Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Monday, February 10th, 2025.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here.
At part two today at 430, we're going to talk to Jake and Gwen from Wisconsin Rapids
Raptors.
Get to know them a little bit.
Right now though, we have on our studio line Shannon Star.
She is the eldest granddaughter of Bart and Sherry Star.
We're here to talk about the cooking with the Star's cookbook and where the proceeds
are going to be going to and some of the recipes and some of those things.
We're really looking forward to diving into a Shannon today.
Shannon, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate the time and I do feel, I have to admit, I do feel like I am talking a little
bit to royalty talking to you from a Wisconsin radio station here, I just have to note that
right away, Shannon.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Well, I'm thrilled to be a part of this and to share what we're doing with you guys
and Wisconsin has a very, very dear spot in my heart.
And if you don't mind, before we dive into the cookbook and this amazing organization
that you guys are on, can we get to know you a little bit, Shannon, can you tell us a
little bit about yourself?
Well, right now, I am a busy mother of three, sometimes five kids.
We live in Hoover, Alabama, which is a suburb of Birmingham and I live pretty close
to where my grandparents used to live.
We have, we just have a lot going on, we love to travel and love to cook and love to
watch football, yesterday was really exciting in our household.
So just just the typical thing, yeah, appreciate that, thank you and thank you for letting
us know where you're at, it's always fun for our listeners to know where these calls
are coming from and all those things.
And it was pretty noteworthy, it was kind of cool that we knew we were going to have
this conversation yesterday at the end of the game, they show Bart and they show, you
know, those packer teams, the last team, less teams to kind of win a third three-peat
and everything.
So it was kind of neat to have that there.
It was so nice.
It was so nice to see him up on the screen yesterday, I just, I couldn't stop smiling
and wow, what a game.
Yeah, yeah, pretty interesting one and, you know, I should get this in there right
away as well, Shannon, because I all respect and journalistic integrity, I am from Chicago,
I am a Chicago fan, that should be noted, but I will say growing up, my father, his favorite
person was Vince Lombardi, because we are Italian and my father just was going to root
for that guy no matter what and everything and love those early packer teams.
So I feel like I got a little bit of both on this and one of the things that stood out
right away was the story of Bart's star and knowing so much about him that my father
told me about when I was a kid, but I didn't know much about Sherry's star.
And one of the best parts of this interview for me was being able to do some homework
and learn more about Sherry's star and this amazing human being.
Can you tell us a little bit about her?
Well, you know, we really, really love and miss my grandmother so much.
She was, I would say, the glue of our family.
We always went to her house for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, we took fun trips together.
I would go play tennis over there at their house when I was younger and before I went
to college, a lot of good moments and I also went out to eat with them at least once a
week when I was living in the Birmingham area.
So she was insistent on doing things together as a family and she took a lot of pride
in that.
She loved to host people for football games, of course, every Sunday, just such a warm
maternal lady.
I feel like she was everybody's mother and grandmother.
She sounds like it.
She sounds like an amazing person and while, you know, like many people like myself didn't
get to meet her, get to know her.
I think so much of that comes across through this organization that the, you may not got
to share, have a cup of coffee with these people, but when they put their name on something
like this and they believe in something so deeply, like pediatric cancer research and
care, you know that, I don't know, for me, you know, these are good people.
You know, these are people that are trying to do some good and they did this with the
Star Children's Fund.
And we talk a little bit about that and where that, how that got started and where that
came from.
Well, absolutely.
So I, you know, I think it started their interest in raising funds for cancer treatment started
with the Vince Wombardi Cancer Foundation, of course, and they were honorary chairpeople
for many, many years.
But later on, this is, I think, you know, 2015, 2016, they started talking about another
initiative to help fill in the gap for pediatric cancer research because it is the most underfunded
and understudied type of cancer out there.
So I think that was really admirable of my grandparents to, you know, take a step back
and say, okay, well, we've done so much for so many other charities and we've raised
so much money, but how else can we give back?
You know, what else needs to be done?
So, two notes to my grandmother, Terry, she was really thinking outside the box then.
Yeah.
Yeah, really.
And, you know, this is a topic.
There is no more, I think, six degrees of separation when it comes to cancer.
Everybody at this point in the game has been affected by cancer in two to three degrees,
if not closer than that.
And it's a topic that I think a lot of us have done our homework on.
I, in particular, it's affected my family.
I'm a very up to date on a lot of the research and a lot of the funding and different things
that are going on.
All that being said, it wasn't until doing the homework for this interview that I saw
the stat of the billions of dollars spent annually on cancer research and treatment, only
4% benefits childhood cancer.
That is alarming to me, but it was also, I was comforted by right away realizing, oh,
the star family saw this and they're doing something about that.
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I know that my grandmother, she loved being a mother, she loved being a grandmother,
and she saw that many children in the state of Alabama, they didn't have, they didn't
have a lot of options for the research and they didn't have the funding for it.
So let's try to help the most in need right now.
Let's try to put our money towards this so we can research and get some more insight
as to why this cancer is developing in certain children.
Why are they being affected right now?
Where can we put the money towards for this foundation that's going to greatly impact
these children?
I don't think that there's anything that says when you sign up and you become famous
that you have to do something with your celebrity and you have to do something with your name,
but I admire it so much when the above and beyond athletes will go to or the above and
beyond celebrities will go to use that celebrity to hopefully do some good and this is a perfect
example of it.
This may be the best example of it.
When it comes to the work that this organization is doing to date, the stars have helped raise
over 16 million to help fight cancer.
Just a credible number right there.
And while we lost Barton Sherry in recent years and they are missed greatly.
The current and previous star children's fund initiatives are noteworthy Shannon.
Do you mind if we touch on some of these a little bit?
Absolutely.
The Barton Sherry star hematology and oncology fellowship fund at the Children's of Alabama
enables advancements in research, education and clinic care, helping to improve outcomes
for children facing these challenging conditions and providing hope to families in need.
That right there is a noteworthy one.
Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So to date, the star children's fund has awarded over 535,000 in grants to organizations
tackling child and cancer, so that's also very noteworthy.
We're doing well and we're bringing the money in for this and I'm very proud of what we've
accomplished so far.
And I wanted to note also helmets for heroes, helmets for heroes unites all 32 NFL quarterbacks
under one cause, helping the children and families impacted by pediatric cancer, all 32
quarterbacks plus some mystery helmets signed by NFL legends are auctioned off.
There is the catering for a care high school fundraisers.
There's so many different things that this organization does.
I just wanted to note those before we dove into the cookbook and got really into that
right there.
And certainly radio thons and grants for research.
The star children's fund also rewards grants to support pediatric cancer research and that's
where we're going to go with this next.
Well, you know what?
I think that we have a lot going on and I'm going to say one thing about helmets for heroes.
I know Bart and Cherry were really, really excited about that every single year.
That was one of the things they looked most forward to.
Bart and Cherry star hematology oncology fellowship is still going strong and we're trying
to raise funds for that.
And so the proceeds from this cookbook are going to go towards that fellowship fund, which
is something that I'm here to continue talking about.
And I hope people will really consider purchasing a cookbook if they haven't already.
Yeah, we're speaking, we're speaking with Shannon star, eldest granddaughter of Bart and
Cherry star.
And it's not where, you know, Bart star was pretty much the first, you know, famous starting
quarterback and the bar gets set right there, not only, you know, professionally and sports
wise and what he was able to do on the field and the winning, but how you handle yourself
off the field.
And he really set the bar to where we see so many quarterbacks nowadays trying to do some
good with their name and their cause and it remains noteworthy all these decades later,
the bar that he set.
And the one of the things it's fun about this, I think, is the different ways that, you
know, athletes will find to impact their communities or to raise funds and cookbooks are one of
the best ways you can do this.
That being said, there's a lot of good ones out there.
The greatest name cookbook I've ever seen is cooking with the stars.
I've never seen a better name for a cookbook.
This is and the recipes in here are amazing.
Let's dive into the cookbook itself where people can get it and some of your favorite
parts of the cookbook, Shannon.
Okay.
Lots and lots of good questions.
So the cooking with the stars recipe collection is available online at starchildrenspun.org and
they were selling it at raw hide in New London.
So I don't know if the cookbooks are still available there.
I need to probably fact check that, but that was another place and then they did have
they did have them in Lambo Field and the Packers Pro Shop.
So that was another option for people, although football seasons over, I'm sure there might
be a few left in there, so encourage you to check that out.
Yes, definitely, definitely.
So a lot of great recipes in here and I am actually going to make a chicken chili today
from the cookbook.
My husband and I decided it was going to be a good day for a chili recipe.
It's Caron Utics recipe.
So that's on my agenda for a little bit later today.
Oh, man, I wish I was in Alabama right now, I would crash that dinner right now.
It is a damp pool base in February, so it's perfect chili weather if you have to.
We've got a lot of other great recipes in here, which other ones did you have questions
about?
So, you know, before we get into too much of that and some of the people that donated
recipes and everything, putting this together, were you a part of any of that of like
reaching out to people and saying, hey, do you have a recipe for the cookbook or how that
worked exactly?
Well, we actually capture sports marketing really helped us make the connections and I
owe them a lot of debt and gratitude because they had some amazing people that they were
able to reach out to on behalf of the star family.
And I'm so thrilled that everybody said yes and they just went ahead and submitted something.
That's great news.
That is really cool.
And thank you.
Our audience loves to know how the sausage is made, you know, and stuff.
So it's kind of interesting to hear how this came together.
There's a lot of noteworthy people that dedicated that, you know, put recipes in, but I don't
want to skate past Shannon and Shannon, you contributed some to this as well.
Can we get a little bit of the backstory of that?
Yes, absolutely.
Well, I submitted a favorite salad recipe of mine that I've been making for many years
and I've really tried to live a healthy lifestyle and make sure I get my greens in.
So I have a salad recipe.
I have a bison meat sauce recipe that I've included for pasta lovers and peanut butter
cookie recipe.
Most, most people I know love a good peanut butter cookie and this one's a big hit.
So all great choice.
Yeah, I, that, that one I'm definitely trying, but the salad sounded interesting to me as
well.
That's, that's a great, it's got to be fun to, I got a thing to to take, go through this
cookbook and see your recipes in there.
That's got to be pretty fun.
It is.
I've never, I never thought this would happen for me and I, I could never dream that I
would have recipes in my own little cookbook one day, it's not really mine.
It's a group effort, but it's exciting nonetheless.
Well, and you're, and it's a family affair too, because your grandmother Sherry has some
recipes in there as well.
Can you tell us a little of that?
Yes, some of our family favorites.
She had a wonderful sweet potato souffle that we would have usually around Thanksgiving
or Christmas and it is the best kind of Southern cooking you can hope for.
We also have her lemon ice box pie.
That was a really good dessert.
She would always make that for my father's birthday in October.
Let's see, what else did she submit?
I'd see, oh, her famous dips and she would always serve her dips usually for the NFL
football days.
So on Sundays, we would have a cucumber dip or we would have her pimento cheese dip and
people just went crazy about that.
You know, I, I got to say, I spent some time in Texas a while back and I, I discovered
the love of brisket and her brisket one looks pretty good too.
That sounds like a good one to try as well.
Yes, if you're, if you're a carnivore, please try it.
Have you, you touched on this a little bit already, but have you made any of the recipes
from other NFL families?
Have you tried any of them?
Yes, the loaded baked potato soup, Gabrielle Dylan, our baked potato soup.
That was, that was a big hit.
My husband loved baked potato soup.
Delicious.
That sounded pretty good.
The Southern fried catfish like that, I, I've never tried catfish.
I would like to try it that way.
That sounded really good.
And I have seen that recipe.
I have not tried Camila Davis's recipe yet, but it looks delicious.
And catfish is a very mild fish.
So it, it should be a crowd pleaser for just about everybody.
And I, you know, I don't know if there is a bigger name or a bigger family name in
Green Bay lore than stars, but the Watts are pretty close.
And, and you, you got Derek, oh, what?
And his wife, Gabrielle, to give a recipe as well.
Yes, they did.
They did submit a recipe, and then we have the La Flora family also,
Matt La Flora's wife.
I'm so, I'm so thankful and appreciative that all of these people in Green Bay
decided that they could submit something also.
It's just, it's wonderful to have them join in.
You know, this is a, it's a bit of a love affair on a number of levels.
Certainly, I love a football.
I love a Green Bay Packer football and the history of it.
It's also a love of children and caring about them and caring about this cause.
That comes to, I love a food that brings people together.
That's, that's one of the things that really stands out to me.
It's certainly, first and foremost, raising the funds that you guys are
for the cause that you are.
But in this day and age, things that bring us together more.
And this cookbook really does that.
You have these great recipes that we've mentioned from, you know,
people that have ties to the Green Bay Packers, of course.
But there's other NFL teams.
We mentioned the Davises representing the New Orleans Saints.
There are other, you know, teams that are represented on here as well,
which I think is kind of cool.
And it reminds us, again, how food brings this all together.
Well, it really does.
And I think if you spent any time in my grandparents' home,
you would have been welcome in.
They would have offered you something to eat.
And I'm sure all the other families are like us in that way.
You know, come and have something to eat.
Let's watch football together.
Let's have some laughs.
So it's the unifying cause that brings us all together, right?
Yeah.
Well said.
Shannon, do you have any memories or anything that you wanted to share with us real
quick regarding your grandparents or the food in general or anything?
Well, I have a lot of good memories.
And I, you know, it's a little bittersweet around the holidays.
And this time of year right now, not having my grandparents
because I spent so much time with them just growing up since I was six years old.
And they moved to the Birmingham area.
I was always at their house.
And so now I'm like, okay, well, how can I keep their memory alive?
How can I keep things going for my own family?
And this is a really nice way to be able to do that
passing down the recipes from one generation to the next
and reminding them of what we used to do together when we were all together.
So that's something I'm focusing on right now.
And I remember being six years old
and my grandparents building their house.
And I just thought, oh my gosh, I'm going to get lost in here.
This is too long.
And now I know I wish I could have them here.
And I wish we could be eating and trying these recipes together.
But we're going to keep moving forward.
And we're going to be positive and just keep raising funds in their names.
And I hope they're proud of the work that we're doing.
I would bet my last dollar that they are.
I recently lost my last grandparent.
And I know my family and I have been hurting over that and feeling it too.
This is so and it's very encouraging and very invigorating your story, your family's story
and sharing that. I appreciate that.
And it incentivizes so many of us to do some good and honor the people that came before us,
like you and your family are doing.
We tell people again real quick before we let you go how they can find the cookbook and where
they can get it.
Yes, absolutely.
And thank you so much for mentioning that again.
You can get the cookbook at starchildrensfund.org.
You could also look into the Packers Pro Shop or at Raw Hyde in New London.
And keep in mind everybody, you can learn more about the the star foundation and what the good
work that they're doing.
Go to starchildrensfund.org, starchildrensfund.org to find out more information.
Bookmark that page and keep up the great, keep up the date on the great work that they are
doing over there.
Shannon, this was too great of an interview.
You're going to have to come back sometime.
Thank you so much for having me.
And hopefully there will be another cookbook and we'll be able to do this again down the road.
Look forward to it.
Until then, you guys have yourself a great week.
Thank you again for the time.
I take care, Shannon.
Take care. Thank you so much, James.
We'll have more Midday Magazine coming up for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM WFHR.
We are locally grown radio.
