April 24, 2026 • 39 mins
- Are you ready for termite season? Josh Smith from Bill Clark Bugsperts joins Dayna to share the red flags every homeowner should watch for. Later in the show, we’re talking farm-to-table with Sabrina Smulders of The Artisan Farmers Market, exploring how local eating can transform your health and your community.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello Southeast Texas. We're so happy that you have
joined us today on today's show. I'm super excited that
I have Sabrina Smolders. She is with the Artisan Farmers Market.
You may say, Dana, what is that. Well, we are
going to tell you about that and how you can
get connected to get monthly boxes to get all kinds
of cool things that are local. So you're going to
(00:22):
want to stay tuned. We're going to talk about that
in one of our next segments. Also with us Josh Smith.
He is with Bill Clark Bugspurts. All of you know
about them. They've been around a very long time, and
so we're going to talk a little bit about the
upcoming termite swarms and with that, you know, it always
comes right around anothers day. We're going to talk about
what are some of the things that you need to
(00:43):
do to protect yourself so that you do not participate
in those termites. But before we do that, I want
to give you a little bit of an update of
what's going on in the real estate market. You know,
every day I get to talk to people about that
and they're asking me. You know, we have picked up
a little bit in the market very thankful that we
are seeing an increase in buyers in our market right now,
(01:05):
and so for us, that is a good thing for
our sellers. Our inventory is still very good, so if
you're in the market for looking for a home, the
inventory is excellent. We have plenty of houses out there
in all of the price points, in all of the areas.
So if you're thinking about that, please call my office
for nine eight six six eight three two six. Someone
(01:27):
in my office can visit with you and see if
now is the right time for you. And interest rates
are still really really good. People are like, yeah, but
they're not three percent. Well, guess what. I don't imagine
they're going to go back there for our lifetime. That
was an anomaly and probably will not happen again. Many
times I tell you, guys, the average interest rate over
(01:47):
the last thirty years is do you guys have any
idea what that average interest rate over the last thirty
years would be?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Five point seven eight percent?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
You're close, Josh, seven point seven percent, and Sabrina, you're
not far off from what most people think. Most people
think we're above the average interest rate, but we are not.
Our average interest rate over thirty years has been seven
point seven percent, and right now you're getting interest rates
(02:20):
under seven for most people, and so it's a really
good position. But for the younger generation, they're looking at that.
Oh but it's not three percent, right. That was a
one time event in our lifetime, I believe, and it's
not going back there. So, uh, the interest rate is
still very affordable. And if you're interested, uh, get in
(02:40):
touch with us. We would love to have that opportunity
to visit with you. Before we get talking about their businesses,
I would love for you to know a little bit
about our guests. And so, Sabrina, you have the or
you're part of the artisan farmers market, Sabrina smolders, tell
us just a little bit about you, how long you've
been in Southeast Texas and about what you love about
(03:03):
being here.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, thank you for having me, Miss Dana. So originally
I'm from Canada, but i've been down in the US
for it's coming up about twenty years by trade. I'm
a RN and still work PRN at a surgery center.
I also grew up on a farm, so I love gardening, canning, baking,
being outdoors with animals throughout my travels. When I've been
(03:29):
a nurse, I always stop at a farmer's market because
it kind of just connects me back with home and
seeing things that are homemade or homegrown. And again that's
how I was raised. So it always touches my heart
to see what people are making and see the passion
they have about the products that they bring to the market.
And so I decided, you know, as I would go
(03:51):
to markets too. It's a lot of work, you know,
to prep your products, haul everything out there. You never
know how the weather's going to be, the foot traffic.
So I thought, why not create an online farmers market.
That way everyone has access to local goods. And I
think for me also being a nurse, I see that
where not everyone has the means to or physically able
(04:11):
to get to a farmer's market, but I just think
everyone has the right to have access to local homemade goods.
And so this is another format or method that people
can get in touch with their local growers or makers
and eat healthier.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Love that. Love that, And we're going to talk more
about some of the offerings that you have in the
next couple of segments. So tell me how did you
get from Canada to Beaumont, Texas and what do you
think about our weather?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So it's a little bit of a long story. But again,
I got done nursing school. It was one of the
worst winters and I was like, that's it, I'm not
doing it. I started looking anywhere south that was warm, California, Texas, Florida,
and I started in California. I was in Florida for
a bit, so I've been, you know, moving around against
(05:00):
all the warm states. Texas was a great landing point
because it was kind of in between. My husband also
has a tree service and we do a lot of
hurricane cleanup, so being right here in South Texas was
a central point to get to hurricanes and continue with
storm cleanup.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So why haven't I had him on the show Free Service. Okay,
that's a contact we'll have to talk about for one
of the new shows coming up. We'll connect on that later.
You haven't mentioned that to me before, so he might
be upset with you about that, so we might need
to talk also with me today, Josh Smith. Now, Josh,
(05:38):
the thing about you, as you have been started out
working for Bill Clark while you were going to school.
You are a really an incredible story. So tell a
little bit about First, first, let's talk about you and
your family, because I just saw on Facebook today that
(05:58):
baby walk and beginning to walk. So tell everyone a
little bit about your family.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yes, well, thanks for having me on today, Dana. So,
I grew up here in Southeast Texas. I met my
wife in high school. We have four kids together. We
have a senior in high school, a twelve year old,
a six year old, and then we have a fourteen
month old baby that just started walking. So you kind
of have them spread out, but they keep us busy.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, you have all ages to enjoy and to be
a kind of a built in babysitter. A little bit
to you, so maybe a little wise of you to
think about that, but I love that you grew up here,
went to school here, graduated from Lamar University, ma'am. Yeah,
and then you were working for Bill Clark, right.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I started out working for mister Clark, running errands, cleaning
up around the shop, doing whatever needed to be done,
just kind of as a summer job while going to
Lamar and ended up falling in love with the industry,
the business, great culture that mister Clark built over many
many years, and I just I like doing it, and
so I had opportunities through the years to become a technician,
(07:04):
and then I got involved in sales and worked in
the different departments, and then eventually got into management. And
as mister Clark got older and was looking at what
he wanted to do with the business, we were able
to work out a deal so that me and my
wife could purchase the business and keep it local. And
that's important to us to have a local, local business
and support the local economy.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
You know what, Josh, It's an incredible story. And what
I love about that story is so often people who
start their own business then when they get to a
certain point, sell it to someone who's not from here.
And what I love about your story is that you
didn't start at the top. You started just as a runner,
(07:45):
as working for mister Clark, and then moved your way
up where you are. And so I just think that
is just a story for anyone out there to know
that you can do that. I mean, if you have
the spirit of working hard and doing what is right.
And I agree with you. The culture at Bill Clark
(08:07):
is really unique. It's a great culture. I'm going to
share a story in a little bit about our experience
with Bill Clark. That's kind of interesting. I actually wasn't
using you when I had you guys come talk to
my team and we'll talk about why that changed. So
when we come back, we are going to talk a
little bit more to Josh Smith with Bill Clark Bugspurts,
(08:27):
and we're going to give you an idea of what's
about to happen in the next couple of weeks. You
don't want to miss it. This is Dana Simmons with
the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons
and I am joined by Sabrina Smoulders with the Artists
and Farmers Market and Josh Smith with Bill Clark Bugspurts.
And we were just sharing a little bit about them
in the previous section and the previous intro. But one
(08:52):
of the things that I wanted to talk about Josh
is a little bit of an embarrassing story for me.
So I met you through the chain and we chatted
and you know, talked about would love for you to
come and talk to my team and get to know them,
and I'm like, yeah, sure. And so you're walking up.
You and Troy are walking up on a Tuesday morning
and as you're walking up to my office on that
(09:14):
Tuesday morning to share with my team a little bit
about what you do. You noticed you and Troy noticed
termites on the outside of my building. Well, the challenge
is I was using a pest company that was not
y'all at the time, and so my pest company had
not discovered that I have termites. But thankfully, as you
(09:39):
guys are just walking up, you walk in and go, hey,
just y'all know you have termites, right, We're like, no,
we didn't know we have urmites. Brought us out there,
and sure enough, there's that little tunnel and we've got
termites on the inside of the building. And I'm so
grateful that you guys caught that, because we ended up
having to cut into the sheet rock get to the
(10:00):
wards that were right on the outside of that wall,
and they did some pretty significant damage on our property.
And we do own that property, We own our building
that we're in, and so maintaining that was super important.
And then it's really just yesterday, as we're about to
have our team meeting again in walks Gary and Gary's like, hey, Dana,
(10:21):
I'm here just to do your termite check, and I'm
gonna walk around and just make sure there's still no
termites in this building. And I'm so kind. He is
such a wonderful person and did a great job. We
had our team meeting and he didn't disturb us, just
did his thing and walked around. And one of the
things I love about your team is that you have
(10:42):
people who've been there a very long time, just like Gary.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yes, you know that we're very fortunate to have a
lot of tenure on our staff. Gary's worked for us
for thirty plus years, his brother worked for us, his
dad worked for us, and we kind of consider ourselves
a big family. Our turnout manager, Beach, has been with
us for forty three years, and so.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
We just doesn't happen anymore. You're doing something right when
you have people that are there forty three years, thirty years,
and they have their family there. So so, Josh, I'm
just interested. What is it about your company's culture that
you think keeps people their long term.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I think something that mister Clark started a long time
ago is, you know, obviously we want to take care
of our customers and provide good service, and everybody wants
to have good customer service. But I think one of
the keys for us was realizing that, you know, if
you take care of your employees, they're going to take
care of your people. Because to you, Josh Smith's not
your buckspurt all the time. You know, Gary is or
Troy is or whoever's coming out. And so we try
(11:45):
to take care of our people and provide them good
benefits and a good place to work in a place
they want to come to work and spend time, and
build that relationship with them and that culture so that
it's something that they enjoy doing. And when you enjoy
doing something, I think you're going to put more effort
into it and do a better job.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And one of the things that we know, Josh, is
that experience matters. You know, experience really matters. And someone
who has been with you for thirty years, forty three years,
someone who has been in that business for a long
time knows what to look for and has an eye
that someone who's newer, which we have to have newer people,
(12:22):
and that's good, you want to train them, but to
keep people that long, it's really incredible. And so I
appreciate that about your company and that you're now our
bug people and we are able to utilize you and
share you with our clients. Let's talk a little bit
about what's going to be happening right now in the market.
(12:43):
So we know that every year around Mother's Day, we
know term might start to swarm. So I'm sure it's
going to be that way again this year. Is it
a certain time? I just relate it to Mother's Day?
But tell me what really hacks that? Josh, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
So with termite swarming, weather is a big factor in that.
And so we've actually had our native subterranean urmite swarm
here recently over the last few weeks. They're a darker
color termite and they don't make as big of a
or get as big of a reaction because there's not
as many of them, and they swarm during the day
a little bit, and a lot of people confuse them
for ants, and so we get a little bit of
(13:23):
those swarms in the spring. But Mother's Day is usually
known as the Mother's Day swarm because every year, for
most and termite swarm around that time, and they're the
termite that does the most damage. Their colonies are bigger,
there's just more workers that can create more issues. But
weather's a big factor. Moisture the warmth, you know, as
it gets warmer. We had a warmer winter than normal,
(13:44):
so we expect her to be a bigger swarm this
year probably.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
So let's talk a little bit about what are some
of the things if you were talking to a homeowner,
what are some of the things that you would recommend
a homeowner do to help them prevent any issues with
these swarming termites.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Sure, so as far as preventing termites from getting in
your home, a lot of people don't realize, but you
can do preventative treatments on your home before you get termites.
It's really not expensive to do and it's something that
can protect your home because once you get them, then
you're not only dealing with treating the termites. You maybe
repairing damages and like you had to do opening a
(14:25):
wall or opening sheet rock and that kind of stuff.
But you know, just as far as keeping your house maintained,
you know, keeping mode and weed eat it around the
structure so that you can see your slab, keeping your
soul levels down. You don't want a bunch of stuff
growing up against your house because it just creates places
they can hide and do more damage before they are found.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Now, what are some things like right now, as we're
seeing the swarms, I know there are some things we
can do to help not attract these swarming termites. What
are some of those things?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Sure, so with the swarm termites, and we'll say you
can't prevent them from swarming in general, but things you
can do to minimize that. And so that the foremost
and termites are attracted to lights, and so they swarm
right at dusk to eight thirty nine o'clock at night,
maybe ten o'clock. And so if you have a lot
of porch lights on, or you have your blinds or
(15:19):
your curtains open and lights shining from inside of your home,
when they're swarm, they're going to be attracted to your home.
And so they're going to come up and swarm and
you know, you go outside to get something, or they
come in the door, they come in around windows. And
so if you can when you know it's that time
that they're swarming, if we encourage people to cut their
porch slights off for a few hours, you know, close
the blinds, close the curtains and got to let them
(15:41):
do or their thing. And then before you go to bed,
you can flip those ports lights back on if you
want them, or security lights, whatever it may be.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, well, i'll tell you the funny thing is, at
one point I had a rental property and I had
a couple from France who they were renting a house
for me. Well, they had it was an upstairs primary bedroom,
and they called in a panic because there were bugs
(16:10):
in that primary bathroom and they had somehow come through
somewhere with all the lights on outside because they had
every light on outside, and so we had to say, okay,
let me tell you what that is. Because when when
people from out of the area witness these things swarming,
they're like, what is it? You know, what is it?
(16:33):
And so it's really important for us to be able
to communicate to people, here's what it is, and here's
some things you need to do. So we immediately said
turn all your lights off, we'll come and take care
of everything. And so we're able to get that treated.
But you're right, I think that the most important thing
is preventative measures, and so at this point, if you're
able to have a pre treatment, that's always going to
(16:57):
be the best bet. Now let's talk a little little
bit about if someone is purchasing a home and we
are going to have an option period where they have
an inspection. Termites. That's just one thing that you guys
are looking for whenever you come out to do a
WDI inspection. So let's talk a little bit about what
(17:19):
are some of the things that you are looking for
on that WDI inspection.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Sure, so when we come out, we're looking for anything
that can damage your home. So it could be carpenter ants,
it could be termites, it could be a wood boring beetle,
it could be a lot of thing. But we're keeping
an out for all pests because our guys are used
to looking for that. So any kind of ant or
spiders or anything we're going to be looking for. But
when we're doing that inspection, the main thing we're trying
to focus on is is there anything that can cause
(17:46):
structural damage that we can warn you about ahead of
time and make sure the house looks good.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah. Yeah, that's so important because you don't want to
buy a house and then find out after the fact
that it's had termites, because that damage can be Like
you said, if you buy a house and you find
out it had termites, that damage could be significant. Termites
can eat from the base board all the way up
(18:12):
to the attic and do I've seen homes that I've
had significant thousands of dollars worth of damage, and so
paying attention to that upfront is really critical. Well, when
we come back, we're going to talk about a few
other pests, Like you don't just do little bugs. Well,
there are other things that you work on as well,
So don't go away, you don't want to miss it.
(18:34):
This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is
Danas s Emmons. We have been visiting with Josh Smith.
He is with Bill Clark bugspurts, and we've been talking
about all kinds of pests that you could be looking at,
termites especially coming up. That's typical on the Mother's Day
weekend that you see those termites and Josh was giving
(18:55):
great tips on what you can do to avoid that.
But Josh, I don't just handle those kinds of animals.
You handle all kinds of animals. So I'm going to
tell you guys a little bit of a personal story.
So my mom and dad live in town. They like
live in Beaumont. It's not like in the country or anything.
(19:16):
And my mom kept saying, we have a skunk. I know,
we have a skunk, and so you know, they googled
and they found all the ways to get rid of
a skunk, and for months he kept trying different things, cayenne, pepper, concrete.
I can't even tell you all the things that they did. Well,
(19:40):
not only did they not get rid of the skunk,
the skunk had babies and they were burrowing under the house.
So finally I'm like, Mom, can I please call Bill
Clark and have this handled for you? And She's like, yes,
your dad just can't handle it anymore. And I said, okay,
So we had to call you guys. And that's one
of the things that you do. I talk a little
(20:01):
bit about how you handle things like skunks.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Sure, there's quite a few pests that people don't realize
that we deal with, so raccoons, possums, skunks, armadillos, a
lot of things like that. We do live trapping and
so we catch the animal, relocate them. They're not harmed
in the process, and so that's something that we work
with Texas Parks and Wildlife on sometimes with different regulations
(20:25):
and rules that they have. But there's certain things in
certain places you can release them and different things like that.
But we did quite a bit of that at homes, businesses, refineries,
that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah, and my dad of course wanted to look at it,
and the technician said, at your own risks, you know.
But they ended up catching five skunks. So they caught them,
and they kept thinking, oh, well, we're done. There shouldn't
be any more, but we're going to go ahead, and
mom and dad we're like, no, we're probably okay, and
they're like, no, let's go ahead and leave the trap
(20:57):
there again and make sure. And ended up catching five skunks.
So there was a very happy family living under my
mom and dad's house, but my mom and dad were
not very happy. So we had to do that. But
I heard on the news not that long ago, you
guys had to handle a bat problem in a school.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
We did. There's quite a bit of bats in our areas.
People don't realize, but we deal with them in schools
and people's homes and businesses. That's another pest that we
don't harm. They're protected, and a lot of people don't
know that, and so sometimes we pick up situations where
somebody's been harming them or doing something and we're like,
you cannot do that, and so we kind of educate
(21:36):
them on what needs to be done, and we'll actually
come out and seal up your home or business except
for one area where they can enter and exit the building,
and then we'll get them all out and then seal
that up as well. So, yeah, it's a little process,
but it's something we can do. And this is some
important dates coming up with that. May fifteenth. It's kind
of when we shut off catching releasing them getting them
(21:59):
out of a home up until about August fifteenth, because
during that time they've had babies and the babies cannot
why to be able to get out of the structure,
and so if you get all the adults out, then
the babies end up dying dying in there, and then
you have all kinds of issues with odors and everything else.
And so that's something that we try to help people
(22:19):
with until about May fifteenth, and then after that it's like, Okay,
you're gonna have to wait a few months and then
we can come back and get them out after that
once they're old enough to leave.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Wow. You know, one of the other things, it seems
like my family keeps you in business. I know we're
not the only ones my daughter to nay. They do
live on about ten acres and she's kept hearing something
in her pantry. She has a big walk in pantry,
and she finally set up a little camera in there,
(22:49):
and sure enough she called me freaking out one evening
because she has these three little little bitty mice running
around wreaking havoc on her and her pantry. And so
they had tried mouse traps, they had tried all kinds
of things on their own that did not work. And
I'm like, you just got to call Josh Todn't they
(23:09):
just give him a call and so called you guys
to get that take care of. I had an issue
with I have big columns in the back of my
house that were there with like a little arbor, and
I had bees that had I'm telling you, honey, in
that in the hollow of that big old pillar. But
(23:31):
when I called, You're like, we can't. We got to
connect you with the bee keeper. So talk a little
bit about that, because bees, just like bats, are protected.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Yes, and bees are beneficial. You know, if it weren't
for bees, we wouldn't have all the foods and stuff
that we had, right, And so we work with. We
have probably about ten bee keepers that we kind of
keep in contact with, and so we'll refer them business
whenever we get the opportunity. You know, occasionally there's a
situation where they can't be removed or something, and then
we have to go and do something. But we're the
(24:03):
way we look at is we want to save the
bees whenever possible, and so we work close it with
bee keepers to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, I love the information about the bees. I was
watching I think it was Animal Planet or something, and
they had a big series on bees and all they do,
and it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Growing up as a kid, you think, oh, and I
like bees. They sting you and I'd always want to
go pit clovers and they would be in my way.
But as an adult you come to appreciate the circle
of life and exactly what they do to contribute to
all areas of what we do. So Josh, any other
things like for example, let's say someone gets a gator
(24:49):
on their property. Do you guys, is there anything like
that that you don't handle?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
So we have in the last few years started dealing
with some gators. We have a guy on staff that
is licensed and can catch alligators. We do quite a
bit of it in the industrial sites. We haven't had
too much situations on residential properties. But if you run
into that, give us a call, and if we can't
help you, we'll get you to somebody that can. Well.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Listen, you know, it's possible. I have a property on
Taylor's by you, so it could be. Not could be.
It has happened. We get gators on our property, but
they haven't bothered us, and they go back to Taylor,
so we're we're okay. Is there anything else that you
guys do that you think that everyone listening needs to
know about that you handle.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I think the biggest thing is if it's some sort
of pest, whether it's an insect or an animal that's
bothering you, give us a call, because there's a lot
of stuff that people don't realize that we can handle.
Whether it's some sort of rodents or ants or spiders
or bats or whatever it may be, we can probably
take care of it, or will at least get you
to somebody that will.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, that's the thing. If you can't you can connect
people to what you can the other side of your business. Josh,
I mean how I initially met you or connected with you,
even though I had heard of you for a very
long time. I had heard of Bill Clark, I knew
who you are, but connecting with you at the Greater
Belmont Chamber of Commerce was a way that we initially
(26:17):
really met and started a business relationship. And so that's
one of the things I'd also like to encourage people
is that if you're not involved in a community organization,
that you should. And that's one thing that you guys
do so well. I know many of your employees are
(26:40):
very active. Amy Tarbor. I've met her through that as well,
and Amy is precious in so many things. And then
so many of your employees do that. Is that something
we talked earlier about your culture. Is that something that's
encouraged in your in your business. It is.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It's a part of who we are. We believe, you know,
supporting the community supports us. And so whether it's the
Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce, or Rotary or
the United Way, there's so many good organizations that you
know in our community, and we just believe in giving
back when we can, and some situations that might be
donating to something, but a lot of times that's you know,
(27:17):
rolling up your sleeves and getting out and actually doing
the work and helping with whatever organization. And we have
a lot of employees that have different passions that want
they want to help certain things, and so we try
to do a little bit of everything to give people
those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Well, I believe it. I see you guys involved in
a little bit of everything. It's amazing. Every time I
turn around, you guys are there helping, facilitating, participating, and
so that is what makes our community go round. It
is without volunteers, without people saying I'm going to give
up my time and effort and be able to help
(27:52):
this organization. That's what makes us continue to grow. So
thank you for all that you do for our community.
When we come back, we are going to be visiting
with Sabrina Smoulders. She is with the Artisan Farmers Market
and let me tell you, you do not want to
miss some of the things that she has to tell
you about, so don't go away. This is the Dana
(28:12):
Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and we
have been visiting with Josh Schmidt with Bill Clark, Bugspurts
and we have been talking about all the pasts that
Bill Clark can handle for you, from snakes to rats,
to termites, to ants to you name it. If it
is a pest, you guys can handle it. So give
(28:35):
them a call. They've got the answers. Bill Clark, Bug Spurts.
Also with us is Sabrina Smolders. She is with the
Artisan Farmers Market, and Sabrina help everyone on the radio
today understand what is the Artisan Farmers Market. Talk a
little bit about what it is, and you did in
the first segment talk about why you got started, but
(28:57):
go ahead and tell everyone again a little bit of
a reason why you got this started here.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Sure, so, the Artisan Farmers Market is an online farmer's market.
We do some pop up events here and there once
a month, but again, like I mentioned earlier, I just
feel like everyone should have access or the right to
have access to fresh local goods, which at this point
in our society, the only way to do that is
grow it yourself or go to a physical farmer's market.
(29:24):
But again, not everyone has the time or the means
to get to the market. So this way everyone has
access twenty four to seven hop online check out different vendors.
Right now, we have about twenty different vendors from all
over Southeast Texas, and you can buy from the individual
vendor and then they may offer shipping, pickup or delivery,
or to make it really convenient, if say you wanted
(29:47):
to buy from a couple different vendors, then you could
do our multi vendor order service, so you can order
from different vendors. I meet with the vendors, pick up
all the products, and then I deliver everything to your
home or place of work in Southeast Texas.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
That's so amazing. So tell everyone a little bit about
where they can find find you. I mean, I know
you're online, but talk about all the places that they
can google or find you.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, so you can google us. The artists and farmers
market will pop right up. We're on social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.
We do have a newsletter, so you could go on
the website and sign up for our newsletter. We usually
send that out about every two weeks, and we put
different things in there. If we have new vendors, new products, recipes,
(30:33):
ideas for the home, how to use some of our
products in recipes, herbs, seasoning, that sort of stuff. Sometimes
we like to throw in some cocktail recipes depending on
the season, and you can always give us a call
four zero nine three six three zero zero three nine.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
So let's talk about what are or who are some
of the vendors that you have a part of your service.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Sure, so everyone's always looking for honey. We do have
honey on there. Queen Bee's Supplies, she's based out in
Orange on Bancroft. Tallow has been a very popular product.
We have a great tallo Lady Susan and Buna milk
creek tallow and she's really broadened out her products so
we actually she does a deodorant, a tallow deodorant. She
(31:22):
has a shampoo and lip bomb, different blends, just creams.
A lot of people are into the magnesium because that
helps with the joints and sleeping at night. We also
have a couple bakers on there, Stacked Cakes, Emily and Groves.
She has a storefront, but she also has her bait
goods on our site. What else do we have? We
(31:44):
have canned goods, jellies. One of our vendors Dana from
so Sweet, she does sugar free jellies and jams for those.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Your husband could.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Have, and she also does microgreens. Switch not everyone's familiar with.
But they have a really short growing period five to
seven days, and you can just trim them, put them
on top of salads, on top of avocado toasts, and
it's just packed with nutrients. So they're really good. And
she has a lot of different flavors and blends with
sabby basil. I think there's rugo blend. There's different flavors
(32:23):
of the green.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Amazing. I see that there's bread on this flyer. I'm
looking at you know we were talking earlier. I just
love bread, So tell me a little bit about that.
Is that part of the person who is the bakery
or is that a different one.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yes, there's some sweetbreads on there, but right now we
are still looking for a sour dough bread maker.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Oh wow, I bet we can find. There are so
many people out there who are making sour dough. So
if you're a sour dough maker, you should reach out
to Sabrina and see if this is something that would
work for you. Another thing, you were talking about fresh vegetables,
but you also have flowers as well.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Right, Yes, so depending on this season, we have different
local flowers growing, even some succulents. And again depending on
the season sometimes some plants.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Yeah. Well, so if someone wanted to see the vendors
or what the options would be, they could go on
your website or on Facebook and they could find those right.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Okay, Now, you do have a couple of different things
that you offer that are like subscription boxes, So let's
talk a little bit about what they are.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yes, So in twenty twenty six we launched our subscription boxes.
We had some requests from vendors and customers, so we
thought it would be an interesting thing to explore and
delve into as a company and an online market. So
a couple of them that we offer. One is our
Sweet Treat subscription box. It's a monthly delivery, it's good
(33:53):
for about four to six it's generous large servings. It's
great for office staff building, team rapport or gifting maybe
for new homeowners that sort of thing. And then it
kind of also, we've been talking with sales reps. It
helps them stand apart from other sales reps because everyone's
(34:13):
just bringing the big corporation crumble cookie American cookie companies.
So this is something nice, local and different that would
set the sales reps apart. And we've teamed up with
Lola Treats and Emily at stack Cakes to do that,
and we actually are offering fifty percent off your first
month if you use checkout code AFM Box fifty.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
That's wonderful. And so what are some of the things
that would be in these boxes? I know it would
be fresh baked goods. It's just seasonal desserts.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Yeah, so we try to do you know, if there's
a holiday or season something fun and related, you know
Valentine's or Easter Riders Day, that sort of stuff. But
it's usually a mix of squares, brownies, cupcakes, cookies or
even mini pies.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
That yeah, even though I can't have that home, I
might have to buy that for the office and say
I'm building rapport, honey. Yeah, we're building rapport. So that's
what we want to do. So the Monthly Sweet Treats
subscription box, that's just one. But you also have another
subscription box, correct.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yes, so we have two other ones. One is a
standard Artistan Farmer's market box that we already put together.
So it'll have a flavored honey, a tallow product, a
home goods products, maybe a room spray, and then it'll
have whatever local produce we have growing and flowers or plants,
(35:40):
and then again if we have any extra room, we'll
throw in whatever else is local and current and good.
And then you can also choose on that box to
have it every two weeks if you want a more
frequent delivery, and you can just choose produce as well.
Then we created another another box where it's the Custom
(36:02):
Farmer's Market box. You go in and you pick and
choose what products you want to receive every month in
the box.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
So now I know there are a couple of different
ways you can get that. So you can either have
it delivered to you or you can pick it up.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (36:17):
So right now we're just doing delivery and that's just
delcuted in the monthly.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Perfect. Oh that makes it so easy. And so do
you deliver all over Southeast Texas?
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah, so anywhere within the Southeast Texas region you would deliver. Yes.
And so is there a certain day of week that
you do that or is it just throughout the week.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yes, So we deliver Wednesday afternoons between twelve thirty and six.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Okay, perfect. That helps people to know when you would
be available. Well, this is some great information and we
will have on our website some additional information, but they
can also go to your website or to your Facebook page.
So tell everyone again how they can get in contact
with you.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
So we are www dot the Artisan Farmers with an
s market dot com, and or you can always for
those that aren't so technically savvy, or you're on there
and there's a lot of product to look at. You
can also call in your order if that makes it
easier for zero nine three six three zero zero three
nine and then we just send you an email receipt
(37:19):
for you to make payment.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Love that. Yeah, I am, you know the older school.
I have to deal with technology all the time and
I do it, but there's just something about a phone call.
It just is easier to handle it that way. Well,
it's been such a pleasure to have you on the show, Sabrina.
Thank you so much, and so if you haven't checked
them out, please check them out. You know, it's local,
it's people here in our community and we want to
(37:42):
do everything we can to support that. Josh, thank you
so much for visiting with us about the pests in
our world. It's just part of it and how we
can prevent us or not prevent, but help deter some
of the things on termine fights that are coming to
swarm in the next couple of weeks. If someone is
(38:03):
curious about the services that you offer, Josh, how would
they get in touch with you? Guys?
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Sure, they can call our office at four O nine
eight nine eight three two two four, or they could
go to Bill Clarkbugspurts dot com. Or they could check
us out on Facebook as well.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yeah. Yeah, it's so easy today. You know, the Google
has made our world so easy. You all the time,
just have to Google whatever I'm looking for and then
just hit the button and it calls you. Calls it
for you. Well, and if you have any real estate questions,
you can also Google me or just go to my website,
Dana Simmons real Estate dot com and you can fill
(38:40):
out a form if you want us to contact you
or just like the artists and Farmers' market, we love
to answer your phone calls, so you can give us
a call at four oh nine eight six six eight
three two six. Remember our phones are answered really twenty
four hours a day. They're answered by one of our
local people eight to eight, but we always have someone
(39:02):
answering the call. And returning your call very quickly. So
if you're curious about real estate and you want to
sit down and visit with us, there is absolutely nothing required.
We will sit down, have a consultation with you see
if now is the right time for you to either
buy or sell real estate, and then help you make
a plan that's wise for you and your family. I
(39:22):
hope you are having a wonderful Saturday and you make
it a great weekend. Thank you for joining us. This
is the Dana Simmons Show.
Well, hello Southeast Texas. We're so happy that you have
joined us today on today's show. I'm super excited that
I have Sabrina Smolders. She is with the Artisan Farmers Market.
You may say, Dana, what is that. Well, we are
going to tell you about that and how you can
get connected to get monthly boxes to get all kinds
of cool things that are local. So you're going to
(00:22):
want to stay tuned. We're going to talk about that
in one of our next segments. Also with us Josh Smith.
He is with Bill Clark Bugspurts. All of you know
about them. They've been around a very long time, and
so we're going to talk a little bit about the
upcoming termite swarms and with that, you know, it always
comes right around anothers day. We're going to talk about
what are some of the things that you need to
(00:43):
do to protect yourself so that you do not participate
in those termites. But before we do that, I want
to give you a little bit of an update of
what's going on in the real estate market. You know,
every day I get to talk to people about that
and they're asking me. You know, we have picked up
a little bit in the market very thankful that we
are seeing an increase in buyers in our market right now,
(01:05):
and so for us, that is a good thing for
our sellers. Our inventory is still very good, so if
you're in the market for looking for a home, the
inventory is excellent. We have plenty of houses out there
in all of the price points, in all of the areas.
So if you're thinking about that, please call my office
for nine eight six six eight three two six. Someone
(01:27):
in my office can visit with you and see if
now is the right time for you. And interest rates
are still really really good. People are like, yeah, but
they're not three percent. Well, guess what. I don't imagine
they're going to go back there for our lifetime. That
was an anomaly and probably will not happen again. Many
times I tell you, guys, the average interest rate over
(01:47):
the last thirty years is do you guys have any
idea what that average interest rate over the last thirty
years would be?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Five point seven eight percent?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
You're close, Josh, seven point seven percent, and Sabrina, you're
not far off from what most people think. Most people
think we're above the average interest rate, but we are not.
Our average interest rate over thirty years has been seven
point seven percent, and right now you're getting interest rates
(02:20):
under seven for most people, and so it's a really
good position. But for the younger generation, they're looking at that.
Oh but it's not three percent, right. That was a
one time event in our lifetime, I believe, and it's
not going back there. So, uh, the interest rate is
still very affordable. And if you're interested, uh, get in
(02:40):
touch with us. We would love to have that opportunity
to visit with you. Before we get talking about their businesses,
I would love for you to know a little bit
about our guests. And so, Sabrina, you have the or
you're part of the artisan farmers market, Sabrina smolders, tell
us just a little bit about you, how long you've
been in Southeast Texas and about what you love about
(03:03):
being here.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, thank you for having me, Miss Dana. So originally
I'm from Canada, but i've been down in the US
for it's coming up about twenty years by trade. I'm
a RN and still work PRN at a surgery center.
I also grew up on a farm, so I love gardening, canning, baking,
being outdoors with animals throughout my travels. When I've been
(03:29):
a nurse, I always stop at a farmer's market because
it kind of just connects me back with home and
seeing things that are homemade or homegrown. And again that's
how I was raised. So it always touches my heart
to see what people are making and see the passion
they have about the products that they bring to the market.
And so I decided, you know, as I would go
(03:51):
to markets too. It's a lot of work, you know,
to prep your products, haul everything out there. You never
know how the weather's going to be, the foot traffic.
So I thought, why not create an online farmers market.
That way everyone has access to local goods. And I
think for me also being a nurse, I see that
where not everyone has the means to or physically able
(04:11):
to get to a farmer's market, but I just think
everyone has the right to have access to local homemade goods.
And so this is another format or method that people
can get in touch with their local growers or makers
and eat healthier.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Love that. Love that, And we're going to talk more
about some of the offerings that you have in the
next couple of segments. So tell me how did you
get from Canada to Beaumont, Texas and what do you
think about our weather?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So it's a little bit of a long story. But again,
I got done nursing school. It was one of the
worst winters and I was like, that's it, I'm not
doing it. I started looking anywhere south that was warm, California, Texas, Florida,
and I started in California. I was in Florida for
a bit, so I've been, you know, moving around against
(05:00):
all the warm states. Texas was a great landing point
because it was kind of in between. My husband also
has a tree service and we do a lot of
hurricane cleanup, so being right here in South Texas was
a central point to get to hurricanes and continue with
storm cleanup.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So why haven't I had him on the show Free Service. Okay,
that's a contact we'll have to talk about for one
of the new shows coming up. We'll connect on that later.
You haven't mentioned that to me before, so he might
be upset with you about that, so we might need
to talk also with me today, Josh Smith. Now, Josh,
(05:38):
the thing about you, as you have been started out
working for Bill Clark while you were going to school.
You are a really an incredible story. So tell a
little bit about First, first, let's talk about you and
your family, because I just saw on Facebook today that
(05:58):
baby walk and beginning to walk. So tell everyone a
little bit about your family.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yes, well, thanks for having me on today, Dana. So,
I grew up here in Southeast Texas. I met my
wife in high school. We have four kids together. We
have a senior in high school, a twelve year old,
a six year old, and then we have a fourteen
month old baby that just started walking. So you kind
of have them spread out, but they keep us busy.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah, you have all ages to enjoy and to be
a kind of a built in babysitter. A little bit
to you, so maybe a little wise of you to
think about that, but I love that you grew up here,
went to school here, graduated from Lamar University, ma'am. Yeah,
and then you were working for Bill Clark, right.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
I started out working for mister Clark, running errands, cleaning
up around the shop, doing whatever needed to be done,
just kind of as a summer job while going to
Lamar and ended up falling in love with the industry,
the business, great culture that mister Clark built over many
many years, and I just I like doing it, and
so I had opportunities through the years to become a technician,
(07:04):
and then I got involved in sales and worked in
the different departments, and then eventually got into management. And
as mister Clark got older and was looking at what
he wanted to do with the business, we were able
to work out a deal so that me and my
wife could purchase the business and keep it local. And
that's important to us to have a local, local business
and support the local economy.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
You know what, Josh, It's an incredible story. And what
I love about that story is so often people who
start their own business then when they get to a
certain point, sell it to someone who's not from here.
And what I love about your story is that you
didn't start at the top. You started just as a runner,
(07:45):
as working for mister Clark, and then moved your way
up where you are. And so I just think that
is just a story for anyone out there to know
that you can do that. I mean, if you have
the spirit of working hard and doing what is right.
And I agree with you. The culture at Bill Clark
(08:07):
is really unique. It's a great culture. I'm going to
share a story in a little bit about our experience
with Bill Clark. That's kind of interesting. I actually wasn't
using you when I had you guys come talk to
my team and we'll talk about why that changed. So
when we come back, we are going to talk a
little bit more to Josh Smith with Bill Clark Bugspurts,
(08:27):
and we're going to give you an idea of what's
about to happen in the next couple of weeks. You
don't want to miss it. This is Dana Simmons with
the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons
and I am joined by Sabrina Smoulders with the Artists
and Farmers Market and Josh Smith with Bill Clark Bugspurts.
And we were just sharing a little bit about them
in the previous section and the previous intro. But one
(08:52):
of the things that I wanted to talk about Josh
is a little bit of an embarrassing story for me.
So I met you through the chain and we chatted
and you know, talked about would love for you to
come and talk to my team and get to know them,
and I'm like, yeah, sure. And so you're walking up.
You and Troy are walking up on a Tuesday morning
and as you're walking up to my office on that
(09:14):
Tuesday morning to share with my team a little bit
about what you do. You noticed you and Troy noticed
termites on the outside of my building. Well, the challenge
is I was using a pest company that was not
y'all at the time, and so my pest company had
not discovered that I have termites. But thankfully, as you
(09:39):
guys are just walking up, you walk in and go, hey,
just y'all know you have termites, right, We're like, no,
we didn't know we have urmites. Brought us out there,
and sure enough, there's that little tunnel and we've got
termites on the inside of the building. And I'm so
grateful that you guys caught that, because we ended up
having to cut into the sheet rock get to the
(10:00):
wards that were right on the outside of that wall,
and they did some pretty significant damage on our property.
And we do own that property, We own our building
that we're in, and so maintaining that was super important.
And then it's really just yesterday, as we're about to
have our team meeting again in walks Gary and Gary's like, hey, Dana,
(10:21):
I'm here just to do your termite check, and I'm
gonna walk around and just make sure there's still no
termites in this building. And I'm so kind. He is
such a wonderful person and did a great job. We
had our team meeting and he didn't disturb us, just
did his thing and walked around. And one of the
things I love about your team is that you have
(10:42):
people who've been there a very long time, just like Gary.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yes, you know that we're very fortunate to have a
lot of tenure on our staff. Gary's worked for us
for thirty plus years, his brother worked for us, his
dad worked for us, and we kind of consider ourselves
a big family. Our turnout manager, Beach, has been with
us for forty three years, and so.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
We just doesn't happen anymore. You're doing something right when
you have people that are there forty three years, thirty years,
and they have their family there. So so, Josh, I'm
just interested. What is it about your company's culture that
you think keeps people their long term.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I think something that mister Clark started a long time
ago is, you know, obviously we want to take care
of our customers and provide good service, and everybody wants
to have good customer service. But I think one of
the keys for us was realizing that, you know, if
you take care of your employees, they're going to take
care of your people. Because to you, Josh Smith's not
your buckspurt all the time. You know, Gary is or
Troy is or whoever's coming out. And so we try
(11:45):
to take care of our people and provide them good
benefits and a good place to work in a place
they want to come to work and spend time, and
build that relationship with them and that culture so that
it's something that they enjoy doing. And when you enjoy
doing something, I think you're going to put more effort
into it and do a better job.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And one of the things that we know, Josh, is
that experience matters. You know, experience really matters. And someone
who has been with you for thirty years, forty three years,
someone who has been in that business for a long
time knows what to look for and has an eye
that someone who's newer, which we have to have newer people,
(12:22):
and that's good, you want to train them, but to
keep people that long, it's really incredible. And so I
appreciate that about your company and that you're now our
bug people and we are able to utilize you and
share you with our clients. Let's talk a little bit
about what's going to be happening right now in the market.
(12:43):
So we know that every year around Mother's Day, we
know term might start to swarm. So I'm sure it's
going to be that way again this year. Is it
a certain time? I just relate it to Mother's Day?
But tell me what really hacks that? Josh, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
So with termite swarming, weather is a big factor in that.
And so we've actually had our native subterranean urmite swarm
here recently over the last few weeks. They're a darker
color termite and they don't make as big of a
or get as big of a reaction because there's not
as many of them, and they swarm during the day
a little bit, and a lot of people confuse them
for ants, and so we get a little bit of
(13:23):
those swarms in the spring. But Mother's Day is usually
known as the Mother's Day swarm because every year, for
most and termite swarm around that time, and they're the
termite that does the most damage. Their colonies are bigger,
there's just more workers that can create more issues. But
weather's a big factor. Moisture the warmth, you know, as
it gets warmer. We had a warmer winter than normal,
(13:44):
so we expect her to be a bigger swarm this
year probably.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
So let's talk a little bit about what are some
of the things if you were talking to a homeowner,
what are some of the things that you would recommend
a homeowner do to help them prevent any issues with
these swarming termites.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Sure, so as far as preventing termites from getting in
your home, a lot of people don't realize, but you
can do preventative treatments on your home before you get termites.
It's really not expensive to do and it's something that
can protect your home because once you get them, then
you're not only dealing with treating the termites. You maybe
repairing damages and like you had to do opening a
(14:25):
wall or opening sheet rock and that kind of stuff.
But you know, just as far as keeping your house maintained,
you know, keeping mode and weed eat it around the
structure so that you can see your slab, keeping your
soul levels down. You don't want a bunch of stuff
growing up against your house because it just creates places
they can hide and do more damage before they are found.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Now, what are some things like right now, as we're
seeing the swarms, I know there are some things we
can do to help not attract these swarming termites. What
are some of those things?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Sure, so with the swarm termites, and we'll say you
can't prevent them from swarming in general, but things you
can do to minimize that. And so that the foremost
and termites are attracted to lights, and so they swarm
right at dusk to eight thirty nine o'clock at night,
maybe ten o'clock. And so if you have a lot
of porch lights on, or you have your blinds or
(15:19):
your curtains open and lights shining from inside of your home,
when they're swarm, they're going to be attracted to your home.
And so they're going to come up and swarm and
you know, you go outside to get something, or they
come in the door, they come in around windows. And
so if you can when you know it's that time
that they're swarming, if we encourage people to cut their
porch slights off for a few hours, you know, close
the blinds, close the curtains and got to let them
(15:41):
do or their thing. And then before you go to bed,
you can flip those ports lights back on if you
want them, or security lights, whatever it may be.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Yeah, well, i'll tell you the funny thing is, at
one point I had a rental property and I had
a couple from France who they were renting a house
for me. Well, they had it was an upstairs primary bedroom,
and they called in a panic because there were bugs
(16:10):
in that primary bathroom and they had somehow come through
somewhere with all the lights on outside because they had
every light on outside, and so we had to say, okay,
let me tell you what that is. Because when when
people from out of the area witness these things swarming,
they're like, what is it? You know, what is it?
(16:33):
And so it's really important for us to be able
to communicate to people, here's what it is, and here's
some things you need to do. So we immediately said
turn all your lights off, we'll come and take care
of everything. And so we're able to get that treated.
But you're right, I think that the most important thing
is preventative measures, and so at this point, if you're
able to have a pre treatment, that's always going to
(16:57):
be the best bet. Now let's talk a little little
bit about if someone is purchasing a home and we
are going to have an option period where they have
an inspection. Termites. That's just one thing that you guys
are looking for whenever you come out to do a
WDI inspection. So let's talk a little bit about what
(17:19):
are some of the things that you are looking for
on that WDI inspection.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Sure, so when we come out, we're looking for anything
that can damage your home. So it could be carpenter ants,
it could be termites, it could be a wood boring beetle,
it could be a lot of thing. But we're keeping
an out for all pests because our guys are used
to looking for that. So any kind of ant or
spiders or anything we're going to be looking for. But
when we're doing that inspection, the main thing we're trying
to focus on is is there anything that can cause
(17:46):
structural damage that we can warn you about ahead of
time and make sure the house looks good.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Yeah. Yeah, that's so important because you don't want to
buy a house and then find out after the fact
that it's had termites, because that damage can be Like
you said, if you buy a house and you find
out it had termites, that damage could be significant. Termites
can eat from the base board all the way up
(18:12):
to the attic and do I've seen homes that I've
had significant thousands of dollars worth of damage, and so
paying attention to that upfront is really critical. Well, when
we come back, we're going to talk about a few
other pests, Like you don't just do little bugs. Well,
there are other things that you work on as well,
So don't go away, you don't want to miss it.
(18:34):
This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is
Danas s Emmons. We have been visiting with Josh Smith.
He is with Bill Clark bugspurts, and we've been talking
about all kinds of pests that you could be looking at,
termites especially coming up. That's typical on the Mother's Day
weekend that you see those termites and Josh was giving
(18:55):
great tips on what you can do to avoid that.
But Josh, I don't just handle those kinds of animals.
You handle all kinds of animals. So I'm going to
tell you guys a little bit of a personal story.
So my mom and dad live in town. They like
live in Beaumont. It's not like in the country or anything.
(19:16):
And my mom kept saying, we have a skunk. I know,
we have a skunk, and so you know, they googled
and they found all the ways to get rid of
a skunk, and for months he kept trying different things, cayenne, pepper, concrete.
I can't even tell you all the things that they did. Well,
(19:40):
not only did they not get rid of the skunk,
the skunk had babies and they were burrowing under the house.
So finally I'm like, Mom, can I please call Bill
Clark and have this handled for you? And She's like, yes,
your dad just can't handle it anymore. And I said, okay,
So we had to call you guys. And that's one
of the things that you do. I talk a little
(20:01):
bit about how you handle things like skunks.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Sure, there's quite a few pests that people don't realize
that we deal with, so raccoons, possums, skunks, armadillos, a
lot of things like that. We do live trapping and
so we catch the animal, relocate them. They're not harmed
in the process, and so that's something that we work
with Texas Parks and Wildlife on sometimes with different regulations
(20:25):
and rules that they have. But there's certain things in
certain places you can release them and different things like that.
But we did quite a bit of that at homes, businesses, refineries,
that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah, and my dad of course wanted to look at it,
and the technician said, at your own risks, you know.
But they ended up catching five skunks. So they caught them,
and they kept thinking, oh, well, we're done. There shouldn't
be any more, but we're going to go ahead, and
mom and dad we're like, no, we're probably okay, and
they're like, no, let's go ahead and leave the trap
(20:57):
there again and make sure. And ended up catching five skunks.
So there was a very happy family living under my
mom and dad's house, but my mom and dad were
not very happy. So we had to do that. But
I heard on the news not that long ago, you
guys had to handle a bat problem in a school.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
We did. There's quite a bit of bats in our areas.
People don't realize, but we deal with them in schools
and people's homes and businesses. That's another pest that we
don't harm. They're protected, and a lot of people don't
know that, and so sometimes we pick up situations where
somebody's been harming them or doing something and we're like,
you cannot do that, and so we kind of educate
(21:36):
them on what needs to be done, and we'll actually
come out and seal up your home or business except
for one area where they can enter and exit the building,
and then we'll get them all out and then seal
that up as well. So, yeah, it's a little process,
but it's something we can do. And this is some
important dates coming up with that. May fifteenth. It's kind
of when we shut off catching releasing them getting them
(21:59):
out of a home up until about August fifteenth, because
during that time they've had babies and the babies cannot
why to be able to get out of the structure,
and so if you get all the adults out, then
the babies end up dying dying in there, and then
you have all kinds of issues with odors and everything else.
And so that's something that we try to help people
(22:19):
with until about May fifteenth, and then after that it's like, Okay,
you're gonna have to wait a few months and then
we can come back and get them out after that
once they're old enough to leave.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Wow. You know, one of the other things, it seems
like my family keeps you in business. I know we're
not the only ones my daughter to nay. They do
live on about ten acres and she's kept hearing something
in her pantry. She has a big walk in pantry,
and she finally set up a little camera in there,
(22:49):
and sure enough she called me freaking out one evening
because she has these three little little bitty mice running
around wreaking havoc on her and her pantry. And so
they had tried mouse traps, they had tried all kinds
of things on their own that did not work. And
I'm like, you just got to call Josh Todn't they
(23:09):
just give him a call and so called you guys
to get that take care of. I had an issue
with I have big columns in the back of my
house that were there with like a little arbor, and
I had bees that had I'm telling you, honey, in
that in the hollow of that big old pillar. But
(23:31):
when I called, You're like, we can't. We got to
connect you with the bee keeper. So talk a little
bit about that, because bees, just like bats, are protected.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Yes, and bees are beneficial. You know, if it weren't
for bees, we wouldn't have all the foods and stuff
that we had, right, And so we work with. We
have probably about ten bee keepers that we kind of
keep in contact with, and so we'll refer them business
whenever we get the opportunity. You know, occasionally there's a
situation where they can't be removed or something, and then
we have to go and do something. But we're the
(24:03):
way we look at is we want to save the
bees whenever possible, and so we work close it with
bee keepers to do that.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yeah, I love the information about the bees. I was
watching I think it was Animal Planet or something, and
they had a big series on bees and all they do,
and it's just amazing.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
You know.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Growing up as a kid, you think, oh, and I
like bees. They sting you and I'd always want to
go pit clovers and they would be in my way.
But as an adult you come to appreciate the circle
of life and exactly what they do to contribute to
all areas of what we do. So Josh, any other
things like for example, let's say someone gets a gator
(24:49):
on their property. Do you guys, is there anything like
that that you don't handle?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
So we have in the last few years started dealing
with some gators. We have a guy on staff that
is licensed and can catch alligators. We do quite a
bit of it in the industrial sites. We haven't had
too much situations on residential properties. But if you run
into that, give us a call, and if we can't
help you, we'll get you to somebody that can. Well.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Listen, you know, it's possible. I have a property on
Taylor's by you, so it could be. Not could be.
It has happened. We get gators on our property, but
they haven't bothered us, and they go back to Taylor,
so we're we're okay. Is there anything else that you
guys do that you think that everyone listening needs to
know about that you handle.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
I think the biggest thing is if it's some sort
of pest, whether it's an insect or an animal that's
bothering you, give us a call, because there's a lot
of stuff that people don't realize that we can handle.
Whether it's some sort of rodents or ants or spiders
or bats or whatever it may be, we can probably
take care of it, or will at least get you
to somebody that will.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, that's the thing. If you can't you can connect
people to what you can the other side of your business. Josh,
I mean how I initially met you or connected with you,
even though I had heard of you for a very
long time. I had heard of Bill Clark, I knew
who you are, but connecting with you at the Greater
Belmont Chamber of Commerce was a way that we initially
(26:17):
really met and started a business relationship. And so that's
one of the things I'd also like to encourage people
is that if you're not involved in a community organization,
that you should. And that's one thing that you guys
do so well. I know many of your employees are
(26:40):
very active. Amy Tarbor. I've met her through that as well,
and Amy is precious in so many things. And then
so many of your employees do that. Is that something
we talked earlier about your culture. Is that something that's
encouraged in your in your business. It is.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
It's a part of who we are. We believe, you know,
supporting the community supports us. And so whether it's the
Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce, or Rotary or
the United Way, there's so many good organizations that you
know in our community, and we just believe in giving
back when we can, and some situations that might be
donating to something, but a lot of times that's you know,
(27:17):
rolling up your sleeves and getting out and actually doing
the work and helping with whatever organization. And we have
a lot of employees that have different passions that want
they want to help certain things, and so we try
to do a little bit of everything to give people
those opportunities.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Well, I believe it. I see you guys involved in
a little bit of everything. It's amazing. Every time I
turn around, you guys are there helping, facilitating, participating, and
so that is what makes our community go round. It
is without volunteers, without people saying I'm going to give
up my time and effort and be able to help
(27:52):
this organization. That's what makes us continue to grow. So
thank you for all that you do for our community.
When we come back, we are going to be visiting
with Sabrina Smoulders. She is with the Artisan Farmers Market
and let me tell you, you do not want to
miss some of the things that she has to tell
you about, so don't go away. This is the Dana
(28:12):
Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons and we
have been visiting with Josh Schmidt with Bill Clark, Bugspurts
and we have been talking about all the pasts that
Bill Clark can handle for you, from snakes to rats,
to termites, to ants to you name it. If it
is a pest, you guys can handle it. So give
(28:35):
them a call. They've got the answers. Bill Clark, Bug Spurts.
Also with us is Sabrina Smolders. She is with the
Artisan Farmers Market, and Sabrina help everyone on the radio
today understand what is the Artisan Farmers Market. Talk a
little bit about what it is, and you did in
the first segment talk about why you got started, but
(28:57):
go ahead and tell everyone again a little bit of
a reason why you got this started here.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Sure, so, the Artisan Farmers Market is an online farmer's market.
We do some pop up events here and there once
a month, but again, like I mentioned earlier, I just
feel like everyone should have access or the right to
have access to fresh local goods, which at this point
in our society, the only way to do that is
grow it yourself or go to a physical farmer's market.
(29:24):
But again, not everyone has the time or the means
to get to the market. So this way everyone has
access twenty four to seven hop online check out different vendors.
Right now, we have about twenty different vendors from all
over Southeast Texas, and you can buy from the individual
vendor and then they may offer shipping, pickup or delivery,
or to make it really convenient, if say you wanted
(29:47):
to buy from a couple different vendors, then you could
do our multi vendor order service, so you can order
from different vendors. I meet with the vendors, pick up
all the products, and then I deliver everything to your
home or place of work in Southeast Texas.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
That's so amazing. So tell everyone a little bit about
where they can find find you. I mean, I know
you're online, but talk about all the places that they
can google or find you.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, so you can google us. The artists and farmers
market will pop right up. We're on social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.
We do have a newsletter, so you could go on
the website and sign up for our newsletter. We usually
send that out about every two weeks, and we put
different things in there. If we have new vendors, new products, recipes,
(30:33):
ideas for the home, how to use some of our
products in recipes, herbs, seasoning, that sort of stuff. Sometimes
we like to throw in some cocktail recipes depending on
the season, and you can always give us a call
four zero nine three six three zero zero three nine.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
So let's talk about what are or who are some
of the vendors that you have a part of your service.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Sure, so everyone's always looking for honey. We do have
honey on there. Queen Bee's Supplies, she's based out in
Orange on Bancroft. Tallow has been a very popular product.
We have a great tallo Lady Susan and Buna milk
creek tallow and she's really broadened out her products so
we actually she does a deodorant, a tallow deodorant. She
(31:22):
has a shampoo and lip bomb, different blends, just creams.
A lot of people are into the magnesium because that
helps with the joints and sleeping at night. We also
have a couple bakers on there, Stacked Cakes, Emily and Groves.
She has a storefront, but she also has her bait
goods on our site. What else do we have? We
(31:44):
have canned goods, jellies. One of our vendors Dana from
so Sweet, she does sugar free jellies and jams for those.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Your husband could.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
Have, and she also does microgreens. Switch not everyone's familiar with.
But they have a really short growing period five to
seven days, and you can just trim them, put them
on top of salads, on top of avocado toasts, and
it's just packed with nutrients. So they're really good. And
she has a lot of different flavors and blends with
sabby basil. I think there's rugo blend. There's different flavors
(32:23):
of the green.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Amazing. I see that there's bread on this flyer. I'm
looking at you know we were talking earlier. I just
love bread, So tell me a little bit about that.
Is that part of the person who is the bakery
or is that a different one.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yes, there's some sweetbreads on there, but right now we
are still looking for a sour dough bread maker.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Oh wow, I bet we can find. There are so
many people out there who are making sour dough. So
if you're a sour dough maker, you should reach out
to Sabrina and see if this is something that would
work for you. Another thing, you were talking about fresh vegetables,
but you also have flowers as well.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Right, Yes, so depending on this season, we have different
local flowers growing, even some succulents. And again depending on
the season sometimes some plants.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Yeah. Well, so if someone wanted to see the vendors
or what the options would be, they could go on
your website or on Facebook and they could find those right.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Okay, Now, you do have a couple of different things
that you offer that are like subscription boxes, So let's
talk a little bit about what they are.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Yes, So in twenty twenty six we launched our subscription boxes.
We had some requests from vendors and customers, so we
thought it would be an interesting thing to explore and
delve into as a company and an online market. So
a couple of them that we offer. One is our
Sweet Treat subscription box. It's a monthly delivery, it's good
(33:53):
for about four to six it's generous large servings. It's
great for office staff building, team rapport or gifting maybe
for new homeowners that sort of thing. And then it
kind of also, we've been talking with sales reps. It
helps them stand apart from other sales reps because everyone's
(34:13):
just bringing the big corporation crumble cookie American cookie companies.
So this is something nice, local and different that would
set the sales reps apart. And we've teamed up with
Lola Treats and Emily at stack Cakes to do that,
and we actually are offering fifty percent off your first
month if you use checkout code AFM Box fifty.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
That's wonderful. And so what are some of the things
that would be in these boxes? I know it would
be fresh baked goods. It's just seasonal desserts.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Yeah, so we try to do you know, if there's
a holiday or season something fun and related, you know
Valentine's or Easter Riders Day, that sort of stuff. But
it's usually a mix of squares, brownies, cupcakes, cookies or
even mini pies.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
That yeah, even though I can't have that home, I
might have to buy that for the office and say
I'm building rapport, honey. Yeah, we're building rapport. So that's
what we want to do. So the Monthly Sweet Treats
subscription box, that's just one. But you also have another
subscription box, correct.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Yes, so we have two other ones. One is a
standard Artistan Farmer's market box that we already put together.
So it'll have a flavored honey, a tallow product, a
home goods products, maybe a room spray, and then it'll
have whatever local produce we have growing and flowers or plants,
(35:40):
and then again if we have any extra room, we'll
throw in whatever else is local and current and good.
And then you can also choose on that box to
have it every two weeks if you want a more
frequent delivery, and you can just choose produce as well.
Then we created another another box where it's the Custom
(36:02):
Farmer's Market box. You go in and you pick and
choose what products you want to receive every month in
the box.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
So now I know there are a couple of different
ways you can get that. So you can either have
it delivered to you or you can pick it up.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (36:17):
So right now we're just doing delivery and that's just
delcuted in the monthly.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Perfect. Oh that makes it so easy. And so do
you deliver all over Southeast Texas?
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (36:25):
Yeah, so anywhere within the Southeast Texas region you would deliver. Yes.
And so is there a certain day of week that
you do that or is it just throughout the week.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yes, So we deliver Wednesday afternoons between twelve thirty and six.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Okay, perfect. That helps people to know when you would
be available. Well, this is some great information and we
will have on our website some additional information, but they
can also go to your website or to your Facebook page.
So tell everyone again how they can get in contact
with you.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
So we are www dot the Artisan Farmers with an
s market dot com, and or you can always for
those that aren't so technically savvy, or you're on there
and there's a lot of product to look at. You
can also call in your order if that makes it
easier for zero nine three six three zero zero three
nine and then we just send you an email receipt
(37:19):
for you to make payment.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Love that. Yeah, I am, you know the older school.
I have to deal with technology all the time and
I do it, but there's just something about a phone call.
It just is easier to handle it that way. Well,
it's been such a pleasure to have you on the show, Sabrina.
Thank you so much, and so if you haven't checked
them out, please check them out. You know, it's local,
it's people here in our community and we want to
(37:42):
do everything we can to support that. Josh, thank you
so much for visiting with us about the pests in
our world. It's just part of it and how we
can prevent us or not prevent, but help deter some
of the things on termine fights that are coming to
swarm in the next couple of weeks. If someone is
(38:03):
curious about the services that you offer, Josh, how would
they get in touch with you? Guys?
Speaker 3 (38:08):
Sure, they can call our office at four O nine
eight nine eight three two two four, or they could
go to Bill Clarkbugspurts dot com. Or they could check
us out on Facebook as well.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yeah. Yeah, it's so easy today. You know, the Google
has made our world so easy. You all the time,
just have to Google whatever I'm looking for and then
just hit the button and it calls you. Calls it
for you. Well, and if you have any real estate questions,
you can also Google me or just go to my website,
Dana Simmons real Estate dot com and you can fill
(38:40):
out a form if you want us to contact you
or just like the artists and Farmers' market, we love
to answer your phone calls, so you can give us
a call at four oh nine eight six six eight
three two six. Remember our phones are answered really twenty
four hours a day. They're answered by one of our
local people eight to eight, but we always have someone
(39:02):
answering the call. And returning your call very quickly. So
if you're curious about real estate and you want to
sit down and visit with us, there is absolutely nothing required.
We will sit down, have a consultation with you see
if now is the right time for you to either
buy or sell real estate, and then help you make
a plan that's wise for you and your family. I
(39:22):
hope you are having a wonderful Saturday and you make
it a great weekend. Thank you for joining us. This
is the Dana Simmons Show.
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