Wednesday, June 28, 2023

None

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Mel in the morning. I'm fourteenthirty k A s I four I say
another word. Another word caught meby surprise this morning, and I think
you Kovac Kovac. I knew aboutit, and my very very dear friend
Betty Bowdler and Stephanie from sign Prohit me blind blindsided me this morning with

(00:27):
a very emotional thank you to me, which the thanks goes to Betty.
To be honest, Betty's the onenew and decided to invest in A I
would like to say a young pop, but I wasn't at the time.
I was in my mid forties whenI came here and and took a chance,

(00:47):
rolled the dice. And she wouldprobably laugh if she heard me say
this. But I remember when wemade our deal or etc. I told
her, I said, well,I have to be honest with you,
because she's said, you know,are you willing to make a commitment or
something long? And I said sixmonths, Betty, I think I'll only
be here about six months. I'llprobably go back into television work again or

(01:10):
something, but I'll at least giveyou six months. And we both laugh
when we think about that, becausehere I am thirty two years later or
thirty some years later, and whowould have ever thought I wouldn't have,
And I had to. I hadto make a transition during those years.
I went from being kind of amusic jay playing music to being talk radio.

(01:34):
And god, I didn't know whenthey said we're gonna move over remove
ks, I had to talk radio. And I'm thinking, oh, oh,
I can play music pretty well,and I can fill in between the
songs pretty well, but can Icarry three hours of talk very well?
And I'm not sure I do.But you know, after all these years,

(01:55):
I'm not sure. I still mayhave a little lack there. But
it was not It could not asfar as I was concerned. It could
not be um what do I wantto say? Uh, news like or
um stilted. I just had tobe me. And through the graciousness of

(02:19):
Betty and the graciousness of iHeart radio. Over these years, they've let me
be me, good or bad.They put up with me all these years,
and the folks out there listening toput up with me all these years.
And Uh, to hear that fromBetty and staff this morning kind of
made me little teary eyed, Yeah, very emotional and heartfelt. It was

(02:45):
heartfelt, and I and its heartfelt right back at those two. Steph
went to school with my son andBetty and her hooked up with sign Pro
years ago, and and uh,just always a delight. Betty is just
Betty makes me smile when I seeher. I just I just have to
smile. She's just one of thosepeople. And Steph the same way.

(03:06):
I always say that Steph might notlike it. I always see that that
little high school girl, and shehas established herself so well in the business
community here and I have so muchrespect for her, and and our association
with Signpro's been just absolutely fantastic overthe years. They do all the signage
on our cars, et cetera,in the signs that we put out,

(03:29):
and I can't say more than that. But more valuable than the work they
do is the friendship I've had withthose two and will be forever grateful.
I don't know how to say it. I've been I don't want to say
inundated, but I have received alot of cards at home in my mailbox.

(03:52):
My wife, I said, howdo they know my address? I
never give out my address. Shesays, it's not hard to find your
address. But I have been touched. I sit there and I look at
those cards and it just it shakesme up. It really does. It
does. So people are so kindand have been all the time that I've

(04:12):
been in this city, and especiallysince i've been a Hunter Radio. But
I have overwhelmed me with their kindness, so to speak. I don't know
why it would overwhelm me. Iknow what they are and who they are,
and and I just want all ofyou to know. I'd say thank
you individually to each one of youwho've sent me up a card, but

(04:33):
it would take me a little bitof time. But know that I've gotten
them and you've touched my heart.And this transition is not easy for me.
It is difficult, to say theleast. I've been driving around a
little bit, like yesterday, Iwent and visited a couple of friends.

(04:56):
Some would say, oh, thoseare business clients, those are people who
who've done advertising with your station.But the thing that I have found out
is they're they're not clients to me, they're friends. I just absolutely appreciate
who they are and what they do. And I've kind of driven around and

(05:17):
stopped at a couple of places andsaid thank you. You know, I'm
out of here. But I deeplyappreciate your friendship over these years, and
I mean that sincerely. It's it'snot just speak And I think all of
you know that about me, anybodywho really knows me that when I do
speaks from my heart. Now,yes I can be crass, and yes

(05:42):
I can be objectionable at times.I know that that's all of us.
But there is no way I can'tthink of a way to express my gratitude
for all the years that you haveall given me. And plans are being

(06:04):
made without me. My wife ismaking plans for me, so I'm not
scared. I was just telling Scott, unbeknownst to me, I'm headed to
Vegas in July, and it soundslike a pretty good time there. Oh.
My wife decided she was going tohave a retirement trip for me,

(06:26):
a retirement vacation. She knows Ilove Vegas, so she's loaded me on.
She's gone first class all the way, first class on the airliner,
first class, hotel, upgraded ourroom, and you know, bought a
couple of shows out there. We'regonna go see search Las. Oh.
Their great water show out there getsstupendous reviews, and so you know,

(06:49):
she just more or less said,pack your swimsuit. That should scare everybody,
and we're going to Vegas. We'regonna actually we'll have time to maybe
GM a little bit. Oh yeah, you'll have time. But anyway,
she's uh, she's been, um, just trying to I'll tell you what

(07:10):
she's trying to do. She's tryingto keep my spirits up. She's trying
to give me things to look forwardto because she knows it's really been bothering
me. Retirement has been bothering me. And she gets angry when I say
this. I say, well,next week at this time, I'll be

(07:30):
unemployed. And she goes, you'renot unemployed, you're retired, you know.
And I said, I've never beenunemployed in my life. And she
says, then you're not now you'reretired, you know. And she's just
pounding this into me. And uh, it's just an odd feeling when you
start working when you're twelve, youknow, carrying newspapers and then off to
wash dishes, and then you know, bartending at my uncle's gambling games,

(07:57):
and and then running a family oiardcenter and all that stuff. You know,
I'm not going to run through myjobs, etc. And broadcasting for
the last fifty years. It's beenIt's been a wild trip, it really
has. And I've done some thingsthat other people will never do. And

(08:20):
there's some things I'd still like todo, and I'm going to attempt to
get as many of them done asI can. I probably am not going
to take up skiing. U thereare some things I know that I can't
do anymore. In fact, Igot a tongue lashing yesterday because I decided
that the grass isn't growing in thatarea where they took out the trees.
So I decided I'm going to goin there and recede that with something.

(08:43):
And and uh, Chris got homeyesterday around five o'clock. I'm out there
with the rake and hoeing and tearingup the ground, getting ready to put
the seed in. It's just whatare you doing? I said, I
want grass in here, and Ibought some more seed, and I wanted
to get the ground ready, shesays, at the hottest part of the

(09:05):
day, with an air quality warningout there. Yeah, maybe not the
best. Yeah. And so shegrabbed the rake out of my hand and
and h led me by the handup into the house and said no no,
you can't do that. So,um, I don't know. She
she may be feeling like a childcarecenter with me, but but I just

(09:28):
wanted to get it done. Wantedto get it done, and I should
have thought about it myself, butI didn't. Sou So Mama took care
of me. Gave me a littlespanking. U so not really, No,
I'm not my stuff. You know, I don't do that stuff.

(09:48):
No, but he gave me alittle tongue lashing there, which I deserved
admittedly. And and yeah, butanyway, looking forward to I really am.
And all of view nice retired folksthat have felt it necessary to have
a conversation with me, it's notthat bad. Come on, there are
things you can do. You'll befine, You'll be okay, give me

(10:11):
pep talks. I appreciate those two. And it's nice when it comes from
people who have already experienced it andthey've got and some of them been very
honest, said, hey, firstmonth or two was a big adjustment,
but they said after that, thingskind of smooth out for you, and
then you'll say where's the time gone? And I was telling Scott, I

(10:33):
was sitting on the front porch theother day in my rocking chair, which
is the thing. I said,I'm never going to do that. No,
I'm gonna sit there rock my lifeaway or anything. But I was
just sitting there, watching traffic andlooking at the trees and everything. They're
just kind of dozing off, andI said, just it was a bittersweet

(10:56):
moment because I'm a guy that triesto notice as much as I can,
try to appreciate the free things inlife. And I said, it kind
of felt like maybe I hadn't.Maybe I'd taken a lot of things for
granted, and all of a suddenthey were coming into focus for me,
and it was a strange feeling.It really was a very strange feeling there.
But I'm acutely aware of the thingsthat are going on right now,

(11:20):
and I'd probably become more so asI have more time on my hands.
My only disappointment that day is Iwas sitting in my rocking chair and this
red van goes driving by. Windowdownon the site it says Discover Aims,
and Kevin was driving it, andI'm there. I was heavy traffic time

(11:43):
and stuff like that, but he'sdriving by, he's paying attention to the
road or something, and I'm theregoing, you know, I'm yelling it
out. He never looked over stubbedme. Burke snubbed me, not intentionally,
I know, but yeah, ButI'll tell you what. Here's the
funny thing. When you do somethinglike that, every other person around there

(12:05):
looks right. So I just gavea casual wave and I got a few
waves back and they went undown theline. Everybody but Cavs. But anyway,
keV, I yelled at you theother day. He didn't see me,
and we appreciate it. Oh mygosh, I've just talked myself into
being a little bit late again.But I'll tell you what. We'll take
a break, we'll do the birthdayclub, come back with some news.

(12:26):
Oh there you go. I didn'tknow it, but Scott, were you
where's Paul Bunyan day? I wasnot, No, not until you told
me, you know. And Dave'sprobably aware. Dave's because Dave's from Minnesota,
and I think I think that's wherePaul did a lot of his work
years ago. Yeah, the northernpart of Minnesota, I think so.
Yeah, I think so him andhis faithful babe, the Blue Ox.

(12:50):
Yeah right, did you did youread any Paul Bunyan books when you were
growing up. For somehow I knewthe legends of Paul Bunyan, but I
honestly don't know where they come from. Yeah, but I read the books.
So, I mean, there wasa couple of books about Paul Bunyan
and you know, all the legendarystart Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan. I

(13:11):
used to read those books and thingslike that. But Paul was especially impressive
of what he could do. Imean, he could clear a forest.
He wasn't much for climate change,but yeah, but he sure knew how
to clear cut well. And likeyeah, and like if he drug his
acts by accent or something, allof a sudden, there's a river there.

(13:31):
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think that maybe how the
Mississippi began. I'm not quite sure. Bad Johnny Cash's big river right there.
Yeah. So anyway, Yeah,happy Paul Bunyan, data all of
you out there. Many days hereand a couple of you and I were
talking about this one. I said, this is probably my most frustrating thing

(13:52):
it is International capslock Day, isthat I can't tell you how much profanity
has been let loose in this studiowhen I come in and sign into my
account and my password doesn't mark whynot? It's right, it's right?
No, do it? Try itagain? No, no, no,
And then look down and see ifthe cap block is on and can't get

(14:16):
in. Yeah, And then thenI continue my profanity cussing Dave or you
or whoever may have left the capblock on. Right, I am.
I will tell you something that Itry to do, and it's only for
my own benefit, but I tryto return everything I touched to normal what

(14:37):
I call normal. When people comein, they expect certain things to be
a certain way, and when somebodyleaves the cap blocks on them, But
why why did they turn on thosecap blocks? But I measure there's a
lot of people out there that havedone that. It is international body piercing
Day two. And you and Iare talking about getting an appointment maybe later

(14:58):
today. Yeah, yeah, whynot? What what are you gonna get
pierced? I was gonna start atthe top of my head and go down
to my toes. Yes, okay, eye brown maybe uh yeah, maybe
knows lib I don't know. No, thank you? Yours? Yours is
an uncommon one I hear piercing theears. Some people are into that,

(15:20):
you know what, and I andI mean this and don't take offense.
But older guys with pierced ears youlook stupid. You know, there's only
one person that I've seen that Iknow can older guy that can really pull
that off. And who make that? It was Bono from you two?
Well you're a Bono fan. Wrong. Well, he can certainly do a

(15:41):
lot of wrong. It doesn't lookbad with his earring. I will remember
my son when he wanted him whenhe was in high school. I wanted
to get his ear pierced, andI adamantly said no, no, you're
not gonna do that. And myex wife there's a reason she's an ex
um did not quite agree with me. So when I went off on one

(16:03):
of my sporting trips where I hadto go to work for ESPN, I
came home and he had gotten hisear pierced and my wife there and he
said, look Dad, And Isaid, really, look Dad, it's
not something you should be saying rightnow. And I said, I'm not
going to do anything about it becauseyour mom said, okay, go ahead

(16:26):
and get your ear pierced. ButI will tell you this much. If
you pierce your other ear or anyother part of your body, I will
rip it off so you can't doit again. Oh well, Dad's kind
of mean. But anyway, No, I don't know nose. I've gotten
used to him. I guess youknow. I see some nose piercings,

(16:48):
usually a stud or something up inthe nostril. Tongue piercings I never could
figure out. And obviously there areother parts of the body that no,
just no. Uh but yo,I hear you got a piercing, and
then you know it's a it's aguy you've known for years. Hey,
I hear you got a piercing.Yes, I did, well, I

(17:11):
guess I know where. Don't getit. I don't get it. Um,
But anyway, yeah, I don'tknow those uh, tongue piercings.
You know, I was romantic andwhen you did look kissing and you went
towards the frost end of it,I don't know, can you? I

(17:32):
mean with Oh, I don't knowanyway, nobody piercings for Scott or I.
If you guys want one, that'sokay. I won't criticize, but
I will wonder, that's for sure. I like this song I played it
because I liked playing it. I'mgonna play it again today because I think
the message is clear. Mel inthe morning, He's got Kovac here today,

(17:53):
and I got one more day afterthis, Yeah right, I got
tomorrow off, Tomorrow off the vacationday, and then Friday is my day
New Mall. It is the lastyeah, yeah, last breakfast club ever,
yeah, and my last broadcast day. It seems funny, just odd

(18:18):
looking forward to it. And theCity of Ames has been so kind to
say, have announced to hold aretirement party for me out at the water
Plant. I'll be doing the breakfastclub there and then at eight thirty when
the broadcast is over, or somewherearound there. I'll put it that way,
depending on how many guests we have, and we'll be up there till
ten o'clock, greeting people and hopingto see a lot of friends at Center

(18:44):
stop by, and I'll take someCleaneggs with me because I'm a cry baby.
Well and just everybody knows. Yougotta meet Mel out there at the
water Plant. Yeah, between seventhirty, eight thirty or later. He'll
be sticking around yeah and say saying, uh, it's goodbyes to everyone that
wants to stop on buying, whetheryou've wanted to be on his show or

(19:11):
or wanted him to be or wantedwanted him to show up at some points,
uh uh yeah yeah, but hey, after all this time, folks
still looking for my perfect show.That's right, I had it yet today
today, but you know, movingalong pretty smoothly. I'd have to say,
yeah, well what too late.Here's the other thing is I say

(19:34):
that Friday's my last broadcast, anduh, but I want everybody know that
Thursday night, even though I havea vacation day Tomorrow, Thursday night,
I'm going to join Dave, whichwill be both of our last broadcast to
Fame's High Sports um and uh.I told Dave, I said I would

(19:56):
like to come, and because theheat, etc. I haven't been able
to do many games this year's thisyear, but I would like to at
least do the It's the last regularseason game of the year, and I
want to join Dave as we havefor so many years and do the last
game. And we'll be doing Aamesizesoftball tomorrow night and looking forward to that.

(20:21):
Yeah, another bittersweet moment, butgetting out there and I know Dave
would echo this, and the athleticdepartment at Ames High over the years,
many many years, have been someof the greatest people to work with.
And I hope I can say this, Um, I hope you can't do

(20:44):
okay out there at AMAS home IAms High the softball field tomorrow. Of
course it's a home game. Ithink Mels made that clear. Yeah,
tomorrow is the twenty ninth, andthe game starts, you're going to be
there and seated by four or fortyfive. A double header. I didn't
look. I don't know, isn'twell let me look behind me. Yes,

(21:04):
it is. It is a doubleheader, double header against Fort Dodge,
the Fort Dodge Dodgers. But youcan be out there and enjoy being
in the stands and watching that game. Of course Bell will be covering with
the play by or the color guybehind Dave's play by play there, so
that's gonna be fun. And Iwant to say, not only the athletic

(21:26):
department, but the Booster club andthe parents, etc. Have been just
absolutely fabulous over these years. Andis it a hard thing to do,
but but yeah, I want tobe there. And by the way,
the softball team is having a stellaryear. You should know that. So
these are important games as they comeinto the postseason. But anyway, so

(21:47):
Dave and I will be together,well it'd be fair to say our last
broadcast together. And Dave's been withme for fifteen years. Who would think
somebody it stand me that long?But anyway, yeah, he probably doesn't.
He may have a meldoll at home. He stabs pins In's not here.

(22:10):
You know, I feel a cringeevery once in a while. Yeah,
yeah, anyway, Yeah, soagain tomorrow night, if you're at
that game, good opportunity to saythanks to Dave to who's spent some of
the years doing aames high sports.So seeh just so much happening in such
a short time. And as Ias I was telling Scott, I said,

(22:32):
you know, I gave my noticeseven months ago. Seven months ago,
and those first few months, Itell you just drugged by. But
these last two weeks have been it'sbeen like a flash. Well I've been
on vacation a good share of thetime, but just a flash. It's
just going so quickly. And itwas I think Saturday when I woke up

(22:56):
on Saturday and we had some thingsto do at a wedding to go to
that night, but it hit me, you're going to be retired next week
at this time, You're going tobe officially retired. And it was a
strange feeling. It's just a strangefeeling. No, No, three o'clock

(23:22):
in the morning, get ups.I won't miss that part. I will
be honest with you. I mean, I do it. It's a regular
part of my day. But it'snot easier as I as I got older.
And it's kind of funny because onthese vacation days. And I don't
know if I've said this before,stop me, Scott if I have.
But I've been trying to acclimate myself. And I told Chris, I said,

(23:44):
I'm going to go to bed alittle bit later and then see if
I can sleep longer than three o'clockin the morning. Because I automatically wake
up at three. I never hearmy alarm because it doesn't get a chance
to go off. So for acouple of days there, I've declared my
victory, I said, Chris.I said, you realize I've been sleeping
in until you get up to getready for work, which is around six

(24:07):
thirty seven o'clock. She says,yeah, I noticed that. And I
said, yeah, I think I'mgonna be all right. I think I'm
going to acclimate. She goes,do you realize you're not coming into bed
till two or three in the morning. And I have been, I've been
seeing until two or three in themorning, working on things, etc.
And so she's saying, I don'tknow if you've acclimated or not. You're
just coming to bed later and sleepinglater and hours are about the same.

(24:33):
But and I got a phone callfrom my friend out in California who's encouraging
me to write a book. Andmy honest intentions are to write a book.
And I really mean that. Andit's not that I think my life
is so important. It's been colorful, is what it's been. And I

(24:53):
sometimes don't even realize how colorful it'sbeen. But there's any But it knows
me that when I get to tellinga story, there's a lot of them
after this many years. And she'sjust totally convinced it would be of interest
to write. And as I've toldher many times, I said, I'm

(25:14):
a talker, I'm not a writer. But she wants me to get somebody
to transcribe. Let me talk tosomebody and have them maybe edit and write
the book. And Chris would beperfect for it. My wife, although
I don't know, she agrees.But anyway, I'm I'm going to endeavor,
so I'll make no promises, butI will endeavor to do so.

(25:38):
And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'mwrong, But I said, I've got
more phone calls and texts etc.From friends, etc. Longtime friends,
etc. Says don't you dare usemy name in your book? Don't you
dare mentioned me in some of yourescapades. So we'll see what happens.
But anyway, since I some timeon my hands, maybe maybe I'll get

(26:02):
it done. Maybe I will,But then again, maybe I'll have more
important things to do than debor somebodywith the life of Mel Crippen. Uh.
And then I might get a ForWordwritten by Paul Bunyan. I don't
know something like that. You neverknow. It's you can ever who you
can rope into. Uh yeah,the life of Mel Crippen. Uh yeah,

(26:23):
you know, maybe the lapd Melcripping a life on air, walking
on air, walking on There wego, Mel Crippen walking on air and
on air, there you go.We'll take a break, then I'll play
a little music and then we'll comeback. I love that song Pentatonics.
There a song originally done by Ohmy, but that's just the acapella version by

(26:45):
Pentatonics, and I I dedicate thatsong to my wife. I just I
do. And she says, Mel, you're romantically corny, but I do.
She's my cheerleader, and she reallyhas in the last few weeks keeping
me rolling and thinking and put meon the right track. You're not unemployed,

(27:07):
you're retired, you know, oneof those situations. But she's always
right there in my corner, andI appreciate that. For what are we
going on now? I got tothink about thirty three years? Yeah,
thirty three years together in September.Wow, longer than that, but I
mean officially together. You know.We lived in sin for a couple of

(27:27):
years and then you know, butanyway, thanks Chris got to say that,
and she, just like I said, she mothers me. I don't
know, maybe that's part of thedifference in our age or something. But
sometimes I know, Scott, you'llfind this unbelievable. Sometimes common sense escapes

(27:48):
me. Yeah really, yeah,I'm not aware of it. But she
reminds me that sometimes I made mesome bad decisions. Yeah, well you're
not a lowe. No, Ijust ordered myself, I've sund Scott.
I just ordered myself a nice Panamahat. I can't wait to get it.
I love it. I just Ilike panamas. I just think they're
nice looking as and they're great forthe kind of weather we're having. And

(28:12):
since I'm off to Vegas, youknow i'll be out to high roller guess
indeed high rollers. Step back.Let mister Crippin through here. Please,
I don't know those but exactly maybenot seven thirty? What say? Yeah,
why don't you do the birthday Club? The birthday club and there if
you got one of my favorite peoplein there, Betty Salisbury. Yep,

(28:33):
Betty Salisbury is the loan entrance intothe high v happy birthday Club. Here
on fourteen thirty k a sigh.If you want to drop your name or
friend's name in for having a birthdayof June twenty eighth, a's today,
We'll feel free to do so fiveon five two three two, fourteen thirty,
and never know they may win afree birthday cake or bulquea balloons courtesy

(28:55):
of one or the other of ameshigh V. It's that simple. Five
one, five, two three two, fourteen thirty meil on the morning.
I'm fourteen thirty k a sight bo. I'm not sure. I'm oh,
there is, there is, thereis. I'll do I'll do this because
I I don't I don't dare putanybody on air without letting them know that

(29:19):
they are on air. And youare on air, sir. Hey,
Lieutenant Rapp reporting live from specially especiallyLieutenant Rop. That's right, and let
him know that I'm the guy.He's on air, he's the guy,
and he's live. Yeah, heis live. I think he knows it.
So we're live. Yeah, yeah, just making just hold back your

(29:40):
profanity if you would, sir,Yes, sir. Anyway, my friend,
how are we doing out there?We are doing outstanding all the way
across the county. Um for noaccents report, but in lieu of accidents.
I've got a couple um the positivehighlights. I'd like to share from

(30:00):
the last few weeks, some outstandingwork done by our officers. If you
would allow me, I will definitelyallow you. I love hearing it.
Yeah, yeah, So I've gotthree I want to share with you.
One is Officer Patrick O'Brien helped deliverhis fourth baby while on duty. So
not his own, doctor O'Brien,Doctor O'Brien. Yeah, and oh,

(30:23):
doctor Obu, if you will,so outstanding job at him. That's got
to be like one of the mostscary calls. I've been here for almost
twenty years. I haven't had todo it, but man, God bless
Obi if you're getting it done outthere. Yeah, no kidding, all
right, So that's one. Numbertwo is officers, this is crazy.

(30:45):
We had the Aida Hayden, theTriathlonta Aida Hayden over the weekend, right,
so there's some overflow parking across Grandover Grand Avenue over on Aerosmith Trail.
Well, somebody knew that people weregonna be parking over there, probably
gone for two three hours during thetriathlon, and went over and broke into
a bunch of vehicles, smash thewindows, outs, stole credit cards,

(31:07):
stole purses. Well, Officer Spoonknows the m O and he knows that
those people are probably going straight toWalmart by prepaid debit cards. So that
call comes in. He goes overto Walmart and sure enough, bad guy
sees him is acting really suspicious.So Spoon just kind of starts following.
The guy takes off running, chasingsues. We get him. He's got

(31:30):
a whole bunch of stuling property onhim, so we nailed him. We
got him. He went to jail, even though he bonded out and went
down to Ankeny the next day anddid the same thing. But yeah,
got him. We got people's propertyback. So great move on, Spoon.
Great heads up police work there.Yeah, last one that I'm gonna
share with you. While I wason vacation, I've heard that Officer Adic

(31:52):
McPherson was near the train tracks downtownsaw an elderly person trying to cross the
train tracks with a walker, umand the and the gates started to come
down, a train of approaching getsout of his car, sprint sort of
a guy another passer by happening tojump out, and they helped the person
get off the tracks before the traincame. And you know the kind of

(32:14):
the cool thing about this is Adamhelped him get his walker settle on the
other side of the tracks. Yeah, we just went back to doing his
work. He didn't really see anythingto anybody. So a witness called and
told us about it. So um, awesome work by Adam and just this
humble attitude is much appreciated, youknow. So yeah, lots of good
stuff lately over here. It's uh, it's it doesn't surprise me with Adam

(32:37):
or any of the officers and andwhat they do is the fact that it's
they work in line with what they'resupposed to do and they're human beings and
set the example. And it justtouches your heart when you hear these things
and realize the important jobs that areout there that are being done, and

(33:00):
some beyond the call, right yep. And you know, none of them
are looking for very any They justgo about, hey, this is a
job, I'm going to go doit. And I totally respect and they
did a great job. We gotso many guys and gals here that do
a good job. I wish Icould go down to the list and share
something for everybody that was just readinglypeople. So I'm going to share this

(33:20):
today. I could do it tomorrow, but I'm going to do it today
just in case. Yeah, butI want to thank you and all of
the officers that have done these rushminutes reports over the years with me and
how deeply I appreciate you taking timeout of your day when you've got so
many things on the schedule already toshare with the community out there. What's
going on you bet, And youknow what, Mel, it's I know

(33:43):
your your last day is coming upin a couple of days, and we'll
be out there to help you celebratethat. But I am gonna miss calling
in and talking to you. Ireally am. I might just call you
at four o'clock in the morning tosee if you're ahead. You go ahead.
But it's such a such a goodopportunity for us to get on here,
and you provide us a platform toshare stuff about what's going on in

(34:07):
our community in the police department.So we're gonna miss this. We're gonna
miss talking to you. You dosuch a great job. You're irreplacable.
Well how well, um so I'mnot sure that, But I know one
thing. I love all you guys, I really do. You're close to
my heart and I think about youeach and every day and uh and pray
for your safety and and that youget to go home to your families every

(34:30):
night. So yep, and andwe're and we're thankful for you and we're
happy for you to get some timeoff. Yeah, and so the least
right, Yeah, you get sometime off. And I heard you're trying
to get your sleeps figured out.Well, good luck, we all go
through that over here. Yeah,every week. We're happy for you and

(34:50):
it's been been a pleasure. Sowe'll see you on Friday for sure.
All right, look forward to it. Thanks heat, that's good CML.
All right, attended Heathrop of theLAPD Lovelyames Department Police Department giving us our
Rushmanutes report. Coming up next withme, John Utinwaller will join me from
Utilities Customer Service. We got thingsto share with you too. This Rushmanutes

(35:15):
Report brought you by Mary Greeley MedicalCenter doing what's right? Seven fifty one
mail in the morning. I'm fourteenthirty KAESI along with Scott Kovac and of
course joining me now John Utinmaller fromthe City of Ames. He is the
Utilities Customers Service Rep. John.How are you this morning? Great?
Mel? How are you doing?I'm doing wonderful, my friend. What's

(35:37):
new with you? Oh? Youknow, we're getting into our busy season,
so we're ramping up on our applications. Here, and I just wanted
to get the word out on howto handle that this season and a couple
of tips for everybody. All right, I'm up for it. Let me
know what's going on. Then soundsgood. So this time of year we
have people moving in and out ofapartments and houses and transfer and moving from

(35:58):
one location to another, so Iwant to make sure everybody's well aware.
You can sign up for service,transfer your service, or stop your service
from the comfort or your own couchor anywhere. Names if you've got a
smartphone, you can also come inand see us obviously at five one five
Clark Avenue, But really we needto see a start service if you don't
have service now and you're moving intoa location so we can get you set

(36:22):
up. We need to get atransfer service if you're somewhere in the city
right now with service and moving toanother location, And then we also need
that ever important stop service. Youknow, we try to read people's minds,
but we don't know if you leaveyour property or not, so we
need to hear from you so wecan stop that and stop building you for
any service at the location. John, is it oftentimes that people forget to

(36:45):
stop that service and then all ofa sudden, I don't know that you
probably get this kind of called someoneforgets to stop service, but then you
get a call from the new residentthat wants to start service exactly. You
know, we get both calls.We get calls that, hey, why
am I still getting a bill?You know, we never heard from you
when you moved out, or somebodynew signs up and so then we switch

(37:07):
it to their name just because that'swhen we're finding out that somebody news moving
into the property. So to preventthose extra charges or charging the wrong customer,
we want to make sure we getthe proper notifications in for starting service
or ending service. Is there anycost to those notifications, et cetera.

(37:27):
If you're starting service, is thereinitial cost? Absolutely not. We go
out and we read the meter foryou, find out where you're starting service,
and start charging it from there.We do the same as if you're
stopping service. We go out,we read that meter, but there's no
additional service charge or startup fear oranything like that. The only thing that
you might incur is a deposit thatwe do put on the account for new

(37:49):
customers who don't provide any type ofcredit history, but we can also waive
those if we get somebody else,another utility company from your previous city,
and then that to us saying they'rea great customer, they pay on time,
and here's the proof with those depositsvary, and they will vary.
It's all dependent on what services youhave at the location, as well as

(38:13):
the history historical use on those utilities. And then of course you get those
back after twelve months of on timepayments, or if you move out of
the apartment and move out of thecity, we refund those to the account
and you get a check back foranything that's left over. I frequently think
about my daughter when she was goingto Iowa State and she didn't want to

(38:35):
live at home of course, andchange locations every year out of four years.
And I imagine you get a lotof that with especially the university students
who you know, want to movecloser to central campus or wanted to move
further away from central campus, butall kinds of those changes. Certainly,
certainly, Yeah, I do noticethat you help us a lot if everybody

(39:00):
stayed in the same location, buteverybody moves for various reasons, and so
we're happy to help and the sooneryou can let us know the better.
That way, we get your datefor initial and final reads on the calendar
and we don't have to push anything. Last year, I think we got
to about two thousand work orders inone day. We contemplated starting to push

(39:22):
dates there. So the sooner thebetter, and we can plan ahead and
make sure we get you taken careof on the date you request. And
this is this is your busiest timeof year. Absolutely starting here. You
know, we've already started seeing uptick, which is good. So I think
people are getting their applications in soonerthis year and that's helping us and we'll

(39:43):
help them eventually. But starting Julyfirst through about August fifteenth, we see
a pretty heavy increase in activity backlog. Huh yeah, exactly. I imagine
that your folks are running pretty hardduring these next couple Yeah. We do
our best to limit that over time, but unfortunately, just with the volume,

(40:05):
sometimes we do have to work anight or a weekend, and that
helps us too if we can getit in sooner that we get you off
prepped beforehand and don't have to rushthem through last minute. Yeah, any
other advice for folks out there,yeah, I'm really trying to get in
front of our customers and get theword out. I know a lot of
people already know about it, butI'm trying to get it out there for

(40:27):
everybody. We try to make lifeas simple as possible. We do that
through various ways of payment and notificationwith bills. So what I'm really trying
to get out there is to makelife simpler. You can go to our
website aim Utilities dot com to signup for any of those start services,
but you can also sign up forwhat we call e notification and you'll get

(40:49):
an email copy of your bill eachmonth the date that it's printed, and
so instead of waiting for it tocome in the mail, you can just
get it right to your email boxthat same day. Oh nice, exactly.
And then we can also sign youup for what we call auto pay,
and every month, when the dueday to the bill rolls around,
if you provide us with your bankinformation, we can put that in there

(41:12):
and then just automatically deduct that foryou and you don't have to worry about
did I get that paid this month? Am I late? Or getting any
other notices from us about being late. So sounds great, all right,
well, John has always my completepleasure in talking to you today. Same
to you, Mel. I hopeyou have a great day. Thank you
sir. We'll talk to you againsoon. Thank you, byeye, John
Utenmaller the Utilities Customer Service. Checkout the website. You can get a

(41:35):
lot done there. Mel. Inthe morning, I'm fourteen thirty Kasi,
coming up on to eight fifteen.It is a Wednesday morning. I'm back
at work. I don't know.I take a couple of days off here,
a couple of days off there,and I've normally back for a day
and then I'm off tomorrow using upsome more vacation, and then my final
day Friday, and breakfast club willbe full. There'll be a lot of

(42:01):
people there body of events going on, and as always we'd like to share
them with the folks out there sothey can make their plans. And also
invite you tomorrow morning at eight fortyfive to join Scott and Dave as they
get a report from Kevin, ofcourse Burt from Discovery Aims and letting you

(42:25):
know some other events that are thatare going on out there, so lots
of ways to find out just whatthe hecks going on in this community where
you should be or where you don'twant to go sometimes depending on how busy
it is. Farmers Market of course, on Main Street. That'll be great.
I'm looking forward. You know,we're really close to the fourth of
July. Yeah, it's Tuesday.Yeah, Tuesday, when um, anytime

(42:52):
Tuesday usually I was just looking atit like a week away. When is
it? Nope, this Tuesday comingup? Yeah, holy buckets, I
am so far off. I wasthinking there was another week in between there.
But Mel, you're retiring on thelast day of June. Yes,

(43:12):
it means the first day of Julyis on Saturday, and the fourth of
July is Tuesday. You are absolutelyright, and I better be cognizant of
that. I have been honored withbeing appointed the parade Marshal for the fourth
of July. I'm looking forward tothat. Yeah, that'll be I don't

(43:36):
know what to say. The wordsaren't sufficient for how I feel. As
they as they asked me to dothis, and for many, many years
I hosted the Fourth of July paradeby announcing it on Main Street. And
this year I get to be init and and up towards the front.
Yeah. Yeah, I'm right behindthe American Legion. Do we know yet

(43:58):
what kind of car you'll be writingin? Should I am not make inquiry?
Yeah? No, I don't knowwhat kind of car for sure.
I know it's being provided by aamesFord Lincoln, though I do know that,
Okay, And um, I amassuming it's convertible or I'll be sitting
on the roof, but I will. I'll be waving, given my Royal

(44:22):
Wave, etc. But I asI look out amongst the faces that line
those streets out there, I justwant to I know this with scarroll of
you. I don't want to hugevery one of you and say thank you,
I really do. I want tohave time to say thank you,
shake your hand and doing that.I am so humbled. I am so

(44:44):
much in debt to this community andthe people who live in it for all
they've given me over these many,many, many many years, not just
on radio, but from the timeI moved here to ames and have watched
our community row and prosper gain newcitizens, lose some citizens. It's been

(45:06):
experience I can't express. My hearthas not found the words, um to
say thanks, other than to saythanks and know that it's heartfelt thanks.
It's the most sincere thanks. Ican work up and I'll be writing along
in the all the people along there, it's family. They're all family to

(45:28):
me. And uh, and Iknow some of you don't know what I
look like, and probably that's formy own protection, but uh, yeah,
it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. More people have recognized me by
my voice than my looks. Iwill tell you that, Um, this
is only natural being a radio host. Yeah, I think so, but
I you know, I've never thoughtmy voice was anything out of the ordinary.

(45:51):
So well, it's good for radio, sir. And the face as
we both we both have faces forradio. There we go. But anyway,
I will be very humble and Iwill be waving. And I don't
know if I have anything to throw. I don't know if they're gonna give
me anything that I can throw outfor the kids or something. Um,

(46:12):
but the best thing I can throwout to my love and best wishes for
your futures too, and keep thecity rocking through the rest of my life,
I hope. Uh. And yeah, it's uh. I'm it seems
like I say this a lot,but I will try not to shed tears.
I'm just not I and their tearsof happiness and there their tears of

(46:37):
joy. But I'm I'm a sap. I'm the first one to admit that
I cry at the drop of ahat. And uh, making that last
parade run there, it's gonna bepretty emotional for me. Uh. And
I know that in talking with MikeGlimo, they're gonna have me come to

(46:58):
the band Shell. I think onthe twentieth I got to get that confirmed
for sure, and they wanted topay respect to me. And again I'm
humble because I am the one whoowes them. I have always looked at
the bandshell and the municipal concerts aspart of what kept me in aimes.
And I always said the wonderful thingabout aims And I think about the Iowa

(47:22):
States Center and some of the otherplaces here where we welcome in national acts
were big time. We got toget some big time acts that come into
like the Io State Center, etc. And then the kids come back and
we double our size as a cityand we're a big city or a moderately
big city at that time. Andthen when the migration goes in the summertime,

(47:47):
then we become a little more smalltown, and I said softball games,
community softball games, which I wasa part of, the municipal band
concerts on Thursday nights, all linesof what was tradition years and years ago
and has maintained itself so well herein our city, with a beautiful,
beautiful facility to present him in thereat the Bandshell and a chance for citizens

(48:13):
of all ages to get together incommon enjoyment on Thursday nights at eight o'clock.
So, yeah, I always talkedabout I was offered the Bandshell hosting
job years ago and I had todecline because of my schedule. But I'm

(48:36):
proud to say I had suggested JohnLarkins, and of course John works here
Sundays and has done a stellar jobover there with the maestro mister Galimo Michael,
And yeah, and again I havea great concert coming up this Thursday,
and Michael being tomorrow morning around eighto'clock to let you know what's going

(48:59):
on with the concert. So that'sthe thing, that's the things I miss
or will miss, is you know, getting to give with Mike during the
concert season and talking about that Vickywho comes in, let's us know what's
going on with prime time alive justseeing Vicky. Vicky and I have that.
A Dave always says it about it, says, you guys eventually get

(49:21):
to work. Says you are sobusy talking to each other about your families
and things that are going on,and then you can seem to work in
what's going on with primetime. AndI said, well, we're old friends
and that's what friends do. Weget caught up with each other. And
my thanks to the Issue Extension Servicewhich joins me every other Thursday. It
gets us up to date on someof the services they're offering. Mary Wilkins

(49:44):
and the whole gang over there,who've just been excellent to work with throughout
the year. Susan Guiasta, communityrelations officer with the City of Ames,
who gets me all my guests aroundseven fifty and all those guests in particular
for you know, taking time outthere busy morning schedules to talk to the

(50:05):
old guy, let them know what'sgoing on. And needless to say,
the police department here names which hasso graciously joined me in the rush Minutes
report years ago and continue to doso. But so many thanks to give
out their mayor Hala, who joinedus every other money before council meetings and

(50:30):
got us up to date. Iwant to expect and what might come out
of those meetings and all the manymany breakfast club hosts over the years,
and there have been many, andmy opportunity to get out into the community
and talk with folks and learn moreabout them. United Way of Story County,
who's been so gracious over the yearsand provided me and then I could

(50:53):
go through and I am evidently goingthrough more than I need to. But
but I'm home. I'm just humbled. I am I have had, I
say this without reservation, one ofthe most blessed lives that anybody could ever
have, and opportunities, many ofwhich fell into my lap. But just

(51:17):
getting to know this community and thegenerous quality of its citizens, both in
financial generosity and in time generosity throughvolunteerism, etc. That keep this city
clicking along and keeping it at theforefront of a lot of people's minds.

(51:37):
You know what a month this isgoing to be. Midnight Madness is coming
up soon, Iowa Games will becoming to town very very soon. Those
are the two biggies I can thinkof right now. And then you know,
not long after that rummage rampage comingup, which has proven to be
quite a thing. But also thekids will be coming back. I call

(52:00):
them kids, but the young people. We'll be coming back, and we'll
be off into another season and specialthanks to the game's high athletic Department,
the Iowa State Athletic Department, anduniversity officials that have helped me along and
maybe seem much smarter than I am. That's for sure. We would take

(52:21):
a break thanks to all of you. I'll see a lot of you,
hopefully tomorrow, but maybe many manymore along the parade route there by tomorrow.
Do you mean Friday? Yeah?Oh sorry, Friday. Yeah,
I'm off tomorrow. Or maybe i'llsee at the softball game tomorrow night.
A couple of places we might gettogether. Okay, Scott, I know

(52:42):
this has been bothering you because Iever since you've heard the report on the
news, Yes, that the DNRSasking us to report wild turkeys so they
can get a head count on them. Right. Yeah, And you said,
Mell, how do I know?How do I know? They want
to know the genders? So whatyou saw? And uh, you know,
I grew up. I didn't knowany other way to tell and go

(53:06):
up and grab the turkey and spreadits right, So you got there or
anything? Yeah? You know?Are you? Are you a rooster?
Or are you in? But there'san easier way. And I don't know
if you've ever tried to catch awild turkey. I have not. I
have not. Had you never killedone either? No? No, nor
have I. M But I've seenhim. Have you seen him out in
a while? Yeah? I meanI've seen him in fields and so far

(53:29):
probably not where they Yeah, Idon't know. But theisiest way to determine
a turkey sex for any of youwho might see one out there. I
don't want you molesting them. Uh, examine the feathers on the breast and
sides of the turkeys. If it'sa male turkey, the feathers will have

(53:51):
black tips, and if it's female, the tips of the feathers are brown.
So there you there's the way youcan do it. I've never seen
hatchlings with them. Usually when I'veseen him has just been like, what
do you call them? Are theya gaggle? Are they flock? Are
they? Oh that's a great question. Yeah, he's gonna have to look

(54:14):
it up. I'm gonna have tolook at it. I'm I do this
just sturt his his great matter upthere with with things that you really never
even thought you'd care about no one, And frankly, mel I still don't.
But I will look at for you. I don't know, Uh,

(54:35):
at what age can you tell ifa turkey is a male or female?
Um? Around three weeks of ageswhen you can tell. Okay, so
a group of wild turkeys called aflock. Okay, nothing too original there,
but no, it's not a gaggle. I don't. Why is Why

(54:57):
are geese and gaggles turkeys and flocks? Why aren't geese in flocks or turkeys
and gaggles? That's a great question. Yeah, I've never actually had to
consider that prior to this moment.Nor again, you never wanted to,
wouldn't give it the time of theday. But melk here, but we
do care. Yeah, we're gonnahelp the DNR. That's right. They

(55:19):
do a lot of good things outthere and depend on the public for a
lot of things. And I can'timagine doing head counts on things like that.
I mean, I mean you reallyhave to depend on the general public.
I mean, are you going todrive around and look for him or
something. Somebody got a full timejob doing that. I'm trying to hunt
him down. Oh that one's gettingaway. Oh how about that? You

(55:40):
need to count that one. Hey, don't count this one. I got
him. I got him. Yeah. I wonder how many bow hunters get
turkeys. Oh that's interesting. Ican see a shotgun. I wonder,
I wonder about the bow. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you can do
it. It seems to be uhyeah, dear, un right now is
prominent as long as you've got avehicle. Unfortunately again, I'm driving down

(56:06):
the interstate down thirty five to Demoinethe other day and there were several deadh
does what I assumed to be doesright out there. They're just skittish this
time of year. They've got theirtheir young UN's usually with them. And
I fear the moment that I seea doe dead and then Bamby laying next
to her. Oh yeah, youknow. That is one of the first

(56:30):
movies I remember, Bambi Bamby,and I was so sad. I was
so sad, especially when mom andDad got burnt up in the forest fire.
Yeah, yeah, isn't it funny? Bamby is the first one I
remember Pinocchio was another one, andI'm trying to think there seems to be

(56:51):
one other one. It was itCinderella or snow White. I get those
mixed up sometimes, But anyway,Disney was really entered aining for me in
my early years, and animation haschanged so much over the years. Now
these computer generated shows get to meand I'm always in wonder where do these

(57:16):
people come up with their storyboards?How do they think these things? Especially
when I watch a kids show I'mgoing they work so many educational things for
young kids that are growing up andwork them into their storylines. It somewhat
amazes me, I have to tellyou. But and as I've mentioned before,

(57:39):
I had a chance to meet Waltjust for a few minutes at the
Denver, Colorado Airport many many yearsago, back in the what would have
been the early fifties, and hewas off too. As I understand,
that was a business trip to Florida, which was later to become a Disney
World location. Wow, yeah,that's pretty cool. It was. How

(58:02):
old were you at the time.Seven? That's perfect time to meet Walt
Disney, wasn't it. It was? It was well, we were staying
with his niece out there. Myfolks were in the midst of a divorce,
and his niece offered us shelter fora while. I'm almost getting a
good friend of my mom from whenshe was growing up. That's how they

(58:22):
made the connection, and so westayed with her, and Walt just happened
to be flying through and decided stop. He'd stay high to her. And
it was very very short for us, but we loved it because she had
so many She had a projector andstuff, and she would show us cartoons
during the daytime. We'd sit intheir living room sometimes and watch cartoons.

(58:45):
And then her husband, who wasin the Air Force, would send back
pictures. He was stationed up inAntarctica, and it would send pictures of
the ice floes and some of theanimals that set her up there. And
for as bad a time as itwas, it was kind of a cool
time for a kid, that's forsure. And yeah, but that's where

(59:07):
I learned to hate rice, becausethey lived on commodities basically from the military,
and they would get like big bagsof rice, and they would get
big jars of peanut butter. Iactually, for a kid, it would
be awful, but I actually drewto hate peanut butter. Wow. It

(59:30):
took me years just started eating riceagain and ending peanut because every every night
it seemed and it wasn't that itwasn't delicious, but it was like Spanish
rice. And for lunch we hadpeanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yeah.
I'm thankful though, Joanne, thankyou. Yeah. I don't know if

(59:50):
she's still alive or not, butit was appreciated at the time, much
like my time right now is appreciatedthat I get with Nancy Shaw all right,
and to be honest, there sheis. I had just gotten to

(01:00:12):
you. Hello, Hi, Nance. I thought you were gonna push me
away and put me on the voicemail. Not me. I feel so honored
I get to talk to you today. This is our last time. I
know. Are you so excited?You know I'm sad? No, I
mean, okay, yeah, Iknow you're sad because you know you could

(01:00:35):
just come back every Wednesday at eightfifty one and talk to me. I
wish. Heck, no, Iwish. Yeah, I'm just kidding.
You know what I'm saying. Ineed to make a clean break nan.
Oh my gosh. Absolutely, Andyou're gonna be busy biking and walking and
getting outside. Maybe not today.Maybe I can go to a class or

(01:00:57):
something. You could come to aclass. I can go water walking.
Possibilities are endless. Yeah, whenis the water walk? That's like around
noon or so, it's eleven toone Monday, mighty to Friday. For
sure, that's something I should do. Well. I think you would enjoy
it. Oh, I do too. I mean, have you ever done
You've never done it? Have you? No? I can't swim you don't,

(01:01:20):
no, I know, because it'swhat is it, the raging river
or whatever it's called. Yes,yeah, so you just walk, right,
you just walk, You walk againstthe stream. You can walk a
guest or with okay, okay,so it doesn't matter which way you go.
People go different ways depending on whatthey're looking for. Maybe when you
start you just want to go withthe current. It's not quite as intense.

(01:01:42):
Well, you know what. Itkind of bothers me though, a
little bit, because getting down therein a swimsuit and you know what,
you gotta let that go, andand well it's you know, being a
Greek god of sorts out there.I just I want the ladies to concentrate
on their walking. You know what. Yeah, it's all good. Yeah,

(01:02:02):
it would be no problem for it. Nobody pays any tech to anybody.
They're just all focusing on walking.First time I get in that river
there, here's what you're here?No, what is that? Oh my
god? No, that it's awalrus. Okay, you gonna let that
go. Okay, I'll let itgo. Excited. I'm gonna check in
with you periodically. I don't knowhow well. I'm gonna go down there

(01:02:24):
and see if you're water walking.A I do go down there quite a
bit at that time, because theyhave classes at eleven there. So oh
well, look for when I getmy binoculars and looking for you. Now,
let me ask this, as wesay about water walking. Do you
buy a pool pass? Is thatthe way you do that or how that?
There's different ways you can do itif you plan on going a lot,
I would definitely get a pool pass. It's worth You're definitely worth the

(01:02:46):
money. And my family has onealready. Oh well, then you don't
have to get a pool pass.Yeah. I don't know if she got
the family one, though, Ihope she did. Well, I'm sure
she did. And then I'm sureyou're seeing that one for you because she
has helps for you. So it'sdefinitely. There's also you can pay for
time, and there's a punch cardtoo, where you pay for I think

(01:03:07):
eleven and get twelve, okay,um, or maybe by ten and get
eleven you get one. I thinkyou got me convinced. I think you
just need to go try it.It's really not good, Nancy. What's
that that's not good? Why?Because my wife is going to say,
what's up with you? In thatshaw gal? Oh No, because she's

(01:03:28):
been she's been trying to convince mefor a long time. Wow. But
you are on a new chapter ofyour life where you get to try things.
Yeah, that's true at times thatyou have not in the past been
able to. Yeah. I've alwaysforget it. I never learned to swim.
Yeah, you know, well you'renot too late for that either.
But I'd say that's another conversation.But no, it's not. Are adult

(01:03:52):
lessons too? Yeah? Are theprivate or is it like group you can
do either? Okay, there's groupadult lessons boys, you know, dunk
me under and stuff? Right?Yeah, No, I mean people do
want to learn to swim if theydon't and that's why adults some lessons are
so popular. Well, I feellike I missed out on so much in

(01:04:12):
life. Yeah. With that,my mom used to talk. You scare
me because my mom talked about howshe learned to swim. They just dumped
her in the water. Yeah,they took her out in the middle of
the lake. Oh wow, ina rowboat Gray's Lake down in Des Moines.
Oh wow, and took her outin the middle of that and threw
more boats. It's sink or swim. And I have heard of them doing

(01:04:33):
that with babies. Yeah, Inot in a lake. I would not
be comfortable no matter where it is. And my grandson has learned to swim,
and you know, he's under twoyears of age. He's like nineteen
months right now and he knows howto swim. Oh wow. Yeah,
so that's awesome Dad. They starthim early. Yeah. In the whole

(01:04:55):
different world now. Yeah, ithas changed, change a little bit.
Yeah, and there are so manyways that you get in shape change.
Yes, of course we had tolead into that. So we got a
new such a a fitness classes startingthis week, So please sign up for
classes. It's fun. Sign upfor just one. Do something different.

(01:05:17):
We have flexibility. If you haveto miss your class, you can make
up in other classes. It's justit's a fun thing to do. It's
very social and it's you know,I highly recommend it. I would agree,
I would agree. And we're intoa, to be quite honest,
a no excuse age kind of weare. Yeah, I mean, no

(01:05:43):
good excuse age, no good excuses. Yeah. And if you want to
get in shape, the diversity ofthe classes, you're going to find something
you like. You're going to bewith people you want to be and you're
going to be encouraged to continue justto get in shape exactly. And it's
just fun too, let's not forgetthat. Yeah, you guys make it
fun. You make people need youknow, people need social in their life.

(01:06:08):
Yeah, well, how can theysocially get connected dancing? Well,
give us a call. I wantfive to three nine five three five o
aamesparkrect dot org all right, orjust check out our Facebook page. We're
always posting what's coming up on that. You can see what's all going on.
All right, Nancy, thanks forall these years. Now, good
luck. I can't wait to seeyou at the pool. All right.