Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Uncle Mike, and welcome to the podcast for Red
White and Blue Saturday Afternoons with Uncle Mike on one
O seven three w r w D. I'm going to
use this podcast each week to replay some of the
interviews I do on the show that you may have missed.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
I'm Uncle Mike, and you're listening to Red White and
Blue Saturday Afternoon with Uncle Mike on one O seven
three wr WD. I had a conversation recently with one
of my personal heroes and a dear friend, retired US
Army Colonel Christopher Holschek, and he's here to talk about
the veteran's call to Action for youth development. That's a
very inspiring title, Christopher, and I'm going to call you Christopher.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
All right, absolutely, Mike, we know each other too well.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So Chris, that's a real intriguing title. And money you
fill us in a little bit about what you have
in mind.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well, I think one I think I want to point
out here to folks in the communities is there's a
resource out there, you know, and we know we have
a need for civic education in this country. We know
we have a need to make our youth better citizens
than the ones we've been. And so so what we
have are and I'm going to talk about three distinct
programs that are co sponsored by the American Legion, one
(01:07):
of which is it goes back to when I was
a kid in high school. What I want people to
understand is that it's the community of veterans out there
that have these resources and we can get across this
idea of service in general. Whether it's at the community level,
national level, doesn't matter really, but we get this idea
of service across as a way of being a better citizen.
(01:28):
And only veterans can can put on programs like the
ones that we're talking about. And so I think that
folks what they need to understand is is don't just
look at us veterans as people to you lavish respect
on and thank them for our service and all that stuff.
The best way of fact, in fact you can make
you can thank of veterans to make him a more
(01:49):
integral part of your community. So look at veteran service
organizations like the American Legion, like the VFW as sources
of civic education, a law the lines of service learning
for our kids. And it's a very rich resource and
it's right on our noses.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And it's a win win for everybody, because the veterans
are looking a lot of veterans who maybe you haven't
come all the way home yet, are looking for a purpose. Absolutely,
and this is a purpose, absolutely, a really big purpose.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Absolutely, most most of us veterans when we come back,
we we you know, when you get I tell kids
all the time when I go to the schools to
talk about service, we are bitten by the service bug.
So after we've done our national service, we come back
into our communities and we get involved in community service.
And that, in fact, that's a good thing for people
to remember, is that when you see that American Legion
(02:40):
sign or that VFW signed, don't just think of them
as veteran service organizations. We're community service organizations.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Absolutely absolutely, And no I say all the time, Chris,
that I deal a lot in the veteran community. I
know so many veterans sure do. And it's in their DNA,
it is, you know, I'm talking about male female soldiers
and marines and salors. It's in their DNA to serve.
And when that military service is over, they need a purpose.
(03:11):
And this is a purpose, a serious purpose, a serious purpose.
You can turn this country into the place that we
all want it.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
To be, absolutely regardless of where you are. Yep, no
matter where you are on the political spectrum map.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
So let's talk a little bit about the programs you
have in mind.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Okay, Well, first I'm going to go back to the
most storied of them, and this is Boys and Girls State. Now,
the best way I can describe Boys and Girls State,
it's a civics camp. It takes place at the end
of June. That's for the Boys State up in Morrisville,
New York, usually Syney Morrisville, and Girl State takes place
at the first week of July, usually up around where
Sydney Morrisville isn't sometimes out into Syney Morrisville. But these
(03:45):
are basically a week long civics camp. You put your
kid on a bus and you send them up there
all around New York State and you learn how government
works based on the Constitution of the State of New York.
So you actually get to practice it. You get to
be you get to run for the State Assembly, you
get to do all the sorts of things, and you
(04:07):
learn what government is supposed to be.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I can tell you, Chris that there's a lot of
parents that you go on that trip as well.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Oh absolutely, yeah, no, civics. We have a we have
a huge dearth of PA civic education and because we've
got to turn it around, but we should start with
our kids.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And uh and and I'm an alumnus. I went there
in nineteen seventy seven out of Washingtonville High School.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
So yeah, so I've been there and done that. And
it's a great program. They got, they got, you know,
you get, you get. You get a lot of folks
coming in from all around the state and different levels
of the government, different level, different you know, retire generals,
all sorts of things, and people talking to you about,
you know, what it means to be a good citizen.
(04:46):
So you learn about citizenship, you learn what to demand
from your government as a good citizen, because that that
our government's not going to get any better if we're
we're not better citizens. I think that's a huge, huge
lesson that you get from Boys and Girls State. But
you get to understand how it all works.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
You know, it's fascinating because most people kind of miss
the fact that they are public servants and they're actually working.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
For us, supposed to be working for us, absolutely, and.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
That gets lost sometimes.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Well, you know, that's why I tell Mike, that's why
I tell the one of the reasons that veterans are
are really among the most respected people in our countries
because we are held up as the epitome of public service.
We are the epitome of what a public servant is.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
That's true. And by the way, I'm going to give
out during our chat here, I'm going to give out
two websites. One of course, is one near and dear
to my heart, which is hfionaflight dot com. I've done
a lot on the flight I continue. And the other
one is National Service ride dot net. So hfanaflight dot
com write that one down or National Service ride dot net.
(05:48):
Both of these websites are integral and with what we're
talking about, and a lot of the most all of
the information that we're talking about you can find on
these two sites. So you have a reference to go
to because you're listening on the radio. Now you're going
to try to remember all this and you can't remember
it all. Yeah, but these are two sites again, hvanaflight
dot com or National Service Ride dot Net and go
to those sites and it'll reinforce everything we're going to
(06:10):
talk about for the rest of this conversation. Absolutely, So
what's what's there? So the next.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
One is the Honor Flight. Let's get into the honor
f okay, now, the honor Jennifer came to me a
couple of years ago about this and she said, you know,
somehow we got to get our youth involved in this,
absolutely because she she knows my National Service Ride project
where I try to get into the schools and I
talk about, you know, the importance of doing service as
part of your education. So what we did is we
put together a program that's been it's coming out of
(06:38):
the pilot stage now, but basically what it is is
youth Guardians. Now, a guardian is somebody that escorts one
of the veterans going down and the youth guardian. The
idea of the youth guardian is for two things to happen. One,
the youth guardian gets a first hand exposure by going
with that veteran all day. They get to learn their story,
(06:58):
and they get to under a personal understanding of what
service and sacrifice and patriotism is. And it's a very
moving day for them, for both the veteran and for
the guardian.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So as you know, I've interviewed a few of your
youth guardians with the veteran joke on Figlio from Pleasant
Valley Huts to go with them. Yeah, and that was
a fascinating story because for people who don't. First of all,
if you don't know what honor flight is, shame on you.
But if you don't know what honor flight is, honor
flight takes a veteran. We started with World War Two
(07:30):
and we're almost out of World War Two veterans because
they're almost all.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Gone, about eighty five percent Vietnam vets now Korea.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
And then we went on to Korea, which is just
to take away age wise from them. And now most
of our flights, I'd say, if there's eighty heroes on
the flight, at least sixty five are Vietnam now. But
it takes them to Washington, d C. Third Day treats
them like a rock star, gives them the respect that
they deserve, but they take them to all the monuments
(07:59):
that they may not ever get to in their life
down in Washington. They do it all one day. It
doesn't matter if you're mobile or you're not mobile. They
get you down there and that's part of where the
guardian comes in to make sure you're okay. But to
your point, the youth guardians that I talk to, it
changed their life. It changed their perspective. Some of them
(08:19):
had military members in their families but never really talk
to them because veterans don't really talk about their service, right,
But when you spend twenty four well almost it's twenty hours,
but you know, you start five in the morning and
it's nine or ten o'clock a night before they get
back and they part ways. You spend that much time
with somebody, even if they don't tell you their stories,
(08:40):
you're going to overhear their conversations and you're going to
pick up on what it's all about. And these kids
were just blown away by some of the stories they heard,
not only from the veteran that they were with the
guardian of, but from the other veterans. Yes, and it
changed their perspective.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Changes the veteran too, because you know, when I get
them together in a little huddle before they all go off,
look at the veterans and say, okay, your mission is
to tell these kids. Your story and your mission pointing
to the kids is to listen and learn, and then
you're going to tell your story about what you experienced,
all your classmates and just people in the community, in
your family. Yeah, and your family.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah, because your family made out of the bag supposed
to it.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Either. Your family is your first level of community, by
the way. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
So that's the Youth Guardian program and that they have
to they have to be they.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Have they have to be at least seventy teen years
old at the time of the flight. And there's a
whole program memo on it, and you can download that
in any of the websites that that might just explained.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Well, particularly onflight dot com and look for the Guardian
Youth Program and all the criteria and how to get
involved is all there.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And the third what's the third.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Part, service learning seminars.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Okay, So when we come back, we're going to get
right into service learning seminars.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
I'm Uncle Mike and you're listening to Red, White, and
Blue Saturday Afternoon with Uncle Mike. I'm one O seventy
three w r w D. Colonel Halshek Chris, my good
friend is here with us. We were talking about the
Boy and Girl Boys and Girls State.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Boys and Girls State, and the Honor Flight Youth Guardian programs.
And the third thing is is more specific to the
National Service Ride, which is something I put together a
few years ago and we work with the American Legion
on that, but we go into the schools. The whole
idea is to introduce service as not just something you do,
but part of something you are. You know, it's part
(10:31):
of your identity. And you know our country has been
founded on volunteerism or no, you're not kidd the minutemen,
you know, just that you know they weren't getting paid
right away. I mean, so this is a huge strength
of our country. My wife is from Spain and one
of the things that she myres about this country is
our first of all sons of patriotism. Secondly is our
respect for our veterans. But most importantly the third one
(10:51):
is the sense of volunteerism that so much is done
in our communities by volunteers.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You know, it fascinates me, Chris is you know when
we think of out what happened to us on nine
to eleven, horrible and no whetter where you want to go.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It was.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It was, it was a horrible situation. But I always
tell people that I want to remember September twelfth because
on September twelfth we were a united country again. It
didn't last very long, and we lasted for a few months,
but September twelfth is exactly what you want to get back.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
To, right exactly, And that's September twelfth.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yeah, But in my mind, that's the way I think
of it all the time. When somebody brings up September eleventh,
I honor and respect everything that happened to all our
heroes that day, but I always go right to I
just wish we could get back to September twelfth and
keep it there because that was the United States I
remember as a young kid growing up here. That was
more the mentality we had.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Well, we think we got a pathway to that. And
what we want to do is again veterans being as
respected as they are, as being the exemplars of service.
We want to come into the schools and we have
really good when we get in and connect with the kids.
It's really kind of magic. But we talked to everything
from elementary school kids and tell them what we want
to teach them in maybe fifteen minutes to a half
an hour is service is kindness. And then the first
(12:07):
your first active service and your service career, and your
your first level of communities, your family. So guess what
your gets. What's the most important thing you should do
every day when you get up is make your bed.
Sure you know first the first thing you do. That's
your civic responsibility. Yep, it sounds so simple. But if
you get started with that, and then we work our
way through the grades and we get to high school,
(12:27):
and when high school gets really really interesting because what
we point out to them is the importance of doing service,
not just to their country and their community, but to
them because everywhere you're looking at we live in a
service economy, and every where you're looking employers are starting
to figure out that labor isn't just a cost, it's
an investment. And the biggest, the biggest, the biggest drag
(12:50):
on the bottom line is employee turnover. So if you
want to be able to invest in these kids, you
got to know something about their character. So what do
they look for? And this is true everywhere there is
more and more schools, more and more anywhere you apply
to people not you know, I tell the kids this
look six months after whatever your academic education part is,
you know, high school, college, whatever, no one is going
(13:11):
to know or care what your grade point average was.
They want to know what you've done. And this is
where you can help yourself, regardless of whether you sit
in the front or the back of the classroom, to
get yourself not only on a successful career track, but
to become a meaningful and well connected person in your community.
And we all know we have lots of social challenges
(13:33):
as well.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I can tell you dealing with some of the biggest
corporations in the world with what we do. Corporations today
have They still want to know about your you know,
your your resume, they want to know all your back sure,
but corporations today, a successful ones create a culture within
the corporation. They want a culture that you feel part of,
(13:55):
that you feel you're contributing to, that you feel you're
enhancing all that is important to corporations today. So not
just a military, but companies today are exactly what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
This is the importance of character. I mean, my old
one of my old bosses, Stan McCrystal, talks about this
in his most recent book, that's the importance of character
as being a game changer, is being a discriminator if
you will, and and this is really good news. It's
like I said, I love to reach those kids in
the back of the classroom because not everybody you know
(14:26):
can Can you have a four point zero grade point
average and go to Harvard, But that doesn't mean you
can't be a meaningful and successful member of our society.
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
It always fascinates me when you think about how you're
hired today and the resumes or do you have to
have a resume?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, when I'm.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Looking some of the organizations that I work with and
some businesses that I'm getting involved with, where I am
going to be making those decisions, I don't want to
say it sound this crashly, but I don't give a
ratsass about your resume. Because you wrote your resume, You're
not going to write anything that's right that you don't
think is going to truss me. I need to know
what you think you've done.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Right outside of that resume. I want to know your character.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I want to know that if for me, if I
hire you, you're going to be part of my family,
right and I'm very choosy about who's the mine, and
it's that part of.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
The resume that says what your community service was and oh,
by the way, you can back that up with certificates.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I am speaking with retired Army Colonel Christopher Holshack, my
buddy Chris, about three very distinct programs that he has
committed the remainder of his life to through the American
Legion VFW and his own personal foundation he's created to
re engage our young people, to get our younger people
to understand how the government works and have them become
productive citizens.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
You know, in the Orange Dutchess County has a relationship
going on with the United Way and there's a scene
called the Volunteer Portal, And not only do the organizations
sign up for that, but the kids sign up for that,
and from that they can generate parts of the resume
that that explains what they did. They can generate certificates
(15:59):
everything that they need. Uh, and that's really super important.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
So the Boys and Girls State and the on a
Flight we talked about with the Guardians right the Service.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Service Learning Seminary. This is something that's kind of growing.
We're trying to get it up in running.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Okay, and all of these are you're going to have,
like you said, accreditations, certificates to show that you've been
going through these programs, right and it's going to be
on your and one of the ones you were telling
me earlier before we even started talking on the air,
is going to be on your diploma.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Well, there's there's a I don't know if folks are
aware of this, but it's been around for about three years,
but it's really starting to gain some steam right now.
And that's this this really great initiative by the New
York State Department of your Education called the Civic Sealer
Readiness And what it basically is is if you complete
the requirements, you get this stamp on your on your
high school diploma that says, you know, it's kind of
(16:50):
like a region's stamp, but it's it's region Social Studies,
but all kinds of You have to do a certain
amount of community service. You have to do a community
service project, you have to you show some leadership in
a civic sense. And what this does is something to
kind of put on your resume that says, you know, I,
(17:11):
you know, I'm kind of switched in I'm kind of
switched on. I'm kind of connected, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
If you think about that as employers, especially, which is
mainly what we're talking about here, When employers are going
through all the candidates for the job, and if they
have fifty candidates and only three of them have this
seal on the development, they're going to say, wait a minute,
what's different about these three people? Where did this seal
come from? It's going to get their attention, absolutely, and
she should get their attention because it has a lot
(17:36):
of meaning behind it.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I'm blown away, Chris about this whole situation. And I've
known for a long time. You know, You've been at
events with me, and when I talk about especially on
a flight, is I always try to bring out how
many kids are there? I'd love to see kids come
to these events. When I go to a National Purple
Hearthole of Honor, which is someone I do a lot
(17:59):
of work with, do too, Legion, when you go in
there and you go through and you see kids, and
I never forgot when they redid it the second time,
Andy Kamanchuk was still the executive director. We broadcast live
from that second unveiling. He said, come on, I want
to take you through before we officially open it up.
So Chuck Benfer, who was the boss at that time,
(18:20):
and I was standing there and his grandfather with his grandson.
If you remember when you walk in, there's a large
mural of all the battles when you walk down by date. Yes,
they're standing in front of the shores of Normandy. And
the grandfather was standing there with this little, I don't
know eight or ten year old child and his eyes
were as big as half dollars looking at this and he's.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Telling them, you know, I was there. He says, that
might be me in that picture. And that kid he
was just blown away.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
All of a sudden, he understood all the things his
grandfather had been telling him because there it was in.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Front of him exactly. That's what the Honor Flight does too.
It connects them with that piece of history and our
and our you know, and that and the good the
good new use for the veteran is he knows that
his story is going to live long beyond it.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
But anyway, these three programs are exciting and they all
have benefits. If you're a parent listening to this police,
listen to what we're saying, and think about enrolling your
child and getting a.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Jail when you drive, when you drive past that Legion Hall,
you know you drive past that the o VFW those guys.
Think of these guys as a resource. We are there,
we can we can help our kids understand these things,
and only only in a way that a veteran can.
And so consider us a resource, you know. Is I
like to say, use this before you lose us.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
That's that's a great saying, and it's true because we're
losing a lot of them quickly. Ralph Houster hold Up
in Hyde Park is one of my dearest He's amazing.
I call him Pop because he's like a father to me.
But he I've learned something new from him, a different
story he would tell me. Some of them are hilarious,
some of the some of the things that he's done
in his life. And when I say they're hilarious, the
(19:54):
horrific things that he went through, but his take on
them and the way he tells the story, it sticks
in your head.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I remember every story he's told me.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Well, the thing I think that you learn as a
veteran and then you come back here is and this
is one of the only things that comes out. I
mean when I came back from you know, commanding a
battalion in combat in the Rock, and I go to
schools and I go to a different you know, community,
senior citizen centers, all this kind of I just talked
to people about my experience and I'd say, you know,
(20:22):
the one thing that that if you can't get anything
across that I don't get anything across the day is
remember how lucky you are to live in a country
like this. That the kinds of things that we're talking
about are unimaginable. But from many other people, in many
other parts of the world, it's a day to day reality.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
You I always I always say Chris that you know,
we went through this horrific border disaster with the border
crisis we had, But the thing I took away from
it was there's no other country in the world with
a border crisis. Because there's no other country in the world.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
That they're beating down the doors to try to come in.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
This is the only country that you want to come to.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah, and on lines at the embassies at all around
the world.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
But you think about that, Yeah, every country in the world,
no matter how good or bad they're doing, most people
from that country that are trying to get in here.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Why is that?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
I always say, that's the question, right that makes me
realize that this is the greatest country on the planet, right,
and everybody wants to.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Be But it isn't on remote control. It isn't or
excuse me, it isn't on cruise control. We've got to
make this investment. You know, we're talking about a big
part of what we talk about is this idea of
passing the baton of generational leadership, and that is an
active thing that doesn't just have to take place among
us handing it off to the kids, but the kids
picking it up. That's got to be done with each
(21:38):
and every generation.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Chris has been fascinating. I think we've covered the three
programs pretty well. Yeah, and I think we should have
spurred a lot of people's interest in what's going on here. Again,
go to hfianaflight dot com or National Service Ride dot
net for more information. Chris, if somebody wants to get
a hold of you, how did I get a hold
of you?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
My contact information is on the National Service Ride dot net.
Fair enough, Okay, So you can look at there.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Because there's going to be people that want to talk
to you.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Or the hands well, also some of the when you
click on some of those things, you can download some
of the info papers and stuff. My phone number and
everything is right on. Okay, phone numbers all right on
perfect sittings at all day. Then yep you can, Chris,
I'm excited about this. What I'd like to do is,
you know, you're especially the the the National Service, right
(22:25):
part of it is new and you're working hard on
getting that development and we want to get going everywhere,
not just in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I'm excited about it.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I would say this is, you know, maybe towards the
end of the summer, let's get back in here even
earlier and not let us know how it's going.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Yeah. Absolutely, I'll come in and give you guys a
sit rep situation for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And you know, because maybe some of the things you're
going to find out things along the way that maybe
people are confused about, right, and we can bring those
up so people that are listening that may not have
taken that next step, right, you can answer some of there.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
And for those of you who are listening, make sure
your schools know about these programs. Is just a super
super resource for them.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Sure sure, Chris, thanks for coming in, buddy. It's always
great to see it, and we'll see you somewhere.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
We're a soleasure. I thank you for the time, sir.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Well, I'm happy to do it, buddy.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
All right, one O seven to three wr WD. This
is Hudson Valley Country And as promised, here's my conversation
I had with John Rich a few months ago. I
am so happy and honored to have one of my
heroes and one of my favorite musicians, John Rich on
the phone with me.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
John, how are you, buddy.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Man, I'm doing great. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
I'm doing really well. John.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
I'm fascinated your career. You're a singer, songwriter, a producer,
an entrepreneur. You've got so much folds of honor as
one of your heartfelt organizations that you support. Myself, I
do a lot for the military and the First Responder
is mainly what I do on the air. But there's
so many things about your career that I was surprised.
I didn't realize you're spent six years with Loan Star.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Oh yeah, So right out of high school, I was
eighteen years old, planned on going to college. Didn't really
know what I was going to do in college because
I wanted to make music and really can't go to
college to learn how to do what I do. And
so I was approached by some older guys. They were
up in their early thirties from Texas, and they said, hey, man,
(24:18):
we think you're a really good singer and we're putting
a little band together. We're all from Texas. I grew
up in Amerrillo, Texas. And they said you want to
be in this little band and I said sure, I'm
going to college in the fall. They said, yeah, that's cool. Well,
we started playing together that summer and working together a
little bit in that fall before I was going to
go to college, and I realized these guys were no
(24:41):
joke man, legit like they should be on the radio.
This is a real band. And so I decided to
not go to college and go on the road with them.
And the first year I was out with them, which
would have been nineteen ninety three, we played over two
hundred nights all over North America from Vancouver to my Miami.
I mean we criss cross North America playing holiday and
(25:03):
lounges and county rodeos and you know, no name casinos
in the middle of nowhere, wherever would focus, we would
play it. And that wound up being the band Lone Star.
We got a record deal in nineteen ninety four, put
out Tequila Talking and No News and come crying to
me those kinds of songs. And so I spent up
to nineteen ninety eight with Lone Star. So yes, sir,
(25:26):
that was my kickoff.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Wow, and you've written a lot of songs for not
only yourselves. Of course, I'm sorry I should have mengined,
you know, big and rich, you and Big Kenny what
a duo. Still still got some stuff out there. I
got a really cool story, and I want to talk
to you about in just a few minutes about the
eighth of November. But you know, you and Big Kenny
(25:48):
had quite a run. And then you've gone back and
forth as a solo artist. Like I said, You've written songs,
You've been involved with Gretchen Wilson, Keith Anderson John and
you've been all over the Matt faith Hill shocked Jason Aldan.
So you've had so many your fingers in the music
industry in so many different ways. And then you got
involved in television. Of course, you had your run onto
(26:09):
the Apprentice. You raised a couple million dollars for Saint Jude,
which was really cool. And now we've got Redneck Riviera whiskey,
which is really cool and folds of honor. I mean,
Redneck Riviera whiskey. What a cool name. And I'm a
bourbon drinker, but I like whiskey too, Okay, so that
sounds like that cool, cool enterprise.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Well, just hearing you rattle off all that stuff, now
I'm tired. Now I need to go take a nap.
Thank you very much. You know, first of all, I'll
just tell you my attitude as an American citizen is
very simple, and that is, I do not have the
right to be happy. I have the right to pursue
(26:51):
happiness as outlined in the Declaration of Independence. My attitude
is I'm fortunate that I was born in this country,
that I get to wake up every morning under an
American sky, and nobody can tell me how hard I
can work, what risks I want to take, how big
I can dream. Nobody, nobody can stop me from doing
(27:12):
that in the United States of America. So I take
full advantage of that. If it's something that I think
I might have a shot at, or I have a
passion for. Whether I win that deal or lose that deal,
I'm going to go for it. So that's always been
my attitude. And the only reason we still have the
right to pursue happiness is because of the men and
(27:33):
women from the founding of the country to this very second,
who have been willing to fight and die if necessary,
to keep the rights of life delivery in the pursuit
of happiness intact for all Americans. And so I look
for ways and always have just like you, I look
for ways to serve those who has served us, meaning
our military, our veterans, and our active duty.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I'm speaking with singer, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur. I're an American patriot, John.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Rich and so Rednick Revere. Whiskey was something that launched
in twenty eighteen. I was always a Crown Royal guy.
Me and Big Kenny. That was our go to, which
that's Canadian blended whiskey. And one day I was thinking, man,
I sure have spent a lot of money over the
years on a Canada product. I wonder if there's such
a thing as American blended whiskey, and sure enough, no,
(28:24):
there was nothing out there that was American blended whiskey.
What is America's answer to Crown Royal the thing that
I drank? There was nothing. So I thought, well, I
don't know anything about that business or how that works,
but I'm just going to jump right into it and
see what see what happens. And it took me about
a year working with only American whiskeys, that was working
(28:45):
with Rye, with malt, with American Light and other other
versions of American whiskeys on this call it a recipe,
really a blend. And I finally nailed it at the
end of twenty seventeen, and I said, if that's on
the table, I'm never order another Crown World drink. Ever,
let's go. And so I made sure as the owner
(29:05):
of the company, I don't endorse Rednick Riviera. I'm the
owner of it, so I make all the decisions. And
I told my team, we're gonna use American glass, so
my glass actually comes from Pennsylvania. We're gonna use American corks.
My corks come from Indiana, and we're gonna bottle and
ship this stuff right here in the United States. We're
(29:26):
gonna do it in Tennessee. So this is the one
hundred percent made the USA product. And then the kicker
is every single bottle from the first bottle to the
bottles into the future. We get back to the Folds
of Honor, which you mentioned earlier. Folds of Honor gives
college scholarships to kids or spouses who have lost a
(29:48):
family member, either they were killed in combat or were
permanently disabled where they can no longer earn an income,
and we subsidize their educations through Folds of Honors. So
right now around the United State, there are hundreds of
people going to college. Some of them are moms going
to finishing their nursing degree, some of them are the
kids just now going into college. But they're being parsely
(30:10):
subsidized by sales of Red Nick River or whiskey. And
I got to tell you that's something I'm really proud
of concerning this brand.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, God bless you, buddy. I understand that a whole heartily.
I never had the honor of serving, but my father
was an World War Two my brother did two tours
in Vietnam, and I understand not only would our heroes
go through but to your point, the families that serve
right beside them. Some of them they don't come home,
and some of them they come home badly damaged.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
And that all has to be taken care of.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
And that's our responsibility to make sure the soldiers do
come home, come all the way home.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And that's what I.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Spend my time, the charities that I work for, making
sure that we help our heroes make it all the
way home.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's so important, one hundred percent. I mean, I don't
think a lot of people don't realize that. You know,
there's kids growing up if their dad or mom is
full time military and active out there in the military. Man,
they're growing up without dad coming to the baseball game.
They're growing up without mom at the birthday party. I mean,
(31:12):
they're growing up missing a big piece of their lives,
and so they are actually sacrificing. The family is sacrificing
as well as the mom or dad who's serving. So
you make an extremely valid point, and I would just
say one last thing. I don't know how you say
thank you for your sacrifice and service more strongly than
(31:33):
to make sure someone's kid gets to go to college.
I mean, you're doing something for that family other than
just a handshake and a pat on the back. It's
actually having real, real time, physical, lasting impact for their family.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And the other part of that, John, unfortunately, is the
other thing going on the whole time as they're waiting
for that knock at the door and being told that
their loved one is not coming home. And people just
if you've never gone through that or never im part
of that, you don't understand it. And we got to
make people understand the risks that they take all the time.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Yeah, they live and breathe it. I mean, yeah, can
you imagine. I mean, it's you would just be on
edge to some degree twenty four to seven. So again,
that's why, that's why I've devoted so much of my
time to serving those people, figuring out what do they
need and how do we get it to them, because,
like you said, without them, we don't have life. Livery
(32:28):
in the pursuit of happiness, we don't know, I mean,
in our take our country down. We've only been around
about two hundred and fifty years, you know, and they've
all tried to take us down. The world does not
like the fact that America can stand upon its own
and doesn't need anybody else, and we only have our
military to thank for that. So yeah, Rednick Riviera, it's
(32:50):
available all around you. Guys, by the way, just got
into your state. I think it's already been sold out twice.
They're increasing the orders because people are going out and
finding it. It's under twenty five dollars a bottle. It's smooth,
it is, it's easy to sip, it's one hundred percent
made in America, and it's kicking back to the vets.
So if you're out at the grocery store, out at
(33:10):
your local liquor store, ask him if they got Ritten
Nick Rivie and they probably do.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, we're going to get a bottle of that myself
and right it right away. I'm speaking with singer songwriter, producer, entrepreneur,
and true American patriot John Rich. But when we come back,
we've got a really cool story to share about the
song Big Kenny and John.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Really he's called eighth of November, And as.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Promised, we've got a really cool story about the Big
and Rich song eighth of November. As we finish up
our conversation with singer songwriter John Rich, So you serve
in a lot of ways, John, and one of the
really quickly cool stories. The eighth of November. I have
a dear friend. He's a brother, just retired twenty seven
years combined service with the Air Force, Air Force Reserves.
(33:53):
He's a federal technician working on the C five cargo
plane fuel systems. Anyway, last year, right now, hear the
beginning of November. He called me up and he says, man,
I just heard this song eighth in November from Big
and Rich, and it just floored me.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
So I saluteed.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
I salute a hero every day in the midday show
at one o'clock, either a veteran, mill active duty or
a first responder. I had him come in on the
eighth of November last year and we did a little
talk up about it, and he told me that once
he listened to that song, it made him so proud
that he served this country and it's the reason he serves.
And I thought, you should know that how much you
(34:31):
touched this hero who I know dearly. And I don't
know how he never heard it, but he never did,
but he you know what, I'll get your people's address.
I'll send you a copy of the interview because it
was really moving and it meant so much to him,
and he did a lot of research. He knew the
whole story behind it, that people involved, the battle involved,
and I just thought you should know that because you
(34:53):
serve in a lot of ways, sir, your music touches
a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Man, that is that is a humbling thing to hear.
I don't know if he's seen the video to but
Chris Christofferson actually does the narration of the video and
Big Kenny and I actually went back to Vietnam. So
if you go on YouTube and look up eighth of
November documentary, just search that word. There's an hour and
a half documentary following me and Kenny all the way
(35:16):
back to War Zone D where that battle took place
with the man who we wrote the song about, and
he went with us this is where this happened, this
is what that happened. And he actually buried the combat
boots that he had on his feet that day when
he was shot up on that battle. He buried him
down in a hole where a bomb had hit and
we sang the eighth and novemberdhem. So there's a whole
(35:38):
documentary on it. Tell that friend of yours, thank him
for his sacrifice and service, and I'm glad the song
inspired him.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
US Air Force Master Sergeant Lance McGrath.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
And I know he's listening, and he made me watch
the documentary too because he was moved by it.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
So I just wanted there you go saying it.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Oh yeah, yeah, he's all in man.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
He and he wanted to make sure that I thank
you for doing that because it really, it really moved
him and it helped him.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
Well, man, that's incredibly humbling, and I'm glad it did.
And sir, if you're listening, I'm glad the song hits
you in such a great way. And thank you for
the twenty seven years I believe you said that you've
served this country. We appreciate you very much.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
So John, in a few minutes, we got left here.
Where do you go from here? Buddy? What's going on?
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Well, we've got a lot of shows, Big and Rich
shows this year. We're actually booking more. We booked two
more yesterday. I'm headed to I'm headed to New Mexico, Nevada.
We've got Ohio. Hopefully we're going to get up in
y'all's neck of the woods. But Big and Rich dot
Com it's got all of our tour dates, listening, and
then I'm on x which I still call Twitter, but
(36:44):
at John Rich I'm on there quite a bit every day.
If you want to keep up with what I'm doing,
you can go there and Rednick rivera whiskey. Honestly, it
is moving faster than we can keep up with it
right now, and I think that's a testament to the
patriotic nature of that brand and how good it is. Listen.
I have a high school diploma and I grew up
in a trailer in Texas. That's my pedigree. There nothing
(37:09):
fancy about me, and that's why when I came with
this whiskey, I wanted it to be affordable, really really
good and made in the United States of America. And
I think that's one reason why it's doing so well.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
So John, we're on the iHeartRadio app as well. And
if somebody listening to us can't find it where they are,
how can they order it somehow? How is there a
website that you can go to?
Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah? Absolutely, so you can go to Rednickrevier dot com
and you click on whiskey and there's a button says
ship it to my house, and you can actually file
through there and see what you want, hit that button
and we'll send it straight to you. We'll send it
to your you know, if you want to buy it
as a gift for somebody, you can have it sent
to their address. Put in whatever address you want and
(37:52):
it'll go there. There's also a store locator on there
where you put in your zip code and hit that
and it'll show you all the stores around your area.
It's not Just read nick Riviera dot com and you'll
see you'll see the whiskey icon on that web website
and just click on that and you'll be in.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
And you've got other products available on there as well,
if I remember right.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
Oh yeah, we've got I've got boots and I wear
Rednick Reverer boots on stage. They're red, white and blue. Man,
these things, these things make a statement. Uh yeah. There's
various things on there that that are again all made
in the USA. Listen, you can't say you love your
country and then when you when you get the opportunity
to increase your profits by having something made in China
(38:32):
and you go do that, that's hypocritical. I just I
don't care. I'd rather spend more money on the product
and keep it made in my country. I want my
people to have jobs. I want my people to be
taken care of, and so that's what Rednick Riviera is
all about.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
John.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
I really appreciate you taking a little time to talk
to us. Everybody listening is going to check out Redneck
Riviera and and uh hopefully they're going to get out
and see a big and rich show and just keep
on going. Man, you're killing it. I feel good about
country music because you and Big Kenny are in it,
and let's see where it goes from here. I hope
you get up in this area and I see you
at some point.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
Absolutely, it'll happen one of these days, I have no doubt.
And thank you for the stand that you've made for
our veterans as well. Thanks for having me on the
air today and look forward to talking to you again
real soon.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Okay, buddy, God bless you too.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Thanks thanks for listening to the podcast for Red, White,
and Blue Saturday afternoons with Uncle Mike. I'd love it
if you tune in each Saturday from two to seven
pm on one O seven three WRWD for the show.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
See you next week.
I'm Uncle Mike, and welcome to the podcast for Red
White and Blue Saturday Afternoons with Uncle Mike on one
O seven three w r w D. I'm going to
use this podcast each week to replay some of the
interviews I do on the show that you may have missed.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
I'm Uncle Mike, and you're listening to Red White and
Blue Saturday Afternoon with Uncle Mike on one O seven
three wr WD. I had a conversation recently with one
of my personal heroes and a dear friend, retired US
Army Colonel Christopher Holschek, and he's here to talk about
the veteran's call to Action for youth development. That's a
very inspiring title, Christopher, and I'm going to call you Christopher.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
All right, absolutely, Mike, we know each other too well.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So Chris, that's a real intriguing title. And money you
fill us in a little bit about what you have
in mind.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well, I think one I think I want to point
out here to folks in the communities is there's a
resource out there, you know, and we know we have
a need for civic education in this country. We know
we have a need to make our youth better citizens
than the ones we've been. And so so what we
have are and I'm going to talk about three distinct
programs that are co sponsored by the American Legion, one
(01:07):
of which is it goes back to when I was
a kid in high school. What I want people to
understand is that it's the community of veterans out there
that have these resources and we can get across this
idea of service in general. Whether it's at the community level,
national level, doesn't matter really, but we get this idea
of service across as a way of being a better citizen.
(01:28):
And only veterans can can put on programs like the
ones that we're talking about. And so I think that
folks what they need to understand is is don't just
look at us veterans as people to you lavish respect
on and thank them for our service and all that stuff.
The best way of fact, in fact you can make
you can thank of veterans to make him a more
(01:49):
integral part of your community. So look at veteran service
organizations like the American Legion, like the VFW as sources
of civic education, a law the lines of service learning
for our kids. And it's a very rich resource and
it's right on our noses.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
And it's a win win for everybody, because the veterans
are looking a lot of veterans who maybe you haven't
come all the way home yet, are looking for a purpose. Absolutely,
and this is a purpose, absolutely, a really big purpose.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Absolutely, most most of us veterans when we come back,
we we you know, when you get I tell kids
all the time when I go to the schools to
talk about service, we are bitten by the service bug.
So after we've done our national service, we come back
into our communities and we get involved in community service.
And that, in fact, that's a good thing for people
to remember, is that when you see that American Legion
(02:40):
sign or that VFW signed, don't just think of them
as veteran service organizations. We're community service organizations.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Absolutely absolutely, And no I say all the time, Chris,
that I deal a lot in the veteran community. I
know so many veterans sure do. And it's in their DNA,
it is, you know, I'm talking about male female soldiers
and marines and salors. It's in their DNA to serve.
And when that military service is over, they need a purpose.
(03:11):
And this is a purpose, a serious purpose, a serious purpose.
You can turn this country into the place that we
all want it.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
To be, absolutely regardless of where you are. Yep, no
matter where you are on the political spectrum map.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
So let's talk a little bit about the programs you
have in mind.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Okay, Well, first I'm going to go back to the
most storied of them, and this is Boys and Girls State. Now,
the best way I can describe Boys and Girls State,
it's a civics camp. It takes place at the end
of June. That's for the Boys State up in Morrisville,
New York, usually Syney Morrisville, and Girl State takes place
at the first week of July, usually up around where
Sydney Morrisville isn't sometimes out into Syney Morrisville. But these
(03:45):
are basically a week long civics camp. You put your
kid on a bus and you send them up there
all around New York State and you learn how government
works based on the Constitution of the State of New York.
So you actually get to practice it. You get to
be you get to run for the State Assembly, you
get to do all the sorts of things, and you
(04:07):
learn what government is supposed to be.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I can tell you, Chris that there's a lot of
parents that you go on that trip as well.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Oh absolutely, yeah, no, civics. We have a we have
a huge dearth of PA civic education and because we've
got to turn it around, but we should start with
our kids.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Oh yeah, absolutely, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And uh and and I'm an alumnus. I went there
in nineteen seventy seven out of Washingtonville High School.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
So yeah, so I've been there and done that. And
it's a great program. They got, they got, you know,
you get, you get. You get a lot of folks
coming in from all around the state and different levels
of the government, different level, different you know, retire generals,
all sorts of things, and people talking to you about,
you know, what it means to be a good citizen.
(04:46):
So you learn about citizenship, you learn what to demand
from your government as a good citizen, because that that
our government's not going to get any better if we're
we're not better citizens. I think that's a huge, huge
lesson that you get from Boys and Girls State. But
you get to understand how it all works.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
You know, it's fascinating because most people kind of miss
the fact that they are public servants and they're actually working.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
For us, supposed to be working for us, absolutely, and.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
That gets lost sometimes.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Well, you know, that's why I tell Mike, that's why
I tell the one of the reasons that veterans are
are really among the most respected people in our countries
because we are held up as the epitome of public service.
We are the epitome of what a public servant is.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
That's true. And by the way, I'm going to give
out during our chat here, I'm going to give out
two websites. One of course, is one near and dear
to my heart, which is hfionaflight dot com. I've done
a lot on the flight I continue. And the other
one is National Service ride dot net. So hfanaflight dot
com write that one down or National Service ride dot net.
(05:48):
Both of these websites are integral and with what we're
talking about, and a lot of the most all of
the information that we're talking about you can find on
these two sites. So you have a reference to go
to because you're listening on the radio. Now you're going
to try to remember all this and you can't remember
it all. Yeah, but these are two sites again, hvanaflight
dot com or National Service Ride dot Net and go
to those sites and it'll reinforce everything we're going to
(06:10):
talk about for the rest of this conversation. Absolutely, So
what's what's there? So the next.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
One is the Honor Flight. Let's get into the honor
f okay, now, the honor Jennifer came to me a
couple of years ago about this and she said, you know,
somehow we got to get our youth involved in this,
absolutely because she she knows my National Service Ride project
where I try to get into the schools and I
talk about, you know, the importance of doing service as
part of your education. So what we did is we
put together a program that's been it's coming out of
(06:38):
the pilot stage now, but basically what it is is
youth Guardians. Now, a guardian is somebody that escorts one
of the veterans going down and the youth guardian. The
idea of the youth guardian is for two things to happen. One,
the youth guardian gets a first hand exposure by going
with that veteran all day. They get to learn their story,
(06:58):
and they get to under a personal understanding of what
service and sacrifice and patriotism is. And it's a very
moving day for them, for both the veteran and for
the guardian.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
So as you know, I've interviewed a few of your
youth guardians with the veteran joke on Figlio from Pleasant
Valley Huts to go with them. Yeah, and that was
a fascinating story because for people who don't. First of all,
if you don't know what honor flight is, shame on you.
But if you don't know what honor flight is, honor
flight takes a veteran. We started with World War Two
(07:30):
and we're almost out of World War Two veterans because
they're almost all.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Gone, about eighty five percent Vietnam vets now Korea.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
And then we went on to Korea, which is just
to take away age wise from them. And now most
of our flights, I'd say, if there's eighty heroes on
the flight, at least sixty five are Vietnam now. But
it takes them to Washington, d C. Third Day treats
them like a rock star, gives them the respect that
they deserve, but they take them to all the monuments
(07:59):
that they may not ever get to in their life
down in Washington. They do it all one day. It
doesn't matter if you're mobile or you're not mobile. They
get you down there and that's part of where the
guardian comes in to make sure you're okay. But to
your point, the youth guardians that I talk to, it
changed their life. It changed their perspective. Some of them
(08:19):
had military members in their families but never really talk
to them because veterans don't really talk about their service, right,
But when you spend twenty four well almost it's twenty hours,
but you know, you start five in the morning and
it's nine or ten o'clock a night before they get
back and they part ways. You spend that much time
with somebody, even if they don't tell you their stories,
(08:40):
you're going to overhear their conversations and you're going to
pick up on what it's all about. And these kids
were just blown away by some of the stories they heard,
not only from the veteran that they were with the
guardian of, but from the other veterans. Yes, and it
changed their perspective.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Changes the veteran too, because you know, when I get
them together in a little huddle before they all go off,
look at the veterans and say, okay, your mission is
to tell these kids. Your story and your mission pointing
to the kids is to listen and learn, and then
you're going to tell your story about what you experienced,
all your classmates and just people in the community, in
your family. Yeah, and your family.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah, because your family made out of the bag supposed
to it.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Either. Your family is your first level of community, by
the way. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
So that's the Youth Guardian program and that they have
to they have to be they.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Have they have to be at least seventy teen years
old at the time of the flight. And there's a
whole program memo on it, and you can download that
in any of the websites that that might just explained.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Well, particularly onflight dot com and look for the Guardian
Youth Program and all the criteria and how to get
involved is all there.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And the third what's the third.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Part, service learning seminars.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Okay, So when we come back, we're going to get
right into service learning seminars.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
I'm Uncle Mike and you're listening to Red, White, and
Blue Saturday Afternoon with Uncle Mike. I'm one O seventy
three w r w D. Colonel Halshek Chris, my good
friend is here with us. We were talking about the
Boy and Girl Boys and Girls State.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Boys and Girls State, and the Honor Flight Youth Guardian programs.
And the third thing is is more specific to the
National Service Ride, which is something I put together a
few years ago and we work with the American Legion
on that, but we go into the schools. The whole
idea is to introduce service as not just something you do,
but part of something you are. You know, it's part
(10:31):
of your identity. And you know our country has been
founded on volunteerism or no, you're not kidd the minutemen,
you know, just that you know they weren't getting paid
right away. I mean, so this is a huge strength
of our country. My wife is from Spain and one
of the things that she myres about this country is
our first of all sons of patriotism. Secondly is our
respect for our veterans. But most importantly the third one
(10:51):
is the sense of volunteerism that so much is done
in our communities by volunteers.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
You know, it fascinates me, Chris is you know when
we think of out what happened to us on nine
to eleven, horrible and no whetter where you want to go.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
It was.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It was, it was a horrible situation. But I always
tell people that I want to remember September twelfth because
on September twelfth we were a united country again. It
didn't last very long, and we lasted for a few months,
but September twelfth is exactly what you want to get back.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
To, right exactly, And that's September twelfth.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yeah, But in my mind, that's the way I think
of it all the time. When somebody brings up September eleventh,
I honor and respect everything that happened to all our
heroes that day, but I always go right to I
just wish we could get back to September twelfth and
keep it there because that was the United States I
remember as a young kid growing up here. That was
more the mentality we had.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Well, we think we got a pathway to that. And
what we want to do is again veterans being as
respected as they are, as being the exemplars of service.
We want to come into the schools and we have
really good when we get in and connect with the kids.
It's really kind of magic. But we talked to everything
from elementary school kids and tell them what we want
to teach them in maybe fifteen minutes to a half
an hour is service is kindness. And then the first
(12:07):
your first active service and your service career, and your
your first level of communities, your family. So guess what
your gets. What's the most important thing you should do
every day when you get up is make your bed.
Sure you know first the first thing you do. That's
your civic responsibility. Yep, it sounds so simple. But if
you get started with that, and then we work our
way through the grades and we get to high school,
(12:27):
and when high school gets really really interesting because what
we point out to them is the importance of doing service,
not just to their country and their community, but to
them because everywhere you're looking at we live in a
service economy, and every where you're looking employers are starting
to figure out that labor isn't just a cost, it's
an investment. And the biggest, the biggest, the biggest drag
(12:50):
on the bottom line is employee turnover. So if you
want to be able to invest in these kids, you
got to know something about their character. So what do
they look for? And this is true everywhere there is
more and more schools, more and more anywhere you apply
to people not you know, I tell the kids this
look six months after whatever your academic education part is,
you know, high school, college, whatever, no one is going
(13:11):
to know or care what your grade point average was.
They want to know what you've done. And this is
where you can help yourself, regardless of whether you sit
in the front or the back of the classroom, to
get yourself not only on a successful career track, but
to become a meaningful and well connected person in your community.
And we all know we have lots of social challenges
(13:33):
as well.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I can tell you dealing with some of the biggest
corporations in the world with what we do. Corporations today
have They still want to know about your you know,
your your resume, they want to know all your back sure,
but corporations today, a successful ones create a culture within
the corporation. They want a culture that you feel part of,
(13:55):
that you feel you're contributing to, that you feel you're
enhancing all that is important to corporations today. So not
just a military, but companies today are exactly what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
This is the importance of character. I mean, my old
one of my old bosses, Stan McCrystal, talks about this
in his most recent book, that's the importance of character
as being a game changer, is being a discriminator if
you will, and and this is really good news. It's
like I said, I love to reach those kids in
the back of the classroom because not everybody you know
(14:26):
can Can you have a four point zero grade point
average and go to Harvard, But that doesn't mean you
can't be a meaningful and successful member of our society.
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
It always fascinates me when you think about how you're
hired today and the resumes or do you have to
have a resume?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Well, when I'm.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Looking some of the organizations that I work with and
some businesses that I'm getting involved with, where I am
going to be making those decisions, I don't want to
say it sound this crashly, but I don't give a
ratsass about your resume. Because you wrote your resume, You're
not going to write anything that's right that you don't
think is going to truss me. I need to know
what you think you've done.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Right outside of that resume. I want to know your character.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I want to know that if for me, if I
hire you, you're going to be part of my family,
right and I'm very choosy about who's the mine, and
it's that part of.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
The resume that says what your community service was and oh,
by the way, you can back that up with certificates.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I am speaking with retired Army Colonel Christopher Holshack, my
buddy Chris, about three very distinct programs that he has
committed the remainder of his life to through the American
Legion VFW and his own personal foundation he's created to
re engage our young people, to get our younger people
to understand how the government works and have them become
productive citizens.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
You know, in the Orange Dutchess County has a relationship
going on with the United Way and there's a scene
called the Volunteer Portal, And not only do the organizations
sign up for that, but the kids sign up for that,
and from that they can generate parts of the resume
that that explains what they did. They can generate certificates
(15:59):
everything that they need. Uh, and that's really super important.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
So the Boys and Girls State and the on a
Flight we talked about with the Guardians right the Service.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Service Learning Seminary. This is something that's kind of growing.
We're trying to get it up in running.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Okay, and all of these are you're going to have,
like you said, accreditations, certificates to show that you've been
going through these programs, right and it's going to be
on your and one of the ones you were telling
me earlier before we even started talking on the air,
is going to be on your diploma.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Well, there's there's a I don't know if folks are
aware of this, but it's been around for about three years,
but it's really starting to gain some steam right now.
And that's this this really great initiative by the New
York State Department of your Education called the Civic Sealer
Readiness And what it basically is is if you complete
the requirements, you get this stamp on your on your
high school diploma that says, you know, it's kind of
(16:50):
like a region's stamp, but it's it's region Social Studies,
but all kinds of You have to do a certain
amount of community service. You have to do a community
service project, you have to you show some leadership in
a civic sense. And what this does is something to
kind of put on your resume that says, you know, I,
(17:11):
you know, I'm kind of switched in I'm kind of
switched on. I'm kind of connected, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
If you think about that as employers, especially, which is
mainly what we're talking about here, When employers are going
through all the candidates for the job, and if they
have fifty candidates and only three of them have this
seal on the development, they're going to say, wait a minute,
what's different about these three people? Where did this seal
come from? It's going to get their attention, absolutely, and
she should get their attention because it has a lot
(17:36):
of meaning behind it.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
I'm blown away, Chris about this whole situation. And I've
known for a long time. You know, You've been at
events with me, and when I talk about especially on
a flight, is I always try to bring out how
many kids are there? I'd love to see kids come
to these events. When I go to a National Purple
Hearthole of Honor, which is someone I do a lot
(17:59):
of work with, do too, Legion, when you go in
there and you go through and you see kids, and
I never forgot when they redid it the second time,
Andy Kamanchuk was still the executive director. We broadcast live
from that second unveiling. He said, come on, I want
to take you through before we officially open it up.
So Chuck Benfer, who was the boss at that time,
(18:20):
and I was standing there and his grandfather with his grandson.
If you remember when you walk in, there's a large
mural of all the battles when you walk down by date. Yes,
they're standing in front of the shores of Normandy. And
the grandfather was standing there with this little, I don't
know eight or ten year old child and his eyes
were as big as half dollars looking at this and he's.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Telling them, you know, I was there. He says, that
might be me in that picture. And that kid he
was just blown away.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
All of a sudden, he understood all the things his
grandfather had been telling him because there it was in.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Front of him exactly. That's what the Honor Flight does too.
It connects them with that piece of history and our
and our you know, and that and the good the
good new use for the veteran is he knows that
his story is going to live long beyond it.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
But anyway, these three programs are exciting and they all
have benefits. If you're a parent listening to this police,
listen to what we're saying, and think about enrolling your
child and getting a.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Jail when you drive, when you drive past that Legion Hall,
you know you drive past that the o VFW those guys.
Think of these guys as a resource. We are there,
we can we can help our kids understand these things,
and only only in a way that a veteran can.
And so consider us a resource, you know. Is I
like to say, use this before you lose us.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
That's that's a great saying, and it's true because we're
losing a lot of them quickly. Ralph Houster hold Up
in Hyde Park is one of my dearest He's amazing.
I call him Pop because he's like a father to me.
But he I've learned something new from him, a different
story he would tell me. Some of them are hilarious,
some of the some of the things that he's done
in his life. And when I say they're hilarious, the
(19:54):
horrific things that he went through, but his take on
them and the way he tells the story, it sticks
in your head.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I remember every story he's told me.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Well, the thing I think that you learn as a
veteran and then you come back here is and this
is one of the only things that comes out. I
mean when I came back from you know, commanding a
battalion in combat in the Rock, and I go to
schools and I go to a different you know, community,
senior citizen centers, all this kind of I just talked
to people about my experience and I'd say, you know,
(20:22):
the one thing that that if you can't get anything
across that I don't get anything across the day is
remember how lucky you are to live in a country
like this. That the kinds of things that we're talking
about are unimaginable. But from many other people, in many
other parts of the world, it's a day to day reality.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
You I always I always say Chris that you know,
we went through this horrific border disaster with the border
crisis we had, But the thing I took away from
it was there's no other country in the world with
a border crisis. Because there's no other country in the world.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
That they're beating down the doors to try to come in.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
This is the only country that you want to come to.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah, and on lines at the embassies at all around
the world.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
But you think about that, Yeah, every country in the world,
no matter how good or bad they're doing, most people
from that country that are trying to get in here.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Why is that?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
I always say, that's the question, right that makes me
realize that this is the greatest country on the planet, right,
and everybody wants to.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Be But it isn't on remote control. It isn't or
excuse me, it isn't on cruise control. We've got to
make this investment. You know, we're talking about a big
part of what we talk about is this idea of
passing the baton of generational leadership, and that is an
active thing that doesn't just have to take place among
us handing it off to the kids, but the kids
picking it up. That's got to be done with each
(21:38):
and every generation.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Chris has been fascinating. I think we've covered the three
programs pretty well. Yeah, and I think we should have
spurred a lot of people's interest in what's going on here. Again,
go to hfianaflight dot com or National Service Ride dot
net for more information. Chris, if somebody wants to get
a hold of you, how did I get a hold
of you?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
My contact information is on the National Service Ride dot net.
Fair enough, Okay, So you can look at there.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Because there's going to be people that want to talk
to you.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Or the hands well, also some of the when you
click on some of those things, you can download some
of the info papers and stuff. My phone number and
everything is right on. Okay, phone numbers all right on
perfect sittings at all day. Then yep you can, Chris,
I'm excited about this. What I'd like to do is,
you know, you're especially the the the National Service, right
(22:25):
part of it is new and you're working hard on
getting that development and we want to get going everywhere,
not just in the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I'm excited about it.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
I would say this is, you know, maybe towards the
end of the summer, let's get back in here even
earlier and not let us know how it's going.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Yeah. Absolutely, I'll come in and give you guys a
sit rep situation for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
And you know, because maybe some of the things you're
going to find out things along the way that maybe
people are confused about, right, and we can bring those
up so people that are listening that may not have
taken that next step, right, you can answer some of there.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
And for those of you who are listening, make sure
your schools know about these programs. Is just a super
super resource for them.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Sure sure, Chris, thanks for coming in, buddy. It's always
great to see it, and we'll see you somewhere.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
We're a soleasure. I thank you for the time, sir.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Well, I'm happy to do it, buddy.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
All right, one O seven to three wr WD. This
is Hudson Valley Country And as promised, here's my conversation
I had with John Rich a few months ago. I
am so happy and honored to have one of my
heroes and one of my favorite musicians, John Rich on
the phone with me.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
John, how are you, buddy.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
Man, I'm doing great. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
I'm doing really well. John.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
I'm fascinated your career. You're a singer, songwriter, a producer,
an entrepreneur. You've got so much folds of honor as
one of your heartfelt organizations that you support. Myself, I
do a lot for the military and the First Responder
is mainly what I do on the air. But there's
so many things about your career that I was surprised.
I didn't realize you're spent six years with Loan Star.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Oh yeah, So right out of high school, I was
eighteen years old, planned on going to college. Didn't really
know what I was going to do in college because
I wanted to make music and really can't go to
college to learn how to do what I do. And
so I was approached by some older guys. They were
up in their early thirties from Texas, and they said, hey, man,
(24:18):
we think you're a really good singer and we're putting
a little band together. We're all from Texas. I grew
up in Amerrillo, Texas. And they said you want to
be in this little band and I said sure, I'm
going to college in the fall. They said, yeah, that's cool. Well,
we started playing together that summer and working together a
little bit in that fall before I was going to
go to college, and I realized these guys were no
(24:41):
joke man, legit like they should be on the radio.
This is a real band. And so I decided to
not go to college and go on the road with them.
And the first year I was out with them, which
would have been nineteen ninety three, we played over two
hundred nights all over North America from Vancouver to my Miami.
I mean we criss cross North America playing holiday and
(25:03):
lounges and county rodeos and you know, no name casinos
in the middle of nowhere, wherever would focus, we would
play it. And that wound up being the band Lone Star.
We got a record deal in nineteen ninety four, put
out Tequila Talking and No News and come crying to
me those kinds of songs. And so I spent up
to nineteen ninety eight with Lone Star. So yes, sir,
(25:26):
that was my kickoff.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Wow, and you've written a lot of songs for not
only yourselves. Of course, I'm sorry I should have mengined,
you know, big and rich, you and Big Kenny what
a duo. Still still got some stuff out there. I
got a really cool story, and I want to talk
to you about in just a few minutes about the
eighth of November. But you know, you and Big Kenny
(25:48):
had quite a run. And then you've gone back and
forth as a solo artist. Like I said, You've written songs,
You've been involved with Gretchen Wilson, Keith Anderson John and
you've been all over the Matt faith Hill shocked Jason Aldan.
So you've had so many your fingers in the music
industry in so many different ways. And then you got
involved in television. Of course, you had your run onto
(26:09):
the Apprentice. You raised a couple million dollars for Saint Jude,
which was really cool. And now we've got Redneck Riviera whiskey,
which is really cool and folds of honor. I mean,
Redneck Riviera whiskey. What a cool name. And I'm a
bourbon drinker, but I like whiskey too, Okay, so that
sounds like that cool, cool enterprise.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Well, just hearing you rattle off all that stuff, now
I'm tired. Now I need to go take a nap.
Thank you very much. You know, first of all, I'll
just tell you my attitude as an American citizen is
very simple, and that is, I do not have the
right to be happy. I have the right to pursue
(26:51):
happiness as outlined in the Declaration of Independence. My attitude
is I'm fortunate that I was born in this country,
that I get to wake up every morning under an
American sky, and nobody can tell me how hard I
can work, what risks I want to take, how big
I can dream. Nobody, nobody can stop me from doing
(27:12):
that in the United States of America. So I take
full advantage of that. If it's something that I think
I might have a shot at, or I have a
passion for. Whether I win that deal or lose that deal,
I'm going to go for it. So that's always been
my attitude. And the only reason we still have the
right to pursue happiness is because of the men and
(27:33):
women from the founding of the country to this very second,
who have been willing to fight and die if necessary,
to keep the rights of life delivery in the pursuit
of happiness intact for all Americans. And so I look
for ways and always have just like you, I look
for ways to serve those who has served us, meaning
our military, our veterans, and our active duty.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I'm speaking with singer, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur. I're an American patriot, John.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Rich and so Rednick Revere. Whiskey was something that launched
in twenty eighteen. I was always a Crown Royal guy.
Me and Big Kenny. That was our go to, which
that's Canadian blended whiskey. And one day I was thinking, man,
I sure have spent a lot of money over the
years on a Canada product. I wonder if there's such
a thing as American blended whiskey, and sure enough, no,
(28:24):
there was nothing out there that was American blended whiskey.
What is America's answer to Crown Royal the thing that
I drank? There was nothing. So I thought, well, I
don't know anything about that business or how that works,
but I'm just going to jump right into it and
see what see what happens. And it took me about
a year working with only American whiskeys, that was working
(28:45):
with Rye, with malt, with American Light and other other
versions of American whiskeys on this call it a recipe,
really a blend. And I finally nailed it at the
end of twenty seventeen, and I said, if that's on
the table, I'm never order another Crown World drink. Ever,
let's go. And so I made sure as the owner
(29:05):
of the company, I don't endorse Rednick Riviera. I'm the
owner of it, so I make all the decisions. And
I told my team, we're gonna use American glass, so
my glass actually comes from Pennsylvania. We're gonna use American corks.
My corks come from Indiana, and we're gonna bottle and
ship this stuff right here in the United States. We're
(29:26):
gonna do it in Tennessee. So this is the one
hundred percent made the USA product. And then the kicker
is every single bottle from the first bottle to the
bottles into the future. We get back to the Folds
of Honor, which you mentioned earlier. Folds of Honor gives
college scholarships to kids or spouses who have lost a
(29:48):
family member, either they were killed in combat or were
permanently disabled where they can no longer earn an income,
and we subsidize their educations through Folds of Honors. So
right now around the United State, there are hundreds of
people going to college. Some of them are moms going
to finishing their nursing degree, some of them are the
kids just now going into college. But they're being parsely
(30:10):
subsidized by sales of Red Nick River or whiskey. And
I got to tell you that's something I'm really proud
of concerning this brand.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, God bless you, buddy. I understand that a whole heartily.
I never had the honor of serving, but my father
was an World War Two my brother did two tours
in Vietnam, and I understand not only would our heroes
go through but to your point, the families that serve
right beside them. Some of them they don't come home,
and some of them they come home badly damaged.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
And that all has to be taken care of.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
And that's our responsibility to make sure the soldiers do
come home, come all the way home.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And that's what I.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Spend my time, the charities that I work for, making
sure that we help our heroes make it all the
way home.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's so important, one hundred percent. I mean, I don't
think a lot of people don't realize that. You know,
there's kids growing up if their dad or mom is
full time military and active out there in the military. Man,
they're growing up without dad coming to the baseball game.
They're growing up without mom at the birthday party. I mean,
(31:12):
they're growing up missing a big piece of their lives,
and so they are actually sacrificing. The family is sacrificing
as well as the mom or dad who's serving. So
you make an extremely valid point, and I would just
say one last thing. I don't know how you say
thank you for your sacrifice and service more strongly than
(31:33):
to make sure someone's kid gets to go to college.
I mean, you're doing something for that family other than
just a handshake and a pat on the back. It's
actually having real, real time, physical, lasting impact for their family.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
And the other part of that, John, unfortunately, is the
other thing going on the whole time as they're waiting
for that knock at the door and being told that
their loved one is not coming home. And people just
if you've never gone through that or never im part
of that, you don't understand it. And we got to
make people understand the risks that they take all the time.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Yeah, they live and breathe it. I mean, yeah, can
you imagine. I mean, it's you would just be on
edge to some degree twenty four to seven. So again,
that's why, that's why I've devoted so much of my
time to serving those people, figuring out what do they
need and how do we get it to them, because,
like you said, without them, we don't have life. Livery
(32:28):
in the pursuit of happiness, we don't know, I mean,
in our take our country down. We've only been around
about two hundred and fifty years, you know, and they've
all tried to take us down. The world does not
like the fact that America can stand upon its own
and doesn't need anybody else, and we only have our
military to thank for that. So yeah, Rednick Riviera, it's
(32:50):
available all around you. Guys, by the way, just got
into your state. I think it's already been sold out twice.
They're increasing the orders because people are going out and
finding it. It's under twenty five dollars a bottle. It's smooth,
it is, it's easy to sip, it's one hundred percent
made in America, and it's kicking back to the vets.
So if you're out at the grocery store, out at
(33:10):
your local liquor store, ask him if they got Ritten
Nick Rivie and they probably do.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Yeah, we're going to get a bottle of that myself
and right it right away. I'm speaking with singer songwriter, producer, entrepreneur,
and true American patriot John Rich. But when we come back,
we've got a really cool story to share about the
song Big Kenny and John.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
Really he's called eighth of November, And as.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Promised, we've got a really cool story about the Big
and Rich song eighth of November. As we finish up
our conversation with singer songwriter John Rich, So you serve
in a lot of ways, John, and one of the
really quickly cool stories. The eighth of November. I have
a dear friend. He's a brother, just retired twenty seven
years combined service with the Air Force, Air Force Reserves.
(33:53):
He's a federal technician working on the C five cargo
plane fuel systems. Anyway, last year, right now, hear the
beginning of November. He called me up and he says, man,
I just heard this song eighth in November from Big
and Rich, and it just floored me.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
So I saluteed.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
I salute a hero every day in the midday show
at one o'clock, either a veteran, mill active duty or
a first responder. I had him come in on the
eighth of November last year and we did a little
talk up about it, and he told me that once
he listened to that song, it made him so proud
that he served this country and it's the reason he serves.
And I thought, you should know that how much you
(34:31):
touched this hero who I know dearly. And I don't
know how he never heard it, but he never did,
but he you know what, I'll get your people's address.
I'll send you a copy of the interview because it
was really moving and it meant so much to him,
and he did a lot of research. He knew the
whole story behind it, that people involved, the battle involved,
and I just thought you should know that because you
(34:53):
serve in a lot of ways, sir, your music touches
a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (34:56):
Man, that is that is a humbling thing to hear.
I don't know if he's seen the video to but
Chris Christofferson actually does the narration of the video and
Big Kenny and I actually went back to Vietnam. So
if you go on YouTube and look up eighth of
November documentary, just search that word. There's an hour and
a half documentary following me and Kenny all the way
(35:16):
back to War Zone D where that battle took place
with the man who we wrote the song about, and
he went with us this is where this happened, this
is what that happened. And he actually buried the combat
boots that he had on his feet that day when
he was shot up on that battle. He buried him
down in a hole where a bomb had hit and
we sang the eighth and novemberdhem. So there's a whole
(35:38):
documentary on it. Tell that friend of yours, thank him
for his sacrifice and service, and I'm glad the song
inspired him.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
US Air Force Master Sergeant Lance McGrath.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
And I know he's listening, and he made me watch
the documentary too because he was moved by it.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
So I just wanted there you go saying it.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Oh yeah, yeah, he's all in man.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
He and he wanted to make sure that I thank
you for doing that because it really, it really moved
him and it helped him.
Speaker 4 (36:04):
Well, man, that's incredibly humbling, and I'm glad it did.
And sir, if you're listening, I'm glad the song hits
you in such a great way. And thank you for
the twenty seven years I believe you said that you've
served this country. We appreciate you very much.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
So John, in a few minutes, we got left here.
Where do you go from here? Buddy? What's going on?
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Well, we've got a lot of shows, Big and Rich
shows this year. We're actually booking more. We booked two
more yesterday. I'm headed to I'm headed to New Mexico, Nevada.
We've got Ohio. Hopefully we're going to get up in
y'all's neck of the woods. But Big and Rich dot
Com it's got all of our tour dates, listening, and
then I'm on x which I still call Twitter, but
(36:44):
at John Rich I'm on there quite a bit every day.
If you want to keep up with what I'm doing,
you can go there and Rednick rivera whiskey. Honestly, it
is moving faster than we can keep up with it
right now, and I think that's a testament to the
patriotic nature of that brand and how good it is. Listen.
I have a high school diploma and I grew up
in a trailer in Texas. That's my pedigree. There nothing
(37:09):
fancy about me, and that's why when I came with
this whiskey, I wanted it to be affordable, really really
good and made in the United States of America. And
I think that's one reason why it's doing so well.
Speaker 1 (37:21):
So John, we're on the iHeartRadio app as well. And
if somebody listening to us can't find it where they are,
how can they order it somehow? How is there a
website that you can go to?
Speaker 4 (37:30):
Yeah? Absolutely, so you can go to Rednickrevier dot com
and you click on whiskey and there's a button says
ship it to my house, and you can actually file
through there and see what you want, hit that button
and we'll send it straight to you. We'll send it
to your you know, if you want to buy it
as a gift for somebody, you can have it sent
to their address. Put in whatever address you want and
(37:52):
it'll go there. There's also a store locator on there
where you put in your zip code and hit that
and it'll show you all the stores around your area.
It's not Just read nick Riviera dot com and you'll
see you'll see the whiskey icon on that web website
and just click on that and you'll be in.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
And you've got other products available on there as well,
if I remember right.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
Oh yeah, we've got I've got boots and I wear
Rednick Reverer boots on stage. They're red, white and blue. Man,
these things, these things make a statement. Uh yeah. There's
various things on there that that are again all made
in the USA. Listen, you can't say you love your
country and then when you when you get the opportunity
to increase your profits by having something made in China
(38:32):
and you go do that, that's hypocritical. I just I
don't care. I'd rather spend more money on the product
and keep it made in my country. I want my
people to have jobs. I want my people to be
taken care of, and so that's what Rednick Riviera is
all about.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
John.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
I really appreciate you taking a little time to talk
to us. Everybody listening is going to check out Redneck
Riviera and and uh hopefully they're going to get out
and see a big and rich show and just keep
on going. Man, you're killing it. I feel good about
country music because you and Big Kenny are in it,
and let's see where it goes from here. I hope
you get up in this area and I see you
at some point.
Speaker 4 (39:06):
Absolutely, it'll happen one of these days, I have no doubt.
And thank you for the stand that you've made for
our veterans as well. Thanks for having me on the
air today and look forward to talking to you again
real soon.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Okay, buddy, God bless you too.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Thanks thanks for listening to the podcast for Red, White,
and Blue Saturday afternoons with Uncle Mike. I'd love it
if you tune in each Saturday from two to seven
pm on one O seven three WRWD for the show.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
See you next week.
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