Good morning, Wiz Gatson.
Good morning, world.
It's a new day.
Thanks for kicking it off with us here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
Got your host, James J. behind the mic.
I am joined by Seth Habhacker.
Good morning.
Melissa K.
And the best listeners in radio.
Thanks for joining us, everybody.
Hope your Wednesday is treating you good.
We're certainly going to.
Got a little entertainment news for you.
We're going to get into.
Also got a great one coming up in a little bit about things that should have been easier
by now.
Yes.
Basically.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, here we go.
Sounds about right.
Number one of the list.
Adulting.
We've also got some very right stories we want to get into.
We got to cover this story about family dollar stores.
And we got to get into that.
Also got the very right one coming up here too about someone trying to scam kids like
that's bad.
And that is some bad stuff right there.
Bad juju.
We got all that coming up.
We're going to kick off the hour the way we like to with a good friend of ours.
And right now being joined by Ashley Hague now, 76 annual and you're and Dan Ellison
Darryland.
And you will like keep saying having to struggle with annual.
I don't know why I'm going to stop saying that Ashley, thank you so much for joining us.
Good morning.
Thank you so much for having me.
Ashley, just so you know, we've got here in studio with us Melissa Kay and Seth Habhagger
in case they have any questions for you just so you know who those voices are.
Wait, man.
That doesn't sound like James.
Hello.
Hello.
Good morning.
Yes.
Don't listen to it.
Ashley is going to be we're going to be talking potatoes with you in a moment, but where
are you calling us from, Ash?
So I am calling from Madison, Wisconsin this morning.
That is where our office is located that Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and
Consumer Protection.
And I'm really excited because we have a full office day planned as we prepare for our
77th Alice in Darryland press briefing this weekend in Door Counties.
So we're putting together the final touches and the final details.
And I'm really excited for this weekend as well.
Yeah.
We're paying close attention to that and we're looking forward certainly to this.
Although we are not letting you go though, Ashley, you were not yet.
No, no, no.
We are so excited to still get to talk to you and everything.
We've really been enjoying it.
You've been doing an amazing job, by the way.
Keep up the great work.
Thank you so much.
Ashley, I want to talk a little potatoes with you.
In this time of year, we are enjoying time together and supporting our favorite sports
teams.
And since Wisconsin potatoes make the perfect addition to our celebration, can you tell
us what is so special about this versatile vegetable?
There are so many ways to enjoy potatoes, and that's what I really love about them.
And especially this time of year, we're coming off of the Super Bowl a few weekends ago.
And now we have March Madness coming up here.
There are so many ways to celebrate sports and potatoes and so many other different Wisconsin
products.
And with potatoes, you can enjoy them fresh, fried, mashed, baked, stewed, steamed.
The list goes on and they really make a perfect addition to a lot of different celebrations
that you might have, whether as an appetizer or a main dish.
And in Wisconsin, we grow six varieties of potatoes.
Those varieties are russet potatoes, round white, round red, yellow flesh, blue, and purple
potatoes.
Super unique.
And it provides us with a lot of choices when we shop for our potato needs here in Wisconsin.
Move over right to home.
To that point, Wisconsin ranks pretty high in production of this potato.
We do.
So mentioning Idaho, we are third in the nation.
Next for potato production, behind Idaho and then Washington state and then it's Wisconsin.
But we are the first potato producing state, east of the Mississippi River.
So that is definitely a claim to same for Wisconsin.
And on the topic of potatoes, too, there are a lot of health benefits to consuming Wisconsin
potatoes.
They're low in calories.
They're high in fiber.
And they are a great source of a few vitamins like vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, and
antioxidants.
So they are definitely part of a well-balanced diet as well.
And they're so delicious.
So that's what I absolutely love about Wisconsin potatoes.
But James, that low calorie count isn't the same for french fried potatoes as mashed
potatoes.
Just want to throw that out there.
That is a great nobody.
You have a good point.
That is when we're taking into account maybe just a raw potato, but hey, that is still
amazing.
When we add in some delicious additions to our potatoes, whether it's some dairy products
or some delicious flavors, but potatoes are just so, so delicious and we can use them
in so many different ways.
What's a fun recipe for using Wisconsin potatoes, Ash?
This one is going to make us all hungry, really in the morning.
So I was so excited to feature a really cool recipe, especially leading up to the Super Bowl,
as we have some of those indoor tailgate parties.
And you can enjoy this dish maybe during some March madness viewing parties, or you might
have a fun event coming up.
And that is our recipe for cheesy, chilly stuffed baby red potato bites.
It's a mouthful to say, it's a mouthful to enjoy, they're absolutely delicious.
And they provide a hearty and delicious way to use Wisconsin potatoes.
So after you boil some baby red potatoes, I recommend using a small scoop or maybe like
a melon baller to scoop out the top half of the potatoes, then you mix in the chili
and cream cheese together, fill the potatoes with that mixture, and then you top it with
some shredded Wisconsin cheddar cheese, or any cheese of your choice, and bake it in
the oven until the cheese is melty.
So you get the crispy potatoes, the gooeyness of the cheese and the other delicious flavors,
and they all combine together to make a really delicious appetizer or even a main dish.
And you could fill those potatoes in with many different flavors.
Maybe you like spinach, artichoke dip, or maybe you like buffalo chicken, or chicken bacon
ranch.
You can enjoy these potatoes in a lot of different ways, and they're very hearty and they fill
you up, so they're a great, great meal to enjoy any time of year.
That sounds amazing.
Yum.
You know, they are amazing.
I'm going to surprise our audience, that really sounds good to me too.
Oh wow.
It actually sounds good to me.
Nobody mashed a potato in that recipe, so James could be on board.
Sure.
You're boiled.
That's all good.
Where can you go to find more information about Wisconsin potatoes, or unique recipes
like you just told us there, and while you're enjoying watching March Madness and all these
great sports we got going on this season, this time of year.
Of course, so if you're liking what you're hearing today, the recipe sounds delicious.
You want to learn more about Wisconsin potatoes.
Go ahead and visit the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association website.
So that is eatwisconsinpotatos.com.
They have hundreds of recipes that feature Wisconsin potatoes.
You can learn more about how we grow potatoes in Wisconsin, more facts about potato consumption
and the nutrition behind potatoes by visiting their website.
Again, that's eatwisconsinpotatos.com.
If you're interested in learning more about potatoes through the Alice in Dairyland program,
you can always visit our website.
We are found online at Alice in Dairyland.com, or you can give a follow to our social media
channels.
We can be found on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X, and we're always sharing fun Wisconsin
agricultural facts, and we recently shared quite a bit about Wisconsin potatoes.
Yeah, and when you cover a subject, Ashley, you really do.
You do such a great job with it.
If we could in the last couple of minutes we have with you, do you mind touching on just
a couple of highlights about the nutrition health benefits of Wisconsin potatoes, and then
maybe we can wrap up with a couple of potato stats?
Of course.
So when it comes to the nutrition and health of Wisconsin potatoes, we've touched on a few
of those facts here this morning.
But again, potatoes are free of fat, gluten, cholesterol, and sodium, and you can use them
as a substitute for a few other different ingredients stapled like rice or pasta as a gluten-free
option.
And potatoes are full of vitamins and minerals, and they're only 110 calories.
Again, if we go back to enjoying one baked potato, and then we might increase the calories
a little bit if we're adding some other delicious ingredients, but baseline, it's 110 calories.
And one thing I learned this year, which I had no idea about, is that potatoes actually
have more potassium than a banana, so they're higher in potassium than a banana, which is
fascinating to me, and they're sodium-free, which makes them a heart-healthy vegetable.
And penny for penny, Wisconsin potatoes provide the most nutrients per penny.
So they are very accessible and affordable to us across Wisconsin and across the nation,
and we can use these vegetables in so many ways.
So again, potatoes, they are a nutrient-dense vegetable.
They are perfect for providing energy to our daily lives to complete a lot of tasks that
we have every day.
And potatoes have about 30 percent of the recommended daily value for vitamin C, so they also help
to boost our immune system, which is very important this time of year, and they also help
with some collagen production when it comes to building and maintaining muscle mass.
I also think that potatoes are America's favorite vegetable, if not one, of our favorite
vegetables.
And they're just so delicious to enjoy, and they have a lot of great nutrition benefits
as well.
And they're local.
Yeah.
And they're local.
Exactly.
And I got to agree with you.
I think even I can admit that potatoes are the top three times.
Yeah.
The Mount Rushmore of American Vegetables, as if we can get into sports talk a little bit
there.
Ashley, let's wrap up the handful of Wisconsin potato statistics.
I find these very interesting.
Of course.
So when it comes to our production, again for Wisconsin potatoes, we are the third largest
producer of potatoes in the nation.
We produce close to three billion pounds of potatoes annually.
And a lot of that potato production and that processing takes place close to the central
Wisconsin area near Steven's point, Clover, Adams, Wisconsin.
So close to the Wisconsin Rapids area.
And a lot of our potatoes seeds are actually grown in the Antigo, Wisconsin area.
But we can grow potatoes in a lot of different places here in Wisconsin.
And on average, Wisconsin produces 63,000 acres of potatoes annually.
And they're coming from multi-generational family farms.
So there's a great story to tell when it comes to our Wisconsin potato producers and how
they work so hard to produce Wisconsin potatoes in a sustainable way.
They are incredible swords of the land and they keep sustainability at the forefront of
potato production, especially when it comes to restoring natural ecosystems on their
farms as well.
So again, Wisconsin potatoes, they definitely contribute to the diversity and abundance
of Wisconsin's 104.8 billion dollar agricultural industry.
And when it comes to how we can enjoy potatoes and how potatoes are raised and grown, there
are so many unique stories to tell.
So it was a pleasure getting to share some more about Wisconsin potatoes here this morning.
And be sure to enjoy some Wisconsin potatoes and support the local economy hearing Wisconsin
by doing so.
All right.
Ashley, whether it is ginseng, cranberries, cheese, or potatoes, you do such an amazing job
covering these subjects in our state.
And certainly helping us promote and support our farmers and our ag industry, the backbone
of our country.
You do an amazing job and we enjoy having you on there any chance we get.
You got to come back real soon, OK?
I know.
I'm so excited to hopefully get back in the studio here shortly and thank you all for
the role that you play in helping to promote Wisconsin agriculture and spread the good word
about agriculture in our state.
So again, thank you.
It's always a pleasure chatting.
Safe travels out there, Ashley.
You take care and we'll talk again.
And have fun this weekend.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So excited for this weekend, so excited for the next few months here.
Thank you all again for the great work that you do.
You take care.
I'll talk soon.
Thank you.
Ashley Hagenau joining us, our own Alison Darryland 76th, Alison Darryland.
Nice.
Wow.
You can find out more at Alison Darryland.com, go to Alison Darryland.com.
Be sure to follow them on social media as well.
It's a great follow and great way to not only find out more about your state and take
some pride in it, but support this great organization and do them awesome work that
they do.
We have a website, eat Wisconsin potatoes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
It is a versatile vegetable.
Really is.
Really is.
We will take a quick time out.
We will come back after checking in with our partners.
I talk a little entertainment to get you ready for a bunch of other great stuff we got coming
up right here on the morning show at WFHR.
Welcome back everyone.
Morning show WFHR.
Welcome back to the show.
We hope you're having a great Wednesday out there.
Thanks so much for joining us.
A big thank you to Ashley Hagenow for joining us.
Find out more about Ellison Dairyland at EllisonDairyland.com.
Be sure to like that page and subscribe and follow them on social media as well.
It's great follow.
And find out who the new contestants, the top contestants are this weekend when they make
that announcement from your county.
I can't believe it's already been that-
It's already been a year.
Oh my gosh.
It's crazy.
James, I got to tell you after listening to that, it's okay if you don't like potatoes
that much.
I think I like them enough for both of us.
Oh cool.
I think I like them too much.
But they're nutrient-dense.
That's true.
Just stop putting all the extra stuff on it.
Actually, I don't.
Oh really?
No, I really usually don't.
You eat straight up big potato.
Well, with salt.
But I don't really even put butter on it, so I just eat some salt.
That's it.
That's not so bad then.
But to follow up on Kevin's comment about the air-fried tater tots, so we go to a restaurant
in Abbotsford a lot.
It's Jack's Cantina.
Oh great name.
Yeah, right.
He makes a loaded tater tot appetizer.
Wow.
That's a meal.
It's a meal.
And he's even cut back a little bit on it since he started because he realized, whoa,
this is way too much food.
It's like an entire bag of tater tots and then piled with bacon and hamburger and all
the things you'd put on top of nachos on tater tots.
Oh, that sounds awesome.
Yeah, it sounds really good.
That does sound pretty good.
Even though I had to pick through it to, you know, the cheese, I can only imagine, yeah,
no, it's still good though.
That's so really good.
Got to check that out and check.
Cantina, shout out to them.
Yeah, that's great.
Yeah, that's great.
Great name.
So I think we've all experienced this, maybe not to the levels or to the degrees that
I have.
I've mentioned before, my family and I, my father and I will say, grew up on the other
side of the tracks.
And with that, we have a background that not everybody might have or relate to or anything.
There's a handful of things growing up in life that I wanted to do, but my mom and dad
thought it was dangerous or I shouldn't do it or something.
And I was always able to throw back, yeah, but I'm not nearly as bad as the old man.
I mean, like, you know, whether what it was I was doing, it was nothing compared to
what the things my father had done to everything and I can always throw that back at his face.
And the joy I took in this as a young child to be able to out debate my mother or father
or it felt so good.
And they would laugh and they would say the same thing a lot of parents do.
You just wait.
You just wait.
And I waited and I waited and then my daughters and my son came around and boy, do they
love to throw those things back in my face and it comes around.
Now there's three of them and there was only one of me.
I don't feel like that's fair, but it is kind of funny to see this happen when you're
the outsider watching it, just watching it happen and it's not happening to you.
It's a little bit funnier and I encourage people if you're looking for a palette cleanser.
I, the first off, I haven't watched every episode or anything like that, but what I've seen
to the Drew Barrymore show, that's the best daytime TV show talk show there is.
I think she's amazing.
I think she does a fantastic job on there.
I don't know if you would say she's a great interviewer.
I think she's a great person and I think that makes her a good interviewer.
I think that that makes her and by a great person, I don't mean that she's, you know, given
money to charities and all these things, just seems like a genuinely good human goal.
Yeah, personality.
Yeah.
Yes, thank you.
And she gets things out of people that they don't think everybody does.
Her interview with Brook Shields alone, I think, stands out, getting people to sit on
a couch with you and just be comfortable.
I think that automatically sets things up.
In fact, I'm trying to get a couch in here from Midday Magazine.
That would be cool.
How are we going to put that?
Yeah.
I don't know.
Well, all of this being said, Drew Barrymore's Playboy spread came back to haunt her when one
of her daughters recently brought it up.
Order.
Order.
In a conversation with Christina Aguilera, she said, quote, my daughter wants to wear crop
top.
And I'm like, no, you are not going out in that.
And she was like, yeah, but you were on the cover of Playboy.
Oh.
Oh, burn.
Which Drew had to just kind of lower her head and kind of want to see that.
Can't hide that one.
No.
Christina Aguilera, who was in the interview, or who was part of this, Christina defended
Drew's cover and said she was just expressing and empowering herself at the time.
Drew agreed and said that she loved every minute of it.
Drew was 19 when this happened.
And this was something where she was trying to take control of her life.
She up for 18 years, that young lady had a lot of people thinking for her, talking for
her, taking money that was hers and choosing what movie she'd be in.
Yep.
But as Drew Barrymore up until the age of eight, if she chose to be an ET, if she chose
to be in Firestarter, she chose to do those things and stuff.
Maybe she did.
Maybe she had a little, a little saying in it, doesn't sound like it, doesn't sound
like she did.
It actually sounds a lot more and more like there's a universe where we never even hear
the name Drew Barrymore.
If it was up to her in some ways, but we are where we are.
And I think that she is an incredible story of not only perseverance, but of what can
happen with child stars.
And the positive that can happen with that, but I love this story.
I love this story.
It's so relatable, it's very relatable to a degree.
Yeah, right.
But the question is, did the daughter win?
Yes.
You want to follow up on this?
I guess we didn't.
We didn't get.
Oh, it's going to be hanging.
Hold it.
Yeah.
Oh, 11 and 9.
Oh, I see.
She had two daughters, Olive and Frankie, great names, and they are 11 and 9.
So I don't know.
I don't know.
You know, hi.
Good luck.
Good luck to do it.
Yeah.
Good luck.
In some ways, I think that I have boys.
In some ways.
This, I want to touch on things over at Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater real quick.
I do want to remind everybody that we have local, we have great local theaters all throughout
Wood County.
I'm talking to a mutual friend of ours, Amber Fait, a little bit yesterday about
a loss on some of the work they have.
We, of course, we've covered Central Wisconsin Area Community Theater as well.
And we have our Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater, who have a couple of great things
going on.
First off, we are looking for directors.
We're seeking a musical director for our proposed Christmas show for 2024.
Need to confirm director for this.
And if you have over one of the, put your, through your hat in the ring, or maybe it's
been a while since you've directed, and you want a wonderful show to be able to direct.
White Christmas is one of those ones.
I'm going to put something out there real quick, because musicals are different than
just straight plays.
You need, yes, you need the director who does, you know, the stuff the director does,
you know, gets the, you know, what they want for the set and they've had all the actors
and stuff.
But usually someone else does the music, and that's a whole different thing, which is why
the director usually can't do that, because it's too time consuming.
They need a musical director to make sure, you know, everyone knows what they're supposed
to be singing and all this kind of stuff and working on the songs.
So that's why it's so important that they get someone to be the musical director for
it.
Mm-hmm.
The auditions for rumors, the final show of the season for Wisconsin Rapids Community
Theater is coming up March 11th and 12th at 630 at the Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater
Auditorium.
I'll meet you there, probably.
Hopefully.
Yeah.
We'll see.
We'll see.
I really would like to.
It's being directed by Christine Sullivan.
I would love to have Christine direct me.
I think that'd be a lot of fun.
She is fun.
Neil Simon didn't do bad plays.
Not really.
Not really.
If it's a Neil Simon show, I mean, it's one of those names, you're like, you may not
even know the title or the play, but you know you can count on Neil Simon's work.
It's a little different because it's more farcical than your normal Neil Simon plays.
Which can be a lot of fun.
It is.
Oh, no.
This is having me have done the show before.
It is a fun show.
Lots of great dialogue.
Lots of great interactions.
It's a lot of fun.
Another show that you've done before, Seth, the Glass Managerie.
Yes.
That you are now behind the scenes for you and Beth have directed.
That is going to be premiering this week.
You guys got a show coming up this Friday.
Yeah.
What?
Melissa.
Sorry, let's tell you that.
We're starting.
No.
Hopefully you do that.
That's great.
I want to talk a little bit about the show and what people can expect from this before
we do.
How has this week gone?
Hersel's been Melissa.
How has that been going for you guys?
Sleep.
It's not something I haven't met this week.
We're not on speaking terms.
Yeah.
I can relate.
No, it's going great.
We're having a lot of fun.
I would say that our cast has really melded together.
Yes.
We play off each other well.
We're starting to develop some of the off stage relationship of just kind of getting
to know each other because up to this point, it's just spent lines, lines, lines, lines.
Now we're actually having some conversations.
I'm finding out who these people are outside of their character, which is awesome.
That's part of what makes theater fun is becoming a theater family.
And so some of that's really coming together.
Our tech grew is awesome and they're working hard.
We are working this tech crew hard.
So yeah, that's the issue.
She ate everything that they're doing.
We put a lot on our tech guys for this one.
So they have done a marvelous job of going with the punches and figuring things out as we
go along.
So I've got to give them a lot of credit.
I know our sound guy is a little disappointed.
He can't even watch the play because he's too busy watching for cues.
Yeah.
And he's running video too.
Right.
Yeah.
Big shout out to Skiba because of yeah, sound and video.
That's just something you normally don't do on on shows.
So Mark is one of those hidden gems over there at WRCT, whether you know it or not has
definitely been a part of a lot of shows.
Mark Skiba.
Dave Skiba.
Dave Skiba.
Sorry.
Radiohead.
That's right.
Radio landed everything.
But yeah, Dave does an amazing job.
Yes.
You mentioned it too.
You're putting that team into doing a lot more because this is a different production.
This is a multimedia production.
What does that mean, though, Seth?
Well, it means we're incorporating other than just the actors on the stage with the set
and the lights, you know, and the sound stuff we're all used to, that sort of thing.
We have film.
We actually have a screen on the stage.
It's a screen.
But we're using it as a screen to project various videos at various points.
And I, you know, I realized that when going through this process and I just finished putting
up the last videos yesterday because I had to give myself to, otherwise I'd be tinkering
with them to the very end.
So I got to stop at some points.
So it's, it's, it's showing like it's, it's showing a different way of, of when they're
talking about the past, okay?
So like for instance, when a man has a couple of times when she's, she reminiscing about
like something that has happened and then it's, it's kind of in a, in a state of like
remembering.
And that's why I thought, you know, a lot of projecting this kind of stuff on the screen
is makes sense because you're thinking you're remembering that kind of thing.
It's almost showing the thoughts and the memories of the characters, right?
But giving you a visual versus just the words that the characters would speak.
It's a better idea than what I, I would have just had the actors walk around with big
seapotone sheets.
Just, just seapotone sheets.
Makes it very awkward to go around that way.
Yeah.
The dream sequence.
Yeah.
Woo.
Woo.
That's a much better idea.
So there's a lot of moving parts because you know, the screen doesn't stay on the stage
the whole time.
No, it can't.
Because of certain, you know, scenes that we have to, the actors need more room and that
sort of thing.
So, that's the logistical thing that we've been, you know, trying to figure out through
this whole process.
And we have moving set pieces.
Yeah.
Rotating platform and the set itself is pretty simple, but we have some nice little bells
and whistles, like you should say, that make it really interesting, you know, just at the
set of itself.
Because of our tremendous set builders that we have, I mean, yeah, being a part of other
community theaters, I have never seen a set building team like they have here.
It is amazing what they can do.
I've worked in about seven or eight different community theaters and I've never seen one
like ours.
No, never.
I will shout out stage coach theater into Cal.
They're pretty close, but I think you guys would love working there.
They have an old firehouse that they do all the rehearsals and the stages.
That's cool.
That's really cool.
But what we have here is something special and unique and that's not a coincidence.
That's because we have a very special and unique community that supports the arts, that
supports these things.
And we want you to be a part of this show.
We want you to come down down, give them a full crowd, full, you know, auditorium.
Want the whole place full.
So I just wanted to put one more thing out there because, you know, I got, we at Beth
and I have like two days left and then we're done.
Yeah.
We have done the part we were supposed to do and then everything is on the cast and
the crew to make sure everything works well and I have absolute confidence.
It's looking just fabulous.
You guys, Melissa, every one of you have done just a marvelous things with your character.
Melissa, by the way, she does this one thing with her head when she's Amanda, which I love.
There's this little head thing that she does.
Oh, yeah.
That's awesome.
Love it.
I don't know what that is.
No, I know.
You wouldn't.
Yeah, not at all.
I have rambled about how much I enjoy your work, Seth, working with you in Baskerville.
I was some of the most fun I've ever had on stage, not just working with you as an actor,
but watching you work.
I enjoyed that a lot too.
And I have rambled endlessly about Melissa's talent and not just seeing you on stage and
some other performances, but your one woman show from the other year is one of the greatest
things I've ever seen in theater, period, like period.
So I can only imagine that you guys joined forces and, you know, along with another, you
know, bath and this amazing cast that you have, what this is going to be like.
My last question real quick before I wrap up, this is a multimedia production.
It's something different from WRCT.
Interesting to have Gretchen in position that she has because she touched on this a little
bit with its wonderful life, having some stuff in the background and everything.
Do you think this is maybe the future of theater is pushing it a little far, but do you
think we'll see other productions do some of these incorporate some of this?
I think so.
You know, we have gotten to the point with technology that we can do these kinds of things
easier and cheaper.
I think that's the big thing.
You don't have to spend as much money, yeah, exactly.
And when you have resources like specifically in Wisconsin Rapids, like community media,
which helped us out, big shout out to Joe for helping me with some editing and the video
and stuff.
And he did all our interviews that are up on Facebook on the community, or community
theaters, Facebook pages, check those out.
We have the resources for this.
And it's just, you know, I think for sure there's going to be more stuff like that.
And I hope it's better than what we do because I think we just scratched the surface with
this.
I think we can do more.
Yeah.
I have the sky's the limit with what can be done that your imagination can really make
this even better.
I'm really thankful that you guys did this for our community, for yourselves, for everybody
involved.
And specifically for me, my one man show James does the Simpsons.
Now I can put up the visual behind me so people actually know the voice I'm impersonating
because I'm really bad at impressions, really bad.
Don't wait for that one.
Good.
But do get your tickets for the Glass Managerie.
Please do.
WRCTheter.org WRCTheter.org Melissa mentioned the Facebook page.
Be sure to like and subscribe to that page.
Keep up the date on auditions and different things that they're doing over their opportunities.
And check out those interviews.
They were really well done and give you a nice kind of like, I think preview or lead in
to the show.
I like watching those interviews before I go see one of the shows.
I think that's a really good idea.
And we'll meet you there.
I got my ticket.
Make sure to get yours.
The Glass Managerie premieres this Friday, March 1st, got a show on the 2nd, 7th, 8th,
and 9th.
7 o'clock shows.
On Saturday, March 9th, there will also be a 2 o'clock matinee.
We will meet you there.
Get your tickets at WRCTheter.org.
Yeah.
Get to our news.
We'll come back and have some fun as we get into 10 minor but frustrating everyday struggles
that should have been solved by now.
Coming up on the morning show at WFHR.
Welcome back everyone.
Morning show here at WFHR.
Locally Ground Radio.
Melissa...
Seth?
James here with you.
What do you have here?
A day.
I had to bring up it every day.
Every time.
Do you want me to replace it with something else?
Got it.
Baby, baby.
We'll call.
I'll text you or he'll talk about it sometimes.
Um…
Even if we have not you know done some of the things we would like as far as curing different
things and solving certain stuff, you'd think that we could have at least found a way
to make fitted sheets easier to fold for the love of all that is.
It's not that hard to fold a fitted sheet.
I am not a bad folder and I'm really good at laundry.
I can work laundry.
I'm great at it.
And I don't mind folding.
But I get to those sheets and it's like I call sweats.
It's like my hands are actually reversed or like the opposite or something.
I forget what math is and like everything else.
I'm horrible at it.
I guess that's my superpower.
I think it's wonderful.
I think it's wonderful to do it too.
She has shown me a hundred times and I still can't get it.
My mother and basically every woman I've ever lived with has shown me.
And I'm just…
I try.
I really do try to pay attention to learn and I'm just bad at it.
But there are other frustrating things out there.
People on social media are talking about the minor but frustrating.
Everyday struggles that they still encounter which should have been solved by now.
So let's look at the best ones.
Like the Stackety Repetitive Tuneless Music, Staticy Repetitive Tuneless Music.
You are forced to listen to when you are on hold.
It has been improved since the 80s but it's still kind of like hold music.
Every once in a while you get put on hold and you're like, hey, this isn't bad.
I can kind of jam out to this.
All right.
But it doesn't happen very often but…
Why is this still sound so bad though?
Yeah.
That's the weird thing.
We get crystal clear digital sound everywhere except there and then it's like…
I think there's certain things that are signals that you are getting older and what of them
is when you hear the hold music and it's a song you grew up with or something you jam
into it and you're like, oh wait a minute.
Oh no!
What's wrong?
Is this elevator music now?
What's going on?
Oh boy.
I'm old.
Pockets on plus size women's clothing never seem to be a designed consideration.
You either get tiny pockets which haven't been scaled at all or enormous pockets that
haven't been fully scaled so your chap sticks slowly swims down to the depths around your
fly.
Someone else pointed out how women's jeans should just have a waist and inseam size like
men's jeans.
This is not my wheelhouse or anything.
I'm not sure even the words that are coming out of my mouth necessarily.
But I will.
It wasn't either.
Let's say that today is on our National Day of Counter we are talking about this today
as pockets day and in something that I tried to bring attention to all the time because
I didn't know until like about ten years ago is how they don't give you guys pockets
Melissa.
Like what the what?
What the one of all what the what?
You can make the…
I don't think it's a hard argument to make women need pockets more than men.
Why would you give women pockets?
Because the people who make the pants also make the purses.
Yeah.
Oh.
Wow.
You know, I never thought of that before.
That's…
Gotta sell those purses.
Well, it's that and also the societal pressures for women to look perfect.
God forbid you have something poking out on your hip.
It's ridiculous.
Like a chapstick.
It's ridiculous.
That's…
You know what?
It looks attractive to me.
Somebody who's comfortable.
Somebody…
Somebody who isn't asking you here.
Can you hold this for me?
Yes.
Will you put your…
Will you put my driver's license in your pocket because I don't have one.
Yeah.
It's ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
Yeah.
They could solve that one pretty easy.
Just give women…
You think?
Just give women…
How about give women the same pockets men have?
Yeah.
Mine blowing idea.
Mine blowing.
I just solved everything.
What the what, man?
Shopping carts with wheels that easily break.
Get stuck or fall off alignment.
It's a cart.
Even if they're out there in the elements, they should be durable enough that they can
fulfill their purpose.
Yeah.
You think?
Well.
Hmm.
Easier said than done.
Easier said than done because that is a very failable part of a cart.
Oh yeah.
And especially here in the Midwest, they got to deal with a lot of stuff.
You know, and that's the interesting thing.
In the same day.
Did anybody hear that eight degrees and get just kind of whiplash?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes.
You know, it's what…
We should be as a society.
I think we should all kind of band together and just return your cart.
Yeah.
To the store.
Yeah.
To the inside.
You shouldn't need an incentive.
There's a grocery store in town that does that.
You know, if you put a quarter in and unlocks it and then you get your quarter back when
you're done.
But that means you bring it back underneath the shelter thing.
And it makes sense because then they don't have to spend money on buying new carts.
Yeah.
They can keep them in circulation for longer.
Or spend money.
Having their employees go out and retrieve said carts.
Exactly.
Then they don't have to worry about that.
I personally think that they should just do away with wheels on carts altogether.
You can see all wheels everywhere.
No, no.
Just on carts.
We should have hover carts.
Go on.
Hover carts.
Hover carts.
Hover carts.
Come on.
We can't have them anywhere else.
Why can't we have them in grocery stores?
If they look like hydroboats, you know, with all the inflatable thing underneath, that
would be awesome.
That would be awesome.
As a little kid, I know easy, but I never got the chance to be in, you know, those special
carts they'd have, like they were like…
With the car?
Yeah.
I want to be like, it's don't burn.
I still have those at my grocery store in Abbotsford.
Awesome.
Oh, my kids love those until they were, they still tried to get them when they were
too big.
I can fit.
Yeah.
TV remotes and appliances that text printed on, the text printing on the buttons where it
can wear off and use over time.
So you have to remember what that button does, like, except that one button that's got
the little, like, knob on it, like the play, you know, there's like one that you can
tell is the actual one, but that's it.
Yeah.
The actual braille, but at least it's a, a feelable, tactile thing.
That you could tell what you did.
Yeah.
Now, the rest, you're on your own.
This one's going to come up pretty soon.
Having to change the clock in your car when it's daylight savings time.
Even though everything is supposedly smart now, it does it automatically, right?
No.
No, it's still dead.
The plastic fasteners that hold new socks together, they can be difficult to remove
of both out damaging the socks.
This goes for other clothing as well.
Those little plastic things, you gotta cut the nip.
Sorry, you brought up plastic and I just jumped on my soapbox.
Sorry.
Of all the things.
And then they, they, you drop them on the floor and then you step on them, some of them
hurt.
They're sharp.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Or they get stuck in the sock and you can't get them out and then, yeah, you can pull
the sock because you're trying to, oh, no, come on.
Come up with something better.
That's something better, yeah.
Auto correct.
Someone said, if I type it, it's what I mean to type.
Go ahead and highlight it or give it me, give me some suggestions.
But to auto correct, automatically assume that I did it wrong and change it on me.
It's like having your mom or your mother-in-law or somebody like that right there on your
cell phone.
You know, you did that wrong, Jimmy.
You know, that was wrong.
That's not the actual terminology.
And the worst part, my phone now, I'll correct it.
Like I'll go back and like, no, that's what I wanted and then I, and it does it again.
Yeah.
Go back.
Yes.
Yeah, belligerent.
How many times do I have to tell you that's what I wanted?
Yeah.
Having to use a keyboard on a TV screen to enter your email address and password by using
arrows and selecting each letter individually.
Oh, that's a pain.
Oh, that's a pain.
Roku, it does this with where you have to use that little remote that basically going
back and forth and it takes 20 hours to enter your email and you always mess up a letter
or something.
Because there's a delay after you push the button and it's not moving so you push it
again and suddenly you're six letters over.
I'll settle for them just getting rid of the delay.
Just even that I'll settle for it because that happens to be every time.
And then they have they have the microphone, you know, option where you can say, but you
have to like a wait for it to come up delay.
See.
That's almost our yeah.
Yeah.
And if it doesn't hear you right and it gets the wrong letter, let's go back and yeah.
It's not on this list, but giving email addresses online or I mean, over the air or
or in TV shows or movies or anything like how we how whoever masters how to do that.
It is you are golden.
You are.
You can do new new new greats new inventors because we've used like all of the basic ones
now.
So now you have to add like weird spellings or numbers or symbols to be, you know, original
and where we're all we're doing is flooding search engines and enhancing all the dollars
that they're learning and everything because half the time we're like, well, just throw
it in your search engine and you'll be able to find it.
That's the only way we can really send people to certain websites, especially with like
midday magazine where we have specific things to send them to and it's, you know, go to
LX 135 dash, you know, you know, what just just throw it in your search bar.
Type that into Google.
Good luck.
Someone said, why can't all power cords on everything that needs to be plugged in from
toasters to lamps to coffee makers to fans all be rectangle, retractable, retractable,
retractable.
Yes.
Yes, retractable.
I was going to say, retangle.
What does that mean?
Yes.
I want a rectangle cord, please.
Yeah.
All cords should be retracted.
You know, and I think it's a space issue because you got to put the wheelie thing in
there.
Yeah.
So yeah, your toaster would be a little bit bulkier, I guess, but and fry the cord when
it keeps up.
Oh, I thought of that.
Yeah.
That's a good question.
And I don't know.
I have a retractable cord on one of those hand mixers in the kitchen.
They don't work very well.
The retract part can, can wear out too.
So that's the downside.
Yep.
So then you're just like pushing the button and shoving the cord in it.
Yeah.
You know, I'm not a fan of having to wind the cord on the vacuum when I'm done.
I mean, that's just a little fussy thing that's, but at the same time, not even retractable
doesn't always have that.
That's the solution for that, Seth.
Oh, life hack.
Don't back him.
Not going to stop that guy with that cheese.
That's good.
Um, I will say honorable mention outside looking in mention, um, like cereal boxes, like
what are we doing?
This has never worked.
It has never kept cereal fresh.
It has never like, there's not a cereal in history that it's ever been kept fresh by
a cereal box.
Oh, fix it.
In totally because you know, we're going back to the cereal thankful circle, everybody,
opening a bag in a cereal box, that doesn't work down the side all the way down the
side.
Or it's too sticky and you're like cr, you know, you have to look for a scissors, which
your children have taken it somewhere, you know, where you left them, yeah, scissors never
where you left them.
I don't care if you live alone, they are never where you left that they do have, well,
it looks like they have two legs.
Apparently they can walk, you know, walking up, let's solve that too, let's solve that
too.
Yeah, there's scissors walking up.
We'll come back with a thinning, right story, some local good stories of the day and
plenty more on the morning show at WFHR.
Welcome back to the show, everybody.
A little James Taylor to play us in right there, you have James and Seth and Melissa here
with you.
We're going to talk a little bit more about Mr. Taylor in a moment, a week away from that.
Just a week away, just a week away from that, everybody.
I do want to spend some time on a that ain't right story real quick and this is an important
one, I think.
And not just because of this business and I am not particularly myself picking on this
business, I think this is in business in general.
Melissa, you sent this over and I know many of our listeners have caught the story or
the headline at least, family dollar store to pay, family dollar stores to pay a 41.
41.675 million dollar fine because of rodent infestation.
Oh, now before we go into it, this isn't being those products we're not delivered to
Wisconsin stores, so just put that out there right away.
This takes place in Little Rock, Arkansas, where where this happened.
But I think it is not worthy for not, not all dollar stores, I'm saying stores in general,
just stores in general.
If a store is doing everything it's supposed to be doing, it has nothing to hide and it
would have no problem, you, you having questions or you wondering or anything.
But something, an article like this, you can find it foodsafetynews.com, foodsafetynews.com
encourage you to do that and read the complete article, don't just read headlines, read
the complete article.
There's a lot of interesting notes in there and I think the stuff that is universal when
it comes to companies and questioning these things and the products that we are trusting
them to sell to us.
Yeah, because when you get a product from a store in a box, it's packaged, you expect
that packaging to be clean, right?
Yes.
These are, think of all the products that they have at dollar stores, you know, I mean,
they've really expanded on what they have.
And while this took place in the Southern States, it speaks to family dollar as a company,
as a whole, because they didn't take care of this problem right away.
It went on for quite some time, didn't it, James?
Yeah, yeah, wait, wait too long.
How long was it exactly, Melissa?
I didn't, I didn't see the room, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I didn't see the room, I'm sorry.
I wanted to say 20, the early dots, I was going to say, wow.
Yeah, I think it was reported in 2021 and they did investigations, but they really didn't
do anything about it until stores were complaining to corporate that they were, products were
being delivered to them, containing rodents and containing very, you know, that they could
tell it had been nod on or just pooped on, you know.
And I think that this is not worthy too, just taking an expanded look at it because the
rise of dollar stores in stores like at five below in these things, while our national,
like the national average for American household income makes, while that either stays pat
or goes down, we see a rise in these stores in communities like ours.
We're going to see more of this going forward or at least the same amount that we are
seeing, just in Wisconsin rapids here, I can think of three or four dollar stores that
we have, right?
And what's the population of Wisconsin rapids?
Yeah, 18,000.
18,000, okay, in the town I live in, which is a population of 2,700, they just added two
more dollar stores.
Do you know what that brings the total of dollar stores up to in Abbotsford?
Four.
Wow.
Wow.
We have four dollar stores.
And so I mean, I think that the, I know that these stores are going to become more and
more important as we go forward as we get more of these stores and we're shopping at
them more because we have to because nobody has any money.
And there's no other options.
Yeah.
These corporations, these giant nationwide corporations are putting small, mom and pop
stores out of business.
And there's, there was just a report that was released about this very subject, about
the growth of dollar stores and what the impact has been on communities.
It's very, very interesting.
And also what they're doing to their employees because they are not staffing these enough employees,
especially down in the south, they don't have enough staff to put away the, the stuff
that they're getting delivered to them, let alone wiping it off to make sure it doesn't
contain any wrap poop.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's story.
I encourage you to read the article, foodsafetynews.com, foodsafetynews.com, shout out to our, our ace news reporter
here in Melissa K and the good work she does.
Let's get to pala cleanser and let's get to some good stories of the day.
We've had a couple already today.
We got some great calls from our listeners.
Yeah.
We got to hang out with Phil from Quality Plus Printing.
Talk about our new promotion with them.
That is awesome.
Find the heroes out there, nominate the hero out there.
We'll talk more about that tomorrow.
I can't wait to see the shirts.
Oh, yeah.
I get to hang out with Ashley Hagenauer, 76 Alice in Dairyland.
That was fun too.
Eat a potato today.
Yes.
More great conversations coming up from three to four this afternoon.
Join us in part one of Midday Magazine, Lance Plymo, Wood County Board Chairman's going
to join us.
We will also be joined by citizens discussing the water group.
We're going to get into that.
Our friends Wisconsin Rapids Community Media will be here looking forward to it.
Part two.
And Lee Peck going to join us from ODC.
She may have brought Ashley and with us, we'll see a lot of great things going on over
at the ODC.
We'll talk about, don't forget the Wisconsin Hockey Hour coming up today at 705.
I'm going to be very interested to hear what Coach has to say about those badgers.
And it is Wednesday.
We know what that means, Melissa.
Bingo.
Bingo.
Bingo.
Say bye to myself on that, guys.
Thank you.
You're joined in.
Sorry.
It was coming.
It's Bingo at the Wisconsin Rapids House Lodge.
You can doors open at five.
Bingo starts at 6.30.
They have food available and just lots of fun.
Yeah, it's always fun.
Who doesn't love Bingo?
Join our friends at the Elk's Lodge.
They put a lot in the disk community.
Let's help them and let's have some fun tonight.
Bingo.
On 4.30 West Jackson Street.
And Seth, I did want to touch on as well the gymnastics competition coming up.
It's back again, everybody.
The State Gymnastics Championships.
The UAA State Team and individual gymnastics championships are held back.
They're back one more time this year's first and second Friday and Saturday coming up
here at the high school at Lincoln High School.
On Friday, the building opens at 11 for spectators and the competition begins at 12 and then
on Saturday, the building opens at 9.
Competition begins at 10.
Get your tickets at the WIA website, WIAAWi.org.
Support our local athletes and have some fun with that event, everybody.
It's really going.
Be able to do things that you can only dream of doing.
Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Maybe even get you a little bit in the mood for the Olympics coming up this summer.
Oh!
Everything I watched in our Olympics.
And get your tickets for the Glass-Managerie.
It premieres this Friday.
Get your ticket support local.
Support the arts.
We need it badly in this state.
Appreciate those that do.
Find your tickets at WRCTheter.org and be a part of things at WRCT.
We're always looking for more new people.
Get your tickets and find out more at WRCTheter.org.
Amazing show from the best teammates in radio.
Thank you both so much.
Thank you, James.
Thank you, man.
Have a good day.
Be good to each other.
We'll talk to you soon and later right here at WRCT.
