Good morning, Wisconsin.
Morning, world.
It's a new day.
Thanks for kicking it off with us here at WFHR.
Got your host, James J behind the mic.
I am joined by our head of news, our co-host, Melissa K.
Good morning.
And the best listeners in radio.
Thanks for joining us, everybody.
We appreciate the company.
Good things coming up for you.
We're going to get in some entertainment a little bit later.
We've got the top Christmas traditions.
We might ditch if we could or maybe tinker with a little bit.
Evolved.
Yeah.
All that coming up for you.
But we're kicking off the 9 o'clock hour in the right way.
We got a new chamber member with us.
We are talking with our heart of Wisconsin chamber members from grace.
They are the greater rapids area churches for humanism.
We have with us Reverend Beth Habhagger from the Wisconsin Rappers of Moravian Church.
Reverend Beth, good to have you here with us.
Good to be with you.
Thank you for being here.
And we have Reverend Kate West from the first congressional, United Church of Christ.
Reverend Kate, thanks for being here.
Good to be here.
I always do that.
I apologize.
I really do.
I don't mean any of those.
You're totally fine.
It is great to have you guys here today.
Appreciate the time.
Real quick, before we get into the blue Christmas worship, I would like to take this time
with you all with us to explain what grace is and to explain the work that you guys are
doing.
Beth, would you want to take that on?
Sure.
I serve as the president of this group.
The greater rapids area churches for humanism came out of the pandemic when the ecumenical
clergy group that was in town stopped meeting and just really didn't reform in any way.
And it's a group of churches and any church in the community is welcome to be a part of
it.
It's generally the pastor as the representative for the congregation.
If the pastor is unable to be there, we'll take any representative.
And we work together to help meet the needs of the community.
The hope is that if there were to be, unfortunately, something like what happened in Madison yesterday
to happen in our community, that we would be able to quickly respond together.
We have seen the need to help pay down school food service debt in our local school districts
so that our seniors can walk and receive their diplomas to get themselves on a good
foot to start that next chapter of their life.
And so that's been a big push for what we do.
We know that, especially in rural communities, I don't know that I've lived in a lot of
places.
I don't know I've ever lived in one like this, but in most rural communities, your churches
are oftentimes the ones that step up in times of need.
And we see this quite a bit, and certainly locally here at all of our surrounding areas.
But I don't believe that I've seen something like this in organization come together like
this where joining forces, if you will, it is the religious Voltron.
It is really cool.
I'm not trying to make light of anything.
I'm trying to really just celebrate this because I think it's quite unique as somebody
who comes from a Jewish and Catholic family.
This is right up my alley.
This is perfect.
And I think that our community deserves this.
It's nice to see.
And I appreciate the idea of reaching and putting the olive branch out there to anybody
else who would like to be a part of grace.
I think that that's a beautiful thing too.
And you guys in a short amount of time have already done some great work in this area.
Yes.
We started two years ago with a walkathon kind of thing called walkoff debt.
And it's something that we're trying to do annually.
And people can walk and donate money this year.
We tried to get sponsors.
So if you walked, you didn't have to do an entry fee, but you tried to find people who
might be willing to donate to the cause.
And we've raised over $2,000 so far this year for that.
And we've got another event coming up.
Kate can tell us a little bit more about that.
It's coming up in February.
Yeah.
We're going to do a trivia night at two doors down, brewery.
On Sunday, February 23rd from two to four, there's no entry fee to come and play trivia,
but we'll have some like sign-on auction items and just general donations and those
types of things.
So we're excited to just get together, have a little fun, but also make sure folks
can graduate too.
Yeah.
Which is wonderful.
And it's a really great tie-in to education trivia.
I like that.
I like that a lot.
I will say on that night, I'm on best team because I went to like one hour of Sunday
school.
I don't know.
It's not general.
Yeah.
It's not just five or three days.
It's not just five or three days.
It's not a tie-up for that little bit, but that's a really fun idea.
That's a really cool idea.
That's fine.
And I love the idea.
This is something actually I, and I'm sorry, real quick, Melissa, they got their headphones
on so they can hear you.
Thank you.
Okay.
Reggie White.
Reverend Reggie White, I should say, obviously huge name in this state and everything.
I actually heard a great story about him from Leo Roy Butler about how Reggie was really
trying to get the players to listen to hear him and they're dissecting like knuckleheads
and they're not listening and everything.
And Leo Roy told him, well, Reggie, you keep asking them to come to the church.
You got to go meet them.
And so Reggie, who doesn't drink, doesn't go to bars or anything like that, went and
spent a good night, you know, a good couple of hours at the bar with the guys and everything.
And the Packers went on to win the Super Bowl.
I'm not saying one has to do with the other, but it doesn't hurt.
It doesn't hurt.
It really does speak to what you guys are believing around here and everything and reaching
out to people and meeting people halfway and such of that.
I think that's beautiful.
We don't see enough of that, I think.
It's a cool thing.
Well, the word ecumenism itself means coming together in God's name.
So it's putting aside the denominational differences of how we worship and how we run our congregations
and denominations to just focus solely on our relationship with God.
And so it's coming together in God's name to worship God and to support God's people.
And there's no better time to come together than in times of need.
It's why we have community.
It's why we have each other.
And we have an event coming up this Thursday that really speaks to that, Beth.
Yes, it's a blue Christmas service and it's one I've been a part of since I've been
in the community and it's one that the Grace Group has now kind of taken up and it will
be at different congregations, different years.
But the whole point is that, you know, even though this is supposed to be the most wonderful
time of the year, even during the holidays, some people experience loss, some people are
experiencing financial struggles and other issues that are going on, especially after what
happened yesterday, that it's good to have a space to be able to claim that, to claim
the struggles that we have, the grief that we have, and know that there is still hope
because that child was still, at least in the Christian faith we believe that the child
was still born.
And so this is a chance for people to come together and to just, and this year's service
is different.
It's a Tasey service.
Yeah.
So there's not going to be like a sermon, technically it's my turn to preach and I'm
like, sweet.
I have an extra day off.
Yes.
But yeah, so Tasey is about more quiet reflection.
So you'll have some songs that we'll singing as a group.
There'll be scripture readings and some poetry and time for quiet reflection.
But it's not going to be loud and super busy.
It's just going to come as you are.
And if you need to stay and you need to have a quiet place to be with others, great.
If you need a place to be with others and you need to cry and have prayers, all the clergy
that are participating are available after the service to pray with people one-on-one or
in small groups, if whatever your people are comfortable with.
And so it's going to be at St. John's Episcopal Church across the street from the post office
at six o'clock.
And it's also nice because it falls on the longest night as well.
So it's our shortest day, our longest night.
And so yeah, I think it's really important for us to be able to come together and have
this moment to just kind of sit there and say, even as clergy, I think we're all getting
tired.
Yeah.
And it's hard to sit there and smile through it all.
And so we're being authentic.
And I think that's what we need is more people to show up authentically as they are.
It goes so far nowadays that it would be relatable and making people comfortable in a situation
like that.
My dad and I talked quite a bit about the Blue Christmas this year.
And while we've talked about it in years past, we've never thought about attending before,
but this is a year that we've kind of been feeling it from losing from loss of ourselves
and then loss ourselves, like many out there.
And one of the things that held him back at first was, well, Jimmy, I'm not that religious.
But that's not the requirement.
They're not checking cards at the door, man, they're not, you know, it's okay.
And he really, like, honestly, his shoulder is like literally went back when I said that.
Like, he really felt that.
And I think that's important for people to know as well as it is if anybody wants to celebrate,
you know, all comers.
Yeah.
And these events are never about trying to recruit people to become a Christian or to
become a part of one of our congregations.
It's simply an opportunity for us to gather together around a common goal.
Yeah.
Recruitment's next year.
No, I'm kidding.
I'm joking.
I'm joking.
But it is a beautiful thing to be able to bring to the community about that.
And it is, I think, one of the better examples that I've seen in my life of taking pain
and doing something good with it.
It's one of the greatest things human beings can do and I admire it.
And I think it's a really beautiful thing to be able to bring to our community.
And if I could just say, I know that oftentimes, especially this time of year, we get so busy,
but it's important to give grief its space.
And I think that that sounds like that's what you guys are doing as well.
It's just allowing a space for grief to be.
Absolutely.
And the understanding that there is no timeline to grief.
I've used an image with friends and family.
I lost my mother 16 years ago and grief isn't something you get over, but it becomes a
companion you travel with.
And it's more pronounced at sometimes and less pronounced at other times.
So this is a chance to just recognize that this companion is there and give it its space
and then allow that to be something that maybe pushes you through to be able to find the
joy again.
Because if we don't acknowledge the grief, it doesn't go away.
Correct.
It just builds.
Yeah.
And it doesn't even have to be about, you know, loss of loved ones or friends or family.
It can be loss of jobs and housing and all those other types of things too.
Because let's face it, post pandemic, we're also trying to figure this stuff out.
And nobody knows what this is going to look like and what tomorrow is going to bring.
And so, you know, it's not just about, you know, a physical death or those types of things.
It's about all of the spiritual deaths that we get through.
It's about all that personal loss and stuff that we're all just trying to get through
this day.
And possibly even loss of relationships, considering the political climate that we've
been in in the last several years.
So true.
I would personally like to come and read the loss of my waistline.
Yeah.
It's understandable.
Yeah.
You are more than welcome to come do that.
My sanity.
I don't know where it went.
My energy.
I want to say somewhere in April, I think I misplaced it.
I appreciate this event and I want to remind everybody the event is going on this Thursday.
It will be at St. John's church over at 320 Oak Street and Wisconsin Rapids at 6 o'clock.
You can meet them there, especially with our population having a larger senior population
and some of that.
If people have trouble getting there or anything, encourage people to reach out to our
RCAB companies or neighbors, somebody like that, maybe even the ADRC or something.
Because we want all the people to attend and that is a part of our population.
I feel like it could really use this event as well.
And keep in mind also that Grace is there 24-7.
If you're not available, you're working that night or something like that.
There are other opportunities you reach out and have that support because it's there
for you.
And we have a Facebook page that you can check when we promote money of our events there
and our congregations will promote some things that they have going on there, their churches
as well.
And it's the Greater Rapids area, Churches for Humanism, is the Facebook page.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Appreciate the time, you too.
Thank you so much.
Beth, is that the best way to get in touch with Grace through the Facebook page?
Either that or contact any of the churches that are there.
I think there's an email there as well.
I can't remember off the top of my head what it is, but it's listed on the Facebook page
and I can get that to you so that that can be included in the notes.
We appreciate the time, you too.
Thank you so much.
We'll talk again real soon.
Right.
Again, Blue Christmas worship at taking place this Thursday at 6 o'clock over at St. John's
Church at 320 Oak Street right here in Wisconsin Rapids.
Melissa and I will be back with more show coming up on the Morning Show at WFHR.
Welcome back everybody.
Welcome back to the Morning Show at WFHR.
Melissa and James hanging out with you.
And Sus got us job back.
We appreciate you joining us everybody.
Welcome back to the Morning Show.
It's been like a little Christmas jazz.
Yeah, I love it.
I am such a sucker for that.
Big thank you to our friends over at Grace.
That was a lot of fun.
That was a great conversation.
To appreciate a veteran, a Beth and Reverend Kate for joining us.
That was wonderful.
Be sure to find Grace's Facebook page, subscribe to that, keep up to date and all the good work
they're doing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And head over for the Blue Christmas on Thursday.
I think it'll be a wonderful ceremony or time just to be.
And I believe the more the more the merrier it could never be more true with that one.
We got some entertainment news to touch on.
We got some local things we want to get to.
But first, we want to touch on a couple of more nation stories.
Red one, the movie that just came out over the weekend, had a pretty mediocre box office
run.
The critics didn't really like it that much, but fans seemed to.
But there's been a gigantic hit on Amazon.
It attracted 50 million viewers worldwide in its first weekend, which was the biggest
debut for an Amazon MGM studio's movie on Prime.
I did not mean to contribute to that.
I honestly did not.
I did not.
But you did.
I did.
Yeah.
Amazon has said from the beginning that box office wasn't the most important thing for red
one, the plan was to put it out in theaters with a huge marketing push, which was ultimately
paid for with box office receipts.
So they kind of moved this around and moved the money around to make this happen.
So by the time it hit Amazon, it already had a ton of basically free advertising, which
worked out given the weekend's streaming numbers.
And just for a note where the red one is still in theaters, so it's still making money
there too.
I just hope that they don't replace going to the theater live with just streaming stuff.
Yeah.
I think that one of the mistakes that could be made and I'm already hearing rumblings
of is the idea that this could be a precedent.
Like most things in life, this is a unique situation that you have a unique year where
people are really burnt out and not everybody wants to people, not everybody is up for
that.
And especially if you know that you're going to be peopleing very soon for the holidays.
Yeah.
So maybe you want to check out a movie and you want something holiday-like.
Maybe you want something that's a Christmasy, but not the story that you've seen a hundred
times already.
And boom, there you go, you got that, you got a bunch of pretty faces.
You know, recognisable names and all this works out.
Now next year when they try this again, because they will, and it's not just Amazon, Apple,
all of them will try something like this next year.
If it doesn't work or if it does work, these are some of the factors and the holidays
are gigantic for this, because they're going to try this in summer, they're going to try
this in spring, they're going to try this at other times and I don't know that they're
going to get those, the numbers that they want.
Well at least not where, you know, it's cold out.
If we have an excuse to not leave our house, we're going to take it.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I do think that it's interesting and look, anything that kind of really gets to, what do
people want?
You know?
That's what the entertainment is supposed to be all about.
It's not about numbers, it's not supposed to be about any of those other factors or selling
things or advertising or it's supposed to be about what do people want and entertaining
them.
And if what people want is a mix of it coming to home and also being in the theaters, you
know, finding that right balance, along with the right stories to tell.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's an important thing too, because you definitely aren't going to.
There's something about going to the theater for a bigger movie, like I would be far
more inclined to go see a space opera in the theater than I would a movie like Red
One.
Yeah.
I think the expectations too are something that they've got to really work on because the
overhyping of movies just doesn't do anybody any good, especially the filmmakers and the
people to make them.
Well, no, because you come out of it going, well, they had all the good scenes in the trailer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a glad I spent 20 bucks on this.
That's a sneaky good, a sneaky thing that those that are good at are masters at and then
everybody else is just trying to figure out like how to make the right trailer, how to
make a good trailer.
It's an interesting art.
That one is.
I thought this one was really interesting, Melissa.
If you enjoy visiting movie locations and you can afford a trip to Austria, the castle
from the sound of music should be on your list.
Oh, really?
It's called Schloss Leopold Skron and it's at Salzburg, Austria and it's a hotel now.
Really?
Yeah.
It's a hotel.
It is ten outdoor scenes or sorry, ten outdoor scenes were filmed on the grounds, but
no interiors were.
So that part's going to be a little different.
Of course, the great The Legend, Julie Andrews returned to the estate to film the 1987
Holiday Special, the sound of Christmas with Placido Domingo and John Denver.
I seem to have vaguely remembered that one.
I never saw it.
She came back again a decade ago for a feature included in the 50th anniversary DVD edition
as well, but that is pretty darn cool.
It is cool, especially for something as iconic as the sound of music, because I don't
know.
It's one of my childhood favorite films.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't think you're alone on that one.
I think a lot of people can relate to that and I will say one thing that always stood
out to me about that movie is the scenery, is the location.
So much of that is just, Julie Andrews is Julie Andrews.
You're never going to.
There's nothing in any movie that will ever top her.
She's in it.
That's it.
But next to that, I thought was the location and obviously the classic scene of her spitting
on the hills and everything, you know, nowadays they might green screen something like that
or whatever.
They took the team there.
They went and filmed it there.
That was the, I think that this movie doesn't, isn't nearly the classic it is without those
added touches.
Oh, absolutely.
Well, and I'd had to go to the website and look at this.
The list of other movies that were also filmed in the hotel are, it's a big list.
I didn't get to see that.
Ooh.
I didn't even know that was there.
There's not all of them are American films.
Oh, yeah.
But a lot of them, there's several that are Christmas related.
Silent Night, a song for the world, the Austrian TV movie, please, Madam, music video, 12
dates of Christmas in American television series from 2019.
Wow.
That is really cool.
I didn't know any of that.
Okay.
Why do few more?
It is.
Not all of them in English.
You know, I got to say, I got to be honest though, I want to visit this place, but in
spring.
I'd much rather, like as I have a hard time with Wisconsin cold, I don't know how I'd
handle their cold.
Well, in the settings from the movie, you wouldn't recognize them in the winter for sure.
Yeah.
It does look beautiful though.
It really is a cool, you know, especially if you have the opportunity, you know, to
tour or I mean, to do fun things like this, you know, to make travel and you're looking
for something unique to do, well, that's a pretty cool one.
It would be and if you're in Austria, why not?
Yeah.
Go for it.
And one of the touch on some, you know, shameless promotion.
It's a shameless promotion part of the entertainment section where we touch on things that we've
got going on.
And one of them is happening tomorrow night.
I will be guesting on Peach Robb as night light.
Oh, cool.
Join us from 6 to 8 tomorrow, but on the civic media app because we're going to be here
at WFHR.
Of course, I'll buy the show and we're not playing it.
We will have Coaches Hour, Wisconsin Hockey Hour for you.
There you go.
But if you're not interested in that, maybe check out on your civic media app.
Our friends over at the night light, Pete was nice enough to invite me on and not just
that.
I should let everybody know.
Pete's asked me about three times beyond the show and has not taken no for an answer.
And I really appreciate that.
That was very cool of him.
He didn't have to do that.
He asked me once.
That's a nice move, you know, but to keep asking that, that means something.
I appreciate it.
And it's going to be a lot fun.
And you'll have fun on the show.
It will be fun.
That's going to be a blast.
And if you want to catch both, you can always get one of them on podcast.
Yes, yes.
Keep that in mind, everybody.
Because all of our shows are available in podcast form on civic media.us, go under shows,
and you will find all of our past episodes.
And a reminder that tonight is the final night of auditions for Wisconsin's Rabbids Community
of Theaters, our snake and old lace.
Yeah.
I heard they had really good turnout last night.
Yeah.
And we want a good turnout tonight, everybody.
It's the last night.
Meet us over there at 6.30.
Auditions are taking place at the Centralia Center, right at the WRCT Theater.
Yeah.
I'm excited to see the cast for this, and I can't wait to see the performances.
Is one of the shows that kind of sparked my love of theater because my grandma played
in it?
Yeah.
I hear you.
It's one of my all-time favorites.
There are dream roles for me.
And then there are roles that I just, you know, I've always, I don't now think dream
really puts it into place.
Remember is one of those for me.
And this show just, I cannot think of, see the name, think about it and not think about
my Nana, not think about her and how much her and I love this movie and love the play.
It's going to be such a good production.
Stephanie is an amazing director.
She's going to do a great job.
Yeah.
We can't wait to see what she does with it.
It'll be fun.
And it's a nice, sized cast, everybody.
So we want a bunch of people.
We need a good turnout at auditions.
Come on down.
Yeah.
That's right.
You don't want to be on stage.
You could be backstage.
You could be front of house.
There are so many options in so many ways.
You can become part of the theater family.
That's really what it is.
And we've got a great pre-game for that.
You want to lose snop?
You want to get ready for auditions or get ready to come down and have some fun?
I cannot think of a better way than joining us for a live edition of Community Stories
with Melissa Kaye.
Tonight is our first, very first, da da da da.
Live community story show.
And we want the kids to call in.
We want them to bring their Christmas wish list and share with the very special guests
we're going to have tonight, Ms. Holly.
She is going to be available to take Christmas wish list and get them directly to Santa.
I've even heard that she's going to have the elves on special assignment to get going
on these gifts right away.
Nice.
Nice.
Oh, man.
No, we got a real get.
We couldn't quite get Santa, but we got the next best thing.
We really did.
Well, we're hooking people up.
We're taking care of you tonight.
Join us for the Elf Call Center, a Santa's Elf Call Center tonight.
Yes.
So have that number ready at 715-424-2600.
From 5 to 6, you can call in and we'll get those Christmas wish lists on air.
We cannot wait.
It's going to be a lot of fun, everybody.
We will take a quick time out checking with our news and sports and our partners and we'll
come back and we're talking Christmas traditions.
All right.
Maybe we want to keep, maybe we want to take your width.
We'll see.
All right.
Good morning, show here at WFHR.
Welcome back, everybody.
Morning show at WFHR.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day.
They're all familiar, carols play.
And while in sweet, the words repeat of peace on Earth.
I just cannot cut off Sarah McLaughlin, I can't do it.
We appreciate you joining us, everybody.
Thanks so much for being here.
We've got fun things lined up for you.
We'll wrap up the show talking about some local events, got some good stories of the
day for you.
But right now, especially in the heart of the holiday season and everything and we're
all about traditions and whether they're personal family traditions or just national
traditions, ones that we've celebrated for decades and everything.
But some people, especially younger people, have been looking at either modernizing or
even ditching some of our heavy hitters, some of these big traditions.
A poll asked 2,000 Americans which major Christmas traditions they'd be open to not doing
anymore.
And I thought there was an interesting list and I'm more interesting, I want to hear
from all of you, 715-424-2600.
We're one buttoned island with that civic media app you've got.
You know, it's good practice, everybody.
It's good practice, whether you can get in on that Christmas, grown up wish list to win
contest.
You know, you want to make sure?
I can't participate in it.
Or so that you can maybe join us for the Elf Call Center tonight, never forget that.
Yeah, that's right.
Now, on this list, as far as traditions that we would be open to letting go, I'm here
for this list, James.
Let's do this.
The number one thing on there was giving gifts.
People would be okay getting rid of giving gifts on Christmas.
Yes and no.
Yeah, I feel the same way.
Yeah.
I'm a little encouraged by that and I'm also kind of like, well, I mean, I don't necessarily
want to take that away from kids.
I don't want to, you know, but I don't think that there's any problem with that.
And I think it's okay for it to evolve over time.
You know, I mean, it definitely evolved in my family.
My mom was a huge gift giver.
She loved, loved, loved, loved giving gifts.
And oftentimes they were handmade.
When you're, she made us all slippers.
When you're, she made us all sweaters.
I mean, she, she really went over and above, which is obviously not necessary for everybody.
But you know, over time, we went to, okay, maybe we don't, everybody get everybody
guessed.
Let's exchange names.
So you only have to bring one gift.
Or, you know, let's have the kids exchange names and the rest of us will do an ornament
exchange.
Or, you know, something like that.
It's also okay for the gift giving to evolve.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know how it happened or if I was just born this way, but I learned early on in
life, one of my language, my love languages is gift giving.
And that doesn't mean buying everybody a sports car.
When you, when you don't have anything really growing up, things mean a little bit more.
And it might be a dandelion, but it's still a gift.
On that level, for years, my sister, my brother and I would get my mom a point sedatory,
our point set a plant.
You know, they weren't that expensive, but she just light up every single time every
year was like, we had never done it before and it just loved it.
And I think that it's one of the ways of showing people that you're thinking of them when
they're not around.
Yeah.
It's a fun thing to do, but it's also, I think, again, with context and, you know, understanding
and something.
Well, and it has to be, you know, you shouldn't feel pressured to do it if you can't
afford to.
Yes, yes.
You don't want to.
I mean, those are all things that matter as well.
It, it, just because it's tradition or it, you shouldn't feel pressured to participate
in it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sending Christmas cards was also on the list.
Yeah.
I've only done that a couple of times.
Yeah.
I, I honestly haven't done that much in my life, personally, but certainly, you know, my
mom or anybody else that has done that.
I love getting them though.
Yes.
That's the thing.
Do love getting them.
I enjoy sending them so much, but yes, getting them.
Next time.
I mean, they have made it easier than ever to do it.
Very true.
You know, with the, the printed photo cards that you can get now.
I mean, you can get them anywhere on online.
Um, those are great.
And I love seeing people's pictures throughout the year.
Ugly Christmas sweaters next on the list.
Ah, well, that's just become so commercialized.
It's not even real anymore.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I am okay if it is a true ugly sweater.
If, if your partner looks at you, oh my God, like, you know, it's just, or, I can't believe
you're going out the door in that.
Then you got the right thing on.
Then that's a true ugly sweater.
Uh, but I mean, there's, there's a lot of about there.
I tried to find like a couple of different ones and every one of them were too cool looking.
I got like, you got to make your own.
You got to take an old, ratty sweater and like just attach stuff to it.
Yeah.
That's the way to do it.
Mm-hmm.
I saw an advertisement the other day for ugly tennis shoes, ugly Christmas tennis shoes.
Like, oh, please no.
No, no, no, no.
No, no, no.
Just not make this the new, ugly sweater thing.
And they already have that.
They're called Crocs.
No, I'm joking.
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
Uh, Secret Santa Giff exchanges.
That's also on the list.
I don't know.
Those are usually like, you can choose to participate or not.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I like them.
I think they're kind of fun.
As long as, you know, you know, I have worked at the businesses before where you do
have that one person that just has to kind of outdo everybody and spends like way too much
on the gift and everything.
But outside of that, I think it's a lot of fun.
I think you know, you can have fun.
And it's a great way to bond with your teammates and everything.
Sure, sure.
Unless you hate everybody you work with.
That part could be difficult.
Then it could be a little difficult.
Yes.
You just get everybody cold.
You just get everybody cold.
There you go.
And the rest of the top 10 are watching Christmas movies, Elf on a shelf, Christmas lights,
things like that.
And they also ask people to rank some of the new traditions they'd swap in or they'd
like to incorporate more.
Okay.
Like spending all day in your pajamas.
Yes.
Yeah.
I don't know.
100% yes.
I don't know who's getting to do that but more power to you, you live your life.
You do you.
In your pajamas.
That is awesome.
Yes.
Focus on quality time together instead of gifts, decorations and meals.
Yeah.
That's kind of what my siblings and I have moved to now.
It's not about the gifts.
Most about time spent together.
Agreed.
All right.
It's a very similar thing with our family.
Yeah.
Taking a vacation.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You can.
If you can afford it by all means.
Again, more power to you.
Yeah.
Having a themed Christmas like tropical Christmas or Christmas in pajamas or that could be fun.
We kind of did that some years because Christmas is so close to Thanksgiving and the traditional
traditional meals are very similar for both.
So like my mom was like, let's have Mexican food themed Christmas this year.
So we did like tacos and her famous taco hot dish and yeah.
I love this.
I have never heard of this to be honest.
I have never heard of it and I love it immediately.
I am going to immediately try to get my nut this year.
That's asking a little much but next year, Simpson's Christmas, Simpson's Christmas.
There you go.
That's what I'm going for.
I am being told by my, they're laughing at me.
They are laughing at me.
That is not going to happen.
Your mother already bought you a blue beehive for everywhere.
Don't.
So you could be Marge.
She is the tallest one in the family.
She turns.
True.
Yeah, it's true.
And fifth on the list here, go on a quiet personal retreat or a vacation without your
family, which seems to be the opposite of the season but okay.
All right.
You know, it just kind of depends on your situation.
Yeah.
I suppose.
Most of the top 10 are a big breakfast instead of a big dinner.
Oh.
Kind of like that.
Yeah.
Actually, that's kind of what my mom would do some years.
A tradition that we still do to a degree but don't do nearly as deeply as we used to.
Spending the day volunteering.
Yeah.
What am I?
It's a good one.
Early as Christmas memories is us leaving and I thought we are going to go to my grandmother
and grandfather's house and we were actually leaving early so that we could go to a soup
kitchen and joking with my dad and the people that were coming through the line and everything.
Should we be switching places?
It was a beautiful, I feel like it happened yesterday.
That honestly is one of those things.
I don't know that until you're doing it, you really understand how good it can feel.
Yeah.
And especially to parents out there.
When you have your kids do these things, it can create a lifetime of that child doing
good and wanting to put into their community and working with nonprofits and so many of
these things.
And having empathy for people who have a harder time.
Yeah.
Only DIY gifts are allowed for Christmas.
That's a good idea like that.
Everything from IKEA.
And anybody getting a gift from my father, good luck.
Good luck.
My dad is Dr. Frankenstein with construction materials like that that he is with wood.
He is Dr. Frankenstein with wood.
You need a table and you're going to get a table.
But you'll never see the table like what he puts together.
So it sounds like what I should be getting your dad for Christmas this year is a roll
of duct tape, a box of popsicle sticks, and some cute tips.
Well, let's say he would probably cry.
He would probably be so beautiful.
I like the, there's also friends only Christmas or just family Christmas.
There are also handwritten letters of gratitude instead of gifts.
There's a lot of fun ideas out there.
There are.
And there's never, you know, it's never wrong to embrace new traditions or to maybe put
some on the shelf for a year.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You always bring them back.
It's a great note.
It's a great note.
We will take our final time out of the hour, come back, wrap up the show, Morning Show
at WFHR.
Welcome back to the show everybody.
Morning show here at WFHR, Melissa and James hanging out with you, a little bit of chuck to
play us in.
Hope you're having a good one out there.
We're going to wrap up getting into our schedule and some good stories of the date.
And on Friday's edition of the show, Melissa and I get back together, we'll get into this
whole adults and their favorite dinosaur and everything.
Oh, I'm going to dive into that one.
Okay, okay.
Good.
I have some time to research mine.
Yes.
Yeah.
We're not going to, we're not going to let that one go.
We'll get into that just a little bit.
We're looking forward to it.
And how many of them coincide with the land before time?
Yes.
That's a good one.
You know what it was?
So when I was little, we were first learning about dinosaurs.
Stegosaurus was the only one I felt confident saying, so it became kind of my favorite.
Right.
Because it was come more complicated than T-Rex.
Right.
Yeah, yeah.
Of course.
Yeah.
Oh, it was right there.
It was right there.
But you can't go without when everybody says that one.
It's true.
It's very true.
There was a, we'd like to cover a lot of Gittys records around here.
Sometime this week, we'll be getting into Candy Kane Guinness World Records.
Got an interesting list there of those.
But a gathering of angels in the Philippines broke a world record.
Really?
A municipality in the Philippines broke the Guinness World Record by gathering more than
2,000 people dressed as angels.
The town of San Rafael, Bollicana, announced its event at the Victory Colosseum was attended
by a Guinness World Record adjudicator who confirmed the record for the largest gathering
of people dressed as angels had officially been broken.
Wow.
The pervious record of 1,275 was set in Winnipeg, Canada, back in 2015.
Kind of interesting.
Kind of interesting.
It is interesting.
I didn't know that this was a thing.
I think that we have something here where we have the largest gathering of people dressed
up as cowboys or something like that.
I'm still thinking, like, I'm covering these stories and trying to bring them to you
all and give you the great, you know.
James, James, no, I have the answer.
Grandberries.
Yes.
Yes.
Wait.
Yes.
That's it.
That's it.
Next year for the cranberry blossom parade, we just need to have so many people dressed up
as cranberries that we win Guinness World Records.
This is it.
This is the one Melissa.
I'm like, I'm shaking.
I'm so excited about this idea.
That's such a good idea.
Well, we just need to talk with our visitor and convention bureau and we get on this.
We make it happen.
We're making this happen.
I'm working on this one, everybody.
I am not letting this one go.
New band uniforms for our marching bands, cranberries all the way.
All the way, all the way completely.
Kids won't carry.
You know, they should be loved to dress up as a cranberry.
I think they'll enjoy it.
Yeah.
Right.
Imagine the parts.
I just tanked our ideas.
Sorry.
The tuba player and dressed up as a big bang.
That's rough.
That ain't right.
I didn't know we were going to have a that ain't right story today.
We got what it.
We got what it.
We do have a good story of the day before you going on throughout the whole day in
all week long.
Our statewide civic media grown up gift list text to win contest is going strong.
Hmm.
You're going to hear those words at what times, James?
11, 1 and 4 today.
And then you get to text that word in with our civic media free app.
Text in on while you're listening to our station perfectly because then we get credit
for it.
And then you will be entered to win one of all of those wonderful prizes that are available
each one of those hours and entered to win the one of eight grand prizes.
That is a really, really cool thing to be able to take in everybody in all these great
gift options and everything our abilities.
We encourage you to be listening and playing along and thank you so much to everybody who
was already downloaded the app and keeps listening and playing.
Jane and Greg will have a word for you coming up at 11.
That's right.
Be listening for that.
We have got a great lineup for you this afternoon.
Be sure to join us.
Do you want to send a special shout out to Maggie Dawn in the amazing coverage yesterday
she did?
She is just amazing.
Just amazing.
I appreciate her and her passion and her work so much.
Join Maggie from two to four today.
We will that will lead you into Midday magazine where in part one, our good friend Dawn is
going to be joining us from the Wisconsin Rapids Parks and Rec department.
We're going to be talking about winter and spring programs.
Excellent.
Always fun talking with Dawn.
It's been a while.
It's going to be awesome.
And fun to know what we get to do this winter.
Yeah.
And in part two, CEO of your United Way of Southwood and Adams counties, Terry John is going
to be with us.
Excellent.
And be talking United Way and some great things with our wonderful United Way of Southwood
and Adams counties.
On our sister station tonight at 7.05 we've got Lincoln high school boys basketball hosting
Sparta.
This is Sparta.
Mike and Seth are going to be on the call for that one.
You know it's going to be a good one.
Go ahead and root for a cheer on your team tonight at 7.05 on 105.5 WIRI.
That's right.
And from five to six community stories live, we're going to be soundcasting on both stations.
We're so excited about this.
Mhm.
WFHR and WIRI.
We're going to have stories and poems and songs and your phone calls.
We want the kiddos to call up with their Christmas wish list for Santa.
And you can share them live on air.
It's going to be such a blast, everybody.
We're going to have a one stop shop for you, your kids to be able to give us those items
and get them to Santa.
Now you're saying maybe, well, they already filled out a list.
They already sent it.
Do you know children?
Because if they are anything like my little sister, that list has been updated 19,000
times.
We need the most updated list.
Santa needs to have it.
And those elves are ready.
They're going to get to work and cracking on those toys.
So they're ready in time for Christmas.
So make sure you have that number handy at 717-5-424-2600 or just that one button dialing
on the Civic Media app.
We're very excited to be talking with you and the kids tonight be listening for that.
And this Thursday as well from five to six as community stories goes live with our very
first time.
Yeah, sent to self on the call.
It's going to be a fun time, everybody.
It will be fun.
I'm looking forward to it.
Do you want to send a special shout out to our sponsors for this event?
We've got some wonderful local businesses getting behind this one, Gary's Coins, Wisconsin
Rapids, Elkslatch number 693, Pro Seamless of Wisconsin, El Café, Edward Jones, Wisconsin
Rapids.
We appreciate all of you so very much getting behind this with us.
Absolutely.
We sure do.
We got some great stuff going on in our community today as well.
And just in about an hour, you can check out the new jail at the ribbon cutting going
on.
Yeah, that's happening.
And on the third floor, boardroom, the wood county boardroom there at the new jail.
If they'll do the ribbon cutting, they'll have an open house and refreshments to follow.
Be sure to check that out, everybody.
They're at 400 Market Street in Wisconsin Rapids.
This is open to the public.
The ribbon cutting will begin at 11.
Head on over there.
Keep in mind, parking will be available in the lot north of Baker Street.
And I want to remind everybody that tonight our Rams concert is going to be taking place.
Six grade band concert at Rams, happening at six.
That's right.
You don't want to miss that.
It worked really hard to get ready for Christmas and to entertain you get you really in the
Christmas spirit.
Yeah.
A great way to support kids and have a good time as well.
We encourage you to do that, everybody.
Check out this great event again.
The Rams six grade band concert happening at six tonight over at Rams.
Six at six.
And just a quick real quick good story of the day here for you.
A woman in Pennsylvania named Margaret just turned 110 years old.
Oh my.
And she said, and she said she credits God, good genes and beer.
Of course, you a link, you a link is the beer of her choice.
It's America's oldest beer, which is a little fitting.
But every one of these stories seems to involve that.
So at some point or another, doesn't it?
Yeah, it does and more power to them.
Yeah, yeah, not my thing, but more power to it.
We're very happy to be celebrating her and celebrating 110.
So yeah, whatever worked for her, that's great.
Exactly.
Yeah, to each the row.
To move into 110.
A company called Kick Health surprised a bunch of employees with a much needed hug.
They posted a video where they interview them and ask about a loved one.
They haven't been able to spend the holidays with for a while then the person walks through
the door.
Oh my.
That's beautiful.
That is.
Need a getcha.
Yeah.
Right in the fields.
Oh, it's a beautiful one.
Check that out, everybody.
That's great.
And be sure to call in tonight for the Elf Call Center.
We're looking forward to it.
Yes.
From five to six.
We'll hear from you then.
We are going to have so much fun with that.
You're going to be using the Civic Media App throughout the day today to get in on this
text to win contest and everything.
So just have that out there.
We already have it.
We have an A&D.
Great show today, Mel.
Yeah, you two James.
Have a good day, everybody.
Be good to each other out there.
This is locally grown radio, WFHR 1320 A&M, W24 ADE Wisconsin Rapids, and always streaming
on the Civic Media App.
