On this week's program, host Phil Tower welcomes Nick Nerbonne, the Digital and Industry Relations Director with Travel Michigan. Nick joined us on the program to talk about the impact of sports and tourism on the state of Michigan. Nick told us that sports tourism is a huge and very important part of the overall tourism picture for the state’s economy. The 2024 NFL Draft in downtown Detroit concluded in late April, and city officials anticipate the economic impact to be significant. Detroit ended the NFL Draft by setting the attendance record with over 700,000 fans at the event, beating the record of 600,000 fans set in 2019 in Nashville. Detroit also set the record for the highest attendance on Day one of the draft, with 275,000 fans. Nick also talked about The Pure Michigan Governor's Conference on Tourism, which was held in April and is the biggest event of the year for the entire tourism industry and related businesses. The conference tracks over 500 tourism leaders and industry representatives from across Michigan. Online: Travel Michigan
In part two this week, Phil spoke with Bob Hughes and Joe DiBenedetto, both Co-Chairs for this year's Armed Forces Thanksgiving celebration on May 17 at The J.W. Marriott in downtown Grand Rapids. The Armed Forces Thanksgiving event was created in 2014 by a group of Grand Rapids businessmen to raise awareness and dialogue on the contributions our military personnel have made - and continue to make - on behalf of their families, friends, and country. The annual Armed Forces Thanksgiving celebration provides a vehicle for our community, from teens to adults, to understand, honor, and express thanks for the service of those who have served or are serving in our Armed Forces. Funds raised after expenses are donated to the West Michigan Veterans Coalition so that they can continue their mission of improving the lives of veterans and their families by connecting them to all available support services and resources in West Michigan. Bob and Joe stressed that the organization is still looking to attract more high schools and students to participate in the annual event.
Online: Armed Forces Thanksgiving
In part two this week, Phil spoke with Bob Hughes and Joe DiBenedetto, both Co-Chairs for this year's Armed Forces Thanksgiving celebration on May 17 at The J.W. Marriott in downtown Grand Rapids. The Armed Forces Thanksgiving event was created in 2014 by a group of Grand Rapids businessmen to raise awareness and dialogue on the contributions our military personnel have made - and continue to make - on behalf of their families, friends, and country. The annual Armed Forces Thanksgiving celebration provides a vehicle for our community, from teens to adults, to understand, honor, and express thanks for the service of those who have served or are serving in our Armed Forces. Funds raised after expenses are donated to the West Michigan Veterans Coalition so that they can continue their mission of improving the lives of veterans and their families by connecting them to all available support services and resources in West Michigan. Bob and Joe stressed that the organization is still looking to attract more high schools and students to participate in the annual event.
Online: Armed Forces Thanksgiving
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend a public affairsprogram. This is West Michigan Weekend from
iHeartRadio. Thank you so much fortuning in. I am so glad you've
joined us across whatever iHeartRadio station youhappen to be listening to. And we
are here on a Sunday to talktravel in Michigan, tourism, and specifically
(00:23):
we're going to talk a little bitabout sports tourism, because even if you're
not a sports fan, it's veryeasy to overlook the impact of sports touring.
And I'm very glad to have mybuddy Nick Nirban with us. Nick
is the digital and industry relations director. He's just a travel pro and he's
with Travel Michigan. I've had thepleasure of spending some time with Nick.
(00:44):
He's a good, upstanding guy.So we thought we need to get him
on West Michigan Weekend because Nick hasbeen a man about the state recently.
I know because we're friends on socialmedia. I saw you on Facebook.
I was living vicariously through you andour friend John Gonzalez with the NFL draft
over this past weekend. We're nowtalking on Sunday, May fifth, So
(01:10):
that was last weekend. It wasjust off the charts. Nick, First
of all, we're going to talkabout travel tours, but give our listeners
a sense of what it was beinglike being there. The first day drew
almost three hundred thousand people. Youshattered Detroit shattered the record for the NFL
Draft attendants, which was five yearsold. In Nashville, which was six
(01:33):
hundred thousand. We had like overseven hundred thousand, right, Yeah.
Well, first of all, Bill, it's great to be with you,
and I appreciate the opportunity to joinyour listeners and talk a little about travel
across the state of Michigan. AndYes, the NFL Draft, this is
something that we've been platting for forwell over. It's a major, large
scale event that draws hundreds of thousandsof people from not just the surrounding area,
(01:53):
but across the country and beyond.We spoke to some international visitors while
we were down in area Detroit,and it's interesting. The NFL is a
top tier attraction. People love towatch on TV, they love to go
to games, but the NFL Draftin the last ten years or so has
become a major attraction in it South. So we knew we would have great
participation, but I don't think anyone, by their wildest dreams would anticipate having
(02:17):
almost eight hundred thousand people over thethree days. But I've got to tell
you, the city looked so good. Detroit represented extremely well the city of
Detroit. Visit Detroit. The localtourism girl there in Detroit, along with
all of the local partners including lawenforcement and so many other important partners in
(02:37):
Detroit did such a fantastic job notonly preparing the city, having it ready
to roll out the red carpet forone hundreds of thousands of visitors, but
for managing such a large scale eventto set up from the NFL was fantastic.
And just walking around. So youhad the street blocked off on Woodward
Avenue from just about where call AmericaPark, it begins all the way to
(02:58):
heart Plaza. So once you enteredthe draft foot prenice they call it,
you can walk all the way downWoodward There no cars are stood, trucks
as band playing, there were liveDJs happening outside, we restaurants with patios
open, and it was just awonderful environment and wonderful atmosphere, and it
was almost as if the actual draftitself was kind of secondary to the atmosphere
(03:21):
and the fund being had it throughoutthe city. Yeah, it sounded like
he didn't even really need to bea huge NFL fan. It just it
was it was a giant party.And you said something early on, which
is really important to note. TheNFL Draft never used to be this kind
of spectacle. It's grown dramatically overthe years. Obviously, social media has
had a big impact on that.You know, twenty four to seven cable
(03:44):
news and just online news presence,it's a big flipping deal. And Detroit
Shine I saw online the Anderson peoplehad predicted one hundred and thirty five million
dollar economic impact just for the draftitself. I can't imagine the amount of
food that was spent, the hotel, motel expense, the beer and liquor
(04:06):
consumed alone, not to mention gambling. You've got a casino and just everything
else that went along with it.And what was the overall vibe. I
got to believe people were just theywere absolutely stoked. Well, you know,
I've got to point something out thatI think some folks may be a
little surprised at. It felt veryfamily friend. Can you pure like a
(04:27):
football related to tailgate or something likethat. Yeah, and you picture like
people drinking some beers and giants andatmosphere together and having a lot of fun.
But throughout the day we were outand about really from mid morning until
lady evenating every day during the dreatAnd I found it to be a very
family friendly environment where, you know, there were a lot of families with
kids there. You know, someof my colleagues you know, had their
(04:50):
families down there in Detroit to experienceit, and so it really was just
an overall very positive and friendly vibe. But going inside the family the drafts
footprint and near the main seer whereCommissioner Goodell would make it the picks and
where all the teams would present theirnew to players and the players would go
on stage and all that. Justbeing near that part of that atmosphere,
(05:12):
it was pretty incredible. And whenEminem came out with Commissioner Abodell to check
off the draft on Thursday day,and I tell you, you could not
believe the energy in the air.It was pretty exciting. Yeah, He's
found the perfect way to immerse himselfin the whole NFL, whole Lions thing,
and it was just it was alot of fun to watch. So,
Nick, I want to talk zoomout from a bigger per section of
(05:33):
just looking at sports tourism for thestate of Michigan. It is a big
deal. Again, you don't haveto be a sports stand under a sports
fan to understand how important this isto economies because sports is bigger than life.
People will travel whether it's hot acollege hockey tournament or a big high
(05:56):
school basketball tournament, or any kindof sports event. We've got in Grand
Rapids, Western Michigan. We've gotthe Michigan State games. You've got all
kinds of things that draw people infrom all over the state of Michigan and
beyond. So sports tourism in itself. You work for the state of Michigan
and travel Michigan. It's a bigdeal and getting even bigger. Right,
(06:18):
Well, sports fans are very passionateabout the teams that they root for.
I think you mentioned college sports,So just think about that alone here in
Michigan. Not only do we haveMichigan and Michigan State, two big ten
teams within about sixty miles of eachother that draw fans from all over the
country. You know, for allsports, not just for football, but
then you think about Western and Centraland Eastern and all kinds of other Grande
(06:41):
Valley and Grantity Rapids, so manysports programs that have recurring events that draw
bulps in. But then you talkabout minor league baseball like the white Caps
and Grand Rapids, you know,so many wonderful opportunities, the Griffins,
you know, so we have somany great teams that we can enjoy.
But these large scale events like anNFL Draft and coming up in forty to
twenty seven, the NCAA Final Four, the men, the Final Four is
(07:03):
coming into Detroit, into Ford Field, and even down into the NCAA Championships
for swimming, our gymnastics or othertypes of sports. These are something that
are very important to bring in folksfrom all over the place to enjoy what
Michigan has to offer and discover allof the things that we have here in
here at Michigan. So it doesmore than just bring in those dollars,
(07:26):
which we love. It also helpsthem discover our communities, our natural resources,
and all the other things we hadhere in the state. Well,
we've got about six minutes left tocover a lot of things, so I'm
going to fly through something. Firstof all, staying on the theme of
sports tourism, you mentioned that theFinal Four will be in Detroit. There's
nothing bigger in March, and that'sreally early April when you get into Final
(07:46):
four time. Then college basketball.This is going to be incredible. It's
going to be at Ford Field.You said, wow. Yeah, So
you know, let's say a basketballuram and obviously a huge draw. You
know, you feel out your bracketsand everything. So to have that atmosphere
of downtown Detroit again some of thebest sports fans in the world, that's
going to be a good one andpeople will come down even though don't have
(08:07):
tickets, just to be a partof the atmosphere, just to watch the
games, just to take in thevibe, which I have to say,
I don't think I've said this onthe program, and we have a lot
of iHeartRadio stations carrying this program acrossWest Michigan. I went to my first
Lions game in eons in December oftwenty twenty three, and we all know
(08:28):
what happened to the Lions. Veryexciting. They got one well about one
half away from making it to theSuper Bowl. I have told so many
friends Nick. The atmosphere inside FordField. Now this was December sixteenth,
Lions were playing the Broncos. Theywere hotter than hot. I've never experienced
anything like that at any professional sportingevent. It was off the charts.
(08:52):
It was like the world's happiest partywith a football game going on in the
background. Everybody was happy. Iwas shocked by the number of women with
Lions geiran. I shouldn't have beenthat shocked, but it was just it
was a really happy, jubilant event, and it was party leveled and was
super loud, And I can't imagineyou take that and then add six hundred
(09:16):
thousand more people to that, sixhundred and fifty thousand more people, I
can't imagine what Detroit was like.So I just wanted to mention this whole
feeling. Yeah, there's a lotof enthusiasm about the Lions, and it
certainly bubbled over into people who wentdowntown to Detroit for the NFL Draft.
A lot of them probably would havenever traveled out of state without that vibe.
So twenty twenty four in May,we're talking just weeks away. You
(09:39):
were telling it is a really bigevent, that involves Canadians and Canadian hockey.
It's going to happen actually in Midland, Michigan by Saginaw. Yeah,
it's from Saginawel Events Center. Soyeah, we think about Midlical what we
think of Dow at that quarters ofDal Chemicals, but at the Doll Event
Center in Sagonaw's right and down Downsiga. Okay, they're hosting the Memorial Cup,
(10:01):
which is the championship for the CanadianHockey League. This is the first
time it's been held in the UnitedStates since nineteen ninety eight and the first
time ever held in Michigan. Andthis is some of the highest caliber hockey
outside of the NHL. And sofor diehart hockey fans, this is an
opportunity to see some really competitive hockeyand do it in a smaller, more
(10:22):
intimate areadia in the Dow Event Center, and it should be a great atmosphere
throughout the entire community during the MemorialCup, which is happening in late May.
Yeah, and that's in Saginaw DowEvent Center. As you said,
do you know if that will typicallysell out or if there's some diehard hockey
fans listening to us right now onan iHeart radio station. Can they just
(10:43):
check the Dow Event Center to seeabout tickets. Yes, I would visit
the Dow Event Center's website to confirmavailability. Last I knew, I had
not confirmed that it has been soldout. I would say that, you
know, with a few weeks leftuntil Memorial Day weekend, there may be
some chance to get tickets, butdefinitely worth looking into it, even for
resale value. You take this becauseit would be more worth it. We're
speaking, by the way, withNick nurban digital and industry relations director with
(11:07):
Travel Michigan. You can learn moreof Michigan dot org. As our good
friend Dave Lorenzius to say, yourtrip begins at Michigan dot org. Nick,
as we kind of look at ourlast couple of minutes together, I
just wanted to talk with you alittle bit about tourism in general. It
is a big deal for the stateof Michigan. You were just gathered a
few weeks ago in Kalamazoo for theGovernor's Conference on Tourism, which is a
(11:31):
really big deal. Share with usjust for a couple of moments. Some
of the key takeaways from that conference. Well, the pure Michian Governor's Conference
on Tourism happens each year. It'sa great opportunity for us to gather with
our industry colleagues throughout the state,from all the way from the western up
down to southwest and southeast Michigan,and we have educational learning sessions, we
have all kinds of collaborative opportunities,and it's a great opportunity for us to
(11:54):
share with each other what we've beenlearning and what we want to do this
year and so well, this year, Governor Wicker came and spoke to our
audience, and one of the thingsyou talked about with sports tourism, we
even had a presenter about sports tourismto talk to us about not only the
national championships that we're discussing here,but also a high school level and other
(12:16):
types of travel teams like soccer andall those things, how those can really
impact communities. So I think someof the biggest takeaways are looking at national
trends and what are travelers looking forand how we can capitalize them. Yeah,
yeah, and it's only going toget bigger. As we said earlier,
it's also a great opportunity to kindof shine some light and some people
(12:37):
in the tourism industry. And whenwe see tourism, it's not just convention
and visitors bureaus and hotels and motels. It's just it's very wide reaching,
this whole thing with travel and tourismin Michigan. That's right. You know,
we have so many people in ourcommunity and when we talk about travel,
you know, that includes a visitorcalls to a community, they talk
(12:58):
about the rest the grocery stores,you know, everything the small businesses that
are in those communities, and itreally does drive growth, especially when we
talk about some of our more ruralcommunities, whether it's you know here in
south in West Michigan, whether it'sup North or in the far reaches of
the up It makes a big differencein all seasons of the year. You
think about the fall, in amidweek situation in the Upper Peninsula, tourism
(13:22):
that brings in people to eat atthose restaurants and buy groceries at those places
during the week when it really canbe helpful to those local economis. Yeah,
it's a great point and it's notanything that you really can say,
oh, you know, we couldget by without it. It is the
lifeblood of Michigan. And yes,we have the auto manufacturers here, which
(13:45):
is a big part of the economy, but man, is it a huge
driver. And boy, it isso important to our state of Michigan,
and we have so much to explore, which is great. And with that,
I will tell you highly recommend youcheck out Michigan Out or Pure Michigan's
website, a wonderful website with allkinds of places to escape to in Michigan.
(14:05):
And the next time we have youback on the program, we'll have
to do this. I'm going toget Nicks pick some of your places you
and others have tried and you knowjust just what you recommend. But thank
you so much for your time.We've got to wrap this segment up.
Any final words of wisdom for peopletraveling Michigan, Nick, Well, I
(14:26):
would love to come on to sharesome of my favorites Phil, but also
one thing I always recommend, lookto try something new this year. Go
to a place you haven't been to, try an activity never tried, Go
to michine dot org and find somethingnew. Great wisdom and great final words
for Nick Nirban, digital and industryrelations director with Travel Michigan with us on
this segment of West Michigan Weekend fromI Her Radio. You stick around,
(14:48):
we have more coming up in justa moment, Dan, I picked up
your pills, major lunch, andyour laundry is done. When you care
for a loved one, you takecare of everything. But are you taking
care of yourself? Fine free careguides at AARP dot org slash Caregiving brought
to you by AARP and the HeadCouncil and Hi Aged. It's West Michigan
Weekend from iHeartRadio. So glad tohave you along with us in studio.
(15:11):
And we are here first Sunday inMay with important information. The Armed Forces
Thanksgiving event coming up once again.This will be the ninth year on May
seventeenth. I'm very pleased to havea couple of board members in studio with
us to talk about why this eventis so important. Joe de Benedetto and
(15:33):
Bob Hughes are both co chairs forthe Armed Forces Thanksgiving event will happen on
Friday, May seventeenth, so that'sjust about twelve days away. Bob Hughes,
welcome to the program. Thank you, Phil and Joe de Benedetto welcome
as well. You guys have beeninvolved in this event on the board for
(15:54):
some time. Bob, We're goingto start with you. How did you
come to be involved with planning thisgreat event which is all about to celebrate
to It's all about celebrating the contributionsof veterans in the West Michigan area and
really raising the level of understanding andappreciation for their sacrifice. But typically what
(16:15):
happens somebody recruits you, there's anudge or a push. What's the Bob
Hughes story for getting involved with thisevent. I've always felt a huge indepth
that to veterans, obviously, andwe never do enough. But a good
friend, Peter Rupert, came upwith this idea of let's do something to
otter veterans and at the same timeeducate young people on what they've done and
what the military looks like, andstarted this event. And he called me
(16:37):
up to sell a table and Isaid, hey, that sounds great,
and went to the event the firstyear and then sent him a note back
and said, man, you reallygot a great concept here. And then
I said, why don't you getoff your tail and start helping? So
he pulled me in. But Peterwas really the impetus with this event and
behind it, and John Irwin thenjumped in and helped him, and unfortunately
last summer we lost Peter. Sowe want to take his vision and keep
(17:02):
working hard to make sure this messageof honoring veterans and educating the youth about
what they've done, and in Pete'shonor, because his vision for this event
was so great. It's just agreat need and that was really the inspiration
how I got involved. Pete hadso much energy for this group. I
have interviewed him, had the pleasureof interviewing him several times. So I
know that's a big loss, butI know he assembled a great team.
(17:23):
So there almost has to be Joedi benedetto a little sense of, hey,
we got to make this a greatyear. Obviously Pete's looking down on
us, making sure fellows don't screwthis one up. Right. Yeah,
absolutely, Phil, we we certainly, you know, we take each each
year seriously, but this one hasa little bit more you know, oomph
to it. You know, somesome heart you know alongside it, you
(17:45):
know, in honor of of youknow what Pete you know, brought to
the table and how much this meantto him. As you know, and
his dad was his inspiration, youknow, for this event, as as
someone who served in the Middle Military. You know, he wanted to obviously
pay tribute not only to his dad, but all of those who served.
(18:06):
And you know, we want tomake sure that we are good stewards of
Pete's vision, you know, thisyear and moving forward, right, and
that is a really important thing,especially as we look twenty years down the
road for the twenty ninth Annual ArmedForces Thanksgiving Event. There've got people to
carry this forward, to carry thebaton forward. The mission of this event
(18:27):
is to raise awareness and dialogue onthe contributions or military personnel have made while
providing an invaluable education opportunity for highschool students. So that is a really
unique component about this. If youhave attended, you know what I'm talking
about. But there's always room formore high schools, more high school student
(18:47):
involvement. Because we were talking aboutbefore we turn down the microphones this morning,
we're talking about the importance that somany high school students don't have a
family member or or a friend.It's very rare they have a family member
or friend who has that military experience, maybe current active duty military. Bob,
you mentioned a statistic I think ourlisteners should hear, which is one
(19:12):
percent of the United States public servestypically correct. Yeah, down to one
percent. And we're so grateful andI wow, we obviously don't do enough
to thank them, and without them, where would we be. So something
that we need to change, buteasy to talk about how to do.
So what makes this year different?As you've been planning it? What were
(19:33):
some of the things you wanted tofocus on? And I know high school
students, high schools being involved talkingabout what they're doing to honor veterans in
their school district. I'll start withyou, Bob. What are some of
the things that you wanted to focuson this Here are things that people may
want to be aware of. Well, that whole thing of honoring the veterans,
and so this event is about themand making them feel a little bit
(19:53):
special for a day about what you'vedone for us and that we see it
and we know it. And atthe same time bringing somebody that the kids
will become to an experience and learnsomething that they didn't know. So I
think that's what's unique about the program. We like to have a speaker that
appeals to both of those, andthere's an opportunity for the kids to see
the hardware and experience a lecture withour speaker over at the gerald Ford Museum
(20:14):
in the morning and then come overto the big event where we have our
keynote. And we've had some We'vebeen very fortunate to have some wonderful keynotes
for many years. Last year wasreally neat because we alway worry about what
are the kids going to think aboutthis? And we had Rocky Blier,
who people my age no Rocky superBowl hero, but it was a lot
of people don't know that he waswounded in the Vietnam War. And at
the end of the meeting, allthe kids were lined up getting Rocky autographs,
(20:37):
so that put a big smile onall of our faces to see that
they connected with that. So theguest we have this year has an incredible
story, Kim Casey Campbell, andCasey is her call sign that stands for
a killer Chick. She was award Hoog pilot back in the Gulf War
and when we were researching her,we found stories of people troops that were
on the ground that were in bigtrouble over being overrun and she came in
(20:59):
and saved them by flying cover overhead. And long story short, her planes
suffered on one of the missions,really bad damage. If you ever see
pictures of her that she's all overthe internet and so forth. This a
ten war hog was shot to piecesand all the hydraugs were gone, and
trying to fly this thing without hydraulicsis like trying to drive a bus or
without hydraulics. The imagine your powersteering and be gone. And she flew
it back and landed it. Andjust her whole career in the military,
(21:22):
how she got into the Air ForceAcademy was because she wasn't originally accepted perseverance
as just a real new person.So we hope that that message will resonate
with the kids and give us agreat opportunity to honor the bets that are
there. Yeah, and something elseto highlight for this year is that,
you know, last year, ourfocus was on celebrating you know, the
Vietnam War, you know, thosewho served. I mean, we obviously
(21:44):
honor everyone who served, but itwas you know, special recognition to those
who served in Vietnam. And thisyear we are you know, tipping the
cap to you know those who servedin Korea, and we'll actually have several
Korean War vets terrands with us duringthe event, so you know, that'll
be a great opportunity for you know, all of those in attendance to recognize
(22:10):
and thank them for their service,you know, so many years ago.
Joe de Benedetto is the voice youjust heard, along with Bob Hughes,
who's with us in studio, cochairs of the annual Armed Forces Thanksgiving event
coming up on Friday, May seventeenthat the JW again at JW Marriott.
Yes, Maria and his people arehearing this on the radio and I'm wondering,
(22:30):
well can I get tickets to this? I know this event is almost
always sold out. The website whichwe want to give right now and toward
the end of this conversation is Armedforcesthchx dot org. Armed Forces thx dot
org. You can also support thisas a business a lot of sponsorship opportunity.
(22:55):
I do know that you guys typicallywill present a very size check to
the Kent County Veterans Council as afundraiser. Part of this or some organization
that serves veterans. Is that goingto be the case again this year.
Yes, we typically one of ourmain partners is the West Michigan Veterans Coalition,
and we have raised in over nineyears, or you know, during
(23:18):
the eight previous years, excuse me, more than four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars to contribute to the just anincredible organization that you know, supports veterans
and their families, you know,during times of need and with scholarships and
in other ways you know, tohelp, you know, give back to
the community. And that's you know, that wasn't the reason why the Armed
(23:41):
Forces Thanksgiving was started. It's justkind of a positive result of it.
The fundraising, you know, thatcomes of it. You know, the
proceeds you know raised you know throughthe sponsorships, the majority of that goes,
you know, to the West MichiganVeterans Coalitions and some other organizations locally
and across the country. High schoolsare a big part of this event,
(24:03):
and gentlemen, and if there happensto be a high school administrator, a
teacher, maybe even a student listeningto us on Sunday morning, we're still
twelve days away from the event,if they want to be involved, whether
it's this year or next year.How does a high school get involved or
a teacher who's really feels the passionfor, you know, honoring veterans who
(24:26):
have served. What's the best way, Bob, for people to get involved
with this? That's music targets.We're always looking for more schools to involved.
We have a great group of schoolleaders that solicit the schools to work
with them and find the ones thatare passionate about that. We're always looking
for more and we've had some amazingstories of what the students have done building
memorials and tributes to veterans. Butif they reach out to our organization,
(24:48):
we have some great people that arein that industry and very connected and would
love to speak with them about gettingsome of their students to the event.
I just wanted to add to youknow, well, it's a small number
of students from each school that attend, you know, three to six.
Typically the ask is for them togo back to their school and kind of
(25:08):
carry the message you know that theyheard, you know, during the event,
and incorporate you know, some sortof you know, community service event
or activity excuse me, and youknow, each year we're floored by you
know the number of schools that uh, you know what they're doing, uh,
you know throughout the following school year. And we've got two great uh,
(25:29):
two great schools that will be honoringthis uh you know during this year's
event. One is Hudsonville Public Schoolsand the other is Caledonia. For you
know what they did, you know, whether it be a hockey game,
you know, hockey for Heroes atHudsonville, uh and you know Caledonia with
with the work that they've done touh, you know, celebrate and honor
(25:49):
the military and in many in many, many times raising funds on their own
to help organizations like the West MichiganVeterans Coalition, right, and a lot
of these students and schools have actuallybecome so involved with honoring veterans more than
just a one time event. They'veactually built whole physical displays in schools.
(26:11):
I had mentioned earlier. I havea teacher friend, mister Lebnz, who
worked on putting together the very beautifuldisplay at Forest Hill's Central High School.
I know a lot of other schoolshave done this. And this is more
than just Kent County, gentlemen,right, this is reaching into Ottawa County
obviously Ionia County. When you hearthese high schools represented at the event,
(26:33):
it's a broad reach. It's areal broad reach. Bob, Yeah,
yeah, I mean it's what aboutWest Michigan WA. We just love results,
and when you see some of thesethings that these students are doing,
it just blows your mind. Itmakes you feel great about that. They
appreciated the efforts they've gone to recognizethe kids in their schools over the decades
that have served in the tributes theybuilt some they're not forgotten and thankful for
(26:53):
what they've all done. And theother thing with the West Michigan Veterans Coalition,
as Joe mentioned, we've actually seenwhat that money has done. They've
been able to show us what they'vebeen able to do with it locally and
the impact that it has. Andagain that wasn't the original vision, like
Joe said, of the program,but when somebody sponsors it, we have
(27:14):
so many great people that buy tables. Basically what they do is they get
four seats of anybody they want tobring to the event, but then there
are there's four students and two veteransat every table, so it really promotes
great dialogue and great experiences for thestudents, the veterans and the people that
are buying the table. And it'sfun to see the results of the whole
thing. Yeah, and it's alsofun to look at all those who served
(27:38):
in their full military uniform and pompand circumstances. Yeah, it's just it
is a goosebump event and I highlyrecommend if you have a chance to get
involved, please do it. Iwant to thank Bob Hughes Joe Di benedetto
co chairs for this year's Armed ForcesThanksgiving event. Again. Online you can
(27:59):
learn you can get involved to makea difference at your school or with your
business. Armforcestchx dot org. Armedforcestchxdot org. Gentlemen, thank you so
much. Thank you, Phil.We appreciate your support. Yeah, look
forward to another great year's event.They've been our guests in this segment of
West Michigan Weekend. That's our programfor this week. Let's do this again
next Sunday. Thank you so muchfor listening. I'm Phil Tower. We
(28:22):
appreciate you tuning in along this iHeartRadiostation for West Michigan Weekend. iHeartMedia West
Michigan Weekend a public Affairs Program
iHeartMedia West Michigan Weekend a public affairsprogram. This is West Michigan Weekend from
iHeartRadio. Thank you so much fortuning in. I am so glad you've
joined us across whatever iHeartRadio station youhappen to be listening to. And we
are here on a Sunday to talktravel in Michigan, tourism, and specifically
(00:23):
we're going to talk a little bitabout sports tourism, because even if you're
not a sports fan, it's veryeasy to overlook the impact of sports touring.
And I'm very glad to have mybuddy Nick Nirban with us. Nick
is the digital and industry relations director. He's just a travel pro and he's
with Travel Michigan. I've had thepleasure of spending some time with Nick.
(00:44):
He's a good, upstanding guy.So we thought we need to get him
on West Michigan Weekend because Nick hasbeen a man about the state recently.
I know because we're friends on socialmedia. I saw you on Facebook.
I was living vicariously through you andour friend John Gonzalez with the NFL draft
over this past weekend. We're nowtalking on Sunday, May fifth, So
(01:10):
that was last weekend. It wasjust off the charts. Nick, First
of all, we're going to talkabout travel tours, but give our listeners
a sense of what it was beinglike being there. The first day drew
almost three hundred thousand people. Youshattered Detroit shattered the record for the NFL
Draft attendants, which was five yearsold. In Nashville, which was six
(01:33):
hundred thousand. We had like overseven hundred thousand, right, Yeah.
Well, first of all, Bill, it's great to be with you,
and I appreciate the opportunity to joinyour listeners and talk a little about travel
across the state of Michigan. AndYes, the NFL Draft, this is
something that we've been platting for forwell over. It's a major, large
scale event that draws hundreds of thousandsof people from not just the surrounding area,
(01:53):
but across the country and beyond.We spoke to some international visitors while
we were down in area Detroit,and it's interesting. The NFL is a
top tier attraction. People love towatch on TV, they love to go
to games, but the NFL Draftin the last ten years or so has
become a major attraction in it South. So we knew we would have great
participation, but I don't think anyone, by their wildest dreams would anticipate having
(02:17):
almost eight hundred thousand people over thethree days. But I've got to tell
you, the city looked so good. Detroit represented extremely well the city of
Detroit. Visit Detroit. The localtourism girl there in Detroit, along with
all of the local partners including lawenforcement and so many other important partners in
(02:37):
Detroit did such a fantastic job notonly preparing the city, having it ready
to roll out the red carpet forone hundreds of thousands of visitors, but
for managing such a large scale eventto set up from the NFL was fantastic.
And just walking around. So youhad the street blocked off on Woodward
Avenue from just about where call AmericaPark, it begins all the way to
(02:58):
heart Plaza. So once you enteredthe draft foot prenice they call it,
you can walk all the way downWoodward There no cars are stood, trucks
as band playing, there were liveDJs happening outside, we restaurants with patios
open, and it was just awonderful environment and wonderful atmosphere, and it
was almost as if the actual draftitself was kind of secondary to the atmosphere
(03:21):
and the fund being had it throughoutthe city. Yeah, it sounded like
he didn't even really need to bea huge NFL fan. It just it
was it was a giant party.And you said something early on, which
is really important to note. TheNFL Draft never used to be this kind
of spectacle. It's grown dramatically overthe years. Obviously, social media has
had a big impact on that.You know, twenty four to seven cable
(03:44):
news and just online news presence,it's a big flipping deal. And Detroit
Shine I saw online the Anderson peoplehad predicted one hundred and thirty five million
dollar economic impact just for the draftitself. I can't imagine the amount of
food that was spent, the hotel, motel expense, the beer and liquor
(04:06):
consumed alone, not to mention gambling. You've got a casino and just everything
else that went along with it.And what was the overall vibe. I
got to believe people were just theywere absolutely stoked. Well, you know,
I've got to point something out thatI think some folks may be a
little surprised at. It felt veryfamily friend. Can you pure like a
(04:27):
football related to tailgate or something likethat. Yeah, and you picture like
people drinking some beers and giants andatmosphere together and having a lot of fun.
But throughout the day we were outand about really from mid morning until
lady evenating every day during the dreatAnd I found it to be a very
family friendly environment where, you know, there were a lot of families with
kids there. You know, someof my colleagues you know, had their
(04:50):
families down there in Detroit to experienceit, and so it really was just
an overall very positive and friendly vibe. But going inside the family the drafts
footprint and near the main seer whereCommissioner Goodell would make it the picks and
where all the teams would present theirnew to players and the players would go
on stage and all that. Justbeing near that part of that atmosphere,
(05:12):
it was pretty incredible. And whenEminem came out with Commissioner Abodell to check
off the draft on Thursday day,and I tell you, you could not
believe the energy in the air.It was pretty exciting. Yeah, He's
found the perfect way to immerse himselfin the whole NFL, whole Lions thing,
and it was just it was alot of fun to watch. So,
Nick, I want to talk zoomout from a bigger per section of
(05:33):
just looking at sports tourism for thestate of Michigan. It is a big
deal. Again, you don't haveto be a sports stand under a sports
fan to understand how important this isto economies because sports is bigger than life.
People will travel whether it's hot acollege hockey tournament or a big high
(05:56):
school basketball tournament, or any kindof sports event. We've got in Grand
Rapids, Western Michigan. We've gotthe Michigan State games. You've got all
kinds of things that draw people infrom all over the state of Michigan and
beyond. So sports tourism in itself. You work for the state of Michigan
and travel Michigan. It's a bigdeal and getting even bigger. Right,
(06:18):
Well, sports fans are very passionateabout the teams that they root for.
I think you mentioned college sports,So just think about that alone here in
Michigan. Not only do we haveMichigan and Michigan State, two big ten
teams within about sixty miles of eachother that draw fans from all over the
country. You know, for allsports, not just for football, but
then you think about Western and Centraland Eastern and all kinds of other Grande
(06:41):
Valley and Grantity Rapids, so manysports programs that have recurring events that draw
bulps in. But then you talkabout minor league baseball like the white Caps
and Grand Rapids, you know,so many wonderful opportunities, the Griffins,
you know, so we have somany great teams that we can enjoy.
But these large scale events like anNFL Draft and coming up in forty to
twenty seven, the NCAA Final Four, the men, the Final Four is
(07:03):
coming into Detroit, into Ford Field, and even down into the NCAA Championships
for swimming, our gymnastics or othertypes of sports. These are something that
are very important to bring in folksfrom all over the place to enjoy what
Michigan has to offer and discover allof the things that we have here in
here at Michigan. So it doesmore than just bring in those dollars,
(07:26):
which we love. It also helpsthem discover our communities, our natural resources,
and all the other things we hadhere in the state. Well,
we've got about six minutes left tocover a lot of things, so I'm
going to fly through something. Firstof all, staying on the theme of
sports tourism, you mentioned that theFinal Four will be in Detroit. There's
nothing bigger in March, and that'sreally early April when you get into Final
(07:46):
four time. Then college basketball.This is going to be incredible. It's
going to be at Ford Field.You said, wow. Yeah, So
you know, let's say a basketballuram and obviously a huge draw. You
know, you feel out your bracketsand everything. So to have that atmosphere
of downtown Detroit again some of thebest sports fans in the world, that's
going to be a good one andpeople will come down even though don't have
(08:07):
tickets, just to be a partof the atmosphere, just to watch the
games, just to take in thevibe, which I have to say,
I don't think I've said this onthe program, and we have a lot
of iHeartRadio stations carrying this program acrossWest Michigan. I went to my first
Lions game in eons in December oftwenty twenty three, and we all know
(08:28):
what happened to the Lions. Veryexciting. They got one well about one
half away from making it to theSuper Bowl. I have told so many
friends Nick. The atmosphere inside FordField. Now this was December sixteenth,
Lions were playing the Broncos. Theywere hotter than hot. I've never experienced
anything like that at any professional sportingevent. It was off the charts.
(08:52):
It was like the world's happiest partywith a football game going on in the
background. Everybody was happy. Iwas shocked by the number of women with
Lions geiran. I shouldn't have beenthat shocked, but it was just it
was a really happy, jubilant event, and it was party leveled and was
super loud, And I can't imagineyou take that and then add six hundred
(09:16):
thousand more people to that, sixhundred and fifty thousand more people, I
can't imagine what Detroit was like.So I just wanted to mention this whole
feeling. Yeah, there's a lotof enthusiasm about the Lions, and it
certainly bubbled over into people who wentdowntown to Detroit for the NFL Draft.
A lot of them probably would havenever traveled out of state without that vibe.
So twenty twenty four in May,we're talking just weeks away. You
(09:39):
were telling it is a really bigevent, that involves Canadians and Canadian hockey.
It's going to happen actually in Midland, Michigan by Saginaw. Yeah,
it's from Saginawel Events Center. Soyeah, we think about Midlical what we
think of Dow at that quarters ofDal Chemicals, but at the Doll Event
Center in Sagonaw's right and down Downsiga. Okay, they're hosting the Memorial Cup,
(10:01):
which is the championship for the CanadianHockey League. This is the first
time it's been held in the UnitedStates since nineteen ninety eight and the first
time ever held in Michigan. Andthis is some of the highest caliber hockey
outside of the NHL. And sofor diehart hockey fans, this is an
opportunity to see some really competitive hockeyand do it in a smaller, more
(10:22):
intimate areadia in the Dow Event Center, and it should be a great atmosphere
throughout the entire community during the MemorialCup, which is happening in late May.
Yeah, and that's in Saginaw DowEvent Center. As you said,
do you know if that will typicallysell out or if there's some diehard hockey
fans listening to us right now onan iHeart radio station. Can they just
(10:43):
check the Dow Event Center to seeabout tickets. Yes, I would visit
the Dow Event Center's website to confirmavailability. Last I knew, I had
not confirmed that it has been soldout. I would say that, you
know, with a few weeks leftuntil Memorial Day weekend, there may be
some chance to get tickets, butdefinitely worth looking into it, even for
resale value. You take this becauseit would be more worth it. We're
speaking, by the way, withNick nurban digital and industry relations director with
(11:07):
Travel Michigan. You can learn moreof Michigan dot org. As our good
friend Dave Lorenzius to say, yourtrip begins at Michigan dot org. Nick,
as we kind of look at ourlast couple of minutes together, I
just wanted to talk with you alittle bit about tourism in general. It
is a big deal for the stateof Michigan. You were just gathered a
few weeks ago in Kalamazoo for theGovernor's Conference on Tourism, which is a
(11:31):
really big deal. Share with usjust for a couple of moments. Some
of the key takeaways from that conference. Well, the pure Michian Governor's Conference
on Tourism happens each year. It'sa great opportunity for us to gather with
our industry colleagues throughout the state,from all the way from the western up
down to southwest and southeast Michigan,and we have educational learning sessions, we
have all kinds of collaborative opportunities,and it's a great opportunity for us to
(11:54):
share with each other what we've beenlearning and what we want to do this
year and so well, this year, Governor Wicker came and spoke to our
audience, and one of the thingsyou talked about with sports tourism, we
even had a presenter about sports tourismto talk to us about not only the
national championships that we're discussing here,but also a high school level and other
(12:16):
types of travel teams like soccer andall those things, how those can really
impact communities. So I think someof the biggest takeaways are looking at national
trends and what are travelers looking forand how we can capitalize them. Yeah,
yeah, and it's only going toget bigger. As we said earlier,
it's also a great opportunity to kindof shine some light and some people
(12:37):
in the tourism industry. And whenwe see tourism, it's not just convention
and visitors bureaus and hotels and motels. It's just it's very wide reaching,
this whole thing with travel and tourismin Michigan. That's right. You know,
we have so many people in ourcommunity and when we talk about travel,
you know, that includes a visitorcalls to a community, they talk
(12:58):
about the rest the grocery stores,you know, everything the small businesses that
are in those communities, and itreally does drive growth, especially when we
talk about some of our more ruralcommunities, whether it's you know here in
south in West Michigan, whether it'sup North or in the far reaches of
the up It makes a big differencein all seasons of the year. You
think about the fall, in amidweek situation in the Upper Peninsula, tourism
(13:22):
that brings in people to eat atthose restaurants and buy groceries at those places
during the week when it really canbe helpful to those local economis. Yeah,
it's a great point and it's notanything that you really can say,
oh, you know, we couldget by without it. It is the
lifeblood of Michigan. And yes,we have the auto manufacturers here, which
(13:45):
is a big part of the economy, but man, is it a huge
driver. And boy, it isso important to our state of Michigan,
and we have so much to explore, which is great. And with that,
I will tell you highly recommend youcheck out Michigan Out or Pure Michigan's
website, a wonderful website with allkinds of places to escape to in Michigan.
(14:05):
And the next time we have youback on the program, we'll have
to do this. I'm going toget Nicks pick some of your places you
and others have tried and you knowjust just what you recommend. But thank
you so much for your time.We've got to wrap this segment up.
Any final words of wisdom for peopletraveling Michigan, Nick, Well, I
(14:26):
would love to come on to sharesome of my favorites Phil, but also
one thing I always recommend, lookto try something new this year. Go
to a place you haven't been to, try an activity never tried, Go
to michine dot org and find somethingnew. Great wisdom and great final words
for Nick Nirban, digital and industryrelations director with Travel Michigan with us on
this segment of West Michigan Weekend fromI Her Radio. You stick around,
(14:48):
we have more coming up in justa moment, Dan, I picked up
your pills, major lunch, andyour laundry is done. When you care
for a loved one, you takecare of everything. But are you taking
care of yourself? Fine free careguides at AARP dot org slash Caregiving brought
to you by AARP and the HeadCouncil and Hi Aged. It's West Michigan
Weekend from iHeartRadio. So glad tohave you along with us in studio.
(15:11):
And we are here first Sunday inMay with important information. The Armed Forces
Thanksgiving event coming up once again.This will be the ninth year on May
seventeenth. I'm very pleased to havea couple of board members in studio with
us to talk about why this eventis so important. Joe de Benedetto and
(15:33):
Bob Hughes are both co chairs forthe Armed Forces Thanksgiving event will happen on
Friday, May seventeenth, so that'sjust about twelve days away. Bob Hughes,
welcome to the program. Thank you, Phil and Joe de Benedetto welcome
as well. You guys have beeninvolved in this event on the board for
(15:54):
some time. Bob, We're goingto start with you. How did you
come to be involved with planning thisgreat event which is all about to celebrate
to It's all about celebrating the contributionsof veterans in the West Michigan area and
really raising the level of understanding andappreciation for their sacrifice. But typically what
(16:15):
happens somebody recruits you, there's anudge or a push. What's the Bob
Hughes story for getting involved with thisevent. I've always felt a huge indepth
that to veterans, obviously, andwe never do enough. But a good
friend, Peter Rupert, came upwith this idea of let's do something to
otter veterans and at the same timeeducate young people on what they've done and
what the military looks like, andstarted this event. And he called me
(16:37):
up to sell a table and Isaid, hey, that sounds great,
and went to the event the firstyear and then sent him a note back
and said, man, you reallygot a great concept here. And then
I said, why don't you getoff your tail and start helping? So
he pulled me in. But Peterwas really the impetus with this event and
behind it, and John Irwin thenjumped in and helped him, and unfortunately
last summer we lost Peter. Sowe want to take his vision and keep
(17:02):
working hard to make sure this messageof honoring veterans and educating the youth about
what they've done, and in Pete'shonor, because his vision for this event
was so great. It's just agreat need and that was really the inspiration
how I got involved. Pete hadso much energy for this group. I
have interviewed him, had the pleasureof interviewing him several times. So I
know that's a big loss, butI know he assembled a great team.
(17:23):
So there almost has to be Joedi benedetto a little sense of, hey,
we got to make this a greatyear. Obviously Pete's looking down on
us, making sure fellows don't screwthis one up. Right. Yeah,
absolutely, Phil, we we certainly, you know, we take each each
year seriously, but this one hasa little bit more you know, oomph
to it. You know, somesome heart you know alongside it, you
(17:45):
know, in honor of of youknow what Pete you know, brought to
the table and how much this meantto him. As you know, and
his dad was his inspiration, youknow, for this event, as as
someone who served in the Middle Military. You know, he wanted to obviously
pay tribute not only to his dad, but all of those who served.
(18:06):
And you know, we want tomake sure that we are good stewards of
Pete's vision, you know, thisyear and moving forward, right, and
that is a really important thing,especially as we look twenty years down the
road for the twenty ninth Annual ArmedForces Thanksgiving Event. There've got people to
carry this forward, to carry thebaton forward. The mission of this event
(18:27):
is to raise awareness and dialogue onthe contributions or military personnel have made while
providing an invaluable education opportunity for highschool students. So that is a really
unique component about this. If youhave attended, you know what I'm talking
about. But there's always room formore high schools, more high school student
(18:47):
involvement. Because we were talking aboutbefore we turn down the microphones this morning,
we're talking about the importance that somany high school students don't have a
family member or or a friend.It's very rare they have a family member
or friend who has that military experience, maybe current active duty military. Bob,
you mentioned a statistic I think ourlisteners should hear, which is one
(19:12):
percent of the United States public servestypically correct. Yeah, down to one
percent. And we're so grateful andI wow, we obviously don't do enough
to thank them, and without them, where would we be. So something
that we need to change, buteasy to talk about how to do.
So what makes this year different?As you've been planning it? What were
(19:33):
some of the things you wanted tofocus on? And I know high school
students, high schools being involved talkingabout what they're doing to honor veterans in
their school district. I'll start withyou, Bob. What are some of
the things that you wanted to focuson this Here are things that people may
want to be aware of. Well, that whole thing of honoring the veterans,
and so this event is about themand making them feel a little bit
(19:53):
special for a day about what you'vedone for us and that we see it
and we know it. And atthe same time bringing somebody that the kids
will become to an experience and learnsomething that they didn't know. So I
think that's what's unique about the program. We like to have a speaker that
appeals to both of those, andthere's an opportunity for the kids to see
the hardware and experience a lecture withour speaker over at the gerald Ford Museum
(20:14):
in the morning and then come overto the big event where we have our
keynote. And we've had some We'vebeen very fortunate to have some wonderful keynotes
for many years. Last year wasreally neat because we alway worry about what
are the kids going to think aboutthis? And we had Rocky Blier,
who people my age no Rocky superBowl hero, but it was a lot
of people don't know that he waswounded in the Vietnam War. And at
the end of the meeting, allthe kids were lined up getting Rocky autographs,
(20:37):
so that put a big smile onall of our faces to see that
they connected with that. So theguest we have this year has an incredible
story, Kim Casey Campbell, andCasey is her call sign that stands for
a killer Chick. She was award Hoog pilot back in the Gulf War
and when we were researching her,we found stories of people troops that were
on the ground that were in bigtrouble over being overrun and she came in
(20:59):
and saved them by flying cover overhead. And long story short, her planes
suffered on one of the missions,really bad damage. If you ever see
pictures of her that she's all overthe internet and so forth. This a
ten war hog was shot to piecesand all the hydraugs were gone, and
trying to fly this thing without hydraulicsis like trying to drive a bus or
without hydraulics. The imagine your powersteering and be gone. And she flew
it back and landed it. Andjust her whole career in the military,
(21:22):
how she got into the Air ForceAcademy was because she wasn't originally accepted perseverance
as just a real new person.So we hope that that message will resonate
with the kids and give us agreat opportunity to honor the bets that are
there. Yeah, and something elseto highlight for this year is that,
you know, last year, ourfocus was on celebrating you know, the
Vietnam War, you know, thosewho served. I mean, we obviously
(21:44):
honor everyone who served, but itwas you know, special recognition to those
who served in Vietnam. And thisyear we are you know, tipping the
cap to you know those who servedin Korea, and we'll actually have several
Korean War vets terrands with us duringthe event, so you know, that'll
be a great opportunity for you know, all of those in attendance to recognize
(22:10):
and thank them for their service,you know, so many years ago.
Joe de Benedetto is the voice youjust heard, along with Bob Hughes,
who's with us in studio, cochairs of the annual Armed Forces Thanksgiving event
coming up on Friday, May seventeenthat the JW again at JW Marriott.
Yes, Maria and his people arehearing this on the radio and I'm wondering,
(22:30):
well can I get tickets to this? I know this event is almost
always sold out. The website whichwe want to give right now and toward
the end of this conversation is Armedforcesthchx dot org. Armed Forces thx dot
org. You can also support thisas a business a lot of sponsorship opportunity.
(22:55):
I do know that you guys typicallywill present a very size check to
the Kent County Veterans Council as afundraiser. Part of this or some organization
that serves veterans. Is that goingto be the case again this year.
Yes, we typically one of ourmain partners is the West Michigan Veterans Coalition,
and we have raised in over nineyears, or you know, during
(23:18):
the eight previous years, excuse me, more than four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars to contribute to the just anincredible organization that you know, supports veterans
and their families, you know,during times of need and with scholarships and
in other ways you know, tohelp, you know, give back to
the community. And that's you know, that wasn't the reason why the Armed
(23:41):
Forces Thanksgiving was started. It's justkind of a positive result of it.
The fundraising, you know, thatcomes of it. You know, the
proceeds you know raised you know throughthe sponsorships, the majority of that goes,
you know, to the West MichiganVeterans Coalitions and some other organizations locally
and across the country. High schoolsare a big part of this event,
(24:03):
and gentlemen, and if there happensto be a high school administrator, a
teacher, maybe even a student listeningto us on Sunday morning, we're still
twelve days away from the event,if they want to be involved, whether
it's this year or next year.How does a high school get involved or
a teacher who's really feels the passionfor, you know, honoring veterans who
(24:26):
have served. What's the best way, Bob, for people to get involved
with this? That's music targets.We're always looking for more schools to involved.
We have a great group of schoolleaders that solicit the schools to work
with them and find the ones thatare passionate about that. We're always looking
for more and we've had some amazingstories of what the students have done building
memorials and tributes to veterans. Butif they reach out to our organization,
(24:48):
we have some great people that arein that industry and very connected and would
love to speak with them about gettingsome of their students to the event.
I just wanted to add to youknow, well, it's a small number
of students from each school that attend, you know, three to six.
Typically the ask is for them togo back to their school and kind of
(25:08):
carry the message you know that theyheard, you know, during the event,
and incorporate you know, some sortof you know, community service event
or activity excuse me, and youknow, each year we're floored by you
know the number of schools that uh, you know what they're doing, uh,
you know throughout the following school year. And we've got two great uh,
(25:29):
two great schools that will be honoringthis uh you know during this year's
event. One is Hudsonville Public Schoolsand the other is Caledonia. For you
know what they did, you know, whether it be a hockey game,
you know, hockey for Heroes atHudsonville, uh and you know Caledonia with
with the work that they've done touh, you know, celebrate and honor
(25:49):
the military and in many in many, many times raising funds on their own
to help organizations like the West MichiganVeterans Coalition, right, and a lot
of these students and schools have actuallybecome so involved with honoring veterans more than
just a one time event. They'veactually built whole physical displays in schools.
(26:11):
I had mentioned earlier. I havea teacher friend, mister Lebnz, who
worked on putting together the very beautifuldisplay at Forest Hill's Central High School.
I know a lot of other schoolshave done this. And this is more
than just Kent County, gentlemen,right, this is reaching into Ottawa County
obviously Ionia County. When you hearthese high schools represented at the event,
(26:33):
it's a broad reach. It's areal broad reach. Bob, Yeah,
yeah, I mean it's what aboutWest Michigan WA. We just love results,
and when you see some of thesethings that these students are doing,
it just blows your mind. Itmakes you feel great about that. They
appreciated the efforts they've gone to recognizethe kids in their schools over the decades
that have served in the tributes theybuilt some they're not forgotten and thankful for
(26:53):
what they've all done. And theother thing with the West Michigan Veterans Coalition,
as Joe mentioned, we've actually seenwhat that money has done. They've
been able to show us what they'vebeen able to do with it locally and
the impact that it has. Andagain that wasn't the original vision, like
Joe said, of the program,but when somebody sponsors it, we have
(27:14):
so many great people that buy tables. Basically what they do is they get
four seats of anybody they want tobring to the event, but then there
are there's four students and two veteransat every table, so it really promotes
great dialogue and great experiences for thestudents, the veterans and the people that
are buying the table. And it'sfun to see the results of the whole
thing. Yeah, and it's alsofun to look at all those who served
(27:38):
in their full military uniform and pompand circumstances. Yeah, it's just it
is a goosebump event and I highlyrecommend if you have a chance to get
involved, please do it. Iwant to thank Bob Hughes Joe Di benedetto
co chairs for this year's Armed ForcesThanksgiving event. Again. Online you can
(27:59):
learn you can get involved to makea difference at your school or with your
business. Armforcestchx dot org. Armedforcestchxdot org. Gentlemen, thank you so
much. Thank you, Phil.We appreciate your support. Yeah, look
forward to another great year's event.They've been our guests in this segment of
West Michigan Weekend. That's our programfor this week. Let's do this again
next Sunday. Thank you so muchfor listening. I'm Phil Tower. We
(28:22):
appreciate you tuning in along this iHeartRadiostation for West Michigan Weekend. iHeartMedia West
Michigan Weekend a public Affairs Program
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