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Good, good morning, everyone.
Welcome to Matt and Air on Air.
My name is Greg Mock.
I am your host today.
Calvin, that was weird to say.
That's Calvin Newton-Hoff on the boards right there.
Calvin, how are you doing today?
putting his cans on.
There you go.
You know,
I'm doing pretty well, Greg.
It's a little weird.
It is.
It is weird.
If you're wondering, is Jane on vacation again?
No, Jane is not.
Well, she's on vacation.
She is on a retirement vacation last Friday was her last day on the show, but I am your interim host.
You're sitting host.
I'm the guy in charge of the big chair right now.
And we will be keeping the flow of the show going today.
Very, very, very excited.
to have you here today.
We have a wonderful, very packed show.
Very much going to miss our beloved Jane Matton there, but she is probably listening to us right now and smiling.
And we want to just once again wish her happy retirement and she did a great job.
And we're going to miss her very, very much for our first show.
We have a very stacked lineup of guests.
We're going to be talking to Katie Goodwin from MKE grocery buddy organization in the 10 o'clock hour.
And we're also going to be speaking with
two owner, two business owners who are going to give us ideas on what to be giving for Christmas.
One is going to be the owner of whimsy and wonder toys based in Wausau and the owner of the art and thrift store collect and gather based out of plover.
Both will be joining us this morning.
So you want to stick around for that.
And we want to get ideas from you on what you're going to be giving this holiday season.
Are you going to be giving, you know, the regular gifts, gift cards, a nice bag of cash, maybe just a pat on the shoulder and say,
Good luck in 2026, but we want to hear from you and you can get in touch with us by calling in or texting and the number is the same 855-752-4842-855-75 Civic is the number you can call or text.
You can also drop a comment on the live stream.
We are live on Facebook, YouTube and the site.
We still in this house called Twitter.
So please let us know your thoughts and feel free to contact us with any guests.
I'm sorry, any questions you may have throughout the day to park guests.
And we just want to hear from you.
Want to know what's going on?
I don't know how your weekend went.
Calvin, how was your weekend?
It was pretty good.
You know,
it's
pretty good.
Too, too short.
Like always, it's always too short.
Well, the show is going to be moving along real quick here.
And as I said before, we have a stack line of guests and I want to get right into our first guest.
He isn't.
Blaine Halverson.
He is from a group called Stop the Menominee Data Center group.
They are on Facebook right now with thousands of thousands of members.
They organized a recent protest on December the second located in Menominee, which is located in Dunn County here in Wisconsin to talk about their concerns to protest, their concerns on the data centers that are kind of taking over their community, the state.
and the country, one more transparency, more discussion on it before they just come in and do their thing.
Blaine is one of thousands of individuals fighting to stop data center projects in the Menominee and Western Wisconsin and is part of a new rapidly growing team of collaborating people statewide to stop further data center development without any further ado.
Let's bring Blaine
On to the show, Blaine.
How are you doing this morning?
Welcome to Matt and Air On Air.
I gave you a nice lengthy description.
I gave everyone an idea of what you are doing.
And I just want to know, first of all, how are you doing this morning?
I'm great.
The sun is shining.
And when you get the sun shining in the winter, that's a great thing.
Yes, it is.
Now, data center's kind of the whole concept of it really became one of the biggest conversation points.
in Wisconsin in 2025, but we weren't really talking about it a lot last year.
And this year, that subject matter has really, really exploded.
And can you tell us more about your group and what they seek to achieve with the, you just had a protest earlier this month.
What do you seek to achieve your, with the protest, with what your group's trying to do with regard to just start, we'll start with Menominee and then we'll move our way out of Wisconsin.
But what are you, what are you doing with them?
I think Blaine froze at the first question, everybody.
Blaine, can you hear us?
Okay, we're having some technical difficulties there right now, but we're going to be working on getting Blaine back.
Calvin, if you want to give him the phone number, if he can call, that'd be great.
Blaine, if you can hear me, call us 8-5.
Oh, Blaine, there you are.
You hear us?
Yeah, I have it and I have the number already in my phone.
So I need it.
I will.
Okay, great.
So yeah, just give us an overview about the group that you are a part of and what they seek to achieve in Menominee with regard to data centers.
We are simply just trying to stop a data center development here at this point because the process that was followed was not transparent.
It didn't really take a lot into consideration and there are a lot of factors that I think our leaders are recognizing now that they weren't prepared for.
that enter into this discussion that were covered.
So I'm trying to stop this data center specifically and trying to convince the work with the city council to create more rules about transparency and how they function and also help them to create a more solid zoning code, building code that helps to give the city some of its power.
back when they're trying to negotiate any kind of development.
Well, and that's what I saw.
You know, there was an article earlier this year in Menominee saying that the mayor actually, after the council had approved a data center, the mayor actually said, no, thank you.
We're putting this on hold because it seems like that is what is happening as we are, businesses are coming in saying, we'll take the land.
We'll put the, we'll put the business and it'll be great for you and city councils and local leaders can say, oh, that's great.
And then.
After it's done, they'll say, Oh, what did we, what did we commit to exactly?
And it seems
like, and it seems like mayor, uh, if I'm pronouncing his name correctly, mayor knack is connect my, my apologies to mayor connect, but mayor connect actually kind of looked at the paperwork and said, well, let's put a hold on this.
And it seems like that's where it's at right now.
I'm a nominee.
Am I correct?
Well, how it came about, let me just clarify how it came about.
Um,
First of all, the city council didn't know even about this until last March.
It had been kept a secret from them for about a year, year and a half.
And so they were made aware in March.
They were given very little information and didn't have a lot of decisions to make.
But then when it came down to August, there was a developer and the landowners petitioned.
The city to be annexed because it's from a boring township and then to be to be receive a new zone So what the council did was vote to annex the property?
Okay, and then they in the same meeting they voted to to rezone it On the zoning application it talked about for the purpose of building a data center.
It's so it doesn't legally obligate Directly, yeah, but there there are
there are risks involved for sure once you zone it that way and someone buys the property.
So I think the mayor and I think everyone in the city was really surprised by the level of pushback and how fast it developed and gained momentum.
And I think that's what caused him to stop and say okay we need to slow down.
And I think that's something that
we're appreciative
for.
Yeah.
And then when that's something we're seeing more from other communities too, we're seeing other communities in Wisconsin, pushing back and going to meetings and saying, I mean, in Caledonia, I think like last month or two months ago, they just full on stopped a project from happening because the people are becoming aware of what's going on.
And you had a protest on December the second, if I'm not mistaken.
December 2nd.
Yes.
Yes.
Tell us more about like what, what, what went into that?
What was going on?
How was the, the, the energy there from the people involved and those, I mean, it's a cold month.
So we didn't see, you know, some people were enabled,
I'm sure.
But what was the energy you were feeling from the people who were taking part?
Oh, they were just so happy to be involved in doing something.
And because the fact of the matter is, even though it's a small town,
there's still people who aren't really aware of what's happening with the data center.
So being out on a major road in what was about 12 to 14 degrees, I think that day in Breezy, it was a sacrifice, but there was a warmth that came to it.
There was a camaraderie that came to it.
And part of the camaraderie was too, that it was part of an organized statewide day of action and protests among all of the communities.
that they're dealing with data center development.
And there was a large group in Milwaukee protesting the data center lobby group that was having their meeting there.
And that's something we've talked about a lot on the show here in the past few months as we become more and more aware of data centers and just exactly the process that they're going through to get them done and done very quickly and with help to, you know,
in their perfect world very quietly.
So they're just there.
And that's how it is across the country.
How did you connect?
How are you connecting?
You just said Milwaukee, how are you connecting with other groups and individuals throughout Wisconsin on what's trying to be done, as well as people kind of waking up to what's happening with these data centers?
In some instances, popping up in communities on tons of land, and they're like, where is this?
What's happening here?
What's happening?
Yeah.
Well as far as the connection There was a signal chat group that started was started by a couple of action organizations that started inviting people and Myself and a couple others from a nominee got into the mix there and Sometime in October I think and at that point I think we were like the 12th and 13th ones to join this
group.
Yeah, and now there's third now.
There's 38 of us and we
actually had a statewide organizational zoom call a few weeks ago with about 300 people registered from around the state.
So that's how that's picking up Steve.
And the thing about it is once everyone compares notes, you see how, I don't mean this in the traditional sense of the word, but I guess conspiratorial the whole process.
Yeah, understood.
that there's a plan, there's a playbook.
They come in and they tell the city, they tell the township, they tell the village, hey, you need to keep this quiet.
You're gonna get a lot of pushback.
We can help you with that.
And then kind of move along.
Well, and that's the thing too is, I mean, one of the, you know, if you're, and if you're just joining us, we were speaking to Blaine Halvorsen, who's an organizer for stop the Menominee data center group.
And we're talking about the work they're doing in their community to stop a data center project from coming in.
And that's the thing too is they don't, they don't really lead with all of the good stuff because there isn't a lot to brag to the community for, for, you know, how it impacts.
positively on the community.
And you know, it's not a job thing because it doesn't take a lot of jobs to run a data center.
It's a tremendous, tremendous take on, on a natural resources, specifically water and as well as it can have impacts on, you know, local individuals, their energy bills can go up as well because of that.
So there's a reason why they want you to be quiet.
Yeah.
Well, and there's a plan and the plan is they're targeting communities who are, who are,
Kind of stable low growth or stagnant.
Yeah, right?
We're struggling to find development who are struggling to keep up with inflation with their budgets every year without raising taxes And you can't really raise your taxes without Developing because your whole tax levy grows based on net new construction every year.
Yeah, so And they're looking especially to for towns
for communities that have codes that are vulnerable that make it easier for them to come in and just kind of have their way and the state didn't help because the state basically the state basically it's like it's Christmas time right holidays you ever you host a holiday at your house yeah and people show up early yeah so basically what happened in the state of Wisconsin is this
and it's like your guests showing up an hour early for Christmas, right?
And nobody's dressed, but somebody lets everybody in, right?
And that's kind of what happened.
It's like they're here and it's open season.
Well, we're going to keep this conversation with Blaine Hallerson going on the other side of the break.
So we're going to keep talking about data centers.
If that's being, if that's affecting you right now in your community, give us a call 855-752-484-2855-75 civic.
If any questions, let us know.
Please pass them along to us via the text line.
But once again, we're going to be talking to Blaine Hallerson on the other side of the break.
Stick close.
You were listening to Matt and they're out air on the civic media radio network.
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Good morning.
Welcome back to Matt and Air on Air.
My name is Greg Bogg.
I am your host.
I am your friend.
I'm your buddy.
We're here.
having a great show.
And for those, just as a reminder, don't, don't know if they're like, where's Jane?
Jane has retired and I am taking over.
And we are going to have a great time going forward the rest of the year.
And we are having a great discussion with Blaine Halverson, who is an organizer from stop the Menominee data center group.
They are working to keep data, a data center project from happening in Menominee, which is located in Dunn County here in Wisconsin.
We're seeing a lot more of these discussions happening throughout the state.
And Blaine,
Unfortunately, I mean, however you want to look at it, data centers are here to stay.
They're not going anywhere.
There are thousands of them located throughout America and companies.
I mean, I was reading an article on Wired that said that two companies alone are committed to investing $2 trillion, trillion with a T as in T, $2 trillion in infrastructure that includes data centers.
And that can seem daunting.
That can seem overwhelming to the point where people can say, what am I going to do?
How can I do anything?
And we're seeing folks, regular folks from communities all over the state standing up and speaking their voices and being heard by their community leaders as you're seeing right now with regard to the nominee.
What do you say to folks who say, well, what can I do?
Oh, there's a lot you can do.
The first thing that needs to happen is you need to make sure you're engaged in local politics.
You know, national politics has been kind of dismaying for a while for a lot of people on the entire, across the entire spectrum.
But local politics at this level doesn't have to be partisan.
Like our group is not remotely partisan.
I'm working side by side with people who would never hit the same levers as I do in November.
It just wouldn't.
And that's really a positive thing for the community.
I think that's a thing that I always want to get across to people is that what we want to talk about here are issues that, you know, we can go to one side of the room or the other side of the room and yell and scream and whatnot, but these are the issues that directly affect everyone in the communities.
Absolutely.
has nothing to do with who you voted for.
Because what we need to do is make sure that these community leaders understand our voices and we need to stand up and speak.
And as you said, Blaine, it's going to those meetings.
It's reading those notes.
They publish those meetings ahead of time.
You can read what's on the agenda.
And if you see something, you say something.
And in this case, you said, Blaine, you're seeing this sort of...
This sort of opinion coming out all over the state.
What are you?
What are you also you hearing from people?
Are there any things that we should keep an eye on for as far as you know community members?
In our communities, what are you hearing from people from all over Wisconsin?
about how how to
be watchful about data centers specifically?
Or just the attitude towards them alone too and what people are saying.
I feel like we're hearing a lot of agreement of what you're talking about as far as, you know, this isn't good for the community.
What is it going to do for us?
And people are waking up.
Well, I think there's a level of panic for some people because, I mean, I think at the core nature, most of us understand when you talk about the scale of these,
places, um, that this scale, you're permanently changing and reshaping an entire community permanently.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like you, like, am I permanent?
I mean, for the people who live there now, for the rest of their lives, nothing, it won't be the same.
It won't have the same vibe.
It won't have the same feel.
It will affect all of the development that could come in that's natural and normal for that community while this data center is going in.
And it might prevent other.
Other development for being able to come in because of the amount of land it takes up and and its footprint and everything that goes with that They're just there people are concerned about water People recognize that as we're moving forward here Water clean water is already a resource that's very valuable throughout the world, but Wisconsin we're the only state that borders to Great Lakes like Wisconsin is
prime for this and having people come in and, and turning our water utilities over to them in a sense, giving them free reign in them is really a dangerous proposition.
Plus, if you think about it, this has the potential to be one of the greatest redistributions of wealth from rural people
to
multi-trillion-dollar corporations ever, because let's say they build these data centers and then 15 years, they're all shut
down.
because of changes in technology or whatever.
That still means that these major tech giants own those thousands of acres of land that they got, and they have the water rights to those.
So it's bigger than a business that's inconvenient.
Yeah, and that's the other thing too.
This is a conversation that's gonna keep on going is the fact that what we need to demand, I think,
one of the most important things demand from the communities is transparency from these companies.
It can't just be walking in saying, we've got a great proposition for you.
Don't tell anybody.
No, you need to tell us
everything.
And we need our, our village boards, our county boards, our community, our city councils, whatever it is, those local leaders to stand on our side, to get a deal, to get something that's not going to steal our water, to make our utility bills go skyrocketing.
And as you said, if they walk out one day and say, well, we're done,
We can do this smaller, better somewhere else.
Well, then, you know, what is the community left with?
And that's the bigger problem too.
So it's all about transparency, Blaine.
I feel like that's one of the major things you need to demand.
I mean, that's,
well, even not, and not just transparency, but like actually giving the people a voice.
Like once this comes out, you still see these communities kind of trying to silence the people who are speaking up or tolerating them, but completely dismissing what they say.
You see meetings in Port Washington.
We saw them in here in Menominee.
We've seen them all over where you have dozens of citizens speak forcefully and with truth.
And, and it's just like, okay, yawn.
Yeah,
exactly.
Looking at your phone.
Blaine Halverson is from Stop the Menominee Data Center Group.
We're going to put your information into our show notes today so people can check you out and keep up to date.
And folks, if you're going through the same thing, let us know.
But Blaine, thank you so much for your time.
We appreciate you.
Thank you, sir.
Yep.
When we come back, we're going to speak into Lee Claremont, uh, from Wonder, a whimsy and wonder toys up in Wausau.
So don't go anywhere.
Stay close.
Stay tuned.
You are listening to Matt and air on air on the civic media radio network.
Good morning, everyone.
Welcome back to Matt and air on air.
My name is Greg Bach, your host, your guy, your friend here throughout the morning till 11 a.m.
And we're happy that you're joining us.
You can get in touch with us anytime you'd like by simply calling or texting.
That number is the same.
It's 855-752-4842 855-757.
You can also leave a comment on the live stream, which is on Facebook, YouTube and the place we in this house still call Twitter.
Very, very happy to have Blaine Halverson on the show today talking about data centers and what you can do to make your voice heard to your local leaders and businesses who are trying to come into the community.
Had a great comment from Jenny says the Cal Doni resident will be one of the guests at a panel discussion on data centers.
She's attending next week and that's great.
It's wonderful to get yourself educated on those topics again.
We are going to put all of that information into our show notes so you know where you can go to find out more about how these projects are going to be coming in and affecting you and the members of your community.
But we're going to turn the topics now to a matter of gift-giving Calvin.
It is almost Christmas, so I'm sure you have all of your Christmas shopping done, correct?
Your Christmas shopping is all finished and done, and things are- Yeah, no.
No, nothing of
that?
No, I have not done any Christmas shopping.
I'm not sure that I will.
I'm not big on giving gifts.
Maybe I'll get some gift cards.
Okay.
Well, there you go.
See, that's still the gift.
That's the gift of freedom.
You allow them to buy what they want.
Well, if you are interested in shopping local, which is something we always, always encourage here at the show, at the network, we want to make sure you put those dollars back in the community.
And if you live up near the Wausau area, you can go to a place called whimsy and wonder toys, which just recently opened.
Last month on the 7th of November, they are a store that specializes in eco-friendly toys.
And we have the owner, Lee Claremont on the show.
Lee, thank you so much for being on Matinair On Air.
How are you doing this morning?
I am doing well.
Thank you.
And thank you for having us.
And I'm one of the owners.
My wife is the other one.
Oh.
She's actually the brainchild of all of this.
Perfect.
Let's start there.
Let's start where the, the kernel of inspiration was.
Now tell us about whimsy and wonder toys.
And what made you want to open a store like this?
Uh, so I have two kids.
I have a five year old and 11 year old.
And as they were coming up, uh, and growing, like trying to find these were really difficult to do.
You couldn't find them anywhere local in Wausau.
And.
So we were kind of driven to give them that creative outlet.
I mean, we read to our kids, uh, consistently, you know, so of course, you know, books are a thing that we have here as well.
And, uh, I kid you not last Christmas, my wife Autumn said, let's open a toy store.
And at first I was like, this is crazy.
I don't know.
Uh, but you know, I've, I've got on board and, um,
I, you know, we both work our normal jobs and we work at the store.
So it's a lot, a lot of work.
Yeah.
But, uh, uh, yeah.
So I've taken to learning a lot about, uh, a number of the, uh, the toys that we, um, sell.
And it's been an interesting, um, educational experience in that, in the toy space to say
in the toy universe.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
You know, you go to any big box store, they have those great plastic toys, right?
And a lot of those are injected molded ABS.
They go to landfill.
And that's where they stay forever, right?
But, you know, we're offering toys made from wood that's sustainably sourced.
Our one company, they do it in multiple nations.
So in order to maintain that sustainability certificate, I couldn't imagine the complexity and logistics around that.
So, yeah, it's really awesome.
And we've got a lot of board games, STEM kits, educational, you know, packets for kids, not to mention, you know, art supplies and...
like it's, yeah, the list goes on and on.
Well, I'm like, you sort of answered my question right there.
Lee is, is, you know, from, from the looks of it, you know, I looked at the website and it's not just, it's not just eco-friendly toys.
It's, it's educational toys.
It's toys that were really meant to not only enrich, but to entertain as well.
I mean, what are, what are your, what are your more, what are the popular ones that are happening right now?
What are people, what are people buying up at this point for, especially for the, for the holiday season?
The one that actually shocked me when we first opened it, we ended up selling a lot of it.
It's a puzzle by peaceable kingdoms.
It was called gnomes at night.
It's a hundred piece puzzle.
You assemble it.
It comes with this little flashlight.
And then it, and the reason it comes with a flashlight is once you have it all built, it becomes a C confined with the flashlight.
And you can only the 40 items that are hidden in it.
And since then, we've added two more versions of that game.
We've added the puzzle, which is Agent Hidden City and Twilight Fairies.
They're all for like six and up.
So the kids seem to really like those, and the parents do.
They're quite fun.
It's not something I thought would have been popular.
So it's been kind of eye-opening in that regard.
Well, that's how like, isn't it always how it is as adults, we think, well, what are the kids going to like with this?
And for some reason they just, and it's like, oh, we can't keep them on the shelf.
They're sold out.
You got to come in early if you want to get one because the kids absolutely love it.
And from what you're saying, it sounds like not only a great time, but like a really long lasting activity that will take them, they have to invest their time and brainpower into making this, to completing this game.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, you know, along that lines, the Peaceable Kingdom line of games is actually really awesome.
They're a little different from the board games.
You know, we play Monopoly and Wrath.
Great games.
Don't get me wrong.
However, these games are cooperative, right?
So you work together to beat the game.
And, you know, we listen to our community when they come in and say, like, hey, there's this game we had Space Escape.
It's a really great game.
We ended up buying
some of them to the store to test it out.
We brought in six copies.
We took one home.
I played it with my kids.
Fabulous game.
Even fun for adults.
The strategy is amazing.
We sold out within a week of having it.
We've actually restocked since then and we've actually stocked even more games because games for
And like I never knew that games went down.
We have games or kids who are two years old.
Oh my goodness.
Right.
Yeah.
And so they are games that you engage with your kid to build that creativity to, you know, that time you spent with your kids is huge.
That has a long lasting impact on them.
So yeah, I mean, I really advocate for the games, but you know, you go all into the
the playing, you know, if you got a kid around three, uh, I would say to six, maybe up to eight, you know, the, the wooden dowel houses with all the different things that you can put in those dowel house.
I mean, even adults collect those, so don't get it wrong.
That's just a kid thing.
But, and when you look at the, like the super high quality, I don't know if you've seen them on the website, uh, you know, obviously currently we're not doing shipping.
We're trying to get all of that organized cause we just opened up, you know, at the beginning of November.
So, well, and
that was, and that was the thing I was going to ask too is because, you know, we live in a world that's very dominated by online shopping.
They make it very simple to click.
And within, you know, within a couple hours, it can be at your doorstep, but it seems like, you know, people are also still looking for those.
local options as far as putting their dollars into the community, especially right now at Christmas.
And it sounds like you guys are doing very well as far as, you know, engagement from the community.
How has Wausau embraced you as far as the store?
And are people excited to see that there is this option now for them to do their shopping, especially for little ones before the holidays?
Yeah, just about everybody that comes in is super excited to have a toy store.
Uh, in Wausau, the last, the last one that was ever here, uh, was like a KB toy store to give you an idea of how long that was.
That's a reference.
Yeah.
That's, that is totally a reference.
So it's been a long time, you know, and you know, when you talk about local dollars, we also have local creators we support.
Oh, wonderful.
Tell me more about that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We have one local creator.
She's actually a friend of ours.
Uh, so she makes some like stuffed animals.
She says these stout crowns, these floured crowns, these wands.
capes that kind of stuff you know and really good you know wholesome kind of products very neat those have been very well received we've gone through quite a bit of the flower crowns and the wands but yeah it's very cool and that you know that's definitely keeping
the local dollars local.
We're hoping to pull in some more.
There's a lot of logistics around when we bring them in.
So we had already talked to her prior opening to say, we're going to have a lot of empty space because we didn't have a loan, a business loan.
It was all funded out of pocket.
And so because of that, we had a limited stock that we could first do.
Yeah.
So our, our first stock was essentially two, maybe as low as three with some of the games to about eight years old, right?
Um, but we've expanded.
So now, now we've, we've got STEM kits that are for like 12 or an older, um, you know, and that's just in the month and a half.
That's, that's absolutely wonderful.
If you're just joining us, we're talking to Lee Claremont, who's the co-owner.
co-owner, he'll say that correct.
Co-owner of whimsy and winter toys in Wausau.
And one of the things I wanted to put people on too, cause we'll put, we'll put your link in the show notes.
And you said right now there isn't online shopping available.
Cause you said that's something you are working on, correct?
Correct.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, a lot of the data that we need to do shipping didn't come over from our distributor, which is hilarious because my normal job is IT.
It's super annoys me of why this happened.
Well,
I want to put that.
I want to put the link in there so people can be aware of you so they can just stay in touch.
I mean, if you're going to be in the Wausau area, if you live in the Wausau area, of course, visit.
If you're going to be there, go to the store and, you know, check out the local downtown of Wausau.
It looks really, really cute, but we just want people to be aware.
So when it is time and you can do the shopping, they can.
Now, what are you looking at?
into the new year.
So once Christmas has done, is there anything like you want to like, are there more games you want to get in 2026?
Is there more toys?
How do you want to, how do you see whimsy and wonder toys in 2026?
Well,
there's definitely going to be more games.
I have a, I have a feeling we're going to attend a trade show.
So one of the companies work with the giving idea of the, their business nature, the, the, the toy bond, they make our wood toys, a lot of the wood toys that we sell.
And they found out we're selling.
They actually reached out to us and said, come to a trade show.
We want to meet you.
Oh, wonderful.
And they're a family-owned business, right?
So it's not a big business.
And so we're definitely looking at that.
I think the trade show will expand kind of what we sell.
Again, we do a lot of the fan favorites, because people love the magnetiles, right?
We have those.
We have the doodots.
Uh, you know, those are things kids love.
Yeah.
Um, but then we have cuddle and kind where, you know, cause we like things with purpose.
Yeah.
Those are handmade in Peru.
Uh, and when you buy one, uh, it gets meals for 10 kids in need.
Oh my, what?
Say that one more time.
So it's, it's what, tell me that about that again.
That's, I didn't hear about that.
Yeah.
It's, it's cuddle and kind.
Okay.
Uh, so the, the company that makes them, um,
They're actually out of the UK.
And so they supply every time they sell one of their handmade like stuffed animals They they give 10 meals to kids in need.
That is
absolutely
amazing.
Yeah
Yeah, and they're all they're actually all handmade Ethically in Peru.
Okay.
Well, yeah, they're they're a The quality is so good.
It's like if you take relatively good care of it, you can probably give it to your grandkids
That is fantastic.
Well, Lee, I appreciate you joining us today.
And like I said, I'm going to put the, we're going to put that.
We're going to put your store in the show notes so people can find out about you and keep up.
And when you get online shopping, please, please put your dollars back into local communities to people like Lee at whimsy and wonder toys.
Lee, you and autumn have a wonderful holiday.
I hope you guys have a great, you know, make a lot of money, sell a lot of toys, but also just have a great holiday season.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Likewise, thank you for having us.
All right, folks, don't go anywhere.
When we come back, we want to hear from you about your shopping, what you're buying for this coming holiday here, coming up with the Christmas and Hanukkah, whatever you're celebrating.
Call, give us a call, text us, live stream comments.
We're right here, Matt Nair on air on the Civic Media Radio Network.
Stay tuned, stay close.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
Good morning.
Welcome back to Matt and Air on Air.
My name is Greg Bach.
I almost said sitting in, Calvin, because that's what I usually do when I say, because Jane Matt and Air has, as you all know, she has retired.
She has put down the headphones.
And, uh, yeah, we're having a great show this morning.
Great.
We really want to thank Blaine Halverson for being here as well as, uh, excuse me, as well as Lee from whimsy and wonder toys, a toy store up in, uh, Wausau.
Sorry.
I'm looking at my prop doc here.
I'm going to let you behind the scenes here.
Lee Claremont.
I want to get his last name.
Lee Claremont from whimsy and wonder toys up in Wausau.
Uh, really, really appreciate you being here.
Got some stuff on the, the text lines coming through.
Tammy and Eau Claire discussing with regard to the data center.
She said, is there, is there a nothing to see here?
A quote unquote going out with the Amazon distribution center that is coming to Dunn County.
We'll, we'll be fighting about the power warehouse.
It's like, it's, it's not just a data centers, Calvin.
It's about a lot of things.
A lot of the big businesses coming up, buying huge plots of land, putting data centers, putting warehouses.
And if this is something that, as we've said before, concerns you,
It's about getting out there and getting to those meetings, reading those agendas and finding out what is actually happening at the local level, because that's where it affects you the most.
And, uh, Don in Waukesha says, good start guys.
The balance is perfect.
Really appreciate that, Don.
We want to make sure that we keep the mission and the spirit of Matt Narenare alive here, moving forward, having great conversations, talking about the topics that affect us the most.
And also we talked about Lee and he said, you know,
buying those local toys buying local keeping them dollars in the community because that's where it does the best most good now Kelvin before we got talking to Lee you said something to the effect that you're probably just gonna do gift cards for Christmas you're gonna do that can keep it real simple
yeah I just I like to be I'm not big on giving gifts I think you should
Only give gifts if you feel inspired to give a gift
really
like I feel like a gift should be inspired.
Okay Even if it's like even if it's like if I say to you Kelvin I could really use this thing for you know in the new year I would like is that is that does not well?
I mean asking for something is fine.
I Guess there's this expectation that you get someone a gift on Christmas and you get someone a gift for their birthday which
is fine and nice, I suppose.
But I don't think it should feel like an obligation.
And I feel like to be a good gift, you've had to have put thought into it.
Getting someone, getting something.
for someone that they asked for is nice and
can be
thoughtful.
But it doesn't really show that you were thinking of the person or that you really know the person.
I get
that.
I get that.
No, I totally get that.
My wife, she has always a long list of gifts and it's not like...
She wants all of them or expect saying she just wants to give you variety because there's a lot of family members buying stuff.
But, and I always want to buy off that list because I know she can use whatever it is.
And a lot of times it's very functional gift cards for gas, gift cards for, you know, getting a massage, things like that, things that really help her.
But I always try to remember throughout the year, little things like when we go to a store and she goes, Oh, I like that.
I try to remember that so I can say, Oh, you.
you mentioned that when we were shopping that one time.
And you've seen that look, Calvin, that little look when someone, when you buy that, it's not so much an inspired gift, but it's when you are listening to them and you hear them speak about like, oh, there's that thing.
And they would never buy it for themselves.
And they kind of just, it's a one and done, they move on, but you say, oh, I'm going to get that for them.
And I want to give that to them on Christmas.
I see what you're saying.
I would say actually, Calvin, you had a wonderfully inspired gift last week.
You showed up to Jane's last day and you brought
blanket along that you had made your mom made for her that was like out of nowhere and it's just sort of that that was a very inspired gift I must say that's very much on definition of what you're talking about
well I can only take inspiration for the idea I my mom completely made the blanket I I guess I chose the colors and asked her to make it for me so but yeah I just thought I wasn't even more
I guess it was a gift, but it was more so just to commemorate the show.
I tried to make it blankets.
I chose colors that were similar to our branding.
You will see on the live stream.
Yeah, absolutely.
And, but that's the thing though is you thought about that and you could easily said, oh yeah, whatever, or I should do that and you don't, but you did.
And that's very important.
And the look on her face was wonderful.
I look like a very comfy blanket to buy it.
Might I add, but that's what we want to hear from you guys going forward today.
You know, like we're going to be, we want to know, like, what are you buying for folks?
What are those special gifts?
Now, you know, a gift card is great.
I'm not, I'm not knocking a gift card.
I'm not knocking cash, but what are those special gifts that you want to give your loved ones?
Those things that just say that, you know, you're listening, that you hear them, you see them and you know that it's going to make them smile and end.
It doesn't have to be a big expensive thing.
It can be very small, a craft you put together.
I really want to know that because those are the gifts I love hearing about because those are the ones that make us smile the most.
So is there anything big for you, Calvin, that you're looking for as far as Christmas?
Have you asked for anything that's like, you know, a new video game or maybe a book series that's something that you're interested in getting down with on the holidays?
You know, I have a bad habit of just
buying everything I want immediately when I want it.
So I don't really have that much kind of, a lot of that kind of thing.
We went to Vegas as a family in August and we got a hot tub.
So those are really the big
gifts for the family.
Wait, I'm
sorry, what?
What?
Yes, we got-
You
went to Vegas and you bought a hot tub?
I didn't,
my family did.
Okay, all right.
But those are eating up a lot of what our gifts are for Christmas and that is,
awesome and appreciated.
So yeah, there's not really a ton that I'm looking for.
Okay.
Well, I mean, that's, I would say next year, man, those things that you want right away, just put one aside and put it on a list.
Cause moms are always saying like, where's your list?
I get that all the time from both of my mothers, mother and mother-in-law.
Where's your list?
And I'm the last one to always give it cause I can never think of anything, but we want to hear from you.
What are you shopping for this year?
Are you keeping those dollars local?
Are you buying local?
Where are you buying from?
We'd love to know that too, because we can send that information out to the world and let people know about where they can be spending those community dollars.
We're going to take a quick break.
And when we come back from the news, we are going to be speaking with Katie Goodwin from a group called MKE Grocery Buddies that seeks to help those who are being affected by the SNAP benefits cut off.
But don't go anywhere.
Get yourself a snack.
Get yourself some water.
Stay hydrated.
You are amazing and awesome.
Listening to Matt and Air on Air on the Civic Media radio network.
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