Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Friday, May 10th, 2024.
Have your host, James here, welcoming a bunch of friends of ours right now.
We're going to talk about the Britney Sailor Bluegrass at the Lake Memorial Festival.
We're going to do that with our good friend Carolyn Sailor.
Carolyn, always good to see you.
Oh, it's same here.
I'm good to have you with us, Katie.
Katie, thank you very much for being here.
And I mean, what is this?
Shrief, Shrief, Shwan.
I'm so sorry, Pam, could you share Shwan Becker also with us.
Good to see you, Shwan.
It's a comedy, it's a comedy.
I'm really bad at comedy, so we don't need to do that.
Thank you all for being here.
Right out the gate, each one of you individually and as a team,
do such for our community.
Appreciate all of you.
Appreciate the things you put into this community and you are.
Notice, do our appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate you also being here today and putting up with me in my bad comedy.
And my questions, it's like, really want to get into this topic.
I know that we have had you by before Carolyn.
We've talked about this.
We've been able to do this for a couple of years now.
Yes, we have.
But I know that there are listeners out there that may not know about the event.
So I want to get into the history of it with you
and talk about the meaning of this event and why it's so important,
certainly to you and your family, which we respect above all else.
But definitely to this community.
This has become a community event.
This is something that people look forward to.
They love and they celebrate.
Let's get into the meaning of this event.
Sure.
We started the event seven years ago.
This will be our seventh event this year.
And it was started and we got into bluegrass.
As I should say, the event is bluegrass at the lake.
And we got into the event because bluegrass was very meaningful to our family.
It was a way for us to reconnect and
feel good about things in the light of our daughter's very complex medical situations.
She'd been very sick and we almost lost her.
In 2013, I can't believe it's 10 years ago already, but
then she survived and but she required 24 hour nursing care and had very significant
medical situations.
And so what that ended up to be was
bluegrass was just a way for our family to heal.
And we got into bluegrass.
We started going about nine years ago and I thought, oh boy, I'm not so sure
this is for me.
This is kind of different.
But the more I went and attended, I realized there's a whole bluegrass family out there.
And two years into it, we decided Wisconsin Rapids needed a festival.
And Brittany came to our first festival, grudgingly, I will say, because she wasn't so sure either.
But she ended up to be the last person to leave and thoroughly loved it because it was such a
family friendly, just wonderful experience for her.
Unfortunately, she passed that following November.
So that's when we created it as a 501-C3 not-for-profit and made it the Brittany Sailor Memorial Festival.
And since then, we've been going and we feel that it is just a great way to
create a legacy in her name, which is selfishly on my part, I just don't want her name to be
forgotten. And I want people to recognize her. Or at least know that she was important
in many ways to the medical community. She was a pioneer helping establish the current medical
practices for spinal muscular atrophy type two. And it's no longer quite as fear to diagnosis
as it was when she was born in 1989. So there's an awful lot of things to be proud of with her.
And that's why we, myself, especially, really want to build a legacy in her name.
So that's what this is about. And we've tried over the years to create and support causes
that have been important to her. So we did muscular dystrophy association for the first few years.
We worked with the Southwood County Humane Society for a couple of years because she loved cats.
And then we hooked up with Katie and through our good friend, Marissa, United,
ambulance, medical emergency. I was confused the name, but emergency medical thank you.
Sorry about that guys, but that's how we got hooked up. And we're really thrilled with this as
a sponsor situation because or us to sponsor them because again, it's something that will help
create support. Everybody has traumas. We had medical and family trauma that we dealt with,
but these folks have other traumas. And it's really, I feel like we're just really making an
impact with this. And so we're really thrilled to support that our second year in a row.
Every year we do this, I have to fight through tearing up when we talk, Carolyn. I really appreciate
your conversation. I appreciate you and your family and sharing all this and
being a part of this, having a tiny little piece of this. I'm humbled and thankful for. I know that
I'm not alone in that. I'm sure that I could ask Katie and Sean the same thing. I am curious as I
put people in the spot when we're all ready for tears. I'm not going to make you talk. But Katie,
what was it about this that made, okay, we got to be a part of this. We want to be a part of this.
Yeah, absolutely. I was approached actually not only by Marissa, but also Sean had contacted me as
well, because initially I think Carolyn was actually looking and kind of reaching out to a number
of emergency service agencies trying to find a program that they could support and that they could
lend their efforts to help support us as well. And I got told by a number of people like, hey,
you need to talk to Carolyn. She's got something and everybody was like, oh, you need to talk to Katie.
We think your organization would do great in supporting theirs. And so I heard it from a couple
of different places. And I got to meet with Carolyn and hear her story. And obviously working in
emergency services, it's always sad to hear stories about lost loved ones and those traumatic
experiences that they go through. And we see those day to day when we respond to calls. And so hearing
from Carolyn, you know, that always talks on the heartstrings. And so it was very rewarding to
hear that she wanted to have Britney's name live on and support something in the community that
had such an impact. And that would be able to help our program move forward as well. And so
it was very, I guess you could say that it gave a new resiliency to what we were doing as well.
And just kind of showed that although we focus primarily on first responders in the group that
that we work with, it's not missed. And obviously, Britney was aware of that with all the medical
professionals she had to work with and just heard her love of that field as well. And so we're
proud to be able to partner with Bluegrass at the lake and bring an opportunity for the community.
I'm sure we'll talk about the touch of truck experience and some of those different things. But
we really want to make this a partnership and see what we can do for the community.
Thank you, Katie. Appreciate that. Sean, how about you guys? We got a little bit of that,
but how about the Sheriff's Department being involved?
Pretty special when Carolyn came to me with me because I didn't know much about Bluegrass
at the lake at all. I didn't. And so it came to me with a vent to talk about a partnership and
how would that fit? Because Katie and I go back quite a few years with a lot of the mental health
train for deputies. And then we've talked a lot about on air. And you all know how I feel about
mental health, not only within the community, but within our staff with the first responders,
especially with not trying to be around the focusing on the deputies, but it goes far beyond that.
That's what systems about. One thing I had to share, I was at a train yesterday with the
batter sheriff's association up in Marshfield and they had a counselor come in and speak out on
suicide in officer wellness and officer and first responder suicide. And because of the programs
like this, because of sysm, because of officer wellness and what we've been doing throughout the
years, it's trending downward where you're seeing. That's awesome. Less people statistically in
Wisconsin. You know, there was not Wisconsin statistics that is trending down in the last
few years. And that means a lot to all of us. Absolutely. Look at the partnerships like this,
what what it means. And what you're doing in Brittany's name is making a difference. And I say
that holding tears back because throughout my career, I've seen situations where we've lost
people. And it always bothered me because they felt like what more can we do. And the change in
the trend is it's I'm proud to talk about that. And then if you look at the opportunities like
this and coming to us, it is making a difference. I'm so glad. The trauma that we see, you know,
as a first responder, and you know, somebody at EMT like Katie or a deputy like myself,
it's there. And we all deal with it differently, but it's okay to deal with it. You can't just sit
there and let it fester, let it fester. You got to be willing to get some help and move forward.
And that's and that's what this is all about. And I'm very proud of you meeting you and getting
the opportunity to sit down and talk. And then and the music's pretty cool. Sometimes it takes
a little bit to, you know, get into the swing of it. But you don't go heavy metal guy, a little
country, you know, and you know, and make okay, I'll get a shot. And it's good stuff. And then the
raffle baskets and all the communities, you know, support. And then we'll get into touch a truck
and stuff like that. But this means a lot to me personally and to to any first responder,
anybody part of our team. I appreciate that, Sean. Thank you. I do want to mention for those
that don't know what sism is, it is the critical incident stress management. And that is a big
thing a part of the event this year, right? Again, that's our focus. Yeah. And like I tell people
when I talk about it, it's like, you know, we experienced those things as a family with a medical
situation and anybody who's been through complex medical knows that it puts a stress on families
and it puts a stress on marriages and the whole nine yards. And I see a lot of overlap and
similarities and some respects, you know, the differences as ours was personal. And we had a good
family and friend and job support system. But you know, you guys do with this stuff on a professional
level hundreds of times more, you know, than we do. But yet you don't always have that support.
You know, you get judged in some instances. Families usually don't get judged. I mean, I won't
say for all because there are some that may, but you know, it's it's it's very different. But I like
to see commonalities and build relationships off of that instead of looking for differences in
division. So that's my focus. And when Brittany was struggling after her hospital stay in Madison
with a near death experiences that she'd had, I'm like, I don't know, we tried, you know, we tried
counseling, we tried religion, we tried everything, we tried everything because the more knowledge you
have and the more options you have, the more power you have. And she found comfort in the answers
that we sought out. And I just feel like, you know, music is a great support, social activities,
conversation. It helped us. Why can't it help other people? Let's just build on this and make
something fun. So I started the interview with thanking you guys showing that you're appreciated.
And I take that opportunity any time I get with any one of you individually or anything. But I
also wanted to do it with some intent of Brittany and the work that she did and making her life
even more of an impact every year that we get to do this and celebrating that. And we are going to
be celebrating because this is a big one this year. You guys continue to make this bigger and
bigger every year. And I don't know how you do that, but you do. Let's get into the event. Let's
take a deep breath. All right. Now let's go ahead and get into the event and everything. Let's
celebrate this fun event and let everybody know where to go and what they are going to experience
in this weekend event. Fun event. It's going for Thursday to Saturday. It is Thursday through Saturday.
So Thursday night, we kick off 630. We've got Southbound playing, which has been sponsored by
TriCity Golf Course this year. They actually sponsored the band sponsored the band. So we're thrilled
over that. That's amazing. So that happens. We'll have a little touch of bluegrass when Southbound
takes their intermission, which is something that people are starting to look forward to.
So that's kind of a gentle evening because Thursday during the day is a really heavy set-up day for
us. So it's really busy. So it's nice to kind of kick back and enjoy a little Friday during the
day. We have kind of a quiet day, which allows the campers. And by the way, I believe the camp ground
is full, which is awesome. But that's kind of a nice day for folks to enjoy who are camping and
coming to our event from out of the area for them to explore the lake, explore the community,
you know, relax, relax, whatever. We start off at 6 o'clock on Friday night. It's a little bit
later start than we have in the past, but the band, the Baker family is coming to us from Missouri,
and they are showstoppers. And I hope to God everybody comes out because this is a mom and three kids
who perform. They were at one point on America's Got Talent back in the early 2010 somewhere in
there. The sun is a grandmaster fiddle champion and it's been on the Grand Ole Opry. The daughters
of Mandolin champ and a songwriting champ. They are fun, beautiful. They put on a fantastic show
followed up by Art Stevenson in Highwater who always puts on a fabulous show. And then we're
welcoming back Noah John and Ringing Iron for our closing act on our event. Her good things about
them. Yeah, they're great. But then Saturday is our biggest event. But I don't want to eliminate
the other two nights. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, there's something for everybody in the
community. So Saturday, we have a community event in the daytime and then the music kicks off at
two. And again, for the music, you need the wrist band patches. But we're starting off with
Piper Road Spring Band and they're a band that's been around for 50 plus years. They started
down in Whitewater and they're kind of a bluegrass folk band. They're fantastic. You're going to love
them because they're kind of, I don't know, they're not strong bluegrass but they're just fabulous.
Yes. And then we've got the Silas Paul band who's a three, some coming to us from West Virginia.
They're fantastic. They're traditional bluegrass. It's a son, a dad, and a grandpa. And they're
amazing. Then we've got Saudah Symphony coming to us from Milwaukee. Art Stevenson will be back.
And then we'll close again with Noah John. So there is something for everybody. But tell us a
little bit, Katie and Sherif are showing about the touch of truck. Sure. You guys came to us with an
opportunity to get a lot of the emergency vehicles out on Saturday to show people, you know,
while they enjoy the music, raffles, the awesome food they can come out and just take a look at
the emergency vehicles that, you know, a lot of the local fire departments, law enforcement agencies
have, it's possible that, you know, people can see on this year, we will get our M-Rap there,
the armored vehicle that always seems to be something that people like to see. And I love to get
it out there just so people know that we have it. And it's a great tool to have for us in case
we need it, but it's a good PR thing for people to see. It seems like it gets a lot of interest for
that, but you'll see many other, you know, emergency response vehicles out there. So come on out on
Saturday. What's the time? I think that's 10 to 2. And I heard from Marissa that barring an
emergency. Katie, who's coming? Yeah, so Lifelink 3 will be there as well. They'll be coming in.
Usually they land about 30 minutes after the event starts, so they'll probably get the right
around 1030 for touchdown. So you'll actually get to see the helicopter come in and land. We'll
have a landing zone set up there. They'll actually shut down the helicopter, bring kids. It's very
friendly for families. They'll get to go through all of the vehicles, including the helicopter. They
can sit inside of it and see what it's like. They get to talk to the crew that's on the helicopter,
but also the crews that are there from the fire departments, the AMS services, from law enforcement.
All of our vehicles are open up. They're able to go through the ambulances, the fire trucks.
I really enjoy these opportunities because it really gives kids an opportunity to see that we're
not scary, especially in the event of an emergency. We want kids to know and families just in general
and people to know that we are the people that are there to help them. And so if they get an
opportunity to see us when there's not that emergency, if they get an opportunity to see some of
the equipment that we use to, you know, turn on the lights and to see that all of that is there
for us to help them. It's really an opportunity for them to experience that in a good setting,
a positive setting, and make sure that in the future having for bid they meet our services,
but that if they do, they know that we're coming to help them. And so they get that opportunity
to touch the trucks and to meet the people who are in those vehicles that are coming to help them.
Katie, I think it's such an important point to bring up. We love this event. We love everything
about this event, but we also, I know for me, I love when you can find added bonuses, when you can
find, hey, we're doing this for this and look what happens because of it. It just happens to be in
there. And any opportunity we have in Sean, we talk about this all the time. Any opportunity we
have to create with the youth a more of a bridge to our services and the comfort of that and the
ease of that that we can't have that strong enough. Any opportunities to do those kind of things.
Going again, and I mentioned this a lot with our nonprofits and different events that we have,
especially the family once, when you bring kids to these events to talk about added bonuses.
These kids show up and they're not just seeing a wonderful event and some great musicians
and food and people having fun and everything. They're seeing adults come together to help somebody.
They're seeing adults come together for a cause. Oftentimes strangers, oftentimes strangers
helping strangers and those sponges of brains pick up on that. And it's an impact that it makes.
And you don't know what it can spark in a kid, whether it's them seeing one of these vehicles from
the touch of truck and all of a sudden, hey, I want to do that one day or something like that.
Or just seeing their parents talking with people and being a part of a big event, why are we here?
Well, we're here for Brittany. Well, we're here for this. That has an impact. So again,
an added bonus of this event. You're going to have some great music, good food, all this stuff. We
hope you win something from the raffle, but it also has these added bonuses to it that are so
it's making again one of these community events that we just look forward to every year.
And the other thing that we have going on at the same time, that community portion from 10 to
two, our gates are open. So when the public comes in, there's no cost for anything other than what
they buy. But they can come into the enclosed shelter area. They can buy food and drinks that are
provided by the Wisconsin Rapids Lions Club. Bluegrass at the lake has a ton of merchandise t-shirts
and such and raffles. Come in and spend your money on that and support our cause that way.
When you're at the Red Sand Beach Pavilion, we've got a grill situation going on. We'll have
a competition and there'll be some raffle prizes there as well. That's just fun. By the way,
we are still looking for griddle teams. And it doesn't have to be a griddle. It can be a grill
as well. And at this point, we have decided we're not charging a team, anything to participate in.
We've got judges, but we want you to come in. We also have the St. John's Episcopalian Church
pie ladies who are coming back for a second year to sell their famous cranberry nut pies, cookies,
coffee. That'll be in the kitchen area of that event. There'll be a few vendors here and there
and just come out and enjoy. That's all free and open in the public. That's so fun. And then,
you know, hang out with us for the rest of the day. Enjoy some great news. Come earlier in the weekend.
And that'll all these things are great. And you guys have mentioned raffles. Honestly,
all the work you put into this, if you just had a raffle, people would show up. We love raffles
in this area. Love raffles. So that's a bad bonus. The area, I love Red Sands. I love that over
there. It's a great atmosphere for something like this. So you're going to enjoy that part of
it too. Keep that in mind. This is all taking place at Red Sands Beach on Southwood County Park.
A very beautiful lake with Zecha. And this is going on June 6th through the 8th. So you want to
mark your calendars for that. Make sure to have that down. And Carolyn, if people want to, like you
mentioned, grill teams or anybody that wants to be a part of this, maybe even volunteers. Yeah.
You can still use that too. Excellent. How can they reach you? Just go to our Facebook page or on
our website, bluegrassatthelate.com. We've got a specific volunteer link, I believe, up there.
And there's a web or email address. So please go to there. Message us through there. You can message
me personally. That's fine too. We'd love to have that. But just a quick story. A few years back,
it was Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous weekend. And there were a couple of, I'm going to say
20-something year olds from the community who were enjoying their second or third year at our event.
And the one kid looked at me and he's looking around at the park and he goes, you know,
I can't believe this is in my hometown. This is really a beautiful park and this is such a cool
event. And I'm like, I got goosebumps again just because I'm thinking, you know, he's looking at
it from the music in the community. But I'm like, wow, you know, you never know where those
connections are going to come. And let me tell you, that group of kids has come every year
to our event. And I love it. It's so cool. I just love it. But the pride he had in our community
was awesome, you know, and you're right. It is a gorgeous, you know, place to hang out.
Get that same feeling. Come on down to bluegrassatthelate, everybody. This is going to be a fun,
fun event. June 6th through the 8th, and June 6th through the 8th, over at Lake Awezee
in Wisconsin Rapids. We'll be talking about this event nonstop as we're leading up to it.
We're going to make darn sure that you guys get a good crowd at all these bands have a good
to crowd. And we have some fun with this event as we do every year. I cannot tell you how much I
appreciate you Carolyn. Thank you so very much for being here. Katie, thank you so much for being
here as well. And Sean, no, it's appreciate you Sean. Thank you so much for putting up with me.
One more thing, the event is there is a charge to come in for the wristband. So Friday night,
it's five dollars, or excuse me, Thursday night, it's five dollars, Friday night, it's 25,
and Saturday, it's 30. Kids under 18 are free with a paid adult, regardless of when you come in,
just need to have the paid adult. And there's no carry-ins because it's provided by the lion's
Wisconsin Rapids. Yeah, now shout out to the lion's club too. But let me tell you, it's still pretty
cheap entertainment for a weekend. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Come on in. And you know, every penny you're
spending is putting into such a great cause and such a great thing and celebrating such a great
life. Thank you all so very much. Appreciate the time. Again, you can find out more at their
Facebook page, just type a new search bar, bluegrass at the lake, or go to the website bluegrassatthelake.com.
Well, the more midday magazine for you next week, but do want to send a big shout out to Pam
Hilke in the amazing scheduling she does inside and out all week long. We appreciate your
Pam. We'll be back next week more here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
