August 8, 2025 • 29 mins
Where do we begin the pursuit of authentic human connection and giving back to the greater good?
“We find commonality…and connection comes out of that commonality.”
Scott Glendenning and Steve Kaarbo share how their non-profit is bringing the Duluth community together by giving back to families and supporting various health initiatives.
“Some people might say, in the grand scheme of things, maybe a thousand dollars doesn't make a big difference. But it makes a very big difference to the individuals and families receiving it.”
What started as a front yard birthday party has morphed into “Excalibur Con,” a pop culture & tabletop gaming event happening August 16-17 at the DECC in Duluth (more info: MNSWCA.org)
Also, join us in support of the Masonic Children’s Clinic in Duluth on August 21: masonicchildrensclinic.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We often get asked, what isFreemasonry all about?
(00:04):
What do you guys do?
What are you striving for?
the Masonic journey is aboutauthentic friendship, personal
growth, and building community.
Today we're joined by SteveCarbo and Scott Glendenning of
Duluth, and we are going to looka little more closely into the
(00:26):
opportunity for buildingcommunity.
Steve Carbo was born and raisedin Duluth, Minnesota, went to
East High School UMD and UWSuperior for grad school.
Mental health therapist atNorthwood Children's Services.
Scott Glendenning, an old friendof mine, born and raised in
Duluth, attended UND that wouldbe North Dakota, earning a BS in
(00:49):
criminal justice.
Went back to Duluth aftercollege.
You were a counselor for nineyears.
That's when you met Steve.
We're gonna talk about that Backto school again.
For a degree in civilengineering technology.
You were in aerospacemanufacturing for 18 years.
Scott was raised as a masterMason in January, 2010, and a
past master of Glenn Avon,number 3 0 6 in 2014, spending
(01:13):
time with your wife and kids andworking with Steve, raising
money for charity.
In your free time, gentlemen,welcome.
Thank you.
It's good.
Thanks for having us.
So as we look at theopportunities for building
community, you guys are ontosomething very special in Duluth
with Excalibur Con.
Excalibur Con is a pop cultureand tabletop gaming event held
(01:37):
by your nonprofit organizationat the deck in Duluth.
It is a celebration of all nerdygenres from sci-fi fantasy and
comics to tabletop gaming,anime, video games and
nostalgia.
Your nonprofits MNS wca.org.
It was created to bring thecommunity together in this
(01:57):
celebration while giving back tofamily and mental health
initiatives.
Let's back up a little bit.
So this nonprofit started Steveand basically in your front yard
with a handful of people.
tell us the story.
Yeah.
Uh, it really grew out of myjust general love for nerdy
(02:19):
things.
Um, and when I was planning mybirthday a couple years ago, I
talked to some of my friends andmy son about having basically a
little convention in my frontyard.
Grew into a little bit biggerthan we anticipated and 80
people showed up into my frontyard, which isn't that large to
begin with.
That's a pretty good size for ajust general party though.
(02:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably only ever had like fouror five people at a birthday
before this.
Um, but yeah, so we decided tokind of just build out kind of a
carnival convention atmosphere.
my neighbors let us use theirkind of part of their yard as
well.
We set up little games for kidsof all ages to play.
(03:01):
Um, we had, uh, some artistsdonate some things.
We had local.
Collectors donate a lot of StarWars toys and things that we
could give away, and everybodycame, had fun, had some food to
eat, had a good time.
And part of what I wanted to dowas give back to the community.
And one of the things that I'velearned at other conventions
(03:23):
that I've gone to is, is the fanarea, is the family area, and
they're always giving back.
In some way, whether it's totheir local initiatives or
national in initiatives tosupport and often support of
families and kids.
So we decided to take donationsand then have some silent
auctions to give away, what webrought in.
(03:46):
And we ended up bringing in over$1,100 just in that birthday
party event in the front yardthat we then donated to the
pediatric oncology TreasureChest Foundation.
random spontaneous party,turning over$1,100 to a, a
organization.
That's pretty huge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was really neat to be able tothen tell everybody, Hey, you
(04:09):
know what?
This stuff really mattersbecause the treasure chest
literally buys toys for kidsthat are in the hospital that
can't really play with theirtoys.
Yeah.
Tell us more about that.
So the, Recipient of that, thatdonation at the time, and how
it's grown from there?
Yeah, so the Pediatric OncologyTreasure Chest Foundation is,
uh, kind of, it's, it'sregional, but I think it might
(04:31):
also be national.
Uh, we're focused on regional.
Our local, center would be inRochester.
The, um.
The clinic down there.
Uh, so kids that are going therefor various treatments, for
various cancers, have theopportunity to pick games, toys,
things that might make them feelmore comfortable and more like
at home while they're maybethere for extended amount of
(04:53):
time in the hospital.
So all of the money goesdirectly to buying the toys and
the games and the things that,that kids enjoy.
we gave that money to them.
Uh, they were very, verygrateful.
And some people might say, like,in the grand scheme of things,
well, well, maybe a thousanddollars doesn't make a big
difference.
But it makes a very, very bigdifference to the individuals
(05:15):
and the families receiving it.
You are a mental healththerapist at Northwood
Children's Services, so clearlythis is of both professional and
personal interest to you.
Yeah.
kind of, you know, I think backon my life and at this point I'm
50 years old, so I'm not much ofa kid anymore, but I kind of
think that I've always been.
(05:35):
Kid like in many ways.
Um, I've worked at Northwood nowfor 27 years, and I don't think
I've ever really grown up.
I like working in a place whereyou can play basketball or go to
Wisconsin Dells or play videogames, uh, with kids.
Um, and in my current practice,uh, as a therapist, I primarily
(05:56):
work with kids and adolescentsand it's not uncommon to have
kids come in and.
Play Uno or draw comic bookcharacters or get out a deck of
Magic the gathering and have oneof them teach me how to play
something because I don't knowhow to play that.
Um, so I, I think that that,that building community through
(06:16):
fun and activities like that isvery much what I enjoy.
And then that kind of spreadsinto the other things that I do,
whether it's my My charity work,or just my personal, uh, life.
Uh, I have kids of my own.
I have a grandchild.
Uh, the neighborhood kids, Ilove hanging out with them too.
(06:38):
So just anything that helps mefeel like a kid.
I enjoy doing that.
And that then goes over into my,into my profession as a, as a
therapist.
And you worked with Scott, atwhat point in your careers?
I started working with, uh,Steve.
I had been working at NorthwoodBeck.
(06:58):
I started just after college in1991, and Steve started and I
actually trained Steve in at,The team that we had worked
with, and I had worked there acouple more years and then I
ended up going back to schooland left there.
But, uh, and I left Stevebehind, But we'd remained
friends throughout the years andwe've played, you know, fantasy
(07:19):
football together, we've alwaysmaintained contact.
So, so in maintaining thatcontact when M-N-S-W-C-A was
coming to fruition.
What was the catalyst for youguys to collaborate on this?
Yeah, some of it really grewkind of out of that party.
so the, my nerd fandom of choiceis Star Wars, uh, has been.
(07:43):
As long as I can remember.
and Scott likes Star Wars too.
So we had this party very muchfocused on Star Wars and, and
Scott and his family came and,and had a great time and we just
kind of started talking about itand thinking like, you know,
something could grow out ofthis.
It could be a little bit bigger.
Scott is pretty good about, um,being pragmatic and saying,
(08:06):
well, the, uh, the things thatneed to line up are these
things.
And he's really good aboutletting me know those things.
And, Then I can go along withit.
And he keeps me in line in thatway.
So like, as we're building thisnonprofit, I'm like, we need
people that'll keep us in lineand help with the details.
(08:27):
And Scott would be an idealperson for that.
So asked him if he wants to comealong for the ride.
And, and he, he jumped on.
Jumped on immediately.
So you guys were together,Steve, at your birthday party,
front yard and decide.
This could become somethinglarger.
Last year you did the first ofwhat you call the Excalibur Con,
(08:49):
and you're coming up obviouslyon the second one, which is
going to be August 16th and17th.
This event promoting mentalhealth wellness in children and
families through sci-fifantasies.
You call it nerd culture fandomsat the deck in Duluth.
How did you get this from thefront yard party to the first
version of this last year?
(09:10):
And what was the first one like?
so after Steve, uh, had hisbirthday party.
Uh, we were developing anotherartist show, uh, to raise money
for charity called The FrozenForce.
since the frozen force, we hadthat and we raised money there
and we were able to merge witha, a gaming community, that was
(09:32):
around town because they wantedto have a, a convention.
And through this merger got tobe this larger convention, which
was originally called Tib Gun,Excalibur Con.
and so that's how it all cametogether.
It was a, it was a collaborationwith a bunch of other businesses
within the area, gamingbusinesses who wanted to have a,
(09:55):
a, a convention.
And that convention, uh, theywere struggling a little bit, To
get it going.
Uh, but since we had already hada smaller convention, uh, we had
some of the infrastructure andso that merger then, uh, allowed
us to grow even larger.
And, uh, rent deck, uh, space atthe deck.
(10:17):
Everybody knows the deck.
What a great space to be in.
For what are you anticipatingfor attendance now, coming up in
a couple weeks as we'rerecording this in late July and
your event's gonna be August16th and 17th.
Yeah.
if we kind of judge the growthof Excon from previous events
(10:37):
that we have had, um, theinterest, the excitement has
grown exponentially.
last year through the door, wehad about 2,500 people, um, with
our attendees, our, ourvolunteers, all of the people
involved with the event.
This year we're anticipating,somewhere in the range of maybe
(10:58):
3,500 to 4,000.
Um, but given the excitement,given just the kind of draw that
this type of community.
As in the Duluth, north Shore,Northern Wisconsin area, we
think it could be even bigger.
there just is a desire toconnect on some level, and I
think as we come out of the postCOVID era, even more so, people
(11:23):
want that connection.
And one of the ways to connectis through these.
Again, nerd culture fandoms and,um, you even see it kind of
across, um, other areas too, inways that you wouldn't even
imagine from sports stars to MMAfighters to boxers.
They have magic cards or Pokemoncards, or they like Star Wars or
(11:45):
Star Trek.
it's just really crossed over alot of different.
Kind of walks of life where asprobably when all of us were
young, if you were a nerd, youkind of got maybe ostracized or
maybe even beat up a little bit.
Yeah.
Um, and now it's kind of becomethe opposite and it's a little
bit more embraced.
So now that we have theseopportunities to come back as a
(12:09):
big group post COVID, I thinkthat it just opens up an
opportunity that even morecommunity can grow out of this.
So you have the common interestof the genres of different
movies, cards, fantasy comics,tabletop gaming.
(12:29):
But it struck me that yournonprofit was created to bring
the community together andconfront some mental health
initiatives.
Now Steve, you are a mentalhealth therapist.
We read a lot about this in theheadlines with the friendship
recession, the loneliness, theisolation, but you're on the
front lines of this.
(12:49):
How, how big of an issue is thisin the world today?
I, I don't think it'soverstating it to say that it's
a crisis or an epidemic.
Um, we talked for years andyears and years about the, the,
the COVID pandemic.
We've all lived through it.
We've all experienced that.
Now on the other side of it,there's kind of that vacuum and
(13:10):
it's like, oh, we're back tonormal, but we really aren't.
You know that, that word normalis somewhat charged, but we're
not back to where we were preCOVID.
There's, I, I don't know that wecan look around us and say,
well, we're back to that.
Um, in terms of connection withother people, just the kind of
the epidemic of loneliness, ofisolation, of the amount of
(13:31):
people that are anxious anddepressed and have avoided
social interaction for a longtime.
We haven't gotten back to a timewhere we can do that.
And as a, a children's mentalhealth therapist primarily, we
see that just playing out in ourschools, in our, um, social
activities teams, boys and girlsclubs, those types of places are
(13:55):
seeing just a challenge inworking with, with kiddos
because they haven't had thatopportunity to learn to get
along with one another.
Now.
We can learn and we can get backto that.
And I think opportunities likethis is, is a way that we can
get back to that in a, in ahealthy way.
(14:17):
Sometimes it seems like weequate connection, but in a
virtual sense.
I have so many friends onFacebook or.
The account has X number offollowers, but that really is
Scott a hollow connection.
It's not authentic.
It's not person to person.
(14:38):
No, it's, it's, it's not real.
And conventions like this allowpeople to interact face-to-face,
allow people to.
Be themselves, um, you know,dress up, be or be somebody
else, uh, cosplay contests.
And, and just coming to aconvention and dressing up like
a superhero allows you to be outof that regular everyday life
(15:03):
that may not be, uh, the bestfor you.
Uh, but here you're accepted.
And you guys are also activelysupporting the Masonic
Children's Clinic forCommunication Disorders in
Duluth.
You'd mentioned the PediatricOncology Treasure Chest
Foundation, and then as well asthe M ns wca.org Mental Wellness
(15:27):
Scholarship Fund, in addition toyour event on August 16th and
17th in Duluth.
We also encourage our listenersto attend our Duluth Clinic Gala
on Thursday, August 21st at theGray Salon Ballroom.
when we wrap up today, we'llshare where to go to find some
additional information on bothof these events.
(15:51):
Is there room for someone atthis who may not be fully into,
say, the sci-fi, the the, thecomics, or if, if Scott, maybe
Scott, are you gonna wear yourSuperman outfits or is it, is
it, is it for everybody?
Is this really a hard forhardcore or is it even for
someone that may, Hey, I sawStar Wars in the theater and
still like some of those.
(16:11):
Steve, Steve is the residentnerd of our group.
I, I, you say that with the estthough, right?
Oh, with all the love I can.
Okay, good.
It's, uh, I don't know, a lot ofthis stuff.
I enjoy Star Wars.
I saw Star Wars in the theaterand when it came out, so did I.
That makes us old, doesn't it?
Right.
but no, I, I don't know half ofthe things that, that they talk
(16:33):
about.
However, seeing the enjoymentthat people get out of it and
the different ranges that, thatthe people, different interests
that people have when they comein, they all come together and
it doesn't matter if they havethe same interest, they all are
there because they're interestedin that community into sharing,
into being something into.
(16:56):
Just being part of something.
And these, and it doesn'tmatter, it crosses all
boundaries, all genres, allages.
Uh, they just get to come inand, and just get outta reality
for a little bit.
And, and so it brings everybodytogether.
Even if you don't dress up, evenif you don't know much of this
or that, I don't.
(17:17):
but everybody's welcome and, andthe feedback we get is.
We see people smilingeverywhere.
Yeah.
When they come in, when theyleave, when they're there.
The excitement from everybodysounds like a lot of fun.
And I would imagine even word ofmouth from last year to this
year.
You'll easily hit that 4,000attendee mark I think.
I think so.
(17:38):
It's been, uh, quite a, quite ajourney over the last, um,
probably nine months, uh, sincewe started really in earnest
planning this year.
Last year we had about sixmonths to plan and we're able to
pull off a really great eventthis year.
Obviously, we knew we were gonnado it again, so we had more
time.
But in earnest in terms ofpromoting and talking and
(17:58):
getting the word out there.
I, I've been to events in, um,Sioux Falls in Minneapolis and
Plymouth, as far as Nashville,and the interest is, is
everywhere.
When we say, I.
There's an event like this inDuluth, Minnesota.
People are like, where can Isign up?
one of the things that justreally sets it apart is Duluth,
(18:19):
number one is a beautifulcommunity.
the convention center isliterally a block away from the
largest lake.
Like you could just go out thereand enjoy your time there and
then go back into theconvention.
Like you can't do that when yougo to Chicago or New York
Comic-Con or down to KansasCity, or.
Any, any other venue, you're notgoing to have that spectacular
(18:43):
experience that NorthernMinnesota is gonna give you.
And when I go around and talk tovendors and artists and
celebrities, as soon as Imentioned Duluth, their eyes
perk up and they're like,really?
You have this there?
And just the overwhelmingresponse we've gotten from
people that say like, oh, I'mgonna be there.
Oh, I've heard of that.
Yep.
(19:03):
We'll plan on being there.
And we're like, and this is yeartwo, right?
And the first year with the newname.
So we're like, uh, you know it.
How do you know it?
Yeah.
'cause it hasn't happened yet.
And they're like, no, we're justexcited for it.
Same thing with vendors andartists and celebrities.
I mean, we get two to threeemails a week of someone saying,
Hey, we want be there.
Unfortunately, in certain ways,we have to say, oh, you can't.
(19:24):
We don't have enough room foryou to come sell this year, but
you can come hang out with us.
Come on up and next year comesee us.
Sounds like great potential tokeep growing this in the years
ahead too.
Yeah, absolutely.
We, as, as Scott often says, hewants this to be the, uh, the
nerd Bentleyville.
So if you're familiar withNorthern Minnesota, Bentleyville
(19:44):
was a, a, a, like a Christmaslight show mm-hmm.
That was just in somebody's yardbasically.
And people would drive by andsee it, and it grew and grew and
grew.
And now it's basically afoundation of.
The Canal Park area in Duluthand people come from all over
the place just to see this lightshow.
(20:06):
It's, I mean, it's fantastic.
It's great.
But it started in somebody'syard just like us.
So as Scott often says, likethis is gonna be the summer
bentleyville in Duluth,Minnesota.
Scott, you worked as a counselorfor nine years.
Steve, you're obviously atherapist.
(20:28):
Beyond this event in bigPicture, how do you suggest we
continue addressing that humanto human connection?
Necessity.
Is it as simple as just put thedevice away and.
Go hang with some friends.
We're so attached to our devicesin living, in all of our
(20:53):
isolation in this digital worldright now.
How do we, how do we addressmore balance?
that's the trick is gettingpeople to put their phones down.
Their telephones aren't thereality, and the reality is
other people.
And we need to have thoseconnections and those
face-to-face interactions withpeople in order to, um, progress
(21:16):
as, as a society.
And a lot of times with the, uh,our telephones, we have access
to information throughout theworld at our fingertips,
however.
That doesn't allow us to developthose skills in, in, um,
interacting with others.
It doesn't allow us to be partof a community.
(21:36):
It doesn't allow us to feel likewe're wanted or needed.
And so getting out to, uh,conventions, getting, giving
people a reason to, to put theirphone down and to come out and,
and be with other people isreally important in, in just.
In general for our, uh, ourwellbeing in ourselves.
(21:58):
Yeah.
I very much agree that it's,it's not just about put a device
down.
Um, it's utilizing the, theresources in your community
around you and actually being apart of something.
And, and that could be aconvention with 4,000 people or
it could be a local shop whereyou.
Get together with a smallergroup of friends to play a game
(22:20):
or drink some coffee and, and,and reminisce about the, the
things that you did experienceat the convention.
So it's, it's not as much, justthis convention is the only
community opportunity.
This is potentially like a, ajumping off point to connect
with.
People that you might not haveconnected with before or maybe,
(22:40):
you know, I mean like, I didn'tknow you liked Star Wars or
Magic or Anime or Yugi, and youfind out you do, and then that
creates a friendship.
So if we think back to when wewere younger on the playground,
uh, like how do you connect withsomebody?
Like, uh, you just start playingdodge ball or you're on the
jungle gym at the same time.
You're like, oh, you like this?
(23:01):
Yes, I do like this.
I can remember to this day.
Going into junior high schoolwith, uh, a friend who, uh, I
had ne I had never met thisperson before and he came up to
me and said, I heard you likebaseball cards number.
Like, how did you hear that?
Right.
But, but yes, I do like baseballcards.
(23:21):
And he became one of my bestfriends.
similarly, like a friend of minewas on the same little league,
uh.
Not the same team, but in thesame little league.
Well, there is a commonalitythat we have with baseball and
then he had a field behind hishouse and we would just play
whiffle ball all the time.
So you look for thosecommonalities.
(23:42):
Uh, Scott, when I met him, he.
He liked nascar, he likedfootball, he liked other things
that I liked.
So I, Scott and I have been in afantasy football league for like
26 years together and we've goneto NASCAR races together.
So we find that commonality andconnection comes out of that
commonality.
(24:03):
And if we don't ever have thoseinteractions with others, we're
not gonna find out thosecommonalities We frequently
address on this podcasttechnology, ai.
Some of the apps out there thatare a virtual friend or
assistant as one of them isbilled as, sometimes our
(24:24):
discussions get misconstrued asadvocating that, well, we should
just.
Put the phone down forever.
We can't do that.
Technology's not going anywhere,but it's an ongoing question of
how to achieve balance.
So many young people, especiallythat may have a million
followers on TikTok orInstagram, are extremely lonely,
(24:49):
very isolated.
The balance of maintaining thathuman to human connection is so
crucial right now.
Are we at a tipping point withthat?
I personally believe so.
Um, I, I, I believe technologyhas a, a place in our world.
I, I'm sure eons ago people whenyou started using a certain tool
(25:12):
or electricity or, or certainthings are introduced.
There's, there's pushback.
I view the technology that wehave really.
Really as a tool.
So our computers, our phones,even, even ai, and that's a
whole nother discussion.
But my hammer at home is a toolthat I use, but it's not my
friend.
I, I, I'm gonna put that hammeraway and set it down, and then
(25:35):
I'm gonna go spend time with myfamily, or I'm going to engage
in, in the hobbies I enjoy orgive back to my community in
some way.
That hammer will help me, it'llhelp me along the way.
Just like my phone will justlike.
AI will in some respects oranything, electricity or your
car or any of those things, butthey don't become the
relationship that I have.
(25:56):
The relationship that I have iswith my friend Scott, or with my
family or children orgrandchildren or community
members at a convention.
Those, those are theconnections.
And then these other things thatwe have are the tools to help
build those connections in otherways.
And we are really grateful foryour support of the Masonic
(26:18):
Children's Clinic forCommunication Disorders in
Duluth.
I'm excited to see you guys andmany other friends at that gala
that is going to be on August21st at the Gray Salon Ballroom.
For our listeners who areinterested, you can go to
masonic children's clinic.orgfor more info on that.
(26:38):
Where should people go to findyou?
For more info on Excalibur Conand to attend and participate,
the easiest way is to check ourwebsite, mn s wca.org, just like
our name.
we also have our links on oursocial media for Excalibur Con
on Facebook and Instagram.
and you'll find updates, uh,ticketing, the celebrity guests
(27:01):
that are gonna come, the gamesthat you can play, and the other
kind of.
Non-game things that you can do.
As I've said, like this is afamily oriented activity and
there's gonna be a lot of familyoriented events going on
throughout the whole weekend.
one of the big things we do israise money for the
communication clinic that, as westarted the nonprofit, we wanted
(27:24):
to keep some charities and localcharities.
And When Steve, uh, was lookingfor, a charitable organization
to give money to, as we weredeveloping the, the nonprofit, I
said, I know just the place.
And having been a Mason.
(27:45):
We have raised the, Glen Avenhad raised a number of dollars
for the communication clinic anduh, so I said to Steve, Hey, I
know exactly where we can, wecan, uh, raise what we can raise
money for, and that's theclinic.
I told him to get ahold of Nikkidown at the clinic, and he did.
And since that time, uh, thewhole board of directors has
(28:09):
been down and toured the clinic.
And we, we love theorganization, we love the
clinic.
The staff there is phenomenal.
And, uh, it's one of the mainsources of why we do this.
why we raise money is to giveback to the community and the
clinic is a wonderfulorganization to do that.
(28:31):
So many opportunities to, infact, be building community and
really appreciate both of yourefforts on all of the things
we've discussed today.
August 16th and 17th, ExcaliburCon in Duluth.
Go to MNS wca.org and alsoDuluth Clinic Gala for the
(28:53):
Masonic Children's Clinic forCommunication Disorders will be
on August 21st.
Again, go to masonic children'sclinic.org for more info.
Scott Glendenning.
Steve Carbo, thanks for being instudio today.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
This has been another episode ofMinnesota Masonic Histories and
Mysteries.
We often get asked, what isFreemasonry all about?
(00:04):
What do you guys do?
What are you striving for?
the Masonic journey is aboutauthentic friendship, personal
growth, and building community.
Today we're joined by SteveCarbo and Scott Glendenning of
Duluth, and we are going to looka little more closely into the
(00:26):
opportunity for buildingcommunity.
Steve Carbo was born and raisedin Duluth, Minnesota, went to
East High School UMD and UWSuperior for grad school.
Mental health therapist atNorthwood Children's Services.
Scott Glendenning, an old friendof mine, born and raised in
Duluth, attended UND that wouldbe North Dakota, earning a BS in
(00:49):
criminal justice.
Went back to Duluth aftercollege.
You were a counselor for nineyears.
That's when you met Steve.
We're gonna talk about that Backto school again.
For a degree in civilengineering technology.
You were in aerospacemanufacturing for 18 years.
Scott was raised as a masterMason in January, 2010, and a
past master of Glenn Avon,number 3 0 6 in 2014, spending
(01:13):
time with your wife and kids andworking with Steve, raising
money for charity.
In your free time, gentlemen,welcome.
Thank you.
It's good.
Thanks for having us.
So as we look at theopportunities for building
community, you guys are ontosomething very special in Duluth
with Excalibur Con.
Excalibur Con is a pop cultureand tabletop gaming event held
(01:37):
by your nonprofit organizationat the deck in Duluth.
It is a celebration of all nerdygenres from sci-fi fantasy and
comics to tabletop gaming,anime, video games and
nostalgia.
Your nonprofits MNS wca.org.
It was created to bring thecommunity together in this
(01:57):
celebration while giving back tofamily and mental health
initiatives.
Let's back up a little bit.
So this nonprofit started Steveand basically in your front yard
with a handful of people.
tell us the story.
Yeah.
Uh, it really grew out of myjust general love for nerdy
(02:19):
things.
Um, and when I was planning mybirthday a couple years ago, I
talked to some of my friends andmy son about having basically a
little convention in my frontyard.
Grew into a little bit biggerthan we anticipated and 80
people showed up into my frontyard, which isn't that large to
begin with.
That's a pretty good size for ajust general party though.
(02:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably only ever had like fouror five people at a birthday
before this.
Um, but yeah, so we decided tokind of just build out kind of a
carnival convention atmosphere.
my neighbors let us use theirkind of part of their yard as
well.
We set up little games for kidsof all ages to play.
(03:01):
Um, we had, uh, some artistsdonate some things.
We had local.
Collectors donate a lot of StarWars toys and things that we
could give away, and everybodycame, had fun, had some food to
eat, had a good time.
And part of what I wanted to dowas give back to the community.
And one of the things that I'velearned at other conventions
(03:23):
that I've gone to is, is the fanarea, is the family area, and
they're always giving back.
In some way, whether it's totheir local initiatives or
national in initiatives tosupport and often support of
families and kids.
So we decided to take donationsand then have some silent
auctions to give away, what webrought in.
(03:46):
And we ended up bringing in over$1,100 just in that birthday
party event in the front yardthat we then donated to the
pediatric oncology TreasureChest Foundation.
random spontaneous party,turning over$1,100 to a, a
organization.
That's pretty huge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was really neat to be able tothen tell everybody, Hey, you
(04:09):
know what?
This stuff really mattersbecause the treasure chest
literally buys toys for kidsthat are in the hospital that
can't really play with theirtoys.
Yeah.
Tell us more about that.
So the, Recipient of that, thatdonation at the time, and how
it's grown from there?
Yeah, so the Pediatric OncologyTreasure Chest Foundation is,
uh, kind of, it's, it'sregional, but I think it might
(04:31):
also be national.
Uh, we're focused on regional.
Our local, center would be inRochester.
The, um.
The clinic down there.
Uh, so kids that are going therefor various treatments, for
various cancers, have theopportunity to pick games, toys,
things that might make them feelmore comfortable and more like
at home while they're maybethere for extended amount of
(04:53):
time in the hospital.
So all of the money goesdirectly to buying the toys and
the games and the things that,that kids enjoy.
we gave that money to them.
Uh, they were very, verygrateful.
And some people might say, like,in the grand scheme of things,
well, well, maybe a thousanddollars doesn't make a big
difference.
But it makes a very, very bigdifference to the individuals
(05:15):
and the families receiving it.
You are a mental healththerapist at Northwood
Children's Services, so clearlythis is of both professional and
personal interest to you.
Yeah.
kind of, you know, I think backon my life and at this point I'm
50 years old, so I'm not much ofa kid anymore, but I kind of
think that I've always been.
(05:35):
Kid like in many ways.
Um, I've worked at Northwood nowfor 27 years, and I don't think
I've ever really grown up.
I like working in a place whereyou can play basketball or go to
Wisconsin Dells or play videogames, uh, with kids.
Um, and in my current practice,uh, as a therapist, I primarily
(05:56):
work with kids and adolescentsand it's not uncommon to have
kids come in and.
Play Uno or draw comic bookcharacters or get out a deck of
Magic the gathering and have oneof them teach me how to play
something because I don't knowhow to play that.
Um, so I, I think that that,that building community through
(06:16):
fun and activities like that isvery much what I enjoy.
And then that kind of spreadsinto the other things that I do,
whether it's my My charity work,or just my personal, uh, life.
Uh, I have kids of my own.
I have a grandchild.
Uh, the neighborhood kids, Ilove hanging out with them too.
(06:38):
So just anything that helps mefeel like a kid.
I enjoy doing that.
And that then goes over into my,into my profession as a, as a
therapist.
And you worked with Scott, atwhat point in your careers?
I started working with, uh,Steve.
I had been working at NorthwoodBeck.
(06:58):
I started just after college in1991, and Steve started and I
actually trained Steve in at,The team that we had worked
with, and I had worked there acouple more years and then I
ended up going back to schooland left there.
But, uh, and I left Stevebehind, But we'd remained
friends throughout the years andwe've played, you know, fantasy
(07:19):
football together, we've alwaysmaintained contact.
So, so in maintaining thatcontact when M-N-S-W-C-A was
coming to fruition.
What was the catalyst for youguys to collaborate on this?
Yeah, some of it really grewkind of out of that party.
so the, my nerd fandom of choiceis Star Wars, uh, has been.
(07:43):
As long as I can remember.
and Scott likes Star Wars too.
So we had this party very muchfocused on Star Wars and, and
Scott and his family came and,and had a great time and we just
kind of started talking about itand thinking like, you know,
something could grow out ofthis.
It could be a little bit bigger.
Scott is pretty good about, um,being pragmatic and saying,
(08:06):
well, the, uh, the things thatneed to line up are these
things.
And he's really good aboutletting me know those things.
And, Then I can go along withit.
And he keeps me in line in thatway.
So like, as we're building thisnonprofit, I'm like, we need
people that'll keep us in lineand help with the details.
(08:27):
And Scott would be an idealperson for that.
So asked him if he wants to comealong for the ride.
And, and he, he jumped on.
Jumped on immediately.
So you guys were together,Steve, at your birthday party,
front yard and decide.
This could become somethinglarger.
Last year you did the first ofwhat you call the Excalibur Con,
(08:49):
and you're coming up obviouslyon the second one, which is
going to be August 16th and17th.
This event promoting mentalhealth wellness in children and
families through sci-fifantasies.
You call it nerd culture fandomsat the deck in Duluth.
How did you get this from thefront yard party to the first
version of this last year?
(09:10):
And what was the first one like?
so after Steve, uh, had hisbirthday party.
Uh, we were developing anotherartist show, uh, to raise money
for charity called The FrozenForce.
since the frozen force, we hadthat and we raised money there
and we were able to merge witha, a gaming community, that was
(09:32):
around town because they wantedto have a, a convention.
And through this merger got tobe this larger convention, which
was originally called Tib Gun,Excalibur Con.
and so that's how it all cametogether.
It was a, it was a collaborationwith a bunch of other businesses
within the area, gamingbusinesses who wanted to have a,
(09:55):
a, a convention.
And that convention, uh, theywere struggling a little bit, To
get it going.
Uh, but since we had already hada smaller convention, uh, we had
some of the infrastructure andso that merger then, uh, allowed
us to grow even larger.
And, uh, rent deck, uh, space atthe deck.
(10:17):
Everybody knows the deck.
What a great space to be in.
For what are you anticipatingfor attendance now, coming up in
a couple weeks as we'rerecording this in late July and
your event's gonna be August16th and 17th.
Yeah.
if we kind of judge the growthof Excon from previous events
(10:37):
that we have had, um, theinterest, the excitement has
grown exponentially.
last year through the door, wehad about 2,500 people, um, with
our attendees, our, ourvolunteers, all of the people
involved with the event.
This year we're anticipating,somewhere in the range of maybe
(10:58):
3,500 to 4,000.
Um, but given the excitement,given just the kind of draw that
this type of community.
As in the Duluth, north Shore,Northern Wisconsin area, we
think it could be even bigger.
there just is a desire toconnect on some level, and I
think as we come out of the postCOVID era, even more so, people
(11:23):
want that connection.
And one of the ways to connectis through these.
Again, nerd culture fandoms and,um, you even see it kind of
across, um, other areas too, inways that you wouldn't even
imagine from sports stars to MMAfighters to boxers.
They have magic cards or Pokemoncards, or they like Star Wars or
(11:45):
Star Trek.
it's just really crossed over alot of different.
Kind of walks of life where asprobably when all of us were
young, if you were a nerd, youkind of got maybe ostracized or
maybe even beat up a little bit.
Yeah.
Um, and now it's kind of becomethe opposite and it's a little
bit more embraced.
So now that we have theseopportunities to come back as a
(12:09):
big group post COVID, I thinkthat it just opens up an
opportunity that even morecommunity can grow out of this.
So you have the common interestof the genres of different
movies, cards, fantasy comics,tabletop gaming.
(12:29):
But it struck me that yournonprofit was created to bring
the community together andconfront some mental health
initiatives.
Now Steve, you are a mentalhealth therapist.
We read a lot about this in theheadlines with the friendship
recession, the loneliness, theisolation, but you're on the
front lines of this.
(12:49):
How, how big of an issue is thisin the world today?
I, I don't think it'soverstating it to say that it's
a crisis or an epidemic.
Um, we talked for years andyears and years about the, the,
the COVID pandemic.
We've all lived through it.
We've all experienced that.
Now on the other side of it,there's kind of that vacuum and
(13:10):
it's like, oh, we're back tonormal, but we really aren't.
You know that, that word normalis somewhat charged, but we're
not back to where we were preCOVID.
There's, I, I don't know that wecan look around us and say,
well, we're back to that.
Um, in terms of connection withother people, just the kind of
the epidemic of loneliness, ofisolation, of the amount of
(13:31):
people that are anxious anddepressed and have avoided
social interaction for a longtime.
We haven't gotten back to a timewhere we can do that.
And as a, a children's mentalhealth therapist primarily, we
see that just playing out in ourschools, in our, um, social
activities teams, boys and girlsclubs, those types of places are
(13:55):
seeing just a challenge inworking with, with kiddos
because they haven't had thatopportunity to learn to get
along with one another.
Now.
We can learn and we can get backto that.
And I think opportunities likethis is, is a way that we can
get back to that in a, in ahealthy way.
(14:17):
Sometimes it seems like weequate connection, but in a
virtual sense.
I have so many friends onFacebook or.
The account has X number offollowers, but that really is
Scott a hollow connection.
It's not authentic.
It's not person to person.
(14:38):
No, it's, it's, it's not real.
And conventions like this allowpeople to interact face-to-face,
allow people to.
Be themselves, um, you know,dress up, be or be somebody
else, uh, cosplay contests.
And, and just coming to aconvention and dressing up like
a superhero allows you to be outof that regular everyday life
(15:03):
that may not be, uh, the bestfor you.
Uh, but here you're accepted.
And you guys are also activelysupporting the Masonic
Children's Clinic forCommunication Disorders in
Duluth.
You'd mentioned the PediatricOncology Treasure Chest
Foundation, and then as well asthe M ns wca.org Mental Wellness
(15:27):
Scholarship Fund, in addition toyour event on August 16th and
17th in Duluth.
We also encourage our listenersto attend our Duluth Clinic Gala
on Thursday, August 21st at theGray Salon Ballroom.
when we wrap up today, we'llshare where to go to find some
additional information on bothof these events.
(15:51):
Is there room for someone atthis who may not be fully into,
say, the sci-fi, the the, thecomics, or if, if Scott, maybe
Scott, are you gonna wear yourSuperman outfits or is it, is
it, is it for everybody?
Is this really a hard forhardcore or is it even for
someone that may, Hey, I sawStar Wars in the theater and
still like some of those.
(16:11):
Steve, Steve is the residentnerd of our group.
I, I, you say that with the estthough, right?
Oh, with all the love I can.
Okay, good.
It's, uh, I don't know, a lot ofthis stuff.
I enjoy Star Wars.
I saw Star Wars in the theaterand when it came out, so did I.
That makes us old, doesn't it?
Right.
but no, I, I don't know half ofthe things that, that they talk
(16:33):
about.
However, seeing the enjoymentthat people get out of it and
the different ranges that, thatthe people, different interests
that people have when they comein, they all come together and
it doesn't matter if they havethe same interest, they all are
there because they're interestedin that community into sharing,
into being something into.
(16:56):
Just being part of something.
And these, and it doesn'tmatter, it crosses all
boundaries, all genres, allages.
Uh, they just get to come inand, and just get outta reality
for a little bit.
And, and so it brings everybodytogether.
Even if you don't dress up, evenif you don't know much of this
or that, I don't.
(17:17):
but everybody's welcome and, andthe feedback we get is.
We see people smilingeverywhere.
Yeah.
When they come in, when theyleave, when they're there.
The excitement from everybodysounds like a lot of fun.
And I would imagine even word ofmouth from last year to this
year.
You'll easily hit that 4,000attendee mark I think.
I think so.
(17:38):
It's been, uh, quite a, quite ajourney over the last, um,
probably nine months, uh, sincewe started really in earnest
planning this year.
Last year we had about sixmonths to plan and we're able to
pull off a really great eventthis year.
Obviously, we knew we were gonnado it again, so we had more
time.
But in earnest in terms ofpromoting and talking and
(17:58):
getting the word out there.
I, I've been to events in, um,Sioux Falls in Minneapolis and
Plymouth, as far as Nashville,and the interest is, is
everywhere.
When we say, I.
There's an event like this inDuluth, Minnesota.
People are like, where can Isign up?
one of the things that justreally sets it apart is Duluth,
(18:19):
number one is a beautifulcommunity.
the convention center isliterally a block away from the
largest lake.
Like you could just go out thereand enjoy your time there and
then go back into theconvention.
Like you can't do that when yougo to Chicago or New York
Comic-Con or down to KansasCity, or.
Any, any other venue, you're notgoing to have that spectacular
(18:43):
experience that NorthernMinnesota is gonna give you.
And when I go around and talk tovendors and artists and
celebrities, as soon as Imentioned Duluth, their eyes
perk up and they're like,really?
You have this there?
And just the overwhelmingresponse we've gotten from
people that say like, oh, I'mgonna be there.
Oh, I've heard of that.
Yep.
(19:03):
We'll plan on being there.
And we're like, and this is yeartwo, right?
And the first year with the newname.
So we're like, uh, you know it.
How do you know it?
Yeah.
'cause it hasn't happened yet.
And they're like, no, we're justexcited for it.
Same thing with vendors andartists and celebrities.
I mean, we get two to threeemails a week of someone saying,
Hey, we want be there.
Unfortunately, in certain ways,we have to say, oh, you can't.
(19:24):
We don't have enough room foryou to come sell this year, but
you can come hang out with us.
Come on up and next year comesee us.
Sounds like great potential tokeep growing this in the years
ahead too.
Yeah, absolutely.
We, as, as Scott often says, hewants this to be the, uh, the
nerd Bentleyville.
So if you're familiar withNorthern Minnesota, Bentleyville
(19:44):
was a, a, a, like a Christmaslight show mm-hmm.
That was just in somebody's yardbasically.
And people would drive by andsee it, and it grew and grew and
grew.
And now it's basically afoundation of.
The Canal Park area in Duluthand people come from all over
the place just to see this lightshow.
(20:06):
It's, I mean, it's fantastic.
It's great.
But it started in somebody'syard just like us.
So as Scott often says, likethis is gonna be the summer
bentleyville in Duluth,Minnesota.
Scott, you worked as a counselorfor nine years.
Steve, you're obviously atherapist.
(20:28):
Beyond this event in bigPicture, how do you suggest we
continue addressing that humanto human connection?
Necessity.
Is it as simple as just put thedevice away and.
Go hang with some friends.
We're so attached to our devicesin living, in all of our
(20:53):
isolation in this digital worldright now.
How do we, how do we addressmore balance?
that's the trick is gettingpeople to put their phones down.
Their telephones aren't thereality, and the reality is
other people.
And we need to have thoseconnections and those
face-to-face interactions withpeople in order to, um, progress
(21:16):
as, as a society.
And a lot of times with the, uh,our telephones, we have access
to information throughout theworld at our fingertips,
however.
That doesn't allow us to developthose skills in, in, um,
interacting with others.
It doesn't allow us to be partof a community.
(21:36):
It doesn't allow us to feel likewe're wanted or needed.
And so getting out to, uh,conventions, getting, giving
people a reason to, to put theirphone down and to come out and,
and be with other people isreally important in, in just.
In general for our, uh, ourwellbeing in ourselves.
(21:58):
Yeah.
I very much agree that it's,it's not just about put a device
down.
Um, it's utilizing the, theresources in your community
around you and actually being apart of something.
And, and that could be aconvention with 4,000 people or
it could be a local shop whereyou.
Get together with a smallergroup of friends to play a game
(22:20):
or drink some coffee and, and,and reminisce about the, the
things that you did experienceat the convention.
So it's, it's not as much, justthis convention is the only
community opportunity.
This is potentially like a, ajumping off point to connect
with.
People that you might not haveconnected with before or maybe,
(22:40):
you know, I mean like, I didn'tknow you liked Star Wars or
Magic or Anime or Yugi, and youfind out you do, and then that
creates a friendship.
So if we think back to when wewere younger on the playground,
uh, like how do you connect withsomebody?
Like, uh, you just start playingdodge ball or you're on the
jungle gym at the same time.
You're like, oh, you like this?
(23:01):
Yes, I do like this.
I can remember to this day.
Going into junior high schoolwith, uh, a friend who, uh, I
had ne I had never met thisperson before and he came up to
me and said, I heard you likebaseball cards number.
Like, how did you hear that?
Right.
But, but yes, I do like baseballcards.
(23:21):
And he became one of my bestfriends.
similarly, like a friend of minewas on the same little league,
uh.
Not the same team, but in thesame little league.
Well, there is a commonalitythat we have with baseball and
then he had a field behind hishouse and we would just play
whiffle ball all the time.
So you look for thosecommonalities.
(23:42):
Uh, Scott, when I met him, he.
He liked nascar, he likedfootball, he liked other things
that I liked.
So I, Scott and I have been in afantasy football league for like
26 years together and we've goneto NASCAR races together.
So we find that commonality andconnection comes out of that
commonality.
(24:03):
And if we don't ever have thoseinteractions with others, we're
not gonna find out thosecommonalities We frequently
address on this podcasttechnology, ai.
Some of the apps out there thatare a virtual friend or
assistant as one of them isbilled as, sometimes our
(24:24):
discussions get misconstrued asadvocating that, well, we should
just.
Put the phone down forever.
We can't do that.
Technology's not going anywhere,but it's an ongoing question of
how to achieve balance.
So many young people, especiallythat may have a million
followers on TikTok orInstagram, are extremely lonely,
(24:49):
very isolated.
The balance of maintaining thathuman to human connection is so
crucial right now.
Are we at a tipping point withthat?
I personally believe so.
Um, I, I, I believe technologyhas a, a place in our world.
I, I'm sure eons ago people whenyou started using a certain tool
(25:12):
or electricity or, or certainthings are introduced.
There's, there's pushback.
I view the technology that wehave really.
Really as a tool.
So our computers, our phones,even, even ai, and that's a
whole nother discussion.
But my hammer at home is a toolthat I use, but it's not my
friend.
I, I, I'm gonna put that hammeraway and set it down, and then
(25:35):
I'm gonna go spend time with myfamily, or I'm going to engage
in, in the hobbies I enjoy orgive back to my community in
some way.
That hammer will help me, it'llhelp me along the way.
Just like my phone will justlike.
AI will in some respects oranything, electricity or your
car or any of those things, butthey don't become the
relationship that I have.
(25:56):
The relationship that I have iswith my friend Scott, or with my
family or children orgrandchildren or community
members at a convention.
Those, those are theconnections.
And then these other things thatwe have are the tools to help
build those connections in otherways.
And we are really grateful foryour support of the Masonic
(26:18):
Children's Clinic forCommunication Disorders in
Duluth.
I'm excited to see you guys andmany other friends at that gala
that is going to be on August21st at the Gray Salon Ballroom.
For our listeners who areinterested, you can go to
masonic children's clinic.orgfor more info on that.
(26:38):
Where should people go to findyou?
For more info on Excalibur Conand to attend and participate,
the easiest way is to check ourwebsite, mn s wca.org, just like
our name.
we also have our links on oursocial media for Excalibur Con
on Facebook and Instagram.
and you'll find updates, uh,ticketing, the celebrity guests
(27:01):
that are gonna come, the gamesthat you can play, and the other
kind of.
Non-game things that you can do.
As I've said, like this is afamily oriented activity and
there's gonna be a lot of familyoriented events going on
throughout the whole weekend.
one of the big things we do israise money for the
communication clinic that, as westarted the nonprofit, we wanted
(27:24):
to keep some charities and localcharities.
And When Steve, uh, was lookingfor, a charitable organization
to give money to, as we weredeveloping the, the nonprofit, I
said, I know just the place.
And having been a Mason.
(27:45):
We have raised the, Glen Avenhad raised a number of dollars
for the communication clinic anduh, so I said to Steve, Hey, I
know exactly where we can, wecan, uh, raise what we can raise
money for, and that's theclinic.
I told him to get ahold of Nikkidown at the clinic, and he did.
And since that time, uh, thewhole board of directors has
(28:09):
been down and toured the clinic.
And we, we love theorganization, we love the
clinic.
The staff there is phenomenal.
And, uh, it's one of the mainsources of why we do this.
why we raise money is to giveback to the community and the
clinic is a wonderfulorganization to do that.
(28:31):
So many opportunities to, infact, be building community and
really appreciate both of yourefforts on all of the things
we've discussed today.
August 16th and 17th, ExcaliburCon in Duluth.
Go to MNS wca.org and alsoDuluth Clinic Gala for the
(28:53):
Masonic Children's Clinic forCommunication Disorders will be
on August 21st.
Again, go to masonic children'sclinic.org for more info.
Scott Glendenning.
Steve Carbo, thanks for being instudio today.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
This has been another episode ofMinnesota Masonic Histories and
Mysteries.
Popular Podcasts
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
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!