day.
Hey, watch
a friend.
We were looking for one earlier in the seven o'clock hour, we found one.
We were sounding lonely.
Are you all right with that, Nancy?
You pay me, no, I'll pay you.
I like that, she's already my friend, yes.
Nancy, we've
was kind of
the first time I met you, and then, of course, you were involved with law enforcement in the area, and I've seen you, shoot, just a couple of years ago, I saw you in uniform at a Flambeau Ramah, if I recall correctly.
And so now you've kind of hopped into a position at the Flambeau River YMCA.
Let's start with talking about what you
do there please.
Alright, I am the forever well coordinator.
at the YMCA and what that position entitles is I now work with our senior citizens in the area.
I absolutely love it.
They are the nicest people and we have so much fun.
I do group exercise, workout classes.
We also have once a month we have a lunch and learn that we do.
We invite, we have a big potluck lunch.
We invite guest speakers, a lot of different like doctors and people that will come in.
and speak about our health, right?
I do a lot of that.
I plan these events, and I help out around the Y wherever I can.
The good thing is, I work now 15 hours a week, so my schedule is really reduced.
I think, to everybody.
Sounds exhausting.
Now, Nancy, I'd say that the Northwoods,
full of people who are really good at doing what we need to do.
That's one of the things I might identify as, you know, a small town needs people who will do what they need, even though on the days they don't want to.
But with challenges like health care costs and long drives and things like that, we have some extra challenges when it comes to being well, I would say.
And so I'm sure you've found out and already knew that
When it comes to wellness, you've got to add some fun to it, some organization, some social atmosphere to it.
Is that something you'd say you're involved in with the YMCA?
Oh, yeah.
Our group exercise classes, especially.
We have a lot of fun in there.
I have my people in the back row.
I call them my party animals.
And it is a lot of fun working with the seniors.
And not only...
that you mentioned some of the challenges that we have up here in the Northwoods.
One of the biggest challenges that I face working with our seniors is of course so many are retired and now on limited income.
Right.
Right.
So that kind of reduces some of the entertainment and the going out and the travelings and those kinds of things.
But the groups and the seniors that I work with
make living here so fun, right?
Regardless whether it's limited income, whether it's limited physical ability, whatever it is, there's such high spirits among our seniors, right?
And you talk about exercising that that envelopes a lot of different, uh, there's a, there's a big, uh, area in there because some, for some people exercising, maybe something as simple as hands on a chair and bending down and bending up.
And I'm sure you got seniors that are, that can do a little more intense stuff.
So you, you kind of have classes for all stages of that life, right?
Yeah.
Yep.
We definitely have classes for.
all different stages and all different, you know, we have like the yoga going on.
So it's not just like my low impact chair workout classes that we do, but also in those classes that I do, I like to speak about those because I know them personally because I'm doing it.
But I have people that use walking devices, whether it's walkers or canes,
all the way to seniors who are my party animals in the back row doing standing up doing sixty three jumping jacks
yeah right and maybe running a three k or something that weekend yeah knows
that we have uh... we have a wide variety in that class of different levels which gives everybody the freedom to be at the level that they're at right and uh...
and not feel like they have to live up to something.
That's something I wanted to ask about because I'm sure there's a lot of people out there, you know, if you're that 60 year old who's got some limitations that a 70 year old doesn't have, I'm gonna get in my own head about that and I'm gonna think I'm not where I should be if other people older than me are doing better.
Are you talking to me about that?
Not out
loud.
You looked at me.
I didn't say your name.
I
name.
You looked right at me.
Talk to the
Talk to the
involved.
Exactly.
And like I was saying, the freedom in my class, when you're working out, you could either sit or you could stand.
You could use weights.
You don't have to use weights.
If you can do five reps, you do five reps, right?
And if you want to take a break and jump back in,
when you can, then please do that, right?
So we're trying to make it very wide open.
to the seniors regardless of their limitations.
And you talk about the exercise that's important in the socializing you mentioned a little bit too because when people get older, the socializing part sometimes can be tough, especially when you have physical limitations or you lose people who are close to you.
My mom's going to be 86 this year and she talks to me a lot about socializing, about just being able to losing friends that's important to her.
And this adds not only this exercise,
with the socializing part, very important too, isn't
it?
Right.
Yes, it is.
The YMCA has been such an important part to our seniors in the area, right?
And, you know, our group workout room is called the mind, the body, and the spirit room.
And it's called that for a reason, right?
We need to work on all three.
We need to work on our mind.
We need to work on our body, and we need to work on our spirit.
The mind socialization helps a mind so much.
Physical activity helps a mind.
You know, if we have seniors that are in their home alone, many of them struggle with depression.
If we can get them out, if we can get them moving, it does wonders for them.
I have a great testimony.
One of our seniors, she had only been at the YMCA for about a month.
So we know that physically she was not, she did not get stronger within a month, right?
But she had fallen at home.
She was able to crawl to the table.
She was able to pull herself up, grab her phone, call 911, crawl to the back door and unlock the back door.
She said she wouldn't have been able to do that prior to the YMCA.
She said it's not because I've gotten stronger, but I'm finding out the things I can do.
One of the things that seniors go through, loving family, loving people,
No, you can't go down the basement stairs.
You know, you can't go out in the backyard.
You might fall, right?
So they're being told an awful lot of things that they can't do.
At the YMCA, let's focus on those things that you can do and let's make you strong there.
And it makes sense if you, if someone's kind of guiding, I don't want to use the word coddling, but it does crossover into that sometimes for the best of reasons.
You know, family cares about you, wants you to be safe, but it sounds like it's very possible for you to lose track of limitations.
And therefore you might not know what the list of safe activities is.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And here's the thing, so many of these seniors have been pillars in our community, right?
In their working days, they've been great managers, they've been presidents of companies, they've been, you know, and they've been a big staple and a big pillar in our community.
As they age, shouldn't we keep that respect?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we as a community continue to build them up.
Exactly.
And don't let the, uh, and don't let the yeah, buts hold you back because a lot of people say, yeah, but I don't have a ride.
Yeah.
But I can't.
Yeah.
But because YMCA has dealt with most situations and you guys help, help people and work through all those, right?
Right.
Exactly.
And.
There's so many seniors in our class who love to bring other people because that's helping them socially.
Then very often, oh, let's stop a quick trip afterwards.
Or you know what I mean?
So it becomes such a great hub.
For them socially
bring a donut to your favorite DJ after that.
I mean things like that right grab absolutely acceptable little things like that.
They're totally joy right
very
right one actually speaking of doughnuts I also on Thursday mornings I do a coffee club and it's a morning devotion and we have doughnuts there
And the joke is, that's my job security.
donuts and let me work it right off
I'm picturing the angry dismissal situation that would never happen, but you get rid of me and these donuts are gone.
I can see the angry conversation.
Well, Nancy, we talk to Scott all the time about what the Y is up to and get updates there.
Let's turn our sights to this upcoming weekend because you're not here for nothing.
Of course, you're always busy and you've got stuff more than worth talking about, but we've got a particularly special event happening.
Just a couple days already.
It's Saturday.
We do.
What's coming?
What's coming?
It's called our senior citizen celebration.
And what that is, is at the YMCA, we have seniors.
See, it's on my heart to make the YMCA the hub for our seniors in the community.
And it breaks my heart to know that there are seniors that are sitting at home
that can't afford to come to the YMCA, but they want to,
right?
Once again, very often seniors are on limited income.
And if their insurance doesn't pick it up, now, granted, the membership there is, I believe, 40, $45 a month, right?
You're on a limited income, that's a lot.
right?
So our senior citizen celebration is basically a fundraiser I want to raise money get it into our forever well program So when we know of those seniors out there who can't make that monthly payment, let's help them out, right?
Let's do what we can to get the seniors out of their home get them social and get them involved and get them moving if you don't move
you're going to lose it.
Yeah, exactly.
We
know that, right, Joe?
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And don't be afraid to check your insurance to whatever you have.
I know why Scott has mentioned this before.
They have a program where you bring in your policy number and basically they put it in.
tells you exactly what's covered under your insurance.
A lot of that is, but this fundraiser, this is a good safety net then for those who maybe fall through the cracks of all those, it's there for them.
There are some insurances that do not pay, right?
And, um, so we want to help those seniors and this entire event, the senior citizen celebration is a fundraiser for that.
All right.
So how can the average Joe or Jolene come down Saturday and help out?
What can they do?
You can
for our pancake breakfast.
We're going to have of course pancakes.
A couple people in the area have donated some of their homemade syrup which is really good.
We're going to have some scrambled eggs.
We're going to have some pork sausage and then of course the juices and the coffees and
that
kind of thing.
Come on out for the pancake breakfast.
For that
We're simply asking for a donation for the breakfast.
Because once again, limited income, some may be able to give $3, some may be able to give $20.
I want that range open for everybody.
So come down with your family.
This is an event that's open to the entire public.
Come out for all ages.
We're going to have the pancake breakfast.
We're going to have the car show.
Greg Grissel has helped Big G. He's helping us with that car show.
And we're going to have vendors out there.
We're going to have North Town Jubilee, a live band, is going to be playing all day.
seniors
which is
fun which is a lot of fun of course miss Ruby and her paint classes she's going to be there with her paint classes so you can sign up you can go into a paint class and
so the serving of the breakfast starts at what seven and how long does that run till about
um that'll run till about
1030
and
then we're going to move into concessions.
Okay.
All right.
Usually about 11 people are ready for a hot dog.
Yeah, exactly.
But if they want to support the seniors program specifically that we talked about that, the funds from that pancake breakfast are kind of going to go for that, right?
Yeah, exactly.
And, um,
The entry for the car show and the entry for our vendors all go towards this program.
So the entire day is a fundraiser for the program.
Yeah.
So get on down there to the Y as early as seven o'clock right away or probably till like mid afternoon or so, right?
Yeah.
We go until the grounds are open until two.
Okay.
All right.
pancake breakfast and hugs from Big G
So, I mean, how better way to search a weekend, right?
Well, and, and you know what?
I can't give enough thanks to John's auto works, right?
He's, he's sponsoring this.
Nice.
Nice.
And I've known John for a great guy.
He's, he's worked on our cars down there in fight field all the time on John is a great guy.
I've known him a good 20 years.
He's kind of a quiet car magician.
Locals know him, but yeah, you don't, you don't see him, but locals know John.
Yeah.
No, I was
at.
John is a silent strength in our community.
He really is.
He doesn't walk around tooting his horn.
He doesn't, you know, he doesn't brag it up, but he doesn't need to either because his work is good and he's got the people.
Now he's giving back as he always has.
All right, the Flamble River YMCA Saturday big event.
I hope people will come on down.
It's a great time.
you to check out the why if you've never been in there and come on in there and maybe check out to see if your insurance covers a membership for you and the kids or whatever that thing you've been waiting to do so we got pancakes we got we got maple syrup real maple syrup right and
I love showing people around what
we
have there so even if you just want to stop in and and if you driven past there and you're always wondering what it look come in let me walk you around let me show you
what we do and and catch a vision
when I don't have to be a salesperson because with all my classes that I do I always ask for a testimony so the class
and their stories and how they're growing and changing.
It was huge.
One of the ladies said, I can now carry a full laundry basket of clothes up the basement steps.
That's huge when you age, right?
So these are testimonies that I get every day, that I get to hear how they're growing.
So they sell it.
Right?
I don't
need to do it.
They just need to show up and listen.
Yeah, and from the Old Corner Rock days, just warning, if you come down Saturday, a marshmallow fight, a pickle war, may or may not break out at some point during the, during the, I'm just saying that might happen.
Speaking marshmallow wars, we
do have that
back to school rally coming.
Oh no.
And that is back.
Marshmallow wars are back.
I'm throwing big, fluffy marshmallows at kids.
know that because I
center of
it was the kind of
though.
I think your sons may have modified a couple of those marshmallows yeah they hurt a little bit.
Well I did have to tell especially the boys you cannot take a bite out of that and then throw it they would take a bite and throw it so it sticks.
this Saturday.
Check out the
but not soon enough.
She'll be there this Saturday and we will too from 8am until 11am.
Right now though it's 837am and we've got more reality radio guests scheduled for about the quarter to nine mark.
Keith Grispell, District Admin from Prentice School.
District is next on Reality Radio after this.
Let's dive in with Mr. Keith Crispell, District Admin from Prentice.
Keith, are you ready to jump right in with us?
Hey, you know the routine.
Let's go.
I don't know.
It feels like my hair's on fire.
You know, everything is coming at you right now.
It's all hands on deck.
Let's just say we've got a lot of things going on.
We've got new teacher training and substitute teacher training.
in service tomorrow, August 20th, that'll be all day.
My goodness, where did that summer go?
I know, it's crazy.
But then we've got next week, it starts back on the 24th with all staff reporting, and they're gonna get a nice breakfast by our board, and then not to brag too much, but lunch by the administration, and I flip a pretty mean burger, and let me tell you, I'm gonna reintroduce my fucking ear dog, that's a specialty around here.
We're looking forward to that.
We've got Tuesday and Wednesday some more in-service paraprofessionals, custodians and all that good stuff.
Meet the teacher for our kids on the 24th of Monday.
Returning high school students registration from 12 to 3.
Then on Tuesday the 25th we have returning high school students registration from 9 to 12.
Wednesday we have the middle school open house from three to six.
That's going to be important.
I know we've got a new group of fifth graders moving up to the middle school.
They're probably anxious to figure out how they can open up their accommodation locker.
That's always an anxiety level thing, but we'll be here to walk them through it and rest assured for the first couple of weeks.
I'm going to be standing right behind them helping them every step of the way.
Then we also have freshmen and new high school student registration on that date later on in the evening from six to seven.
We've got some sports teams meeting.
We're underway with Cross Country and football and volleyball already.
It's just been crazy seeing all the athletes in here right away.
And then we've got an elementary.
Meet the teacher from 8 to 3, Thursday, August 27th.
Like I said, a lot going on.
I don't have any eyebrows left let's just
Well okay so what what remains in the time between we know that school is coming you mentioned all of these in services is there are there any last-minute preparations that maybe you could use a hand with or anything like that or we just on that icy slope towards the first day right now no breaks nothing we can do about it.
It's all downhill right now.
So now see okay in the tuck position.
What does what does it mean for
a little bit of both.
It's gravity is one way or another We're gonna hit the bottom so let's make sure that we're bracing for it and do the best we can a lot of things pop up and
surprise us along the way, but if you're kind of anticipating the unexpected, so to speak, it happens to work out a little bit better, and that's all you gotta do.
Ah, well, here it is.
A hot dog that is grilled to perfection with some melted jalapeno cheese with spicy or regular cheetos on top.
Antonia, it's a good mixture.
I'll have to come over and give you one.
Once you take a bite, you'll be like...
Why haven't I done this before?
back
And it's everybody else in the listening audience who hasn't put Cheetos on there.
Oh, man.
I'm trusting you on this one, man.
It's going to take a little bit, but we'll give it a try.
All right.
Well, hey, if people want to look
at the, it looks like there's still some updates to be made, but I know you guys have an awesome social media team that will update all the calendars and things pretty soon here and frequently on Prentice.k12.wi.us.
Mr. Chris, Chris Bell, are you looking for any help this semester, any job openings, bus drivers, teachers, para pros?
What's going on in that room?
Hey, I'm always looking for bus drivers.
We did do a couple of hybrids last night.
I know there's a couple other needs.
A PARA is probably going to be posted as well as a interpreter as well.
Let's see, what else am I thinking here?
Otherwise, yeah, it just kind of ebbs and flows a little bit, but as we kind of finalize things, we just adjust the needs as they come.
So death and hardened hearing, we need a licensed person.
We have some people in place, but those are really hard positions to fill.
So we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to post for that and make sure that we are meeting all DPI requirements.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That's printis.k12.wi.us.
If you just hover over the word district, you'll see that one of the options that appears is employment.
And Keith, like I mentioned, you guys do such a great job.
I actually popped on and I saw the members of the cast of Matilda last year still in the rotating picture banner.
That was an awesome memory.
What?
And I don't want you to pick favorites, but what are you most looking forward to about the school year upcoming?
Oh my goodness, there's too many things really to nail down.
I'm looking for a strong showing by all our athletic teams.
We had our great one last year, continuing that excellence there.
I'm looking for our new teachers to really blend and fit in well right off the bat.
Looking forward to meeting the new students that we got coming in, revisiting with the returning students.
It's just going to be a good time to get those faces back in the building.
get back to the business of educating the area's youth and in doing so, not to wax poetic, but building the future.
That's really what the name of the game is at the end of the day.
You're setting the scene for what's coming later down the road for the state, the county, the country.
One thing I need you to confirm or deny if you can, and I don't want to get you in trouble, Keith.
Oh, I can neither confirm nor deny then.
Oh, those are the favorite shirts that they love to wear.
I haven't talked with the coach specifically, but I think those are just the go-to shirts for them.
You'd have to convince me to stop wearing the watermelon shirt.
But I know it's also an earned thing.
They don't put those on for no reason.
So I expect if we do see them, it's because we're seeing more of that continued success that the golf team enjoyed last year and in years past, really to a lot of people, perhaps overperforming for just the size of the area we're in and not to not to discount anybody.
But hey, if people missed it, they were hanging with D1 and every once in a while a D2 school would try.
But hey, Prentice was Prentice was that it team and they've got a lot of returners.
this year, but you guys also had a really good year for non-athletic extracurriculars.
If you don't mind, let's take a moment and give those guys a shout out too.
Oh, absolutely.
You know, a lot of people put a lot of effort into it.
We've got, you know, Luann, Harmony, Denay, they all help out with some of those programs that you mentioned, like, you know, the musical and things of that nature.
We've got some excellent people doing forensics.
I think they call it something different now, but back in my day.
changed
on.
I think so.
I'm not sure exactly what it's called, but it's easier just for me to say forensic.
a subject.
I'll do some digging off air and let the people know what term they might hear for forensics in high school.
But Keith, we've got you on the horn every month, once a month.
And hey, maybe we'll have to chat with you more often as
as the schedule for the year picks up.
But as I mentioned a couple of times, if people want to see the schedule for what's going on at Prentice School District, it's Prenticegot.k12.wi.us, correct?
That's correct.
Awesome.
And if people need to get ahold of you guys, if they're interested in employment, they can go to the website.
But some people prefer that old school way.
How can people get ahold of you?
What's the best phone number for that one?
715-428.
2811.
That's
And like Mr. Crispell said, always in need of bus drivers, para pros, interpreter for deaf and hard of hearing students.
So if anybody you know, including yourself, fits the bill, give them a call or head online.
Keith, do you have anything more for us before we wrap up today?
Oh, I think that's it for now, but we'll be back in Dutch next month.
Absolutely.
You have a great day.
Take care.
That's Keith Grispell, District Administrator at the Prentice School District.
And if you're curious or you've got a friend who's curious about what's going on down there, you can always call them, visit the website, or listen back to this conversation after we archive it later today on 98QCountry.com.
Coming up on 9 o'clock, we better get you a word from the businesses who care about the community.
Remember, when you hear a business on 98Q, you hear a business who cares about you.
And more reality radio coming after 9 o'clock.
on 98Q Country.
We dive right back into reality radio.
What brings us here every Wednesday, 8 to 10 a.m.
And this week, we get the pleasure of speaking with Brittany down at Embrace.
Brittany, how's it going today?
It's going pretty good.
I said it's going good today.
How about you
The funny thing, by the way, is that I had you muted for me.
But the people heard your answer.
It was just I was the only one who couldn't.
Funny how a how radio works when you let somebody like me run the hardware.
But Brittany, you sent me a little bit of a sneak peek at what you wanted to discuss this week.
And yet again, we've landed on another incredibly important topic and one that there are some unique challenges to discussion.
And that is that men can be survivors too.
course those familiar with embrace know that you guys focus on survivors of sexual assault and other intimate partner violence and immediately a lot of people think yeah women who need help can get it from embrace but that's only half the story and let's dive into that.
Alright so today I wanted to talk about a group of survivors that we don't always hear that much about and I wanted to touch base today about men who experience domestic or sexual violence.
And when most people do hear the words domestic or sexual violence, they think about a woman as a survivor.
And because of that, men who experience violence can sometimes feel like there is not a place for them in the conversation.
And that's just it.
Well, and one thing that stands out to me is that, at least from my perspective, Brittany, and it's not, this is just my opinion, but it seems like when I think of what stops me from discussing the things I need to discuss, it's often myself in many forms.
Of course, it's informed by society and the expectations that I think other people have, whether they actually do or not.
But for me, the barriers are mostly internal because of what I expect externally.
Again, not super.
accurate, and that might describe the women's experience too, but what are some of the unique challenges for men who have survived intimate partner violence or something similar?
Well, I think that it can be hard for men to reach out because there still is a lot of messages in our society about what it means to be a man.
And some of those stigmas are men must be strong, handle things themselves, don't show vulnerability, don't let somebody hurt you or control you.
So imagine how difficult it can be for a male experiencing abuse to say, I'm afraid of my partner.
And how difficult it can be for a male who has experienced sexual assault to say something happened to me that I did not consent to.
He might wonder whether anyone would believe him.
He might worry that people will laugh at him.
He may question his masculinity or question how he let this happen.
He may even question himself if it even counts as abuse.
Sometimes people have a hard time putting a label on that.
And these are the kind of barriers that I wanted to break down.
And those are not the same necessarily, but there's a lot of overlap between what anybody might go through, frankly.
And there are unique challenges to each individual situation, and there are unique challenges for men that women might not encounter.
But there also absolutely is a lot of overlap there, right?
There's societal pressure, there's individual pressure.
You might even have a friend or family member who minimizes it.
Not that that's necessarily common,
it does happen but would you say that it's fair to say there's a quite a bit of overlap there?
Absolutely.
I just think that in a men's situation I think a lot of it goes more unreported.
the amount of sexual violence that may happen to anybody versus the amount reported.
Well, I don't want to use the term frightening, but it paints a pretty stark picture of how difficult it can be.
And people might ask questions, why don't you just tell somebody?
Well, because it's not as simple as just saying some words.
You've got to organize your thoughts.
You sometimes have to break down your own misconceptions.
Why don't we start from the beginning, though, if you will?
What can domestic violence look like?
It
looks a lot like the same that it would for a woman, you know, but violence knows no boundaries and that its core violence involves patterns of power and control.
And abuse is not just physical.
And I think in men's situations, I think it's more of emotional threats, intimidation, financial isolation, monitoring someone's phone or their whereabouts, destroying belongings, using their children against them.
or in certain instances sexual violence.
Absolutely, and I mean that's I think of you know who I immediately think of is and and not necessarily a great example of everything fantastic in humanity Though it's not my place to judge Shia LaBeouf comes to mind He's been in the headlines recently for some troubling actions and some some issues that he might be creating but a couple years ago He was in the headlines for issues.
He was experiencing and it was absolutely Centered around sexual assault around non consensual sexual encounter that he had which had a pretty extreme effect on
Would you say that is not a good example, but I think you get the idea.
Is that a fair example of what kind of situations might arise?
Yeah, I agree.
Well, I think one thing I really want men listening to know is you don't have to know exactly what to call your experience before you reach out.
You don't have to walk through our door and say, I'm a survivor of domestic or sexual abuse.
Maybe you're not sure.
Maybe something just doesn't feel right.
You might be feeling controlled, afraid, humiliated, pressured, threatened, or unsafe, and you can always start there.
You can talk with an advocate about what's happening without having to put a label on your experience and how our community can help.
is the way that we respond.
It really does matter.
If we want more male survivors to feel comfortable reaching out, we need to respond more with compassion.
Phrases like, I believe you.
You did not deserve what happened.
How can I support you?
Those are all great starting points.
go ahead,
So if there's one message I hope men in our communities would hear today,
that is embraces here for you too.
And you don't have to fit a certain image of what a survivor is supposed to look like.
You don't have to wait until you're in crisis.
You don't have to be ready to leave a relationship or report what happened.
You don't have to decide whether what happened to you was bad enough to deserve support.
Brittany, to me, to the outsider looking in, it honestly seems like one of the most valuable things you guys can do is helping somebody work through that experience.
You won't necessarily tell them that what happened to them was X, Y, or Z, but you absolutely have a list of helpful questions for people to figure out for themselves what they've experienced and then move forward based on their own decisions.
without judgment, right?
Yes, that's basically what advocacy is.
We're just here to support that survivor and help them identify whatever their experience is and find a way that works for them.
You and I are not actors in this type of situation.
We're describing you, of course, are a support person.
I'm just a normal person here.
But even I know that one of the things that would help a lot, it can be really tough.
But one of the things that would help a lot is speaking up when you see other people minimizing the experiences of male domestic partner violence and the sexual violence survivors.
It's a weirdly frequent topic.
of comedy and humor and casual conversation.
And again, I don't know if Embrace would necessarily tell you, hey, tell people to pipe down.
But I'd like to take a moment and say, hey, big shout out to everybody who's ever checked their friends.
It's a really hard thing to do.
But I think it's one of the things that contributes to that, that
that environment of quiet.
You know, I don't feel like I can speak up about what happened because I've heard people laugh about it before.
Is that something, is that a barrier you guys run into?
It
is, yes.
And again, I don't wanna put words in your mouth, but I support people who are, you know, and again, it's super tough to do, but at the end of the day, if you're asking yourself, well, I don't wanna speak up because I might lose a friend.
If your friend is laughing about the experiences of sexual violence survivors, well, I leave it up to you to determine the quality of that friendship, but I hope people feel more comfortable speaking up, and hopefully people...
able to be checked without taking it personally because hey we all make mistakes we all might make jokes that we don't appreciate the significance of I think it would go a really long way if we changed the general tone of conversation around this topic because like you and I have both mentioned from our own perspectives society is a bit of a barrier here society is is is how we exist it's what we need but it also comes with its problems and one of them is how
people in these situations end up treated.
Brittany, what would you urge people who are males who have experienced something that they're not sure of, what might you urge them to do, how to reach out, who to call?
They could talk to somebody that they trust or they can reach out to embrace because no matter what, no one deserves to be controlled, intimidated, physically harmed, or emotionally harmed.
So, if you are being hurt by someone, there are options available to help.
You create a plan and to be prepared and safe.
So, Embrace is here to help and our 24-hour crisis line is 1-800-924-0556.
I'll do that because I can get it right, and I'm sure you've had people who get that wrong before, but Brittany is just one of the many fantastic people who's ready to help anybody.
Even if you're not sure what it is you've experienced, Embrace is there to help you.
Brittany, let's finish up just chatting about what exactly Embrace does.
It's pretty well covered by what we've mentioned, but if you had to give somebody a one-sentence description of Embrace, who are you guys?
We're a nonprofit organization and we provide free and confidential services to individuals and families who are impacted by intimate partner violence.
Now, as anybody can tell, you've said that sentence a few times before, but one thing I'd love to point out is without knocking anybody who is supporting people in this position, there's really nobody like embracing the area because you're not going to push people toward any particular outcome or choice.
You don't try to make choices for them.
You don't tell them what needs to happen.
You give them possibilities.
You give them suggestions.
You give them what support they need.
You tailor it to them.
And if all people need to do is vent about what they've been through, you guys are good for...
that 24-hour crisis line is 1-800-924-0556.
Brittany, on behalf of the community, thank you so much for what you do, and thank you from my side for giving us some time on 98Q today.
Yeah, thank you for having
We'll chat with you again soon.
That's Brittany Gripenthrog at Embrace for survivors of domestic partner violence, sexual assault, anything like it.
If that is you or somebody you know, Embrace is there to help.
The 24-hour crisis line is 1-800-924-0556.
The Price County Office phone line, exactly the same, 800-924-0556.
Get ahold of them.
and ask them what you need to ask, get the support you need, and thank you once again to Embrace for what they do and for some time today.
Coming up on 9.30 here, we've got one...
reality radio guest remaining scheduled for 9 45.
So hey, let's squeeze in a couple more of those country songs.
We love so much.
I'll get a true classic up here.
So give me requests if you'd like them and a brief reminder, our phones are down right now.
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Stop in in person if that's possible if you're asking perhaps about a shopping show.
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It's Sue home from the flambo area sportsman's club.
Good morning, Sue.
Good morning, Gray.
How are you?
So you're giving me atmosphere.
Set the
Hey, we need some like nature things going on.
to nature calm, you know,
So we'll have to save it for next time you stop by.
But so we see often around here, often with the Flambeau area sportsman's club, but not often enough because you are so busy with stuff like this.
Where are we at?
We're looking at the free outdoor skills youth day coming up this weekend.
That's Saturday the 22nd, 1030 to two.
Now, when last we spoke about.
you appearing here today.
The question was, will there still be room for more attendees?
Where are we at on that?
We're getting close to our maximum.
So that's why I just want to reiterate and let people know there still is a chance we take up 75 is our maximum number of children that we can take for this event.
Now, of course, those children can be ages five through 15.
They do need to have an adult come with them, but that could be a grandparent if parents are working, whatever it may be.
But it's a great event, Gray.
And I mean, this is something not all parents necessarily have the skills or have the time to do these kind of things and help kids get exposed to some of the great ways to enjoy our, you know, our Northwoods experience here.
So this is a great event where kids get to do everything.
You know, the younger kids, we have coloring contests, they can come out and hold an air gun, BB guns and, you know,
Things like that and actually learn the safety learn how to use it so they're not afraid understand, you know They get to try out
Not only the guns, they get to try out bows, all different types of bows.
And just talk about trapping and see different furs and learn about, you know, a lot of the things that make this our Great Northwoods community and the resources that we have here.
And it's free to everyone that comes.
They get a free lunch.
There's different demonstrations.
There's a lot of prizes at the end, too.
So there's some friendly competition at some of the stations.
There's a fish casting contest.
There's a lot of different things that the kids get exposed to of ways they can enjoy our public lands here in the Great Northwood.
Absolutely.
It's the culture of the
Northwoods people might look at us and say yeah there's not a unifying yes there is there absolutely is it's it's the things that get us outdoors and the things that some of them are the things we have to do I mean hunting originally was to survive now it's become a bit of a recreation activity but a lot of people still depend on that meat in the freezer and
absolutely
bringing kids into that is a huge part of it I remember this very well I still have in one of my drawers the door prize from what probably would have been boy 15 it probably would have been about
2008 that I was there last and I stopped showing up there but the things I learned the experiences I had the memories I had the lessons I learned the correction I received when I
put a toe across the line a little bit here and there.
We didn't, we didn't mess with gun safety, but we were horse playing a little bit.
And as the rules state, horse plays not allowed.
Close supervision, no alcohol on site.
This is about doing the things that the Northwoods does safely, effectively and with family and friends.
Right.
And I mean, that's a lot about what those experiences are, right?
It's just getting out and enjoying it, whether you're hiking, whether you're fishing, whether, you know, it's just that bond to, uh, to the outdoors.
Um,
with family, friends, however you want to look at it.
So like I said, there's some friendly competition.
There's door prizes, whitetails and limited supports us quite largely with a lot of things.
So I mean, we're giving away over 13 firearms that are age appropriate and like I said, free lunch for everybody that we're going to be grilling on site.
So the adults and the kids alike.
So in order to get in on those last couple of
of registrations we have available.
I know we are almost to 60 right now, so there is some room, but it might go fast at the last minute.
So what I would recommend at this point is for if you are interested in getting your child registered, again, that's ages five through 15, that you reach out to our president, Lee Roy Schultz, at 715-762-4413.
or you can mail him the registration, but basically all we need to know is who the guardian is going to be, your address, you know, do they have hunter safety and how old are they?
So, I mean, it's pretty basic, but we do require pre-registration.
You cannot just show up the day of, out at the range where it takes place.
So please take the time if you would like to have your child, you know, involved in this, just to get some exposure, if nothing else, to some
of these things, give Leroy a call and get it done.
And to reiterate, I think you mentioned that all all attendees, all the youths who are a part of it, must be accompanied by at least one parent or guardian.
But to be fair, they're involved in all of it too.
And the the parents and guardians will also be entered into those gun drawings.
So the environment around these events, Sue, is just there's just a comfort, a positivity.
There's it's not like a bunch of people, you know, like a
I would forgive somebody who might expect like a political rally feel to something like this if you haven't been there before, but it just ain't that.
You know, it's not that kind of thing.
Sure, those conversations might happen here and there over lunch because it is topical and relevant to this kind of stuff as hunting and things like that and firearm ownership.
They're always going to be political topics, but this isn't about that.
This is about getting the kids involved in a critical part of the Northwoods and giving them the choice to proceed with that into their adulthood or not.
You know, that's absolutely.
I don't hunt.
as much as I did when I was 15 or 16 and I'm blessed to say that because I don't need to as much as I did.
I was a subsistence hunter myself, but because of stuff like this, if something happens, you know, if things go the wrong way and I end up with a deer tag, I can provide for my family a way I wouldn't otherwise be able to do that.
And that's, that's a pretty incredible thing.
It's a peace of mind that I wouldn't have if I had no experience hunting, you know, that's, that's, that's a resource available to us that we must both
Utilize and respect and those are topics that will absolutely be covered by the speakers that day am I correct
well to some degree You know because of the range of the the audience
things it is more price focused on those experiences We will have our local game warden there just to you know say hey, here's who I am.
Here's
do Here's why it's important, you know so that we don't get intimidated by some of these things You know, let's get to know
the resources.
Let's get to know what that looks like, you know, and the safe way to enjoy it and why these other people are involved in it.
So a phrase I learned that I didn't care about as a teen, that I do care about a lot as an adult is the barrier for entry.
If you're starting something new, there's always some often overhead cost involved or gear that you need.
Like if you want to play a sport, for example, you go ahead and play football without pads, but it's not going to go super well.
So breaking down those barriers for entry comes in form.
Just like this, a one day couple hour event where you can realize that, hey, maybe you've made some assumptions about hunting or about the process or of certain things and you can learn more about it without necessarily even having to ask.
It's a basic tool kit.
It's a social environment.
And I imagine you've had, have you had relatives who have taken part in this before?
Well, my own children have,
know, but that was so years ago.
They're adults like yourself.
But yeah, it's nice, especially also just to see the interaction of who comes with the children.
A lot of times grandparents
come and, you know, not all parents are interested in some of these things, but the fact that they allow their children to get exposed, to bring them to something like this so they can safely learn and see what it is.
Just like you said, it let them choose for themselves, you know,
lot of things in the outdoors are great family activities and they cost very little.
but it's just sometimes you, we are, have that little fear in the back of your head that maybe, I don't know, do I really want to do this?
Like, what if there are bears going to come?
Yeah, I mean, there's, you could think of everything, even when it comes to fishing, you know, oh, what if I get a hook in myself?
I mean, but to expose and the kids get so excited.
And you know, it's so, and I always have to chuckle cause there's always one in every group, you know, that we have these, the kids come in different groups and spend a certain amount of time at each station.
And there's always one that says,
I know everything about this.
And I know, and they grab that gun and you're thinking, okay,
Yeah, you might think you know, but what are we supposed to be thinking first?
You know, it's just it's good to reiterate the things that they may have been exposed to through parents, but some may have not.
And it's interesting because I have chuckle the girls a lot of times out.
Shoot the boys because they're just at a younger age.
They just are a little more.
I don't know, adapt.
I'm not surprised at all to hear that.
And I'll be the first one to say that I was definitely that kid who, because I grew up around hunting and things, I sauntered up to that.
You know, and I still treated the firearm with respect, but there was absolutely some assumptions, some cockiness built into it that I quickly realized, yeah, we've got to check that because we are around firearms, we are around animals and natural resources that deserve our respect, but that doesn't have to be this incredibly serious, solemn act.
While we do want to treat the land with reverence and the animals too, there's absolutely a way to coexist, to interact and to even harvest from nature in a way that's good for all involved.
Absolutely, and I mean it is-
our responsibility I believe you know to do that and to manage the land and the animal population in a way that keeps it healthy and there is huge you know there's justification for the hunting there's justification for the fishing there's a need and it's our responsibility to keep that.
you know, resource in check and what managed well.
Around here, it's part of civic duty.
So, hey, if you want to, and I've got a lot of respect, by the way, for those parents you described who might not be involved or necessarily even interested personally in this kind of activity, who will safely expose their kids to new things like this in case.
The example I always give is when the emergency vehicles are trotted out and, hey, bring your kids, sit them in the ambulance seat.
You have no idea if that's going to be that moment, that spark.
Have you ever gotten to see that kid who
just gets it and has clearly developed an early passion.
Is that something you get to see?
Oh, definitely.
You know, some kids, they're just started all about, and then you have the timid ones, but by the time they leave, at least they've tried it.
as intimidating as they thought.
And who knows what that may hold for their future.
emergency right away
right you're learning things over and above that hook removal you're learning self-awareness you're learning caution you're learning when to when to act versus when to pause and you're learning all kinds of life skills that
Boy, you'll be thankful when you need them 15 years down the road that you'll learn them at the Flambeau Area Sportsman's Club.
Free outdoor skills youth day.
I remember it as the Whitetails Unlimited Day, but now sponsored by the Flambeau Area Sportsman's Club as well.
Still heavily involved with Whitetails Unlimited.
Correct.
And a lot of the major beats are what you'll remember.
A lunch to start the day during the registration period.
Free, 10.30 a.m.
until 11 a.m.
And that's when things really get started, rain or shine.
Oh, absolutely.
Last year we were in a deluge.
rate all day until the event was over.
I remember hearing about it.
Well, Sue, thank you so much for doing what you do and giving us some time to talk about this.
We'll put this flyer on our website.
I found it myself right on the Flambeau Area Sportsman's Club Facebook page.
So if people are interested, they can get a hold of Leroy to
Take one of those last spots.
Not many remain and there are a limited number and same day registration is not an option.
You got to pre-register here.
So get a hold of Leroy 762-4413 or find the club on Facebook.
Sue, thank you so much.
You are welcome.
Thank you.
But for now, we've reached the conclusion of reality radio at least for today.
I get to be a little busy bee and archive all this so people can listen back.
So if you know of somebody who might want info in an audio way, go to 98Q.
country dot com click on the podcast button in the top right and listen back to this conversation or the one we had with embrace or the one we had with the apprentice school district.
That's what we do here at 98 Q.