, uh, kind of cool to, uh, tosee him and, uh, we didn't get
to see him play till Sunday,but, uh, but.
Friday night was really good.
We, we really enjoyed that.
So the biggest nineties,nineties nine, sorry, it was
nineties, was nineties night andthey were giving away free
t-shirts and they were playingnineties music.
(14:59):
And that was very fun.
Very fun.
Yeah.
One thing I was gonna take awayfrom that, Johnny, is that he
said he dropped her off at thewrong, entrance gate, but to me,
all I got was that he at leasthad her in the car.
He didn't forget her at thehotel.
That's true.
It may have been a hundred, butthat take is cold.
(15:19):
I think in fairness to, to onemayor Donnie Wise is, uh, recent
episode that.
The time of this recordingdropped last week.
I believe.
You know, we need to get themayor side of the story.
I wanted to give him a chance,uh, to, give his point of view
because I believe that DonnieWise had no malice in his heart
(15:40):
toward one Virgil Brooks.
So we need to him plead his casetonight on EFA first version
courtroom.
So, Mr.
Wise, the floor is yours.
Please defend yourself, sir, infront of Judge Pro.
there's really no defense exceptthat, uh, old age and memory
are, uh, not as good as theyused to be.
(16:02):
'cause that's all it was.
I, uh, I had agreed to, uh, thatwe would pick Virgil up from
the, his hotel when we wereheading over to Kelly and
Christina's house for the, theCBM, pre meet or the meetup
before the game, on that, uh,Saturday.
Yeah, we, you know, we, Jordan,our son, came with us and we
decided to go down to the, uh,aquarium in, in Chicago that
(16:23):
morning.
And so we kind of got.
Doing that.
And then Jordan didn't want togo to the game necessarily, so
we were like, okay, we gottatake him back to the hotel.
So we dropped him off.
We kind of got situated, figuredout where Kelly and Christina's
house was at, and I actuallythought we were running way
late.
And unfortunately, the fact thatI was supposed to go get Virgil
(16:45):
just.
Was just not in my brain.
It just totally didn't appear inmy brain.
We got to Kelly's, we wereactually one of the first ones,
uh, to get there.
and I thought we were runninglate.
after a little bit, I said.
Where Virgil is again, my memorywas just, it was blank.
It was, I, it was a totalaccident.
I plead old age, uh, and memoryloss in, in, uh, forgetting that
(17:10):
I was supposed to pick Virgil upfrom the hotel, save him having
to drive, separately.
Well, you, you, you're wronghonor.
Let, let me put it this way,speaking of the nineties, just
because you forget, we stillneed to acquit.
Well, and I, I owe Virgil a hat'cause he did purchase a hat for
me on his trip.
and that was supposed to be anexchange for me picking him up.
(17:31):
We were actually supposed topick him up the night before
when we were going to go toJoliet as well.
Unfortunately.
Timing, it was not gonna be goodfor us to drive all the way to
the hotel in Chicago andbacktrack to Joliet.
he just met us in Joliet aswell.
Uh, otherwise we'd have wastedtwo extra hours of driving just
to come to the hotel, pick himup and come back.
(17:51):
And so I guess in my brain, Ijust didn't think about the next
day also was also a time I wassupposed to pick him up.
I apologize here publicly to Mr.
Virgil Brooks.
Your Honor, it is clear, uh,defense rests that, uh, there
was no, malice of forethoughttoward one Virgil Brooks.
Uh, so I, I'm asking forleniency from the court.
(18:13):
Uh, for one, Mr.
Mayor Donny was.
We'll need to take a recess and,uh, conjoin later on that, uh,
let's get back to, uh, Wichita.
So Rhonda, I did want to ask alittle bit, so then on Saturday,
so kind of the first full daythat you were here, breakfast
and sight seeing, would you mindjust sharing a little bit about
how the day before the ball gamewent on Saturday?
(18:35):
Absolutely.
Well, a little bit about thenight before.
So I had the pleasure of goingwith, your wonderful wife,
Shannon, and the boys andSamantha to have ice cream and
thoroughly enjoyed my time withthem that evening.
And then the next morning we allmet and at the Doah Diner, which
(18:56):
was a wonderful experience.
The food was.
just amazing.
I had banana bread, frenchtoast, and I would highly
recommend it to anybody, whoevergets the opportunity, to go
there.
And then after that, we went, Idon't remember the name of the
coffee shop, but it was thecoffee shop.
I think the Shannon likes to goto coffee days.
(19:18):
Okay.
she knows I love iced coffee.
And so we headed down there andenjoyed that.
And then we decided we'd letthem in, go off and do their
brewery thing and Sightsee, andshe was just gonna take me back
to the hotel.
Well, she said, I should havetaken you to see this side of
(19:41):
town.
And I said, well, I, I, I'll go.
And that just turned into usenjoying the morning, riding
around.
We saw, different neighborhoodsand different sites and, then I
rode, I don't remember what thename of that town was that she
took me to.
Goddard.
Goddard?
Yep.
Godard Goddard.
Mm-hmm.
Got it.
But she showed me such.
(20:03):
Unusual different houses.
Um, the Frank Lloyd Wrighthouse, this house that looks
like a castle and just sort ofenjoyed our time talking.
And Easton was in the backseatand I enjoyed my conversations
with him very much.
And it sort of just turned intoan impromptu little ride around
(20:23):
Wichita and I had a lot of fun.
Johnny, so Donnie and I were outand about and I get a text
message and it's Rhonda in frontof the ballpark that Zach plays
at during the summer out atGoddard, and I'm like.
We were just out in EastWichita, Goddard's, far West
Wichita.
So it was like, good 25, 30minutes.
I'm like, why'd you guys go wayout there?
(20:45):
So, uh, they did get to seequite a bit of, you know,
Wichita and the surroundingareas.
But yeah, they took off and thatpicture, and that picture was to
make, Patrick jealous.
if he hasn't seen it yet, we'llmake sure that he gets to see
that.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, uh, Donnie, how about you?
How was your experience then onthat first full day prior to
(21:07):
going the game on Saturday?
like Rhonda, you, well, again,to say the night before we, we
had a few beers at the, uh, atNorton's.
and part of the reason we kindof split up is you and I wanted
some beers and everybody elsewanted some food, and Norton's
wasn't gonna serve any foodanymore.
So the, the girls and, kids tookoff and got some ice cream and
hung out.
You and I kinda had a few, fewbeers there and crossed another
(21:29):
brewery off of our lists,together.
But, uh, the do Die diner, waseverything I expected it to be.
And, and then some, it was kindof a, a just a great little
place with the great food.
I ended up getting, I had justhad to look it up.
I got the shocker scramble.
it was a, a pancake and then ithad, uh, this.
Jalapeno bacon, cheddar cheese,scrambled eggs with bacon, ham
(21:51):
and sausage the sweet potatoespork belly on top.
I mean, it was just a, it wasjust one of those breakfasts
that.
you get at a place called the DoDo Diner.
It just was like a little bit ofeverything, all in one big
plate.
so I, I thoroughly enjoyed thatdiner.
We got to meet the new owner, aswell.
You and I did talking to him alittle bit.
really cool guy and uh, seemslike he's stepped up to keep
(22:15):
that going, uh, after someissues with the previous owners
and health and everything.
So, great experience with that.
And then, uh, of course, you andI took off and went to get a,
some beers and try out some ofthe, uh, local brew breweries.
well, we went to, we, well, Idon't know, I don't even
remember the order we went in,but I know we went to hopping.
No, which is one that I wantedto get to on my list that
everybody had talked about.
Lynn especially had had broughtit up a few times.
(22:37):
fantastic little spot.
Uh, really enjoyed, uh,everything that they had there.
That's in a newer space than Ithink they had been in before
with some of the other peoplethat had been there.
Kind of expanded into a space inthe back, behind the original.
and then we went to, um, centralStandard, which is another cool
little brewery.
had a good time with that one aswell.
(22:58):
We rode around, went to yourhigh school.
I took a million pictures ofyour high school.
just because the architecturewas, was fascinating to me.
you talked about how they usedto be the Redskins, so they
can't really do that anymore.
They changed the name up to theRed Hawks, but the, the
architecture itself with the,uh, native American, The whole
thing, the Native American, uh,figureheads and, uh, the buffalo
(23:20):
head sculptures in the, in the,brick work and everything.
it's so cool.
You just don't see stuff likethat around here.
so that was very cool to seethat.
And then just see some otherparts of, Wichita driving
around.
You took show, showed me thecastle, which, uh, if I had the
money and moved to Wichita, thatwould.
Probably wanna buy a castle'cause that looked like a really
cool house and who wouldn'twanna own a castle?
(23:41):
So, but, uh, it was, it was agood time riding around and, and
hitting some spots that, uh,that we wanted to hit too.
Yeah.
So the castle's, it's calledCastle and Riverside, or that's
kinda what the name used to be'cause it's right there in the
Riverside area.
And then both Shannon andRhonda, and then Donnie and I
went through College Hill, sokind of an older neighborhood on
(24:01):
the east side.
Shannon used to live in CollegeHill and we also, Donnie and I
stopped by the, uh, university.
Yeah, I forgot to mention, we,the first place we actually went
to before the breweries was, uh,you took me over to Wichita
State to see the ball field.
so we got out, we saw, uh, the,the stadium walked over there
and took a few pictures of that,saw one of the, I guess, current
players that just walked outthere and was sort of working on
(24:23):
his stance in the batter's box.
And, uh, then right across thestreet from the stadium's, the
original Pizza Hut, which isjust a tiny little brick
building.
Nothing like.
Anybody would picture a pizzaHut looking like.
But, uh, the original buildingthat it was, uh, started in, I
think in 58, if I remember the,the date right.
We couldn't go in.
It was closed, but we looked inthe windows.
A lot of cool stuff in there anddefinitely on the list, to go
(24:46):
back to, as well.
And, uh, we did go to have alittle tap room over there.
I can't remember the name of it,but you can.
Social tap.
Social tap.
Yeah.
We went over there too and hada, had a beer at social tap and,
uh, checked out the, uh, theShockers team store or campus
store that, uh, is right there.
Uh, we were gonna go over to themain one, but, uh, just timing
(25:07):
wise, after we went through allof that, we decided to go ahead
and just head over to couple ofthe breweries and, and I'd like
to get back for actually aWichita State game and, and then
make a, a trip to the, uh, teamstore at that point.
So after a fun-filled, you know,Saturday morning with breakfast
and then kind of going aroundtown, going to some breweries
and just traveling aroundlooking at the city, uh, we were
(25:28):
able to get to another game thenon Saturday night.
So, Rhonda, I'll let you start.
Talk about the experience andwhat we got to do, where we got
to eat and everything during thegame on that Saturday night.
It was a wonderful experience aswe got to go up to this.
It's a sweet area.
I guess I'm not, I don'tremember exactly what it was
(25:50):
called, but it was a wonderful,open buffet of different types
of Mexican foods that we got toexperience in that, in the.
Air conditioned area.
and then it had the nice littlearea that you could go outside
then and be able to watch thegame.
So it did feel like we werebeing treated extra special.
(26:12):
We were in a, sweet area, sothat was very nice and the food
was delicious.
Yeah, so the area, it's new thisyear in terms of the name, so
it's called The Vault.
Okay.
And yeah, exactly like Rhondadescribed.
So it's kind of like this bigarea where I think you could
actually rent the space out'cause it has like a big open
area and you could have like areception or do some other
(26:35):
events there.
So it's big open area.
Now, obviously they had like alot of tables, seating and
everything.
And buffet that runs through, Ithink like the third inning, so
from when gate's open to thethird inning and then they have
a little side area that you canget like popcorn, hot dogs.
and pretzels that last throughmost of the rest of the game.
So fun little area.
(26:55):
It's been there since the,ballpark open in 2020.
Uh, obviously didn't play till2021, but they had just got
bought out by a corporatesponsor this past off season, so
they renamed, it's called TheVault.
But yeah, fun little, area toget up to.
So hadn't been up there for acouple years, I think first time
we've been up there for a while,but.
season ticket holders have, uh,opportunity to get up there for
(27:18):
one game.
So we use that to go up therewhen they were here.
and then Donnie, would you mindsharing with everybody?
So I talked about my hat, uh,kind of what the teams played
as, and then there was a specialevent that we got to participate
in as well.
so the, Wind surge were playingas the oat milkers on that
Saturday game.
It was Bobblehead giveaway.
so we all got a, a bobblehead.
(27:38):
who was the player?
McCusker, who I think at thetime of this recording is still
up with the twins.
He might have got sent backdown, but he is been with St.
Paul got called up one time, Ithink maybe.
Late last year, maybe early thisyear, uh, I've been back with
the Saints, but he was withWichita, early last year I
(27:59):
believe, and had a very early inthe season, had a three home run
game, so, big six foot eightleft fielder out of Oklahoma
State.
went to OSU and then got draftedand been with the twins
organization.
But yeah, I was with Wichita fora while.
And they got called up late lastyear to the Saints and then,
yeah, he actually, what was coolis that he got recalled back up
(28:21):
to the Minnesota twins the daythat they had the Bobblehead in
Wichita.
So that was kind of a fun littleexperience.
So yeah, Carson McCusker.
So, uh, we enjoyed that getting,uh, you know, always good to get
a giveaway, but get a bobbleheadwas kind of, extra special
there.
and yeah, so we, uh, we gotthere.
They're playing as the oatmilkers.
I wish I had brought my, uh, myhat in Jersey, but I, I didn't.
(28:42):
Even think about it, even thoughI think I had seen earlier in
the year that they were going tobe playing as the oat milkers.
One of the games we, we weregonna be there and I just
forgotten about it again, thatmemory thing, Johnny, so old age
kicking in there.
but then, uh, during the game,so the night before, one of the,
uh, interns had asked, uh, usabout.
(29:03):
Participating in a, uh, on fieldgame for Saturday with water
balloons.
And Shannon and I were going todo that.
They came up to us as, we camein the gate on Saturday and said
they can't do the waterballoons, because they had, uh,
the amazing Tyler balancing.
All kinds of stuff on his, uh,his face.
And they didn't wanna take achance on getting water balloons
(29:23):
burst all over the grass andhaving the grass wet over on the
same side of the field he wasgonna be on.
So I said immediately, well,what else have you got?
And they came back and said,we've got knock balls or the
costume race.
And before they could evenfinish saying costume race, I
said, we'll do the knock balls.
I'd always wanted to do that.
And as soon as that wasmentioned, I'm like, I'm in.
(29:44):
I don't know if Shannon and Ericwere ready for that.
But they looked at each otherlike, well, what do we do?
I guess we're gonna do it.
So they obliged my desire thatI've always wanted to do the
knock balls, which is the biground ball you get in the middle
of, and you go and you hit eachother and bounce off of each
other.
the fireflies have done it foryears.
Mostly their interns get outthere and do a contest.
(30:06):
They don't let, uh, Fans do it.
So I was like, I'm all in forthis.
So they're like, okay, we'll doit.
And uh, so we go down there, uh,sixth inning.
We gotta wait for most of aninning to get ready.
And of course Eric's like, Hey,we gotta gang up on Shannon and
let's, let's take her out.
I'm like, okay, sure, noproblem.
as soon as we all get set up, weget introduced.
(30:26):
I turned heel on Eric and I wentstraight for him.
And you could see in the videothat he starts for Shannon,
takes about four or five steps,sees me out the corner of his
eye and turns towards me.
And I, I honestly did notrealize.
He would go down so fast, but Ihit him and he went feet in the
air and he was done.
He was outta the game.
So one hit, took him out,blindsided him, uh, all that
(30:51):
good stuff.
And then Shannon and I had apretty good battle.
she almost got me, but I waslike, I just was determined to
win.
I I was not being the, uh.
The gracious guest in lettingone of them win.
so I finally got Shannon, uh,flipped over as well.
Got got a little leverage onher, but it was hard'cause she's
a lot shorter than me, so I hadto really get down low to, uh,
(31:12):
to knock her over.
But, uh, that's a highlight of.
Several seasons for me, thatwas, that was the highlight of
the trip.
that was the highlight ofprobably this year in minor
league baseball.
For me to participate in thatand have fun doing and
blindsiding, Eric was justbonus, I literally didn't think
he would lose his footing thatquickly.
I thought I'd hit him and he'dbounce back, and then we would
(31:33):
both double team Shannon, but itdidn't work out that way.
I've seen this footage.
I'd like to get Mrs.
Mayor's opinion.
Rhonda, please jump in.
What, what was it like seeingthis carnage, uh, in person,
seeing the prophet, husband andwife just laid out like a piece
of sod, by the mayor?
Uh, what was that?
What was I, I wanna get yourfirsthand experience.
(31:54):
I've seen the footage.
It's shocking.
It's troubling.
I imagine you'll be getting acall from Dabo maybe soon for
Why not?
I still have eligibility left,Johnny?
okay.
I will tell you for sure thatthis was something that Donnie
has wanted to do for a long,long time.
(32:14):
So it, it is not surprising thatthis is going to.
be the, best memory he had fromgoing to Wichita because this
has been high on his list,wanting to do it.
Now, he says he's going to buyknock balls so that he can do
this with our friends.
And I, say, okay, great, but youremember we are all in our
(32:36):
fifties.
so I'll just say that.
but I told Shannon before shewent down that I was pull
pulling for her to take both ofthem out.
That is what I wanted to see.
But you gotta, you, you did havea gleam in your eye when you saw
that I won, I think.
'cause you were filming it fromup there.
So you had to be a little proudof your husband.
(32:58):
I was, I was proud of you.
But, I will admit that I didtell Shannon to take you out.
So, I was sitting with Eastonand we were, we were both
videoing and we were having agood time.
Listen for that little boy to befour years old.
He knows how to work a camerabetter than all of us and could
video better than I did.
(33:18):
but just having him there and heand I talking, I, I thoroughly
enjoy spending time with Eastonand listening to him tell me
different stories.
So, just the comments you weremaking while that was going on
was great.
See, I wish you could haverecorded him because he had some
great sayings throughout theweekend.
He did.
Um, I already have a t-shirtidea that I think's gonna make.
(33:38):
Uh, he and I millionaires, uh,at some point.
But, uh, yeah, that kid's, Eric,you gotta start writing down
what he says.
'cause that guy, that's a goldmine right there.
I'd have to be nonstop justwriting it down.
'cause it's always it.
He just keeps going and goingand he's just like his mom and
does not stop talking.
And so, yeah, Donny was talkingabout doing a t-shirt business
(33:58):
and Easton said something atbreakfast at Doon.
He is like, hold on, hold on.
And he ru jotted it down inthere and he is like that a
great t-shirt idea.
He was a little impatient.
He was, you know, little, littlegrumpy that morning and he was
ready to get his food.
And, uh, one of you, I don'tremember which one of you said
you just, I think it made havebeen Shannon.
She's like, you need to wait.
(34:19):
And he just bear bowed up.
He's like, waiting is not mything.
And I said, that's a T-shirtright there.
Waiting is not my thing.
Wow.
I jotted that down right away.
I'm like, I gotta, I gottaremember that one.
Hmm.
So I am very thankful thatDonnie did get to do that.
Very thankful, but unfortunatelyit's not out of his system
(34:41):
because he now has said when weall get together at the 4th of
July with our friend group, thatthat's gonna be what they do to
try to knock each other in thelake.
So we'll see.
Maybe more video to come fromthat.
Yeah, I definitely have to findout where I can buy those.
Let me recommend some liabilityinsurance.
just, just saying maybe old boatinsurance salesman.
(35:03):
Go into liability insurance now.
Old insurance tells me Mr.
Property and Casualty back yearsago.
So had a fun time at the theball game on Saturday night, but
kind of the fun thing that I waslooking forward to showing you
guys was Saturday night.
Uh, we have what's called thekeeper of the planes, and so we,
uh, left the ball game righttowards the end of it and headed
(35:26):
over there because it's duringthe spring and summer.
It's nine 9:00 PM and so wewanna make sure we cut that in
time.
So, either one of you, if youwant to jump in and talk a
little bit about that and theunfortunate, uh, happenings that
took place with the keeper ofthe plains.
Well, I will say that I will nowalways refer to it as the Statue
of Liberty.
Because that is what Easton kepttelling me that we were going
(35:49):
to.
So it can be that, but it's alsoknown as the Statue of Liberty.
Yeah, it was, he's a hoot.
it was one of those things Ididn't know what to expect.
'cause I mean, I've heard Erictalk about it.
but I didn't really look at, atanything to find out what, what
exactly we were going to see.
Uh, we dropped the, uh, theladies in Easton off, up, uh,
closer so they didn't have towalk from where we were parking
(36:11):
at.
And, uh, Eric and I walked alongthe riverfront there, which is
a.
Beautiful riverfront.
There's, I think it was alibrary across the river from
where we parked.
Uh, huge library, but just thatwhole riverfront right there
looking at downtown was reallycool.
We stopped and saw the troll,that's underneath the grates
there on our way to see thekeeper.
(36:31):
And then as we kind of camearound the bend, I kind of saw
what, what this was.
This was a really beautifulNative American statue, right
there at the, uh, the fork inthe, uh, the Arkan River, the
little and big Arkan river, Ibelieve.
And, the bridges, this I, Itook, I was just.
Mesmerized with the sun setting,the skyline, the everything.
(36:54):
Just taking as many pictures asI could of the bridge and the
statue and the, the rivers.
And, going across the bridgeover there to, uh, to the statue
is really beautiful area.
so we all congregated right downthere at the base of the statue
where they have the, uh, I guessthe flame, the, the circle flame
cauldron looking things aroundit, that are supposed to fire up
(37:15):
at nine o'clock.
And of course, you know, we'reall sitting there, it's getting
dark and it's, you know, we'recounting down, you know, we're
almost at nine o'clock.
And then right as it gets tonine o'clock this.
Loud voice comes over thespeakers and says,
unfortunately, due to highwinds, we're not gonna light the
flames tonight.
And all of us just sunk.
(37:36):
I mean, I know Eric sunk becausethis was what he wanted to show
off, and this was something thathe was excited for us to see.
The wind to me, didn't seem likeit was very much at all.
not so much that they couldn'thave done it, but again, I don't
know what their parameters are,but it, we were all like.
Why wouldn't you tell us this 20minutes ago?
So we didn't all spend this timegetting over there congregating
(37:57):
and finding our spot and gettingready, but they just, I guess
they wait till right then anddecide if they're gonna do it or
not.
Yeah, I don't say that I wouldgo down there every single
night.
It's pretty close to where Iwork, but also maybe 10 minutes
or so from my house.
I'm pretty close.
IG I've gone there many, many,many times and I've never once I
guess I shouldn't say never oncehad that happen.
(38:18):
We took the boys, got them allbundled up in the, Winter, I
believe it was still winter timeor when it was still pretty cold
out and went down there and theysaid that it, was not gonna run
because of the, flame or the,you know, where the flames come
up was iced over, So theycouldn't get the flames to,
although if you get the flamesgoing, it probably would melt
(38:40):
the ice.
But they had the bridges on theends blocked off with the rope,
so you couldn't even go throughthe bridge.
But whereas Donnie mentioned, wewere all down there at the base
of the keeper.
It was packed.
There were people on kayaks thatI'd never seen out there before
that were sitting out there towatch it and everything, and
they come on and said.
They're normal.
Hey, make sure you don't climbon the rocks or whatever, and
(39:03):
did their normal spiel.
And then all of a sudden itsays, due to high wind.
We're like, I've never seen thatbefore.
So I said, well, maybe that'sone reason that'll, uh, convince
you to come back is to try itnext time to see the keeper with
the actual, uh, flames lit up.
So you did get to see the keeperand the keeper was lit up, but
it's really cool when the flamesstart going as well.
Yeah, and it was very windyFriday night.
(39:24):
It was not very windy Saturdaynight.
It was a beautiful, clear night.
I mean, there was nothing, no,no, no clouds in the sky.
It didn't seem like it was.
Very windy.
It was a little, I would call ita gentle breeze, basically, at
most.
it was very windy Friday night.
It just had died down a lot onSaturday.
So it really was kind ofsurprising to me.
But, yeah, it was one of themany things that we kind of
(39:45):
added.
Okay, well we gotta come back tosee this.
We gotta come back to see that.
A couple of things that we'veadded that we missed out on,
like that, we gotta catch nexttime.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.