The Boone Show - S6 E5 - Hill Electric's Trey Thomas: How A Local Electrical Firm Thrives By Adapting, Investing In People, And Serving Its Community

Text us what you think of this episode!

A hometown journey through industry change, from textiles to advanced manufacturing, with a candid look at pay, culture, and why long-term loyalty still matters. Trey Thomas shares family stories, youth sports energy, and how community partnerships fuel a stronger workforce.

• origins in Anderson, Clemson engineering, early field work
• Hill Electric’s 70-year pivot from textiles to diversified industry
• Michelin era and building resilient customer mix
• total compensation vs hourly pay and retention culture
• profit sharing history and retirements with dignity
• communication, expectations, and life skills on the job
• career centers and technical colleges as talent engines
• student work programs, senior-year earnings, NIL joke
• local entrepreneurship with Kate’s boutique downtown
• youth sports, facilities, and coaching lessons
• civic service, boards, and downtown revitalization
• light news, trivia, and dining recommendations

Find out more about Hill Electric at hillelectric.net

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

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_05 (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Boon Show on My
Pulse Radio.
We're happy to be with you thisevening or whenever you're
listening on another Tuesday,and we have a very special guest
with us.

SPEAKER_07 (00:12):
A very special guest.

SPEAKER_05 (00:14):
Yeah, this guy he's done a lot for the school.

SPEAKER_07 (00:16):
He has.

SPEAKER_05 (00:17):
You're gonna hear about that and a lot more.
We're talking about Trey Thomas,who is the president and COO of
Hill Electric.
Welcome, Trey.

SPEAKER_03 (00:27):
Thank you, John.
Holly.

SPEAKER_05 (00:28):
And uh Holly, of course, is here, and Danica's
trying to put out fires in thebackground.
So we've got a full show foryou.
So um what a week, huh?

SPEAKER_07 (00:41):
I know it's been a long week, and we've we've got
what four or five five weeks ina row after this, which is a lot
for us.
Trey, we usually try to do ittwice a month.
These these show, the Boon Show,twice a month, and this month,
um, for the next five weeks,John has got us booked up.
Um but we have some good guests.
Tim Self is coming in.

(01:02):
Oh boy.
You know Tim.
That'd be a good story time.
Yep.
Okay, because I don't know himyet.
Oh, he's uh hysterical.
All right, good, good.
Um, and a good storyteller.
Who else do we have coming on?

SPEAKER_05 (01:12):
Uh the the auditor guy.

SPEAKER_07 (01:13):
Yes, John Bika from Anderson County's coming on.

SPEAKER_05 (01:17):
You would normally think an auditor might not be
exciting.

SPEAKER_07 (01:20):
Yes, but I hope he's going to be.
I've never met him.
Yeah, well.

SPEAKER_03 (01:22):
Looks like you have the Middletown players coming.

SPEAKER_05 (01:24):
Yeah, yeah.
Next week here, uh Will readingit.

SPEAKER_07 (01:27):
Uh Will is always entertaining.

SPEAKER_05 (01:31):
And next week we're doing kind of a Halloween theme.

SPEAKER_07 (01:34):
Okay.

SPEAKER_05 (01:34):
So uh Winston's gonna be here.
Okay, good.
And his dad's gonna be herewho's actually worked on some
horror movies and stuff.

SPEAKER_07 (01:42):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (01:42):
Uh so we're doing kind of a Halloween theme.
So what a better what better dayto get somebody like Will Raglan
in here to uh to compliment andthey would and their first show
that they're doing is kind of aspooky kind of thing as they
open their new season.

SPEAKER_07 (01:55):
Okay.

SPEAKER_05 (01:55):
So he's gonna talk about the new season and all
that.

SPEAKER_07 (01:58):
Good.
So it should be some good shows.

SPEAKER_05 (01:59):
Yeah, yeah.
Looking forward to it.
Yeah.
And the holidays are right uponus.

SPEAKER_07 (02:03):
Yes, I think I I read nine Fridays to Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 (02:07):
Wow.
Yeah, I think the other day itwas 67 days until Christmas.

SPEAKER_07 (02:10):
That's about right.
Is that crazy?

SPEAKER_05 (02:12):
Wow, that's less than 10.

SPEAKER_07 (02:13):
So Trey, do you do you do the Christmas shopping or
does your wife do the Christmasshopping?

SPEAKER_03 (02:18):
She does most of it for the kids and stuff.

SPEAKER_07 (02:19):
Yeah, I thought so.

SPEAKER_05 (02:20):
Most most does she do it online?

SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
Uh a lot of it.
I mean, she she's alwayslooking.
I mean, she's she's usually gotthe Christmas presents by August
late latest at the end of thismonth.
Yeah.
See, that's a good thing.
Maybe something gets drug outtill November, but most
everything's already alreadyaccounted for.

SPEAKER_05 (02:40):
Yeah, yeah.
Most of our family does that.
Not me though.
I'm in the in the phase now thatthey tell me what I'm giving
somebody else.
Here you got them a bike.
Here you got them a bike.

SPEAKER_07 (02:51):
Jackie's already got that planned out for us.

SPEAKER_05 (02:53):
Yes.
So I mean, I used to be the typethat was out there on Christmas
Eve with my friends.
It was almost kind of uhcomical.
Uh it was comical.
It was, you know, ridiculousbecause there's nothing left on
the shelves, and but it was likea tradition.
Whoever we didn't have, we wentout to the malls on uh Christmas
Eve to get them.
And of course, you know,nowadays though, most of the

(03:14):
stuff we get online.
There's not much shoppinginvolved.
There's no camping out on BlackFriday.

SPEAKER_07 (03:19):
Right.
Well, I mean, still people dothat to some.

SPEAKER_05 (03:22):
They do.
So why?

SPEAKER_07 (03:24):
Right.

SPEAKER_05 (03:25):
It just has to be because it's an experience.
Yeah, exactly.
That's right.
All right.
But but we're here to talk toTrey.

SPEAKER_07 (03:31):
Let's talk to Trey.

SPEAKER_05 (03:32):
Skipping way ahead.

SPEAKER_07 (03:33):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 (03:33):
We haven't had him on for a couple of years now.
We were talking about that.

SPEAKER_07 (03:36):
It's been a couple of years.

SPEAKER_05 (03:38):
Yeah, because the last time we tried to have him
on, he had a he had a familything that came up the last
minute.
And um he had to go and we hadDavid though, right?
No, that we had him on.

SPEAKER_03 (03:48):
I think we postponed yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (03:50):
He was supposed to be on too.
I think the whole electric uhall the people were gonna be on.
But he's back, so uh now we'lluh re-educate people on what
Hill Electric is all about andum what Trey's all about and all
the good things he's doingbecause he has quite a story.
So let's let's start at thebeginning.

(04:11):
Give us kind of your yourbackground.
Uh you grew up around here,right?

SPEAKER_03 (04:15):
Yep, grew up here in Anderson, went to uh Concord and
Canton's and Hannah, went toClemson and came back.
So all but four years were spenthere in Anderson.
That's it.
And continue to be.
So uh wife met her.
She she lived about a mile fromwhere I live growing up, didn't
really know her.
Um introduced between my bossand someone she babysat for and

(04:40):
met her senior year going intoPC and uh got married in 2013.
She was teaching at concrete.
She taught Holly's daughterMadeline.
Not sure if that was first orsecond class, maybe second
class, because I think it washer very first time teaching.
So it was the first class.
I couldn't remember if so thisis.

SPEAKER_07 (04:59):
But she only taught like two or three years, right?

SPEAKER_03 (05:02):
She taught uh Brock was born in 16, so she taught
2012 through 2016.
So she taught whatever that was,four or five years.

SPEAKER_06 (05:11):
Four or five years.

SPEAKER_05 (05:11):
Yeah, surprised she didn't quit after that medal
year.

SPEAKER_03 (05:16):
No, but she she loved her time there.
Miss Page, I think she's aboutto retire.

SPEAKER_07 (05:19):
We heard I think she is on her way.

SPEAKER_03 (05:22):
Yeah, so she enjoyed that, and Brandon Kuhn over
there.
She she loved theadministration.

SPEAKER_07 (05:25):
So and now you know Brandon's at Palmetto uh
Elementary as a principal.

SPEAKER_03 (05:29):
I thought we'd heard that, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (05:30):
So had his daughter in this class, she was great.
Yes, graduated a couple yearsago, Rachel.

SPEAKER_03 (05:36):
Yep.
Um so yeah, so met Callie thenwe got married in 13, had Brock
in 2016, Anna Kate in 19, and umtwo totally different
personalities.
Brock's the rule follower, andyou know, you tell him not to do
something, he's not getting 10feet to it close to it.
Anna Kate tell her not to dosomething, and she's already
broken it, tossed it upsomething.

(05:57):
You know, she's she's all intoit.

SPEAKER_05 (05:59):
So uh girls train raising girls is much harder
than raising boys.
Yeah, yeah.
Danica, you have something tosay about that?
Turn your mic on if you do.
Okay.

SPEAKER_03 (06:09):
Um but yeah, so so yeah, I've been yeah, my my
career, I worked at the AndersonCountry Club in high school and
then went to college and uh Iguess before I went to college,
my neighbor, Mr.
K, who was part owner at thetime, um asked me to come work
in the summer.
So when I graduated that Maycame and worked uh till I was

(06:30):
eighteen with him at theBleckley Inn.
He was building he wasn'tbuilding the Bleckley that time,
he was building his apartmentand and that kind of stuff.
There's a three-story buildingbeside it, so turned eighteen,
went into the industrial sideand um worked my summers there
and came work full time in 2010when I graduated.
So And what was your degree inelectrical engineering.

(06:51):
So don't don't use a whole lotof it uh in the field we're in.
Yeah, you can you can use it toto help explain some problems,
um, but a lot of stuff whatwe've done is already have
drawings and you know there'scodes that you follow, um, which
you don't really learn that inschool.
You're learning the the thetheory, the mechanics behind why
the code exists or why it'sdone.

(07:13):
Um so you're just kind offollowing a set of rules.
So don't don't get to use awhole lot of it.
Uh our vice president Davidgraduated from the other
university in South Carolina inelectrical engineering.
And um But yeah, both of us, youknow, we enjoy what we do and
you know, Hill's a been a greatstill it's it's been handed
down, not handed down, it's beenyou know, bought sold between

(07:35):
individuals, no one in thefamily.
So it's it's operated like afamily business, but it's not
you know generational.
Um so it's it's been a coollittle thing that Walter Hill
and Bob, father son, started in1954.
Um seventy years.
Yeah, yeah, 70, 71 years, and sothey they started nineteen
fifty-four doing whatever youdid in the fifties.

(07:57):
You know, that could have beenwater pipes to houses,
miscellaneous projects.
I think they were kind of doingwhatever, and then the 60s they
got into textiles, so yourMillikan, your springs, uh West
Point Stevens, or West Point JPStevens, you know, all that kind
of stuff.
And so they got into textiles.
The 80s, Mr.
K came around and uh graduatedfrom Clemson, came into the

(08:19):
company and bought it from Walt,I mean from Bob and Gloria, and
uh they kind of moved into thewhat they call the finishing
plant.
So you have textiles where yourlooms and twisters and spinning
frames, and then your finishingsides where you got the
chemicals, the die jets whereyou're you know putting dye or
you're you're putting the finishand touching on the fabric.

(08:40):
And that that was a little moreinvolved, and then of course in
the nineties, you know, textilesthey didn't go away, but
essentially in five, six, sevenyears pretty much vanished.
Yep.
Um so thankfully Mike Davis,who's our CEO, CEO now, uh Mr.
Cade hired him in '95, Ibelieve, as sales.

(09:02):
So he'd come in and he was outthere in Michelin.
I think 2001, we started withMichelin, um, and they're our
largest customer today.
But you look at that transitionof Michelin came in the late
70s, 80s.
We don't do a whole lot of BMW,they came in the 80s.
So you look at what that kind ofpre-transition from textiles,

(09:23):
but then you look at the marketnow, and it's it's heavy and
automotive, but it's alsodiverse, you know, in this
upstate, and that's been one ofthe things in the you know, kids
that are 30 years or youngerreally hadn't experienced, man,
Holly pissed me off today.
I'm gonna go get another job.
And they could have a job by thetime they walked out the door.
You know, 15 years ago, 2008, Imean you were lucky to keep your

(09:48):
job.

SPEAKER_07 (09:48):
Correct.

SPEAKER_03 (09:49):
You know, so it's a it you know, if you're 30 years
or younger, you have anexperience like I don't know if
where my paycheck's coming fromnext week.
Like there's so much and it thein you know the upstate's been
been great for you know, thecareer centers have helped with
that, the the technical schoolsof providing the workforce that
attracts those companies.

(10:09):
Because yeah, I mean you canhave the cheapest land or the
cheap, you know, no taxes, butif you don't have anybody to
work there, you can't, I mean,you're not gonna have the the
the business.
So I think that's been you know,the upstate has just been really
fortunate that so much has movedhere and it's diverse so that
you know you may have automotivethat does the ups and downs, but

(10:30):
you've got you know everybodyelse here from healthcare to
pharmaceuticals to automotive totextiles are still here,
chemical plants, um and then ofcourse manufacturing in general.

SPEAKER_07 (10:40):
Just all the other things that you didn't mention
is all the same.

SPEAKER_03 (10:45):
I mean, you know, who knew that first quality you
know could come in here and theamount of paper towels and
toilet papers they produce isit's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_07 (10:53):
It is, it is, it is.

SPEAKER_03 (10:54):
And if only people knew how much was in there
during COVID when you couldn'tfind it.
I mean, there's no telling howmany millions of rolls of toilet
paper they had in first qualityin the warehouse.
Right.
They just couldn't get it outtrucking wise.
Right, right.
So you might have had everybodyrush over there and uh steal it
from there.
But uh but no, I mean Arthrex,first quality.
I mean, there there's been greatthings for Anderson County um

(11:17):
over recent years and a lot ofother industrial, you know,
manufacturing plants, TTIs andall these.

SPEAKER_07 (11:23):
And even the small ones, you know, we we talk about
these large ones, but the smallones is really uh and the
medium-sized ones, those are theones that that that bring the
bread and butter, you know, thatthat supply that.
And you know, Trey, you youmentioned about workforce.
It's so funny because a lot ofpeople don't realize that um,
you know, the career centers,the the technical colleges, uh

(11:44):
that's a huge tapping of of ofpotential employees for you.
And nowadays, just like yousaid, I mean, these kids will
skip a job for 25 cents.

unknown (11:55):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 (11:56):
I'm getting paid 25 cents or 50 cents more an hour,
and they're not seeing thelongevity of security-wise and
and loyalty in a company, andinstead they'll just boop um 50
cents over here more an hour.

SPEAKER_03 (12:08):
Mm-hmm.
And how about saying that youknow it's and we we face the
same thing of you know how youpay and you know, whether your
insurance cost, your bonuses,your vacation, you know, all
that goes into it, and you couldyou could potentially be making
more money where you're at, yep.
But you might be making a dollarless on the hour.
And when you focus on that,that's that's one thing that
like you say, everybody focuseson that, but they don't ask the

(12:32):
question of, oh, well, what's myinsurance cost?
Oh, it's double.
Oh, well now, you know, if yourinsurance costs and you got a
family, you know, it may be$120a week at one company and two
hundred and twenty in another.

SPEAKER_08 (12:44):
Yep.

SPEAKER_03 (12:44):
Well, that's a hundred dollars difference.
If you're only working fortyhours a week, that's two and a
half dollars.
That's right.
Yeah, you might be getting twomore dollars on the hour, but
guess what?
You're actually gonna be takinghome less than you were at your
current.
Yeah, so that's that's one thingthat a lot of people get that
quick reaction.
And you know, like I said, youknow, nowadays people just are
so quick if if they don't likesomething, don't feel that you

(13:06):
know they're treated right, youknow, maybe they did something
wrong and don't like gettingcalled out that you know and it
and it's easy to do.
I mean there are you know it'snot like they're going to a bad
job, right?
You know, but they're so quickto jump.
And yeah, that's just tough outthere where you you gotta
balance of all right, we'rewe've got a culture and we've
got r you know rules to follow.
And when they don't getfollowed, you gotta discipline

(13:29):
or or call them out.
And you know, some people takethat as well, I mean I I mean I
I was I you know, I had a sickkid or I want to go do this.
It's like, well, I meancommunicate.
You know, and I think that's theone thing that communication
these days is so many so manypeople will just text.
You know, like if I didn't cometo the show today at 3 50 I

(13:51):
might have said, sorry Holly,I'm not gonna make it.
Alright, well texting that atten minutes till you pick up the
phone, right?
Right, that doesn't fix that.
You know, not to say thatpicking up the phone is gonna be
better, but not just uh or anemail, you know, sorry Holly,
not gonna make it, or not gonnabe able to turn this in.
You know, and uh you know it's Ifeel like the same thing in our

(14:11):
generation, you just didn't havethat availability.
You know, when I grew up you hadyou know your nine digits and
you had to sit there to get C,you had to hit two three times.
You know, you had to go two,two, two to get to C, and then
you had to go to the next one.
And then you had a limit of howmany texts you could send with
characters.
And you had like 50 texts amonth, and you had to sit there

(14:32):
and go, I don't know if I'mgonna respond to this because
that's one of my fifty texts.

SPEAKER_07 (14:35):
Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_03 (14:36):
Um, but it was minutes on the phone, number of
text.
I mean, I remember that you'dlook at you know you'd look it
up.
I think you could text orwhatever you could do.
I guess you get text, butwhatever you could do to look up
how many texts you sent, becauseonce you got over it, you know,
your parents were charged.
You had to pay for it.
That's right.
It was like ten cents a text.
I mean, it was expensive.

SPEAKER_07 (14:55):
It was, it was.

SPEAKER_03 (14:56):
Um but yeah, so anyways, yeah, it's it's you
know criteria like this are goodfor that, you know, getting
students prepared because uh youknow, when I came through, you
know, there was no push to getanybody into you know, we had e
camp, you know, you had oldMcDuffie High School that we
went to and you did somecomputer aid.
I mean they they had some adclasses or some welding and some

(15:20):
stuff, but it wasn't necessarilypushed.
But even if you're still goingto college, these are good life
skills to whatever it may be.
I mean, it could be radio tohelp you out with public
speaking.
You know, me as a kid in highschool, I mean I was shy.
Even going to college was shyand joining fraternity and you
know, that helped, you know, getsome leadership positions and

(15:40):
that helped grow who I ambecause me in high school, if
you ask me to do this or standup and give a speech, like that
that wasn't me.
Um but having career centersthat give you the opportunity
and maybe you find a passion.

SPEAKER_07 (15:53):
That's right.

SPEAKER_03 (15:54):
Or maybe you don't, and that's just or you know,
yeah, but I say, or even betterthat you don't you don't exactly
you know what?
I'm gonna be a doctor.
And you go to college and dofour years and you go, I don't
want to be a doctor.
And now you've got you knowmaybe maybe you're fortunate
enough scholarships to pay forit, but if not, you've gone four

(16:15):
years and you're like, that'snot what I want to do.

SPEAKER_06 (16:17):
That's right.

SPEAKER_03 (16:18):
And you've spent, you know, spent$160,000, maybe
at scholarships, but now yougotta pivot.

SPEAKER_06 (16:23):
Yep.

SPEAKER_03 (16:23):
But like you say, you maybe find out like, man, I
did that construction stuff andthat ain't me.
Or I did the radio or I didmarketing graphics and I thought
I liked it, but I don't want todo that for the rest yeah, the
rest of my life.
You know, I I took one class oftaking care of the pigs out
here, and I you know, I want tobe a vet now.
Like I enjoy like you know, younever know.

SPEAKER_07 (16:43):
That's right.

SPEAKER_05 (16:44):
You know, I mean Yeah, we've had people go both
ways in this program.
Yeah.
Either they were scared todeath, like you say, come in not
wanting to be or not you know,public speaking not being a a a
strength, yeah, and being afraidof looking at all this equipment
and lights and buttons and allthat and saying, I can't double
ask.

(17:04):
Yeah, yeah.
And then once they start itsaying, I love it, and then
other people will be like, Yeah,that's just not me.
I mean, that's what the coursesare about.
That's what we want to find out.
But in the meantime, justteaching them to be overall just
successful people is is reallythe main focus beyond the
curriculum.
One thing I noticed at HillElectric though, you must be

(17:25):
attracting the good peoplebecause you look and people have
been there for years.
I mean, these are people thatcome and go.
These people are staying forlike decades.

SPEAKER_03 (17:33):
Yeah, and we've we've had uh the old school
profit sharing.
Yeah, we used to have profitsharing up until about ten years
ago and had to make that changebecause you were they were they
were getting you know greatretirement, but they weren't
getting it on the hour.
You know, so you've got guysthat we've got three guys next
year they'll be here for 40years.

SPEAKER_07 (17:54):
Wow.

SPEAKER_03 (17:55):
Al, Ance and John.
So yeah, we've we've had in thelast ten years we've had a lot
of people retire that have been,you know, Mac was six, seven
years ago, eight years ago, andhe was forty-seven, forty-eight
years with us.
Um, you've you've had a lot ofguys that have been I want to
say in the last probably thelast ten years we've had nine or

(18:19):
ten that have retired withthirty-eight years or more with
us.
You know, but the way thebonuses structure was built
between Christmas bonus and theretirement profit share, and
they didn't have to put a dimein it.
And they can retire and it's ait's a great retirement.
I mean it I don't say they couldlive and do whatever they want

(18:39):
to, but they could live with thewith social security and their
retirement for the rest of theirlife, you know, and not have to
have to worry about it.
And so that's where we got theseguys now that are forty years
with us that are late fifties,maybe sixty now, that they're
gonna be able to retire.
Most of 'em, I think, have gottheir houses paid off.

(19:00):
And so they're gonna be able totake that and live a nice
retirement.
Um but yeah, that's that's whatwe fight nowadays is getting it
to where they understand andhaving to take away the bonuses
a little and put it in the hourbecause of that, you know,
simple thing, and I get it.
You know, I was twenty-three,twenty-four, twenty-five, you

(19:21):
know, got married at what wasthat, twenty-five or almost
twenty-five when I got married.
And you're sitting there andyou're just like, Man, you're
looking at other people going,Golly, how do they do that?
or you know, and chasing thatdollar.
And and they're either chasingdollars or taking out loans,
maxing out credit cards, and youknow, then that's where some
people get into it.
They they chase it and max outthose credit cards and they got

(19:44):
it in their minds, like, I gottatake this job because I need to
pay that credit card off.
And and part of it's true, youknow, that they'll they'll go on
to another job, they'll cash outtheir retirement to pay it off,
but unless you change thosebehaviors, you're gonna be right
back in that situation andprobably worse.

SPEAKER_07 (20:02):
Yes.

SPEAKER_03 (20:03):
Because now you've paid it off, you're like, Oh,
I'm good.
And yeah, so we see that.
But I mean we got we got a lotof guys that uh and gals, you
know, that we've we've had for along tenure, you know, I forget
what our average is now.
I want to say it's like twelveor thirteen years.
Um that's awesome.
Overall.
Might be higher than that.

(20:24):
But uh but we've we've got a lotof we've got a big group that'll
be retiring in the next tenyears.
I think it's eight peoplethat'll retire in the next
probably five to six years, andthey'll all be at thirty-five
years or more.

SPEAKER_07 (20:38):
And you know, it and in your area too, it's uh it's a
it's a mindset shift, verysimilar to with uh career and
tech ed.
You know, a long time ago,vocational ed was not um you you
went to vac to the vocationalschool because you weren't going
to college.

unknown (20:54):
Yep.

SPEAKER_07 (20:54):
So you needed a job and you were not going to
college.
And then there was that timebetween the shift of vocational
ed and career in tech ed whereit's at now, where now you come
to the career and technologycenter to either go to college
or get a career or both.
And you're able to do that.
And so there's that littleshift, and and you're in that
same pocket where you had theinflux of people, you know, 40

(21:16):
years ago, 30 years ago, whereI'm gonna go directly to work,
and you've got those.
Well, then then you get the mixof well, I'm not sure where I
want to go.
I don't I don't think I justwant to do that.
I think I want to do this.
So so just like with with us,you had that little shift.
So you may have that um portionin there that uh of of your
employees that may notnecessarily be in either one of

(21:40):
those categories that's themiddleman trying to figure it
out.
But I think going forward, Ithink you're gonna see more
people um ready to go in andcreate opportunities for them
instead of closing them.
You know, I can go and work atHill Electric and I can still go
to college.
Or I can go to college and thenwork for Hill Electric.

(22:01):
You know, I I think you're gonnasee both of that mix.
And if you can offer theopportunity in high school where
you can come to, you know, go tohigh school, work while you're
in high school, come workpart-time or full-time, go to
school part-time, you know, andand and continue to your career
and up your salary.
I think people can see that.

SPEAKER_03 (22:20):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, well, say I I had wastelling John before the show, I
was like, we've got we've had acouple kids that have, you know,
worked their whole senior year,and I was like, I don't know how
they do that.
They'll have any classes andthey get to come work for us the
whole senior year and they'llmake, I don't know,$25,000,$30,
$35,000, you know,$40,000 as asenior in high school, you know,
getting valuable experience.

(22:41):
You know, I said it's almostlike an NIL deal, you know, sure
is.
Wow.
You know, so it's almost beenit's pretty much been a dollar a

(23:03):
year increase that's gone up.
You know, so that was itprobably was stagnant for a long
time back in the I mean youobviously came out of 08 and
everybody, you know, you're justhoping to hold on and have a
job.
And I think it kind of stayedwith that.
And then 13 came around and thenfourteen, fifteen, sixteen, you
kinda you kinda had some ups anddowns.

(23:25):
But after sixteen, I mean it'spretty much been you had COVID,
but that was kind of a shortblip here.
You know, you had some stuffshut down, but there was enough
enough people still working andbetween the stimulus and that
kind of stuff.
But uh but yeah, I mean it'sit's just been the last nine
years.
If you if you if you wanted tostart a company, you could have

(23:45):
started it you could probablystill start one now.
I mean it's still tough to findpeople.
Um you know, and that's that'swhat you've seen is is you've
had a lot of companies that havecome to town you know, and you
can get as much work as youwant.
You know, because there's stillpeople out there that are doing
overtime just to get work done.
The industry's still coming.
I mean, the I mean it seems likeevery day, every week there's a

(24:08):
new announcement for, like yousay, it may not be a big plant.

SPEAKER_07 (24:10):
Right.

SPEAKER_03 (24:10):
But those 30, 40, 50 person employee plants, I mean,
some of those have really goodeven if you're going to a plant,
a lot of those have fifty, sixtythousand dollar salaries.
Yep.
You know, for just operators.

SPEAKER_07 (24:21):
Yep.

SPEAKER_03 (24:22):
And uh the operators, forklift drivers, you
know, even skilled trades likeus, the the last ten, especially
twelve, thirteen years, the payis just exponentially gone up.
Yeah.
You know, it's it's pretty muchdoubled in twelve years.
Yeah.
Okay.
Which is wild.

SPEAKER_05 (24:40):
And you're doing a great job over there.
Um we've got Zach coming up in acouple of minutes um to talk
sports.
And so we want to take a quickbreak.
And we come back too.
We want to talk a little bitabout your family.
Tell us about your family, whatthey're up to.
And I know you got some soccergames to go to after this.
So yeah.
Uh he's he's an assistant coach.

SPEAKER_07 (24:59):
I know.
Out there on the line.

SPEAKER_05 (25:05):
But uh, we'll talk much more with uh Trey Thomas
from Hill Electric coming up onthe boon show, My Fulse Radio.

SPEAKER_04 (25:15):
What do you mean?
Own a barbershop that treats melike a family.
Have you heard of Duck ShopShop?
Duck Shop.
Yeah, it's a veteran-owned andoperated barbershop that
provides quality haircuts andaffordable prices.
They even provide discounts forseniors, military, law
enforcement, and firstresponders.
Let's create working on them.
You can visit their location inthe book, or visit their website

(25:35):
at duck chocolate.com for moreinformation.

SPEAKER_02 (25:44):
We have bringing the heart of the next kind of table.
From the event to French comics,competition coming with every
bucket is in a scene of seven ortwo.

SPEAKER_12 (26:10):
Envision Williamson is a nonprofit organization that
puts together fun activities andevents for the town of
Willingston.
How much are your water bills?
Ask about church pickup andclear about other town business.

SPEAKER_04 (27:15):
I'm Avery.

SPEAKER_10 (27:16):
And I'm Elizabeth.
Welcome to our podcast.
He said, She said.
Tune in for free on Spotify tocatch our next episode.

SPEAKER_05 (27:26):
And we're back on the Boon Show, My False Radio.
Trey Thomas from Hill Electricuh just uh shooting the breeze
with us tonight here on theshow, talking about uh what a
great company and uh that hehas.
And uh one thing about thatcompany too, Trey, is is you
sort of mentioned it, is howit's been able to adjust over

(27:47):
the years.
I mean, starting out, you know,in textiles and then moving into
the different fields as the needcame, while other companies that
that weren't forward thinkinglike that may have fallen off.
But you guys have always beenable to adjust to to the times.

SPEAKER_03 (28:02):
Yep.
Yeah, it's it's one of thosethat you always got to be
looking that uh you never knowwhether it's the company goes
out of business or you you havea safety incident or somebody
says something, does something,and you know you could be gone
the next day.
Yeah, so that that's in ourworld.
You just you just never know.
So it's it's always good to havethat out there for for looking

(28:22):
for new business, new newniches, and you know, our niches
that you know equipmentinstallation is is to process
equipment.
And uh we don't do that fulltime, but that you know once
once times get tough, a lot oftimes the industrial sides who's
doing those investments andupgrades because the cash is
cheap, so they're looking at howcan they upgrade the lines.
And um, but yeah, it's it'salways always you gotta be

(28:46):
looking out there for newbusiness because you never know
when something might just goaway overnight.

SPEAKER_05 (28:50):
Yeah, yeah, especially nowadays, you just
never know.
Um all right, tell us a littlebit while we wait for Zach, tell
us about your family.
You've got uh two kids a littleolder since the last time that
uh you were here talking aboutthem, and uh well tell us about
your about your family.

SPEAKER_03 (29:05):
Yeah, so Callie, we've been married for I guess
in January will be 13 years.
Um she taught at ConcretePrimary for four or five years
until Brock, our oldest, wasborn.
Um so we got Brock who's nine,and Anna Kate who's six, and two
different personalities.
You got Brock the rule follower,and and Anna Kate uh like to see
how far she can push things, butuh but they work well together.

(29:26):
Brock's the the caretaker, asyou would say.
Um, but they're in third gradeand kindergarten at Concord
Elementary, where Callie and Iboth went to school growing up,
so um not the same teachersthere, but uh the school's
pretty much the same.
They've added on a little bitdown there.
Uh but yeah, so we grew up here.
We have two dogs, Tilly's, she'sa thirteen and a half chocolate

(29:48):
thirteen and a half year oldchocolate lab, and then we got
Peppa's uh I guess she justturned two uh King Charles
Cavalier.
So a little dog um that thinksshe's an outside dog and Leaves
don't stick to Tilly, leaves100% tick stick to Peppa.
Um so she'll come in, you know.

SPEAKER_07 (30:08):
And both you and your wife are entrepreneurs.

SPEAKER_03 (30:10):
Yep, so Callie uh started Kate's it's a shoe
boutique, uh our boutique storein in downtown Anderson.
So April is two years, so thiscoming April will be three.
Um but it was it was a passionof hers that she taught
obviously first grade and um hasalways loved shoes and and
fashion and that kind of thing.
So three years ago pretty muchwe said we're gonna do it.

(30:34):
And uh so about three years agonow, so that's when you start
going out and seeing ven youknow the I don't know if you
call them vendors, the uh shoesand clothes and and trying to
figure out she started a shoesonly and then people were like,
Well, we like your your style ofdressing and dresses and jeans
and that kind of stuff, so sheshe kind of broadened it into

(30:58):
that and uh it's fun.
So we go go to New She goes toAtlanta twice a year and then
her and I go up to New York forthe uh markets uh for shoes and
clothes.
So it's kind of a fun littlething we do twice a year that we
get to go up there and a littlebit of fun, a little bit of
play.
But uh but it's been great rightthere across from Solomon's
downtown and you know she she'sshe's got the the knack for it.

(31:22):
Um you know she's got a greatsense of of fashion and style,
so you know it's it's funwatching watching her thrive in
that and she's got some greatpeople that work for her so that
that helps out there.
Um that's awesome.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (31:35):
Uh so these kids playing are they both playing
soccer?

SPEAKER_03 (31:38):
They are.
So Brock's played every yearsince he was four, I guess, or
five.
And then Anna Kate played whenshe was four.
And she had played since untilthis year, so she's uh she's
back and um both of them arecoached by Brent Jackson.
I ran cross country with, andhe's coached Brock for I mean,

(31:59):
what has that been five, four orfive seasons now?
Um but yeah, so Anna Kate doesdance and then doing soccer, and
Brock does soccer and baseball.
So now the Y sports are twice ayear, so you get fall soccer,
fall baseball, spring soccer,spring and and thankfully.
Soak it up.
Yeah, I was saying thankful wehadn't done basketball.

(32:21):
He did one season of flagfootball, but if you played
basketball and flag football,you could be between practicing
games at the Y, you could beyear-round, which is great.
I mean the Y and Anderson's gotseven seven hundred and fifty
kids playing soccer.
Wow.
And that's just six and underunder six through under twelve.
You know, so seven hundred andfifty kids out there.

(32:43):
That's that's a lot.
That's awesome though.
Yeah, I'm gonna say it's great.
I mean, it's it's it's great toget out there and um yeah,
they've got that new sports parkthere in Anderson.
It's really nice.
So that's that's great to havethose fields out there.
And um but yeah, it's it's myfirst season truly.
I guess last season I assistantcoach uh for Brock's and that
was kind of the thing with AnnaKate.

(33:05):
I said, you know, I'll be anassistant coach if if you'll
play, because get her out thereand get a little competition.
She's she's got that drive andand want to win when she
focuses.
So it's been fun watching herout there that she'll she'll get
after the ball.

SPEAKER_05 (33:18):
That's awesome.
That is awesome.
I remember coaching when I wascoaching in high school.
At one time I was coaching boys'soccer and girl soccer, and I
always like coaching girl soccerbetter because they seemed to
work harder.
They weren't out there all forshow like some of the guys were.

SPEAKER_03 (33:33):
Yep.

SPEAKER_05 (33:34):
They they worked their butts off, and we played
some big schools and stuff likethat, and they would get just
bruised up and you know, justhurt at the end of the game, but
they would not give up.
Girls just go after it.
I love that.

SPEAKER_03 (33:46):
That's what I was a thing growing up.
You know, church basketball.
I don't think church basketballis quite the way it is, but if
you want to see some good games,you go out there and watch the
girls.

SPEAKER_05 (33:53):
They're church basketball, any church league,
is probably the most competitiveleagues that you'll ever see.

SPEAKER_03 (34:00):
Well, I say maybe not the best skill, but the the
drive and the competitiveness isis up there.

SPEAKER_05 (34:05):
The good thing is they go back to church on Sunday
to ask forgiveness foreverything that they've done.
That's right.
Donner said on the basketballcourt.

SPEAKER_07 (34:12):
Well, you know, and Trey's not just involved with
his children in the communityeither.
I mean, he's involved.
I swear, if I'm somewhere,Trey's right there.
Yeah.
He's close to wherever I'm at.

SPEAKER_05 (34:21):
Why is that why is that important to you?

SPEAKER_03 (34:24):
I I don't know.
I've always had that that wantto give back.
You know, my wife, you know,she's she's out there listening
or listening to this.
She tells me how much I do, andand I do you you get that
between family and and doingstuff in the community and you
know, my my passion's always tohelp others.
Um you know, try to see the goodin people.

(34:44):
And that's one thing that youknow, I went through JLA junior
leadership Anderson when I wasin high school and then went
through Leadership Anderson whenI graduated Clemson and then
joined the JLA board and stillon it now.
And that's one thing I've alwaysenjoyed is is seeing that
future.
You know, you see those kids andI that's why Callie taught too.

(35:05):
I mean, you saw you see you seethe potential in kids.
I mean, there's so many kidsthat they come from nothing.

SPEAKER_07 (35:12):
They don't have that guidance.

SPEAKER_03 (35:14):
And they don't have the guidance and and how pure
and sweet they are.
And obviously these are juniorsin high school, so they've
they've got a little bit less,but you still you still see that
want and drive and you know likewhen they f when they see
something or or do somethingthey won't.
And that was also the thing isback then, 2010, like Anderson

(35:34):
wasn't if you ask most college kkids or high school kids like
what you doing after graduation,well, I ain't coming back to
Anderson.
Like that was pretty much themajority of it.
Yeah, Callie was like that thatwhen she left, she's like, Well,
I'm you know, she went to PC,did her education, and said, I'm
not coming back to Anderson.
You know, and lo and behold, wemeet her, you know, I meet her

(35:57):
going into her senior year, andobviously that changes because I
was here and and alreadyworking.

SPEAKER_08 (36:02):
Um But but Anderson's now become a place
that you can want to live andplay and eat.

SPEAKER_03 (36:10):
And so that's good that you know, I I originally
kind of started that as, youknow, being a part of JLA and
letting them see like there isindustry here and especially
now, I mean it's obviously a loteasier for kids to be like, you
know, well, we got the niceparks, you know, the city rec
downtown.
I mean, those fields areimmaculate.
You know, they've got AstroTurf, Lindley Park, you know,

(36:30):
the city of Anderson, you've gotthe Williamstons, you you've
almost had a revitalizationrevitalization in downtowns.
You know, Mr.
K obviously I feel you know wasa big part of that in Anderson
that he chose to move downtown,built the Bleckley, did J.
Peters, did the runes above J.
Peters, done the BlackleyStation.

(36:51):
And there's obviously been a lotof other people in the mix
downtown, but he was a huge partthat in 2010 you didn't go to
Sullivan's a whole lot.
Like I mean, it wasn't asregular as I feel like a lot of
people now are like, Oh, youknow, let me get a drink at
Sullivan's, meet somewherebefore an event now that's at
the Bleckley Station.
You know, 2010 it got dark andyou probably didn't want to be

(37:14):
downtown.

SPEAKER_07 (37:15):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (37:15):
You know, and a lot of that's changed.
And and the city, you know, hasdone a lot to promote that.
So I think that that's that'sbeen great.
Um but you know.
Yeah, I am on that board and theSalvation Army and the Y and my
wife will tell me to keep goingand listening.
Um but I but I do have thatpassion for for giving back and
helping helping where we can.

(37:37):
I mean we're we're veryfortunate that we're successful
and you know, y I can have thetime and and money sometimes to
donate for things and you knowwe do that here at the Career
Center a lot.

SPEAKER_07 (37:48):
You know, to try to in our construction program, not
just here in the radio station,because you guys do both.

SPEAKER_03 (37:53):
Yeah.
Um but yeah, so it's it's one ofthose things that you know we're
we're very fortunate of of whatwe what we have as a company and
as a family, and you know, youyou give back to to help those
to give that chance, you know,because you you see a lot of
kids that have a lot of promise,a lot of upside.
I mean it's even kids when I wasin high school here, like if you

(38:13):
if you could just pull them awayfrom the environment they're in,
they would be hugely successful.
And and then and that's that'sthe the sad part about
sometimes.
E even our employees, you know,you see where they've come from
that some of them just didn'thave the best upbringing.
But good worth echo ethic andthey get trapped in the wrong
thing and they spiral down andyou can't pull them back.

(38:36):
You know, and then that's but uhbut that's kind of my thing is
is always to give back andalways thinking of others first.
Um probably too much, give toomany people too many chances,
and then you got David, not tosay David doesn't give people
chances, but he's he's very youknow, black and white, which is
great for what he does.
He's already present.

(38:58):
You gotta you have 100% have tohave that.
And if there was two of you, itwouldn't work.
So that's what I'm saying.
So him and I work good togetherthat I'll kind of bring them
back like, well, can we dosomething to give the person a
chance?
Or you know, sometimes you gottabe like, yeah, that's that
crossed the line and you gottado it.
But uh, but no, him and I workwork really well, and the same

(39:18):
way with Callie.
You know, Callie's not to sayshe's anti doing anything, but
she's like, you know, let'slet's prioritize this, and she
does a tremendous job of keepingme within the the bumpers on the
lane.
You know, sometimes I might fallover the bumper into the next
lane and try to drag me back,but uh but no, she does a great
job of of keeping me, you know,when to say no.

(39:41):
I have a problem with saying no.
Um so but no, it's uh been veryfortunate with that on the
family side, two two great kidsand a wife, and you know, we we
love Anderson and you know, behere for for a long time, I
think.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 (39:57):
All right.
Um I'm wondering if Zach had aremember when the phone lines
had that problem?

SPEAKER_07 (40:01):
Well, I'm afraid that he cannot call in.
Oh, he didn't know.
That's what I'm afraid of.
I have not yet.

SPEAKER_05 (40:06):
But uh Yeah, we had some phone issues over the last
couple of days.

SPEAKER_07 (40:09):
We still kind of have some phone issues.

SPEAKER_05 (40:12):
The whole school, not just this the radio station.
So was that construction again?
Did they call us that again?
Yes, sir.
How many lines are they gonnakeep hitting out there?
As many as it takes, yeah.
Yeah, we got a big parking lot.
We're running a student shuttleonce that thing is made.
That uh the radio station willsponsor it.
We'll get those big golf cartsand we'll shuttle kids in for a

(40:35):
dollar.

SPEAKER_03 (40:36):
But it'll be well needed though, because because
y'all have a lot of eight.
Oh, it's coming.
Y'all have a lot of events outhere in the wonderful conference
center y'all have.
We've had some stuff out here.

unknown (40:44):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (40:45):
We kind of clog up some spots so you can't have
students, especially duringschool time.

SPEAKER_07 (40:49):
That's right.

SPEAKER_03 (40:50):
Students and parents have nowhere to park.
What's this?

SPEAKER_07 (40:52):
He texted you, he said, uh see, I don't have my
He's in a meeting.
So it doesn't look like we'regonna have sports today.

SPEAKER_05 (40:59):
Oh.
We could have talked aboutanother Clemson loss.
I was gonna say Clemson Carolinaprobably lost.
So I got a couple three andfour.

SPEAKER_03 (41:07):
That's chop one of those up.

SPEAKER_05 (41:09):
Since when are there two buys?

SPEAKER_03 (41:10):
Is that always uh usually I think they have a buy
later in the year because Idon't think they have close
together.
Because usually Carolina has abuy before they play Clemson,
and I think Clemson normally hasone like two weeks before they
play Carolina.

SPEAKER_05 (41:23):
Yes, we're gonna have to be October yet.

SPEAKER_03 (41:25):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (41:26):
But uh anyway, um we will talk more with Trey.
We'll get it off topic a littlebit and ask his opinion on some
things that are happening uhjust that I saw in the news,
just basic stuff, and somefactor fiction.
Hmm.
That's coming up on the BoonShow, My Paul's Radio.

SPEAKER_12 (41:44):
Lyft London Greenville is your number one
spot for work with and othermaterial handling equipment
needs.
We have everything from parts,service, and rent equipment,
including our top tier brand,customer enemy and money.
And we know that you'll not onlybe satisfied with our work from
our customer service and so comeand see us at 1099 Enemy Comment
and Remember.com LiveWomen.netcontent founded from a dream and

(42:20):
dedication, and built with awarming aesthetic, comfortable
merchandise, and coffee at greatprices.

SPEAKER_01 (42:26):
Maple Bakery and Coffee House opens its arms to
everyone with a sweet tune.
So come and embrace a friendlyadornment and enjoy a hot or
cold treat at Williamson's MapleBakery, or place an order for a
special occasion located at 908,Anderson Drive.
We hope you enjoy it as much aswe do.

SPEAKER_11 (42:47):
Looking for a dentist who makes you smile, and
Mill Town Dentistry and PelletrySouth Carolina, they're not just
about keeping your teethhealthy, they're about making
you feel great every time youwalk through the door with
caring professionals withstate-of-the-art care and a
welcoming athletes of yourcomments.
They make your dental businesssomething to smile about.
And call the Militicon Dentistrytoday, 864-947, 9886, multiple

(43:10):
business, and online atmilitant.com.

SPEAKER_09 (43:28):
to five p.m.
with opportunities for workcontent.
If you're interested in themarket, all of us business on
one of the updates of the threespeciality companies.
And give your internshipsstarted today.
That's 864-255-8791 or visithillelectric.net.

SPEAKER_00 (43:47):
Yo, what's up?
It's Avery Merriaman joined byAsie Baston.
And we're coming at you with anew show called Rival Talk
Sports Radio, where we dropcrazy sports takes and our
impressive phone knowledge.
Make sure you tune in on mypulseradio.com or the tune-in app.

SPEAKER_05 (44:03):
All right, we're back on the moon show of MyPulse
Radio.
A few minutes left here withTrey Thomas from Hill Electric.
Uh, some things in the news.
Did you notice that the uhSavannah Bananas are back in
town on Thursday?
No.

SPEAKER_07 (44:15):
Are they are they going to Clemson?

SPEAKER_05 (44:16):
I haven't heard much about it this time, but they uh
they're having an exhibitionagainst Clemson's baseball team.
Of course, it's sold out.

SPEAKER_06 (44:23):
Of course.

SPEAKER_05 (44:24):
But uh Thursday at 7 o'clock.
And by the way, if you ever seethose Savannah Banana tickets
that are being like scalped likecrazy, they're against that.
Because people are saying, yeah,you said it's gonna be
affordable to all the fans, andthey will they will tell you to
get the tickets only off oftheir website.

SPEAKER_06 (44:41):
Sure.

SPEAKER_05 (44:41):
Because once they hit the second and third
markets, they're gonna be markedup like crazy.
So usually they're like 35 buckson their website.
When they came to Clemsonbefore, there were people
selling them for a couplehundred dollars.
Ridiculous.
And they were the seats like wayfar away from the action.
But they uh they just announcedthat they're doing a big tour

(45:02):
this summer.
They're they're actually makingit into a banana ball league.
Ah, six teams now.
They need two more.
They're gonna be all over thecountry at all the big stadiums,
baseball and football stadiums,and actually making a league out
of it.
So when you go see a banana ballgame, it may not be the bananas,
it might be the uh thetailgators or the firefighters,

(45:24):
and there's party animals, andthen there's two new teams, uh,
which I can't remember what theyare, but two they just announced
two more teams to to make thattour, so it's a gigantic thing
now.
Yeah, yeah.
They're selling out whereverthey're gonna be.
How fun so entertainment forsure.
Cool.
Um speaking of cool, there's anew store opening in uh uh

(45:46):
downtown Williamston Holly.
Did you see at the old Rigginsuh dry cleaning?
They're opening up a uh cardsand collectibles type store.
Kind of like you know,Borderlands would be, except on
a smaller basis where you can goin and uh you can get the stuff,
but you can also play.

(46:06):
So you can uh bring friends inand play board games and other
stuff.
That's awesome for teams, DD,Warhammer, all you know, all
that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 (46:14):
Because Anderson's got I think it's Empire.
Yeah, I think Empire is similarto they can you can go in there
and play games.

SPEAKER_05 (46:20):
So I'd be interested to see how that works in
Williamston.

SPEAKER_07 (46:22):
And that's great because something for kids to
do.

SPEAKER_05 (46:26):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 (46:26):
For teens to do.

SPEAKER_05 (46:28):
And I think adults too.

SPEAKER_07 (46:29):
And adults, oh, and don't know.

SPEAKER_05 (46:32):
So that's right there by the Walgreens, right?

SPEAKER_07 (46:34):
Yep.

SPEAKER_05 (46:34):
Right there by the Walgreens where we used to get
the platypoles dry cleaned.

SPEAKER_07 (46:38):
Yes.

SPEAKER_05 (46:38):
But now we cannot anymore.
He has to go to Anderson.
Yes.

SPEAKER_07 (46:43):
You'll have to see him before we leave.

SPEAKER_05 (46:45):
Your shirt that you got.
Yes, that's our mascot.
That's him.
Um, that's the radio station'smascot.
Uh, school too, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 (46:55):
Huh?

SPEAKER_05 (46:56):
He does a lot for the school.
He does do a lot for the school.
Yeah.
Holly agreed to him um how manyyears ago now?
6'7?
6'7, I said.

SPEAKER_03 (47:05):
But you got a full costume?

SPEAKER_05 (47:06):
Uh yeah.
Oh, yeah.
You got two of them, so you canhave them back.

SPEAKER_07 (47:10):
We can have a female.

SPEAKER_05 (47:11):
It's the most popular baby platform uh
marketing thing that we ever didas far as the radio.
It really is.
Because it's so recognized.
How often does the platypus cometowards it?
It's all over the place.
Like we were at a boo in thepark the other day.
Okay.

SPEAKER_07 (47:25):
He's at Denver Towns.

SPEAKER_05 (47:26):
He's at Denver Towns, uh at Comic-Con.

SPEAKER_07 (47:29):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (47:30):
Um, so yeah, he gets around.
How about that?
Yeah.
Um I didn't know you didn't knowthat.
I didn't know.
But now you have the officialshirt because everyone was
calling it a duck, so we madethe not a duck shirts.
Because he's got a shortcut.
Now I get it.
Okay, I was wondering.
I was like, You're like, yeah,thanks for the shirt.
I have no idea.
Oh my gosh, Rolly.

SPEAKER_06 (47:51):
I was trying yes, I was trying to pull him up.
Okay.
That was him at Denver Downs.

SPEAKER_05 (47:56):
How about that?

SPEAKER_06 (47:57):
Yeah, so he literally is.

SPEAKER_05 (47:59):
And now we have uh He's hysterical.
We have a couple of people whoare kind of dedicating to the
role of Vladipos.
Usually we it rotates around.

SPEAKER_03 (48:08):
So maybe they go to college and become a mascot.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (48:11):
That is a well-field.

SPEAKER_03 (48:13):
Yeah, it's a coveted role.
I mean, it's tough, tough to getit.

SPEAKER_05 (48:16):
I mean, you could be the if you're the Philly
fanatic, you're making like uheasily six figures.
Wow.
So if you get good at being amascot, you know.

SPEAKER_07 (48:24):
Yeah, there you go.
And everybody smiles when theysee the mascot.
Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (48:28):
Everybody laughs.

SPEAKER_05 (48:29):
It's just mascots do that.
Three-year-old, four-year-old.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And my dog barks at barks athim.
Yeah.
What is this animal?
Um, and one other thing I wantedto mention as we get closer to
Thanksgiving, is that have youseen this?
Aldi is offering a$40Thanksgiving meal pick.

SPEAKER_07 (48:49):
I did see$40.
And it's for a family of 10people.
Right.
I was going to say not just afamily of four, it's 10 people.

SPEAKER_05 (48:58):
So, you know, and and I think the best way to
reserve this is to go on theirwebsite, which is uh Aldi.us,
and uh a meal for 10 people,which will include a 14-pound
turkey, rolls, cranberry sauce,mac and cheese.
Now, the mac and cheese, theygive you the package.
You've got to put it alltogether.

SPEAKER_08 (49:16):
Right.

SPEAKER_05 (49:16):
But they give you all the product.
So mac and cheese, mashedpotatoes and gravy, sweet potato
casserole, green bean casserole,stuffing, and pumpkin pie.

SPEAKER_07 (49:25):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (49:26):
And there are some substitutions you can make in
there.
But they'll give they'll evengive you the seasonings for
everything.

SPEAKER_06 (49:30):
Yeah, isn't that great?
That's a great price.
40 bucks.

SPEAKER_05 (49:33):
And that comes down because last year it was 47
bucks, and um, they felt likethey could come down a little
further and make it more fairfor that.
That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 (49:42):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 (49:42):
So check out Aldi.us if you don't have plans for
Thanksgiving or trying to figureout how to feed your your uh
your crew.
I might have to get a couple ofthem.
That's fair.
But that's what I saw in thenews this week.
Okay.
So um still got about 10minutes.
I wanted to try a few factorfiction questions on Trey to try

(50:05):
to see another side of him,okay?
All right.
So all you all you tell me is ifit's uh fact or fiction.

SPEAKER_03 (50:10):
Just a chat GPT over here.

SPEAKER_05 (50:12):
Yes, it is.
It is.
I I will admit, I get my stuffand then I run it through, and
then I do the research on theback end and make sure it's
right, and we come up with tonsof stuff.
I love chat GPT.
So, but you have to make sureit's right.
Oh, yes.
Okay, here's the first one.
Clemson's Tiger, speaking ofmascots.
The Clemson Tiger mascot costumecosts over$15,000 to replace.

SPEAKER_03 (50:37):
Fiction.

SPEAKER_05 (50:38):
That's fact.

SPEAKER_03 (50:39):
Wow.

SPEAKER_05 (50:41):
High-end college mascot suits cost ten to twenty
thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_07 (50:45):
Well, uh ours was expensive.
Ours is a couple thousand.

SPEAKER_05 (50:49):
I don't know what they have in it.
We need air conditioning and allthe things.
We have a little fan.

SPEAKER_06 (50:55):
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (50:56):
Yeah.
And they have ice packs that youcan wear around your chest.
But um, but yeah, ours costs.

SPEAKER_06 (51:05):
Yeah.
So I could see the ladder balls.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (51:07):
So uh yeah, okay.
Um, how about this?
You'll know this.
Dabbo Sweeney once tried totrademark B Y O G bring your own
guts.
Fact.
Yes.
After the 2015 Notre Dame game.
Did he get it?
Didn't say whether he got it ornot.
I don't think he got it.
You want me to Google that?

SPEAKER_03 (51:26):
Somebody may have with all the shirts that were
made.

SPEAKER_05 (51:28):
Yeah, you would think somebody's making money
off that.
That is so true.
And the uh the final Clemsonquestion, the Clemson marching
band performed at a presidentialinauguration.

SPEAKER_03 (51:39):
Fiction.

SPEAKER_05 (51:41):
That is fact.
Do you know which one it was,Holly?

SPEAKER_07 (51:45):
No, because I was type it in.
Say I miss the question.

SPEAKER_05 (51:48):
The Clemson Marching Band performed at a not like the
recent one, but at apresidential inauguration.
Which one was it?

SPEAKER_07 (51:58):
I i uh it had to have been a while ago.

SPEAKER_05 (52:00):
So I'm thinking it was um it was George W.
Bush, believe it or not.
Oh 2001.
Really?
And that's right out of theClemson Tiger Band archives.
All right.
Um I know you like golf, right?
Yeah.
Here's here's a golf question.
Golf balls now have chips thattrack distance and spin data.

SPEAKER_03 (52:21):
True.

SPEAKER_05 (52:21):
That is true.
Have you used any?

SPEAKER_03 (52:23):
I have not, but I could definitely see that.

SPEAKER_05 (52:26):
Smart balls like uh graph golf do this.
Okay.
Um and uh that'd be cool,wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_03 (52:33):
Yeah, between baseballs and footballs and
soccer balls.
And they can see if it's out ofbounds and yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (52:40):
And next year they're using the automatic
balls and strikes in baseball.
Oh yeah, the umpires uh, youknow, they'll know if they're
right or wrong right off thebat.
So there won't be any bad calls.
That's interesting.
We'll see how that goes.

SPEAKER_03 (52:57):
Um let's see here.
I wonder how that works on theleft fielder that's pitching in
the ninth inning that does therainbow.

SPEAKER_05 (53:04):
The 40 mile an hour pitch.
Yeah, the rainbow in there.

SPEAKER_08 (53:07):
Just drop it in like a slow pitch software.

SPEAKER_05 (53:11):
Um there's self-healing drywall that seals
small holes automatically.
Fact or fiction true.
Yeah, that's that's true.
There's a based material by USGand 3M that uh fixes small holes
in the drywall.
Uh here's another one as far asum That's a game changer for me.

(53:36):
Why, you punch the walls a lotor something?
Nick and walls going on here.

SPEAKER_07 (53:40):
Nick and walls, you know, the kids there playing.

SPEAKER_05 (53:46):
Um WD-40 was invented originally to clean
rocket parts.

SPEAKER_03 (53:52):
I know it wasn't created for what it's currently
used, so true.
Fact.

SPEAKER_05 (53:57):
Yes.
Created for the Atlas MissileProgram way back in 1953.

SPEAKER_06 (54:03):
Wow.

SPEAKER_05 (54:04):
And I think the WD stands for uh it doesn't say it
here, I'm not pretending to besmart, but I think it stands for
water displacement or somethinglike that.

SPEAKER_03 (54:13):
I feel like I've heard that.
Yeah, because it was created notfor what its current purpose is.

SPEAKER_05 (54:17):
Which is everything.
Oh yes.
Exactly.
And the average homeowner haseight unfinished projects going
at once.
At least.
Yes.
Survey said that uh I feel likeFamily Feud.
Survey said six to nine ongoingprojects.

SPEAKER_06 (54:36):
I could see that.

SPEAKER_05 (54:37):
All right, uh kids' sports.
Soccer is now the most playedyouth sport in America.

SPEAKER_03 (54:44):
I mean, here at Anderson, yes.
I feel like probably lacrosselacrosse is the cross is really
picking up.
The wise started lacrosse.

SPEAKER_07 (54:53):
And I could see that you play soccer in the fall and
the spring.
Like you don't have to play itjust w like with baseball,
right?
You just play it in the spring.
Unless you live in Florida, youcan't.
You know, so I think with socceryou could I mean it's year-round
practically.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (55:12):
But uh that was one thing we learned when we lived
in Florida.
Those sports were year-round.
Talk about your kid would haveto really want to do it.
Yeah, because they're playing ityear round, year-round baseball,
year-round soccer.

SPEAKER_03 (55:22):
They do that here too, but man, that's that's a
lot.

SPEAKER_07 (55:25):
So was it fact?

SPEAKER_05 (55:27):
Uh yes.
Uh it is a fact.
It surpa surpassed baseball in2023.
And like you said, the othersports are coming on.

SPEAKER_08 (55:35):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (55:35):
Uh speaking of baseball, the average travel
baseball bat costs more than$400.
Fact or fiction.

SPEAKER_03 (55:45):
The average, yeah, I can see fact on that because
those hype fire bats and thosethings are expensive.

SPEAKER_05 (55:53):
Average three to five hundred dollars for a bat.
And the bat doesn't do the work.
You still gotta hit the dangball.

SPEAKER_08 (56:00):
That's right.

SPEAKER_05 (56:01):
A lot of these kids have really expensive equipment,
but uh the bat looks brand newat the end of the season.
Um, all right.
Uh let's see, a couple morebecause we're running out of
time.
There's a hammer, you might knowthis.
There's a hammer out there thatconnects to your phone via
Bluetooth.

SPEAKER_03 (56:20):
I don't know what the purpose is.

SPEAKER_05 (56:21):
I wouldn't know either, but evidently it is
fact.
And it's from DeWalt, uh, ToolConnect series.
Look it up.
DeWalt Tool Connect series.
It doesn't hammer for you.
There's uh the Bluetooth.
I guess if if you I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 (56:36):
Want to find it?

SPEAKER_05 (56:38):
Why don't it find the next one?

SPEAKER_07 (56:41):
Yeah, it fought it finds itself, right?
So you can find it, yeah.
You're looking for it.

SPEAKER_05 (56:46):
It's like a well then we need that in a lot of
other things, like cheese, yes,yes, RFIDs, uh wallets, stuff
like that.

SPEAKER_07 (56:52):
Yes, my husband needs it in everything.

SPEAKER_05 (56:54):
And finally, a minor league baseball team used Taylor
Swift's songs to psych outopposing pitchers.
True.
That is true, and it was theSavannah Bananas.
Gotcha.
Back in 2023.
I think was that their firstyear or their last year as a
regular team before they startedbanana.
Yeah, I can't remember.
Yeah.
But it was right around thattime.

(57:16):
So, anyway, so now it's timebefore you go to make your
recommendations, Trey.
We need recommendations forentertainment and food.
So, first, entertainment,anything that you're watching,
reading, you know, movies,binging TV, anything
entertainment-wise that you canrecommend to our listeners.

SPEAKER_03 (57:36):
Well, Clubson football is not obviously not
right now.
Unless you're looking for ahorror movie or something.
Might get some good ticketprices.
That's true.
If you've been wanting to go.
Right now, not watching a wholelot of TV.
I'm trying to I don't feel likethere's a whole lot of new shows
this year.
You know, I don't I couldn'ttell you last time.

SPEAKER_05 (57:53):
Everything's on different streamers.
It is.

SPEAKER_03 (57:58):
I mean, I've always liked the NCIS and the uh trying
to think what else is out there.
Like the Chicago, yeah, theChicago series of fire.

SPEAKER_05 (58:08):
That was a recommendation last week.
They have a whole night ofChicago stuff on like what's the
first one.

SPEAKER_03 (58:13):
So I enjoy always enjoyed watching those, but I
don't think there's anything newthis year.

SPEAKER_06 (58:18):
So there's nothing y'all are watching.
Yeah, and Cali don't watchanything together.

SPEAKER_03 (58:23):
No, she she likes to read, so she'll she'll go and
read and we'll sit on the capsome and um after we get the
kids to bed.
But she she's a big reader andwe'll we'll occasionally, you
know, watch Gilmore Girls forthe fortieth time.
Um, yeah.
Oh, they are.
It's I mean she's I don't knowhow many times she's probably
watched that, you know, four orfive times probably, but uh but

(58:44):
yeah, I mean nothing.
We'll occasionally you know, wegot Netflix, so you'll
occasionally turn turn somethingon, but uh nothing.
Like, you know, Yellowstone,obviously we watched that.
Okay.
Uh except for the last season,you know, when it kind of got I
I watched the rest of it, butshe was like, Yeah, I'm done.
I'm done, because that was itkind of started getting getting
different.
But uh yeah, I wouldn't saythere's nothing that sticks out

(59:06):
great right now.
There's no new Yellowstone, Idon't feel like, that's come
out.
Right.

SPEAKER_05 (59:10):
Okay.
And movies, there there hasn'tbeen any.
That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 (59:13):
I feel like since COVID, that whole it just kind
of screwed up the wholeHollywood TV show.

SPEAKER_05 (59:18):
Because TV shows now when there is something, they're
copying something they alreadydid.
Yeah, so it's like, where's theoriginal idea?
Yeah.
All right, how about um food?
A restaurant that you canrecommend or something?

SPEAKER_07 (59:30):
Where do you guys want to go?
Like if you and Callie go out todate night.
Where's the date night?

SPEAKER_03 (59:35):
Yeah, we always enjoy Greenville, so we'll go to
uh Coral or Um Obviously Hallsis nice, and then I was trying
to think where else we've been.
Uh Scoundrel.

SPEAKER_07 (59:50):
Scoundrel's a really good scoundrel yet.
And I haven't been to Coral yeteither.

SPEAKER_03 (59:56):
Yeah, Coral Coral is good for like if you're going
before a concert.
I mean, I guess you can goanywhere down.
Greenport concert or something,but but Scoundrel is really,
really good.

SPEAKER_07 (01:00:05):
Is that a longer time period?

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:08):
Not really.
I mean it'd probably be the sameas um Coral, but they uh they
have some really you know, Ifeel like Coral does two farm to
table type stuff, but uniquekind of stuff there.
Um Scoundrel, so it's not a hugemenu.

SPEAKER_07 (01:00:21):
It's got So what'd you get the last time you were
there?

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:24):
What did we get?
We almost got the Tomahawkbecause they have they always
have the Tomahawk for two.
Oh so they they always have thatas long as they still have some.
But uh I think I did the duckand the duck was really you
know, a lot of times I feel likeducks dry, but theirs was
really, really good.
I think we went there.
Might have been for her no, itwasn't for her birthday, it was

(01:00:47):
after her birthday.
It was about a month ago we wentthere, but it's we've been two
or three times now, maybe threetimes.
But I mean you can't go wrongwith food.
And then down you know, Andersonyou got Sullivan's and uh Fickle
Palette, like I feel like youyou've got a lot of stuff
downtown, but you know,Sullivan's always good.
We always enjoy going sitting inthe bar at Sullivan's and there.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:10):
So Holly, have you been to the Fickle Pallots?
I have not.
I go by there and always saygotta go there.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:17):
Yeah, we haven't been in a little while, but I
mean they they have that kind ofunique food, and it's I mean
it's always been good.

SPEAKER_07 (01:01:23):
I haven't.
Now I love some uh cream andmushroom soup at Sullivan's.
It's the best soup I think I'veever had, I swear.
Oh, it's so good.
You need to go try it.
I mean, everything I've hadthere has been very good, but
their cream of mushroom, everytime it's on the menu, I get it.
Have you had it?

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:42):
I have not.

unknown (01:01:42):
Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_07 (01:01:44):
It's so good.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:44):
You usually get steaks.

SPEAKER_07 (01:01:45):
Well, I know, but you need to try the cream and
mushroom soup.
It is delicious.
And it's not something I thoughtI would get.
Burris Nelson got me on it.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:54):
Okay.
All right, and it's so good totry it.
It goes well with a steak.

SPEAKER_07 (01:01:58):
It does.
Sure.

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:59):
All right.
Well, we're out of time.
So um, Trey, thanks for coming.
Yeah, absolutely.
Thanks for everything you do forthe Career Center.
Yeah, everything you've done forus here at the radio station.
We really appreciate yoursupport, Hill Electric support.
And um, yeah, let's do it again.
All right.
Sounds good.

SPEAKER_07 (01:02:15):
You make a difference.
You really do.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:17):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 (01:02:17):
You make a difference.
There's a lot of things that wecan do here because of you, and
we appreciate that.
It gives a lot of peopleexperiences, not just isolated.
It allows us to do a lot ofstuff.
So I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:28):
Good to hear.

unknown (01:02:29):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:29):
All right.
Next week it's the Halloweenepisode.
Uh, Winston Seely, Don Seely,Will Ragland will all be here.
We'll add another mic, Holly.

SPEAKER_07 (01:02:39):
Okay.
That would be a greatmicrophone.

SPEAKER_05 (01:02:42):
Uh so that should be fun.
So we'll talk to you then.
Remember, catch the podcast ofthis show on Spotify, Apple,
wherever you get your podcast,be up within 48 hours.
And thanks everybody forlistening to the Boone Show.
Have a great night.