Friday, June 23, 2023

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
There's your acapella fix for the day. Yeah, I just haven't met you
yet. You know, made thatsong clop killing? No, I don't.
Oh wait, I turn your michey, No, I can talk.
Do you still you still don't know? Right? No, I don't
know who did Michael Boublay. Oh, Michael Bublair bubbly bub bubbly Michael Bublay
did that song? But then itwas well done by them, good good

(00:22):
acapella song this morning. Uh gosh, I keep thinking about it, but
one of the last ones I'm gonnapick. I'm gone Monday, Tuesday,
I'm back Wednesday, gone Thursday,and back Friday for my last day.
Oh yeah, No, I'm not. This is your this is your third
to last show. Yeah wow.I know, hard to savvy, hard

(00:46):
to hard to figure it out.I'm I'm not. I don't know how
I say that. I'm not countingthe days, but I'm counting the days.
Uh. It's one of those situationsand uh uh second last breakfast club
coming up for me and uh yeah, gee, I hope I don't get
too emotional. I just things thatare falling into place. You go along

(01:10):
and I'm in the frame of mindnow when I do something, I'm going
to wells. This is the lasttime I'll do this, or this last
time I'll have to do this.In some cases some things that I won't
miss, but much much more thatI will. In fact, I went
around the smiling. Have you noticedor not? But I scouted for some
pens and got yeah, look atthat. Yeah, so you don't have

(01:33):
to look so hard much Bridge.I don't want him overwork. I just
don't, you know. And uh, yeah, it's funny. We don
com from Electric Services, but acouple of years ago gave me almost a
box follice pens. I think theremight have been one hundred and fifty two
hundred pins in it, and we'rehard to find one. No. I

(01:53):
mean they're good pens, that's theone thing I like about it. But
they disappear. How do they disappearwhere the only ones here? It's like
they walk off or something. Iunderstood that years ago when we had more
people here at the station. You'dwrite something down, you'd stick in your
pocket or or put it somewhere else, or carry it off to wherever you
work at. But it's hard tofigure out now. And I even scouted

(02:19):
around and got one of Scott's favorites, and I spoil this boy. I
just spoil him, you know,and got him one of the pens he
enjoys writing with, rather than it'sfunny because we don't write that much.
I think about the only thing wewrite most of the time now is Birthday
Club. It's true. Yeah,but we want we want a smooth operating
pen. And these are good pens, these green pens. I really like

(02:42):
him. Games electric services, Yeah, yeah, probably have to be in
contact with him if I want myown private stash. There you go,
there, don'll find it. Icould mention it to down here in the
next couple of weeks. I'll seehim probably next week. I don't know
if i'll see him this week.I think he's in Hawaii right now.
Oh wow, I think he wasgoing to take can trip over to Hawaii.
Where are you going on? Yeah, he wants to go where it's

(03:04):
cooler. Seriously, you think aboutthat, and even though it's in the
tropical atmosphere. I'll bet you ifI look up the temperature in Honolulu today
it would be yeah. Yeah,But anyway, we'll stay here on the
Iowa Island. You know. Ikeep reading about the drought, and I

(03:27):
have no doubt that we are ina drought. But you drive around central
Iowa here and look at the crops, they're looking pretty healthy. My wife
always gets a kick out of itbecause one of the majors we had when
I was young. My dad wouldalways say this, and I'd get so
tired of it, but knee highfourth of July corn had to be knee

(03:49):
high fourth of July, and withthe hybrids and everything, it's waste or
chest high anymore. Right around thefourth of drive is not there. And
then it's a bad crop coming inand the I drive. We were driving
down to De moin the other day, and so of course it burst out
of me, knew high fourth ofJuly. She says, oh, not
again. You're not saying that again, I and I said, yeah,

(04:10):
yeah, it's an old saying.And I was just looking at the crops
and I love it when they lookhealthy this time. Now. I don't
know how deep the root systems willgo right now and stuff depending. You
know, they're reaching water. Yeah, but they look healthy to me.
And then I got a backdoor complimentfrom my wife as she said, I'm

(04:31):
sorry, honey, and I said, what, what are you sorry about?
She said, I didn't believe inyou and your garden. I didn't
believe that your garden was going tobe any kind of a success. And
I said, well it's it's notyet, but I said, it looks
like it's going to be a success. And she says, yeah. You're
actually out there watering it and therearen't many weeds when you have an above

(04:53):
ground like that, but you're makingsure there's anything extra growing in there or
anything. And she said, yourplants look so healthy and stuff, and
I said, well, you know, I pamper them. And the other
day she thought maybe I was havinga heart attack or something because I'm out
there yelling. She goes, what'sup. I said, look my first
halopenia. Because she just you know, rolled her eyes suok, her head

(05:17):
went back in the house. ButI was I have I had never tried
to grow peppers before. I usuallytomatoes, was it, but there was.
It was a good sized little hothalopenia on there, and the the
tomato flowers on there we know iswhich will eventually turn into the tomatoes looking
pretty healthy. So yeah, I'mnot gonna I don't think I'll take the

(05:41):
route. I might because I'm thatI'm that petty of denying her any chance
to eat hand tomatoes. I grow. You didn't believe in me, Why
should you get the rewards my neighbors. I'm gonna eat this in front of
you. There you go, butno, Ill, I'm benchul, I'm
bench Well, you know you didn'tgrow these? I did you know?

(06:03):
You go eat your go, eatyour your chibes. You grew those.
She grew all the herbs. Andshe last night surprised me. She was
another box. That shouldn't surprise me. Um, But she come walking to
the door with another box which wasdelivered out front, and I didn't bother
to go out and get it,but she brought it in. I said,

(06:25):
what is that? She said,I want to try these. I
know we haven't. We've kind ofslipped off the bus, so to speak.
That's her terminology side ride person thatshe is. But she said,
um, these are plant based foods. And I said, yeah, yeah,
they're plant based and we're going totry um. And I said,

(06:45):
well, I know someone who is. It may not be me, but
and she goes, no, we'regonna try because we're gonna him for supper.
And it was interesting and I waslooking at it looked like stuff I
might I might like to try.Some of it was noki, some plant
based noki, uh spicy or somethinglike that, and a couple of other

(07:08):
things that she bought. And Isaid, well, those look good.
I might. I'll give him ataste. Let me put it that way.
I just I'll put a bucket nearme or something. But but yeah,
and she wants me to be honest. She says, you know,
if you try them and then yousay to me, then I won't get
it again. But if if youtry them and like them, it's gonna

(07:31):
make you healthier. It's gonna bebetter for you. So and last night,
oh god, I was waiting forthis because you know, meat's not
supposed to be on my regiment ornot much. And last night I've been
begging for a month for her todo ribs. And last night, low

(07:55):
and behold, I gave it theold Wat's for supper and she said ribs,
and I'm going I started crying,I said to my charity, Jerry,
crying and stuff. And we hadribs. We had a nice potato
salad, some cold slaw, somemacamroney, salad, baked beans, we're
all on the menu, and somekind of dessert. I don't know what

(08:16):
the heck that dessert was, butit tasted good. And she invited the
rest of the family over. Paulaand James and Ellis came over for supper
last night, and there was plenty, believe me, but boy, I
was in seventh heaven. And thenmy night only got better. And I
was telling Scott, I had thebest one hour of my life last night,

(08:39):
at least I assume it will be, but the best one hour of
my life. And I said itout loud. I said, oh my
god, I said, this isthe best hour of my life. And
Noah wasn't eating ribs. My grandsonsat on my lap for an hour straight,
didn't get off lift me up,Papa, and so I put him

(09:01):
on my lap and I thought,well, this is you know, three
minutes and then he'll be off andrunning again. But no, he was
fascinated with Grandpa, and he hadbrought some of his cars up with him,
and he was driving all over interstatecripping and just having a good time
and talking to me all the time, none of which I could understand.
It was you know, making soundsand stuff. He knew what he was

(09:22):
talking about, and it was itwas the best hour in my life.
I never just having him up thereand uh for once not squirming and running
off and thinking Grandpa was all rightfor a long time. And when he
then he got off and we wentto eat supper, and I told him,

(09:43):
I said, that's the best hourin my life right there. I
said, that was just wonderful.I felt so good at that time,
and long and behold, after supperwas over, back he came. He
got right back up on Grandpa andsat there for another maybe ten fifteen minutes.
Then he'd had enough, the oldman. But well, yeah,
I at my pants. No,I'm kiddie, but it was I don't
know. And Chris said it afterthey left last night, She said,

(10:07):
isn't it strange? Isn't it strangehow grand kids are so much different than
your own kids? And she said, I don't mean anything like that.
She said, it was nice tohave Paula here. But they snapped a
couple of pictures, of course,him on my lap, et cetera.

(10:31):
I said, uh, yeah,I just you know, I said,
I know that, you know,this isn't going to go on forever.
He's going to get older, he'snever going to be this age again.
But I just relished it. AndI know a lot of you out there
know what I'm talking about. AndI felt it yourself there. I said,
Yeah, he's playing cars on Grandpa. Now, I said, once
he's the teenage years, he maywant to drive a car on Grandpa again.

(10:54):
But it won't be these little ones. I don't think so. Anyway,
Good morning, it's the morning ofthe Breakfast Club. This morning,
we'll be out at the AIDS WaterTreatment Plant from seven thirty d eight thirty.
And if you are a nonprofit group, you've got something special going on
you want the world to know about. Well, come on out and see
me today, water plant right thereon Thirteenth Street from seven thirty to eight

(11:16):
thirty. I love to see youcome on out and have a cup of
coffee, maybe a treat, andjust sit there and enjoy yourself, Sit
back and relax. But anyway,all right, that being said, I'm
gonna take a break. We'll comeback and we will invite you to the
Birthday Club. Good lord, Ithought it was Christmas after you announced the
Birthday Club. Yeah, the treelit up over here, kind of speak

(11:37):
the phone tree. I just wentwild out there and we were in trouble
keeping up a little bit. Wewere yeah, yeah, but we got
them all. We sure did.Today's birthday. Birthday's for today, sal
pulls game. Tomorrow, Saturday birthdayswe have Cooper Archivich, Nancy Christian and
then on Sunday we have Anita Wilson, Bob Goodwin, yeah, and Todd

(12:03):
Lateral. So happy birthday to allof you with a birthday. Club is
still open five one, five,two, three two, fourteen thirty the
number to call if you want toadd a name. That many birthdays eat
cake, That's what I say.There we go. We got about yeah,
a lot of birthdays. And that'sthe way we love it. We
really do, and we don't wantto miss any We wanna wish everybody out
there that's having a birthday a happybirthday. By the way, think about

(12:28):
this a little bit. Today isnational take your bow Wow to work Day,
National take your dog to worked in. I wonder how many people that
really is a possibility for. YouKnow, that's interesting because I was thinking
the same thing. What's company policyright? And I don't think it works.
Yeah, if you walk in thedoor with your dog and the boss

(12:52):
says, hey, what you gotthat filthy animal in here for? And
immediately you take a fan and say, hey, I gave him a bath
last night just so he could cometo work with me today. And we
don't know, we don't need thatdistraction. But you can come right back
at him and tell him you're breakingthe law. It's national take your dog

(13:15):
to work day for crying out loud. You had your daughter in here a
few months back, and you well, that's a little bit different. My
daughter's house broken. But yeah,I don't know. And then some dogs
just don't mix. Some dogs don'tmix. And I don't know how many.
If you have an office job,how many are gonna lay right there

(13:35):
by your desk during the whole timethat you're there. I think taking an
animal to work is a little bitdifficult. And I don't know how that
works with the care dogs that peopleneed to keep them calm or or that.
How does that work with the workplace? Are you required by law to

(13:56):
accept that dog because it facilitates thecalmness of that person? I don't know.
I mean, I think that's interesting, But who came up with national
take your dog to work day.I don't know. That's a desperate individual,
That's all I'm gonna say. Imean, dogs are like kids.
And I say this with all duerespect, but you know, the reason

(14:20):
you have a job is so youcan tolerate your kids. And I say
that in the nicest way. Butthat little break that you have from being
a parent is nice sometimes and soothing. I you know, dropping them off
at daycare or preschool or whatever goesgives you five or six hours of kid

(14:43):
free time, not having to disciplineor not having to worry about. So
I know there's just parents out theresaying, oh good, it's time for
daycare because those kids are active.I never realized how much. But yesh,
I don't know how you keep upwith him. And bless bless those
uh those people at work in daycareand in childcare, because they're a special

(15:09):
breed a person, uh and theycan do uh. We have. Cindy
Shelton is my uh the grandson's daycareprovider, and Cindy's UH took care of
Paula when she was growing up.She took care of my son Shad when
he was growing up, and she'swonderful, she's great with the kids,
she's she's dependable, and now thather husband hath retired, he's become part

(15:31):
of the operation. To my mygrandson, the things he's is Grandpa Randy,
Grandpa Randy. But he's great withthe kids too, and help Cindy
out. But but I, asI said to Paul, said, I
don't know what we do without her. She is just just great kids like
her own, and and she It'sfunny because over the years that she's gotten

(15:54):
older. Uh no, Cindy,I'm not saying year old, okay,
because I want no one her punchout. When I go over there sometime,
I often stopped by seeing my buddyRandy. Brandy and I've been friends
for forty some years. So oncein a while, and after I retire,
you know, we'll we'll get togethera little bit more. But but
now she has grandkids who are older, and they get out of school and

(16:18):
then they come home and help her. So she stayed there. I don't
know how long she's going to doit. But one day she was joking
with me and she says, I, what do you think Paul's going to
do when I retire? Here inthe next couple of weeks, and I'm
like, went into shock because Idon't know what she do. You know,
Yeah, when you leave your kidswith somebody, you want to know
that they're in good hands. Iwas very lucky with my son. And

(16:41):
I've told this story before, butI had a lady down in Des Moines,
on the south side of Des Moinesthat we took my son over to
who watched him for a couple ofyears, and she wouldn't accept payment.
She told me, no, that'smy pleasure. I'll just take care of
them. And we always paid her. We always gave her somebody and she

(17:03):
would save it up and then shewould buy him birthday presents and Christmas gifts
with it rather than stick it inthe bank or something. One if Irene
was her name, and she wasjust as wonderful as you could be.
And the whole family was We luckedout. We lucked out. And then
when we got up here and withour jobs like they were, Chris and

(17:23):
I were our childcare people. Whenshe was working, I wasn't, and
when I was working, she was, So we managed to avoid childcare apare,
although we did take him to apreschool and then he was off to
school. But yeah, so Idon't know how he got into this how

(17:45):
to take your dog to work,but anyway, you can give it a
try. I might call a hiton that if I was you, but
I'm just seeking. There aren't alot of different businesses that would really want
your dog to work with you today. All right, it's the rule.
It's the rule. It's right there. Mills said. So, yeah,
I tell him. I said,so, that'll get you nowhere, but
it will get you into some musichere this morning, something that I thought

(18:07):
would lighten the mood. There's anoldie buddygoodie choo choo chiboogie, choochoo chiboogie.
Yeah. I liked that song,and for some reason this morning is
I was driving in and these thingshappen to me delirium. But the thing
being, I'm there and I'm inthe car driving to work, and all
of a sudden, out of mymouth is coming to choo choo choboogie,

(18:30):
And that's a good song for thismorning. It's uplifting, and it's one
of my I can't say it's myfavorite group, but my favorite group with
a good name, and the nameof that group was some of you probably
recognized it. Asleep at the Wheeland they did one song I always liked.

(18:53):
I will never play but but Ialways liked. And it was called
miles and Mills and Miles of Texas. And I think, a boy,
that's appropriate, you know, thenever ending state there of Texas. And
somebody asked me yesterday afternoon they heardus talking, I think yesterday morning about

(19:15):
Nebraska. Oh yeah, yeah,and they were from Nebraska and they said,
Mell, do you really think it'sthat bad? And I said,
it depends on how fast you're drivingone of those things. I said,
No, I said, I amguessing that if you were born in a
certain place and you live in thatplace, that's your norm. That's that's

(19:36):
what you do. But if youare on a visit or lucking up,
be driving through, do you acceptit. It's it's your neighborhood, it's
your home, and I don't meanto knock anybody's home. It's where you
were raised. It as a specialplace in your heart. So yeah,

(19:56):
but I'm just I'm not from Nebraska, although I I always said that,
I said it is one of thegreat places to be From six fifty five,
gonna pack it up. Get itready, Scott's gonna move over into
the driver's seat. We're gonna doa breakfast club seven thirty day thirty.
We'll be at the water treatment plantfor the City of Age at thirteenth Street.

(20:19):
There stop a d we'd love tosee you. And here we are
on fourteen thirty KSI it is nowseven twenty in the morning and we have
mel on location at the power plant. How you doing, mel Let's see
if I can get Melan here.Hey, Mello, you there, yes,

(20:40):
here, a plastic mistake, hadto press the button to here you.
Oh, get out there. You'redone, You're done. We'll just
wing this show up. Yeah,I'll just just leave it with Melan.
Yeah I was. I was justgonna tell you that. Yeah, we're
here at the water treatment plant.And the water treatment plant. I got
that wrong, mel I've been sayingthe electric power plant. Oh now,
ware's probably sixty eighty people at theelectric car they're all in the wrong spot.

(21:04):
Yeah, folks, forgive me overto the water treatment here. But
I am at a new location.How's that I'm on the opposite side of
the building. Uh huh. Theyhave a little I don't know what I
call a little bit. It's anotherconference room, kind of a meeting room.
And uh, the Ames Police Departmenthas hath Scott confiscated my regular spot,

(21:26):
the big conference room. Oh whatare you gonna do? Well?
I went over there, but tono avail. They weren't willing to move.
I don't know what's going on.You know what, what's the deal?
You know, thirty forty people comparedto me one guy. Well,
you got people coming in loads andthey all had big long rifles and shot.
Oh well I would move along too. Yeah, well they are.

(21:48):
They're having a class on maintenance anduh and uh being educated on some of
the weapons that they're using out there. A gentleman from Minnesota is down here.
So they're in class today over there. So I thought, well,
I'll give in. John had myback, though I thought he had my
back. I started lipping off andI turned around and I don't know where

(22:11):
done went. I done was donewith me this morning? John? Where'd
you go? I mean? Iwas ready. I thought, if this
comes to a skirmish, my friend, you would be there. I was
right behind the rock mill, whichwas funny because he had to actually move
a rock inside the building. Tobeget behind it, but you know,
more power to it. It reallyis an example of how well planned this

(22:34):
building was that other city departments,etc. Can utilize those conference facilities,
et cetera. For educational classes.Yeah, that conference space over there is
used almost continuously. So since we'renot there, welcome to our engineering library
today. That's what we call is. I should have known they were like
books and all kinds of pamphlets andthings back there, And I imagine this

(22:56):
area is pretty busy too. Yeah. When we were over at the old
plant, all of these reference materials, they were spread out on three different
floors, and so that was oneof the things we wanted when we moved,
was to consolidate all of this.Yeah, and I notice you have
a portrait up top there. Whomight that be? Do you know?
Is that the Queen of water?That's a photograph that my predecessor's predecessor brought

(23:18):
back when he was serving overseas onsome sort of an international aid project.
But it's a lady preying over herwater faucet. I think it's neat.
I kind of looked up there andI said, looks act she's praying over
that water point. But you know, it's really a serious portrait in the
respect water is something we take somuch for granted, and yet there are

(23:40):
areas of this world that they doan awful lot justifying clean water they do,
and even here locally, if you'vebeen watching the Iowa drought monitor that
came out, drought conditions in thestate continue to worsen. I was away
at a conference for two weeks,and when I came back, I was
really surprised at how yellow all thelawn had gotten. And really, right

(24:02):
now is the time for people tostart preparing their lawn for later in the
summer, because if you're watering yourgrass every day, you're really doing a
disservice because you're keeping the roots ofyour lawn really shallow. And so when
the drought, you know, oreven just hot weather later in the summer
comes along, that sets your lawnup to be much more sensitive to that
stress. I will tell you Iam watering, but not every day.

(24:25):
I water about once a week andI let it run no maybe about an
hour or so, just to getso much water out there. The rest
of the week, it's on itsown. I mean, it's got to
live on whatever I put out there, and I don't water the driveway,
I don't water the sidewalk. I'vegot it very directed, especially where I
had to put in some new grasswhere some trees were taken out, but

(24:47):
well aware of it, John,and I, thanks to you and the
folks around here, I've become verywater conservative. We put in the low
flow showers, the low flow toilet, all of those things go to get
a rain barrel. And we didn'tput up the pool this year. We
just decided we didn't use it muchlast year, and that's a lot of

(25:08):
water to fill that thing up,and let's conserve this year. Yeah,
you know, like you said,making sure if you've got an end ground
system, that you got your sprinklerheadset. It doesn't matter how much you
water your sidewalk. You're not goingto grow any more concrete. So keep
that water where it's doing some good. And what you described on how to
water is exactly the way to doit. Once a week, water it

(25:29):
deep and then let it go.That will that will encourage those roots to
chase that water and go deep.I can remember another year of a fairly
serious drought, and it was whenI loved to golf all the time,
and the golf courses were actually closingdown because of the damage was doing to
their turf out there. And Iwent out to a golf course just north
of Ancony. Not that that's important, but we went out on that a

(25:52):
couple days before they finally closed it. But it was so dry, John
that when you swung you picked upany turf with it, the turf turned
to powder. I mean the grassdid EAMs stayed together just kind of poofed
and left a big bear spot there. Yea. And a shout out to
the aims, parks and wreck folks. The golf course here in Aimes is

(26:14):
on its own well, it's nota part of the municipal water system,
so anything they're using there is notimpacting or drinking water supply. I think
that's neat. I didn't know thatsea there. Again, you educate me.
Did you think about teaching when youwere growing up? You know,
I've always said, whenever I getdone doing this, maybe doing like middle
school math or science might be kindof fun. It certainly capable of it.

(26:36):
And your accomplishments and those of yourworkers, etc. In this city
have been phenomenal and admirable, andI am very, very proud. I
mean, when you talk of pointsof pride in a function of a city,
the water here in this area hasto be a point of pride,
There's no doubt. Yeah it is. We hear that a lot from folks

(26:57):
that just the taste of the water, it's it's a part of the culture
of the Aimes community. It's somethingpeople think of when they think of aims,
and so we're proud to be alittle piece of that culture. All
right. Do you think we're goingto get to that point where you're gonna
have to kind of ration? Idon't know what I want to say ration,
but I know when I lived inDenver years ago that there were days

(27:19):
the even sites got to water,then the other site, the odd sides
got to water, and you couldn'twash your car on certain days, etc.
Do you think we could get tothat point? Oh, in any
given year, it's possible. Atthis point kind of where we're set up
right now, I think that's probablyunlikely this summer. But like we've seen

(27:41):
here, you know, the weatherin central Islea can change on a dime,
and and we could go from reallydry to really wet in a hurry.
That's for sure. And of courseit's beneficial that the students are gone
right now too. Yeah, thatdoes help. That helps, you know,
with that summer peak by having thestudents taken off in the summer.
All right, John, thank youso much. Thanks for not having my

(28:04):
back. But we know we cantrust you. We know you'll be there
if I need you. That's good. I'll need someone at the end of
the hour, and it might beyou might be someone else. That's up
to you. Yeah, looking forwardto that. We are at the water
treatment plant. You won't see thatthe car. We're around the back through
the you know, I felt prettyimportant security gate there. It opened up.

(28:27):
I mean I thought somebody'd come outand swing open like a chain link,
but no, that's top security,my friend. Yeah, we've got
we've got the armed security guards hereon site now and we let you inside
the security fence. So you mustrate pretty high, and I did.
The fact that it opened up mademe real happy here. But anyway,
we're gonna be out here for thenext hour and hope that you will listen

(28:49):
up. I got my good friendKevin Burke here and Mary Rankin are already
signed in, so we got thingsto talk about things to share with you,
and we'll do that on the BreakfastClub this morning on four thirty Kasi.
In the meantime, Scott, howabout some news? How about some
news? We got it coming rightup Ali now the morning of fourteen thirty

(29:11):
Kasi. Welcome to the Breakfast Clubwhere at the water treatment plant stuck on
the in the engineering library here theAames Police have occupied our normal spot and
I was going to argue with him, but we are here. We are
busy. We have lots of folkshere and lots of things talk about,
and one of which I don't know. I think I remember this right.

(29:37):
Kevin Burke joins me now from DiscoverAims and has rag Bye already gone through?
Kevin, I'm a little off.I've been off a little bit.
You are off. They came throughabout five years ago. But we got
four weeks before rag Bye arrives,and so planning is going really well.
We had a couple of town hallsyesterday that we hosted. The city host

(30:00):
to us at the City Council chambers, and we live streamed one of those
and we had quite a few peopleattend and ask questions. And we'll be
posting that streaming link if people missedit to hear what to expect. Some
of the things that came out ofthat are obviously we're gonna have some road
closures and we just want the residentsto be aware that there's going to be

(30:22):
some inconvenience that day. But youknow, overall, it's going to be
such a great event for Ames.The economic impact that it's going to make.
The social media posts will be inthe millions that we're going to see
from Ryebread coming to Ames, AndI was going to say, and if
they set their record that they're tryingto do, games will be on the
map again big time. Oh definitely. You know, we did host in

(30:47):
twenty eighteen and they had eighty fivehundred registered riders week long riders. This
year week long riders they have twentythousand and five hundred, and so that
we know the numbers are are muchhigher. But are those registered riders those
that maybe normally would ride but theywouldn't get registered. We think that's a

(31:08):
fair number of them. So we'vegot some pretty good plan for campgrounds around
town with Brookside and the tailgate lotsthat are normally used for football games.
But we've got a lot of otherareas aims, fitness and collaboration. Place
will be one of our campgrounds downsouth to town. We've got about twenty

(31:33):
one locations for campgrounds. So willthe parks be opening up like North River
Valley and South River Valley where theball Diamonds are, etc. For camping
or do you know we are utilizingthat for campgrounds. It will be an
overflow area, mostly because the routecoming into Ames is coming from the southwest,

(31:55):
so and it will be leaving inthe southwest, So to utilize River
Valley will be a little bit ofa challenge, but it is. It
is considered an overflow and we dohave some of our vendors that will actually
be staying in River Valley Park andKevin, one of the things we know
that you've been trying to emphasize andwe're talking about those folks along the way
that camp, but there are otherswho require some facilities and we're looking to

(32:19):
the residents of the city to alsoopen up maybe their yards or their homes
to accommodate some of these needs.Yeah, definitely. Now we've got actually
there's three things that we are lookingfor for Ames residents, and one of
them, as you mentioned, isto host riders. We've got about three
hundred requests of riders looking for aplace to stay. We have a lot

(32:40):
of campgrounds, but there are residentsor writers that are looking for a spare
bedroom or a backyard that maybe youcan open up your rest or your bathroom
and shower to them, or maybeit's a driveway to park in r V.
The other thing we're looking for ourvolunteers. So we have a out
over four hundred spots for volunteers.We've filled about two hundred and forty of

(33:04):
those spots already, but we stillneed more and that number of volunteers needs
is still growing. And then thelast thing we're asking residences come out and
enjoy the evening downtown. We've gottwo stages. We'll have stages that will
actually start acts that will start playingat two in the afternoon and go to
eleven o'clock at night. So it'llbe a great event, and we just

(33:29):
hope that the residents embrace it inand understand there will be a little bit
of an inconvenience that day, butthe impact is going to be great for
the community. Well, I alwayscall us the host with the most because
we entertain so many large events throughoutthe year thanks to Discover Aims and some
of these regular customers as I liketo call them, this one is going

(33:52):
to be a little bigger than mostof them that come in here with the
amount of people expected. But youknow what, you know how to and
you know how to volunteer, andI tell you that is the special gift.
I've told you this many times overthe many years that volunteering is a
special gift. It's a gift thatonly you can give, and that is

(34:13):
of yourself and it is appreciated byso many people. And I just want
to let you know if you've gottime. I don't know what the time
involvement in a couple hours here maybeor something. It's not an all day
thing or anything for you, butit will be deeply appreciated. Then how
would they get signed up to volunteer? Discoverams dot com. We've got a

(34:35):
link to all the different opportunities witha description of what each of those volunteer
opportunities are as well. So peoplecan go to our website, discoverams dot
com and click on the rag bylink and that'll take you right to the
opportunities that are available. The otherthing I want to mention mel is that
we've got this is such a heavylift, not only for our residents,

(34:57):
but it is a lift for usas well. And it takes sponsorships on
top of that. And we've gotsome great sponsors with Central Iowa Border Realtors,
Chevron Rig Alliant Energy, Carbon SummitCarbon Solutions are our top four sponsors,
but we've got many, many otherlocal businesses that have done a great

(35:19):
job in supporting our event. Allright, you heard it here, you
heard it first. And give Kevina call. I swear he had dark
black hair when he first started thisproject, but he still has hair.
It just just lightened up a littlebit there. And let's help him and
the whole committee who are working sohard to make this a complete success.

(35:40):
Only you can help us do that. So Discover aims dot com and Kevin
has always thanks. I always loveseeing you and thank you Mal. It's
always a pleasure of being here.All right, there you go, Kevin
Burt with Discovery. He's got nothingto do do. Yeah, where are
you going? Yeah? One ofthose things? Yeah, all right,
rushman, that's anybody on board there, Scott. Yeah, we have Sergeant

(36:01):
Watson on the line right now,going live with you here. All right,
Dan, Good morning there, Mark. How are you? I'm doing
well? Now? Good? Howcome you're not out here? I see
a lot of the officers out heretoday, a lot of them, Uh
yeah out there. I guess they'rehaving some kind of training here today.
So oh that's yeah, that nextdeep Yeah, yeah, anyway, are

(36:25):
you coming to it eventually or haveyou already been to it or no?
I'm they probably got time, mayhave been to that one before I am.
You know, I've got to coverthe street today. Yeah, I've
got to be out here. Somebody'sgot to be out here. So watch
your staff. And how's it goingout there this morning? Yeah? Right
now we're we're sitting really good.We have no issues to worry about out

(36:45):
of there on the roadways. Allright, sounds good. You got any
big plans for the weekend or areyou working? I will be working well,
well, well, I will feelsafe. Yeah, luck lucky me.
I'll be working all week in lowall right, I'll feel safe then.
Good. Good. Well, youknow, I'll make sure i'd make
some passes by your place and I'lldrive responsibly will everybody else. I don't

(37:10):
know if there's a sign of anything, but Chris Uh in respect for my
retirement, I think went ahead andgot a little present for me yesterday.
I'm not sure I can appreciate asmuch as she intended it to be,
but she knows I'd like to sitout on our front porch chair as traffic
goes by on Grand and and waveat people or things along that. And

(37:32):
she went ahead. I've been sittingin a camp chair. But she she
bought me a rocker. Yeah,I don't know. At my age of
rocker, camp chare maybe look sportyat rocker. I don't know. Well,
that way, you know, youcan probably sit back. You'll probably
end up falling his fleep. Ohthere you go. Well make sure if
you go by and you see meout there, give me the siren.

(37:53):
Yeah, I could do our airhorn or sir and yet it. Yeah,
that'll work. Well. Listen,Mark, you have a great weekend.
Yes you too, Mel All right, thanks so much. And that
is Sergeant Mark Watson of the LAPDLovely Names Police Department. And this report,
this Rushman is report brought you byMary Greeley Medical Center, doing what's

(38:15):
right. Are you ready? They'reready for you mel in the morning on
fourteen thirty k as I and let'ssee you. Jan, come on over.
Jan. Baron's my good friend formany, many years and I always
love to see her. And wewere talking a couple of weeks ago,
Jan and something that see if I'moff because I lose track of time.

(38:37):
But a few years back something wasstarted here names that I thought was so
instrumental and so calming for people outthere. And tell folks a little bit
of what I'm talking about. Butthe memory Cafe good memory, good memory.
But you can come to I probablyneed to. A memory cafe sounds

(39:00):
like a cafe where you can goin and be seated and have something to
eat. Well, that's part ofit, but it goes beyond that.
I think that everybody proudly knows thereare people in our community who have memory
loss. And this is for peoplewith memory loss and a caregiver. And

(39:21):
we meet at Northminster Presbyterian Church.The address is one four one six twentieth
Street, right near the high schooland the railroad tracks. And it's the
fourth Monday of the month at threeo'clock, so it's next Monday, and
where we meet it's very very accessibleand welcoming and there's no charge and it's

(39:47):
for anybody who who wants to come. And what we do is we have
a fun way of introducing each other, so we become friends and we do
a lot of singing with the songleader. In this time, we're going
to have a popular duel around townKay and El Duel. That's Kathy Klein

(40:15):
and Larry Pedigo who play it alot of care centers around Aimes. They
are very fine musicians and people reallyenjoy singing with them, songs from maybe
the starting the thirties or forties,popular singers, popular duels. And then

(40:37):
we have something to eat and drink. Believe it or not, Fairway supplies
cookies or donut holes, and it'svery very easy going. My husband has
Alzheimer's and he's in a care center, but we come together and people interact,
or they can just listen, orif it's their time to doze a

(40:59):
little bit, they can do that. So everybody just feels comfortable. And
we've been doing this well. Wehad a break during COVID, but probably
about four years. And it's ahappy time and people sit around and talk
and share stories, some true,some not, some like you tell.

(41:25):
So it's just it's a very relaxingtime because one of the realities of having
dementia, and we know so manypeople are having dementia that sometimes friends kind
of drop you. They don't knowwhat to do when you are with them.

(41:45):
And this is not part of whatwe do because everybody feels welcome and
support group. It's very very goodsupport group. In a way, it
gives a charity ever a little break. Yeah, we have comfortable chairs and
uh, it's just it's just reallyfun. Um. Sometimes we do some

(42:09):
kind of crafts or games. Um. One time we had quite a discussion.
Oh last time. Um, weasked about games that we played when
we were kids. Oh they responseis just bing bing bing bing bing.
I think we talked about twenty gamesthat we played when we were kids,

(42:31):
none of which required any kind ofequipment. Yeah, we were creating Do
you do you have a favorite youtag was one of my favorites? Or
hide and Seek? Oh you know, I don't think we even mentioned tag.
Well, hide and Seek kind ofbothered me because nobody looked for me.

(42:52):
But you're still around. I wasstill around yeah, you've been around
me. Yeah, yeah, Iwas gonna say, it's a great support
group. And of course you andyour wonderful husband George, which I've had
the place to know over the manyyears, and how close you two are,
and I also know what a greatcaregiver you are and have been over
those years. I often think ofPaul Brackelsberg and his wife years ago,

(43:15):
and I would see Paul with herand he kept her active, he kept
her moving along and doing things,and of course we lost her year's back,
but always inspirational me my own grandfatherwho suffered from dementia. I would
go up to the home he wasput in. He finally had to put
him in a home, and somedays he'd know me, some days he
wouldn't, and he was always greetme, and he would walk down the

(43:38):
hallway of that home and he wouldhave an old straw hat on he used
to wear it when he was younger, and he'd come up. He might
call me Mel that day, orhe might call me Joe or Jim,
and I would suddenly be somebody heknew in the past, and he would
think that I was them, andsomebody said, well, what did you
do then, and I said,Joe, and I became Jim, and

(44:01):
I said, I wanted to talkto my grandpa. And I said,
I learned so much more when Iwas George Jim than I ever did his
mail. That's for sure, somestories he would never tell. Mel.
But I want to let you knowthe memory Cafe in my books is top
notch. And Jen, I wantedto ask you one more question. I
got to be quick about it,but has it grown considerably? Yes.

(44:25):
Last time we had twenty people whocame, which and we have a very
good team of five people and mostof them have had experience with someone who's
had memory loss, and so theyknow just how to approach, assist if

(44:45):
necessary, and nobody ever feels embarrassedor anxious. So that's what we try
to do. Monday next Monday,three o'clock, Northminster Presbyterian Church. Always
a pleasure Jan to see and youwere good work that you do. I
admire that she's been a great mentorfor me. She didn't know it,
but she has over the years.When I talk about thank you very much,

(45:08):
Ye me too. Let me knowit. When you know, all
right, there you go, KenBaron's here, I'm the Breakfast Club.
More guests to come, and we'llbe talking with them after the eight o'clock
hour. I'm fourteen thirty. Wellon the morning, I'm fourteen thirty k
s. I welcome back to thewater Treatment plant out here on East thirteenth
Street, where we will be holdingthe breakfast club this week and next week.

(45:32):
And next week will be my finalweek of the breakfast Club. And
am forward to it. Nope,Nope, I'm not. I gotta admit
it. I mean, retirement isappealing, but I don't know. It
seems like you give up more thanyou get. I'll have to find out,
but we'll see. But I knowone thing, and Beth, I'm
so glad to see you today becauseone of the things that cross my mind,

(45:54):
and one of the things I thinkabout every year about this time,
is the wonderful rate here in Aimesmidnight madness and quite a few years of
midnight madness. In fact, theamount of years of midnight madness matches the
time I've lived here. Names Ohmy gosh. Yeah, this is the
fifty second Midnight Madness and it willbe held on Saturday, July eighth this

(46:17):
year. And I'll tell you whatsign up. I imagine it's already begun
and there has never been a problemfilling that race. It is so well
put together. Yes, our registrationsare up a little bit from last year,
which is great. We're definitely hopingfor weather like today. This would

(46:38):
be perfect for midnight madness. Soright now through June thirtieth, you can
still register for forty dollars. StartingJuly first through the seventh, the price
goes up just a little bit toforty five. And then the day of
you could still wake up that morningdecide you want to come out and run
a walk and it's just fifty dollars. We're also offering indoor childcare from six

(47:04):
pm to nine pm that day andthat's just ten dollars, and that just
needs to be registered for by thefifth of July. For the kids.
I will tell you what, itis, a marvelous I've said it well
put together thing, and it's morethan a run. It is so much
more than a run. What aresome of the other things going on.
It's definitely a family event. AndI can't stress enough that even if you

(47:28):
don't consider yourself to be a runner, you can walk. We've had families
with strollers and young kids. It'sjust a fun family event. It's not
necessarily competitive. There are some competitiverunners who are in there, definitely,
but you do not have to bea runner. The distance is short,
it's a five k and ten k. It's combined this year, which is

(47:49):
great. There's also a Captain MidnightsKids Fun Run and that's at six thirty
and that's free for the kids.Other events that day though, from three
to four there's going to be avendor fair that's open to just the registered
runners only, and then from fourto six thirty there's a vendor fair that's
open to the public. And therace, just like the last few years,

(48:13):
is going to start and and atAmes Fitness and Our South, which
is at thirty six hundred University Boulevard. Beautiful facility now was last year the
first year for the current route.I was trying to remember, I think
it was and changed it and howdid that work out? And I would
think it was fine. It actuallyworked out really well. It was held

(48:37):
on Main Street for so many yearsand that's you know, definitely ingrained in
the history of Midnight Mannus. It'sfun to shake it up a little bit.
The parking is more ample down intoResearch Park and it doesn't take nearly
as many volunteers just because the roadsdon't have to be closed. So I
do feel like it was a goodmove. I do want to take this

(48:58):
chance to think a few of oursponsors, so we have on the following
sponsors this year. Aims I Care, Cornell Mutual Fitness, Sports, Storm
Cosmetic Surgery, Durable Coatings, CrocPlumbing and Heating, iHeartMedia, Vision Bank
and Dentistry Up Summerset. I'll tellyou what this is a fun time.

(49:20):
We call it a race, butit's really an endurance. I think for
a lot of people out there,they're not out to set any new times.
They're not out to do anything butfinish the five or ten k,
and once they do that, they'veaccomplished their mission. So it's not as
Beth said, it can be competitive. That's up to you and these other
people that you're there with. Butfor most people I know, for my

(49:44):
wife, my daughter, it wasjust finishing that five k and they felt
pretty dog gone good once they gotthat done. And I felt pretty good
standing on the sideline cheering them onthat that was my job. But they've
kept the cost down, the routeis easy and challenging at the same time,
and so many activities going on.It is such a big part a

(50:06):
tradition in this community. And howyou doing on volunteers, so you're pretty
much covered, Yeah, we are, We are good on volunteers. Um
again, just you know, reallylooking forward to the event, really encouraging
people to come out that day.The official website for the race is aims
Midnight Madness dot org. So that'sthe place to go to check out to

(50:29):
see if you would like to findout any more details about the event.
And again there's that registration detline iscoming up on June thirtieth, where you
can still register for just forty dollars. Well, I'll tell you what.
We're looking forward to it again.I'll be out there rooting yon folks.
I will tell you that for sure. And again it is coming up July
eighth, boy, that is comingup fast, and the fifty second annual

(50:52):
Midnight Madness Run is gone along hereand we want you to be a part
of it, So make sure youset that data side. Beth, thank
you for coming in. Thank you. It's always a pleasure, Beth.
Of course, here Beth Hannigan andof course midnight madness going on. I
am going to take a break andthen we'll come back. Because if you're
running a midnight madness, when youget done, you know what, you're

(51:14):
gonna need a big glass of lemonade. We'll talk about that coming up on
fourteen thirty mel in the morning.On fourteen thirty k S. I had
a great fear as I was approachingretirement. And there's certain people I talked
to every year and this is oneof them and one of my favorites.
And of course it's Grace mccoon whohas been holding how many years now are

(51:36):
we into the amazing Grace Lemonade Race. This is the seventh annual race this
year on July twenty second, whichis Saturday. How convenient. You know
last year when we talked, wewere saying, oh my gosh, Gracie's
gonna gona retire from school going tograduate, which he did, and we

(51:58):
were talking about whether you would continueyou in this effort. But I think
it's so close to your heart andso close to you and your family,
etc. It would be hard togive up. Yeah, my family and
I really enjoy putting this on it'sa great part of the summer. And
you know, every year, it'samazing to see the impact that we make

(52:22):
on all of the children's lives downat Blank's. It's incredible. Now,
I know some years you've dedicated certainaspects of the Blank Hospital that your fundraising
would go toward. Have you dedicatedany particular discipline this year? Yeah,
So this year, all the proceedswill be donated to the nick you don

(52:44):
at Blank Children's Hospital. And we'resuper excited because we always pick a certain
area to donate the money too.We you know, talk to people at
Blank and say, hey, whicharea needs a little more love this year?
And they gave us a list andwe pick from that list and we
go from there and we hope forthe best every time. And I have

(53:05):
to tell you it started with sellinglemonade. It did, and it's just
blossomed into such a great event.Here we talk about local events here and
this is something You've got a steadyclientele for this race, Yeah, we
do. We have so many amazingsponsors, We have so many amazing runners,
and I su Athletics comes out everyyear and to show their support and

(53:27):
if you're thinking about running but you'renot sure, you know, you can
always walk it. You know,we have people who walk, We have
families with strollers. We even havea kid's fun run at seven thirty that
morning, and then the actual fivek walk and run is at eight.
So we have such an amazing communitysupport that it's incredible every year, Like

(53:52):
the turnout is so amazing. Idon't know what else to say, the
turnout. I love it. Ilove the community, I love the people
here. And if you know you'renot in town, you can always run
online, you can do it virtually, or if you're not a runner but
you still want to be a partof this whole process, you can always

(54:15):
donate to our Venmo. We haveInstagram, Facebook at the Lemonade Race and
that our Venmo is Grace Dash McCunnand I've got to I've gotta say this
all started because Gracie and her asister benefited from treatment at Blank Children's Hospital.

(54:38):
And during their treatment, I thinkyou indicated you kind of looked around
and thought you were not the onlyones here that are needing help, and
how can we help others? Andthe best way to do it was to
work up fundraising for Blank Memorial Hospitaland you've done it? How much?
How much money have you raised overthe years. I have raised over one

(55:02):
hundred and thirty thousand dollars for BlankChildren's Hospital. And every year, you
know, I get to sit downand talk to kids at Blank and every
year it amazes me how you know, smart these kids actually are. You
know, they have such a lifeahead of them, and to be able

(55:23):
to go through something so detrimental tothem is so it's heartwrenching. Like I
I, it's so hard to dothat, but you know we That's why
I love doing it, is becauseit goes to something so amazing. It's
not anything else, it's it's amazing. That's why I love you, Gracie.

(55:46):
Right, I'm too old for you, don't don't have thoughts, but
I will tell you this much.And watching you over these years and seeing
the success you've enjoyed in the involvementof the community and the benefits to Blank
Memorial Children's Hospital has touched my heartso many different times. And I was
really afraid because I know it's Julytwenty second, but we're planting the seed

(56:07):
early on you folks out there.Now's the time to get signed up.
But yeah, that would be oneof the things I would really miss is
seeing you every year and having watchedyou grow up. And I say,
on my behalf, thank you forall you've given me over these years.
Well, thank you so much forletting me share my own thing, get

(56:30):
my best your mom and dad andyou say this, and your brother and
the whole family. I guess,well, oh well, I'll tell him
high I see you again next week, you can. Could you dress up
a little? Look at you?For God's sakes? Huh? Yeah?
All right, all right, youknow it's my last show, so all
right, dress up, dress accordingly. All right? Anyway, Scott,

(56:52):
are we needing a break or canI go ahead? I'm sorry? What
was that? Though? It's niceto know you're listening. I am you
know I need to get the headphonesin Sinclair. Do I have another break?
Or do I need to? Yes? You do? You have?
You have one more break before theI will almanac break? Oh okay,

(57:17):
well we don't need to take itnow then, but what we do need
to take let me look, weneed to take a break for some news.
Let's do that. Okay, soundsgood. All right, we'll talk
to you after that Mel in themorning. I'm fourteen thirty k s.
I Susan come around to the magicchair here, and this is this is

(57:37):
one of those. Susan is oneof those wonderful people I've worked with for
many, many years, and sheis my brains at times, keeps me
informed on what's going on with ourbeautiful city here and gives me great guests
to talk to, and none anygreater than her, and she is so
informed and involved in so many things. Well, thanks, Mel. You

(57:59):
know it's been almost twenty years.I know, and I have to tell
you when your first game, Iremember very very well the first days,
et cetera there, and you dida great job then, and you do
a greater job now. I think, as both of us have learned over
the years and kind of know whateach one needs to be successful or what

(58:20):
we need to get out to thecommunity as a community relations officer, you
do that very well. I thinkwe both get better with time. I'm
gonna take that. I'm gonna takethat this morning. But anyway, I
know one of the projects, itjust started a few years ago, that
has just grown and grown and grown, and it returns this year and we
call it Rummage Rampage and are yougetting ready? Yeah? Can you believe?

(58:44):
It's the seventh year for Rummage Rampage. It's the community wide garage sale
held at the Ames Intermodal Facility atone twenty nine Heyward, often referred to
as the parking ramp So that's whatit is, that's the ramp in Rummage
Rampage. Yeah, you like that. So this event every year's staff by
volunteers representing nonprofit organizations. We haveover forty this year. It is coming

(59:08):
up. Starts Friday, July twentyeighth with donation drop off. The sales
starts Saturday, July twenty ninth andcontinues for one entire week until Saturday,
August fifth. But people might havestuff they want picked up, maybe they
don't have a way to get thatdonation to us. So we have opened

(59:28):
the sign Up Genius for signing upfor pickup. That is something that you
can sign up for for a smallfee to have your donations picked up on
that Friday or Saturday, July twentyeighth or July twenty ninth. O'kay.
This has been so successful in somany different ways. It has helped people
find things that maybe they couldn't normallyafford or normally find to be honest,

(59:52):
and helps them furnish their home orso many things out there. And then
the other side of that is whatit does for the environment. Yeah,
we talk a lot about that.So anybody that's lived in names any amount
of time knows that. Right aboutthe least turnover time, which is the
end of July early August, youstart seeing a lot of interesting items on

(01:00:14):
the curb side and it's really kindof sad when you see them because you
drive by and you think, wow, that looks still pretty good. Yeah,
what is that doing out there?And so this is an opportunity to
avoid that type of curb dumping andinstead get those usable items back in the
hands of others who need them.Yeah, it is. Actually we used

(01:00:35):
to call it curb shopping years agobefore Rummage Rampage came along. And the
nice thing is the funks that areraised are shared amongst so many agencies out
here, and you can help dothat by volunteering in the name of Yeah,
we actually think we're full of ourdonations or with our volunteers. We
have a very robust group of volunteersthat have come back again this year,

(01:00:59):
so we have filled our volunteer slots, but we still need those donated items.
And then again, if you wantto try items off or have them
picked up, check our website Cityof Ames dot org slash Rummage Rampage.
You can get right to the pagethat has all the information. That sounds
great, Susan, is there anycoincidence that about two weeks after Rummage Rampage

(01:01:21):
that Stan Raby has a garage sale? You know, we have a lot
of fun at Rammage Rampage, andwe have some great volunteers that come back
year after year, like Stan Raby, Melissa Murray. We could not do
this event without them. The communitysupport has been amazing. Just check out
City of Ames dot org slash RamageRampage to get all the information. Thanks

(01:01:43):
Susan, Thanks mel Oh, it'sgood to see you. Of course,
Joe come on over here. BeforeI talk to Stan, he's making a
list of things he needs. Butanyway, Joe's here with the Jac's Joe
thing and Joe, Yeah, let'ssee, do we have one more after
this? Or this? It forthe halfshell? We have one more concert
after this. We are finding downtoday and next week and I know who

(01:02:07):
it is, but I'm gonna letyou tell us what's going on. One
of my favorite groups is tonight ortomorrow. Yeah, tonight there on the
Halfshell beginning of five o'clock, andyou tell them who it is. We
have the ever popular burning sensations,so we are expecting a very large crowd
tonight. Yeah, and I'll tellyou what. You don't think about anything

(01:02:30):
else right now, write it down. Got to go to the Halfshell tonight
at five o'clock and I can staytill eight o'clock and I can get into
that for a nominal fee. Itis only five dollars. Kids twelve and
under are free. We do havea couple of vendors that will be there.
We've got Carlos Castillas and we haveChicago treats. So if you want

(01:02:52):
an Italian beef sandwich or a Chicagodog or in some pizza, come on
out. It's very very cheap.You're a heck of a salesman, you
know that. And what about it? Do you? I have to leave
the kids home? No, bringthe kids. They're free to come in
if they are twelve and under.We'll give them a little smiley face on
their hand. And they can runaround at the playground while you enjoy the

(01:03:13):
Burning Sensations. Give me an idea. How has it been going. I
have not been able to get theremyself, but have the crowd has been
good. The crowds have been reallygood. I think the first weekend was
I think our worst, just withthe weather being so hot and rainy.
But we've had some really great turnouts. We have a lot of people that
I've seen each and every week comeout, so we love to see our

(01:03:35):
regulars and it's been fun. Yeah. And I'll tell you what, nobody
doesn't like the jac's and they havegot all the bases covered there. But
if you want to slide on in, that's all right. You can slide
on in the first. If it'syour first time, I'll tell you it
won't be your last time. Allwe gotta do is get you there once.
If we get you there once,you're gonna want to come back over
and over and over again and again. That's tonight from five d eight o'clock

(01:04:00):
at the Halfshell. Burning Sensations putdown the beat tonight and another one of
my favorite groups and one that istheir year after year and why because there's
a dog Gone good and people lovethem. And that's Saucy Jack next week.
Yep. Always a pleasure to haveSaucy Jack and make people dance,
have fun. So we're going toclose out the twentieth season of Ammes on

(01:04:23):
the Halfshell and style, that's forsure. Well, Joe again, I
want to tell people, if you'reinterested in becoming a JC, how can
they do it? Visit us atAmes jcs dot com or email president at
Dames jacs dot com, or tocome out tonight and talk to us.
Talk to him. You're gonna findout why you want to be a JAC.

(01:04:43):
You'll find out the great things theydo for this community with the funds
they raise, and the great prideyou can take in being one of the
jac's, that's for sure. Joe, thanks for coming in again. Thank
you. Always a pleasure. Allright, all right, Joe was here
for the jc's and let's get himover here. Here he comes. Oh
don't run, Oh my god,man, don't run. Yeah yeah,

(01:05:06):
stand Rabia of course with actors.And here we are last weekend already.
I know. I tell you,this show has just flown by. And
when I last night we had whatwe call pickup rehearsal, and they after
they completed one of the songs thatis particularly difficult because of all the harmonies

(01:05:26):
and all the parts, and allfive people are working, and I said,
boy, I remember the first timewe went through this back about eight
weeks ago, and it was adisaster. And this show is so much
fun. Last night's pickup rehearsal wasso good that the audience knows they're going
to have a great time. Andwe are virtually sold out for Sunday.

(01:05:48):
We have three scattered seats in thehouse, but we still have seats for
tonight and tomorrow night. And ifyou want to have fun, as much
fun as you can have with allyour clothes on with other people around you,
come out to Actors. Seats willbe available online and probably at the
door. And the show is pumpMine. I haven't even said. The

(01:06:08):
show is pump Poisoned Dinets. It'sa classic show from from the nineteen eighties
and nineties, and it's just somuch fun. The music is so good,
and we've gotten standing ovations now fourof five performances, oh yeah,
four or five, and and we'vesold out three of the five so far.

(01:06:30):
So um, you know, don'tmiss it because people will talk about
it. And the thing that Ifind so fascinating about this show truly the
number of people who come back andsee it again, because it's not music
that they get very easily, andit's so fabulous when it's performed in person,
and so I have I've had severalpeople come back to see the show

(01:06:55):
again because they just enjoyed it thefirst time and they want to just tune
up our memory of how much funthey had. We'll tell you what we're
talking about. Pump boys and tightnets again. This is last weekend for
you to catch it. Sunday soldout. We've got a couple of nights
here. Get your tickets now.Let me warn you, because it'll get
sold out, I will tell you, And it's worth every standing ovation they

(01:07:17):
get and more. And it's hardto let go of a show like this
when you're enjoying such success, butI'll tell you they will let go and
they will have a bang up seasonnext year at Actors. And you can
get your season tickets now. Yeah, season tickets are available, and we'll
have them available tonight and tomorrow nightat the Theater and Sunday matinee and season

(01:07:41):
tickets are one hundred dollars for five. I think amazing shows for next year,
So come on out see what we'redoing. That's a little bit of
a tease to get you out tothe theater to see the season. We
haven't updated the website yet for nextseason because we haven't closed out this one
yet, and you can get it'sonline for tonight. So come and see
a show. This sounds great.Stan, you can see stand at Rumage

(01:08:05):
Rampage, by the way, aPeerie limited appearance yet. My next appearance
is at Rummage Rampage starting on Friday, July twenty eighth, I think is
where I show up there. Yougo, all right, that is gonna
do it. Get to actors tonight. Lyles to talk to me right now,

(01:08:26):
and Lyle interestingly enough, and LyleI've just met. But Lad,
we were talking and you kind ofvolunteered this. I was talking to Gracie
with a great lemonade race out there. But you have been a parent who
hath benefited from the services provided byBlank. Yeah. I just caught the
end of her interview and found outwhat she's doing, and it just really

(01:08:49):
kind of hits close to home forme. My daughter had a couple heart
surgeries before the age of eighteen months, and I've seen firsthand the benefits of
raising money for these children's hospitals.Sophia's she was at the University of Iowa
Children's Hospital. But it's all thesame. Some of these children, what

(01:09:10):
they go through and the benefits thatthey can get from people like Gracie.
What they're doing is very commendable onher part, and I just wanted to
be an impromptu advocate for what she'sdoing. It's important. We appreciate that,
and of course we wish you andyour daughter well from here on out
and continued success. How old isshe know, she's twenty one. Wow,

(01:09:33):
Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah, from a very early age,
as you said to a thriving younglady. Now, yeah, she's actually
at the University of Iowa, andironically, this week she is working at
a children's heart camp in Minnesota.It's something that she attended for the last
boy close to ten years, andthis is the first year that she's actually

(01:09:57):
been one of the leaders. Soit's come full circle here. Instead of
being one of the children, nowshe's one of the leaders, and that's
really neat opportunity. She's in fact, she's there doing it today. She's
a payback person. I can tellyou that right now. She knows the
benefits she got. Wow, wegot a great benefit from you too.
You work out here at the treatmentplant, Yeah, I do. I've

(01:10:17):
been here for actually twenty three anda half years, but my role has
changed recently. I was a waterplant superintendent for the last twelve years,
and to say it was an eventfultwelve years is probably an understatement. We
of course built this new facility andhad a lot of turnover because of retirements,
so it definitely kept us all busy. But in February I became assistant

(01:10:40):
director, which I used to actuallybe in the administrative division as an environmental
engineer, so it's not completely foreignto me, but it's different. Basically,
I support the director and what hedoes, and kind of have too,
relative to what it was earlier.This year become kind of a jack
of all trade. I have abroader understanding of what goes on in the

(01:11:02):
department, get my hands into someof the things that I haven't been for
a while at least, such asworking to with our wastewater folks at our
water plush control plant, working onthe water meter folks or Laboratory Services division.
So kind of taking a step back, learning about relearning some of the
things and delving into some new that. It's an exciting opportunity. Yeah,

(01:11:25):
and you keep John focused. Ido my best. Yeah, I think
he knows what he's doing by now, but I do my best. I
know he knows what he's doing bynow. I know you know what you're
doing by now. Twenty three yearsof service here, you must have a
lot of pride in what you do. Yeah, you know. I I
was just telling somebody the other daythat when I saw an opportunity to come

(01:11:45):
to the City of Aims, Ireally knew nothing about it. I had
never worked for a city organization before. I has three years out of school
out of an engineering degree, threeyears out and I thought, you know
what, this is an intriguing opportunityto me, and it was. It
didn't take long for me to realizethat this is this is where I'm meant
to be. Um. Being apublic servant is a need opportunity. You

(01:12:11):
know, with an engineering background,other avenues you can go working for consultants
and things. The projects come andgo, well, the projects you work
on here and the things you dohere, you you are the user of
them, You own them, soto speak. And it's it's a need
opportunity to really have an identity,to have an identity with the people you

(01:12:32):
work with, the city you workwith. UM. I had never dreamt
I would end up in Aims,Iowa, a being a universey via grad.
But it's been a wonderful opportunity andI would trade nothing for it.
Aims is a great place to be. I was just telling somebody the other
day that it has the amenities ofa big city in a lot of ways,

(01:12:53):
but a feel of a smaller city. So I don't know what else
you can ask for in a placeto live and work. Well, evidently
only one mistake in life, Universityof Iowa. But other than that,
I think you've done pretty good andwe're dog gone lucky to have you and
your years of service here. You'rea dedicated to employ and working with a

(01:13:15):
particular part of life everybody here inthe city benefits from. Yeah, here
in the Water and Wastewater Department.It's kind of funny because usually when no
news is good news, we kindof try to keep a low profile,
but at the same time, we'revery proud of what we do. Obviously,
we provide significant services to the cityof Aims for both drinking water and

(01:13:39):
wastewater treatment. That is kind ofthe behind the scenes some of the behind
the scenes people that do things everyday, you know, the frontline operators
and the maintenance workers. They're kindof unthanked sometimes, so this is good
to have opportunities like this today toreally thank the people that are doing the
work for the citizens of Aims.Thank you for taking some time with me

(01:14:01):
today. Continued good service. Yeah, I appreciate it, and good luck
and the rest of your last weekhere I hear there's a big thing coming
up for you. So thank youfor what you've done. Thank you,
and I can't think of a betterplace to celebrate my last week, ending
it right here at the Ames WaterTreatment Plan. We'll do that next week
on the breakfast club. Ames WaterTreatment Plant will be the location and the

(01:14:26):
last breakfast club for me. Melin the morning,