Good morning, Wisconsin. Good morning, world. It's a new day. Thanks for kicking it off
with us right here at WFHR, locally grown radio. Got your host, James J behind the mic.
I am joined by our good friend, Beth Hattagger. Good morning. Good to have you with us, Beth.
It's been fun. Thanks a lot for pitch hitting this past week or so. Oh, it's been a pleasure.
Really. We missed having you around. Did everything. It's been a lot of fun. You do not be a stranger.
We'll look forward to having you with us more soon. Good. This hour is going to be a little bit
interesting because we're going to go ahead and play a pre-recorded interview with our good friend,
Ashley Haginau, Alison Darryland's own here in just a second. And a little bit later, we'll wrap up the
hour with our good friend Craig, I should say, Craig Manca, Wisconsin Rabbit School Board candidate.
We'll be having him join us as we continue our candidate series this week. We will have other
candidates joining us throughout the week as we wrap up that series. Just taking a quick look here.
Tomorrow Roger Wilcox will join us at 835. He is a candidate for the Saratoga Supervisor. We will also have the
League of Women Voters joining us at 905 to kick off the show tomorrow. Very nice. Looking forward to that.
Then on Wednesday, Elizabeth St. Myers candidate for Wisconsin Rabbit School Board will join us. On Thursday,
Tom Ramon candidate for Wisconsin Rapids Alder Person District 4 will be with us. Also on Thursday,
Daniel Carlson candidate for Nukusomera will be with us. And on Friday, we will interview John
Benbow, candidate for the Wisconsin Rapids School Board. He'll be with us as well. And that will wrap up our
candidate series. We did reach out to every candidate in all of these local elections. Not every
candidate reached back to us, not every candidate was able to make the time. We understand and respect that. But do
understand that we did reach out to everybody. And by we, I mean Pam Hilke. Yes. So a shout out to Pam and
the amazing work she does weekend and week out, getting all of this done and doing everything she can to
make sure that our listeners are informed. Looking forward to those interviews and looking forward to talk
with all of our candidates. Yes. Again, we are joined. We are going to be joined right now by Ashley Hagenau. Just
going to go right to this pre-recorded interview for you guys. And this is a good one. If you want to find
out more about the great work, Ashley is up to find her at else and Darryland dot com else and Darryland dot
com. Welcome everyone to the morning show here at WFHR locally grown radio. We're going to have some fun
right now where we usually have the segment for kitchens open here. We don't listen in town right now. So we're
going to go ahead and shift gears, do an audible. And we're welcoming our great friend Ashley Hagenau. She is the 76
else in Darryland. Ashley, good to see you. Thanks for being here. Hey, great to see you as well. It's always fun
visiting in the studio. We were talking about your wall of thanks and all the fun things that come with
visiting in person. So thanks for having me. We appreciate the work that you and your team do so much,
spreading so much great awareness to the great products and great things that Wisconsin offers and
highlighting the different things. And you know, we've gotten to go from cranberries and ginseng and so many
different things. We got to talk about cheese. I know. I mean, we got to have to. Cheese is like such a fun
topic, right, especially when it comes to Wisconsin. So I'm excited to share a little bit more today about
just what makes Wisconsin so very special when it comes to cheese. And some of those cheeses that are
pretty well known too. Yeah. I mean, Wisconsin is famous. Wisconsin cheese is famous around the world.
Have you had, and you have a new way of Wisconsinites to recognize some of the favorite cheeses around
here. Correct. We do. So on the theme of March and March madness, we thought it would be really fun to
apply that to Wisconsin cheese. So last year, Wisconsin's 75th Alice Taylor Schaefer started this
awesome idea for a campaign that involved Wisconsin cheese and March madness through building a
Wisconsin artisan cheese bracket. So we're continuing on that really fun tradition this year. And
specifically highlighting eight varieties of Wisconsin cheese. So our bracket, we had a lot of
cheeses to choose from because here in Wisconsin, our cheese makers produce over 600 varieties of
cheese. So we narrowed down all of those varieties to the elite eight voting has been taking place
here in the first few weeks of March. And now this week, we will announce the top four. And ultimately,
narrow it down to the top two or the final four, I should say. So it's a very exciting week when it
comes to the Wisconsin artisan cheese bracket. And it's been lots of fun highlighting these different
Wisconsin cheeses. It's such a fun, fun idea. I love this. And not just because I'm a diehard
basketball fan. And I go crazy this time of year. But I love the idea of combining this with
celebrating not only our cheeses, but I think a lot of people out there, even diehard cheese lovers,
maybe surprise 600 varieties. So even 600 varieties. Just bring an attention to that is pretty
cool and in itself. So this is going to be a lot of fun. If people want to vote, if people want to
see how the voting is going, where can they go? So if you want to participate in the Wisconsin
artisan cheese bracket voting, especially now, as we are getting into the really intense part of
the bracket, right, where we have our final four, our top two and eventually our champion,
you can head over to our Alice in Dairyland social media pages. So that is Alice in Dairyland
on Facebook and Instagram specifically because voting will take place on our Facebook and
Instagram stories. You can also comment on our Facebook post as we post about the bracket,
as we post about different varieties of cheese to have your vote included in the final tally. So
I'm really intrigued to see how the voting will eventually shape up so far. Colby Jack has
performed very well. Cheese curds have done very well. We'll figure out here in the next few days
what some of those other cheeses will be in the final four. And then eventually we'll have our
champion cheese selected. Ashley, you know, I love working with you. I love talking with you
and everything. So I don't want to put you on the spot here. But could you give us a small taste
of Wisconsin, Wisconsin cheeses, which cheeses will be facing off today? Just between us.
I certainly can. I certainly can. Luckily, you're not asking me what my favorite cheeses maybe
will get there. But that's always a very hard choice. But the two cheeses that we're highlighting
this week are cheese curds and aged cheddar. So really two Wisconsin staples. And when it comes
to cheese curds, specifically, Ellsworth, Wisconsin is known as the cheese curd capital of Wisconsin.
We have some of their cheddar cheese curds featured in the campaign. And what I love about cheese
curds is you can enjoy them a lot of different ways, just like many of our cheeses, right? You can
deep fry them. You can enjoy them over fries, maybe enjoy them as poutine, or also just enjoy them
all on their own. And you get that really awesome squeak that comes from fresh cheese curds.
So cheese curds are amazing. And they also give a glimpse into the cheese making process
because all of our cheeses, they start as curds. And then we separate the way. And from there,
the curds form into many different varieties of cheese. So it's kind of the baseline.
Our cheese curds are for the cheese making process. And they're truly a staple in our Wisconsin
diets. So that's the cheese curds. I did not know that. I love this one of the reasons I love
talking with you. I love learning new things. And I don't think I'm alone there. I think other
people might learn something right there. That's pretty cool. That's interesting. I've learned it
this year as well. Like more about the cheese making process because that to me is so fascinating.
How we start with high quality milk from our dairy cows. And eventually we turn that product into
other dairy products, whether it's cheese curds and other cheeses, other dairy products,
right? Like ice cream, butter, sour cream. So it's a very fascinating process. So much of this,
we've normalized, you know, because it's been around so long. And I always love the
opportunity at any time to highlight something that's been around for hundreds of years. But it's
still just as interesting and fascinating. And we're still tinkering with and finding new ways
to do different things with. What about aged cheddar? Is that the other one we're talking about?
Age cheddar is the other one. And I have to say this here is Alice. I've tried a lot of really
delicious cheeses. Age cheddar is one that I have really been brought into the fold of because
it's fascinating how we age our cheeses as well. Our cheese curds are going to be fresh,
right? But our aged cheddar, we might age those for two, three, four, five,
15 or even 20 years. We have some cheese companies that do offer 20 year cheddar. So it's a very
fascinating process to me. One that takes a lot of patience and aged cheddar are so special
because you can enjoy them all on their own. Or you might pair it with some really delicious
breads, maybe add it to some soups. You can also mix it in with many different pastas. It's so
special because it is aged for many, many years. And those crystals that form as a result of
the aging process really help to bring out the sharp and tangy flavor that some of our aged
cheddar might be known for. So we're specifically featuring hooks cheese. They have one many
awards for both their aged cheddar and their blue cheeses. And they are one of our Wisconsin
cheese making companies that does have that 20 year cheddar. But it only comes around every five
years or so. So when it does come available, it's definitely a hot commodity. So it's really
exciting to highlight aged cheddar and cheese curds kind of opposite ends of our different cheese
varieties when it comes to how they're made and how they are produced. But too very important
varieties to highlight. Keep in mind, you can vote for your favorite cheeses to advance on their
social media accounts. Be sure to like and subscribe to Alice in Darryland on Instagram, Facebook,
and get in on that voting. We are it's a voting time of year. It's a voting year. Get in on that.
Exactly. We're voting on cheese this time. How can we tell the dairy products we buy
are from Wisconsin? You can first and foremost look for the proudly Wisconsin dairy badge.
So now this is a badge that you might find on cheese product packaging, on butter packaging,
ice cream, some of those really key dairy products. And when you see that proudly Wisconsin
dairy badge or the proudly Wisconsin cheese badge, you know that that dairy product has come
from Wisconsin. The milk has been produced here. That product has been processed here and that
product is now sold here. So when you see that proudly Wisconsin cheese badge or dairy badge,
you know that you are supporting a local Wisconsin farm and a local Wisconsin business by doing so.
You can also look for the number 55 on milk packaging specifically. I have some quick trip milk
here in the studio today. And you can see it says plant 55. It's kind of small prints, but you
kind of know where to look at it under the nutrition facts on milk specifically. So when you see
that number 55 or that plant 55, you know that that dairy product specifically milk has also come
from here in Wisconsin. So as you're out shopping at your grocery store in your area or your
favorite retail location, be on the lookout for that proudly Wisconsin badge because it's a
great way to support the local economy. And most importantly, support Wisconsin's dairy farmers
and processors. Yeah, you had a line once or I know I believe before from you Wisconsin dairy is
the economic engine of Wisconsin. The impact that this has on our state, it's gigantic.
It's huge. It's a big number. I share a lot of big numbers when it comes to agriculture,
especially with younger students across Wisconsin. I always say, hey, you're going to hear a lot of
big numbers today because that's how important agriculture is to our state. And on the topic of
Wisconsin dairy, Wisconsin dairy contributes 45.6 billion dollars annually to the state's economy.
And when we look at the whole Wisconsin industry of agriculture, it's a 104.8 billion dollar
industry. So dairy, it's almost half of that in Wisconsin. It helps us to be known as America's
dairy land and the dairy state. So it's really important that we continue to support our state's
dairy industry and really help continue to drive one of our economic engines of Wisconsin forward.
If people want to learn more about Wisconsin cheese, where can we send them?
It's a really fun website. Super easy to remember was sconson cheese dot com. So that is the website
through dairy farmers of Wisconsin. They are Wisconsin's dairy check-off organizations. So they
focus a lot of their efforts on the marketing and the research and the promotion behind Wisconsin
dairy. And they really focus a lot on cheese. So again, Wisconsin cheese dot com. It's an amazing
online resource where you can find more recipes that use Wisconsin dairy. And you can also hear the
stories of our master and licensed cheese makers here in Wisconsin among other things. So again,
that's Wisconsin cheese dot com. Highly encourage you to check it out.
Ashley Hagginhouse, 76th annual else in dairy land joining us right here. And before we let you go,
Ashley, I didn't want to remind people, you know, we love covering the WIA here. We just got done
wrapping up covering our local high school teams and the tournament and congratulations to everybody
who attended and performed in that so well. And we want to remind people that, you know, the WIA has
a certain sponsor that I, it's my favorite drink in the world. It really is. I don't think I knew
that about James. Okay. Well, this is great to know. So chocolate milk is the official beverage of
the WIA. And we, we saw the state girls basketball tournament take place recently. The boys state
basketball tournament down in Madison. All of our state's athletes, many of them are fueled by
chocolate milk. I like to think, right? So chocolate milk, it's great for different nutrients
that are found in an eight ounce glass of chocolate milk, whether it's protein, vitamin D,
calcium, all of these nutrients and more are really important for muscle recovery after maybe
an intense workout or maybe a state basketball tournament game. And most importantly too,
chocolate milk is delicious. And you're helping to support our state's dairy farmers and processors.
So this month and really all year round, we are highlighting chocolate milk as a great beverage
to enjoy. It goes hand in hand with many different sports across Wisconsin. And I enjoy plenty of
it as well. It's absolutely delicious. It's so good. And it does so many good things. So when,
when you drink it, because as you mentioned there, it's good for you. It tastes good. And just as
importantly, you are supporting our state, you are putting back into our state. And that feels good
all around. It does. Cheers to chocolate milk, right? Cheers. It's always good talking with you
and hanging out with you, Ashley. Thank you so much. Not only for everything that you do coming
into the studio here, I know how it, you could call in guys and just let the audience know,
we let Ashley call in, do anything like that. And now she wants to be here in person.
And we really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Helping our ag industry, spreading the word
like you do around the state. We appreciate it. Safe travels out there. And we'll talk again real soon.
Thank you so much. We always appreciate your help in spreading the good word about Wisconsin
agriculture. Thanks as always. And make sure to drink your chocolate milk and eat your Wisconsin
cheese. Yes. Keep up about it, everybody. I will be definitely contributing to that. I'll
be definitely helping with that. We want to remind you again, you can find out more about
Alison Darryland at Alison Darryland.com Alison Darryled.com and be again, get in on the voting
for these cheeses and join their social media accounts like their pages on Instagram and Facebook
and get in on the voting, everybody. We'll talk again soon, Ashley. Thank you so much.
We'll be back more fun right here on Mornings at WFHR, locally grown radio.
Welcome back, everyone. Morning show at WFHR, locally grown radio.
We've got nothing in common.
No common ground to stop from.
And we're falling apart.
A song that you can request to be played and unlabeled.
Yes, please.
Yeah, I want to hear that one. Beth's got a request.
A little breakfast.
I've got a few more, too. Should I give you my list?
Please do. Please do. You would not be alone.
Beth and James back with you as we dive into our entertainment section for this Monday morning.
By the way, yesterday's episode was phenomenal.
Oh, I really enjoyed it.
Oh, good. Very good to hear.
Very, very good to hear. Thank you for that.
And thank you to the audience out there.
I've got a ton of feedback.
I've been doing this for a while here and have been a part of a lot of shows,
whether when they're just starting off and everything.
And this audience is the best audience you could ask for when it comes to not just radio,
but feedback. And I don't look at it as positive or negative.
I look at feedback as data.
It's all just information.
And you guys have been so in love with this new show.
We've got one episode out there and you're already enjoying it.
Be sure to catch you unlabeled on Sundays, eight to nine.
It's a lot of fun.
It comes up after Seth Acid and music.
Another favorite around here.
We know how much you enjoy that show.
Yes, sir. I enjoy the host.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
I did want to remind people that Seth is also always in.
He's got tons and tons of themes already.
But if you have an idea, please let him know.
He'd love to hear that.
And I love your requests for our 90s themes.
Our 90s show.
Be sure to get them to us.
If it was released in the 90s, we will play it.
Go ahead and get me your requests.
James.Maleff at CivicMedia.us.
Be listening for a new episode of working on it already.
I had to make some changes.
I wrote all four, like the first four episodes of unlabeled.
I wrote out the first four episodes.
Had them all set right to the go.
I got working on the first episode and realized none of that's going to work.
Had to completely rewrite them all.
And in part because our audience has been giving us so many requests.
So I've had to make room for those and everything.
It's been a lot of fun.
Keep those coming everybody and thank you so much for supporting the show.
Diving into some entertainment right now.
Remember when Jeremy Renner almost passed away last year from that snow plow accident?
Well, during his stay in the ICU, Jeremy says Robert Downey Jr. was constantly checking in on him
and trying to cheer him up.
Quote.
We ended up having really great chats on FaceTime like we were dating or something.
He's like, dude, the most important thing is you look good.
You still got the face.
He's trying to make him laugh and everything.
I don't care how you feel.
As long as you look good, that's all that matters.
Robert was also trying to make him laugh quite a bit at this time.
Robert also joked that Jeremy needed to get back to work on Mayor of Kingstown
because he and his wife were watching it and they want to know what happens.
So please get back to work.
There he is.
Obviously, domestic with him.
Ironman director John Favreau also said Robert is, quote,
somebody who even when he's not working, he's still connected.
He really keeps relationships going and he's always checking in on people.
If you beat and he does this with everybody and I'm not going to go too deep into that,
but I will say literally everybody he works with.
Like he really does.
I can guarantee this to you.
I promise you this.
It's pretty incredible.
It's part of the reason why we are celebrating him in this victory
with the Oscar recently because he's one of these guys that I think a lot of people
have some relatability to and it seems pretty weird.
You think Robert Dining Jr.
one of the last things you might think is there's anything relatable at all
with me and him or you and him or anything like that.
But that's what that guy is all about and to the point of loving people and just enjoying
people and doing things like this.
The only there's a handful of stories like this around in the game when you hear actors,
calling actors or actors, calling directors.
But there's not that many.
And the most famous ones really usually involve Robin Williams.
Famously for those that don't know, while Steven Spielberg was filming Schindler's list,
obviously very difficult for a Jewish man to direct a movie like that.
Yes.
Robin Williams, who was quarter Jew, would call up Steven Spielberg and prank him
and just mess with him and do jokes about jokes.
Like he'd call up into different voices and Spielberg didn't know who was on the phone
and things like this.
Keep in mind, Robin and Steven Spielberg didn't work together.
Right.
You know, it's just something that Robin knew what he was doing.
They were loose friends.
So they became friends from that.
And there's a ton of stories about Rob Williams doing things like that.
And there's other actors that do stuff like this.
I just think it's kind of an interesting story.
And I wonder how much of his background is the reason why he does that,
you know, with his alcoholism and his drug addiction.
And I believe he was jailed for a while as well, you know, to go through all of that
and then to be where he is.
I think that grounded him in a way that he appreciates what he has now
because of what he what he went through and to be able to encourage others
in the midst of challenges that they're facing to hang in there.
It's going to be okay.
He just seems like an all-around good guy because he's learned from his mistakes.
And the accountability, look what happens when you are accountable for things.
Look at what can happen.
Nothing good comes of being of not having accountability.
Don't let the people nowadays that double down on that stuff fool you.
Just because they corner quarter getting away with it.
Man, that stuff catches up to you.
All right, that catches up to you.
There's no getting away with anything anymore.
Has anybody watched an episode of CSI?
You can't jaywalk and not get caught.
So and it's not just with breaking the law.
It's with breaking moral laws.
It's with all of these things that you,
there is accountability, you will be good.
So just own it.
It's no different than when we messed up with our parents.
If you lied about it, you just gotten more trouble own it.
Yeah, you're still going to get yelled at.
But it's not nearly as bad as when you didn't tell your mother you broke the Buddha.
Right.
I mean, I'm sorry, that was a little personal.
It's close to home.
I messed up a lot.
I messed up a lot.
We're all human.
We all messed up.
That's the thing to think that any of us is perfect.
And it's never going to make a mistake is ridiculous.
It's idiotic.
We will all air.
That's just a part of who we are.
And to claim that when it happens into apologize and try to do better,
that's how you move on.
Yep.
Mother Teresa, you know, swore,
like Mother Teresa had moments where she was a perfect.
All of us do.
Exactly.
I mean, it's just it's one of those things.
The more we accepting we are of those things,
I think the better we are, it's stronger we are as a society.
Absolutely.
The rock was on the Jew berry more show last week.
And she asked and she asked if he could do five squats with her on his back.
It's an obvious no brainer.
But of course he had to prove it, of course, because it's a rock and stuff.
But before he picked her up, he explained how he was going to pick her up
in a basic fireman's carry and asked her if that would be okay.
After she consented, he picked her up and then he asked her if everything was cool
before he went ahead with the squats.
Probably the best thing about the whole clip is that Drew was wearing the outfit
from the classic rock meme, the black shirt and the jeans and the fanny pack and everything.
Which is it's a funny little clip and stuff.
But the internet is kind of losing their collective mind over this
because the rock explained where he was going to put his hands
and asked for consent before touching Drew.
So he modeled appropriate behavior?
And there's two sides of this to me.
One, it's fantastic.
It's great to see people notice this,
are aware of this and everything and that this is becoming more and more of a common thing.
It also makes me a little sad that people are blowing their
losing their minds over this that it happens so little
that we have so little examples of this that the rock doing is,
wow, look, look what a man treating a woman right looks like.
We need more examples of this.
This should be normal.
This should not be a big deal.
This should not be something that, wow, did you see the rock actually asked for consent?
Like, what?
Yeah, I did.
That's the way.
Yeah.
Look at every single picture you see of me taking from this studio,
taking from Edward WFHR anytime in my radio career.
Every picture you see of me, my hands are down or my hands are in my pockets,
my hands are visible.
Right.
That is something that I learned from my mother and my sister that is important to women,
to the majority of women.
I shouldn't say all women, but to the majority.
So that's something I always do.
Now, I don't tell them that I'm doing this.
I don't need to make a big up and arms about it or anything like that,
but I hear from all the time, like, well, I'm glad you did this or I'm glad you did that.
It just should be common knowledge.
It just should be.
It doesn't, it's a little sad to me that it's being so noticed because it's so unnormalized.
And that's one of the things that at Disney, they teach their character performers,
is you always make sure both hands are visible in a picture,
so that there's no possible innuendo that could be done.
Plus, it's a sign of respect.
Yes.
You respect the other person enough to say, are you okay with this?
And if you love someone, if you appreciate someone and you respect someone,
you want them to feel comfortable and okay.
That's why you ask to help make sure that they feel comfortable and okay.
We have a little bit of entertainment news left.
We'll get to that when we come back after our news break,
because I want to take some time with this story.
We got Willie Nelson, a Kermit, the frog.
Oh.
We got to talk about, yeah, they teamed up.
We got to talk about that.
We need a minute to be able to.
So we'll get to that.
We'll get to plenty more fun on the morning show here at WFHR.
We're also going to be speaking with Craig Manca at 9.50 today,
Wisconsin Rabbit School Board candidate.
All that coming up for you right here at WFHR,
locally grown radio.
Welcome back, everybody.
Morning show here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
Beth and James here with you.
We hope you're having a fantastic day out there.
Thanks so much for joining us.
At around 9.50, Craig Manca is going to join us,
Wisconsin Rabbit School Board candidate,
as we continue our candidate series looking forward to that.
But wanted to touch on just a little bit more entertainment news.
Willie Nelson and Kermit the Frog are feeling the rainbow connection.
During the country legends, 2024, a luck reunion festival at his Texas Ranch on Thursday,
the red-headed stranger was joined by none other than the iconic Muppet for the first joint
performance of Kermit's 1979 hit Rainbow Connection.
Footage to the moment could be seen on Twitter, if you're curious.
The duet served as the opening song for Willie Nelson and families headlining set at the festival.
And Kermit also joined him for a gospel medley of,
Will the Circle be unbroken?
I'll fly away and hard to be humble.
Wow.
That's pretty cool.
That is a pretty cool way to start off.
And I've seen Willie Nelson sing with a lot of people.
Boy, he looked happy.
Like he looked like he was a little kid.
It is Kermit, that's true.
Nelson 90 released a cover of this song for his 2001 album,
Rainbow Connection, which received a Grammy Award nominee for Best Country album.
He's since performed the version alongside Casey Musgraves at the 2019 CMA Awards,
but never along with Kermit.
And if I don't believe,
so Willie Nelson, like a lot of people wanted to be on the Muppet Show.
I don't believe he ever was, though.
I don't think he had the opportunity to.
Okay.
So one of those things we're kind of getting a chance to finally get work with Kermit and everything.
And it's noted to me interesting that a lot more singers than anybody.
It's mostly the music community that loves working with the Muppets and wanted to.
And this is something I learned doing the Muppet Podcast I do with Brea,
not only from Brea and the research she has done, but from the Muppet community that is
insanely huge.
Oh yeah.
It is huge.
I swear, I'm not even exaggerating.
Like every week I'm getting new friend requests.
And I'm like, who the heck is this?
It's some Muppet person.
It's somebody in the Muppet universe or a former puppeteer or something like that
that are reaching out.
And you find that this community is so like inviting,
but also so much more famous than I realized.
There's a lot of big names that love Muppets and wanted to be on that show.
So much so, the Muppet team didn't really have to reach out,
hey, Johnny Cash, we'd love to have you on the Muppet show.
No, Johnny Cash reached out to that to get on the show.
There's so many little things and one of the things that they would do,
they would request like, I'd like to work with this Muppet or I'd like to work with this Muppet
or something like that and they would try to work with that.
I find it really interesting that growing up as a kid, even as a little kid,
I would see an artist on the Muppet show or Sesame Street or something
and figure they're selling something or or something like that because
I grew up watching late night television like Johnny Carson and everything
and Johnny would have a guest on, they were selling something.
Right. So that's what I thought it was.
No. No, no, these guys, they just wanted to be on the show.
That's so beautiful.
And that's our generation grew up with the Muppet.
Sesame Street, the Muppet show, the Muppet movies, all of that.
And there's just something endearing about them
because they don't go for the easy laugh.
They don't go for the cheap laugh or the vulgar.
They just appreciate life and they find the humor in life
and they help us find the humor in life.
The original Muppet movie, the beginning of that
with Kermit in the swamp singing, it's one of the greatest openings of a movie of all time.
I know it sounds silly and I know it sounds a little bit exaggerative in everything.
But you test me on this one.
You want to talk about the greatest openings to movies of all time
because it's not just one of the greatest openings for the Muppet movie.
It sets the pace for the Muppet universe.
Right.
The everything coming up afterwards.
It shows you the origin of Kermit, it shows you the start.
He gets in the student baker with Fuzzy and everything.
By the way, anybody who wanted to know why Fuzzy was always driving
because I always thought that was kind of cool.
And I always thought that Fuzzy was the driver for this reason and that reason
and all these deep philosophical things and everything.
No, it turns out it was just because they can put his hands,
they can put their hands in Fuzzy.
Yeah, they can put their hands in there.
He's the actual hands to get the steering wheel and everything.
That's it.
That's the other reason.
It's awesome, it's awesome.
We found that out and we find out all kinds of fun interesting things
like that on the podcast, what the Muppet.
It is a Muppet Monday.
We were happy Muppet Monday to everybody out there.
If you are interested and you'd like to catch a new episode,
you can go ahead and find it wherever you get your podcasts.
Or if you're interested in the YouTube channel,
go ahead and type in your search bar on YouTube.
What the Muppet will pop up,
Bria and I with our collective fun that we are having with this show.
So we just last week filmed recorded two episodes back to back,
one of them premiered today called Pinkie Swear.
These two episodes, the three episodes we've recorded
most recently are three of the greatest things I've ever done.
They were so much fun, it's almost too much fun.
Like almost, it was a blast.
I mean, you can have fun doing what you're not.
Yeah, it's really so, it's awesome.
I have found that working with her, I can't not have fun.
I have to, I can't help it.
It's a great fun podcast.
If you're curious, you want to have some fun.
Join us, two Muppet heads ready to dive deep into the imaginative world
and you help us find the rainbow connection every one of them.
Thank you so much.
Keep on supporting the show, everybody.
We appreciate that.
What the Muppet, wherever you to podcast,
we'll take a quick time out, come back and Beth, I want to, again,
actually know what, let's stick around.
We'll stick around.
I want to let people know what's new on their small screen real quick.
So, new on TV tonight, the one-hour Oprah special,
shame, blame, and weight loss revolution.
That's on at seven on ABC.
The voice, the battle rounds begin on seven on NBC.
The bachelor, women tell all, eight o'clock on ABC,
so you think you could dance auditions at eight on Fox
and watch what happens live with Jenny McCarthy
at nine o'clock on Bravo.
That is what's new on your small screen.
All right.
And then just taking a look at some,
have a couple stories that I wanted to make sure to get to before we let you go, Beth.
Okay.
This year, our last show with you for the week.
For the week, yes.
Just for the week, just for the week.
Okay, all right.
But so I wanted to make sure to get this one.
And a woman in Florida named Magnalina Jackson
celebrated her 106th birthday
by going to Disney World for the first time.
Yay!
They heard she was a fan and threw her a big party.
Mickey and Minnie were there in part of it.
There's some great video and pictures out going around.
Be sure to check that out, everybody.
It's a lot of fun.
And I thought that was a pretty...
Sorry, Mr.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I don't know what to do with this one.
Pizza-flavored beer arrives next month.
What?
A new Belgium partnered with the Frozen Pizza Brand Tombstone for it.
It's an IPA that's 7% alcohol and they're selling it under their IPA brand Voodoo Ranger.
It's described as having hints of crispy,
crusty, tangy tomato sauce, savory herbs,
and spices with a peppermint finish.
Ah!
I don't know about any of that, ah-hah.
Those are not too great tastes that taste great together.
I didn't, I wouldn't think so.
Oh, no, I wouldn't think so.
You can sign up to win some at VoodooRanger.com.
That's VoodooRanger.com.
They'll start selling it in select markets on April 7th
for National Beer Day.
Each four pack costs 50 bucks.
Man, no way!
What?
No way.
I mean, it's easier to just have a pizza in a beer.
It really is, a lot cheaper.
Yeah, I'll put them together in my mouth myself.
Yeah, yeah, I didn't know they could.
I don't need the help.
You don't need to help me with that.
In other pizza news,
Chick-fil-A is dipping its toes in.
They opened a spin-off restaurant in Maryland last fall
called Little Blue Menu, where they test new menu items.
Okay.
They just added five pizzas, including a Chick-fil-A pizza pie,
topped with chicken nuggets, pickles, and Chick-fil-A sauce.
Okay.
None of this sounds good to me.
I'm sorry, I can be honest, none of it does.
Very interesting.
But, you know, we're seeing more and more
companies doing this, branching out.
Don't be, it started with McDonald's, really.
McDonald's starting to branch out and do different things
that they didn't normally do on their menu.
And you're just going to see more and more of this.
I'm curious to where it goes.
What businesses will survive and what ones won't?
Well, and it's good to evolve and create and explore,
but, you know, staying within your means,
you know, your real house is always a good thing.
Yeah, yeah, I feel like it is.
I really do.
I think you're right about that one.
And if you're good at something, you know,
you just keep getting better at it.
You keep working at it and trying to make it better.
I would think, I would think.
This is also kind of, I don't know if it's at that
ain't right story, Beth.
It's just a confusing story to me.
Okay.
So, we'll wrap up here.
There are many ways to conversate with people online,
to find people and even to find people to date or anything.
You know, a lot of resources online.
Certainly, there are a billion dating apps nowadays.
There's all of that.
And of course, there's social media sites
like Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn.
Wait, what?
LinkedIn?
LinkedIn?
LinkedIn, LinkedIn.
Really?
Well, according to a new survey,
52% of people who are currently dating
say that they've been on a date with someone they met on LinkedIn.
Okay.
This is a real shocker to be met.
This shows what I know about dating, zero.
That number jumps to 61% among people 35 to 40.
Wow.
Yeah.
So, people are meeting on the link.
Then, like that, I, apparently,
I understand it's a business connection case.
I didn't, I wouldn't have thought of people
connecting that way.
Oh, you never can't tell where you're going to find the right one.
For some of us, it's in a theater.
For some of us, it's on LinkedIn.
Here are some other ways of meeting that led to future dates.
Blind dates, of course.
Social events, popular dating websites, bars and clubs.
All these are kind of, you know, what you would think.
Right.
Work events came up at 33%.
Jim and fitness centers at 31%.
Communing, commuting and traveling.
So, a lot of people running into people on the bus
or on the L train or something like that.
I wouldn't have thought of that either,
but yeah, that makes sense.
Luxury dating apps.
I'm just learning about this.
So, there are dating apps called Elite Singles.
And the Elite.
I don't know what it takes to get into
some of these sites for the bear.
Sorry, the other ones, lob dating apps?
Yes, that's it.
Yes, yes.
Is that the difference there?
Luxury versus slops?
Really?
Before you make love, I don't have to deal with any of this.
Are you lazy?
Do you not like trying that hard?
Do you just want things to fall into your lap?
Well, come on over to our app.
We'll make it.
We'll do all the work for you.
We won't even have to think.
Slavety.
Otherwise, we got those other ones.
That's your journey.
Beth, thank you again for pitching the last couple weeks.
It's been a lot of fun.
Thank you.
We missed you around here.
It's been a lot of fun to have you with us.
Thank you so much for the time.
And looking forward to having you in studio again real soon.
Hi, I look forward to it.
Want to remind people that you can catch
a Reverend Beth Habhagger services every Sunday
over at the Wisconsin Ravis Meravian Church.
If you're not able to make those in a tendon person,
she has a great YouTube page.
And you can check out the...
The Church has a great YouTube page.
I meant to say that.
Yeah, I said it wrong, yeah.
If you go ahead and type in your search bar
on YouTube Wisconsin Ravis Meravian Church
and keep in mind the Winter Farmer's Market.
Yes.
Over at the Winter's Meravian Church.
Keep going through on the middle of May.
Check out the Winter Farmer's Market,
9-1 every Saturday.
Thanks again, Beth.
Thank you, James.
We'll be back with Craig Manko,
Wisconsin Ravis School Board candidate
right here on WFHR, locally grown radio.
Welcome back, everyone.
To the morning show here at WFHR,
locally grown radio.
Have your host, James Jamel, off here right now.
We've been being joined by a number of candidates
for local offices over the last week or so
in part of our candidate series.
We're going to continue that this week
just as a reminder to the audience.
These are basic questions.
I will ask about five to six questions,
the same questions to every candidate.
I will ask the question.
They will answer.
They will move on.
It's not a debate or a conversation necessarily.
It is more of an opportunity for these candidates
to talk to all of you.
If you have feedback,
if you have follow-up questions,
please reach out to me.
James.mail.fetsificmedia.us
and keep in mind that you can find out more information
who is on your ballot,
register to vote,
and much more information at myvote.wi.gov.
Myvote.wi.gov.
Right now, joining us is Craig Minka,
Wisconsin Rapid School Board candidates.
Craig, good morning.
Good morning.
Thanks for being here, Craig.
Appreciate the time.
Appreciate it.
Craig, as we try to encourage more and more people
to be in public service,
to be on boards, to run for public office,
that is the essence of my first question.
How have you enjoyed this experience?
It's been enlightening.
I've got to talk to a number of people out in the public,
just getting some ideas on what they're looking for in a school board,
what some of their concerns in that are.
Some of the things that I think I run into,
majority of the people are talking about academics.
Everyone's concerned about academics for all the kids.
Other thing is bullying issues and things like that at the school,
so those are things that I'd be looking at trying to help address.
What do you see as the boards' roles and responsibilities?
Well, it's pretty important.
Basically, they're overseeing everything.
They're overseeing our kids' futures, their education,
making sure that things are being run as smoothly as possible.
It's a pretty important position,
whether you're looking at budgets,
going over, making sure you're fiscally responsible
on everything that you're doing.
One of the things, too, is making sure that we're out there
and actually getting independent beds,
making sure that we're comparing them,
so it's apples to apples,
that we're getting the most paying for the buck for our school districts.
What are your goals if elected to the school board?
Probably the thing that I'm most passionate about is making sure,
my motto I've got on my science and as kids first,
I truly believe that.
I've been involved with kids for 10 years now,
right around 10 years now with the foster program for Wood County.
I've been involved with a number of different organizations,
like Policy Council Head Start.
I've had a couple of terms there where I've been president now,
and just helping oversee things.
So my goals with this is to make sure that we've got the tools and resources
that we need to help our children in these schools.
Because that's one of the concerns that I'm seeing from a lot of parents,
is that they're saying that they're not getting the help or the tools that are necessary,
and just making sure that teachers understand that there are mental health issues
and things that we need to address in the city.
And part of that comes with kids, making sure that things are set up,
that if they have an IEP or a 504 plan,
that we're looking at these closely to make sure that the people that are involved
with actually educating these children understand what their needs and know things are.
So, speaking with Craig Manko, Wisconsin-Rabbit School Board candidate,
Craig, how do you plan to include parents, teachers, the community, and decision making?
It's all about communication, and that's something too that I've heard from a lot of residents
where they're like, you know, there's not enough communication.
They're saying things like, you know, they go to a board meeting that they don't feel
that they're being heard. I'm all about communication. I manage large family operations
in it for rentals. I do in town here, Centralia. I've got Wildwood, and we've also got
cranberry woods. So, I specialize with senior low-income type affordable housing.
I'm trying to make sure that word gets out on what we can and can't do with the schools,
and doing the best that we possibly can, and get our best foot forward.
What distinguishes you from other candidates?
I've got a lot of experience dealing with kids with special needs as evidenced by my own
children, and they've got some special needs of their own. But I've been really heavily involved
with Wood County, with Foster Program. We do mentoring with other foster families to try to help
make sure kids have, you know, the best placements that they can get.
So, that, and then also with what I do for living, I manage large-scale apartments all across
Central Wisconsin. I'm heavily involved with budgeting, making sure that we're being
physically responsible for our owners. In this case, it would obviously be the district. So,
I've got a lot of budgeting experience. I've got a lot of experience dealing with children
with special needs, belonging, a number of different organizations, but I'm all about the kids
and trying to make sure that they get their needs taken care of. Craig, just one last question
for you. Why should voters cast their ballot for you? Final thoughts.
I'm hardworking. Anything I do, I put myself 110% into it. I think historically people can
look back at my record with dealing with children, and this is all I care about.
You know, some people may not agree with certain things that need to get done with the children
at that, but ideally, this has to come first. The kids have to come first. These kids are going to
be our future, and if we don't start now and make sure they have the tools that need to be successful
in life, you know, it's not going to end well for anybody. So, Craig, thank you very much for the
time for taking time out of your day and your life to be not only running for this position,
but joining us on the air here. Thank you again. Thank you.
We'll have more candidates joining us throughout the week here on Tuesday, Roger Wilcox,
candidate for Saracitor Supervisor. We'll join us at 835 and 905 tomorrow. We'll have the
League of Women voters joining us. On Wednesday at 905, we'll have Elizabeth St. Myers,
candidate for Wisconsin Rabbit School Board with us on Thursday at 835, Tom Ramone,
candidate for Wisconsin Rapids, Alder Person District 4, and also on Thursday at 935,
Daniel Carlson, candidate for Nuku Samar. Friday, we will have John Benbow,
candidate for Wisconsin Rapids School Board with us, and that should wrap up our week unless we
have any other candidates joining us. Reach out to us during the week here. We'll try to get
them on the air as we give equal time to every candidate. And remember, you can find out more at
myvote.wi.gov. Myvote.wi.gov. I'm going to take a quick minute break. We'll come back and wrap
up the show right here at WFHR. Welcome back everybody. Morning show here at WFHR,
locally grown radio.
Welcome back to the show. Hope you guys are having a good one out there. Thanks so much for joining us.
Just got about a minute left. One of the wrap things up. A big thank you to Beth Habhagger
for joining us today. I do really, in the last couple of weeks, I really appreciate the time
from Beth and her joining us. I want to thank Craig Manca for joining us as well. Wisconsin's
Rapids School Board candidate. As we will have other candidates joining us and have had some
already joined us. Greatly appreciate that. And just as much as we appreciate these candidates
and appreciate the hard work that Pam Hilke did to schedule them and get them on the air with us,
appreciate our listeners. You guys have been great about these. The feedback we have gotten
about these candidates. Interviews have been very positive and very fun for us. So thank you so
much to everybody out there. As we wrap up, just a couple of good stories of the day. One of them,
one of the mention, our friends over at the Nacusa Public Schools have going on today at Alexander
Middle School and Nacusa High School bands going on. They're performing today at six. Be sure to
check that out and the Nacusa High School auditorium. Go ahead and support local and support those kids.
It'll be a lot of fun. And a guy in Colorado tried to run from the cops last week. It was headed
over a snowy mountain pass in his Jeep, but the chase ended with no one hurt after a snowplow
driver intentionally crashed into him. The Colorado Department of Transportation thanked him for his
quick thinking. So interesting story. Yeah. Have a great day. Everybody, we'll be back at this
tomorrow. More Morning Show WFHR.
