Our Holiday Best Of Show: Celebrating Jane! (Hour 1)

Good morning and welcome to this specially curated Best of Edition of Matt and air on air.

It's Greg here and today we will be revisiting some fantastic interviews celebrating the historic career of our beloved Jane Matt and air who did retire a couple of weeks ago on December the 12th.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas.

We hope you're being warm and safe and hanging out with family.

We're going to get started with this segment right here where we talk to civic media's very own Aaron

with a young intern starting his radio career, working with Jane.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays and enjoy.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt Nair on air.

Jane Matt Nair, Greg Bach, even though you can't see him.

Hi.

Calvinator on the board coming to you from her home at Radio Park in Racine.

You can join us, call or text at 855-752-4842.

You can also leave a comment if you're watching on the live stream on Facebook, YouTube, and what used to be Twitter.

This is the portion of the show that we call Audio Sorbet, where we get away from the news and take a breath, lighten things up, little cleansing.

We clean your ears with fun.

Thank you, Greg.

You're welcome.

My last show on the air is a week from tomorrow, December 12th.

So we're switching things up a little bit.

We're going to have special guests for the rest of this week and next week.

And joining us now live in studio, part of Civic Media's management team, Aaron Coreno is here.

Good to see you.

It is really good to see you and it's really good to be back here in Milwaukee and we're seeing and back in like my hometown area, right?

This is where you

started

out.

Sure is.

We go back a

very,

very, very long way.

I think there's a question which needs to be asked because we've been talking about it during the show.

Now, as I've been made aware, Aaron, you were, this, Jane was like the first person you worked with.

Like you were an intern.

Yes, so one

day mm-hmm.

I'm a UWM student I was continuing my education at UWM and I'm driving around that the hail interchange and I called the mix and I got an internship because someone happened to be in a studio on a Saturday Wow, and his name was Tony.

He's like hey come on in the morning Tony Lorena Because you could be an intern on the morning show come on in is that how things just work back and so I walked in and it was

One it's surreal because I grew up in Sheboygan County and I grew up listening to Milwaukee radio my whole life I grew up listening to to every station you can imagine.

I was one of those I knew probably I didn't know that I would do this for a living but Jane You were one of those people that I had just admired as a as a young Who knew who

I would be a broadcaster,

right?

So

walking in the door and knowing that I was gonna be interning on your show

Well, it's kind of intimidating to be honest with you, but that's how it all started.

2008?

Was it 2008?

Yeah, 2008.

Wow.

And

the question that's been asked or the hope that Jane has in her heart, she hopes that she was nice to you.

I hope I wasn't mean to you.

Oh, you're my favorite.

He has to say that because he's sitting across the table for

me.

You're not going to be pushed around by any of these people here.

You were very, very kind to me.

And although it was a long time ago, I was just so excited just to have the chance to do something.

That's really sweet of you.

That's really sweet.

I just remember because I had a lot of partners when I was at the mix.

I had nine.

And I actually had to write them down the other day, so I would get them in the right order, because some of them- Oh, I'll write a song for it, just like

a, all

of Jane's part.

Yeah, some of them only lasted a couple months.

But, so you came in at the very end.

If you came in at 2008, they let me go in 2009.

Well, so I came in as an intern, and then there were, what was the financial crisis?

Shortly thereafter,

and they

laid a lot of people off in the business,

and so

I was one wondering if I would even have a chance to do this for a living.

But then they needed somebody to really kind of produce the show with you.

And so I got an hourly rate and that was my first real paycheck.

I think I made $21.50 on my first pay period.

Nice.

But it was something.

And you had me go out to Water Street on St.

Patrick's Day or I was getting audio and I was doing all the intern things.

Well, you send them, you send them out.

Go do this thing, go cover this thing.

We need sound from here.

That's what you send.

That's why you have interns

as intern Aaron.

So it's fun intern Aaron.

That's how it all started.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then now we've come full circle and now you're we're back together at Civic Media.

And you are the one who had called me.

It's wild.

I have three distinct memories with Jane.

OK.

That I wanted to share and I'll share them quickly because I can be long winded.

The first one is.

being able to be in the studio Helping work on your show was once surreal, but then too.

I'm like holy holy cats.

She created the pack arena That was like the

first well.

She was

partially responsible for

it I was part of the group that made the pack

around it wasn't just me I know no one's saying it was just you but you are just take it

that was like wow like this is really happening and then to it was

I had been working for another radio station.

After I'd been laid off in 2020, I kind of went on my own.

And I remember reaching out to you.

I think I sent you a text message and said, hey, I don't know what they're doing at Civic, but do you think there could be a benefit if I were to help out?

Right.

And we spoke for probably a good hour.

Easily.

And you convinced me to reach out to Sage, our CEO, and kind of the rest is history.

And now here he is.

You're creating songs, you're creating memories, you're creating job opportunities.

My goodness.

Did I not tell you to go into brain surgery?

Are you sure I

didn't tell you to go into some other job?

I think you said careful what you wished for.

That sounds like something I would say.

The third memory I have was once I worked here and was offered a full-time role, which I'm still to this day incredibly grateful for.

I've had so much fun working here.

is we're at a holiday party.

And we're out on the patio.

It was late at night, we're out on the patio and we're just talking, catching up one on one.

And I said, I really would love for you to have your own show.

And we're talking through this, and there was a really feel-good conversation.

It was very late at night.

And all of a sudden, I looked to my left, and there was sage.

And I

went, OK, conversation

over.

We're

done.

Time for bed.

Yeah, there had been several cocktails consumed by that point

when we had

had that conversation.

Yeah.

I imagine.

I imagine.

Yeah.

But yeah.

And then it came to be.

If that was the same place I was at, I went to bed like an hour and a half before all of you did.

I was like, I had, I had a piece of pizza, maybe half a drink.

I went, well, I'm tired.

I'm going back to the hotel.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We were just out there hanging out.

And I was like, one of them was partial part of me was like, why are you, why is he awake right now?

He should be away from all of this.

I was,

but it's really great to one.

I appreciate you bringing me on as a guest here for

this segment, but we're just so

grateful for all that you've done and for you to go out and do whatever you want to do.

I'm kind of like selfishly hoping that when Jane retires, you're reimagined as, you know, everybody when you were growing up had that favorite substitute teacher that would come in and everybody loved it.

When can you start becoming a substitute teacher for us?

Hey, I'm available anytime.

I'm retiring.

What do I have to do exactly?

I'll have

nothing but time on my hands.

Yeah, I am happy to come in and scold anytime.

My scolding is absolutely free.

Anybody needs an extra mom that you never asked for.

I'm available.

Check my text messages.

Trust me, she can do

it.

I do it.

I do

it

because I worry about everybody.

Yeah, it's

just it's just the way

it is.

It's really fun, though, for me to watch this happening.

Like, you know, I know you're retiring and sad, but it's also

kind of joyous to watch us celebrate you and also meet the people who have been a part of your life for so long because for me personally you've been a voice and then I met you and then I work with you and people would be like oh my gosh you're working with Jane like yeah

Yeah.

And that's the one thing that's very, very fortunate for me.

So to see people like Aaron and all the guests we're going to have next week, just sharing those tidbits.

We'll talk more about the pack arena, but it's just really great to do this and let you go out in style.

Well, and I remain so grateful to Civic Media because again, for people who are not in this industry, for a woman of my age, because I'm 65, I'm not a.

If I work out of cheese, my expiration date is not encouraging.

So for, it's true.

I don't know where

you pulled that out of,

but okay.

It's just true.

And so for them to have given me this opportunity, I remain so grateful, so grateful.

It just doesn't happen.

It really doesn't happen for an older woman to be given this opportunity.

When I go back home to Plymouth, because I grew up in Plymouth,

My mom has one of those old general electric radios that had the really obnoxious alarm from like 1989.

And she still has that on in her kitchen.

If she has it on right now.

Hi mom.

Good morning mom.

Hope you're listening.

Hey mom.

She goes over Thanksgiving.

I'm home.

And she goes, oh, it's so good to see you.

And she goes, why is Jane doing a live show on Thanksgiving?

So she's your number one fan.

Oh, sweet.

First and foremost, she's been listening to you for

for your entire career.

That's how I got to know you via radio.

And as I got into this business, so the follow-up conversation of Thanksgiving was, she goes, I just love Jane.

I said, well, that's great.

Mom, it's great.

I said, oh, I'm on in the afternoon.

I know she goes, I'm listening to Jane.

Oh, well, I love you, son.

But I don't.

After 11, I've got to go to work.

Yeah.

I'm listening to Jane and was made very clear to me that.

I know where her priorities

are and I know

where I stand.

So, Jane, you

are always welcome in our household.

That is so funny, Erin.

It is interesting, though, to think about how you were a kid when you started listening to me, and now people who were kids listening to me now have kids.

Who are listening to me?

It's it's it's cut.

It's really it's it's it's wild to think about that it is and then I'm still here and I'm still employed amazing

I I think it's great I think it's to be celebrated and you get and you're and you've said this before that you're you're going out on your terms you're retiring you're you're having you're getting there last lap if you will but

you know, as you've said, like, nope, they're not firing me.

I'm

leaving.

And that's also a very rare opportunity.

And I'm thankful to Civic Media for that as well.

Allowing me to have the opportunity to have guests and like Aaron and other

folks who are going to

come in

next week and

spend some time talking about this.

A lot of times radio companies don't do that.

It's a rarity.

You try to do the best

things you possibly can.

We're not always going to get it right.

It's

just the nature of any business.

Right.

But I have told you from the moment they

allowed me to work here, you know, I'm your number one fan and I mean that as a friend I care deeply about you having the best retirement possible and and all of this has to do with also you making sure that you're You get to leave and do the things you want to do in these next couple of weeks and being a mentor to somebody like Greg or Calvin or anybody else in our company who looks up to you They do and your words matter and we appreciate that

Thank you for saying that, Aaron, because there was some moments of doubt that lasted about 21 hours.

Proximately.

And then the outpouring of love from the news and from everyone here and from everyone outside.

Because, you know, there is a, there is a, you know, you can ask that question.

Did what I do have an impact?

And I think it's resounding.

I think it's resounding.

Yes.

We've seen it on the live stream.

We've seen it in the chat.

We've seen it from Aaron and all the people who are going to come through next week.

you had it, you have and had and will continue to have an impact.

Now I can die.

Oh, and that's,

that is trademark Jane McNair.

You are the person when the, when the waters get rocky and choppy, you're the consistent that says to people like Greg or anybody else

or

anybody who's a young broadcaster who sees things a little different and we've had a little more experience.

You've had more experience.

You're going to look at those people and say, Hey,

We

got this.

It's gonna be okay.

Yeah, I can think of situations where you're like the flight attendant if you're not freaking out.

I'm not freaking out Will I see you hit?

Will I see you at MKE sometime soon?

I would love to work at the visitor center.

You can volunteer?

I would love to work at the Milwaukee Airport Visitor Center.

Yeah.

Ooh, maybe I'll do that.

Do

you

have your real ID?

Why not?

You had five years.

We told you about this for a really long time.

$45 now.

Aaron Carino, thank you so very much, my friend.

Thank you, Gene.

Love you, my friend.

Appreciate you.

Love to your mom.

Hey there, it's Greg again.

We are off, but we have a great best of episode for you today, celebrating Jane Matenair.

In this segment, we talk to Dr. Kristin Lierly in her last appearance on Matenair on Air with Jane Me.

Greg and Calvin about the things we've learned along the way of being together, sharing time and having great conversations and the friendships we made along the way.

Good morning and welcome back to Nat Nair on air.

Jane Nat Nair, Greg Bach, our one, our only Calzone on the board coming to you from our home at Radio Park.

Join us at 855-752-4842.

Leave a comment on the live stream on Facebook, YouTube and what used to be Twitter, a couple of texts that I wanted to share.

Tom from Jackson, sending in his love for Kristen Brie and also love to Dr. Kristen Lyrely.

And Andrew from Maine also says waves to Wisconsin's favorite OBGYN, also not discounting the glorious Dr. Hanks and potentially future speaker of the house, Dr. Kristen Lyrely.

Oh,

man.

What a

crowd.

I mean, to be here with you guys and all of those names, I think of the community that you've built here, Jane.

It's like...

Love on Earth.

Do

it.

There it is.

I'm like having a moment thinking about just being here with you and doing this and how much I love this time that we have together.

And what am I going to do with all of this built up angst that I have when I

don't

have

you.

Join us 9

to

11

with

angst with Dr.

Liarley.

We'll just do a

whole show about angst.

I think that, you know, something that, you know, this goes back to with because I met.

You, Dr. Lierly through Kristen and through Jane on the old show as goes Wisconsin.

And, you know, I think one of the, you know, I want to, I want to, I want to live on both of you right now because of that opportunity to do it, to do the show and to talk with you and have those kind of, I was brought on to be the comedian.

And as you can see, two out of 10, but, but really.

You think you know topics.

You think you know what you stand for.

But a lot of times people stand for something because you say like, well, of course I'm for the rights of a woman to choose her body, like her autonomy.

But I don't know the nuance about it.

I just say the sentence and I feel good about myself but by talking to the two of you and talking to Kristen and the whole I learned I learned so much about just the process not just about the the physical process of being pregnant before during and after but how it affects the world and how the world affects the person who is in the situation or the people who are in the situation and as open my eyes to so much more conversation and understanding to be able to not get into arguments but when people say things that are not the

best, maybe not not accurate.

I can say that actually isn't true.

You know, this is the thing, blah, blah, blah.

You know, it's it's given.

It's opened my eyes to a whole new world of understanding on the topics I thought I truly believed in, but I believe in even more now because I actually have details.

Well, knowledge is power.

And knowing more is always better.

Thinking if I don't read something is going to leave me in a better spot is backwards.

I'm the kind of person who's always questioning things.

Like it makes the people in my life crazy.

They're like, why don't you just believe something?

But I

need

evidence.

I can't do that.

But you know, we don't actually do that all the time.

Even me.

Sometimes we just passively absorb information.

And until you have a conversation about it and you reach that point where you realize, I don't actually know this.

I don't

actually understand this.

And you can talk about it in an environment where you're challenged and you have to think about it.

That's really important.

And that's what you do here.

And that's what I'm really going to miss.

Well, our whole contention from the very beginning has we're not experts.

We're not as much as I would love

to be.

Some

listeners would say we're not even smart,

so

hey.

They're entitled to their opinions.

But that's why we have brought on people who are lawyers, who are doctors, who are farmers, who are economists, who are psychologists.

So I can learn from them as well.

And if, again, the whole goal of the show was.

if we can all learn stuff together and make it entertaining, that's the best of all worlds, at least in my estimation.

And if I don't laugh, I'm going to die.

So... Not to be dramatic, everyone.

But it's... We're all gonna die in the words of Joni

Ernst.

There you go.

But I mean, and that's fine.

But I would at least like to say that I laughed more through my life than I sobbed.

Yes.

And

I just

think that's really important.

I

do.

I think it's really important.

And listening to experts and being open to experts and being willing to admit, I don't know everything.

I don't find that shameful.

I find that- It's freeing.

Freeing.

It is.

Right?

Saying I don't know, I'm not sure.

I'll look that up.

Or the biggest one.

Very much not a phrase in this country right now.

I was wrong.

To say I was wrong is a huge, do you be able to say that with full chest and say I was wrong?

Or

I was, I was fooled.

I got

fooled.

I

was lied to.

Yeah.

I was wrong.

And you then can move on to work together or learn more.

It just, I don't know.

It just, it feels better than holding on to your inability to grow and say like, well, I don't need to learn new things.

And I'm right.

And you don't, you don't understand.

Yeah,

that's, you're,

Then you're wrapping yourself in your own ignorance and giving yourself a prize for it.

That's not prize worthy.

No,

it just feels so much better to be able to relate and communicate and learn and approach life in a holistic way instead of feeling like you're always right.

You have to double down.

I mean, I can't imagine the stress and the discomfort that

how exhausting, right?

And I also think if you want to stay young,

And if you want, keep learning things and keep exposing yourself to different people and younger people and older people and all kinds of people.

You heard

it here, folks.

Jane just recommended that you expose yourself to all different kinds of people.

Maybe not literally.

Folks,

it's been fun.

Have a good day.

Happy retirement,

Jane.

You weirdo.

Don't go exposing yourself to people and then saying Jane said I should do that.

Jane said expose yourself.

Dr. Kristen Lyer Lee has a fabulous show that you can catch on Saturdays and Sundays across the network.

The Dr. Kristen Lyer Lee show.

I love you, my friend.

I love you too.

Take care.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air for this specially curated best of edition of the show.

We are on break today.

It's Christmas Eve.

We wish you a happy holidays.

Hope you're staying warm, safe and all your shopping is completed.

In this segment, we take a walk down memory lane with Tony Loreno from throwback nation radio.

Also a former colleague of Jane's and we listen to some forgotten radio spots from her past at past radio stations.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt Nair on air.

Jane Matt Nair, Greg Bach, Calvitini on the board coming to you from our home-ish at Radio Park in Racine.

You can join us.

Call our text at 855-752-4842.

Leave a comment if you're watching it on the live stream on Facebook, YouTube, and what used to be Twitter coming up in about 15 minutes.

We'll wrap up the show as we always do, with this shouldn't be a thing today.

All I want for Christmas edition.

It's going to be a good one.

I hope you can stick around for that.

Right now, we are joined by a good friend and former colleague.

He is with Throwback Nation Radio, the one and only Tony Larino is here for audio survey.

Good morning, Tony.

How are you doing?

Jane, how are you?

I am great.

I am excited.

I'm nervous.

I am all the things

three days to

go.

Nervous about you get to sleep Wait, I'm sorry guys.

I'm sorry to interrupt.

I know I'm the new guy here on this station, but uh, what's what do we talk about?

What's going on?

What's happening?

I'm Greg Friday is my last show cuz I'm retiring hold on no one no one told you this What?

How am I just finding out about this right

now

do I get to

retire?

Do I get to retire?

Not yet.

Not yet.

Just a couple 20 years and you'll be good to go.

Generous.

No, I'm very excited.

I am.

But I'm going to, I'm going to miss it too, Tony.

I mean, this has been my life for 44 plus years and I'm going to miss the discussions we have.

I'm going to miss.

the intellectual discussions that we have, and all these silly, ridiculously stupid stuff we talk about too.

We laugh so much.

It's such a gift.

It is.

And Greg, you and I have gotten to know each other

a

little bit here off the air.

Jane and I worked together at one of her previous stops.

And I was the producer of the morning show at that point.

And working alongside Jane, we would

sit around on the back patio of the radio station and come up with some of the silliest ideas.

And just spit firing on what was going on where we were trying to find humor and put it into words.

And Jane has a fantastic comedic timing.

We've all known that for a long time.

But Jane's theater background, the fun that she has.

being a performer, and getting into it a little bit, people take that for granted, and people took that, I think, for granted at our previous location where we were, in that they didn't always think of Jane as willing to be the actress, actor, that she is.

And so when we started coming up with things, and I pulled out a couple clips here, Jane,

so

you don't know, you may or may not know about it.

You

don't know about this.

I don't know.

Greg, can we pull up one, the Summerfest one?

Yeah, we have that one.

We pulled one of the Summerfest ones.

Calvin, please play the Summerfest

clip.

Today we salute you, Mr. Useless Souvenir Seller Guy!

Mr. Useless Souvenir Seller Guy!

Without you, Mr. Useless Souvenir Seller Guy, where would bright-eyed tweens waste their allowance on trinkets to clutter up their bedrooms?

Becky, go clean it up now!

From overgrown dr. Seuss hats to glow-in-the-dark anything two for five dollars.

I love that life are the

champion of impulse buys in 85 degree

inflatable it's Undebatable you are the conquistador of crap Three cheers for Chachki hip hip hip hooray and you

Mr. Useless Souvenir Seller Guy.

Mr. Useless Souvenir Seller Guy.

Yeah.

You probably haven't heard that Jane in about 17 or 18

years.

Can I tell me I completely forgot about this.

Can

I tell a little story that might be a little embarrassing for Jane, but I made me laugh when you sent this Tony.

Like earlier this year, we were talking about like our favorite commercial campaigns.

And I think that the progressive one that's out right now, that's like, you don't have to turn into your parents.

That is an amazing one.

But I always thought that the mill, the Budweiser real men of genius was one of the best.

and Jane's going, I've never heard of that one before.

And I'm like, oh, okay.

And I tried to explain it to her and I showed her one and she thought it was great.

And then you said this to me, I'm like, what?

Wait a minute.

It was

a

long time ago.

It was 10 years.

I'm just kidding.

No.

That is a

perfect

spoof on a great commercial.

Oh gosh, Tony.

And you sang that.

You sang those high parts.

That's amazing.

Really?

Yeah,

that was that

was great of it

is and this was something Jane I was a theater kid in high school too and you Reinstilled this in me as we worked together at the old place and that was You got to leave it all out there sometimes you got a stand by your if we're talking about issues and Real important stuff you get a stand by your opinion you got to back it up with facts

back it up with your experiences, back it up with your feelings.

But if we're doing stuff that is completely silly, you gotta stand by it too and you gotta own it.

Even

if it is trying to hit high notes on the conquistador of crap and stuff like that.

You just gotta own it and know that this is a performance art that we are involved in.

And it's okay if you're making fun of yourself a little bit.

It's okay.

You

should make fun of yourself.

Oh, it's good.

Self-deprecation.

Yes, it's good for you to be able to laugh at yourself.

There's a saying that goes in all comedy and really any sort of, any sort of performance that's commit to the bit, go in full force, do not wink at the camera, be as, be as much of the characters you can be, get the best laughs, get the best reaction you can get.

And you're always going to come out on top.

And that, I mean, and that's what happens when you also have great production too.

And that is a great commercial.

And it was one of three you sent.

Yeah, there were a couple more Jane we'll pull more out and we'll share them at another time But there was one other moment you mentioned Greg just a second ago commit to the bit.

Yeah, and get the get people laughing Jane has one of those iconic laughs, you know this about

yourself

Jane and when you get Jane really honest to goodness laughing and rolling You have hit pay dirt and there was one moment

On the show that stood out to me when we were working together back in tooth it was I know the exact date because it was January 9th.

Oh, wow of 2007 Kelvin Greg do we have this one as well?

Oh, we do it was about the time Yeah, you had just gone to see a certain artist that was very hot at the time

Jane

Artist out there right now of today your favorite artist out there today you asked for her CD You've listened to her CD over

and over Christina Aguilera

really yeah, I wonder if we have something special from Christina

Hi, this is Christina Aguilera, and I'm here to sing you happy birthday Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Jane.

Happy

birthday

to

you.

Where did they

clip

this from?

That is so funny, Toddy.

Life before AI, life before

Siri

having a real sounding voice.

We just used the computer voice.

We were trying.

We

called.

We called because we knew you were a fan and we had called the record company and we said, can we get a little message for Jane for her birthday from Christina?

And of course, it's Christina Aguilera.

She's at the top of her game

and she's on to her.

But we're going through all these archives of stuff.

Can we find something?

And we found the Christina Aguilera and it's like...

Jane will actually like this more than a real message.

Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely.

That is so priceless.

You got to send me this stuff, Tony.

I have been a bad,

I've been a bad disjockey over the years.

I don't save things.

I didn't save things because I, who's going to care about that?

Who's got

room for that

many VHS tapes, Jane?

You're the kind of media person that my wife would appreciate because she's like, why do we need all these CDs in the back still?

So

if you save everything, if you're just joining us on March, if you're just putting us on matinee around there, we were talking to Tony Lirino from throwback nation radio, who's also a dear friend and former colleague of Jane matinee, who we are celebrating on audio sorbet this week because it is your final week.

It is my James last week, day

three.

There

it is.

And one of

the, and one of the things Jane that has, it has been your concern and has been the people who are coming on, talking to you from your yesteryears.

And you're always like, I just hope, hope I was a good person.

I hope it was nice to them.

I hope they like, and I'm going to say this is that.

I've seen retirements before and when someone who isn't like, you know, regarded or not liked it, retires, it's a, oh, I'll get a card or tell them I say congratulations or something very, very professional, but noncommittal.

The amount of people who've come out and said things to you, talked about you from your old days, from your current days.

It, I think very much shows you've not only had a good impact on what you do, but also how you've impacted the people and the message you've conveyed throughout the years.

And I'm gonna add to that Greg and that comes down to two things.

When I think of Jane McNair, I think of kindness.

I think of kindness watching out for other people, watching out for the people around her.

Jane, we're not gonna talk about this one on the air, but she did some things behind the scenes for me personally that were above and above and above and beyond for someone who was just in my early years in the business.

so gracious and kind, so kindness is number one, but also principled.

Because you can be kind, right?

And not have, you know, not care about what's...

coming out of the speakers or not care about the product.

Jane always, Jane cared.

She was principled in the way that she approached what we were doing on the air that we were going to do good things in the community, the stuff, the bus events and all the food that was raised for years and years and years with Feeding America and now being able to exercise different muscles of that with Civic.

Jane, I'm so proud of you for that because you've been able to show off the principles that I've known.

for decades that you've held so dear.

And when you were working in music radio, it's just, it's a different beast.

You don't always have the time.

It's not the format.

It's not that this, but you've been able to talk about things that are near and dear to you.

You work with animals through the years, all the different humane society work and charity work.

You're real, you're principled and you're kind and we are.

all better people for having you.

And you may be retiring, but your spirit is going to live on with people like me that you've helped mentor people that you've taught through the years, people like Greg, you know, so many others as well.

That is so kind of you.

Jane, are you getting

compliments?

So do you need, do you need

some tissue?

Yes, in the studio.

Thank you.

Yes, no problem.

Far away from me now.

No, I, I would really, I worry because you forget and I really hope I was good to people.

I can think back of instances where I should have been better.

And I could have been a better mentor to people and I regret that.

And so I would like to think I learned from some really good examples of wonderful partners that I worked with on how to treat people.

I also learned some really bad examples from other people I worked with on how not to treat people.

So hopefully.

I followed the the good folks that I had the good.

Oh, you sure did.

The good.

You have a lot to work with.

And so do you.

Tony, Loreno, thank you so very much, my friend.

You got to send me those spots.

Congratulations.

Oh, God, those are hilarious.

You're getting a hard drive full of stuff.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Tony.

Love you, my friend.

Stay with us.

Welcome back to the specially curated episode of Matt and air on air celebrating Jane, Matt and air who did retire this month.

We do miss her and we wish her the best.

Now we take a brief detour from celebrating Jane's career to discussing Wisconsin's holiday destination and activities with the secretary from the Department of Tourism and Sayers.

Grab a pen and paper because we know you're going to learn something for your next vacation.

Good.

Good morning.

Welcome back to Matt and air on air.

My name is Greg Bach.

I am your host, your buddy, your pal.

And you were listening to us on the Civic Media Radio Network.

You can always get in touch with us.

The phone number is the same for the texting 855-752-4842-8557... 855-757... Sometimes Calvin, I can't remember everything.

That's Calvin on the boards, by the way.

He's sweet Calbee, the board lord, Calvinator, all the other nicknames.

We're gonna be getting new nicknames for him in 2026.

Might retire a few, but we want some new...

some new fresh ideas from you friends, friends.

And another friend here on the show, our guest, the secretary of tourism and Sayers is here talking about all the things to do in Wisconsin in a wonderful winter wonderland.

But we got to be honest, there are folks out there, I to a certain extent am included.

If you give me a cabin with a beautiful winter view, I'm gonna be like

on board buddy.

If you say let's go snowshoeing, I'm like, who are you and when did you replace my friend with a robot?

Because there are people out there who want to get away, but they don't want to exactly put themselves in a cold wintery situation.

And that's where things like our water parks, there are people, there are things that can be taken advantage of that have nothing to do with the cold.

Tell us about that.

Okay.

The Celtic is right up your alley because it can be up to 80 degrees in there.

So warm and cozy.

And you can experience some water parks.

You know, the Dells are actually where the indoor water park was pioneered.

Of course, now the Dells are known as the Butter Park capital of the

world.

So you have lots of options if you're headed in that direction.

You got the Kalahari, you got the wilderness, you got Mount Olympus.

Another one to check out.

This is outdoors, but I think it's going to be worth it for you, Greg.

It's the Aqua Via Lumina.

That sounds too fancy for me, ma'am.

Too

fancy.

So pretty and enchanted.

It's illuminated multimedia walk through the woods.

Just magical winter wonderland.

Kids love it.

Okay.

I'll take a trail park through.

I'll take a walk through a winter wonderland.

There's a great place in Kenosha called Hawthorne Hollow that has great events as well.

And it's wonderful in the winter.

So yeah, absolutely.

I'll take a walk, but just I'm not I'm not going to let's just put it this way.

I'm not going to exert myself in winter sports.

I won't exert myself in any sports, but yeah, where I have to bundle up.

But yeah, I love a nice winter wonderland walk.

And we support your choices.

Thank you.

Secretary, that's so nice of you.

We

got you.

We got

ideas for you.

How about Blue Harbor Resort up in Sheboygan?

This

is, you know, Sheboygan is known, another one where people are like, I can't believe we have surfing in Wisconsin.

So a lot of folks enjoy that on Lake Michigan in the summer and winter, but you can actually do it indoors.

at Blue Harbors Resort, they have an indoor surf simulator, so that's something to try out.

We also have Chaos Indoor Water Park that's up in Oak Blair, and they have a waterslide, lazy river, activity pool, hot tub, aquatic playground, and they even in that same resort have an arcade and trampoline park.

So if kids are home for the winter break and they're

getting a little antsy.

This would be a place to think about where they can get their wiggles out.

And that's a great thing you just brought up here, especially for the folks who have kids.

What are some of the kid-friendly options in Wisconsin during the winter time that they can do that?

Might not be a water park or that, but it's something they can visit or take part in.

Another one people said had no idea Wisconsin has the most children's museums per capita in the country.

So you could check out one of those.

Maybe Appleton has a really neat, it's called Building for Kids Children's Museum.

It's a wonderland of exploration.

They make the pier spire truck there in the area, so kids can actually climb through the cab of one of those.

There's an art studio.

There's even an area where they can learn more about the Menominee tribe's language and culture through an interactive exhibit.

BWASA has a beautiful Children's Imaginarium.

They opened up in 2023.

It's rooted in STEM, so educational play for kids.

Another one, Manitowoc.

This one's really popular.

State of the art, agricultural education.

If you're lucky, you can even see a calf being born on site in what they call the birthing barn.

Really, really special experience.

So on and on EAA, if you're interested in aviation, right?

That's an Oshkosh discovery world in Milwaukee, science and technology opportunities for kid led exploration.

And then another one is the food and farm exploration center.

This is in Clover.

And they're really putting an emphasis on food production in a way that's really interesting to kids.

That's wonderful.

And I'm just going to put it out here as a kid at heart.

Discovery World ain't just for kids.

You want hands-on science experience?

You can be an adult and have fun there as well.

Travel Wisconsin has a great resource for planning trips.

Tell me more about if people want to actually just put together a plan.

What are they going to do to get some ideas?

Where can they go to get help on that for making their winter trip a little easier as far as the scheduling?

Well, so glad you asked.

You could always visit travelwisconsin.com to get some travel inspiration.

But right now, I really would recommend an extremely popular resource that we host is the snow report.

So travelwisconsin.com slash snow report.

And what it's going to tell you is where the snow is, if you're interested in tubing, downhill, cross country.

Snowmobile is going to tell you the conditions and then also give you some ideas, some nearby lodging, some nearby food, some nearby attractions.

You can start your itinerary planning by visiting that report.

I got some vacation time coming up in the next few weeks I think it might be time to get in the car with my wife and our dog and just go somewhere maybe go for one of those nice walks through the winter Wisconsin parks because I think that's I think that brings I mean that's some of that is also free fun too like going for a walk in a nice big park and just having a chance to get away from you know the big city of Kenosha I think that's those are all great ideas and I really appreciate you stopping by and informing us because I think even as Wisconsinites we don't know everything and I think

We are always shocked to find out those hidden gems and those statistics about like children's museums about how great Wisconsin is.

I learned something every day and I've been doing this job for a minute now and it's an incredibly special state and we're so lucky that it's ours.

absolutely.

And we thank you for being here.

Please come back to the show.

We'd love to talk to you again about what's going on in spring.

If you're ever in the neighborhood, if you're in Racine, stop by Radio Park.

We'd love to have you and talk to you about that.

But we have been speaking with the Secretary of Tourism and Sayers.

If you want to find out more, we will put links in the show notes.

You want to make a plan for a vacation, get away for a couple of days.

Please do that.

Support local economies, support Wisconsin.

We are fantastic.

And tell your friends, a best kept secret is still a secret no matter what.

Secretary, Sarah, we appreciate you.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Take care.

Thank you,

you too.

All right.

Don't go anywhere.

We are going to be talking sports coming up next on Matt and Air on Air on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Good morning.

Welcome back.

It's Greg here and you're listening to a very special Christmas Eve Best of Edition of Matt and Air on Air.

In this segment, we talk to Melissa Barclay, a friend and former colleague of Jane's.

And we talk about how Jane has had an impact on Melissa's career as well as many other people across the

state.

Jane

said.

Good morning and welcome.

Welcome to Matt and Air on Air.

Jane Matt and Air.

Greg Bach.

And Calvin Butenoff coming to you live from our home at Radio Park in Racine.

You can always join us, call or text.

The number is the same 855-752-4842.

Leave a comment if you're watching on the live stream.

Good morning live stream on Facebook, YouTube and what used to be Twitter.

It's Friday.

So Dan Schaefer is here.

Civic Media's political editor and the creator of the recombobulation area.

And it is my final show, my final day.

Wrapping it up here at Civic Media and we haven't had this many people in this building.

I don't think ever.

There's people everywhere.

It's a packed house.

It's a packed

house for Jane's last day.

Exactly.

They're all here for you because they're certainly not here for me.

And I brought a PowerPoint to talk about the things that I wanted.

No one cares.

No one responds to my evite.

It's

Greg's birthday, by the way.

Happy birthday.

No one cares.

Oh, happy birthday.

And Drew, one of our chief engineer.

Happy birthday to Drew as well.

And welcoming my good friend and former colleague, Melissa Barclay is here.

Good morning, lady.

How are you?

Hello, Jane.

Thanks for having me on the show.

You know, it's funny.

I put a little Facebook post up about you a couple of weeks ago when your article came out in the Journal Sentinel and it got a pretty good response online.

And people were like, Jane's retiring, you know, and just a lot of people.

saying how, you know, sad they were to see you off the air.

But I have to tell you, Jane, your career, are you kidding me?

44 years in the radio business?

That is

absolutely incredible.

And that's nothing to sneeze at for sure.

44 years.

Congratulations, Jane.

It feels like Melissa, you're saying that Jane's career is something to be lauded, respected, loved, and that she has had an impact on the industry as well as the community.

Wouldn't you say that, Melissa?

I would say that, you know, and it's funny because like being a woman in the industry, that alone.

I mean, Jane, you've just, you know, topped everything 44 years.

So

well, thank you so much.

It's super

proud to be your friend.

Hey, this didn't happen alone.

And I didn't do this myself.

I had people who supported me.

I had people who encouraged me.

I had people who mentored me.

So there are there are a lot of people to thank.

And the audience in particular, I talked about this earlier this week, I think it was with Pat Crichtlow.

Milwaukee audiences in southeastern Wisconsin, in particular, have been so loyal and so kind.

And back when I started, where when all the morning show duos, it was Dave and Carol and Dick and Ellen and Bob and Brian and those, those, those teamings lasted for decades.

that didn't happen in other markets around the country.

It was very specific to this area.

And for that, I am so, so grateful.

Listening to you over the past hour, Jane, I really felt like you have found your home there.

I really felt like you were at the top of your game.

You've been on a lot of stations, but here, knowing you for the past more about 10 years, I think you have

you know, you're the last place that you're at.

How great is it that that really feels like to me as a listener knowing you that that's your home and you can speak your truth and and everything that you believe in.

So that's what a blessing, you know, it's to have that be your station.

It's been a huge gift.

It really has and to be

welcomed and to for again for civic media to place this trust in me and trust that I'm not going to say something horrible that's going to come back and bite them because that's always a concern.

And they don't

want you to leave, Jane.

They want you to stay.

So

like,

you know, I said earlier when we started, it's like, gosh, I'm getting so many nice messages and everything.

I'm never leaving now.

I just I want to do this every day.

And actually, it's kind of like being able to go to your funeral where people have to say, of course, you get to hear them.

It's great.

I encourage everyone to do this.

This is the mortician's daughter being thrilled.

Yeah.

I

couldn't ask for anything.

The funeral

of your radio career.

That's

right.

I don't know.

Greg, do you think she could handle another week of compliments?

No, I think she would actually, I think

she would explode into glitter.

I'd like to see that.

There was, there was a conversation that had to be had where I told her, you are going to get loved on in a way that will make you very awkward

feeling.

And I said, you're just going to have to

take it.

But it's a very.

Wisconsin thing.

Not me,

I'll take them.

I love compliment.

That is absolutely baloney coming from you.

I just think for the run-of-the-mill Wisconsin, I hear my mother's voice in my head all the time is going, that's great, Jane.

Don't let it go to your head.

I feel like there's a difference between like taking a compliment and then saying, that's great.

Stop like that don't get a big head about

it.

Yeah,

and you never did

and you never it's like that Midwestern thing where you have to if you get you know something on a discount You have to let everyone know I got it on sale.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's the same kind of energy

Queen of that Jane.

Yeah, we

worked at the newsroom You'd be like I like your shirt.

I'm like, oh my gosh.

I got this at TJ Max

for seven dollars.

Yes, you were like that's one of my bits

But but this is how we knew we were we were we could be friends

Because we shared, we shared that.

Jane, I made a list of some of the top news stories that we covered together the five years that we worked at WTMJ.

So think about this, we covered some big stuff, right?

So all of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Never heard of that.

That was really something.

Yes.

The Me Too movement, we did all of that.

We did some local ones, local ones here.

the mass shooting at Molson course.

We

covered Trinity Lutheran church fire downtown.

We covered some big stories and it was kind of at a time where everything was just happening and I worked with you from 2017 to 2022.

So for five years,

but it was

like being in the foxhole like every day.

It was.

Well, and Melissa, you are a journalist.

You have a journalism degree.

You've won FENT really prestigious awards for your work as a journalist.

You have and you deserve kudos for that as well.

Excuse me.

We won.

Best runner up for a second place at the WBAs this year for best segment.

Uh, excuse me, but I want someone just like a man to jump in and try to take some credit.

All right.

All right.

There you go.

Uh, yeah.

I mean, the stories you've told Jane about your time and, and, and the thing is I've heard so many stories this week that I did not know like the Russia trip.