Mommy, how does Santa go to the bathroom? (Hour 2)

Good morning, Wisconsin.

Good morning, world.

It's a new day.

Thanks for kicking it off with us right here at WFHR.

Got your host, James behind the mic.

I am joined by CEO of your United Way of Southwood in the Ames County's Terry John.

Good morning.

We have the band back together, Terry.

Do happy Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Happy hump day.

We're going to kick things off the way we like to with a good friend, Brittany Merlot,

talking a little mother nature.

Good morning, Brett.

Good morning.

How are you guys doing?

Great.

How about you?

Pretty good.

Pretty good.

Mother Nature keeping me busy.

She's got a wild ride for us across the state today.

Yeah.

Briefly.

Hang on tight.

I imagine you've got to do forecast up and down the state and everything.

It's got to be pretty a wild day for you.

Oh, yes, surely is because we've got winter storm warnings up northeast off of Lake Superior

where they're looking at about 10 inches of snowfall.

So half of a foot to nearly a foot throughout just today.

I'm a little jealous.

I know me too.

I mean, truth be told.

I'm jealous.

We'll get a little dose today.

Not probably what you and I are looking for, but a little bit.

So we are looking at less than an inch.

It looks like it's going to start around noon and kind of continue through the evening.

Maybe winding down by six or seven or so.

Very small, flurry, flakes because our temperatures are going to be crashing cold.

We've got this vicious cold front.

It's moving through this afternoon.

So highs today will hit the low 30s, probably around 10 a.m.

and then we crash for the rest of it.

And we're going to be following all the way down to the single digits tonight.

Plus 40 mile per hour winds on top of that.

This is going to be feeling like near negative 20 by early tomorrow morning.

And probably feeling like highs in the single digits tomorrow.

So a very, very cold one.

But it will be sunny tomorrow after a little winter snow globe today.

Sounds beautiful.

And let me tell you who's walking the dog at my house.

Not me.

I'm not only talking about the 40 mile an hour winds.

I don't care about the cold.

I, my fur brother, my parent's dog, Sammy, he's got a bum leg.

So we got to pick him up and take him outside right now.

And I've been in charge of this.

And I pick him up and I'm doing this for him.

But he has given me the weirdest looks.

He just wants to do it himself and everything.

But then once I get him outside, it's all different.

Everything changes what's the cold hits him and everything.

He's like, oh no, pick me up, pick me up.

He goes in with that.

And with your coveted fur, this cold could hit you pretty deep,

which keep in mind everybody out there when not only comes to our loved ones

and our seniors out there, but certainly our furry friends.

You know, they can only keep them indoors as best as possible.

Yes.

Yes, please do.

A good reminder.

Love that.

Appreciate you, Brittany.

We'll talk again tomorrow.

Thanks.

Have a good day.

Two.

That's in the business right there.

Good for him, Brittany.

We're allowed to say every morning, right in this time slot.

Coming up at another time slot.

Interesting.

And then we got the 9 o'clock hour kicking off with some entertainment news,

getting some fun stuff there.

A little bit later in the 9 o'clock, the top 10 questions kids ask around the holidays.

Cute.

I love that.

It could be interesting.

That could be quite fun.

All that coming up for you and plenty more.

It's live radio.

Who knows what can happen?

Get into our schedule.

Got some good stories of the day.

That ain't right story or two possibly as well a little bit later.

But we're going to kick things off, talking a little united way with you.

We are in go time.

We are in campaign season.

Oh, go.

No.

I just wanted to shout out real quick.

I got to you guys this newsletter the other day in a nice reminder.

I'm giving Tuesday about a match.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

I went ahead and did that like I do every year.

I want to thank you and the United Wave for letting me know about it years ago.

It's something that I think as much as these kids enjoy those books,

I bet you I enjoyed doing it as much as they do.

They are great, great books.

That is really cool.

One of the things that we did,

I think we're in year three-ish,

is we actually receive a set of them at the United Wave office

so that when we're out promoting the program,

we can bring the books and people can see,

touch them, feel them.

That's cool.

So basically we created an imaginary kid.

But we have this set and the books are just phenomenal.

I can't speak highly enough about this.

And so, you know, and the reason we're able to offer this program

for all of Southwood County and all of Adams County.

So any and every child that resides in Southwood or Adams County,

again, the child has to reside there,

not grandma, grandpa, and her uncle, but the child.

Any child is eligible and they receive a free book in the mail from birth

until age five when you get a really cool onto kindergarten book.

You know, you kind of graduate with a nice message from Dolly.

It's super cool.

So everyone's first book, no matter what your age.

So maybe you didn't know about the program.

So you're signing up your three-year-old,

which is perfectly acceptable.

But every child's very first book is the little dungeon that could.

Yeah.

And then everybody's last book is on to kindergarten.

But in between is a great variety of books

that are selected by reading interventionists

that are part of the Dollywood Foundation staff.

And so the way that we are able to offer this program

is twofold.

One, women united.

And women united does things like power of the purse fundraiser.

They have a membership donation that they make to help support programs

all currently focused around early grade learning and literacy.

So they contribute the majority.

And then we also accept donations from individual donors who say,

you know, hey, I think this program is really cool.

I want to support literacy.

This is our future.

These are our future leaders.

And so that's really awesome.

The other thing we are seeing in 2025,

just a really small uptick in the price of the program.

Because, you know, these are mailed.

Yeah.

And that is really awesome.

I mean, kids don't get mail anymore.

So there's something about that.

But it does, you know, the costs of mailing things has gone up.

And we don't physically mail them.

They come right out of the Dollywood Foundation in Knoxville.

So that cost has gone up.

But I mean, it's very, very slight.

So for instance, where it'll, the cost will be for us to provide the program

is $35 per child per year.

But they're getting 12 books.

You can't even buy, but you can't buy 12 books for $35 plus have them sent.

And there's a personal message from Dolly.

And there's, you know, I think it's kind of cool because always in the front flap,

there's also some strategies like, you know, parents might read the book to the child

or with the child.

But then it'll say, okay, go back and, you know, talk with your child about summer,

because it might be a book about talking, you know, or whatever.

But just, it'll, it'll just spark some ideas because, you know, the reality is,

is sometimes we do that, but sometimes we're burned out.

We get home from work.

We get the kids home from school.

We make supper and blah.

And so if we can just, like, look at that and be like, oh, yeah, that's a good idea.

I should ask that question.

So, so that's, you know, what we promoted yesterday for Giving Tuesday.

But, but it's always an option.

You can go on our website and you can just say, hey, I want to sponsor a child.

Click the button.

You know, put in your $35 or if you want to do two kids or if you just say, you know what?

I want to support this program, but I have $10.

That's what I have.

We'll put it toward the program.

You don't have to sponsor a whole child.

That's just how we promote it.

And then of course, you know, we're in campaign season.

So we are pounding the pavement on that and really, you know, really trying to make sure

that we raise enough dollars to support all of the programs that we promised funding to.

So we pre-allocate.

We did that back in May for funding that will start in January.

But we need to raise the funds now.

We're about $100,000 out.

So we're running behind last year by about $20,000 just timing-wise.

You know, I'm not saying we're going to end behind.

But as of right, you know, right in this moment.

Sorry.

I don't have that on me.

I checked.

Wait a minute.

No good.

So, but, but I mean, you know, I'm very optimistic that we will get there.

But it's just, you know, a reminder to folks that, you know, hey, you have that mailing

sitting on the pile on your counter.

No time like now to get it out to us.

We're going to be doing some, you know, a lot of reminders in the next couple of weeks

and just reaching out and understanding that, you know, things change.

But sometimes things change where people can do more.

Sometimes they can do less.

Hopefully they can do the same.

So we're just, you know, in, like I said, in follow-up mode, running a little bit behind,

not behind enough for it to be a crisis.

To the point of imagination library is going back to that for a second.

One of the other things that I think is a great one, a really wonderful thing to come out of that is,

you know, a little bit later in the 9 o'clock, we're going to be talking about kids' questions this time of year and stuff.

Well, kids ask questions all the time 24-7.

They are a sponge and they're a constantly wondering things.

And they're asking a lot and they're, of course, going to ask where these books come from.

And then when you get to tell these kids, well, a stranger bought these for you.

And that's going to stay with that child.

And maybe, you know, say out of five kids you do this with two, three, maybe even four of them go on

and do something like this as adults.

You know, go and give to the United Way or give to a nonprofit or want to work with a nonprofit or something like that.

We're getting them books and that's the most important part.

But the tie-in to giving is also there and they're seeing that again.

Those sponges are taking this in.

So whether it is the imagination library or it is something else that you are a part of with the United Way,

kids see this and we're not just giving to our nonprofits.

We're not just giving back into our community.

We're giving to our future.

We're investing in that.

We're showing kids this is what we do.

Kids are so much wiser and smarter than we realize.

And we forget what it's like to be that age.

And they're picking not only these things up, they're seeing what we do.

The good, the bad, all of it.

This is our opportunity to invest in the future with our actions.

And the way we handle ourselves, the way we treat each other, especially strangers helping strangers.

Having an opportunity to do something like this, I just, I can't put a price on it.

I really can't.

And knowing that you are investing in your future, investing in your community.

It feels pretty darn good.

And there's, you know, plenty of reasons to feel good nowadays.

And this time of year and everything, I couldn't encourage you enough to be a part of these things.

I'm happy to hear that we are that close we want to get even farther into that.

Help the United Way continue to do the work that they are doing in this community.

Go to uswac.org, find out more.

We'll be hitting on this as we wrap up the show as well, Terry.

I want to mention the calendar raffle is going on, isn't it?

Well, we're just starting to seek sponsors for that.

So that, yeah, so the raffle, no, it's good.

The raffle will happen in the spring.

But, you know, if you're a local business and you are, you know, would like to jump in,

we do have a link on our website where you could sponsor.

The really cool thing about this is the, you know, you could sponsor a day for anywhere from $75 to $200.

And your logo goes on all of those, all of those calendar raffle cards.

So your logo gets automatically 2000 impressions for $75 investment,

which then goes back out into the, you know, goes back out into the community, right?

So all, we get every day of April sponsored.

And that's what we're seeking now.

So we have time to print them and then sell them.

But we get every day sponsored.

And then we can, you know, we don't have to take any money out of what we sell for the prizes.

Everything that we sell goes right into the campaign.

So, so win, win, win, right?

So we are, this is very intuitive of you.

We literally just popped that up yesterday afternoon.

So, so we, we do, we are taking sponsorships.

So, you know, and we have some, some regulars that always, you know, jump in and sponsor.

And we certainly appreciate that.

But if there's anybody else, you know, maybe you have a small business.

You're trying to get the word out.

We'll be selling.

We limit it to 2000 tickets.

And then there is a cash price for every weekday of April.

You're marketing doubtless.

And you don't have to take my word for this.

You can ask any marketing specialists are almost doubled when you work with a nonprofit.

And then there is the good PR and the good vibes that you get from that.

Not only in the community, but from your own co-workers and everything.

There are a few things I can recommend more than tying yourself in and, you know, using your advertising dollars with a nonprofit.

In particular, the United Way.

I think that's a pretty darn good one.

We will take a time out.

We'll come back with more.

But again, UWSWAC.org is the website.

Go ahead and check that out.

Bookmark that page and file the United Way on social media.

Be back more fun on the morning show at WFHR.

Music

It's time for the El Caffe birthday anniversary club.

One of our favorite parts of the day.

We get to celebrate you and our great friends over at El Caffe.

Go visit them today at 221 Market Avenue and beautiful port Edwards.

They got a wonderful chili skillet or spaghetti with garlic bread for lunch today.

Come out and enjoy a nice hot breakfast as well.

They got tons of great stuff.

One of the more unique menus.

Some of the most amazing people in a great atmosphere.

Check out El Caffe today.

221 Market Avenue and beautiful port Edwards.

But it just always sounds so good.

Everything that yes ever.

Every time I hear it, you read that off.

And I was like, oh, me honest.

I am picky.

That's good.

Even when there's stuff that I wouldn't normally eat, I would eat it there.

Definitely, definitely.

Check out their food.

Check out their menu and buy local support local everybody.

And get us those birthdays and anniversaries.

Want to celebrate with you.

Send them to info at WFHR.com.

You could direct messages on our Facebook pages as well.

And of course, call up 715-424-2600.

Call up and join the conversation.

Looking forward to hanging out with you.

Call up and join us with your birthdays and anniversaries.

And Terry, I have El C-4 possible qualifiers.

Give me a 1-4.

A 1-2.

And that gives us a qualifier.

So we can get right into the celebrating.

And first up, we want to wish a very happy birthday to a good friend of ours here at the station.

Allie Sprawling.

Happy birthday, Allie.

Allie worked with us for a while here at WFHR.

The old studios and everything.

Appreciate her.

A wonderful human being.

I actually worked with Allie twice in radio.

I worked with her over in my GLX days as well.

Wishing you a good one, Allie.

Enjoy your day.

We want to wish a very happy birthday as well too.

Bob Rose.

Happy birthday, Bob.

Enjoy your day, sir.

Hope it's a good one for you.

That's a great name, by the way.

It's a great name.

Enjoy your day, Bob.

And we wish a very happy birthday to another friend of ours here at WFHR.

JR Seward.

Happy birthday, JR.

I make no bones about it.

Mr. Seward treated my family very, very well.

I was really good to my mother.

And that gives him pretty much his mail-off.

No, no.

That's Seward to put a lot into this community.

And one of the things that I learned through JR with doing,

let's talk real estate with him for years,

was not only how interesting the real estate industry is,

and how much it is tied to our economy,

how much you can see how your economies are actually doing compared to housing prices

and a lot of those things.

But all industry is a reputation business.

No more than the real estate industry.

And how you treat people.

And certainly the idea of these are my neighbors that I'm selling houses to

or selling all these different things.

Just learned a lot from them.

And what it really means to,

a lot of people could talk about being a part of a community or adding to a community.

There's a whole different thing when you're literally doing it.

You're such an integral part of it.

I really do appreciate what they've done over there

and the work that they've done for years.

Him, his father, so much.

And the many people that are over there now are taking over.

I hope JR's doing so.

He's got to be getting ready for a marathon or something.

He's definitely what he's doing right now.

I'm pretty sure.

And we wish a very happy birthday to our qualifier,

Affie Tabriz.

Happy birthday.

Affie.

Affie over at Family Natural Foods, a friend of ours,

and joined us here on the radio station a number of times.

Lots of friends on the winning today and being on our list.

That's awesome.

And Affie, congratulations.

And Affie, birthday to you.

Hope all the gang over at Family Natural Foods

are making it as awkward as they've made mine.

No, I'm joking.

I'm joking.

Happy to get a big old cake.

Yeah.

Oh, that'd be great.

We take a look at our celebrity list.

Let's see here.

Jelly Roll is 40 today.

Save me.

Quite a few other songs.

One of my dad's favorite artists,

even though he couldn't tell you probably any of his songs.

But he loves his interviews.

He loves his interviews like someone's a person.

I think that whether you like Jelly Roll or not,

I don't know how you cannot look at him in his life

and his career where he is now,

and not take some inspiration,

not take an idea of like, okay, well,

that's what this is all about.

I'm young, I mess up.

I have an opportunity to turn my life around

and become a good part of society, a taxpayer,

an entertainer, or somebody who entertains others

who takes my talent and does something with it good.

That's a story that if you take away the tattoos,

you take away all the style of music,

any of these other things,

and you insert something you like out there,

you're going to be raving about this man

and championing him and having his music on your radio

and everything.

His style of music, I'll be honest, isn't my thing.

But I saw him in Laney Wilson the other day

when they were performing at the Cowboys game.

It was the only entertaining thing about that game.

I cannot get over.

First off, a real quick tease, real hip.

If you didn't notice,

that performance was a little more pop and circumstance unusual.

I believe a hot take real quick.

Next year's Super Bowl, Laney Wilson.

Well, I will put my name on the animal pause.

I think that rivaled any Super Bowl halftime show

I've seen in the last however many years.

I mean, I just can't get over how comfortable

and how good she is at what she's doing at so young.

She's only been doing this for a little while,

but she's been preparing for this forever.

Well, Jelly Roll comes out there is just as good.

And just as, and not only like born to do this,

but just giving their all, putting it all out there.

But they also didn't, it also didn't feel sometimes,

I think, you know, these halftime shows or whatever.

But sometimes it's like, okay, we're going to have this artist

and this artist and it feels like a force fit.

And that was just natural.

You know what I mean?

It just was like, I'm seeing him out there doing that.

And he's giving everything he has to it.

You see, okay, not only is he giving all he has,

but he realizes how fortunate he is.

He realizes what he has.

And there's something different.

There's, there's something different about a human being

that maybe don't necessarily have their back against the wall

but knows what that's like and doesn't want to go back to that.

There's, there's an inspiration for sure.

And there is Tyra Banks.

Oh, it's 51 today.

And happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

Jay Z is 55.

Happy birthday to him.

Fred Armason is 58 former SNL cast member, Port Landia.

He was Uncle Fester on Wednesday.

Great character actor.

Very good.

Marissa Tomay is 60.

Wow.

Aunt May on the Spider-Man movies.

Many people remember her from my cousin, Vinnie.

Yeah.

When Oscar for that, best supporting Oscar for that.

Great actor.

Jeff Bridges is 75.

The dude.

Best actor winner for Crazy Heart.

And currently on my mom and dad,

one of their favorite shows, The Old Man on Hulu.

I don't know what to think about it.

But I love that show.

I think I like Jeff Bridges.

You talk about.

I like him too.

Just is what he is.

You know, always has been has never put on airs

and has had an amazing career.

Fantastic career.

Max Bayer, Jr. is 87.

Jeff throw on the Beverly Hill billies.

How old?

Just six, 87.

Okay.

Wow.

Wing Martin Dale is 91.

Amazing host of Tic-Tac-Doh.

I think he hosted some other things too.

And then some people know Locker with us.

Like Dennis Wilson born in 1944,

passed away in 1983.

Beach Boys drummer.

And the only one that served in the band actually

is it turns out.

Interesting.

And Tony Todd would have been 70 today.

Great character actor.

A lot of people know him from the Candyman movies.

He was Candyman.

But he was in the rock.

Lean on me.

He was a few.

He was in a star trek with a is a Klingon.

Great character actor.

Let's see here.

And Victor French born in the state in 1934.

Pestway in 1989.

Mr. Edwards on Little House on the Perry.

He was also Mark Gordon on Highway to Heaven.

And Agent 44 on Get Smart.

Great career for Victor French.

A nice long career for him too.

And that is going to do it for our birthdays and anniversaries.

But one more time,

want to remind you to get us those birthdays and anniversaries.

Get them to us everybody so we can celebrate with you.

And be sure to head on over to El Café and celebrate with them.

Buy local support,

support those that support this community.

Like our good friends at El Café.

There are 221 Market Avenue and beautiful poor Edwards.

And speaking of those that support this community,

we got our friends quality plus printing with our wicked awesome

wear to Wednesday that is coming up along with plenty more

after our newest break here on the morning show at WFHR.

Welcome back to the show everybody.

Terry and James hanging out with you.

We hope you're having a fantastic Wednesday out there.

Thank you so much for joining us.

We're going to be joined by our friends from quality plus printing

with our wicked awesome wear to Wednesday.

And just a little bit looking forward to that.

Got plenty of more fun things to get into it.

We're going to talk a little bit Christmas trees right now, Terry.

If you put up an artificial Christmas tree,

you could do that anytime you want.

That's pretty cool.

We're going to talk a little bit Christmas trees right now, Terry.

If you put up an artificial Christmas tree,

you could do that anytime you want.

That's pretty much a go time.

I actually heard a good quote from one of my favorite people

in radio, Dan Levitard the other day is Miami Guy.

And he had a line that I thought fits pretty darn good

actually for the Midwest.

Dan's never spent a day in the snow.

But he said, the moment there is snow on Lambo,

I can put my Christmas tree up.

I feel like that's pretty safe.

I feel like that's a pretty safe way to handle it.

But for others, you know, there's a different frame of time.

I think every family almost has a certain,

oh, this is when we put our tree up.

Maybe the day after Thanksgiving or maybe even right now

around this time of the season.

But when, according to a new survey,

real Christmas tree shoppers fall into six categories

based on when they buy their trees.

And here's how it breaks down.

The early birds who put it up before Thanksgiving,

14% do that.

This group really has to work to keep their tree

from drying out by Christmas.

So they work a little harder on that.

Yeah, I would think.

The people who buy their, then there's the people

who buy their tree over Black Friday weekend,

33% of people do that.

That's pretty significant.

33%.

Yeah.

And then there are the seasonal pursuits

who get a tree the first weekend of December.

33% also do that.

Okay.

So basically two out of three people get a real Christmas tree

about a month out.

That also means we're in the middle of a 10-day stretch

where most people get their tree.

Then number four, then there are the people

who wait until the second week of December,

16% of people do that.

That's next week.

There's the people who put it off

until the third week of December,

3% of people do that.

And then there is the Christmas Eve traditionalists

who put it up on Christmas Eve.

That is about 1% of people to do that.

You know, I just always feel like it's so much...

Well, first of all, I love Christmas decorations.

So I like it when the house is festive like that.

But it's so much work.

So for me, I want it up for a while.

Yeah.

And then one of our daughters has a January birthday,

so I always made sure it was down before birthday.

You know what I mean?

So it wasn't like blending together.

So if I could have left it up longer,

maybe I'd put it up later,

or maybe just leave it up longer.

I don't know.

But yeah, I'm a round Thanksgiving-ish.

Yeah, yeah.

That's what my family's usually done at two.

Usually the day after Thanksgiving

or that weekend or whatever, however, falls.

There may have been a time

when putting a real tree up that late

had a little magic to it.

These days, it feels like a lot of effort

to just have a tree up for a day.

Yeah.

That seems like a lot, I don't know.

Plus, a lot of people like enjoying the spirit

of the holiday season in their homes

throughout the run-up to Christmas.

There's a phrase that it's always...

I've never really felt too much,

but I really do feel it this time of year.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

I feel like that's a lot of Christmas.

Christmas day is wonderful.

It's awesome.

It has a lot to it.

It's 24 hours.

You know, the build up to it,

the spirit of Christmas, all of those things,

is to me part of the real joy of Christmas,

part of the real fun of Christmas,

is all the pop and circumstance

and the build up to it and everything.

When I think it just runs forward to New Year's Day,

like for me, you know what I mean?

Or like the whole time the kids are off school

or you don't like that,

like that's the Christmas season.

Yeah.

But yeah, for me, it's a longer run.

I do an artificial tree.

We have a wood burning fireplace in our living room

and we burn it all the time.

So it's like the last time I had a real tree,

it dried out, no matter how much I watered it.

You know what I mean?

It just dries out so fast.

And I don't want to put it somewhere

other than the living room.

Like I want it where I'm going to enjoy it most.

So yeah, so I do fake tree

and so I can put it up and down really whenever I...

Yeah, yeah.

Whenever it strikes me.

Do you do the with Christmas ornaments?

I know there are some families they've got so many that like,

no, no more were done.

Do you still find yourself getting Christmas ornaments?

You know, sometimes, but it is kind of funny

because this year, like the kids were helping and stuff

and I was...

I'm like, do you guys want this?

I think I probably have like 318 gallon totes

just of ornaments.

And I'm like, you guys want the other one?

And they're like, yeah, no, we're done.

And I was fine with it.

I'm just like, yeah, you know what?

That's fine.

But I do have from every year since the girls were little,

I've always made an ornament with their picture on it

or had one made.

But I don't put those on the tree.

I oddly...

Like I have a table in our dining room

that I have a like a metal...

It's a metal tree, but it's basically just a big ornament stand.

And so I have all of those on there.

So like you can just look at it and just see all of their pictures

throughout the years.

And so that's just kind of a fun special place that I have those.

I just don't...

I don't know why.

Some of them are breakable.

Yeah.

And then I switched to metal ones.

So those obviously aren't.

But you know, our dog is still...

I mean, he's three, but he's still a puppy.

Like his tail is just whacking that tree all the time.

And I'm just like, oh...

So I just...

I don't know.

I don't put those on there.

I put them in a different special place.

But so those ornaments, yes.

And then also a tradition was started several years ago in Rudolph

that we've...

Rudolph has an ornament every year.

Yeah.

And so I have all of those.

I have that whole collection.

And so I also put those in their own special spot,

not on the tree, because they are the breakable glass ones.

But it is...

You know, it's just kind of a cool fun tradition.

But other than that, I really don't...

I won't say no to an ornament, but I'm not like,

give me ornaments.

Right, right.

I know that there's...

Like my mom, like a lot of parents out there has the ornaments

that we made when we were kids.

And she's kind of stopped putting a lot of those up

just because they've gotten fragile and she wants to save them.

But there's one that she puts up every year.

And I didn't know I had made it for years.

But it's the clothes pins.

Yeah.

And you make the little Rudolph...

The reindeer.

Yeah.

She's still got mine that I made.

I thought it was my sisters.

But I don't know if it was like three, four years ago,

whatever it was.

No, I'd had to have been there in the pandemic.

I actually took a look at it as I was putting it up on the tree

and I'm like, oh, wait, I made this.

That was pretty cool.

That's my name.

And I also think I think of this almost every year

around this time.

There are certain inventions that you look at and you're like,

man, if my family had come up with that.

And whoever invented those little green hooks,

you got to think that they've ever made those or that company.

They live at large.

They live at large, man.

That's the company to invest in, I would think.

We haven't figured out a better way to hang ornaments yet

than those little green hooks.

That seems like it's still the best way to do it.

And certainly what two or three weeks ago,

most departments towards most places started putting out Christmas stuff

and the rise of ornaments.

If you can think of it, there's an ornament of it.

There is an ornament of everything nowadays.

And you can have pretty much any ornament made,

which is super fun.

You know, like die cutters can do that or whatever vinyl.

Like I said, I've done the photo once for 20 years.

So yeah, it is fun.

And I'm just going to correct you from my retail world.

Christmas has been out for like three months.

You're right.

100% right.

At Yonkers, we used to set Christmas the second week of September.

I believe so.

I believe it.

If you're curious about finding a real Christmas tree,

you're in your heaven a hard time wherever you're located,

real Christmas tree board.com, real Christmas tree board.com

is the website you can go to to find a real tree locator.

That's kind of cool.

That's cool.

Yeah.

You know, I do love like in movies and stuff when you see the traditional tree lot,

you know, where it's just there's all these trees propped up.

And you go check it out.

I think that's always fun.

I've only gotten to do it twice.

But if you get the chance to cut down your own tree,

oh, God, do it.

It's such a cool feeling.

It's awesome.

Unless you're the Griswaltz.

Yeah, I suppose that it's a little different.

It might be a little different for our friends of quality plus printing.

Let's find out.

Every Wednesday, our good friend Phil Hartley joins us from quality plus

bringing us our wicked awesome word of Wednesday.

Phil, how are you doing?

Yeah, good.

You know what?

We cut down our tree every year and every year I go to do it.

I think maybe not next year.

Why am I doing this?

It is a fun thing.

Up to zero temperatures.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But you know what?

And the whole group says, no, we're going to do that.

Then I'm the one doing it, of course, again.

Yeah.

Well, Phil, best laid plans.

Phil, you know, you grew up in Maine.

Are the winters that different there than here?

No, you know, I would say normally Maine gets more snow.

I mean, we need those to break the forest.

But yeah, they're just as miserable as here, really.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I've heard about that.

I mean, in living in Maine, it wasn't as hot in the summer time.

But a lot more snow.

And I had to grow up in the mountains back there too.

Oh, wow.

Is that cool?

That sounds awesome.

I could honestly talk to you about that for an hour, man.

I'm so curious about that.

Living out that way and everything.

It's interesting to me.

One day, you and I will have that conversation for now.

I do want to talk about not only quality plus printing with you feeling

and get to our wicked awesome word Wednesday.

But you guys just released your coloring books.

Those are out and ready for the public.

Yeah.

We just brought it.

We gave a whole bunch out of the parade.

I had one complaint about the parade that we can't run that fast.

Yeah.

Yes.

Was it moving fast?

I wasn't able to get there.

We're trying to hand out coloring books.

And the little cop that mean on the parade.

Like I'm about a mile away.

So I'm going to tell him I'm going to put a slow boat on the parade there next year.

Yeah.

But yeah.

No.

Yeah.

We're getting him out.

I'm going to bring over some hopefully later this morning to the Boys and Girls Club as well.

And the Thompson schools has been in here getting some of their elementary schools that they're giving out.

And so, yeah.

We'll be getting him out this week and next week.

But we printed over 2000.

And we'll have, we'll be done with him in just probably another week or so.

We'll have them all out.

Awesome.

I'm so proud of this effort, you know, especially people that work here.

But Tracy puts a lot of work into it, designing it and putting it together.

And so I'm thankful for that.

But yeah, it looks great.

And we're going to be presenting a check.

Well, it's a Terry.

Terry.

Yeah.

That's pretty cool.

That was by Tom Redone.

And then that's just amazing kind of this, you know, little effort that the community helps us with.

So, yeah.

It's been an awesome, awesome time once again.

And we look forward to doing it again next year.

Great news.

Love it.

It's important to you as a local business.

And if I can be, you know, real about this, a smaller business to take part of your work,

part of the energy that you put into things, and part of your profits into what the United Way does.

You know, well, first I was on the Ontario stage.

You put up with me for at least 10 years on the board.

It's almost time to get you back.

Yeah.

You know, how much I care for not only what you do, but for Terry, who's a great person.

But also, you see the good things I do around the community and all the different nonprofits and organizations that are helped from the United Way.

So, when it came time where I got this business and my head, I'm always thinking, you know,

so blessed to be able to do this.

A lot of people can't.

And so, how do you get back?

And so, instantly, you know, the creativity was flowing through Tracy about what we do.

But also, it was an easy thought of where does this need to go to make the biggest bang for the box, let's say, right?

And, you know, I knew the United Way was a place that could use this money.

And it was so well-run that it would be put into good use.

And so, it was an easy decision there, and I'm glad it turned out the way it did.

And I want to thank all the businesses that come in, including you guys over there, James, to help with this project.

So, thank you, and I'm very proud to make it happen.

And Phil, before we get to our wicked awesome word, speaking of words, I want to remind everybody that you guys have these new swear shirts out today.

Yeah, let's talk about that.

This is awesome, Phil.

I'm already a fan.

I'm already a fan.

I'm already a fan.

Oh, that just came in my head one day.

You know, when I was growing and doing a bunch of different orders, I was going to find something that, you know, that ours, you know,

and encompassed my ideas that, you know, that we do exclusively kind of thing.

As we make progress for everybody, and we've been doing that, and it's been awesome.

So, I had this idea in my head of that swear shirt, and then just putting it on the back, of course, not real swear words, but words you say to divert yourself from saying swear words.

It's just sometimes a lot more fun than the swear words are.

So, yeah, so we started to make these, and we're starting to tell them exclusively right here at the Quality Plus Printing.

We could also mean the way I'm.

So, yeah, if you have an idea, bring it on.

I think it's hilarious because I was like, I need that on just so, you know, you pass by a mirror and you're like, oh, yeah, bite your tongue.

You know, like, yes, watch your, watch your mouth.

Maybe just a good reminder.

It's a very good reminder.

And Phil, I imagine our wicked awesome word is not going to maybe show up on one of these shirts, but I might, it might.

What is our wicked awesome word of Wednesday?

So, I'm trying to go to the holiday team here and come up with some, some holiday words that you might not have heard every day.

So, our first one is Bobble.

Bobble?

Well, B-A-U-B-L-E, B-A-U-B-L-E.

And it means the small, uh, show a trinketer or decoration like Christmas bulbs on the Christmas tree or, uh, a brooch or, you know, something that's kind of small and shiny.

Yeah.

And it's usually related to Christmas.

Uh, so the Christmas bulbs and things like that about bubbles.

Bubbles, that works.

And why do I feel, is that in the Grinch?

Bubbles and bows, blah, blah, blah, blah.

That sounds familiar, yes.

I thought it sounded a little familiar, yeah.

I love it. Good choice.

Yeah.

It might not be in the Grinch.

I just was thinking that that's where I've heard it.

Well, we'll work it in there.

Well, we'll work it in there.

It is now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What the fuck is it now?

Grinch, by the way, would be a good swear word, by the way.

That would be a good one.

A good, a good, a good safe one.

It feels like, oh, Grinch.

I feel like it.

I don't know.

I feel like it.

We appreciate you, Phil.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We encourage everybody.

Get your printing needs by our friends over at Quality Plus printing.

Phil will talk real soon.

Thanks again for joining us.

Hang out with us.

We'll hang out again next Wednesday.

Yeah.

Looking forward to it.

Don't forget to go to white Christmas next two weekends.

Two over the community.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you guys.

Have a great day.

Really enjoy talking to you once again.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

Have a great day.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

Have a good one, Phil.

Have a good one, Phil.

Join our friends over at Quality Plus printing at 3515 A Street South right here in Wisconsin

Rapids.

Get there for all your printing needs.

We don't only thank them for joining us with our wicked awesome word of Wednesday, but

of course, Quality Plus printing is the sponsor of Playmakers, which you can hear tonight

from five to six.

Join us every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, five to six.

Get your sports feelings out.

Everybody made a highlight from the sideline.

Get them out.

Tery, Tery, I don't think it.

All right.

I'm glad you find this so funny.

I do.

I do.

There are a lot of people out there, Tery, that have sports takes that they keep inside

and they just fester and fester, and if you don't get them out, bad things can happen.

It's important that we have this show.

I don't see what it's so funny about.

That's why you guys have a big couch in here now for a long while.

Well, no, that's just for me as a bird.

I know all of a sudden the microphones can stretch, so you don't even have to pick your

head up off the pillow.

It's what we do.

It looks like this is how we bought this sports fans when we have a show like this.

And we're able to thanks to our friends at Quality Post Pritchie who join us every Wednesday