November 11, 2025 • 30 mins
Michael Berry shares a moving Veterans Day story of resilience and generosity, then welcomes author William Dylan Powell to explore Houston’s nostalgic gems—from Astroworld to the Redneck Country Club. Plus, a spotlight on Camp Hope and how you can support veterans in need.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time time time, time, luck and load. So
Michael Verie Show is on the air. One other Veterans
(00:35):
Day note, you will remember I was seeking a donor
because Vinny Tortorella at Muscle Cars of Houston had a
situation and there was a woman who was in Iraq
and she was saved by another I think it was
(00:59):
a marine, but I'm not positive. That might have been
the army. And she is see if I have it
written down here, I don't think I do. Anyway, her
legs had been had. She lost her legs. She was
bleeding out, she was dying, and the guy who was
(01:23):
saving her was She said, I have nothing to live for,
no on my legs, and he said, no, I want
to stay with me. We're gonna get you back. You're
gonna You're gonna make it through this. And the only
thing he knew to talk to her about was that
he loved old vehicles. He said, you like old vehicles.
I've got a I've got a Bronco. I'd say it
was a seventy eight. I don't remember what it was,
(01:44):
late seventies. I got a seventy eight Bronco that I've
been wanting to restore and she said, I love it.
Turns out she loved old she loved this type of thing.
He said, I tell you what, if you'll survive, I
promise I will restore that Bronco and I will give
it to you. And she said, you're just say that.
(02:05):
He said, no, he did it, and so she she
survived and he donates it. And so they go to
Vinnie Tortorella and it's going to cost about I think
it was seventy thousand dollars. And Vinnie said, look, I'm
doing this myself. It's going to cost me hard money,
(02:26):
seventy grand in addition to labor and things that I
can eat. But if you could find me a donor,
it would help. So I put it out n a
fellow named Mark Katie. There's a company called Arclateech's Financial Services.
He and his wife said we'll do the whole thing.
And so I drove over that afternoon and met them
at their offices on I tend somewhere around Gessner and
(02:51):
there was the check and send it to Vinnie and
they got to work on it. And you know that
work is slow going, but it's done, and she will ride.
She picked up her Bronco this morning. Sonya Broadway's her name,
and she's going to ride in the Veterans' Day Parade
today in Alvin. And after the parade, she's coming back
(03:13):
to Muscle Cars of Texas and she's going to meet
Mark Katie and his wife and get photos with him
and give him a big hug and a thanks for
what he did. So pretty cool story. I just I
don't always get a chance to come back and wrap
stories up for you, but some of you will remember
that when it all went down, and great news all
(03:35):
the way around. William Dylan Powell is our guest. He
has written a book about Houston's lost treasures called Lost
Treasures of Houston.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Welcome to the program, Sir Boring, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Well, I must say that you came to my attention
because someone and I don't know who. I don't know
if it was Marla, I don't know who the person was,
but somebody sent me something I can't find it now
that the RCC was in there, and it was a
great it was a great little write up, and I said, well,
let's if we can get him on the air. So
I don't know how you came to put the RCC
in there. But thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh you're welcome. Well, I'll tell you one thing that's
changed over over the years is, uh, you know, there
aren't that many great country bars here here in town.
East to had Gillies, we had Blancos, we had uh
like the Postok Branch and Red Lane Coungery. Cull was
great for a concert. So that one hurt.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Did you come out?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, I've been there yet, you know.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I want to do.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The Spasmatics used to play there. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I saw the Spasmatics there and uh yeah. It was
only like twenty minutes from my house. But I love
the whole vibe, the old lawn chairs and the journaly.
It was just fantastic.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
We used to have the Spasmatics three to four times
a year, and that's a lot. You normally want to
have somebody no more than once a year. But it
wasn't that it was the grand reveal of the Spasmatics.
She knew what you were getting. But the Spasmatics tended
to be a slightly younger crowd. And that was for us,
by which I mean which would be thirties and forties
and even fifties, and it was more dancing than we
(05:08):
were used to, more vodka sales than we were used to.
It was it was the young you know, there were
a lot of families that would come out that would
be you know, the kids would be in the thirties
and forties and the parents would be in the sixties
and seventies, and they would sometimes come out together. But
the spasmatics were when the younger side of those families
would come out and just they just absolutely loved it.
(05:30):
So to take you to write The Lost Treasures of
Houston took.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Me about six months. And the difficult part was photographs
because you know, today we all have a editorial quality
phone in our you know, in our pocket that can
take amazing pictures. But you know, back in the day
we'rerolling around nookia foot phones. No one's taking a picture
of city streets in the nineties. So psotimetry was tough.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So what did you do? You just Internet? Did you
have any sources that became particularly useful to you?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Word of mouth really, just telling people about the projects,
getting decided about it. People I had I talked to
at least fifty people. They shared their family photos and
it was really the only way this book was gonna
get made. So in a way, it doesn't even feel
like my book was sort of a collective effort. How
old are you, I'm fifty two. Fifty two, No, I'm
(06:20):
fifty three. I just turned since my birthday was this weekend.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Well there you go. I had a birthday yesterday. So
I'm with you. We've aged years.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Have you?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Did you? Did you grow up in Houston?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Now? Actually we wound up here because my family's in
the old business, and that's what happened. So my mom's
family are occasions from Louisiana. My father's family, they're from
Red Dirick Country in East Texas, and they actually both
grew up a big portion of the lives in the
Golden Triangle, where I spent some time.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
So so where was your childhood spent?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, wherever there was oil for a bit. But we
moved a lot. We wound up here in Houston twenty
six years ago. And you know, at one point you
just kind of decided to to make somewhere home and
then we chose Houston.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So good for you. And do you have a day job?
I do? I do.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I'm a crave director. At a company that helps other
businesses grow, like technical companies help help them grow. So
is where I'm also a writer and a creative guy.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So what is that company called?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Pland them black?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Okay, I note, I mean they're almost shoots.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I want to say sixteen years now.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I note in one of the pieces one day, you're
eating those free little sweet rolls that came with strawberry
butter before your meal at the Strawberry Patch. And the
funny thing about that is the Texas Business Hall of
Fame honored my friend Gary Peterson last week or the
week before with the Hall of Fame and one of
(07:47):
the other inductees was Harris and Chris Pappas, and it
was talking about how, you know, they had the Dot
Diner and they had the refrigeration business, but that was
their first kind of sit down. That was the beginning
for Chris and Harris of the portion of what became
the papast that we know of with you know, something
like eighteen thousand employees or something. It's just crazy how
many employees they have. But I'd forgotten the Strawberry Patch.
(08:10):
What a neat Pugshan and the pictures of great it
looked so it looked so it made it made it
put a smile on my face. How about that? More
coming up? Lost Treasures of Houston In time when you're
listening to the Michael Berry Show, it was Eric Myers,
wasn't it? What happened to him? He moved to Arkansas?
I think you gotta eat mine alligat. Oh that's far
(08:33):
more interesting. Well, that's interesting. Did they ever find anything?
It all? In huh Okay? Here was the entrance to
the Lost Treasures of Houston for the Redneck Country Club.
For live music and laid back Southern charm. The Redneck
Country Club couldn't be beat concepted Concepted by radio celebrity,
well like celebrity Michael Berry at eleven eleven, zero eleven
(08:57):
and one to ten West Airport Boulevard and Stafford, the
rc featured legendary country performers and an old school atmosphere
promoting respect for veterans, American values, and Texas pride. Music
greats Charlie Pride, Merle Haggard, Bellamy Brothers, the Oakridge Boys,
Ray Wiley, Hubbard, Willie Nelson, and many more laid the
(09:17):
RCC touches like lawn chairs, kitschye Trader decor and an
actual General Lead Dodge charger, along with homegrown events like
Armadillo Races, made it a genuine Houston treasure. The club
eventually rebranded as Republic Country Club and Barbecue, but closed
permanently in March of twenty twenty as a result of
the government shutdowns during the COVID nineteen pandemic. That a
(09:39):
part of Lost Treasures of Houston by William Dylan Powell,
our guest. Welcome to the program, will William, welcome back.
Glad to have you. Thank you for the nice mention,
so wouldn't be complete without it. Well, thank you who.
We've got a series of appearances William's going to make
if you would like to get him to sign a
(10:00):
copy of your book, and we will include those in
the blast today and I'll post them to Facebook. They
will be December sixth at Cactus Music, December eleventh, that
Good on Paper on Nineteenth Street, December thirteenth at Houston
Book Warehouse, and January fifteenth at Brass Bookstore on Missinette,
(10:21):
also a very nice bookstore. I can't believe Brasis has
made it all these years.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I know, good on them.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
It's a yeah it's a treasure it's been I hope
it doesn't add to the lost treasures, but it is
a Houston treasure. So how did you decide? Did you
have people feeding you ideas, did you do some internet searches,
a little of everything.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Little everything. I did a phase where I was I
just took about a month and I was going to
just do a call for what impacted people. So a
little bit of a mix of instinct and impact. You know,
if there's someone walking around with a Powatool T shirt
thirty years later, I think, okay, I might want to
about putting that in where there's a Facebook group about something.
(11:04):
The view we're still talking about. That was an easy
ad And so I had these little bit of instinct,
a little bit of asking around, and of course asked
a lot of Navy Ustonians, you know, what they felt
would meet the cut. But it took a good months
and a half to just get a list together. And
I tell you, I thought it was going to be
tough to find things, but the real tough part was
carrying them down. Yeah, because I included about two hundred things,
(11:26):
it could have been four hundred. Yeah, we lost a
lot over the years.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yeah, I'm very excited. I don't know what day it's
going to actually it's going to be available to the public.
But there was a new movie coming out called Love
You Bum that is about Boom Phillips and the Love
You Blue Oilers and it's pretty cool deal. And I
am excited because I'm part of it. But I'm excited
about the story. I think it's I think it's a
great story. It's about the Phillips family, Bum and then
(11:51):
his son Wade, who coached with him, and then his
son Wes, who's still coaching in the NFL today. It's
a pretty pretty amazing story. But I know you've got
some Love You Blue stuff in there.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Oh yeah, you know, isn't it hard to have? I
grew up an Oilers fan. That's hard. That's a hard
place in the world. Today, we love the Texans. It's
not quite the same. I mean, there was the Buffalo
game that hurt, but still there's a lot of love
for the Oilers and especially those Bumfiller's days. He was
what a gentleman, right.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I think in terms of glory days of Houston. That's
what at least today people really think of, is that
that late seventies early eighties, as Houston was really exploding
on the national screen with Urban Cowboy, with Nolan Ryan Houston,
the space program oil had exploded. Then you had the oilers,
(12:41):
the astros, the rockets. There were just so many things
going on. You had a presidential candidate from here, he
had the convention that would eventually come here. I think
it was just a moment where Houston was really kind
of wedging itself into the national conversation and saying, you know,
we're here and in a bigger way than it had
ever done before. And that's pretty cool. You have some
(13:01):
personalities in there, like Marvin Zendler and Alvin Van Black.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That's true. Yeah, I learned so much about the people
in the city.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
For me, Marvin Ziller was the sign n ice machine
guy sort of consumer affairs for my parents generation. Of course,
he was the investigative journalist behind the Chicken ranch and
you know, vessel of whorehouse in Texas and all that.
But I didn't know this before that he was a
prior service marine and he used to be a crime
beat reporter, so who knew that? And Howard Hughes Junior
learned something about him too. He was of course, he
(13:32):
was a famous playboy. But you know, he flew an
experimental airplane and crashed it in Beverly Hills and wound
up in the hospital for a long time, broke a
lot of the bones at his body, and was an
engineer do when he was second Hospital Dead, he designed
a better hospital dead that's still in use today. So
so many things to learn about the people from Houston's past.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Howard Hughes is he is unfortunately reduced by so many
for his neuroses and his quirkiness. But if you can
if you can get past that, and granted that's that's
a big ask. The man was so incredibly amazing at
the breadth and depth of his knowledge and his experiments
(14:13):
and his successes and his vision. Really you're hard pressed
to find his peer in any field. It's it's an amazing,
amazing story. Alvin van Black is in is in the book.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yes, man, if you were in his heyday having a
party and you saw Alvin Van Black's tuxedo visage at
the party, you know you have made it.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
You've made it. You're going to be on TV tonight. Well,
I mean, you're not old enough, and I'm not old
enough to remember it, but I have listeners who are
a generation older than you and I, You and me,
and they will tell me about him being on the radio,
which is where he was. His stardom was was really big.
And then of course by the time he was doing
(14:58):
Alvin Van Black for the local new and he was
out at the parties, it was a big deal when
he would come rolling up. Indeed, for sure. Uh more
with William Dylan Powell. The book is Lost Treasures of Houston.
Will tell you where to get it and win coming
up is Nicky Gey and you listen to this season
(15:22):
radio Michael Berry, Yeah, Josh to you good times. Lost
Treasures of Houston is the book. William Dylon Powell WDP
is the author. William is the book available now?
Speaker 2 (15:41):
It just dropped, so it should be available. If it's
not in your book shore were usually buy books, it's
going to be there soon. I actually have using a copy,
but it is available.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I am a bookstore dork. Obviously I would hope folks
would buy it from the bookstore. But for those folks
who don't have one nearby. Is it available on your
website or anywhere else?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It is available on Amazon or all the online retailers.
I'm in some busy write now that they haven't got
it up on website yet.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Okay, in your website I saw it. Is it Houston
writer dot com.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I've got a couple of guys. Was one ats Houston
writer dot com and one.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
That's books about Texas dot com. Okay, and it's available
or it will be available there, it will. I read
your comments on a few different things, and there was
a question if there was one place you wish you
could bring back today, and you said, Bear Creek Golf World.
Why is that?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Well, you know that was when it's kind of a
special place for my father and I. We played in
the back nine every Sunday morning for at least one decade,
maybe two. And it was great because it wasn't a
neighborhood course. It's kind of out in the country see
see deer and wild hogs and alligator and things like that,
and it was just a good time for us to
reset every week and send some time together. Of course,
(16:53):
Harvey wiped it out and they decided not to rebuild.
But actually when they destroyed the clubhouse, I took one
of the bricks and it's sitting on my desk when
I'm writing, I'm always we've got a little piece in
no clagia with me.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Is your father still alive?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
He is? He is so on the web side. He's
actually a big fan of yours.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Oh well, you know, it's probably as much about the
memories with your dad as anything else.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
It is.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
It is you note that you had read somewhere that
Houston proper has grown one hundred and forty two percent
or so since nineteen eighty and how that has created
a change in maybe the city's spirit.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
That's correct, Yeah, you know, and that's just the city
proper a bunch less than suburbs, which are just sprawling now.
You know, Yeah, I've got I'll work in Greenway five,
but I've got coworkers to live in Soulsure, you know,
it's just so smalled out everywhere. I feel like with
that many people, you know, we used to have just
Houston things that everybody enjoy it. But now everybody's got
their own little part of town. And plus everybody's on
line all the time. And I feel like that dreams
(17:50):
set of your energy for you know, real life interactions.
So whereas you might you might go to your local
sports bar or park to me people you know, now
it's all right a starting at their phone all day.
So it's definitely a different vibe, although some things haven't changed. Yeah,
this is still an ambitious city without a pretentious city.
(18:11):
Still no zoning. Everybody still comes together during a hurricane.
So it's a very different place. But we still got
some things that are laughing.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I love this description. You said. We've always been way
weirder than Austin, no matter what you've heard. And for
a big city, it's very friendly until you're on the freeway.
Jobs are everywhere, zoning is nowhere. It's still a big
mess full of surprises. What a perfect description of Houston.
A big mess ful of description of surprises. There was
another line you had, let me see if I can
(18:39):
find it here. Yeah, are there any lost treasures you
predict will make a comeback? You said, I mean you
can bring back whatever you want, drive in movies, old brands,
restaurant franchises. Shoot, they've already brought back in run. Someone
tried bringing back Young Bloods, fried chicken. But you can't
bring them back in context. I like this. This is
very well said. You can't bring back the times or
(18:59):
who you were back then. It's like that old book
the go between quote, the past is another country. They
do things differently there end quote. All we can do
is celebrate those old treasures and then do our best
to appreciate the treasures you have today. I think about
this often. If Gillies was opened today, it would not
(19:19):
be what it was then, even to the same people,
because they're not the same. And it wouldn't be the
same because the character of the city has changed, its
character of Pasadena, but of the community. And so we
have these things locked in our mindset. Even if we
could have them back, we wouldn't enjoy them the same
way because we're not in that same place.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
That's very true. And you know so, I guess it's
there's something in Houston that you really appreciate. You better
show the love now before it's too late.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
The book is lost Treasures of Houston. I note some
of the things that you had in there, but I
don't have the fullest astra world. The Houston oilers, Stevens
and Pruitt, the great malls of the eighties and their
great big crunchy hair. You say, some of the other
things that you think people will get a kick out
of Oh, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
It depends on your generation. Really. Do you remember the
old golf lollipop sign that used to be on the
top of the golf building. You either love that thing
or hated it. Man, for people that are my age,
you were a leisure learning that.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
One says they hasn't thought about that that in forever?
Is that wrong? Yeah? Well, okay, all right, you just
brought back a good memory for a moment.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Nice, very good Gulph Greyhound parks. Remember that you can
spend in afternoon watching the dogs or anything. When that
when that ended, pretty much dog grace he ended here.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
You know, I do like the fact that you defined Houston.
I appreciate this is the south anyway, or Texas at
least definitely the Gulf coast north of Porto Raansis and
this side of Orange. So I don't know what your
your definition of Houston was, but I've always thought of
Houston as as beyond the city, the city lines or
the city.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Proper for sure. For sure, we have a long reach here.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
You say that of the lost treasures you talk about
the most, it would have to be Astra World.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah. I mentioned this project to somebody as I was
garnering photographs or just kind of talking about it because
it's excited about it. And they always mentioned the Astra world,
and then they sort of mentioned the oilers, and then
they mentioned about five hundred restaurants that they used to
love that aren't there anymore, right down to their favorite entree.
So you know, at the end of the project, I
had to say, oh, look, I can't include all the restaurants.
(21:25):
There's like a thousand restaurants.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
You talk about Crack open a Grand Prize beer, there's
one from the past.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Absolutely, and it's been resurrected actually by the Saint Arnold's crew,
so you can't actually crack one open. Now.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
That does not surprise me. Brock Wagner is brilliant and
not only marketing, but concepts and just how to get
products and things fun. I mean, he's fun. Oh there's
spot on. He gets it. And that's the reason I
think of the craft brewers, he sort of stole the show,
and despite all the other folks that come and go,
I think he's still at the top of that heap.
(22:02):
And really he's the grandfather of at all in a
relatively young industry. It was his work and his publicizing
it and then working with the legislature to get more
favorable laws that enable them to survive. But for him,
it would not be there. William Dylan Powell. We will
(22:23):
look forward to reading your book. I will post the
locations where he will be signing to our Facebook page
and to our blast if you don't sign up for
our blast. If you haven't, it's Michael Berryshow dot com.
It's free, it comes daily. We'll list those and otherwise
you can buy it wherever you buy your books. Lost
Treasures of Houston. William Dylan Powell, thanks for spending some
time with us, my man.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Thanks, Michael, appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
That's fun, Ramon. I'm a nostalgia guy, so it's fun
to hear reference. You know, most of these things were
in Houston before I was here in eighty nine, but
I have this fondness as if I was there because
I've read about it, heard about it, talked about it
so much. I've kind of eternalized it. At the twenty
(23:10):
sixteen r NC supporting Donald Trump's first presidential run, and
he talked about making sure we take care of our
veterans as they return from war, and I think it's important.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
I think it's important to say that.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
We got to make sure that the hell the veterans
return from is not the hell.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
To come home too.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Okay, that's what was promised and that's what's deserves period.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
It also speaks volume about my generation, and I love
my generation generation the X Men was an honor to
fight along all side all yeah, and even when the
system doesn't take care of our boys, the citizens step up,
start foundations and programs to help the woundings and the
family's are the falling. So from the bottom of my
heart and literally, please know that I end every day
(24:06):
on my knees thanking God for for y all and
what you do and how you come it. My generation
of veterans coming home.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Yeah, that is why I'm proud to be part of
Camp Hope, part of PTSD Foundation of America and the
work they do every single day, not just on Veterans Day,
every single day for our veterans. And if there is
a veteran who needs help today, if you have contemplated suicide,
(24:40):
if you are in a deep dark place, it will
cost you absolutely nothing. Another combat veteran will pick up
the phone when you call. That's who will answer on
the other end, not a psychiatrist, not a doctor, not
a psychologist, not a governmental employee, not a VA case
intake person, another veteran. It will cost you a absolutely nothing.
(25:01):
Their number is eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD
eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD eight seven seven
seven one seven PTSD. And I'll give you the numbers
this time eight seven seven seven one seven seven eight
seven three. If you would like to contribute, donate to
(25:27):
a fundraiser for or in any other way be a
part of Camp Hope. I'm gonna give you the administrative line.
Don't call the hot line that's the veterans. This is
the administrative line. It'll run to it'll it'll be the
first building on the property up front, and that's where
the ladies will take your name and number and it'll
be handed to someone who can figure out what you're
(25:47):
trying to do for them. And that number is eight
three two nine one two is something? But what is that? Yeah,
it sounds it sounds like a whale is downstairs murmuring
(26:08):
because it's dying. It's like it's like the walls. Are
you hear it too? Okay? I feel better, all right?
The admin number is eight three two nine one two
forty four to twenty nine. Eight three two nine one
two forty four twenty nine. I will say this because
it comes up about forty five times a day. If
(26:30):
you are calling in a spirit of helping, then the
fact that you don't get a call back in ten minutes,
it's not a reason to reach out for me to
me in panic. I don't know. I've never understood that
you've done what you're supposed to do. You are offering
to give with that spirit. They're overwhelmed with the calls
that come in, So just just be patient. Otherwise you've
gone from being helpful to being a distraction. You'll you'll
(26:53):
get You'll get the callback. Eight three two nine one
two forty four twenty nine. Federal American Grill is and
I'm sure there are others doing this, but I know
of this, donating ten percent of proceeds of everything they
sell today to Camp Hope. Matt Bryce, just like Russell
Lebara at Gringoes, Matt Bryce at Federal American Grill does
(27:14):
a lot for our veterans at Camp Pope through the
course of the year, and this is one of those things.
So if you're not sure where to go for lunch
or dinner today, let it be Federal American Grill today.
And that goes a long way toward meeting the expenses
of providing a place where veterans can help veterans heal.
And that's what Camp Hope is. It's a very very
(27:37):
low overhead. The administrative expenses are incredibly low. Literally treat
people from around the country. People come to Camp Hope
from across the country. So while it is Houston based
and mostly Houston folks, there are people from around the
country that don't have something like this in their community,
(27:57):
and so they come to Camp Hope, which is a
special place right here in Houston. In ten percent of
all Federal American Grill each of their location Shepherd, Washington, Downtown,
It Tenant, Campbell, Katie, and the Woodlands. And there will
soon be a location in what was Eloise Nichols off
of West Timer at about the tracks right in there.
(28:20):
Matt is endeavoring to get a new location open. There
be a smaller that one's only forty four hundred square feet,
which is about I think about half what a normal
one is, So it'll be a little smaller location, but
he's looking forward to that. I would also say that
if folks are going to promise to give a portion
(28:42):
of what they sell to Camp Hope or any other organization,
that can be a really, really wonderful thing. But there
are some people, unfortunately, who prey on the goodness of others.
And the two things that I always advise people is,
if you're going to ask me to announce, which I
(29:03):
won't commit to do every one of them, that you're
going a portion of proceeds go to Camp Hope, tell
me the percentage, and be willing to show me the numbers.
Because if you say a portion of the proceeds and
you give five dollars, technically that's true, just point one percent.
It is getting people to take action for the noblest
(29:25):
of reasons and doing the most ignoble of things with it.
And I'm sorry to say, but I do sense that
there are certain people who do that. The other thing
is be ready to show the check that you write
at the end of it. It's not that hard if people, however,
many people came and did what they did for you,
plus you got the good will of people knowing that
(29:46):
you did that. Be willing the next day to say
that here's the check, and David Malsby can confirm that's right.
They wrote a check, and here is the amount of
the check, because otherwise, well, I'll leave that there. But
when someone says a portion is going to be donated,
I'd like to know what that portion is, because sometimes
(30:10):
I get the sense that this is being used more
for business development than to allow people yet another way
to contribute to a good cause. And I see it
done all the time. The other thing is the difference
between profits and proceeds. And there's a certain son of
a bitch in town who got me to push people
to Papa John's when an officer was killed based on
(30:30):
the profits going to the family. And at the end
of the day, the Czech was about ten percent what
we thought it was. And he came up and said, oh,
I meant profits, not proceeds. I have him on air
saying proceeds and everybody knows who he is. It was crappy,
crappy thing to do.
It's that time time time, time, luck and load. So
Michael Verie Show is on the air. One other Veterans
(00:35):
Day note, you will remember I was seeking a donor
because Vinny Tortorella at Muscle Cars of Houston had a
situation and there was a woman who was in Iraq
and she was saved by another I think it was
(00:59):
a marine, but I'm not positive. That might have been
the army. And she is see if I have it
written down here, I don't think I do. Anyway, her
legs had been had. She lost her legs. She was
bleeding out, she was dying, and the guy who was
(01:23):
saving her was She said, I have nothing to live for,
no on my legs, and he said, no, I want
to stay with me. We're gonna get you back. You're
gonna You're gonna make it through this. And the only
thing he knew to talk to her about was that
he loved old vehicles. He said, you like old vehicles.
I've got a I've got a Bronco. I'd say it
was a seventy eight. I don't remember what it was,
(01:44):
late seventies. I got a seventy eight Bronco that I've
been wanting to restore and she said, I love it.
Turns out she loved old she loved this type of thing.
He said, I tell you what, if you'll survive, I
promise I will restore that Bronco and I will give
it to you. And she said, you're just say that.
(02:05):
He said, no, he did it, and so she she
survived and he donates it. And so they go to
Vinnie Tortorella and it's going to cost about I think
it was seventy thousand dollars. And Vinnie said, look, I'm
doing this myself. It's going to cost me hard money,
(02:26):
seventy grand in addition to labor and things that I
can eat. But if you could find me a donor,
it would help. So I put it out n a
fellow named Mark Katie. There's a company called Arclateech's Financial Services.
He and his wife said we'll do the whole thing.
And so I drove over that afternoon and met them
at their offices on I tend somewhere around Gessner and
(02:51):
there was the check and send it to Vinnie and
they got to work on it. And you know that
work is slow going, but it's done, and she will ride.
She picked up her Bronco this morning. Sonya Broadway's her name,
and she's going to ride in the Veterans' Day Parade
today in Alvin. And after the parade, she's coming back
(03:13):
to Muscle Cars of Texas and she's going to meet
Mark Katie and his wife and get photos with him
and give him a big hug and a thanks for
what he did. So pretty cool story. I just I
don't always get a chance to come back and wrap
stories up for you, but some of you will remember
that when it all went down, and great news all
(03:35):
the way around. William Dylan Powell is our guest. He
has written a book about Houston's lost treasures called Lost
Treasures of Houston.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Welcome to the program, Sir Boring, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Well, I must say that you came to my attention
because someone and I don't know who. I don't know
if it was Marla, I don't know who the person was,
but somebody sent me something I can't find it now
that the RCC was in there, and it was a
great it was a great little write up, and I said, well,
let's if we can get him on the air. So
I don't know how you came to put the RCC
in there. But thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh you're welcome. Well, I'll tell you one thing that's
changed over over the years is, uh, you know, there
aren't that many great country bars here here in town.
East to had Gillies, we had Blancos, we had uh
like the Postok Branch and Red Lane Coungery. Cull was
great for a concert. So that one hurt.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Did you come out?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, I've been there yet, you know.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I want to do.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The Spasmatics used to play there. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I saw the Spasmatics there and uh yeah. It was
only like twenty minutes from my house. But I love
the whole vibe, the old lawn chairs and the journaly.
It was just fantastic.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
We used to have the Spasmatics three to four times
a year, and that's a lot. You normally want to
have somebody no more than once a year. But it
wasn't that it was the grand reveal of the Spasmatics.
She knew what you were getting. But the Spasmatics tended
to be a slightly younger crowd. And that was for us,
by which I mean which would be thirties and forties
and even fifties, and it was more dancing than we
(05:08):
were used to, more vodka sales than we were used to.
It was it was the young you know, there were
a lot of families that would come out that would
be you know, the kids would be in the thirties
and forties and the parents would be in the sixties
and seventies, and they would sometimes come out together. But
the spasmatics were when the younger side of those families
would come out and just they just absolutely loved it.
(05:30):
So to take you to write The Lost Treasures of
Houston took.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Me about six months. And the difficult part was photographs
because you know, today we all have a editorial quality
phone in our you know, in our pocket that can
take amazing pictures. But you know, back in the day
we'rerolling around nookia foot phones. No one's taking a picture
of city streets in the nineties. So psotimetry was tough.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So what did you do? You just Internet? Did you
have any sources that became particularly useful to you?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Word of mouth really, just telling people about the projects,
getting decided about it. People I had I talked to
at least fifty people. They shared their family photos and
it was really the only way this book was gonna
get made. So in a way, it doesn't even feel
like my book was sort of a collective effort. How
old are you, I'm fifty two. Fifty two, No, I'm
(06:20):
fifty three. I just turned since my birthday was this weekend.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Well there you go. I had a birthday yesterday. So
I'm with you. We've aged years.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Have you?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Did you? Did you grow up in Houston?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Now? Actually we wound up here because my family's in
the old business, and that's what happened. So my mom's
family are occasions from Louisiana. My father's family, they're from
Red Dirick Country in East Texas, and they actually both
grew up a big portion of the lives in the
Golden Triangle, where I spent some time.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
So so where was your childhood spent?
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, wherever there was oil for a bit. But we
moved a lot. We wound up here in Houston twenty
six years ago. And you know, at one point you
just kind of decided to to make somewhere home and
then we chose Houston.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So good for you. And do you have a day job?
I do? I do.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
I'm a crave director. At a company that helps other
businesses grow, like technical companies help help them grow. So
is where I'm also a writer and a creative guy.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
So what is that company called?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Pland them black?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Okay, I note, I mean they're almost shoots.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I want to say sixteen years now.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I note in one of the pieces one day, you're
eating those free little sweet rolls that came with strawberry
butter before your meal at the Strawberry Patch. And the
funny thing about that is the Texas Business Hall of
Fame honored my friend Gary Peterson last week or the
week before with the Hall of Fame and one of
(07:47):
the other inductees was Harris and Chris Pappas, and it
was talking about how, you know, they had the Dot
Diner and they had the refrigeration business, but that was
their first kind of sit down. That was the beginning
for Chris and Harris of the portion of what became
the papast that we know of with you know, something
like eighteen thousand employees or something. It's just crazy how
many employees they have. But I'd forgotten the Strawberry Patch.
(08:10):
What a neat Pugshan and the pictures of great it
looked so it looked so it made it made it
put a smile on my face. How about that? More
coming up? Lost Treasures of Houston In time when you're
listening to the Michael Berry Show, it was Eric Myers,
wasn't it? What happened to him? He moved to Arkansas?
I think you gotta eat mine alligat. Oh that's far
(08:33):
more interesting. Well, that's interesting. Did they ever find anything?
It all? In huh Okay? Here was the entrance to
the Lost Treasures of Houston for the Redneck Country Club.
For live music and laid back Southern charm. The Redneck
Country Club couldn't be beat concepted Concepted by radio celebrity,
well like celebrity Michael Berry at eleven eleven, zero eleven
(08:57):
and one to ten West Airport Boulevard and Stafford, the
rc featured legendary country performers and an old school atmosphere
promoting respect for veterans, American values, and Texas pride. Music
greats Charlie Pride, Merle Haggard, Bellamy Brothers, the Oakridge Boys,
Ray Wiley, Hubbard, Willie Nelson, and many more laid the
(09:17):
RCC touches like lawn chairs, kitschye Trader decor and an
actual General Lead Dodge charger, along with homegrown events like
Armadillo Races, made it a genuine Houston treasure. The club
eventually rebranded as Republic Country Club and Barbecue, but closed
permanently in March of twenty twenty as a result of
the government shutdowns during the COVID nineteen pandemic. That a
(09:39):
part of Lost Treasures of Houston by William Dylan Powell,
our guest. Welcome to the program, will William, welcome back.
Glad to have you. Thank you for the nice mention,
so wouldn't be complete without it. Well, thank you who.
We've got a series of appearances William's going to make
if you would like to get him to sign a
(10:00):
copy of your book, and we will include those in
the blast today and I'll post them to Facebook. They
will be December sixth at Cactus Music, December eleventh, that
Good on Paper on Nineteenth Street, December thirteenth at Houston
Book Warehouse, and January fifteenth at Brass Bookstore on Missinette,
(10:21):
also a very nice bookstore. I can't believe Brasis has
made it all these years.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I know, good on them.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
It's a yeah it's a treasure it's been I hope
it doesn't add to the lost treasures, but it is
a Houston treasure. So how did you decide? Did you
have people feeding you ideas, did you do some internet searches,
a little of everything.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Little everything. I did a phase where I was I
just took about a month and I was going to
just do a call for what impacted people. So a
little bit of a mix of instinct and impact. You know,
if there's someone walking around with a Powatool T shirt
thirty years later, I think, okay, I might want to
about putting that in where there's a Facebook group about something.
(11:04):
The view we're still talking about. That was an easy
ad And so I had these little bit of instinct,
a little bit of asking around, and of course asked
a lot of Navy Ustonians, you know, what they felt
would meet the cut. But it took a good months
and a half to just get a list together. And
I tell you, I thought it was going to be
tough to find things, but the real tough part was
carrying them down. Yeah, because I included about two hundred things,
(11:26):
it could have been four hundred. Yeah, we lost a
lot over the years.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Yeah, I'm very excited. I don't know what day it's
going to actually it's going to be available to the public.
But there was a new movie coming out called Love
You Bum that is about Boom Phillips and the Love
You Blue Oilers and it's pretty cool deal. And I
am excited because I'm part of it. But I'm excited
about the story. I think it's I think it's a
great story. It's about the Phillips family, Bum and then
(11:51):
his son Wade, who coached with him, and then his
son Wes, who's still coaching in the NFL today. It's
a pretty pretty amazing story. But I know you've got
some Love You Blue stuff in there.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Oh yeah, you know, isn't it hard to have? I
grew up an Oilers fan. That's hard. That's a hard
place in the world. Today, we love the Texans. It's
not quite the same. I mean, there was the Buffalo
game that hurt, but still there's a lot of love
for the Oilers and especially those Bumfiller's days. He was
what a gentleman, right.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
I think in terms of glory days of Houston. That's
what at least today people really think of, is that
that late seventies early eighties, as Houston was really exploding
on the national screen with Urban Cowboy, with Nolan Ryan Houston,
the space program oil had exploded. Then you had the oilers,
(12:41):
the astros, the rockets. There were just so many things
going on. You had a presidential candidate from here, he
had the convention that would eventually come here. I think
it was just a moment where Houston was really kind
of wedging itself into the national conversation and saying, you know,
we're here and in a bigger way than it had
ever done before. And that's pretty cool. You have some
(13:01):
personalities in there, like Marvin Zendler and Alvin Van Black.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That's true. Yeah, I learned so much about the people
in the city.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
For me, Marvin Ziller was the sign n ice machine
guy sort of consumer affairs for my parents generation. Of course,
he was the investigative journalist behind the Chicken ranch and
you know, vessel of whorehouse in Texas and all that.
But I didn't know this before that he was a
prior service marine and he used to be a crime
beat reporter, so who knew that? And Howard Hughes Junior
learned something about him too. He was of course, he
(13:32):
was a famous playboy. But you know, he flew an
experimental airplane and crashed it in Beverly Hills and wound
up in the hospital for a long time, broke a
lot of the bones at his body, and was an
engineer do when he was second Hospital Dead, he designed
a better hospital dead that's still in use today. So
so many things to learn about the people from Houston's past.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Howard Hughes is he is unfortunately reduced by so many
for his neuroses and his quirkiness. But if you can
if you can get past that, and granted that's that's
a big ask. The man was so incredibly amazing at
the breadth and depth of his knowledge and his experiments
(14:13):
and his successes and his vision. Really you're hard pressed
to find his peer in any field. It's it's an amazing,
amazing story. Alvin van Black is in is in the book.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yes, man, if you were in his heyday having a
party and you saw Alvin Van Black's tuxedo visage at
the party, you know you have made it.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
You've made it. You're going to be on TV tonight. Well,
I mean, you're not old enough, and I'm not old
enough to remember it, but I have listeners who are
a generation older than you and I, You and me,
and they will tell me about him being on the radio,
which is where he was. His stardom was was really big.
And then of course by the time he was doing
(14:58):
Alvin Van Black for the local new and he was
out at the parties, it was a big deal when
he would come rolling up. Indeed, for sure. Uh more
with William Dylan Powell. The book is Lost Treasures of Houston.
Will tell you where to get it and win coming
up is Nicky Gey and you listen to this season
(15:22):
radio Michael Berry, Yeah, Josh to you good times. Lost
Treasures of Houston is the book. William Dylon Powell WDP
is the author. William is the book available now?
Speaker 2 (15:41):
It just dropped, so it should be available. If it's
not in your book shore were usually buy books, it's
going to be there soon. I actually have using a copy,
but it is available.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I am a bookstore dork. Obviously I would hope folks
would buy it from the bookstore. But for those folks
who don't have one nearby. Is it available on your
website or anywhere else?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It is available on Amazon or all the online retailers.
I'm in some busy write now that they haven't got
it up on website yet.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Okay, in your website I saw it. Is it Houston
writer dot com.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I've got a couple of guys. Was one ats Houston
writer dot com and one.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
That's books about Texas dot com. Okay, and it's available
or it will be available there, it will. I read
your comments on a few different things, and there was
a question if there was one place you wish you
could bring back today, and you said, Bear Creek Golf World.
Why is that?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Well, you know that was when it's kind of a
special place for my father and I. We played in
the back nine every Sunday morning for at least one decade,
maybe two. And it was great because it wasn't a
neighborhood course. It's kind of out in the country see
see deer and wild hogs and alligator and things like that,
and it was just a good time for us to
reset every week and send some time together. Of course,
(16:53):
Harvey wiped it out and they decided not to rebuild.
But actually when they destroyed the clubhouse, I took one
of the bricks and it's sitting on my desk when
I'm writing, I'm always we've got a little piece in
no clagia with me.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Is your father still alive?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
He is? He is so on the web side. He's
actually a big fan of yours.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Oh well, you know, it's probably as much about the
memories with your dad as anything else.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
It is.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
It is you note that you had read somewhere that
Houston proper has grown one hundred and forty two percent
or so since nineteen eighty and how that has created
a change in maybe the city's spirit.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
That's correct, Yeah, you know, and that's just the city
proper a bunch less than suburbs, which are just sprawling now.
You know, Yeah, I've got I'll work in Greenway five,
but I've got coworkers to live in Soulsure, you know,
it's just so smalled out everywhere. I feel like with
that many people, you know, we used to have just
Houston things that everybody enjoy it. But now everybody's got
their own little part of town. And plus everybody's on
line all the time. And I feel like that dreams
(17:50):
set of your energy for you know, real life interactions.
So whereas you might you might go to your local
sports bar or park to me people you know, now
it's all right a starting at their phone all day.
So it's definitely a different vibe, although some things haven't changed. Yeah,
this is still an ambitious city without a pretentious city.
(18:11):
Still no zoning. Everybody still comes together during a hurricane.
So it's a very different place. But we still got
some things that are laughing.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I love this description. You said. We've always been way
weirder than Austin, no matter what you've heard. And for
a big city, it's very friendly until you're on the freeway.
Jobs are everywhere, zoning is nowhere. It's still a big
mess full of surprises. What a perfect description of Houston.
A big mess ful of description of surprises. There was
another line you had, let me see if I can
(18:39):
find it here. Yeah, are there any lost treasures you
predict will make a comeback? You said, I mean you
can bring back whatever you want, drive in movies, old brands,
restaurant franchises. Shoot, they've already brought back in run. Someone
tried bringing back Young Bloods, fried chicken. But you can't
bring them back in context. I like this. This is
very well said. You can't bring back the times or
(18:59):
who you were back then. It's like that old book
the go between quote, the past is another country. They
do things differently there end quote. All we can do
is celebrate those old treasures and then do our best
to appreciate the treasures you have today. I think about
this often. If Gillies was opened today, it would not
(19:19):
be what it was then, even to the same people,
because they're not the same. And it wouldn't be the
same because the character of the city has changed, its
character of Pasadena, but of the community. And so we
have these things locked in our mindset. Even if we
could have them back, we wouldn't enjoy them the same
way because we're not in that same place.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
That's very true. And you know so, I guess it's
there's something in Houston that you really appreciate. You better
show the love now before it's too late.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
The book is lost Treasures of Houston. I note some
of the things that you had in there, but I
don't have the fullest astra world. The Houston oilers, Stevens
and Pruitt, the great malls of the eighties and their
great big crunchy hair. You say, some of the other
things that you think people will get a kick out
of Oh, you know.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
It depends on your generation. Really. Do you remember the
old golf lollipop sign that used to be on the
top of the golf building. You either love that thing
or hated it. Man, for people that are my age,
you were a leisure learning that.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
One says they hasn't thought about that that in forever?
Is that wrong? Yeah? Well, okay, all right, you just
brought back a good memory for a moment.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Nice, very good Gulph Greyhound parks. Remember that you can
spend in afternoon watching the dogs or anything. When that
when that ended, pretty much dog grace he ended here.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
You know, I do like the fact that you defined Houston.
I appreciate this is the south anyway, or Texas at
least definitely the Gulf coast north of Porto Raansis and
this side of Orange. So I don't know what your
your definition of Houston was, but I've always thought of
Houston as as beyond the city, the city lines or
the city.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Proper for sure. For sure, we have a long reach here.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
You say that of the lost treasures you talk about
the most, it would have to be Astra World.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah. I mentioned this project to somebody as I was
garnering photographs or just kind of talking about it because
it's excited about it. And they always mentioned the Astra world,
and then they sort of mentioned the oilers, and then
they mentioned about five hundred restaurants that they used to
love that aren't there anymore, right down to their favorite entree.
So you know, at the end of the project, I
had to say, oh, look, I can't include all the restaurants.
(21:25):
There's like a thousand restaurants.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
You talk about Crack open a Grand Prize beer, there's
one from the past.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Absolutely, and it's been resurrected actually by the Saint Arnold's crew,
so you can't actually crack one open. Now.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
That does not surprise me. Brock Wagner is brilliant and
not only marketing, but concepts and just how to get
products and things fun. I mean, he's fun. Oh there's
spot on. He gets it. And that's the reason I
think of the craft brewers, he sort of stole the show,
and despite all the other folks that come and go,
I think he's still at the top of that heap.
(22:02):
And really he's the grandfather of at all in a
relatively young industry. It was his work and his publicizing
it and then working with the legislature to get more
favorable laws that enable them to survive. But for him,
it would not be there. William Dylan Powell. We will
(22:23):
look forward to reading your book. I will post the
locations where he will be signing to our Facebook page
and to our blast if you don't sign up for
our blast. If you haven't, it's Michael Berryshow dot com.
It's free, it comes daily. We'll list those and otherwise
you can buy it wherever you buy your books. Lost
Treasures of Houston. William Dylan Powell, thanks for spending some
time with us, my man.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Thanks, Michael, appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
That's fun, Ramon. I'm a nostalgia guy, so it's fun
to hear reference. You know, most of these things were
in Houston before I was here in eighty nine, but
I have this fondness as if I was there because
I've read about it, heard about it, talked about it
so much. I've kind of eternalized it. At the twenty
(23:10):
sixteen r NC supporting Donald Trump's first presidential run, and
he talked about making sure we take care of our
veterans as they return from war, and I think it's important.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
I think it's important to say that.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
We got to make sure that the hell the veterans
return from is not the hell.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
To come home too.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Okay, that's what was promised and that's what's deserves period.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
It also speaks volume about my generation, and I love
my generation generation the X Men was an honor to
fight along all side all yeah, and even when the
system doesn't take care of our boys, the citizens step up,
start foundations and programs to help the woundings and the
family's are the falling. So from the bottom of my
heart and literally, please know that I end every day
(24:06):
on my knees thanking God for for y all and
what you do and how you come it. My generation
of veterans coming home.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Yeah, that is why I'm proud to be part of
Camp Hope, part of PTSD Foundation of America and the
work they do every single day, not just on Veterans Day,
every single day for our veterans. And if there is
a veteran who needs help today, if you have contemplated suicide,
(24:40):
if you are in a deep dark place, it will
cost you absolutely nothing. Another combat veteran will pick up
the phone when you call. That's who will answer on
the other end, not a psychiatrist, not a doctor, not
a psychologist, not a governmental employee, not a VA case
intake person, another veteran. It will cost you a absolutely nothing.
(25:01):
Their number is eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD
eight seven seven seven one seven PTSD eight seven seven
seven one seven PTSD. And I'll give you the numbers
this time eight seven seven seven one seven seven eight
seven three. If you would like to contribute, donate to
(25:27):
a fundraiser for or in any other way be a
part of Camp Hope. I'm gonna give you the administrative line.
Don't call the hot line that's the veterans. This is
the administrative line. It'll run to it'll it'll be the
first building on the property up front, and that's where
the ladies will take your name and number and it'll
be handed to someone who can figure out what you're
(25:47):
trying to do for them. And that number is eight
three two nine one two is something? But what is that? Yeah,
it sounds it sounds like a whale is downstairs murmuring
(26:08):
because it's dying. It's like it's like the walls. Are
you hear it too? Okay? I feel better, all right?
The admin number is eight three two nine one two
forty four to twenty nine. Eight three two nine one
two forty four twenty nine. I will say this because
it comes up about forty five times a day. If
(26:30):
you are calling in a spirit of helping, then the
fact that you don't get a call back in ten minutes,
it's not a reason to reach out for me to
me in panic. I don't know. I've never understood that
you've done what you're supposed to do. You are offering
to give with that spirit. They're overwhelmed with the calls
that come in, So just just be patient. Otherwise you've
gone from being helpful to being a distraction. You'll you'll
(26:53):
get You'll get the callback. Eight three two nine one
two forty four twenty nine. Federal American Grill is and
I'm sure there are others doing this, but I know
of this, donating ten percent of proceeds of everything they
sell today to Camp Hope. Matt Bryce, just like Russell
Lebara at Gringoes, Matt Bryce at Federal American Grill does
(27:14):
a lot for our veterans at Camp Pope through the
course of the year, and this is one of those things.
So if you're not sure where to go for lunch
or dinner today, let it be Federal American Grill today.
And that goes a long way toward meeting the expenses
of providing a place where veterans can help veterans heal.
And that's what Camp Hope is. It's a very very
(27:37):
low overhead. The administrative expenses are incredibly low. Literally treat
people from around the country. People come to Camp Hope
from across the country. So while it is Houston based
and mostly Houston folks, there are people from around the
country that don't have something like this in their community,
(27:57):
and so they come to Camp Hope, which is a
special place right here in Houston. In ten percent of
all Federal American Grill each of their location Shepherd, Washington, Downtown,
It Tenant, Campbell, Katie, and the Woodlands. And there will
soon be a location in what was Eloise Nichols off
of West Timer at about the tracks right in there.
(28:20):
Matt is endeavoring to get a new location open. There
be a smaller that one's only forty four hundred square feet,
which is about I think about half what a normal
one is, So it'll be a little smaller location, but
he's looking forward to that. I would also say that
if folks are going to promise to give a portion
(28:42):
of what they sell to Camp Hope or any other organization,
that can be a really, really wonderful thing. But there
are some people, unfortunately, who prey on the goodness of others.
And the two things that I always advise people is,
if you're going to ask me to announce, which I
(29:03):
won't commit to do every one of them, that you're
going a portion of proceeds go to Camp Hope, tell
me the percentage, and be willing to show me the numbers.
Because if you say a portion of the proceeds and
you give five dollars, technically that's true, just point one percent.
It is getting people to take action for the noblest
(29:25):
of reasons and doing the most ignoble of things with it.
And I'm sorry to say, but I do sense that
there are certain people who do that. The other thing
is be ready to show the check that you write
at the end of it. It's not that hard if people, however,
many people came and did what they did for you,
plus you got the good will of people knowing that
(29:46):
you did that. Be willing the next day to say
that here's the check, and David Malsby can confirm that's right.
They wrote a check, and here is the amount of
the check, because otherwise, well, I'll leave that there. But
when someone says a portion is going to be donated,
I'd like to know what that portion is, because sometimes
(30:10):
I get the sense that this is being used more
for business development than to allow people yet another way
to contribute to a good cause. And I see it
done all the time. The other thing is the difference
between profits and proceeds. And there's a certain son of
a bitch in town who got me to push people
to Papa John's when an officer was killed based on
(30:30):
the profits going to the family. And at the end
of the day, the Czech was about ten percent what
we thought it was. And he came up and said, oh,
I meant profits, not proceeds. I have him on air
saying proceeds and everybody knows who he is. It was crappy,
crappy thing to do.
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