Good morning, Wisconsin. Good morning, world. It's a new day. Thanks for kicking it off
with us right here at 97.5 FM 13.20 AM WF HR. We are locally grown radio. Got your
host James J behind the mic. I am joined by Melissa K. Good morning. And Pam, healthy.
Good morning. We hope you're having a great start to your Wednesday out there. Everybody,
thank you so much for joining us. Got good stuff coming up for you. Getting into a little
bit of entertainment news in a moment. We also are going to get into this hour things to do
for New Year's in Wisconsin. Got a great list here from our friends at Travel Wisconsin.
A big shout out to them. And thank you for putting up with me in my emails and everything.
Great people over there. Looking forward to that. One of the touch on a couple of programming
things real quick. For one, I want to let everybody know. We had, we're, we got some things going
on with our weather behind the scenes here. And we're kind of just hammering things out and
getting things set. I've had a couple listeners mentioned that they hear one broadcast. It's one
weather at seven and a different one at eight. Some things like that. We are working through those
things and looking forward to bringing you a weather from Civic as we go forward into 2024.
So, okay. Quality plus printing. They're going to be joining us next week. I'm sorry tomorrow.
Tomorrow they're joining us. Looking forward to that as long as long as everybody knock on
wood as long as our phones are working. Yeah, get that all straight out there. We will be
joined by them. We send a big shout out to Phil Hartley and our friends over quality plus
printing, getting your words out here in Wisconsin Rapids. Let's dive into some entertainment.
And brace yourself, parents. The newest McDonald's happy meal toy is being compared to the 90s
beanie baby craze. Oh no. There is a new one out there and it is these little squish malos.
Squish malos, they're calling them. The fast food chain is about to serve happy meals with
squish malos that started on the 26th. I'm going to look for the, oh, here they are. I'm trying to
show Pam a little pictures of them. They're just little figures like, you know, I see a penguin
a koala and a, and they're just little squishy kind of stuffed animal little things.
Yeah, they're kind of neat. They're kind of cool and they are apparently like creating,
there is a, we're about connecting our fans to the culture of a squish malos are some of the
hottest toys out there right now. Says Tariq Hassan McDonald's USA Chief Marketing and Consumer
Expert. Okay. So they're snuggly and huggable. They're actually stuffed toys. Yeah. I wonder,
okay. I'll be great. Yeah, that's a good question. I was trying to see that myself.
Do they fit in a happy meal box? That's about it. That's about the size of a happy meal box and
that's about the, the only thing I'm getting, they come in different sizes and characters,
but as far as the McDonald's ones, they are just a smaller version of it. Yeah.
More than, so they are already gotten like, these are already like, they sold out like
immediately and most of these, most McDonald's across the country with these. Yeah, because,
well, and then they've been in global markets already before they've come here. So that's why
they have been so popular. I don't, I feel for people in the fast food industry. It's not an easy
job. It's one that I don't think I was very good at a little bit that I did. I really admire it.
And I don't be grudge or don't want to ask for more being put on them or anything.
But I actually, there's, there's part of me that like the nostalgia in me kind of digs this a
little bit. This used to be gigantic. This used to be competition. Burger King, McDonald's,
all these places. Yeah. You came out with this. We're coming out with, we're coming out with
glasses. Oh, okay. Well, you're coming out with glasses. We're going to do like, I, I feel like
consumers felt like you were getting more bang for your buck with these things. Kids enjoyed them.
I think I did the toys, you know, as a teen. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And, you know, my early years
in high school, it was kind of a fun thing to have because they, they have cool little things.
I remember getting like a, um, a TV that played like, I love Lucy's theme song. Wow. Wow,
that's awesome. And they had like, uh, the, the Twilight Zone. For a while there, they had
ones like that. And I thought they were cool. So yeah. Got them all, you know, it got you to go
to buy those things. Seven one five four two four twenty six hundred. I don't know why we haven't
done this sooner. What was your favorite happy meal toy growing up? Seven one five four two four
twenty six hundred. Uh, if you got an answer, we want to hear it. Call up and join the conversation.
Also, help us figure out if these phones are working. Yeah. Otherwise, just yell really
loud at your radio or, or maybe, maybe emailing us, maybe a direct message, direct messaging
us on our Facebook pages. You could do that as well. Call, uh, reach out and join the conversation.
We want to hear from you. We'll, we'll figure out how to get your thoughts on the air. We'll figure it
out. Yeah. I wonder when happy meals go ahead. Oh, go ahead, Pam. I wonder when happy meals toys
started. Good question. Good question. I don't remember that when I was a child. Yeah. Yeah.
Let's go ahead and see if we can take a call. Good morning. You're on the air.
Hello. Hello. So we can hear them, but they can't hear. Yeah. Yeah. They can, they,
yeah, I don't know why that is happening. And everything I'm doing on the board, I'm not just
sitting here. Everything I'm trying is not working. Um, but we do appreciate you guys trying to
call up and join the conversation. Thank you. Appreciate you. Um, so one thing I read about this
Squishmallows fan base. So apparently they have, uh, there's a TikTok hashtag Squishmallows.
It has an astonishing 6.3 billion views. Dang. Oh, dang. So it's, it's huge. It's very, very
popular, which means it's going to be popular here too. Right. Right. Um, and, uh, so, uh, Pam,
the answer to your question, 1979. During the summer of 1979 McDonald's premiered the happy
meal nationally. The first boxes were circus wagons. The first toys were tops. Oh, I'm sorry.
The first toys were tops, stencils, wallets, puzzles and erasers. And initially the meals included
the hamburger or cheeseburger fries, soft drink, good cookies. Okay. That's, that's why they weren't,
they weren't there when I was a child, but, uh, shout out to the Chicago Tribune. There's a great
article right there about the complete history of McDonald's happy meal. Uh, if you want to learn
more about that, the great question. That was a really good question. Um, I, I love the, the,
all the toys were cool, of course, and everything. It was the glasses, the Star Wars glasses for me.
I was obsessed with those. I wanted those so bad. I don't want to drink in glasses. Yeah. Yeah.
I wanted to collect them all. I wanted them all. My mom and dad, uh, we, we just didn't have the
money to be doing that kind of thing. Um, but I do remember having at least like one or two,
two, I think, uh, at some point or another. And then if I, I'm not going to get this completely
right, I didn't have a chance to look this up. Uh, you're going to have to look this one up
yourselves, everybody. But I do believe that they got, they were like discontinued or something
because there was lead in them or something like that. Uh, I don't remember exactly what it was.
But I do remember there was something negative about them. Yeah. Yeah. I liked how they, um,
you know, they had like figurines from the movies that were in theaters at that time. Like,
they had the rescue or toys. Yeah. Looking back at it, um, over the years. In 1985, they had Lego
building sets, um, transformer toys, uh, Lego sets over the years. You could get a kite. Yeah.
In your happy meal. I mean, they, they, I don't know why they pulled back and they stopped doing
this. But I think that, uh, something like this is kind of telling you, hey, get back to doing this
McDonald's burger king. All your big places out there. Um, I, I, I don't know. It seems like a good
idea to me. Hmm. Let's go to flavor town, everybody. Uh, great article came across a little bit
ago from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Uh, this is about, uh, the every place, uh, every Wisconsin
restaurant, Guy Fieri has visited on food networks, diners, drive-ins and dives. Oh, it's an
interesting article. Again, you can find the complete article from Jessica Rodriguez who does some
wonderful reporting with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Big shout out to Jess. Um, you can find the
complete article there. So when Guy Fieri, uh, and the over the top restaurant tour and TV host and
man of many, many, uh, catch phrases, uh, Fieri comes, uh, has come to Wisconsin several times to
shoot a segment for triple D. And here's a rundown of the state restaurants he has featured. I thought
this would be kind of fun. Sure. I've seen a deal of those episodes when he was dining. Yeah. I'm,
I, I'm a, I'm a big, I actually a pretty big fan. I should say a big fan, but I enjoy him.
I like his work. I like what he does. I like his approach. And especially once I read and figured
out, well, what, like this, the look that he has isn't his look. Like that was kind of given to him
by people before he went on TV the first time he did the diners, drive-ins. He showed up and he
was kind of like just dressed like any of us. And they're like, you can't, no, no, we need you to be
more, you know, uh, me need to stand out from the other people in the kitchen. Right. And they
wanted to match his personality because his personality is who he is. And I, I think they did a
really good job of that, actually. I'm usually in favor of no, let the person wear that they wear.
With this, I think it actually worked. And it makes sense.
Anchor Bar and Grill in Superior, of course. Anchor Bar and Grill often. Yeah. I've been there too.
Yeah. Great place. Uh, offers a menu in 19 burgers. Uh, their reviewers have called delicious
and cheap in a good way, in a good way. Uh, the affordable is more, I think the words that they're
looking for. The best burgers and fries in the twin ports, uh, decorated in nonicle artifacts.
For 13 tower. It's almost like a hole in the in the wall kind of place. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one.
You can find that for 13 tower Avenue in beautiful Superior. Uh, let's see here. Uh, the anchor was
featured on, uh, a little twisted, which aired in season 11 in 2011. Oh, if you want to go back
and watch it. Uh, Frank's diner and Kenosho. Frank's diner, which, uh, just made Reader's Digest list
of the most iconic diners in every state. Shout out to Frank's. I think I remember that episode.
Oh, yeah. Okay. Uh, has been, uh, been, uh, beloved establishment of Kenosha since 1926,
specializes in breakfast, but offers a variety of lunches as well.
Mm hmm. Another reason to go to Kenosha. I like Kenosha. That seems good to me. Uh, let's see
here, uh, Delta diner and Delta. The Delta diner is a classic retro style diner, which Fieri calls
the middle of nowhere in northwestern Wisconsin. Yeah. Yeah. You knew this one. Okay. Uh, Ashlyn
and Superior, uh, build as the home of the un, uh, unpretentious foodie. It's a good one.
It has offered breakfast and specialty sandwiches for nearly 20 years.
It's way up north. Mm hmm. I got to try that. Delta diner has, uh, was featured on old school
joints, which aired in season 21 in 2014. Not bad, not bad. Comet cafe and Milwaukee. Comet cafe
and Milwaukee opened in 2005, but closed in 2020 because of the kind of, coronavirus,
coronavirus. Wow. How would you have trouble saying coronavirus? Like after how many times we've
had to say that? Well, the word is like a stubble over them. Like a stumbling over WFHR. I got
it reopened in 2022, uh, though, and offers an extensive drink, brunch, and main menu that also
includes vegan options. Comet cafe was featured at uncomfortable cook, comfort cooking, which aired
on season six in 2009. I guess I didn't realize that he labeled the episodes that they were
named something. I thought they were just episodes. Okay. Um, and so that's a pretty cool list.
That's a pretty cool list. Uh, there's been a couple that he's featured, but have closed,
like the brick house cafe and the catering and cable, uh, some other plate, meet in the middle,
another one, uh, another episode that was featured a couple of restaurants that are no longer, uh,
around. But, uh, I think it'd be kind of fun. Melissa and I think talked about this once a
while back of going, making a run and going to each one of these places and, uh, giving our own
takes on it, letting people, uh, give feedback on that. Thought that'd be kind of fun. I thought it
sounded familiar. I had to look it up. The Delta diner was for sale in 2022. That's the one I told
Seth, he should go by. Oh, right, right, right, right. Yeah. Cause it's a, it's a, um, it looks like
an old fashioned, like rail card, rail card. That's what I was thinking. I remember that episode.
Yeah. That I want to check out. Yeah. Yeah. There's something like a cool one point for a
mill. You can just buy it. Oh, yeah. Uh, all I got to do is go check the couch. I'm sure I've
got that in the crash cushions. I'm sure it's there. Some of my pop of you stories do it anytime.
Change. Yeah. Anytime some of the grab a bag of shells. Oh, you got the bag of shells here.
I go through the couch cushions every time. The laundry area. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Look under the
fire. We're going to go to break. Uh, do you want to send a shout out to our friend,
Kev, who joins us all the time on the air here. Kevin sent over McDonald's plates were cool too.
Still have one and still use it. Don't know if you remember when they did the record on, uh,
the recording Happy Meal that played the big Mac song. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I forgot
about the plates. I think my sister had a, had a plate must be when I, one of my nephews was a
youngster. Um, Aaron has the full selection in the RV. Oh, nice. Oh, how about that? I forgot
about those. Thank you, Kevin. Uh, perfect place for that too. Oh, that's a nice, nice, that's good.
Uh, we will take a break. When we come back, we're going to help you. Uh, if you got no plans
for New Year's, we're going to help you with that. You know, help you get some plans for New Year's
years. Yeah, right here in Wisconsin. We're going to find some things for you to do. Coming up
on the morning show here at WFHR locally growing radio.
Welcome back everyone. Morning show at WFHR.
Let's go back aways. Yeah. Pam, Melissa, James here with you. We hope you're having a good one
out there. Thanks for joining us everybody. That's a good one. That's a good track right there.
Uh, we are looking for something good to do on New Year's. Uh, are you do have New Year's plans?
Are you already set and you're good to go? Or are you somebody like, wait a minute, New Year's is
coming up? When did that happen? There are some people still doing Christmas stuff, of course. You
know that we know how this goes. Uh, yeah. So it's understandable if maybe you, you, uh, did you,
you kind of forgot about New Year's plans or you don't really have anything or maybe you're
still looking for something to do. Um, this weekend, uh, big thank you. I shouldn't say,
I'm sorry, it wasn't this weekend. It was last weekend. Boy, time is a flat circle. Um, last
weekend, uh, reached out to our friends over at Travel Wisconsin. A big shout out to them. Pam and
I were actually just talking during the break about Stephanie Klet, uh, old friend of ours here at WFHR.
Yes. Uh, I used to join, uh, Carl and, and joined me a couple of times.
Yes. Have a conversation with Stephanie. Um, and, and just as a side note, I, I think, uh, her
career is so interesting to me, uh, where she started with travel, you know, discover Wisconsin
doing the TV show. Right. And now she is, uh, like the head of, uh, tourism in, uh, in Geneva,
right? Like Geneva. Like Geneva. Like Southern part of the state. Yeah. Interesting. Very
nice lady. Interesting. And, and love to get there about in the air with us again someday.
Oh, maybe we'll have to make that happen sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. And no matter how you ring in the
New Year, Wisconsin is an exceptional place to celebrate from classy champagne toast and dance
parties to family friendly ball drops. Yeah. Uh, candlelight hikes. Uh, you can find New Year's Eve
fun all up and down the state. And you can find this complete article at travel Wisconsin.com,
travel, travel Wisconsin.com. So in the Madison area, uh, spend New Year's Eve ice skating with
friends at the edge waters hotels ice rink that looks out on Lake Monota, uh, before dancing to a
DJ and ordering in room service, possibly. That sounds like fun. Uh, beautiful hotel. That is.
That's very, very nice. I don't know about the ice rink is, is, is, is okay. Like that should be
all right. Ice skating, uh, not sure, uh, outside of a nice rink right now. Uh, you can jam out to
the people's brothers band rhythm and soul group from Madison that knows how to put on a great show.
There'll be at the majestic theater on New Year's. That's a good one. Not sure where that is.
The majestic is a beautiful thing. It's one of those ones that I drool at every time I go past it.
I want to perform on it so bad. It's a great place. Uh, Philip on prime rib and champagne while
enjoying live music at S and house. Uh, that's another great one. Oh, Ben there. Uh, yeah. Yeah. That,
that German German restaurant. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Right. Yeah. We went for German food.
I've been past it. I know I've seen it. I couldn't place it. Thank you. Not too far from the
Capitol. Hmm. Well, uh, what do you say? Uh, uh, uh, stews, uh, snitzel. Thank you, Melissa. I couldn't
think of it. Yes, snitzel. Dress up for a groovy disco dance party at the Sylvan, uh, Sylvie.
I think that kind of stuff needs to happen more on New Year's. They, the like throwback,
like dressing up to, you know, party. Yeah. The 80s theme party or the 90s theme party. I like those
things. Um, take a New Year's Eve natural, nature stroll in the University of Wisconsin,
Arbiterium led by knowledgeable new naturalists from 630 to 8. Oh, well, that'd be interesting.
I've been a family family event. Yeah. Uh, I've been there too. That's a nice place. Uh, nice walk. Um,
and you're, you're done around eight. So maybe if you're New Year's, you're an earlier New Year's
person. Right. You, you crashed long before midnight and everything. Oh, you can go on to the next
party. Yes. Nice. Yes. That's like the way you think, babe. Yes. Yes. You're walking. Yeah. Right.
You can then you can feel really good. Oh, I got a nature walk in and then I can go in and just
climb wherever. Yes. Oh, go to the disco. So bad about eating that cheese ball. A lot more,
you can eat a lot more cheesecake that way. Yes. I like that. Um, ring in the New Year in style in
Milwaukee at on the 23rd floor of the Pfizer hotel in their classy cocktail lounge.
Uh, I'm sorry, the Fister hotel. Fister hotel. Uh, yeah. Uh, it is. It's also got the, the,
there's so much history to it, whether you want to talk about some people believing it's haunted
or so many of the great famous people that have stayed there. Um, I'm, I, I am a sucker for old hotels.
I, I don't know what it is. I, I think there's something just so cool about the history of them
and, uh, ones like this that we have in state. I, I got to stay there. That's one of the grand,
grand. Yeah. Yeah. Downtown Milwaukee. Celebrate Milwaukee in the New Year at discovery.
World with an open bar catering food, dancing and much more. It's another good one in the Milwaukee area.
How about Door County? Is that on over to Door County? Okay. Be dazzled by every evening fireworks,
warm up, uh, to a bonfire and watch a giant Door County cherry drop in Sister Bay.
Cherry. That sounds appropriate. Yeah. Right. Right. That's pretty good. Oh, cool.
March into New Year by joining the Egg Harbor New Year's Day parade,
wherever one can stroll or drive through town, wearing a, a fun outfit,
riding in a fancy old car or skipping along with your furry friend.
Oh, that sounds interesting. That seems like one of the top ones to me. That seems like I would
love to do that. You had me at a silly fun outfits. That seems like a lot of fun.
Experience a quick to central Wisconsin celebration at Plymouth's New Year's Eve big cheese drop.
So say what kind of cheese? No, no good question. Good question. No, it doesn't, but it should.
Yes, it should. It should. And up north, we wrap. We get to a party for a good cause at the
Masquerade New Year's Eve Gala at Barker's Island in Superior with games, music, and more.
And I do believe that they raise money for charity usually every year with that.
Yes, to get correct about that. The center against sexual and domestic abuse,
hosted in 2023 behind the Masquerade New Year's Eve Gala.
Nice.
Great. That's very, you get to have a good time while also raising money and support for a great cause.
Yeah. And splashing to denier at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells as we send a shout-out
to our friends at Chula Vista. Yes, it's a beautiful place.
I recently had our holiday party over there and everything. Good people. Very nice.
So I'm definitely the sister's day one. That one sounds really good to me.
The parade. Yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Sky Rockets New Year's Eve Fireworks at the
Buff at the Bluff in La Crosse. Fireworks during the summer are neat, but during the winter,
if you haven't seen fireworks during the winter, it's a real, real fun thing to see.
It makes a lot more sense to do them in the winter. I agree. I would like to see more of that.
We have to worry about fires as much. Obviously without snow cover, that could be maybe an issue,
but... Well, yeah, yeah, it is a lot drier, of course, this time of year, but still.
Still, I agree with you, Melissa. I think that, especially when we have a, I don't know what a
normal winter is anymore. I don't think there is any normal anymore, but we usually... Normal,
too. Yeah, yeah, but you know, it's not the last person that should be talking about normal
anything. That's a beautiful area there. We were on the bluff too. We took a good drive out there.
Yeah, I... Cross. I bet. It's been too long since I've been out there. Did you say you were out
there in the fall? We were there, right? I think it was October. Oh, that is the time to do it.
Right. Nice. Beautiful. And Northwood's Polar Bear plunge in three lakes,
15th annual original Northwood's Polar Bear plunge. If you're... Over the party thing,
try polar plunging. Polar plunging. And... Different kind of party. Yeah, yeah. The proceeds for
the Northwood's Polar Bear plunge benefit one of the many people. Angel on my shoulder,
it's a nonprofit for families coping with cancer. They always do those for a really great cause,
and I appreciate that they do those. I don't think I'll be volunteering to jump in, though.
I did it one year. It was a long time ago. I do think, a little while locally, we have our
special Olympics that we do. There are our good friends at the Wood County Sheriff's Department
in Wood County Police Department, our part of. We have that that goes on every year and shout out to
those. How about cool, cool fool kite festival in Milwaukee. The cool fool kite festival in Milwaukee.
Revel in this Milwaukee tradition of kite flying and more at Veterans Park in Milwaukee's leg
front for the cool fool kite festival. I gotta say that a hundred times faster. Well, that's interesting,
right. Trying to say that. Well, that would be really big kites cause those are super cool. Yeah,
yeah. You'll witness the quite ice carvers at work go for a jaunt in a horse drawn carriage ride
and relish some free hot chocolate, coffee and snacks. It's a fun one. Ice carving is really
neat too. That's fun to see. I think that cold enough temperatures to do it. Yeah, I do like that.
I think I do think it's pretty cool to see those things. Yeah.
Mm hmm. And I would say ice carving is one of those things too, where I really like
and like enjoying seeing them doing it too, just as much as I like seeing the finished product.
I think they have ice carving down in like Geneva. Oh, really? In January? Yeah. Maybe we'll have to
get this definitely on the phone to talk about. We should. We definitely should. I think it's been
too long. So we start there. And the New Year's Eve cheese wrap and plum myth. We kind of
touched on that. I forget about the ball dropping, you know, talking Wisconsin here. They drop in
cheese. Cheese. That's that cheese dropping midnight. That's the way to do it. That's pretty good.
Is there anywhere that does a cranberry drop? I'm looking and I'm looking. That should be wood
county. Wouldn't you? Yes. Yes. Well, I have to start something new here. I think that you too
just started something new. I think that yes, we're very much on to something here. And that
not only would that be fun. Think about the tourism. Think about the tourism. You can create
in this area. Yeah. Well, I like that locally. James, maybe maybe we can be the ones to
up our state for the most fruit drops on New Year's Eve. New Guinness World Record. Yes. Well,
that's all right. We got to go to break because I want to work on this right now. We're going
to go ahead and start hammering this out next year. We'll do it next year. We'll do it. No,
actually, you really started something right there, Melissa.
Well, let's talk with Alison Dairyland. I think she might be a good one to get on our team
with us. Don't write. Yeah. If you're looking for New Year's Eve parties locally, our friends at
four stools short are going to be having a great set of shows. The shows will start at eight on
New Year's Eve live bands featuring middle crisis, wings of Haikon. Come and enjoy the show. Find
out that name and more and support local artists, support our local artists, support our local
bands out there. I've got tons of great music being played at all of our local establishments.
And this is going to be a good one over four stools on New Year's Eve. We'll talk here.
Local restaurants are going to have specials as well. So check those out. Yeah.
Generally, right? Yeah. Yeah. Be sure to check them out, everybody. And we will start working on
that cranberry drop as we go to break and get to our state and local news from Melissa here with
the local news. We'll come back and have some more fun on the morning show here at WFHR where we are
locally grown radio. Welcome back, everyone. Morning show here at WFHR. Pam, Melissa, and James hanging
out with you. Thanks for joining us, everybody. Good morning.
I think that even if you didn't know what year that song was from, you could guess the 80s.
I feel like there's certain songs that just even if it doesn't sound like a typical 80s song,
you know, okay, from the lyrics or from the mood, something about it. We dive into another one
here that's kind of fun that I've been hanging on to. Where are you on the questions heading in
the, this question heading into 2024? Is this fine or still unprofessional? You can go darn it.
I'm so used to saying you can call up and join the conversation. Darn it. I don't know if you can,
but you can email us. Yeah, you can email us, certainly. So someone pulled over 8,000 Americans and
asked if it's okay to use emojis at work now, like a work emoji to your boss, or I don't know
maybe the guy who schedule stuff constantly emailing you or texting you with a ton of emojis
calling myself out here. Yeah, yeah, I'm really bad at this. I'm really bad at this. In general,
most of us think it's perfectly fine at least sometimes. 65% or roughly two thirds said it's okay.
That includes 10% who said always fine, 28% usually, and 27% who said sometimes it's okay.
Only 14% said it's never okay to use emojis at work, and 20% are still undecided.
Not surprisingly, young people are more likely to think it's acceptable.
Seniors were least likely to agree with that. Whether it's at work or just texting,
36% of us use emojis every day now, and another 16% said most days. So over half of us
will probably send someone an emoji today. Only 7% won't.
I think that sounds accurate. Have we used them? They took over for, I feel better about using
an emoji than I do LOL. Agreed. Agreed. We have gotten to a point where communication is so
free and so accessible where we can communicate like we've never been able to in human history.
We've never had this in human history where we have this much communication devices, this much
way to communicate with each other. It happened so fast. We're only like 20 years into the cell phone
thing and walking around with supercomputers on our hips and all of this. We're only about 25 to
30 years away from where's the nearest pay phone? Or going into a business and asking if you can
use the phone. We're old enough to not only remember these things but have visual memories of
them and everything. So with the growth of communication, the growth of leaning on these things
more and more and needing them more and more, I think that one of the first things that popped
to me in my mind is miscommunication and things being misinterpreted or something that I send to
text to Melissa. Hey, how you doing? She may read that. How you doing? What was that? What was
that? What do you see? What kind of message was that to me? But if I send it with an emoji of
like a funny silly emoji or something that she maybe she realizes, oh, it really comes home. Hey,
I'm being silly or I'm just funny or something like that. The formality of our communication is
definitely where we're much more relaxed and I would say less formal. Yeah. I think that you
hit this on the head pretty early to Melissa. Know your audience. Know the people that you're messaging
with. Right. Our owner Sage of Civic Media. I messaged him quite a bit. Sage sent me an email
once with an emoji at it and kind of gave me the green light that okay, that I have not done that
with him. But him doing it with me kind of gave me okay. If I did send something to the freedom.
Right. Right. I think that is a kind of a way for bosses or for people to kind of let their
employees know where they stand on this without necessarily maybe even having a conversation about it.
Although maybe you should have a conversation about it because the whole problem with this is
communication. And I think then too, you know, for people who communicate with emojis a lot,
like I have some friends who will send a message that's I don't know, you know, a normal
length, I would say, but contains eight different emojis. And then you you'll have another person
you can communicate with where you include one. Yeah. So it's a matter of communication styles,
I guess. Pam, for you, I know that you've you're not new to it, but you you're relatively new to
texting to some of those things. Do you do you like using emojis? Do you do you find them confusing?
Do you like them? I don't use them a real lot. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes I mean, like on Christmas day,
we were we've got a whole chain of people that we send out married Christmas too. And you know,
I was putting in the tree in the Santa, the snowflakes and the snowman and, you know,
that's the seasonal ones. Right. The seasonal ones. Right. That's what I was thinking.
You know, but you know, I'm not on a regular basis. I guess I'm not using
your your text chain sounds very similar to the one that I have with my kids. And I did the same
thing, you know, bombarding them with emojis and that and stuff. And I think all of this again
comes back to knowing your audience, knowing the person that you're messaging with. I drive
Seth and Melissa a little crazy because I intend to have like, so I've started to like, okay,
three emojis. That's it. Like I get myself a limit. You're setting yourself limits. Yes.
So for this text, text thread, I can only use six. Yes. This one, it's one.
Gonna pick. We talk about overthinking. This is my wheelhouse. This is
but it's it's so like it isn't just with work. Like if in with even with my friends, I really do
worry about being misunderstood, especially because we don't communicate that much. We don't
talk that much. I don't want it to one. The one text we send this week to be misunderstood.
We just get done with our fantasy football playoffs. I lost horribly. I wanted to congratulate
everybody. But if I send it a certain way, it's going to come across like I bitter or or that.
I want to actually let them know. Yeah, I'm really, really proud. I've won before. I don't care.
That's cool. Good on you guys. The miscommunication can happen really easy as much as we've
leaned on these things. And so much of us interpret what we're reading the mood that we're in at
that time. Sometimes these texts that are coming with a lot of abbreviations. And it's like,
well, you're out. Okay, what's this abbreviation? I have to look them up. Oh, yeah. Thank you,
Melissa. Yeah, what they mean. I text and I snap with a lot of young people. And almost every
snap has something that I have to look up. Like I know so much more lingo and so many more things
that I ever would have known if it wasn't for teaching. Please do. Yeah. One of my messages.
I just share this knowledge. You got to see the teaching is a learning experience.
But I think that yeah, with the old coming out of this conversation, I think that's the overall
thing that I take from it. Know your audience. No, you know, play, play along with it, have fun
with that. I think also if you are a person who doesn't like getting a lot of emojis or anything,
I think you should say something. Maybe I think you should, you know, mention it. Being again,
coming back to communicating, talking to each other more, not assuming, talking. And please
understand, I am not pointing the finger at anybody. I'm just as guilty of this. I can do
conversations. Yeah. Yeah. Actually talking to each other, every listening to each other.
It's important. It's definitely necessary. We will take a break. We'll come back. We got
more fun in store on the morning show here at WFHR locally grown radio.
Welcome back to the morning show. WFHR locally grown radio.
We hope you're having a great Tuesday out there. Wednesday out there, everybody. I knew
it was going to do that at least once today. That's right. Right. We're in. I knew it. I knew it.
Oh, started. Oh, I've made it to the last segment of the show. Ah. Ah, so close.
James, Melissa, Pam here with you. We appreciate all of you joining us. Thank you to the
best listeners and radio. Thank you to the heart of this station, Pam, for joining us this hour.
This has been a lot of fun. It was my pleasure. Last couple of hours. Last two hours. We got to
get you back on real soon, Pam. It's been too long. Yeah. It's been too long since we did this.
We usually do a Danny Wright story in this moment. I've been kind of staying away from those
this time of year, just to lean on the fun and the good stories. And there's so many good stories.
We don't always get a chance to cover. But this one was a little irresistible to me. And I don't,
I don't necessarily think it's a Danny Wright story. I think it's just kind of fun.
This prank happened last year, but it's making the rounds again. A woman in the UK was in the
drive-through lane of a coffee shop with her boyfriend. And she asked him to order her secret menu
item from from the list. We've, I think we've all been here where you're in the passenger seat and
the person doing the driver's seat and you're relaying your order to them. So and then they're just
saying it. You're kind of Ron Burgundy. You're not really thinking about what you're saying. You're
just repeating what you just heard. The menu she or the menu item she ordered was the Fala La La La La
latte. Okay. And she also tells him that if he sings it, it'll be free. He hesitates, but eventually
he finally does do it. And he sings the full Fala La La order. The employee has no idea what's
going on. She just kind of take you this in. The whole thing is viral or recorded. They win viral.
Hilarious. Hilarious moment. Well done. Well done to this couple because he not only plays a
one like he goes along with it and everything. But I think he handled it really well afterwards
that he realized he got pranked and everything. Look at all that was that's a good prank. That's
a good prank. You don't see that one coming. And it's the follow up from that that really,
you know, shows you. Yes. Yeah. You get a chance to check that one out everybody. That's a good
palate cleanser for you. That's a pretty funny video. I like that one. Look at some world good
stories before we get local. You really got to see this to appreciate it. Look on this mom's
face is everything. There's a 14-second video making the rounds of a nonverbal kid with autism
speaking to his mom for the first time. She said good morning to him and he said it back twice.
The video isn't really an audible thing. So playing it on the air wouldn't make a whole lot of
sense in an audio medium. But I do encourage people to check that out. Yeah, especially you
could use a smile this morning that I have a hard time believing that won't give it to you.
Maybe a tear in your eye. Yeah. Yeah. Got me. I've already seen the video but I watched it again
this morning just to make sure it was still out posted and got me. Yeah. How old was it about what
age was? Oh boy. It doesn't say specifically. He's a young man. He's a young kid. I want to say maybe
seven or eight maybe a little. Maybe even younger. Yeah. Here. I'll show you the just the video
poll. Okay. All right. Yeah. So he's what would you say seven eight maybe nine? Yeah,
somewhere around there. It's a great video. Let's see here. A guy in Boston smashed a world record
Saturday by bouncing over 115,000 times on a pogo stick without stopping. The previous record
was just 88,000 and it was part of a charity event that raised over $10,000 for veterans.
We had a pogo stick when I was a kid. Yeah. No, those are still out there even. I'm good for about
three bounces and then I fall off. I'm pretty good on a pogo stick actually. I'm all right. I know
who la hoops. I have no hips. A hula hoop looks at me and like what am I supposed to do with this?
This guy has no hips. I can't work with this. A pogo though, where my body comes in favor,
wing, nothing is really and being tall and lanky is really great for a pogo stick. It's a real.
Okay. So here's here's the challenge James. You want a pogo stick? Me with a hula hoop and we
see who lasts longer. Yes. Yes. The challenge is set. Yes. Get it out in the parking lot here
for the radio station. We have to do that. We should do that in the spring. That's right. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how to round it out. We got to we got to have Pam on the air more.
If for anything else that we come up with these great ideas like this, you and Pam getting
together Melissa, we need more of a legal. I'm serious. That's a great idea. I'm all
favor. I'll definitely do that. A guy from we should get some sponsors along with it. We
should get it. We should raise money for our one of our local nonprofits with it. Get a food truck.
Come on out. Oh, we have a whole event. I think we got this almost half done.
We just got come over the name. We got to go. Yeah. That's a good one. I like this.
Please don't forget this idea. You too. This is really good. I like this. A guy from Maryland used to
be a garbage man just graduated from Harvard Law School. Wow. Okay. He was in the news back in 2020
after a video of him reacting to his acceptance letter went viral and just kind of got like it's
gotten a little bit more and people have kind of like been doing a follow up to the story of how
he's doing and doing very well still studying or still practicing long. That's a pretty cool
the phrase you're never too old comes to mind with something like that. I don't believe that
you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Does the dog want to learn? That's what matters. No
different with people. How many lives do you think this used up? An 18 pound cat in Thailand
fell off a sixth floor balcony, smashed through the backwind shield of a car and is completely fine.
It's completely fine. No, no, not even like a nick, not even a bruise, no broken bones.
Walked away. Got up and walked away, right? Yeah. Yeah. Didn't even lose a life. Not even one.
Not all night. All night. All night. Still go there.
And I'm sorry. 18 pound cat. This isn't as if it just floated down to the ground or any of that.
That's a hefty cat. I wonder if that actually helped it. But wait, like you don't have
it some powdered to it. More great on it. In 96 year old woman in Canada named Regina Far
Fairhead broke a world record over the weekend. She ran a 5K in just over 51 minutes.
It's the fastest time ever recorded by a woman over the age of 95. Oh my goodness.
Congratulations. That's right. 90 minutes. That is awesome.
We've got some awesome stuff lined up for you this day. We got our great midday
magazine kicking off at three. Join us as we have Wood County Chairman Lance Plymouth joining
as part one. Our friends and Wisconsin's rapids community media will be in the record.
Looking forward to that. In part two, we catch up with the ODC, Cali and Lisa will join us as part
of their PR team. We're going to talk a little bit about ODC's year and things that they were
thankful for from our community and things to look forward to in 2024. That should be a lot of fun.
Keep in mind. Tomorrow we've got on our sister station WRI. We've got girls basketball at about
1225. Our pregame will kick off. Lincoln High School versus Fondoulek at the 52nd annual
century classic basketball tournament at UWSP. Michael and Don going to bring us that game.
Very excited about that. Now WFHR at seven Wisconsin men's hockey versus Air Force.
This is a part of the quick trip holiday face off at Pfizer forum.
Thanks. Good stuff to keep in mind. As long as we're talking a local events, a couple of
things I want to make sure to touch on here. It's a Wednesday. We got Bingo at the Wisconsin
Rapids Elks Lodge. Bingo. Dores open at five. Bingo kicks off at 630. Join our great
friends at the Wisconsin Rapids Elks Lodge at 430 West Jackson Street as they
back into this community all the time with events like this.
And we're actually going to be I believe Friday, Friday, right in the second half of Midday magazine.
We're going to be talking more about this. In this family, nobody fights alone. We all fight
together. The Wayne Wilson benefit going on this Sunday, 1 to 11. This is going to be taking place
over at the 7561 Bethel Road in Arpen. Brothers by Choice Clubhouse is where this will be
taking place. So great to benefit. We're going to be there'll have raffles, music, food. There
is a go fund me for Wayne's lung cancer fight. We'll be talking more about Wayne and more about
this great event on Midday Magazine on Friday. Yes, Friday. Port Edwards basketball alumni.
You are invited to the annual alumni recognition basketball game for the male team.
Male side is going on January 2nd. Female side January 15th. Alumni basketball players attending
will be given admission to the games. Be treated to on court and deductions. And at halftime,
they're having after and they'll at halftime they'll do that and then they'll have an after-game
social. Sounds like good good time for them. And the Port Edwards line club fishery should be
going on in just minutes. It's going from 10 to 3 January. January. I'm sorry, that's in January.
That's January. No problem. Yeah, but I didn't want to go. Because maybe the ice will be frozen.
Yeah, right. Yeah, that's a little iffy now. They might have ticked their little bolts out there.
Exactly what I wanted to mention. That was so good, you too. That was so good.
And it's been so good having you on the air with us, Pam. It's been too long. Oh, thank you. Enjoy it.
We don't get the chance to do this all that very often, but from Seth Melissa, myself, we can't do
what we do here without you. You're the best in the business. You're the best I've ever worked with.
And you are the heart of this station. Thank you. We greatly appreciate you, Pam.
Well, everyone, everyone pulls their weight around this place here. Everyone is very important.
We very much appreciate you, though. Thank you. Yeah, I would love, though, in that moment,
if you'd have been like, yeah, you're right. That's so not you. But the biggest shocker
of my life would have been like, you would have been like, yeah, it's about time. We appreciate you.
The very much, Pam. Thanks for joining us. Well, a more midday. We'll have more fun in the
morning show tomorrow looking forward to it. Melissa and I are going to be hanging out with you.
Have a great day, Mel. Yeah, you too, guys. We'll talk to you soon.
Right here at W. Oh, you go ahead and take it, James. Wait a minute. W F H R was constant
rap. It's 1320 AM and W two four eight D E broadcasting at 97 five FM.
