Christmas Vibes and Community Spirit (Hour 3)

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay, this is Night Light with Pete Chwaba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now, a guy who never leaves the house without wearing a cup, Pete Chwaba.

Welcome to

Night Light, ladies

and gentlemen.

Happy Friday, everybody.

You made it.

We all made it.

It's a Friday before Christmas.

Beautiful night here in, uh, here in Wisconsin.

Gorgeous night in downtown Green Bay.

A little chilly.

But, uh, we'll get through it.

We're inside.

We're at sunny and 70 all the time, and we've got a great show for you tonight, folks.

Welcome to nightlight.

Um, lots of fun.

Lots of guests tonight.

I'm gonna welcome, like, five guests over the course of three hours.

Doesn't actually sound like that many when you say I like that, but five guests.

It's a bar ban Friday night Got some funny Powerball is it a million bucks?

So if you're on the way home, and you got that kind of money One boo-koo Dolores you can buy a lottery ticket change your whole life or You use a sawbuck and you get ten of get ten of them Doesn't really increase your odds that much you could I guess you could say technically it increases your odds

Tenfold but that doesn't really mean anything when there's a billion bucks and billions of people buying lottery tickets That is the voice of Conrad Krieger.

How you doing tonight Con?

You know you mentioned it was cold, but I don't know if you heard the reports about tomorrow

Ridiculous

in Green Bay and in Marinette.

I assume it's gonna be negative one You know around there, but with the windshield It's gonna it's gonna be pretty cold

negative 20 maybe.

Why does the wind shall always make it colder?

Can't the wind ever just come in to be warm and breezy and like raise the the

nice.

That would be fantastic.

That would be super nice.

Yeah.

So it is going to be a very cold weekend out there, folks.

So be careful, take precautions, whatever you do.

Are the Packers in town this week?

They're in Denver.

Okay.

And it's it's going to be like 60 degrees around there.

Low 60s.

Are you

serious?

Yeah.

That's so unfair.

Road trip.

You know, they have more sunny days a year in Denver than they do anywhere else in America.

Even Southern California, Florida, well, Florida gets a lot of rain, but they have their fairest sunshine.

But like, San Diego, California supposedly has the best weather, but they don't have as many sunshine days per year as Denver.

So how do you like that?

And I remember growing up watching like football games, Denver Broncos, Oh, it's snow.

And then I would work when I was a comedian in the 90s, I would work with comics from Denver and they would go, oh, it is so cold in Chicago.

And I was like, wait a minute, I've seen Denver.

And it's not that cold.

They get snow, but they don't get the cold we get.

And I thought they did because of the mountains.

So it was a learning experience for me, Conrad, about our geography and our meteorology

as it were.

Anyway, it is going to be a cold weekend.

So be careful out there.

And just bundle up,

you know,

bundle up.

Good advice lots of stuff going on though.

We've got in just a couple minutes I'm gonna tell you where you can see the best Christmas light displays in Wisconsin We're gonna put that to music ladies and gentlemen Little increasing your production value a little bit here at night like tonight, so we'll do that.

It's our last night of text to win and You guys have outperformed yourselves because we've I just found out we've had more entries this year well during this contest and we have

in any of our previous contests.

So that's exciting.

People winning money.

and rolling in the grand prize giveaway, which is fun.

We'll do all that in just a few minutes.

We've got a great question of the night.

You know what, let's break out the question a little early tonight and get right to it because it's Christmas related.

Here's your nightlight question of the night.

Let's talk about the question.

Okay, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

Okay, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Questions.

What's your favorite Christmas song?

We asked this last year and we asked it the year before when we had just gotten on the air You know we kind of make fun of Christmas music sometimes and I think about a week ago We asked what is your least favorite or what don't you ever need to hear again tonight?

Let's be positive.

What is your favorite Christmas Carol or song or piece of music however you want to?

However you want to answer is fine with us.

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2-8-5-5-7-5 Civic.

You can also text us on the app.

And I know you have the app because that's how you play our grown-up gift list.

Multi-Stay Text to Win Contest.

More info on that coming up.

in just a moment, but you can text us on the app too.

That is a great way for us to get information.

And if you're watching the radio on YouTube, Facebook, or X, drop us a stream comment.

Always fun to read your comments, no matter how they get to us, folks.

Conrad sent me, where did you find this mug root?

I've never, it's...

Is

it a joke?

No, it's the Shepard... The Milwaukee, you know.

Shepard Express.

Yeah, the weird... If you go on that website, you can find this part where they have only the weird news stories.

Yeah.

And this is new.

This came out, I believe, yesterday.

This story broke.

All right.

It's kind of gross.

Quick.

Here's what it's... I was gonna read it verbatim.

Get your Christmas order in before December 11th.

Too late.

For Mug Roupier's limited edition cologne, Daddy's Home.

Fox 5 Atlanta reported on December 3rd that the company is for the first time detouring into personal care with the scent, which includes the aromas of cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, and caramel.

It's the kind of scent that whispers, come to papa.

Two dogs.

And dogs alike.

to DOGS and DAWGS alike, the company said.

The package includes a 1.7 ounce cologne and a 10 pack of mug root beer.

Just don't put the wrong thing on.

Minicans for the low low price of 15 bucks.

Daddy's home by mug root beer is for our die hard mug fans who believe root beer rules every sense, not just taste.

Look, I love root beer.

This is awful.

Whoever you don't

you don't know what

this should be fired And what is that meeting like you come in all right?

We need we're okay.

Let's spitball here.

Let's brainstorm.

How about if we put out a cologne?

Well, we make root beer.

I know but boss hear me out.

We've got cologne that smells like root beer

Really gross I I just looked this up and I had to send it to you because I was like wait.

I wonder what this this

Cologne bottle looks like so this is not a joke You know like

hot dog water you fell for that one hook line and sinker last summer

I was you

got me on board.

I was hoping that they were to release that you know It was a close at seven

smell like a hot dog then put on some mug root beer.

You said get yourself a hot dog and a root beer

I'm gonna put this on the stream as well and

please

If you're curious what this cologne would look like

Well It's called daddy's home.

Yeah, and it's for that dog or dog.

Have you look in the screen?

A pitbull?

Okay,

that's unsettling.

That's the cover of the cologne is the pitbull's head What are they doing?

What is this for?

And it says what delicious notes of mug, root beer, and a deafening aura

This new fragrance is sure to be a conversation starter.

With a long lasting scent, transport your senses to home and be the alpha daddy.

The alpha daddy drinks mug root beer that doesn't even have caffeine?

Who are you attracting?

Are girls in society seeking out actively guys who like root beer

and

smell like it?

This is

terrible.

I'm hoping I can get one.

I think what we need to do is come up with a nightlight scent

What do you think that would smell like

me and I smelled dynamite?

Well, this will send swabs of our skin to a fragrance factory.

It's just so awful.

It's such a bad idea Yeah, I guarantee this guy will be fired or girl.

Maybe it's a girl who wants her guys to smell like root beer.

It's so stupid

It's an adult what they worked in a root beer a dog and then the creepy word

daddy

Daddy's home.

I gotta say other Instagram post it said you asked mug delivered

No, that's not

nobody asked for this

Daddy's home come over here and hump my leg and let me down a mug This is awful The package includes a 1.7 ounce cologne and a 10 pack of mug root beer

mini cans, by the way, for the low price of 15 bucks.

Look, it's affordable.

I like that.

It's a sensible price.

But the daddy's home thing, the daddy thing is really creepy.

Good find,

Kyle.

You gotta

buy a bottle.

Let's get some of this and Sydney Sweeney soap and we will smell like a million bucks.

I gotta say.

Yeah.

It says, all right, so I looked it up on their bio and it says... This

is a joke.

I'm gonna be really upset

with you.

It says sold by PepsiCo.

Okay.

And it's $15, like you said.

It's a legit site and it says 966 sold and it's sold out.

They only made 966 vials of the vile smell.

And I see reviews.

That's just terrible.

They're all one stars.

Before people even probably used it.

Oh, that's hilarious.

So this was interesting.

I found this today on USA Today Wisconsin.

Where are my notes?

We're not doing so well actually we are doing well when it comes to lighting Where am I notes I thought this was kind of cool.

We're like seventh in Christmas tree lights.

Oh, okay.

Yeah Though the one you're talking about that you sent today I think Madison was number seven right with their Christmas.

I thought it was

like

a statewide

thing

I saw Madison, Wisconsin and as they were seventh compared to other other cities or

yeah

The circle of lights light up the holidays.

All these different, they have the 10 best light, lit Christmas lit cities.

And Madison was number seven.

That's kind of cool.

That's really cool.

I mean, and that's kind of plays into what we're doing here after the break.

We're going to come back.

I'm going to tell you where the best light displays are in Wisconsin.

And we've got some fun music.

That's courtesy of Jamie too, right?

Yeah.

Jamie sent us all that.

I thought that was great.

I love Christmas lights.

But right now, folks, it's time to play.

One of our final two hours, we are down to two hours left in our grown-up gift list, multi-state text-to-win contest here at Civic Media.

You only need the app to play.

And if you're just joining us, and this is your first opportunity to play, how cool would it be if you won?

All you need is the Civic Media app.

I'm gonna give you a keyword in just a moment, and you could win 200 bucks in cash.

Now.

If you send us the keyword, even if you don't win the 200 bucks in cash, you're automatically enrolled for the grand prize.

There are three of them.

A brand new snowblower, a stainless steel cookware set, and a portable air conditioner.

Con, what happens when they get a confirmation link after sending in said keyword?

So you got this chance, and then at seven, you got another chance.

So you got...

Like one more day pretty much today chances.

Yeah, yeah to earn three extra entries Which is all you have to do is subscribe to the civic media today newsletter and then go to Apple music So follow nightlight with peach wabba and on Spotify as well and you earn three extra entries Which is pretty cool

very easy to do and if you're on any of these platforms anyway folks, especially Facebook We'd love it if you give us a like or a follow, but good luck everybody and this ours keyword

We are down to two keywords left is toast, T-O-A-S-T, toast.

As in let's toast to the holidays, or how about a nice piece of toast?

I love me some toast in the morning.

T-O-A-S-T, I like toast too, but I never eat it.

You know, I always have a peanut butter,

just good, good.

You know what, when I do have toast, I eat it with, I make cinnamon toast.

I

put

butter

on it.

Some cinnamon

sugar, baby.

And that's all you need.

So good luck, everybody.

I hope some nightlight listeners win, because you guys have been texting in, like, fiends, and it's fantastic, and it's been a lot of fun.

When we come back, we're going to tell you where the best light shows are in Wisconsin.

Madison is seventh in the nation, apparently, according to USA Today.

We'll do that when we come back, and maybe read some text.

We'll see how it goes.

No promises.

It's Peach Wabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media radio network.

You know, you get some good local news and some bad local news around the holidays.

And last night we reported that Wisconsin is one of the riskiest states to celebrate Christmas in.

We are second in the nation, only behind Vermont, behind only Vermont.

It says Vermont ranks first for a few reasons.

Driving conditions are a big one, why it's unsafe around the holidays.

because the chances of it being white Christmas are basically 100%.

And I said this last night, we never went back to it though, Wisconsin, the top risk factor is drinking rates.

We do have that issue here.

But however, when it comes to lights, Madison, according to USAA, USAA, according to my insurance company, USA Today says Madison, Wisconsin is the seventh best well-lit.

city around the holidays.

So that's kind of cool.

So it got me thinking, we've got such beautiful areas here.

I call, I think Wisconsin is just like the Christmas state.

Probably going back to when I was young, I loved to come to Wisconsin around the holidays or in the summer for that matter.

But, and I call Marinette somewhat jokingly, Christmas City, USA, because where I love, because where I live there, I love Christmas.

So right now we are going to give you

If you're looking for places to take the kids or just go see some nice light shows, we've got it all right here.

And this is our little segment.

We didn't really name this segment, Con.

Light Up Wisconsin.

You got some music for me?

Light Up Wisconsin with Nightlight.

Light Up Wisconsin, compliments of Night Light, spelled two different ways.

Don't get confused, folks.

We've got all the news here.

We'll start with Green Bay whenever it counts.

That's our background music.

There we go.

Thank you to Jamie Martinson for compiling this list.

If you're in Green Bay...

WPS Garden of Lights, the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.

This runs through December 30th.

So if you're here in Green Bay, check out the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.

Beautiful.

Year-round.

But especially at this time of year.

Also, Festival of Trees at the National Railroad Museum.

Have you been there?

Yes, and it's...

That is one of my favorite museums in the world.

Go see The Big Boy, the California Pacific.

Beautiful.

Oshkosh has the celebration of lights at the EAA grounds.

Well, you couldn't ask for a better setting for Christmas lights than the EAA grounds.

That goes through December 31st.

The National Railroad Museum, by the way, goes through January 4th.

So you have a little extra time.

Also on Oshkosh, Nutcracker in the castle at the Paine Arts Center and Gardens.

This runs through January 5th.

In Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival, downtown, Milwaukee is gorgeous at Christmas time.

This runs through the first.

It's probably in a lot of these websites too if you just go to the city, but we're trying to help you out here.

Give you some direction, folks.

Christmas at the Papst Mansion, that says holidays.

This runs through January 4th.

Check that out.

And now to our state capital, Madison.

Which is the seventh ranked overall so you know these light these light shows will be beautiful Christmas at the Capitol in the Capitol rotunda runs through January 7th our beautiful state Capitol Holiday fantasy in lights in Olan Park runs through December 31st Beautiful spots in Madison check those out And if I'm going too fast folks or something does catch your Catch your interest be sure and go to civicmedia.us and listen to the podcast all these shows are catalogued in podcast form

Wisconsin Rapids has the Festival of Trees at the Masonic Temple that runs through.

Actually, that one's already over.

You were all said, you're just getting yourself a ticket.

That can't be right.

Runs through December 7th?

Hmm.

What was that record scratch?

Are we done?

Is the party over?

It's over.

Well, you got to fire that music up again, buddy.

I got a couple more of these.

Richland Center, the Rotary Lights.

That sounds funny when you just play the same song.

A Richland Center rotary lights in the park at that runs through December 31st beautiful Richland Center and then Eau Claire you're listening in Eau Claire on the tap They've got the Pull that apart there lights in the valley at the Exo Center grounds that runs through January 2nd I love that these go past Christmas because a lot of times you're too busy before the holidays to take a leisurely drive

So it's nice that these go past the holidays a little bit.

In Amory, Miracle at Big Rock, St.

Croix Falls through January 3rd.

Check that out, Miracle at Big Rock.

I've actually heard about that one before.

That sounds fantastic.

And then in Hayward, you got Christmas in Hayward, downtown Hayward, Saturdays through the 20th.

So you have a few more days.

You got about a week.

So check that out.

And finally in Chippewa Falls, Irving Park Christmas Village in Irving Park.

Runs through January 1st.

Enjoy our beautiful state folks and some of the lights that we put up around the states and Coincidentally around where nightlight broadcast so check all those out and Merry Christmas everybody We've got a great guest tonight folks coming up Conrad left his post so we are stuck with this karaoke version of Holiday Road yet again

We've been done with the bitcon for two minutes and listening to that awful song.

Hey, in just a few minutes, folks, this is fun.

We've got Jeff Mitchell.

He's the president of the Green Bay Gamblers.

He will be here in just a few minutes after the news.

Ben McVane from McVane Ferrier Service.

He is raising, he is taking food to food pantries all around the state.

We're gonna talk to Ben at 610.

Mary Rode from Broadway, Inc.

here in Green Bay on Broadway, Inc.

Ink on Broadway Ink.

She will be in studio as well, as Jeff Mitchell will, and she's going to tell us all about Christmas in downtown Green Bay.

Sean Katzenback, we had him scheduled the other night.

He couldn't make it, so Conrad filled in and did his best Sean Katzenback impression.

But we actually have the real Sean tonight.

He will be here at 7.10, and then it is a bar band Friday night.

Terry Barr dropping by 7.35.

Do you see Paige Cl- You're very funny.

That's like our bit with the, with the speech from Adrian.

Paige Cleaver is one of the featured artists tonight from Terry Art.

12 years old, and her new song is outstanding.

And then Tyler S.J., I believe is his name.

So she's got great music.

It's always fun to talk to Terry.

That is basically your night here at Nightlight.

I will remind you of the keyword very shortly, but our question of the night, what is your favorite

Christmas song.

Let us know.

Text us.

Go to social media.

Just get ahold of us one way or the other, folks.

It's great to have you here.

Happy Friday and Merry Christmas.

It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Hi, this is Danny Slate, and you are listening to Night Light with Pete Schwabba.

Welcome

back.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

This is Night Light.

Good to have you here, folks.

Our question of the night is, what is your favorite Christmas song, Carol, piece of music, however you want to answer it?

A lot of ways to approach that, so let us know and we will read your text on the radio.

Conn, who was that?

I didn't hear my headphones on in time.

Oh, Jenny Slate.

Oh, Jenny Slate.

Yeah,

okay.

Thought we haven't heard that one in a while.

Well done, yeah.

Did you play the Lauren Holly one?

No, not yet.

Did you get it from...

Yeah,

okay.

Yeah, I just haven't played it yet.

Because yesterday we talked about... Well, yes.

We'll ask Jeff what he thinks about this, but we've got a very...

Northeast Wisconsin heavy show tonight.

We've got a lot of guests talking about a lot of fun events happening in Northeast Wisconsin.

And then, of course, Terry Barr will be here in hour number three for Bar Band Friday night.

She's got great music this week, as she always does, but we'll talk to Terry a little later.

Right now, it is my pleasure to welcome back to Night Light, the president.

I just call him El Presidente.

I hope that's okay.

Jeff Mitchell of the Green Bay Gamblers.

Hey, buddy.

Hey, Lauren Holly, Smoke Show.

She is big fan big fan.

She is So nice and yes very beautiful and she last night on the show Jeff we talked about how she called out Kelsey grammar and said that Kelsey grammar on the set of down periscope in 1996 was constantly farting

and

And he has that reputation and since she said that last night we talked about that in the air

Two people have texted and said they have a friend who worked on a movie, said the guy's got a problem.

Like, do you have that?

Flagellants.

Flagellants.

At the gamblers.

Do

you have anybody in

the administrative team?

I don't.

Okay, good.

So I know Lauren Holly was in a movie called Beautiful Girls.

Oh, yeah.

I'm originally from Whiteburn Lake, Minnesota.

That was filmed in Stillwater.

Oh, cool.

Which is just the town next to us, so.

You haven't seen an awesome movie.

Yeah, awesome.

I remember

that movie.

It was very

do

for a rewatch on that, actually.

That's

cool.

But yeah, we don't have that issue with the Gambino's, but you know, is that part of the screen?

Frazier Crane, I guess, when you're at Cheers that long.

He's a good actor, but you're going to pay the price.

I guess you're going to pay the

price.

So this is kind of fun.

We had, we saw this earlier.

We were talking about this mug root beer.

Are you a Cologne guy?

This is

high karate with that colon or musk

anything with musk Jeff I cannot believe I had friends in college that somehow got their Mitz on like a whole

case of it

and we used to have these disco parties

And it's so weird to think like when I was in college, disco was just like six years old.

It wasn't

even around, like it was just around.

And we would, they would play this disco music and they would start dousing everybody with high karate and that did not wear off.

That lasted a

long time.

Hey, it was the seventies, right?

Is that the last kind of

colonial war?

Well, so my high karate story is when I was a kid, I stole my dad's bottle of high karate and put it in my locker and it broke.

or one of my teachers or whatever, like, it smells like high karate.

I'd be like, that'd be me.

But yeah, you know, again, it was like the gift, right?

It's like that old spice or that old English leather.

I think it was just

called

old

English.

I think it was.

Yeah, it was really

bad.

It was bad.

But high

karate was great because you had, I think,

on the bottle, you had like two karate hands

coming in.

You did, you did.

It's like, what does

that have to do

with it?

That has as much to do with smelling good as mug root beer does.

I don't understand that at all.

That's a fact.

That's

a

fact.

That's

terrible.

Do you have a favorite Christmas Carol, Ben?

Or Jeff, sorry.

You know, it's like, Christmas is such a cool time of year.

I mean, Pete, I know you have children.

you know, as they get older, you kind of forget like when they're at the age when Santa Claus is very real and it's fun.

But yeah, I mean, you know, it's a big thing.

Like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, you know, George Michael last Christmas.

Oh yeah.

Paul McCartney Christmas time.

But yeah, I mean, that's your childhood, right?

You remember those songs and when they come up and you're like, yeah, you kind of remember the time and place you were at.

And I think that's what makes it cool.

I mean, I totally for me, that's probably why I

like certain Christmas carols over the other.

Totally with you.

I had my dad used to sing Oh Holy Night at church,

so I

have great memories of that song.

I'm one of the, this is very, I don't know how this is a polarizing song with the Mariah Carey one.

I love the Mariah Carey one.

And

there

are people, listeners that please don't play that anymore, like they hate it.

And then I remember my grandma saying when my grandpa went to World War II, I'll be home for Christmas, was what they celebrated or talked about.

So I got a soft spot in my heart for that one too.

So yeah, you're right.

They're just, they take you back.

Yeah.

No, for sure,

for sure.

Let's get down to...

The story here, the Green Bay gamblers, how are things going?

And tell us a little bit about you, Jeff, if people don't remember last time you were here, because last time you were here, we were talking about booze and Old Fashion Fest.

So I don't

want people to get their signals crossed.

You were the president of the Green Bay gamblers.

Well, I think booze and the gamblers kind of go hand in hand, but you know, the gamblers, this is their 32nd season in Green Bay.

You know, we've been here since 1994.

I mean, just as a tradition.

Our fan base is strong.

For those people on the hockey end, our kids come from all over the US, Canada, the world.

Right now we have kids from 10 different states, Canada, Sweden, Russia,

Czech Republic,

Slovakia.

So again, and our big thing is too is the promotion end of it.

Like tomorrow we have the glam band playing a post game

concert.

We have a

candy cane trail.

We have Santa Claus.

It's family night with discounted concessions.

The gambler's brand I think is really, hey, the product on the ice is phenomenal, but it's also the entertainment and us to draw you in.

So even if you're not a hockey fan or don't know a lot about it, you're going to come to a game and go like, dude, that was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed that.

And I'm not broke.

Yeah.

Well, that's exactly, we'll talk about that too.

How affordable some of the minor league sports

are

because professional, I mean, it's insanity.

It's like, I mean, they price so many people out and it's like,

So many of the companies buy the seats, they don't care, which is a shame, but it is nice when you can go to a game like, I've never been a hockey fan growing up, but I would take my kids, we went to a game, it was probably the gamblers when we first moved back here.

And all the other, my kids loved all the other stuff, all the stuff at timeouts and at halftime and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah, that means we're doing our job.

It's, again, it's a lot of fun.

you know, the glam band and those things that go into it.

I mean, and I think you're seeing that professional sports too.

Like, you know, when we were kids, you never saw the manager being interviewed or the, you know, it's like they know they have to sell more than just the sport.

And that's really the backbone of what we are.

Like, hey, you come to a game, you're not going to go broke and you're going to have a hell of a good time.

And you might catch a

roll of

toilet paper, you

know, whatever

that may be.

But, you know, that that's what we are.

And we pride ourselves on that.

And, you know, we.

This is our 32nd year in Green Bay, and we can't thank the communities of Northeast Wisconsin enough for supporting us, and they come out and draw, because it's awesome.

It's so great, and sports is entertainment.

I mean, you look at the Super Bowl, they're constantly announcing new acts, playing the night before, and these all become events, and when is the glam band playing tomorrow

after?

Yeah, they play tomorrow after.

Okay,

that's so fun.

But you're right, and that's kind of what we talk about too.

It's an event.

It's not a game.

It's an event.

You're coming to an event and it's hockey.

It's the music.

It's the promotions in between the periods.

It's this, that, and the other.

And that's really what we pride ourselves on and try to create when you can do come to the rush to a gambler game.

Yeah.

Jeff Mitchell is my guest.

He is the president of the Green Bay Gamblers.

If you haven't been to a gamblers game, folks, what we've just been talking about is what you can expect.

That there's great performance on the ice.

The gamblers are good this year, third place.

Yeah, we've ripped kids of one ninth straight games.

Wow.

So.

No, we're really pleased and we got a great group of kids and again, it's like you grab you grab a bunch of young people from all over the world You kind of put them in this in this setting and to watch them come together and you know, they have that connection and you know Pete We're big culture people at the gamblers like this is about culture and and we want to get the right kids who fit that culture and when you see that come to fruition it's really cool to see them succeed and and

You know, the other part about it is to see these guys then go to the next level and have success, whether it be at the NHL or in the Olympics, et cetera, college, and then even a lot of them.

So where do they go in the private sector?

I mean, we have kids who become lawyers and doctors, but it's fun to get them kind of at the entry level, see them grow, and then follow them as they progress down whatever field of choice they choose.

That's pretty cool.

You guys are part of the US HL, the United States Hockey League.

Where, what is the next step?

Like let's say a player with the gamblers has got the chops and he's performing really well.

Where does he go after that college, the pros?

Yeah, so most of our players are committed to an NCAA Division I institution.

So they're probably going to go to college.

Some of our kids, especially European kids, will sign a pro contract.

But a lot of the kids will go to college.

If they have success, they're going to sign right out of college and go right to pro.

And then where they go from there is where they go from there.

Again, our kids are so uber talented.

They are the elite of the elite.

So, you know, the minimums are going to play division one college hockey, but most of them will play at some level of pro.

Not all of them will make the NHL, but a lot do.

This year alone,

I

think we have about 14 or 15 kids in the NHL.

John

Cooper, who was a

coach for the Green Bay gamblers.

He's a coach to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He's going to be the coach of Team Canada at the Winter Olympics.

So to watch them succeed, it's kind of like, you know, it's surreal because you're like,

you know, you kind of get him on the grass roots where, you know, like coops a good friend.

Like I remember we were drinking in the drift in and, you know, for two, three years we got to really, you know, share, you know, work closely and spend day to day together now to see him have so much success is really cool to see.

And, you know, I think on the, that's one of the reasons why we like doing this too is just to watch the progression and watch them realize their dreams because.

you're helping them realize that dream.

And I think that's very satisfying as, you know, personally speaking.

That's a good culture.

Absolutely.

How old are the majority of the kids on the team right now?

17 to 20 years old.

Wow, okay.

Yeah.

Are there fights?

Yeah, we fight a lot, in fact.

It's funny, yes, that Pete.

So a couple of weeks ago, we had a goalie fight and it went like viral.

So it's like everywhere.

So if you look up Green Bay goalie fight, it's gonna pop up, but.

Yeah, they do fight and, you know, that's part of the deal.

And, you know, that's part of our culture, too.

We stand up for each other.

That's who we are.

And that's how we roll.

And fighting is part of our dichotomy when it comes to the gambos hockey.

Have you ever thrown down against another front office?

No, I have not.

You seem like you could probably take care of yourself, Jeff.

There was a time.

But yeah, HR would probably frown upon that.

And now I live with four women.

I have a wife and three daughters, and I'm told what to do.

Oh, there you go.

Like, literally, I over by Walter.

I'm like, oh, I have money.

Shocking.

When

does that change?

So you got the Madison capitals tomorrow.

Is that team competitive this year?

How will that go?

You know, it's, listen, the league has good players across the board.

It'll be fine.

Again, people have a great time.

The music, the glam band, the hockey will take care of itself.

You'll have a great time watching the game.

But yeah, Madison's fine.

You know, that's the hilarious thing about it.

I don't know a lot about them.

Yeah.

And our fans really don't care.

I mean, the Schwabba family would be like...

Oh, cool.

Like, you know,

we were

playing Tri City, you'd probably be like, Oh, is that Nina Monash and Hortonville?

Like it doesn't matter.

But yeah, it'll be a competitive game.

And, and again, it's just a fun atmosphere when you get a good crowd in and, and, you know, again, it's like going to a concert, you know, like the energy and

you

kind of feel it and our kids feel that too.

And that's kind of the fun part about it.

It's funny because we were talking about this earlier in the week, like sure it's a rivalry, but it's like, you got like a rivalry, like the Bears Packers, but then there's a

rivalry like Marquette, Wisconsin.

Well,

I'm cheering for both those teams when they make the playoffs.

You know, it's probably the same way in a hockey league like this, where you guys are all kind of in it together, I would imagine.

It's just a nice pleasant.

Yeah.

I mean, I, you know, I root for our kids and, but, but you want success for all these kids.

I mean, they're all trying to get to that next level.

And, you know, as, as adults and people who are, who are trying to help them, you're glad for them when they do succeed because, you know,

We have dreams and we get a little bit older and some come to fruition and some don't.

And for the ones that do, and to think you had a little piece of it, it's pretty cool to sit there and look back and go, you know, watch on TV like, oh, I remember him when he played here and great kid and we were able to be part of that chapter.

That's Jeff Mitchell.

We're coming right back.

It's Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media radio

network.

I

was gonna have a surprise for

you, but now you ruined it.

I

know you were expecting it to come.

No, I'm just kidding.

I forgot.

Throwing

me under the

bus.

Hey, a reminder, folks, this hour's keyword.

This is the second to last hour of our grown-up gift list text-to-win contest.

It's a multi-state text-to-win contest here at Civic Media.

You have two more chances to win.

You can text in the keyword right now on the app for a chance of 200 bucks, and you will automatically be enrolled for our grown-up gift list.

Cutlery, a snowblower, and...

And what's the third one, Conn?

Air conditioning.

Air conditioning.

You won't need that for a while.

So, and when you get a confirmation link, folks, click on that.

Sign up for USA.

USA is my insurance company.

It's really

messing me

up.

You sign up for Civic Media today, and you have extra chances to win.

Also, follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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And a reminder, this hour's keyword is toast.

T-O-A-S-T, toast.

And my guest, Jeff Mitchell, who is the president of the Green Bay Gamblers?

Pretty good gig.

You're a big bread fan.

I am a big bread fan, man.

In fact, I need my oldest daughter after Breadsong Aubrey.

That's so cool.

to help everybody who toast this.

Yeah, so toast is like a bread tribute band.

We had them at the Meyer Theater, which is right downtown Green Bay, and it was so successful, we're bringing them back, so.

How fun.

But yeah, toast, man, hey.

Bread, that's a different era.

You don't seem old enough

to

dig bread.

You know, like, I'm not, but like, I just, I always loved bread, man.

You found the music, yeah.

Bread anthology.

I think my parents probably had the album, and at that time in my life, maybe dabbling in certain things that allowed me to like bread.

But yeah, when our first daughter was born, I said, we're calling her Aubrey from that song.

Aubrey was her name from Brett Brian Gates.

That's fantastic.

Yeah.

So they played the Meyer.

You also run the Meyer.

We do.

So through the PMI Entertainment Group, we manage the Meyer Theater.

OK.

So you got a lot of cool stuff.

We were just talking during the break.

You got Frank's Christmas is there right now.

Frank.

You've got the Bodines coming in June.

Bodines.

What else is happening?

Trisha

Yearwood's coming.

That's a big one.

Yeah, that's a great get for us.

You know, we do try to think of the Pink Floyd tribute they do every year.

Is that the wall?

Yeah, it's the wall.

Pink something and I apologize that I can't think of the name Yeah, but that's been a staple and you know Matt Gable managed that for us and he brings a ton of stuff there I know we like had a meatloaf.

I think like tribute band.

Okay a lot of stuff like that So it's a little thousand seat venue downtown historic beautiful

But yeah, to get Trisha Yearwood and Toast, and there's always something going on.

It's cool.

You

kind of were a little humble when you said that.

And the Meyer Theater is an absolute gem.

I

agree.

And

I don't think, I could be wrong, I'm sure there are some cities, but a city of 100,000 people to have a theater like the Meyer, I don't know that that's not that

rare.

It's a

beautiful, beautiful place.

Jumping back to hockey.

and kind of keeping it in the showbiz world.

We talked about Slap Shot, your thoughts.

You know, it's kind of like that film's an institution.

Absolutely.

I mean, the Hanson Brothers and, you know, we're talking like, so really the background of that story is the person who wrote that is a woman whose uncle was the GM for the Johnstown Jets.

Now back in the World Hockey Association, the Johnstown Jets were the farm team in the Minnesota Fighting Saints.

And back in the 70s, that league just notorious for fights.

So a lot of the things in the film, you know, enhanced of course, but a lot of that stuff happened.

And she wrote it, but, you know, we were talking that, you know, we talked Paul Newman.

And one of the things we're proud about in the hockey businesses, you know, hockey people are just such good people.

And I know Paul Newman has talked numerous times about how much he enjoyed being a part of that.

But yeah, you know, it's crazy.

I mean, the Hanson brothers are, I mean, they played, I mean, they played up in Marquette.

They played the Green Bay Bobcats back in the day.

When you say they played, you're referring to the Johnstown, okay.

So the Johnstown, but the Hanson brothers.

So basically what it is, it's the Carlson brothers and then Hanson.

So those are real guys?

They're real guys.

I didn't know that.

They wanted the three Carlson brothers, but Jack Carlson, who got offered the role, signed a contract with the Minnesota North Stars, and he couldn't do it.

Oh my

gosh.

So then they brought in the Hanson, and then he was the third brother.

That is great.

But those guys played minor pro.

They're up in Marquette.

They played the old USHL like, yeah, they, they, they could legitimately play.

And I think just, you know, the look, yeah, they fought, et cetera, but not to the degree that they did in the film.

But yeah, it's, it's nuts.

I mean, you watch that and you're kind of like, it's crazy, but that was hockey in the seventies and in the WHL and minor pro.

I mean, that's the life they led.

What are you guys doing?

Putting on the

foil, coach.

Putting on the foil, yeah.

We were talking about that because Nancy Dowd wrote it.

I didn't know that.

That was such a great nugget.

And Paul Newman and George Roy Hill, the director and the lead actor, did that instinct.

Two very different movies.

So cool.

So Nancy Dowd's brother plays Ogie Oglethorpe in the movie.

Ogie Oglethorpe.

And Ogie Oglethorpe is based on the character called Bob Goldthorpe.

And if you ever get time, look up Bob Goldthorpe on Wikipedia.

Like it's crazy, but yeah Ned Dowd who was Nancy's brother played Oglethorpe in that movie.

And then the goalie couldn't say his name.

Oglethorpe.

Yeah,

Oglethorpe.

Conrad, we have to put Jeff on that list we're making.

We're trying to accumulate all our, we gotta come back and just

do a segment on that slap

shot.

Well, here's what we'll do.

We'll have you back.

We'll both have just watched the movie and then we'll talk about it.

Does that seem

fun?

We could.

We could fill a lot of time with that, for sure.

Dude, so fun.

Thank you for coming

in.

Pete, thank you for having me.

Doc,

I'm dead tomorrow night.

Beat

Madison.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

Let's create a rivalry here.

We're going to go 11 on the wrong ones.

All right, that's awesome.

Thank you for the

time.

Any time, Jeff.

Jeff Mitchell, check out all the shows at the Meyer Beautiful venue and go see the Green Bay Gamblers.

A great family atmosphere, affordable.

And tomorrow night, you got the Glam Band too.

Yeah, hard to beat that.

Jeff Mitchell, we are coming right back for act two.

Ben McVane will be here.

We're going to talk about more cool stuff happening in downtime.

Green Bay with Mary Rodie, and it's a bar ban Friday night.

This is Pete Schwab, and we're coming right back on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Broadcasting live statewide from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Schwabba, your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who binge watches TV for a living but doesn't get paid.

Pete Schwabba.

Welcome back.

I get paid.

I pay myself to binge watch.

Just give myself, uh, free stuff.

Hey, welcome back.

This is fun, folks.

It is a Friday night version of Nightlight here, and we've got a jam-packed show.

We've got guests talking about really fun events all around Northeast Wisconsin, and then some music in hour three with our pal Terry Barr, because it is Bar Band Friday night coming up at 7.35.

Before that, we've got Ben McVane in just a couple minutes.

He'll be here talking about his farrier service.

and delivering food to food pantries, a really cool thing he is doing.

And then we've got Mary Rode here from on Broadway Inc.

here in Green Bay.

It's gonna tell us about Chris Kindle Market.

And Sean Katzenback will join me in hour number two, or I'm sorry, hour number three as well, and talk about a great event happening in Marinette tomorrow night.

So lots going on.

in and around the state, I guess we accidentally, I would say, are focusing in Northeast Wisconsin, but a lot of stuff happening here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Hope you're having a great night.

If you missed hour one, we talked about the brand new cologne.

And it's about time a soda came out with a cologne.

This is called daddy's home and it's really creepy and weird We talked about that you can go to the it's a civic media dot US and check out our number one We had a lot of fun with that one And Jeff Jeff Mitchell was here.

Oh Oh, it is National Soundcheck Day Check Conrad right check Conrad check National Soundcheck Day.

Can you hear me check Conrad check?

Hello.

Oh, hey.

Hey.

I love when I forget a bit we were supposed to do and then you do it and I give you a weird look.

And it's like, oh, OK, my bad.

National Soundcheck Day.

So if any engineers out there, if Chris Casper, I did not call him by his nickname.

Chris.

Because he could.

No, he don't do that.

I don't think Chris.

I think if Chris liked that, we would have heard from him.

And frankly, he could come in here and change everything and really make our lives difficult.

Forget about the physical harm.

Yes, he really could.

He's not the guy to mess with.

But it is National Soundcheck Day.

So to Eric and Drew and Chris and Corey and Lindsay, there's a new person on the team.

If I'm forgetting someone, I apologize.

But happy National Soundcheck Day.

Lots going on.

This was kind of cool.

Troops for trees.

Did you see that?

Did I send that to you?

This is from Up North News.

Thanks to the generosity of Christmas tree growers from around Wisconsin, there will be some holiday cheer for men and women serving in the military.

Earlier this month, members of the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association, the WCTPA, an organization I have to be honest, I didn't even know existed, they donated 700 trees for troops.

And that's kind of cool.

And that's the kind of news I love from Up North News.

They give us these great inspiring stories, very cool stuff around the holidays.

Our question of the night, folks, is what is your favorite Christmas song?

And I said, Oh, holy night, I'll be home for Christmas, and Mariah Carey.

I realize a lot of my songs, I listed three of them, are kind of polarizing.

But share what your favorite Christmas song is and be part of the show 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 civic you can also text us on the stream if you're watching the radio like Dave is he He sent his offerings in that we will read but let us know what your favorite Christmas song is a few nights ago We went worst Christmas song or one you never need to hear again

But tonight it's favorite.

We're staying on the on the positive Dave on the stream says give me or he says give this Christmas away Matthew West and Amy Grant Love Amy Grant.

I don't think I know that song.

Oh Pardon me.

That was a cough So you just want me to be blessed.

I appreciate that and that's from all from veggie tails love the veggie tails

Sometimes you ever watch that con when you were

younger?

I'm not gonna lie.

That was like my favorite.

I loved when they sang opera.

I had like the veggie tails like action figures and stuff when I was

Veggie tail action figures.

I did not know that wow.

Yes, that's pretty cool.

Okay

Great stuff.

So we've got a fun show tonight, folks.

We'll read more of your text in just a few minutes.

But right now, it is my pleasure to welcome to the... This guy is doing great stuff.

He's the owner of McVayne's Ferrier Service here in Northeast Wisconsin.

specifically Porterfield, kind of my hood.

That's like the suburbs of Marinette.

There you

go.

Yeah, Marinette is suburbs.

And he's never been on the show before, but we found out what he was doing delivering food to food pantries, which I think is fantastic, making sure the horses.

Do you know what a farrier does, Conrad?

Delivers such?

No.

Oh.

Fits horses for shoes for the proper footwear.

You used to do that to change, but with people.

I was thinking about a carrier.

Well, let's talk to him ourselves and find out how it's going out there.

Ben McVane, owner of McVane's barrier service, joins us here on Nightlight for the first time.

Hi, Ben.

Hey there, Pete.

Hey, I'm driving in the trucks.

I'll take you off speaker here for a

second.

Okay.