Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is iHeartRadio's West Michigan Weekend. West Michigan Weekend is
a weekly programmed designed to inform and enlighten on a
wide range of public policy issues, as well as news
and current events. Now here's your host, Phil Tower.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
It's West Michigan Weekend from iHeartRadio and welcome in on
a Sunday morning, or if you're hearing this as a podcast,
it could be any time of the day, any day
of the week. Don't forget. All of our shows are
available nearly five hundred episodes atwoodradio dot com on the
left hand side of the page. Just search West Michigan Weekend.
It is the funniest time of the year in West Michigan,
(00:40):
almost as we are here in early February, ready to
prep you for the fifteenth year of LaughFest in Grand Rapids,
presented by Gilda's Club Grand Rapids. I'm so pleased to
welcome Sean Campbell. Sean is the vice president of fund
Development and Engagement at Gilda's Club Grand Rapids. Sean, it's
(01:01):
great to speak with you.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Thanks for having me, Phil.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Well, I appreciate it. It's a big time of year
for you guys. I mean as soon As the curtain
closes on LaughFest twenty twenty four, the planning begins for
LaughFest twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Fair enough to say that is fair enough to say
our team has been busy since last March, kind of
evaluating surveys and looking at things and kind of tracking
what the community wants and desires as we head into
the next year for the festival.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
This is the fifteenth year. And it's interesting to note
for a lot of our listeners we're airing this morning
on a lot of radio stations across West Michigan, that
LaughFest and Grand Rapids was created in Grand Rapids as
a way to bring awareness and raise important funding for
(01:54):
Guilda's Club in Grand Rapids. And I think you would
appreciate me saying, as vice president of fundevelop An Engagement
at Guilda's Club, this is a really important deal because
LaughFest supports free cancer and grief support programs at Guilda's Club.
Let me say that again, with everything in healthcare being
(02:14):
so challenging for people at any income level, the support
that you get at Guilda's Club, the free cancer and
grief support programs, which are invaluable, are free because of
programming like laugh Fest and the donations that people just
give Gilda's Club throughout the year. I think it's really
important we established that right off the bat here Sean,
(02:36):
thank you so.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Much for that, because sometimes people don't necessarily always make
that connection. And we try to really elevate the conversation
around emotional wellness and what Guilder's Club does for folks
who are navigating really life tough stuff with cancer and grief.
And when laugh Us was launched fifteen years ago, it
(03:00):
was an honor of Gilda's club tense anniversary. We were
looking for a way to say, how do we come
together as a community and celebrate the work that we've
done the free cancer and grief services, but also allow
an opportunity for continued dialogue. And we felt that if
we could get people to laugh, we could get them
(03:22):
to listen, and that having that festival of laughter is
also a nod to our namesake. Gilda Radner, one of
the original Saturday Night Live comedians. Back when you had
to watch Saturday Night Live on Saturday Night with no streaming,
you know, no VCR, You had to watch it when
(03:45):
she was on, and you know, we want to Gilda
always said she wanted to still keep her funny when
she was on her cancer journey, and we wanted to
provide that opportunity to have some dialogue around that and
bring some fun and most importantly, free can be very expensive.
So to your point, Bill, it's a great opportunity to
(04:07):
help raise money for the programs that we provide a
Guilder's Club all year round.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, and that's a wonderful thing. It is a resource
we have here in Grand Rapids. Not every big city
has a Guilda's Club and we're really fortunate to have
that here. You can learn more about the wonderful cancer
and grief support programs and everything else at Guilda's Club
offers at Gilda's clubgr dot org. Well, the star of
the show is LaughFest, which was just announced about ten
(04:34):
days ago. The twenty twenty five LaughFest runs March fifth
through ninth, and it's got some pretty big headliners including
Adam Ray, Gabby Bryan, Dan Soder, and Corey b Also,
Preacher Lawson set to headline the Guilda's Club Red Door
Gala and on March nineteenth, that's later at Meyer Gardens
(04:55):
here in Grand Rapids. You've also got a lot of
the popular stuff that's to Clean Comedy Showcase, laugh Fest
Night at the Museum, Laughter RX Symposium, Pop Scholars, River
City Improv and the Dirty Show. New to laugh Fest,
which I love is Gospel Fest at Resurrection Fellowship Church
in Grand Rapids. This is a very big event with
(05:20):
a lot going on, and it's kind of like you
have to top it every year. We want to get
a nod and a shout out to and I know
you'll appreciate this. Gun Lake Casino and Resort presenting your
presenting sponsor and your High five campaign is very important.
It is a benefit for the free cancer and grief
emotional health support programming offered through Guilda's Club in Grand Rapids. Sean,
(05:44):
if we can, let's talk for a second and we'll
go back to comedy. The High Fi campaign is a
wonderful simple thing to raise additional funds for Guilda's Club.
Tell our listeners how that works.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
So at our shows, we have wonderful volunteers. Last of
us would not be able to happen without a small
and ninety army of two hundred to three hundred volunteers
who are helping us out at all these shows all
across town, and as guests are coming in and they're
getting stuttled for the show, we have volunteers asking people
(06:14):
to make a high five, make a five dollars donation
to support those free programs, and we have these little
high five pens that people can wear and put on,
and we have a new design this year, so I
know there's some collectors out there that are going to
be really excited about the new design for the high
five pen. And it just is a way to again,
(06:36):
if you weren't sure, if you were buying a ticket
to a comedy show but didn't know the connection to
Gildi's Club and what the money was going for, the
high five is a great way to have a volunteers
share for a minute. And then we also talk about
it from the stage and our friends at Meyer are
matching up to twenty thousand dollars in our high fives
(06:58):
this year, so we have a real opportunity here to
raise an additional forty thousand dollars through laugh Us and
High five for Gilbert's Club. So please, you know, five dollars.
For the last fifteen years, it's about the only thing
in life that hasn't gone up in price.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, said Sean. I think that's probably the most important
thing to remember. And there are a lot of free
programs offered through LaughFest. You know, I know some of
these comedy shows, any show when you go out can
be expensive. But remember this is a fundraiser for Gilda's
Club and the headliners once again, Abby Ray, Gabby Brian,
(07:37):
Adam Ray, Dan Soder and Corey b all kinds of
great opportunities to see comedy, to laugh, the clean comedy
showcases at the Bob and Doctor Grinn's Comedy Club. I
saw a show there last time we did LaughFest. It
was a lot of fun and I just I love it.
(07:58):
You know, there's another thing to remember here behind all
of this. You know it's great about this, and I
know you know this, Sean, is when you go out
and attend these LaughFest events, you meet other people, you
make new friends. It's a wonderful way, better than social
media to connect with people.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
What a concept, Sean, right, And we all.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Can use that, and especially during the great times of
March around West Michigan too, we need to get out
and have a reason to laugh and listen and be
together with that community.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
What's the best way for people to get tickets to
any of the events that they're interested in. I'm assuming
just do that through laffestgr dot org.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
You can get tickets through lefsgrs dot org. And then
we also have two ticket sale days at our clubhouse,
which is at eighteen o six Bridge Street, Northwest, and
if you've never been here, it's a great opportunity to
come and stop by and get the tickets without any
ticket feed. Those are going to be held on Saturday
(09:05):
February twenty two in Saturday March one from ten to
two on those days, so you can get tickets in
person there as well.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Okay, so Saturday February twenty second and Saturday March first,
you can go to Gilda's Club eighteen oh six Bridge Street.
You just if you're coming from the downtown Grand Rapids
area or for the east, you can just take Bridge
Street all the way up the hill. It's a beautiful drive.
I know that from first and experience, and you are
(09:35):
at eighteen oh six Bridge Street and that's a great
way to not only get tickets but see Gilda's Club
as well in your beautiful facility. Fifteen years running for LaughFest,
and there are some free events as well Sean Campbell
that people should know about as well as a part
of Gilda's LaughFest.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Right yes, and also welcoming people back to the clubhouse.
On the Saturday morning of the festival March eighth, we
have our Family Fun Day here at a clubhouse where
we will kick that off at nine am with drumming
with Josh done again, followed by one of my personal favorites,
(10:14):
which is kids Joke, so we have an opportunity for
the little to step up to the mic and share
a joke with everyone. That's going to be at ten
o'clock in the morning. And then at eleven our partners
at a Comedy project which also are hosting some shows
our local comedy projects there they will be here at
(10:34):
eleven to do family improv class. So we have a
nice free morning for people with their families on Saturday
at Gilda's during the festival. And you also made mention
new this year with Gospel Fest that is a free
event that's taking place on Thursday night during the festival.
And we've been hosting Gospel Fest as part of Gilda's
(10:56):
Club and our Sister the Sister African Americans. Cour group
has hosted that typically in the fall, but we said
let's bring that in, let's elevate that and have that
as part of the festival, and there'll be a couple
praise groups and then a Christian comedian as well for
that free event on Thursday night.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
And you can get more information at laughfestgr dot org,
LaughFest gr dot r G. I've got a couple of
minutes left, Sean. I want to make sure people know
they can also make a financial donation to Guilda's Club
and you can do that anytime of the year at
gildasclubgr dot org. If you want to pay it back,
(11:37):
pay it forward to help support the free cancer and
grief support programs at Guilda's Club. It's always to remember
the Guilda's Club is here even long after the curtain
closes on LaughFest twenty twenty five, right.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
That is correct. We're here all year round. We're offering
around one hundred and fifty free programs some months for people,
and those range from typical support groups where people are
connecting and having conversation with folks who are experiencing the
same things that they are, and we call people who
come to guild us club members because Gilda Randner said,
(12:13):
having cancer makes you a member of a club you
never wanted to join. We believe our members are the
experts in their own journey, and they choose how they
want to participate, whether it's our support groups or our
social activities, or we partner with area experts in our
community to do some workshops and educational programs. That all
(12:34):
of that comes to about one hundred and fifty different
things a month here at the clubhouse in Grand Rapids,
on Bridge, at our satellite clubhouse and roll and as
well as out in the community and in some of
the schools helping the kids as well.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Indeed, Sean Campbell is with us here in West Michigan
weekend on iHeartRadio, vice president of fund Development and Engagement
at Gilda's Club Grand Rapids, is we're talking about left
real quickly, Sean, anything I didn't ask you you want
to share with our listeners.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
I think the last thing I would just share is
we're very excited to have Preacher Lawson at our annual
Red Door Gay Love. That kind of puts the cherry
on top after the festival. That's a very large fundraiser
for us and Meyer Gardens is beautiful that time of year,
the butterflies will be blooming. People can go in there
during cocktail hour with a glass wine or a cocktail
(13:27):
and then enjoy Preacher Lawson in the evening, who was
runner up on America's Got Talent and has a long
kind of bio of success that we're really excited to
have him on March nineteen at Mayor Gardens.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And the best way to get tickets for that.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Is where you can get them both on lastsgr dot
org or Gildo's clubgr dot org.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
All right, fantastic. Sean Campbell, vice president of fund Development
and Engagement at Guilda's Club Grand Rapids with us on
this segment of West Michigan Weekend. Thank you, Sean, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
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