The Boone Show - S5 E6 - ACTC Says Farewell to Justin Atkin: Celebrating a Legacy of Humor and Creativity

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Prepare for a whirlwind of laughter, memories, and heartfelt farewells on The Boone Show as we welcome back the talented Justin Atkin, our beloved director of facilities. With a lively mix of humor and wisdom, Justin brings his vibrant energy to the studio as he braces for a new chapter. Join us as we explore Justin’s knack for balancing countless duties - including his art, music, and grits ventures - with his family.

Unravel the fascinating journey that took Justin from his student days in 1999 to being a cornerstone at the Career Center. As a director, artist, and practical joker, his creative legacy shines bright. We'll explore his unique ability to blend technical expertise with artistic flair, turning school facilities into top-tier environments. Alongside his passion for art, inspired by his family, Justin’s multifaceted talents have left an indelible mark. As he retires, he leaves behind a trail of stories and pranks that all highlight his relentless pursuit of excellence.

Through heartwarming anecdotes from family life to mischievous office shenanigans, Justin’s impact is celebrated by everyone he's touched. With admiration and gratitude, we honor his legacy and look forward to future collaborations. This is not goodbye, just a pause before new adventures. Toast to Justin’s next chapter and the laughter-filled memories that will linger long after his departure.

Thanks for listening! Direct all inquiries to [e-mail].

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to the Boone Show on MyPulse Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's going to be a great show today.
It is.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
It's going to be an awesome show today, and I'll
tell you why Because we have oneof our favorite guests here,
and it won't be the last timehe's a guest.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm sure, oh, absolutely not.
It can't be.
You can see him over there,holly.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
There we go, but I'm John Boone, the boss.
Lady's here, holly Harrell.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good, I'm John Boone.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
The boss lady's here.
Holly Harrell, good evening.
And Puggles Harrell, hello.
The new sports medicine person.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Well, I'm actually a joint Sealy's class, by the way,
wow.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
By the way, Holly.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
And for those of you listening, because this is it's
going to be an ACTC-centric showtoday.
All right, but maybe you'll getto feel some of the inner
workings here.
But your daughter said therewas too much work in my class.

Speaker 3 (00:47):
There's a project, Guys listen.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
So there you go.
For all those people that tellyou they don't do anything in
media broadcasting, they must donothing at all in sports
medicine.
That's all I have to say.
Listen, listen, Because that'swhat she wants to tell you.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
No no, no, no, no.
He is twisting my words.
There is a project every singleday, yeah, and you don't really
get a break day that's right.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
You're only in my class for 20 days.
What do you need a break for?

Speaker 3 (01:15):
well, like you, don't get a day to be able to catch
up on that, and everything hasto be recorded on the specific
microphone, so you can only dothe work while you're in this
class but we're doing somethingevery single day.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's right.
Thank you, mr boone, for beinga great instructor.
Yeah, but now you need to geton miss royals because
something's going on down here.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
She's getting all these numbers of people wanting
to come in there.
They're not coming in there towork.
I tell you that kids don't signup for work now and now.
She just gave me madeline, justgave me a little view into what
it is, because my class hasnever been accused of having too
much work it is not difficult,it's easy work.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
It just happens every single day.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
So you don't?
Oh, my goodness.
That's why there's weekends,you ask.
We're supposed to be preparingyou for the work world.
What are you doing?

Speaker 3 (01:59):
I can't record.
There's too much work today.
You have, I want, I want afour-hour shift instead of an
eight-hour shift.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Madeline, you might as well just give up child.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
No, because you are twisting my words, Justin.
Am I a hard worker?

Speaker 4 (02:13):
Very hard, exactly Very hard.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Exactly.
Yeah, I never said you weren'ta hard worker.
You said there was too muchwork.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
I don't know about school work.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
I have never witnessed that I am an all-A
student.
Here we go.
Oh my gosh, are you serious,ben?

Speaker 1 (02:30):
No, I'm just saying what you've.
I've read the survey.
I always do an exit survey.
Hey, you'll be valedictoriannow that you got sports medicine
.

Speaker 7 (02:37):
You'll breeze right through that, you just helped
your GPA immensely.

Speaker 4 (02:41):
You'll just breeze right through that.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
Listen.
Yes, you'll just breeze rightthrough that.
You probably listen.
Yes, you can only do theassignments in this class.
You can't go home and do itbecause you have to do it on
that.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
That's right.
I don't believe in homework Ihope not.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
How would you do the homework?
Yeah that's just kind of common.
So what are you complaining?

Speaker 1 (03:00):
about you have no homework and you have to work in
class.
I mean, isn't that what you'resupposed to do?

Speaker 2 (03:05):
But you don't get.
It's funny.
She came home and told me thattoo, and I'm like good, I'm glad
he's assigning something everysingle day.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
I just smiled because I knew I'd be talking to your
mom about it.
I bet so, Because she's alwayslike rigor, rigor, rigor.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
Oh, really yeah.
That's how that works andeverybody thinks media
broadcasting is just a lot offun.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
You went even lower.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Look, you went even lower, hey hey, it just told me
more about voils than it tellsme about you.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Maybe I like Celia's class more and he has assigned
seats.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
And you like that.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
I mean, I'm enjoying his class.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I'm already on the third lesson you enjoyed our
class.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
I did like your class .

Speaker 1 (03:41):
And now you're saying you're already on the third
lesson.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
But I'm excelling in Celia's class.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Oh, my Lord, we need to refocus.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
She only got a 99 on my side.
So she failed on that side,didn't get the 100.
Boom, just out of spite 99.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Guys, this will be my last show.
I will not be returning Forsome reason.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
I go through a lot of producers.
I For some reason I go througha lot of producers.
I don't know why it is.
It must be the personality, butanyway, we're not here to talk
about Madeline.
We are here to talk aboutJustin Atkin, one of our
favorite guests.
He's here with us, our directorof facilities, who is wrapping
up his days in that role.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Long days too, that's right, long days.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Many times Justin would come into my office and
after school or whatever, andwe'd have some conversations,
always enjoyed them, but I'dalways end up saying, how do you
have time for this?
Because he'd be telling me allthe stuff he was doing and I'm
like how do you do it?
Share your wisdom, because Ineed more of that time, because

(04:44):
I'm not getting enough done andyou're just starting new
ventures here and there.
Let's just start another one.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
He is, like the greatness, master of
multitasking oh I mean seriously.
He's got a hundred projectsgoing on at one time all the
time.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Well he, he's finally getting rid of one.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
The 40-hour-a-week one.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's right, that's right, it just so happens that
it's the Career Center one.
How many years have you beenhere?

Speaker 4 (05:13):
I've been here.
Well, I started as a studentback in 99, and I worked
part-time in 2000.
And then, the day after Igraduated high school, I started
full-time.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
At 6 am that night.
6 am the next morning.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
Yeah, that's legendary.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
And I'm not saying it is or it is not referenced in
some of our tributes later on.
But yeah, that's amazing.
Work at one place for that longand work yourself up to the top
where you can tell Hollywood todo it, that's right.
It's really an accomplishment,but you do have a lot of stuff

(05:46):
going on.
You have been adding thingsover the years and I am just
amazed, holly, by the talentthis man has in so many
different areas.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Oh yeah, it's multifaceted.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
It's like you're not here right now, Justin.
I've never met anybody like himthat does this stuff and does
it all well.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Right and then knows so much there are right a lot of
people try to do so.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
So many things, um, but that that must be one thing
that you're you're always hungryto learn oh, yeah, yeah, never
quit learning yeah, so I mean,this was the kind of job and
teaching.
This was the kind of job youcould do that that's right oh
yeah, I mean, you build a radiostudio yeah that's the first one
you ever build of those that'sright you're gonna build another

(06:27):
one down on the acting compoundwe've talked about, he should
do a podcast he really should.
But, um, before we get into whateverybody has to say about him
and then you can reactaccordingly, I want people that
are just tuning in that may notknow you so well, to know all

(06:49):
the different things you areinto, of course, being the
facilities director here, ifyou've ever been in the Career
Center, you see one of the bestkept up buildings and facilities
that you'll ever see and ofcourse you're a part, like in
our program, of getting us thevery best stuff.

(07:09):
Holly may have to approve it,but you guys got to put it in.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
And do most of the research for it.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
And we are constantly getting compliments about, even
on these tours that we've hadthese last couple weeks people
just come in and say they can'tbelieve what we have in this
room, the classroom and thestudios and all that, and yeah
you're responsible for buildingall that out and making it look

(07:35):
nice.
And I can't believe hisinterior design skills, which
still amaze me with the way heis with colors and all that too.

Speaker 4 (07:46):
It's not just the building stuff it's because he's
an artist.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
It's like, yeah, that's the artist coming out,
that's right.

Speaker 5 (07:52):
Which, by the way, I still need new chairs in here,
so maybe before you go, I stillgot a week, a day or two, but
beyond that let's go with theartist thing.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
I never knew that you were an artist until a few
years ago.
How long have you been going onwith the art thing, and now
it's really taken off?
Take us through that process.

Speaker 4 (08:18):
So I've been doing some kind of art for a long time
.
Most of my life I've been lightart.
I had a grandmother that itpainted.
She was a little self-taughtartist and so, uh, I've always
been around at my mama, sheshe's done a lot of artistic
things as well, and so, umanyway.
So I just a few years agostarted really getting serious

(08:39):
about showing stuff and, uh,some of the right people seen it
and encouraged me to go certainroutes.
So it's an acquired taste, it'ssouthern folk art, so it's but
you've done stain, stained glass.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Yeah, yeah, I still do some stained glass.

Speaker 4 (08:53):
So yeah, so mainly that's, it's staying.
You know I do a lot of stainedglass, not a lot of painting.
So, uh, acrylic painting onplywood and stuff like that.
So but, yeah, stained glass.
You know, I still do some of itas well.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
Now explain folk art to me.
I mean, I see some exampleshere.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Folk art it's not like folk art, outsider art.
It's kind of like a lot ofuntaught artists so you didn't
get trained in any kind ofschooling for it.
You don't a lot of your artlike fine art galleries it's
kind of outside the realm ofthat.
So a lot of your art like fineart galleries, it's kind of
outside the realm of that.
So a lot of times it's known asoutsider art, sometimes a

(09:30):
little different, a little moreout there than you.
You know you ain't paintingapples on the table or nothing
like that, right.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
I see a lot of it with the text.

Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yeah, I do a lot of text, I tell a lot of stories on
mine.
That's one of the things thatmakes mine a little unique is a
lot of mine is like history orstorytelling.
So I just write a story on thefront of the artwork so you can
just read what I'm paintingthere.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
But you know, you've always been involved with
storytelling.
I mean, you're very involvedwith history, right?
Yeah, I do a lot of historystuff.

Speaker 4 (09:59):
So a lot of that shows up in my artwork.
So a lot of it will behistorical stories or, you know,
family stories or stuff likethat.
So it's a lot of storytellingin my artwork.
I think that's why people likeit a lot is they read those
stories and, you know, triggersomething in them and you're big

(10:20):
into genealogy as well right.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
So your family history.
You've done in the past somestuff with cemeteries and
graveyards right what have youdone there.

Speaker 4 (10:28):
Yeah, so I've done a lot with restoring monuments and
installing new monuments forfolks and all that good stuff,
and so you know, spent a lot oftime doing that in cemeteries
fixing up broke monuments, stufflike that.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
He has some great stories and that kind of goes
with the history and thegenealogy.

Speaker 4 (10:48):
I think anybody in the genealogy spends way too
much time in cemeteries, atleast on this side of the grid.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, you can save it for later.
But the storytelling should weask what's the best story you
can tell us about your time here?

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Oh, I can't tell it on the radio.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Those are the best ones.
Those are the best ones.
We're on the internet.
It's only the school board thatwould give us the truth.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
I don't know there's so many good ones, I guess, when
Holly's here, I think LakeHarold's a pretty good one.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
When Holly had a lake named after her.
On Google.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Maps, it's not really a lake On.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
Google Maps.
Well yeah, it's a retentionpond out in the front yard.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah, what it raised?

Speaker 4 (11:34):
It's not really a retention pond, it's a bioswale,
it's a bioswale, and so I guessmy favorite part of it was this
kind of practical joke that, uh, she didn't know about for a
long time but but somehow googlegot to calling at lake harrell
and it became on the map and itgot attached to the school's
address, telephone number andall that.
So people started sending mailhere to lake harrell and and

(11:57):
reviews and reviews, startedreviewing lake harrell and
started calling on the telephone.
And then I think the best dayof it was when a guy showed up
smoking, which you ain'tsupposed to do on school
property, and he walked right upto the front door with a
cigarette and Holly seen him andran out there because she was
really upset about who in theworld would smoke on school

(12:19):
grounds, you know.
And she went out there to fussat him and he said well, he was
just looking for the fishinglake.
He came to fish, he had hisriding reels with him and he was
coming to check out beautifulLake Harold.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Needless to say, he turned around with his cigarette
in hand and walked back to hiscar.
I couldn't even say a thing tohim, because I was just
flabbergasted.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
That's right, and if you could have saw the look on
Holly's face when she turnedaround and walked back in that
front office, that wasdefinitely wonderful.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
What about the look on his face?
He was probably so disappointed.
I know it.
I know it.
You think he's coming to a nicefishing hole.

Speaker 4 (12:52):
Yeah, all those wonderful pictures online.
Yeah, there's great reviewsonline.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Then it happened to be taken down accidentally,
right?
You don't think it?

Speaker 4 (13:02):
was no.
I think there was a.
I ain't going to call him outon that.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
No, we have audio of his confession.
Oh, he's got a confession.
When he came on the show.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
There's a fellow employee here that overstepped
his bounds a little bit, Waitand Ruben Lake-Harrell.
I mean it's gone now.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
He took it down.
Who's he?
His name's Seth.
Don't worry about it.
Seth Pruitt.

Speaker 4 (13:24):
Yeah, he teaches gaming, and that's all I got to
say about it, and this is hishome address.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
We kind of joked about it and I said somebody
just needs to take that off ofGoogle.
And he said done.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
I mean like literally within 10 seconds.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
So there went a I want a five-year run in
practical joke down the tubes.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
Down the tubes.
A lot of work going into that,yeah, you know how much work
time we invest in everything.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Company time for Lake .

Speaker 1 (13:51):
Herald yeah well as a matter of fact, justin, we have
a message from Seth oh wow,let's hear it.
Let's hear that right now.

Speaker 12 (13:59):
Hey, justin, it's Seth here.
I just wanted to say it hasbeen a great pleasure getting to
know you over the last sevenyears that I've been teaching
here, and thank you for yourservice.
For the many years before I gothere I've still got Andrew and
Brian around to prank me, butI'm going to miss having a

(14:22):
resident prankster around toprank everybody else.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
So he still didn't give you a direct confession.
I think I need to apologizepublicly he will miss you.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
I will miss him.
I don't like him.
I'm still mad at him.
Yeah, there's a lot of peoplearound that were you talked to
Allison.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
My goodness.
She wanted the audio right awaywhen we got the confession
after the waterboarding session.
But there's a lot of thingsthat happen around here that
Justin's been involved in, somethat are just hilarious.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Most of them are hilarious.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
We could spend hours just talking about those, which
is one of the reasons why Justinneeds a podcast, and he and I
have talked about this and I'dbe happy to work with him.
But this guy tells stories likenobody else and has so many
things to tell stories about.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yes, I mean, you've got to have content right.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
He has a lot of things to tell stories about.
But, speaking of Allison, shesent you a message too.
Let's see what she had to say.

Speaker 17 (15:28):
Justin, you are my most favorite person, other than
my family, in the world.
You've always been there for mewhen I've needed you.
You've been the one that got mestarted baking all my delicious
red velvet cakes, which allowedme to get my Southern card.
I hope to see you when youretire and I know you'll come
back because somebody else hasto tell Shannon Everhart that
she needs her hair colored.
I wish you the best and lots oflove, wait.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
That's perfect balance.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
I told her.
I said you left the crumplingup of the paper and throwing it
in the tray.
You left it in there.
I said I'm going to leave it inthere.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
Did y'all force her to do that, or something?
Is that an angry at the endthere.

Speaker 8 (16:14):
She forgot that she was still recording.

Speaker 4 (16:22):
Speaking of Shannon, another one of your lunch
partners.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
That's right.

Speaker 4 (16:27):
I do let her know I ride behind her a lot going to
lunch.
She just gets gray hair at thisone little round spot on the
crown of the back of her headand so if she don't see it, she
don't know.
So I often tell her.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
You point it out, I point it out just to help her
out.

Speaker 4 (16:42):
So now I need somebody else to do that and
she'll run straight away toAllison's at the end of the day
and get it done.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Well, this is what she had to say, Justin, what can
I say?

Speaker 10 (16:52):
It's been such a blessing being able to work with
you all of these years and youare truly going to be missed.
Don't forget, you have to cometo lunch frequently.
We sure will miss you, seeingyou every day.
I hope this is the blessingthat you are looking for.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
Oh, that was so nice, and obviously she wants
somebody to tell her when thegray is showing.
That's right.
Please come to lunch, Justin.
Please come to lunch.
One of the other things thatyou're involved in is this Ackin
Milling Company.
I heard a lot about your gritsand they seem to be popping up
at different restaurants in thearea.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
Oh and stores, oh and stores, now too, yes, oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
Tell us about how the grits thing got going.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
Well, I used to volunteer some at a grits meal a
Haygood meal, a little bityears and years ago and making
grits up there in Pickens andjust kind of volunteer on
saturday some.
So I've always been interestedin it.
I wouldn't be alive if itwasn't for grits.
We ate them every day most ofmy life.
So, um, but anyway, my favoritegrits was, uh, this guy out, uh

(18:00):
, his name is randy king.
He made woods, woods grits,woods, cornmeal grits, and so I
bought his from years and anywayI heard he was going to close
down his operation.
He didn't really have nobody topass it to.
He was looking for somebody tobuy it out and I caught wind of
that and I was like, oh, mygoodness, my grits are going

(18:21):
away.
That's my favorite grits in theworld.
What am I going to do?
So within a matter of about 20minutes I said you know what?
I guess I'll.
My goodness, my grits are goingaway.
That's my favorite grits in theworld.
What am I going to do?
So within a matter of about 20minutes I said you know what?
I guess I'll just go buy thegrits mill and start making them
myself.
So I got his number, went andmet with him and now I'm
operating selling grits all overthe place.
I ship them all over and I sellthem at my art shows.

(18:44):
I go out of town on art showsand a lot of people buy them and
send them as gifts.
I'm mailing them out.
I've got them in a lot ofrestaurants.
All your markets, all yourlocal markets, all over to
upstate Greenville, greenville,to Abbeville, greenwood,
honeypath.
That's all over, happy Cow.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
And they're good.
That's all over.
Happy Cow, and they're good.
They are good, very good See.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
I'm not a huge grits fan, but my wife Southern Girl
grew up on it.
She loves them.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
She loves them.
Good for you yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
So boy did that work out for you.
Yeah.
I mean getting a mill.
Oh yeah, I mean you didn't haveto just start from scratch with
just making a batch of grits ina pot or something.
You got a mill.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
That's right.
So I grind them and bag themand sewed a little bag and do it
all, so I label them.
My mama, she actually puts thelabels on them now, but I do
everything else.
Look, he's got an employee now,yeah, no, we don't got an
employee, mama just helps justhelped probably giving her

(19:51):
minimum wage.

Speaker 8 (19:51):
That's right that's right, I get this out mom,
that's right.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
That's right.
I took some grits down thegrits and groceries today.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
That's that's cool.
Yeah, that's very cool.
Uh, here's a message, not short, but it's from Brian Batcher,
from our what do you call?

Speaker 2 (20:11):
it AP Computer Science.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
AP Computer Science now, because I know he's
involved in the gaming too, andhe does eSports as well.
Right.

Speaker 13 (20:17):
Let's see what he had to say.
Hey, justin, it's Brian Batcherhere.
The editor tells me I only have30 seconds to record and that's
just not going to be possible.
I was thinking about what Iwanted to say.
I thought you know I'll do,I'll try to do something other
people haven't done.
So I was going to tell youmaybe a dad joke about retired
people.
Unfortunately they won't work.

(20:38):
So then I thought, well, Icould tease you about how you'll
have to wait longer to get yoursenior citizens discount than
me.
But then I realized you'reprobably okay with that.
So I thought well, I could justdo the teacher thing and say
have fun in your futureendeavors and stop by any time
to visit, but then you'dprobably show up at like 6

(20:58):
o'clock tomorrow morning.
And then I realized all Ireally needed to say is how much
I appreciate what you've doneto help make this place a great
place to work the long hours,the entertainment, the hard work
, the entertainment, the pranks.
Of course you will be missedand I hope it's not long before

(21:21):
I see you again.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
All right, that was nice, everybody.
It's going to be a common themethat you hear the pranks.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
I don't understand that.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
And the entertainment .

Speaker 4 (21:33):
I didn't do no work around here.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
Well, I mean, right now you guys are building a
float Of Christmas tree cakes.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
I know so I mean come on, Things we do around here.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
And now I'm thinking, holly, that you chose that
theme for the parade on purpose,because of this guy, because of
Justin.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
Absolutely, that's exactly what we do, because
whenever it was Secret.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
Santa or whatever.
Everybody would always giveJustin the Christmas dress.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
That's right.
That's our hurrah.
Last hurrah, right there.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
That was sweet of you and he uh, unfortunately
there's a mole in the buildingand he got word that there's 33
boxes of christmas tree cakes inyour office.

Speaker 4 (22:11):
32 now, holly got me christmas tree cake, ice cream
one time I did was it goodwonderful I had to be super
sweet.
I ate the whole carton in onesitting.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
It was super sweet, all right.
So there's also involved herefolks a live music place venue
that Justin has started.
Tell us about that.

Speaker 4 (22:41):
Yeah, so it's the Fiddle and Bow Music Hall and
Southern Folk Art Gallery, soit's a cool venue.
It's got artwork from floor toceiling and it's all over the
walls.
It's just covered in folk artand have concerts regular.
And the cool thing about it isin Honeypath on Main Street.
The really cool thing about itis the caliber of talent that we

(23:03):
have.
We just passed Saturday nighthad one of the biggest groups in
bluegrass music had the PoeRamblin' Boys, which are super
famous in the bluegrass world.
They play on the Grand Ole Oprya lot and just an awesome band
just had an awesome energy aboutthem and just had a lot of fun
Saturday night.
So we've had number onesongwriters, grammy Award

(23:26):
winners, a lot of folks playingon the Grand Ole Opry player.
We actually had a coupleconcerts this summer that they
played on the Grand Ole OpryFriday night and played at the
Fiddlin' Bull on Saturday night.
That's cool.
Yeah, had that two shows in arow.
So that was kind of cool, super, super talented.
And we also have local folks.
That's kind of cool, super,super talented.
We also have local folks.
Every Tuesday night we have afree bluegrass jam where you can

(23:49):
bring your instrument and justsit around and jam.
It starts at 6 o'clock onTuesday nights and it's all free
.
You can check us out onFacebook.
We've got a website,philandbomusichallcom, and see
who all is coming.
We've got some cool stuffcoming up.
We've got a show this Fridaynight.
We've got a show next Saturdaynight, nice.

Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, I haven't been there yet.
I've got to get there.
But we're talking about anintimate venue.
Yes, so it's like you're righton top of the music.
Oh, right on top.

Speaker 4 (24:18):
Yeah, yeah, max people is 115.
It's max people's 115, and sothe farthest seat away is about
35, 40 foot, so you'll enjoy itif you ever come.
If you love live music, it's agreat place.
It's got a great sound to thebuilding.
All the artists love it.
They interact with the crowd alot because they're basically

(24:43):
right there in the crowd withyou, so they always have have a
good time and the bands justseem to absolutely love it and
it just makes for a good evening.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
So and it's right there in honey a path.
So he lives right there, yeahyeah, so it's cool.

Speaker 4 (24:54):
You know like I have a big tour bus sitting on main
street, so yeah boy, you'regonna be bringing more business
cannot make development.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, starting more restaurants around there,
because they got to be there.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
More business to the money.
You can all make development.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
That's right.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
They're going to be starting more restaurants around
there, because they've got tobe there for show night.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
That's right, my mama cooks meals for them all when
they come.

Speaker 4 (25:11):
We have a big meal with the artists.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
And what did that place used to be?

Speaker 4 (25:17):
It had only been a grocery store.
It was Bannister's Grocery, andI was about 100 years old and
they closed.
Baxter Grocery closed about 50years ago and the building had
sat empty for 50 years.
Wow, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
Very cool Fiddle and bow.
We'll have to check that out.
I'm going to play a few moretributes for you.
All right, we're just going tojam through.
We've got a bunch still to getthrough, justin.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
For some reason, people either feel afraid of you
, that they need to saysomething or apologize or
something, or you're just thatpopular.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
So, uh, let's, let's go through some of these gosh.

Speaker 16 (25:53):
Justin, you are part of the fabric that is actc.
Your presence will be misseddearly around here.
From the pranks to thebeautiful campus and everything
in between, you have just trulymade working at the Career and
Technology Center pure joy.

(26:14):
Wish you and your family allthe best.

Speaker 8 (26:18):
So Justin is a fantastic individual and has
always been a bright spot atschool.
I wanted to share that he has agreat collection of Jose Acaba
artwork.
Jose was a local artist thatJustin became friends with and
at a recent retrospective of theartist's work at the Belton
Center for the Arts, justinloaned many of his pieces to the
Center for Display.

(26:38):
If you get a chance, you shouldask Justin about how he and the
artist became friends.
I'll miss you, justin, and Iwish you all the best.

Speaker 18 (26:50):
Hey, this is Michael Guest, the firefighting
instructor for ACTC.
I'd like to give a shout outfor Justin Atkin.
Justin has been the backbone ofACTC since I've been here, or
the funny bone, whichever oneyou might say.
Justin's always supersupportive here at school and
does anything you ask him to,super supportive of his
community.
He's showing of opening up histheater show there in Honeypath.

(27:11):
Overall, great guy.

Speaker 14 (27:13):
Justin is my work son.
We both started our careers atACTC in 2000.
Justin was just 17 years oldwhen we first met.
He is truly one of my favoritehumans.
He has accused me of trying tobe just like him, and maybe I am
.
We both enjoy bluegrass music,folk art, kayaking and good
pranks.
When he went through the longcurly hair stage, so did I.

(27:34):
So yes, Justin, I do want to bejust like you.
And I will continue to dofiddle and bow, folk art
festivals and order your grits.
I love you.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
That's Jenny Gilbert, who's the head of business
around here, and uh, yeah, she'sknown you from the beginning
and we all remember that.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
The long curly hair when he looked like uh, janitor
jesus or willie from duckdynasty.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
That was the other guy I thought he looked like, or
the best one the kids used to.

Speaker 4 (28:01):
Uh, there was a movie .
I never seen the movie, but Ilooked up balls of fury.
So, uh, there's a movie.
I'd never seen the movie, but Ilooked it up, balls of Fury.
So there's a guy on Balls ofFury that they would call me
whatever his name was, I don'tknow Google Harold over there,
we'll find that.
So she'll get a good laugh outof this.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
A couple notes on the other Tell us about how you met
that artist, that Mr Seeley.
He's got an art degree and isthe head of the film uh
department here, so he is a biginto art.
Oh, wait a minute, we have thepicture.
And what was the name of thecharacter?
Um, oh goodness, let's see whothat character.

Speaker 4 (28:38):
But when that movie was popular about 15 years ago.
That's all I heard for aboutthree months.
Balls of Fury Balls of Fury.

Speaker 2 (28:45):
Never heard of it.
His name is Well, come on, tellme.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
See, I can take a good joke too.
You know the kids.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Oh yeah, for sure Kids have been rough on me over
the years.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
Yeah, kids are very rough.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Randy Daytona.
So his name was Dan Fogler, butRandy Daytona was the main
character in the sports comedy.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
Good looking guy, by the way.
Oh, of course he got sideburnslong curly hair yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
So how'd you know that artist so?

Speaker 4 (29:17):
Jose passed away, shoot, probably about a year ago
, but he was a great artist.
He was originally from New York.
He is of Puerto Rican descentand he moved down here a little
later in life.
He was a New York detective andhe was a great artist and a
real popular artist around here.
We'd done a lot of little artprojects together.

(29:39):
We'd met through the Belton ArtCenter and just become fast
friends.
He was a super guy.
He'd come over to eat a lot andspend a lot of time with us.
He actually done the big townmural in Honeypath.
So we'd go to Honeypath, go bythe commercial bank.
There's a big mural and that'sJose's work.
But he'd get me in harebrainedideas.

(30:00):
We went to this one house oneday.
He picked me up and said comehere, I need your help.
And I said okay.
He said I've been commissionedto paint.
That was out off 25, near thetrash dump, greenville County.
There was this house and theyhad this big old rock with Jesus
painted on it and so he hadbeen commissioned to repaint it.
And so Jose was a littledifferent now.

(30:22):
He didn't do everything the wayeverybody else did, so he had
done this kind of like VanGogh-looking Jesus on these
rocks and he wanted me to mountthe rocks on top of the other
rocks.
So we get to the house.
There ain't nobody there, soit's me and this 90-year-old man
, and we're looking at it and adog attacks both of us I know.
And so we run to the car.

(30:45):
He's got me by the ankle.
He bit Jose on the butt.
He's got me on the ankle.
And so we run into the car.
We get back in the car and hesays well, I just don't guess I
need to mess with Jesus.
And he just left all hisartwork at my house and never
did come back and get it, so Iwas able to just play those
rocks at Belton Art Center withJesus' face and hands.

(31:10):
But yeah, no, he was a great guyand he's a super artist that
was here and very popular in thelocal area Wow.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
Let's play a few more .
Let's see.
I'll just select.
Are we saving yours, Holly?

Speaker 2 (31:26):
You can play it, we can play it and get it out of
the way.
You know, mine's not one.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
No, it's, it's, it's.
It'll probably take up the restof the show.
So, let's, let's go.

Speaker 15 (31:37):
So my tribute is probably going to be a little
more serious than others, but Ijust want to say thank you,
justin.
My son has worked for you forthe last few years as a summer
intern for the career center andyou have impacted him in a
great way, and he has oftentimessaid to me Justin is just such
a good boss.
And he has oftentimes said tome Justin is just such a good
boss and he's so good at his joband he's just been super
impressed at how you do your job.

(31:58):
So thank you for impacting myson and ACTC as a whole.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
You'll be missed.
Thank you, Justin, for all youdid for us in the law
enforcement class.
Thank you for what you did forthe school.
Thank you for always having asmile on your face or at least
being in a good mood.
I don't think I've ever seenyou in a bad mood.
Maybe that's a good thing.
But anyway, we appreciate you,Justin, and wish you the best of

(32:24):
luck.
Hope you enjoy your nextadventure and look forward to
seeing you around theneighborhood.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Justin, I am filled with gratitude, pride and a
touch of sadness as you prepareto step into the next chapter of
your life.
Reflecting on these past 20years, you've always stood out,
someone who has been so muchmore than a colleague.
You have been a teacher, amentor, a confidant and, most
importantly, a dear friend.
Working alongside you has beenone of the greatest choice of my
career.
You have taught me so manythings Lessons in faith, the

(32:55):
beauty of diversity and thepower of music, art, family and
grits, and how all of these canunite and intertwined with humor
.
But more than anything else,you've taught me kindness,
kindness that goes beyond wordsinto actions and the way you
approach life.
I will always, forever, cherishthe memories of your practical
jokes and the ones that kept usgoing and reminded us not to

(33:15):
take life too seriously.
From Elvis appearances to Santaand his elf spreading cheer,
you brought joy and lightness toour days that no one else could
and no one else could forget.
Like Harold, what makes you soremarkable is not what you've
done, but how you've done it.
You've changed lives everysingle day, all behind the
scenes, with humility and grace.
Your impact is immeasurable,not because you sought
recognition, but because you sawthe best in others and helped

(33:37):
bring it to life.
It's hard to imagine lifewithout your presence daily, but
I know that your influence willcontinue to inspire me and so
many others.
Congratulations, justin, and Ilook forward to what you do in
the future.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
I don't know what Holly was wrestling in there.
It didn't show up on anybodyelse's recording.

Speaker 4 (33:55):
That's the nicest thing I think I've ever heard in
my life.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Really, yes, well, I mean every bit of it, justin,
that was super nice that wasreally nice, I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
That means a lot.
Yeah, well, it's not bad.
No, it's not bad, but tell usabout the reason for right now
retiring, because obviouslyyou're young.

Speaker 4 (34:16):
Oh, I would have done it 10 years ago if I could have
.
But, why not?
I got a wonderful job.
I love my job.
I just like to be free man.
I just you know.
I got a lot of things I enjoydoing and, like I say, if I
could work one day a week forthe rest of my life, you know,
that'd be all right.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
You've been doing more than that.
I haven't seen you at all.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
But no, I just, you know, got my days, got my years
there and ready to do whatever,so I've been somewhere.
You know I've been here a longtime, so I'm kind of doing
everything, I guess, backwards.
I didn't do whatever, so I'vebeen somewhere.
You know I've been here a longtime, so I'm kind of doing
everything, I guess, backwards.
I didn't do that.
I started right out of highschool, didn't do anything
different, and so I've been herea long time and just read, you

(35:06):
know, just to do other things, Iguess.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, so all those years you could have been out
there sowing your wild oats.

Speaker 4 (35:15):
Yeah, we're going to sow we.
So all those years you couldhave been out there sowing your
wild oats.
Yeah, we go slow.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
We'll do it now In your 20s and all that Now you're
going out there and tryingeverything, trying your hand at
everything.
There, you go and doing somedifferent things and a lot of
different things that you'retalented at doing.
All right, here's some more.
Hey, Justin.

Speaker 19 (35:34):
Thank you for all that you've done over the years
here at ACTC.
It would not be the samewithout you.
We're all going to miss you.
Good luck in whatever youdecide to do next.

Speaker 11 (35:41):
Justin, I might just hold the record for making you
retrofit the most classrooms atACTC.
Every time I move, you and yourteam outdid yourselves and you
keep our school looking great.
And who could forget theshenanigans you brought every
Christmas season?
You've kept this place runningsmoothly and you've made it a
lot more fun along the way.
Enjoy your retirement.
You've more than earned it.

Speaker 5 (36:02):
It's Melissa.
Thank you so much for all ofyour help the last couple of
years but, most importantly, foryour friendship.
I knew we would be friends fromthe moment Luke brought home
the firefighting novel you GotMe for Christmas.
We we would be friends from themoment Luke brought home the
firefighting novel you got mefor Christmas.
We will all miss you, but weare all so happy for you and
your family.
We love you and make sure youcome back and visit.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Firefighting novel.

Speaker 4 (36:24):
That was the first time I knew Luke took it home
and gave it to her as a present.
That was Luke's novel.
That was not.
I don't know what his motivewas, but that's funny.
Just FYI, justin, that was nother novel.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
I don't know what his motive was behind that?

Speaker 2 (36:37):
That's funny.
Just FYI, justin gave everybodya Christmas present and it was
one of those from a thrift store, so you can think of what he
gave people.

Speaker 4 (36:46):
But it related thereby.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
It did.
It was very thoughtful, it tooka lot of time to find all that
it did and he got a novel and hewent through the novel.

Speaker 4 (36:54):
It was a risque novel by the firefighter and he took
out and put Luke's name on everysingle page.

Speaker 1 (37:03):
Oh my gosh Luke being Melissa's, every time it said
firefighter whatever his namewas Steve.

Speaker 4 (37:09):
I took it out, scratched it out and wrote Luke
Riddle, Luke Riddle.
So it took like it took hoursof my life, I don't know how
many hours of my life.
And then I pasted Luke's littleface on the shirtless body on
the cover, and so it was a very,very bad novel about Luke

(37:30):
Riddle.
I do not know why he took ithome to Melissa and gave it to
her again.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
That was not the intention, melissa, but most of
the shenanigans around here wereusually around two different
times of year, the Christmastime obviously the biggest.
And I shouldn't even sayshenanigans, because the second
one, usually the teacherappreciation week was made
amazing by what these guys built, because they were so bored

(37:59):
that they had to build big setsfor these events.
But what was?

Speaker 4 (38:05):
your favorite Holly's a lot of times behind those
teacher shenanigans.
She just don't come out and getthe credit for it.
That's true.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
She'll retire soon and we'll do her show.
She stirs the pot a lot.
I stir it a little bit, butJustin's my execut it.
That's true.
She'll retire soon and we'll doher show.
I may stir a little bit shestirs the pot a lot.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
I stir it a little bit, but Justin's my executor,
that's right, but he can do itall.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
Because she says I can't say this, but you can and
get by with it.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
But what's your favorite?
And there's a lot of them, butwhat's your favorite story
around Christmas time?

Speaker 4 (38:31):
Christmas time?
Oh, definitely.

Speaker 7 (38:34):
When Holly had to get up out of bed and come to the
Williamston Police.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
Department at 10.30 at night to get Santa Claus.
So I got a phone call at 10.30at night saying that the school
has been broken into.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, theygo, we've apprehended people.
They say that they're the Santaand Elf, and I'm like it justin
and kale, who, kale, used towork for us, of course.

(38:58):
And uh, the police officer kindof said we're gonna lock them
up.
That's not what the names theygave us.
We're gonna lock them up if youdon't come down here and get
them.
So I'm like just lock them upand hang my phone up and then
the names they gave us and Ithought thought gosh, what did
he say?

Speaker 4 (39:13):
He, thought they were the Longfellow brothers.
Yes, that's what it was, it'sthe Longfellows.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
That's exactly it.
And so I kind of went back tosleep and then I'm like, well,
what if it's Justin and KSY?
So I turn out Robbie's theresleeping and I'm like should I
go get him?
He goes, just get up and let'sgo get him.
And I'm like I got this.
He's like you're not going at10 o'clock at night, 1030 at
night, going to school.
And I'm like I'm going to thepolice department, it's okay.

(39:39):
So I get up, throw someleggings on, go down the police
department.
In the meantime I call Justin'swife, sarah, and I'm like does
this have anything to do withJustin?
And she is like dead silent andI'm like it's got to have
something to do.
It's got to.
I got to, she didn't sayanything.
I go all the way down to thepolice department and he's
outside and he's like they're inhere and I walk in and

(40:01):
literally Justin and Kale aredressed up as Santa.

Speaker 4 (40:05):
Except I couldn't find my Santa pants that year,
so I was in insulated underwear.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
You know the Long John underwear.
He had the red coat, the hatand Long Johns.
Needless to say, the two ofthem were released to me and
they were, so we'd start leaving.
I'm like you two come with me.
And they're like, no, our car'sright over here, right after we
leave the police department.
And I'm like, oh, no, no, no,Y'all are getting in my car.
Oh, she was hot Because we'regoing to have a discussion and
they're like no, no, no, reallyour car's right there and I'm
like no, no, no, no.

Speaker 4 (40:38):
Y'all are getting in my car, See I almost didn't get
to retire.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
I almost got fired that night, See that was the day
before KO left.
It was.
He had one day he didn't care.

Speaker 4 (40:49):
Last hurrah.
Oh yeah, she didn't likegetting up out of bed at 1030 at
night to come get Santa Claus.
What 30 minutes away.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
Yeah 30 minutes.

Speaker 4 (40:57):
Santa Claus out of jail.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
She didn't appreciate it.
But the coolest thing, folks,was this was all caught on the
surveillance cameras here at theschool and they showed it back
to us.
And it was so funny to seeJustin and Cale being chased
around by the police and tryingto hide.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
It was hysterical, needless to say that was rough.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
I took injuries that night.
I had the handcuff prints on mywrist.

Speaker 1 (41:24):
He deserved that he deserved that, oh my gosh, it
was always something, especiallyaround Christmas.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yep, yep and if he could pull something off or
teach your appreciation andexpand on something.
He would absolutely do it.
Don't you remember that we didAround the World?
Oh yeah, and he comes out.
On that first day we hadeverybody having breakfast and
he comes out like a—.
British accent as like atraveling salesman selling Lake

(41:51):
Herald t-shirts.
That's right.
Made good money that day.

Speaker 4 (41:54):
I still have one of those, I know it, you still see
them around.
They're vintage now.
Yeah, lake Herald, beautifulLake Herald, those were nice
shirts.
You don't know what you missuntil it's gone.
Ain't that right, Seth?

Speaker 2 (42:04):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
Still bitter, still bitter.
Okay, here's a couple more.

Speaker 20 (42:12):
Hey, Justin, it's Stacey here.
I certainly wanted to thank youfor all that you have done for
our school, our students and mepersonally.
A special thanks for keepingHolly busy with construction
projects so she's not in my hairand yelling at me on a daily
basis.
I also wanted to thank you formoving our spin bikes around

(42:34):
this campus about 52 times inthe last four years.
We're going to miss you, Justin.

Speaker 6 (42:39):
Take care and best wishes, road real bikes.
One of my earliest memories ofJustin was during our kitchen
renovation in 2012.
And I was in the old copy room,heard the fire alarm go off and
saw him sprinting by to comesee what was wrong down in our
kitchen.
It was a funny sight to see,but I always appreciated the

(42:59):
work that Justin did.
He was very humble, very kind,very generous, always willing to
help out.
He's an all-around great, greatguy and we're going to miss him
.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
Of course that was Chris the chef.
There were many times you wererunning down the culinary uh
over the course that I've beenhere at the time that I've been
here what was that particulartime that he was saying it was
quite a sight to see and it'sstuck in his mind I don't know.
I don't know which time thatwas.

Speaker 4 (43:25):
My weight fluctuates up and down, so it's probably
one of the fat years and, uh,fat maintenance guy running down
the hall is probably always acomical scene to see.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Oh, man, and of course you were mentioning
something about Stacy and thebikes.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
Oh yeah, it would have been a lot easier if they
just had real bikes.
They could have rode them allover yeah exactly All over the
campus, instead of us having topick up them 200-pound things
and move them every week.

Speaker 8 (43:51):
Of course, a lot of classrooms.

Speaker 4 (43:52):
They move more than Brian McLean's a move-em every
week.
Of course, a lot of classrooms,they move more than Brian
McLean.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Yeah, I was going to say A lot of classrooms have
been moved around.
You heard Brian reference that.
Did you think sometimes thatHolly was doing that on purpose?

Speaker 4 (44:02):
Oh yeah, Just to keep you busy.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
Because I haven't understood.
Some people like Brian getmoved every year.

Speaker 4 (44:07):
Oh yeah, why?
What did he do?
I think if we get idle hands,it's like we find ways to
aggravate ourselves.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
I just like that.
We have all this stuff herethat we really can't be moved
unless it's a really big deal.

Speaker 4 (44:19):
Oh, don't say that that is not true.
What that we can't be moved no.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
Well, that's true too , but no, because it's a better
spot.
And you agree, every time we goto move things and change
things.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
Why didn't you put them there to begin with?
Had we thought about it, wewould have we would have, and
then the next year is anotherbetter spot.
That's right.
Well, sometimes, if you guysonly knew how much work they do
around here and how good thatwork is.
It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
It is.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
But we've got a couple more.
I'm going to play for you in aminute, but before that,
obviously we'd be remiss if wedidn't bring up what's probably
the top reason why you'reretiring at this age and you've
got a family now and you'reraising some kids and they take
some time.

(45:07):
Now, during this whole courseof the time that you've been
here, you didn't have kids, mostof that time.

Speaker 2 (45:11):
Well, I wasn't married at first.
Well, at first, I hope not At17, boy you don't married at
first.

Speaker 4 (45:15):
Well, at first.
I hope not At 17.
Boy, you don't want to getlocked up like that.
And then Sarah came in.
Yeah, how long have you beenmarried?
I've been married 18 years,okay.

Speaker 1 (45:26):
So most of that time, oh yeah, a lot of it, a lot of
it.
And we all know if you'velistened to the show before.
He's told us the stories of howhe wooed.

Speaker 6 (45:36):
Sarah.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
We don't need to hear all that again, especially
before dinner, but the kids tellus a little bit of the story,
as much as you want to, abouthow they came into your life and
how that's affecting your lifeand who they are who they are
and moving forward.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
Yeah, so we've got three little ones.
We've got Skari, who's two,Faison, who's four, and Aliyah,
who is eight, yes, and so eightyears old, and so usually they
keep me super busy so we have alot of fun.
So they've been with us forabout the last.

(46:14):
Well, I was with my motherfirst and for a couple months,
but with our family for a littleover two years now.
So, yeah, so we a lot ofchanges when you're 40 and you
have a well, at the time youknow, a little small baby, so,
but you know, you now got twofour and eight-year-olds, just

(46:37):
kind of bam all at once.

Speaker 2 (46:39):
And not only do you have that, you have Desiree as
well.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
Yep, yep, desiree, she's grown now.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
But you got her early on.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
Yep, she was there with us since she was a teenager
and then we had some fosterchildren over the years.
So yeah, there's always beenchildren around at some time.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
Justin and Sarah's house have always been welcoming
to children.
It doesn't matter who you are,and sometimes you keep them.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
That's right.
Really, can I send some overthere?
No, I'm just kidding.
Mine are getting up there inage now.

Speaker 4 (47:09):
We're moving calls, though we have to get new
bedrooms.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Yeah, still staying in the same general area.

Speaker 4 (47:15):
You can see one backyard from the other.

Speaker 1 (47:16):
There you go, literally around the corner,
same general area.
So yeah, oh, that's good,that's good, that would be nice.
Are you building your own place?

Speaker 4 (47:22):
No, I thought you'd be doing that no, just got us
another old house, all right, afew more bedrooms.
A few more bedrooms.
Yeah, bedroom that's.
Uh, we just had to find a house, four bedrooms, so we went and
looked at one place in 30minutes like yeah, that's it.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
Why complicate the?
Yes, that's right, that's right, but um, obviously, with the
kids getting older, they'regoing to be getting involved in
a lot of different yeah, yeahthey already playing ball, they
play softball and basketball.

Speaker 4 (47:50):
So so, yeah, fix the start basketball up, and they
too.
So they like to draw andthey're a very active,
rambunctious bunch.
They watch way too much gunsmoke so they like to shoot you
with a gun and hit you with abottle and stuff like that.
Wow, that sounds like fun.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
We have WrestleMania every evening.

Speaker 4 (48:12):
yeah, so they're very good wrestlers.

Speaker 2 (48:15):
Two little boys, I'm sure.

Speaker 4 (48:18):
Yeah, Sarah's got three boys now Wow.
How fun.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
So how'd your wife take all this?
I mean, obviously she's in onyou making the decision.
Oh yeah, it's not like you justdropped it on her.
She was the main corporator.

Speaker 4 (48:34):
You need to retire now.
Oh yeah, yeah, it's not likeyou, just dropped it on her.

Speaker 1 (48:35):
She was the main corporator, was she?
You need to retire?

Speaker 4 (48:37):
now, oh yeah yeah.
Yeah she was nice, she's happyabout it, so she's excited, you
know.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
Now is she still working.
Oh, yeah, yeah she said shewouldn't.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
She's going to keep working.
Somebody's got to make money.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Yeah, you only have three different businesses going
once.
Alright, now here's our lastbatch of I guess we only got a
couple left of Justin Akintributes for you tonight.

Speaker 19 (49:10):
Justin, I'm going to miss you.
Man, I really appreciate allthe time you've taken over the
years to collaborate not justwith me but with the students
and really make me and them feelinvolved on the campus, helping
us get done what we've got toget done in the best way
possible, always with a smile onyour face.
Best of luck in your nextadventure.
Justin Jules, here Got a littlesurprise for you.

Speaker 6 (49:31):
Hey, justin, it's your biggest fan, Brad, Just
wanted to wish you a greatretirement man.
Best of luck to you, brother.

Speaker 9 (49:38):
The Voiles fam loves you.
I can't think of a favoritememory other than you just
obsessing over my husband.
So thanks for that.
We'll love you forever.
Miss you and best of luck toyou, Congrats.

Speaker 4 (49:51):
Happy for you and the fam.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
I feel like I need to explain, oh my gosh, that was
the best tribute ever Ever.

Speaker 4 (49:58):
So her husband is a very famous baseball player who
big baseball fan, and so he wasalways my favorite baseball
player.
Stop it and so look him up.
Brad Volz played for the Kansas.
City.
Royals, yep, and so just a bigfan of him.
And that just made my day.

(50:18):
I just can't believe.
My favorite baseballprofessional baseball player
called me and wished me a happyretirement.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
You have that forever .
You can play it every day.

Speaker 4 (50:28):
I've also got an autographed cup that he had Wait
what kind of cup?

Speaker 2 (50:33):
Yeah, so did you not remember?
Were you not at the baby shower?

Speaker 4 (50:37):
Was you not at the baby?

Speaker 2 (50:37):
shower.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
What was that?
When he had his jersey?

Speaker 2 (50:40):
So the school threw Julia and Brad a baby shower
when Sweet Dylan was just beforeDylan was born and Justin ended
up coming because he knew Bradwas going to be there.
That's right, and he has somestuff for Brad to sign.

Speaker 4 (50:54):
Had a baseball bat and I asked him to write on
there how many hits he had inhis major league career.
So I've got one that says BradFoles, zero MLB hits.
And I had a baseball cards anda jersey.
I had a game-worn jersey thateven Julia didn't own one of
those, so I actually had two ofthem in my collection, in my

(51:18):
personal collection.
And then I had a cup so heautographed it, you know what
he's talking about.

Speaker 13 (51:26):
Did he have any?

Speaker 1 (51:27):
message for you on the cup.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
You know it wasn't a cup.

Speaker 1 (51:30):
It was a job strap cup.
What did it say?

Speaker 4 (51:32):
I think he said this is nuts Brad Bull, Is that it
say?

Speaker 1 (51:35):
I think he said this is nuts Brad Bull, is that it?

Speaker 4 (51:37):
That's the only cup he's ever autographed.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
I bet so I got a one-of-a-kind member video there
.
How much that would go for, Idon't know.

Speaker 4 (51:45):
We'll put it on eBay.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Check that out, but that's an amazing story, folks.
You've got to see theobsessions.
He went through a book and tookout a name every time it was
mentioned, do you?

Speaker 4 (51:59):
know how hard it was to find a Brad Valls jersey.
This is the next thing.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
He found a Brad Valls jersey that his wife couldn't
even find.
That's right, that's right.
And now he has a message fromher Not one, but two of them.
Are there any more?
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (52:18):
That's the question I think he played three games, so
there might be another one.
He was a pitcher right.

Speaker 1 (52:23):
Yeah, he played for a few years for Kansas City
Royals.
He did, he was a pitcher.

Speaker 4 (52:26):
So that explains the whole hitting situation.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
Right, they don't hit a lot Now.

Speaker 4 (52:30):
They don't at all, but it's still pretty cool to
have a bat that says zero, mlb.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
Yes, yes indeed, and somebody was hearing me putting
these together today and sayingwho was that?
And I said he was in the majorleagues.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
I even went back and I studied like game transcripts
from where he played.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
See what I mean.
And I actually like reminisced,so you can be prepared for that
conversation.

Speaker 4 (52:52):
Yes, I reminisce.
I was like you remember, backin January, the 18th 2003, when
you were pitching againstso-and-so True.
I think he was really shockedat first.
I think he didn't know what tothink about it.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
And sometimes you don't know if Justin is serious.

Speaker 4 (53:08):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
Did he really follow him?
Or maybe he just did a littleresearch before and acts like it
?
You just never know with Justin.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
I wish I would have been there for that conversation
, because that's just awesome.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
It was classic.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
Brad's got to feel good too, knowing that you're
his number one fan, that's right.
But glad that he could chime inthere.
I had to save that one for last.

Speaker 4 (53:34):
Oh yeah, especially.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
So we're just about to wrap up the show.
Yeah.
And that's how quickly an hourgoes, and we probably could have
gone a lot more.
There were others that weresorry they couldn't record
something for you, but I knowyou're going to be missed by
everybody here.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
And there's so many stories and we call them Justin
stories there.
And there's so many stories andwe call them justin stories.
There's so so many of them youforget them over the years,
especially after being here.
How many?
20 20, yeah, so 2000, so yeahalmost 25 years 25 years, so,
over 25 years and it's funnybecause we've seen we've seen
him grow from a teenagerliterally a teenager into an

(54:16):
adult, full-grown adult Withchildren and a wife, and the
progression of what he's doneover his life and the things
that he has done Holly was grownwhen she came here.

Speaker 4 (54:28):
I come here as a teenager.
Holly was.

Speaker 2 (54:29):
I was 28.
She was a grown woman.

Speaker 4 (54:32):
Man, you've been here forever too.

Speaker 1 (54:35):
So, well, you both came about the same time yeah,
we're right about the same age,yeah no, first part, yes, second
part.
But, justin, I'll be honestwith you, I haven't met too many
people in the world that arelike you, and that's that's a
compliment, because you're sotalented.
Hey, madeline, if I well uphere, just know that I was

(55:01):
crying when JJ died on OuterBanks.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
I haven't even watched it and I'm not going to
watch it.
Oh crap, but you knew ithappened.
I've seen it.
I'm not going to watch it, Irefuse.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
But anyway, I haven't met too many people like you.
I mean, you're so easy to talkto, you help everybody Really
talented in many different waysthat make you happy in life.
You're getting to do a lot ofthings that make you happy in
life and a lot of people don'tget that opportunity and what
you've done here is just a flatout legacy.

(55:33):
When you look around and seewhat you've done here and you're
really going to be missed.
And I love Michael to death andhe was my favorite of your men
because whenever I neededsomething I'm like please put
Michael on it, so I'm glad andhe's going to be great taking
over.
But when I heard the news I wasshocked and I was like what am

(55:56):
I going to do without havingJustin there, even though I
don't get to talk to you thatmuch, but it's just he's kind of
like.
You know, it's like having oneof those therapy dogs or
something.
It's like if he's there tosupport you, you know he's going
to give you some good supportand you're really going to be
missed.
I mean, to me it's a big partof this place that is going to

(56:21):
miss your personality and yourtalents.
But we know you're not far andthat we can invite you back on
the show.
You still owe me anotherValentine's show with you and
Sarah, which we couldn't do lastyear.
Another Valentine's show withyou and Sarah, which we couldn't
do last year.
So we'll definitely have youback and we'll look forward to
that and I'm glad you're notgoing far away and we will be

(56:43):
able to go someplace and haveyour grits and go someplace and
see your art and go someplaceand hear the music.
I mean this is great, all thedifferent things that you've
brought to other people.
So I'm going to miss you andyou've really meant a lot to me
probably more than you know overthese 14 years that I've been
here.

Speaker 4 (57:04):
Thank you, that means a lot.

Speaker 2 (57:06):
You have touched every inch of this building and
the building next to it and thebuilding next to it and every
building we've built since.
So you're here.
You may not physically be here,but you're here.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
It was that last building that took him out,
though, wasn't it?

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Well, you know you would have thought the last
building, he would have stayedlonger, but enjoy it right, I
did thought she had a built-millbuilding a lot longer ago.

Speaker 1 (57:33):
But then when she says, okay, now we're building a
barn out there, you're like I'mout of here.
She did build me a super niceplace to work.

Speaker 4 (57:39):
That was a very nice building.
Yeah, that's why I don't seehim anymore.

Speaker 1 (57:42):
He's way over there, I know it.
He used to cut through myclassroom all the time, which
was great.
I think I was the reason why hesent out those emails, don't?
Bother us when we're walkingthe hallways, send us an email
instead, and I'm like I botheredhim every time.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
So, holly, final words?
Yeah, I don't have final words,cause this is not goodbye.

Speaker 1 (58:04):
Yeah, okay, so long.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
And I said my little tribute.
I'm not going to get into thatCause I will tear up and I don't
tear it and I don't want youpounding things in here like you
were in my office when yourecorded that, but Madeline as a
student and someone who's grownup around Justin for your
entire life.
It has been.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
Do you have something you want to say?

Speaker 2 (58:25):
Hang on, oh my goodness, you can see she's not.
She doesn't sound like me, doesshe?

Speaker 3 (58:31):
As my first and best boss oh.
I had a great time working withyou.
I really didn't think that Iwould enjoy it as much as I did,
but working for you, you justmade my day.
You were so helpful.
I remember that day, um, withthe pressure washer what.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
We'll have to tell you about that.
It was something.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
You're just such a nice person.
You can tell that everyone inthis building cares about you,
and I'm going to miss you, eventhough I don't work with you,
but I'm still going to missseeing you around.

Speaker 4 (59:10):
Thank you so much.
That means a lot.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
All right, are you going to grow the hair back?
I doubt it Okay.

Speaker 4 (59:16):
I don't think it'll grow back.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
Thank you, justin, thanks for everything, thank
those of you that were able totune in.
This will be up as a podcast onSpotify and Apple and Google.
So tell all your friends,justin, that they can tune in so
we can get a lot of followers,because if Justin tells his
friends, you know, we'reconnecting here because look at

(59:43):
all these businesses he has.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
That's right, everybody knows, justin.

Speaker 1 (59:46):
But thank you, we love doing this and the people
that.
Thank you, everybody who sentin the little tributes, for
taking the time to do that.
Thank you to everybody who sentin the little tributes for
taking the time to do that and,as Madeline said, you can tell
that everybody really caresabout it.
We're all rooting for you inthe future and, as you were
there for us, we're here for youas well as you move on.
So good luck and have a goodtime out there, thank you.

(01:00:06):
And thank you everybody forlistening to the Boone Show on
MyPulse Radio.