Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this July 9, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mail, off here.
At 4.30, we're going to welcome in a friend, David Farmbrow,
from Cole Banker, Sear Relatures.
And let's talk real estate.
Right now, we're talking to our great friend,
Lacey Ailing, events engagement director,
with our heart of Wisconsin Chamber, Commerce.
Lacey, good to have you here.
Good to be here.
Thanks for being here.
I appreciate the time.
And love what you guys are doing this summer,
what you guys have been doing.
Appreciate all the work.
I know that we're about halfway through summer here,
but I would say very impressive summer already for you guys.
And get some great upcoming events we're going to talk about.
Let's start with lunch by the river.
Yes, lunch by the river on Thursday.
So we have, obviously, our presenting sponsor, Embridge,
the Royal Flush sponsor, Cracket Sceptic,
and then our exclusive sponsors for this Thursday,
our paper city savings, and the city of Wisconsin Rapids.
Our entertainment will be Bob Ailing, just, I just love him.
And then we'll have chatterbox, Rockies, MCG services,
and then Jamaican kitchens will be there on Thursday.
It's a fantastic lineup.
Some really good food, a great entertainer, big supporter also.
And a fun one.
How, from what I've been able to attend and see,
lunch by the river has been very successful this year.
It's been really fun.
Yeah, we've definitely done really well
at getting more people out there.
I think having the additional activity,
so we've got Casey Twist, and she is wonderful
at balloon twisting as well as we'll have,
as long as they can bring some pets down,
we had the Southwood County Humane Society
that came down last week, and they brought Alaska.
She is a deaf dog looking for a home,
as well as we actually had the sheriff there.
So we had Lola too.
They're new emotional support dogs,
so really cool to get more people out,
I think having larger things,
as well as like we had Greenway RV,
so having a gigantic RV right on the river.
I think people just kind of saw it,
and they were like, hey, let me stop and grab a bite to eat,
so definitely wonderful.
Love having all these new additions this year,
and hopefully can keep just elevating this event.
We have our pet of the week with the Southwood County Mead Society
every Thursday.
We're big supporters of what they're doing.
I love the combination of them being down there
when they can.
That's a fantastic addition.
Having Sheriff Becker anytime down there,
let alone with the dogs, it's always great.
And of course, the Greenway thing is a great,
not only is it great PR for them,
and for us, for the Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.
But again, like you said,
it might bring people down,
it might not normally come down or something like that.
It's a great thing to keep in mind
any businesses out there, anybody listening.
If you want to be a part of things
that lunch by the river next year or something like that,
reach out to Lacey and be one of these great things
that is being able to be noticed down there.
Absolutely, we're really excited.
I've already started putting off the dates
in Thursday for 2025,
because there is some entertainment and food vendors
that I was like, okay, I want them back,
or I want them next year.
And so kind of just like already writing down,
even though it's a year out,
but just kind of being proactive and like, okay,
not having to look back and like think about what I want,
and just exactly, you know,
having everything kind of ready for next year
to kind of start fast.
It's part of what makes you so good at the job,
thinking ahead and all that,
that really goes a long way.
And I can tell you something about that.
There helps a lot in this industry, there really does.
Gather by the gazebo coming up, love this one.
Yes, tonight, so very excited.
I love Gather by the gazebo, I love that area,
the Rome area is just, it's so beautiful.
We've got to get out there with the Rome Farmer's Market,
as well as being out there for Gather.
And the attendance has definitely increased
for versus where we were at last year,
so really excited to see that.
We also have Casey Twist coming for balloon twisting there.
And then the Adams County Humane Society
will be bringing two dogs tonight.
We also have outdoor games, so I've got bat,
we've got, you know, bag toss,
we've got some other games are presenting sponsors,
visit Rome, and they've been wonderful
and helping us get some different entertainment
and some entertainers that they would love to perform,
but they're so, you know, they're kind of farther away.
So we've been able to kind of secure them that way,
so we have Jackson Taylor tonight.
He's really, really great.
I, he's got like some of that new kind of,
or it's like the Morgan Wallet, that type of music.
So it's nice to kind of play some of the stuff
that you're hearing on the radio right now.
I absolutely love kind of like reminiscing over,
oh, I remember when the first time I heard the song
on some of the classic stuff,
but I think that when you're hearing on the radio,
you can sometimes sing along a little bit more.
So really excited to have him there tonight.
Chatterbox is going to come out tonight.
So so grateful to Kathy.
We had a food vendor and then there was some,
there was some just kind of like communications
off going on and then as well as we had a different vendor
and she's having some just kind of medical issues.
So really, really grateful that we have so many food vendors,
that excuse me, that can kind of jump in.
And I was really grateful to reach out to them yesterday
and was like, hey, you know, like this is a last,
you know, last chance opportunity
and really, really excited to get Kathy out there.
Yeah, big thank you to them for being adaptable
and helping with something like that.
It's also a big thank you to the Chamber
and what you guys do in supporting local.
And certainly these local businesses
that we're talking about.
But I don't think we get to touch on nearly enough.
The opportunity to give these entertainers
another up a new venue or a new audience
to be heard by or anything.
That goes a long way too.
Absolutely.
In Coldwell, Banker Advantage, San Valley Resort,
Rome way from home, they're also sponsors.
So they also have boost there.
And then as well as our date sponsor, Ho Chiang
Game Unicusa, they've been so wonderful
at supporting these events and supporting these,
you know, monthly things where we can kind of get together.
It's free, it's open to the public.
You can, you know, bring a lawn chair,
bring a blanket, just come set out with your family.
I mean, there's bathrooms, there's playgrounds,
there's a splash pad there and gather by the gazebo.
And it's really great to have, it's all walking distance.
They have a lot of wonderful things out there
and I'm really, really excited to go out there again today.
Yeah, it's going to be a really fun time.
Meenam out there, everything kicks off at 5.30.
And rendezvous in the park is coming up.
Yes, we've got them July 17th.
We are going to have Ben Chateque, so love him.
Yeah, shut up, Ben.
I love Ben, I love duology, I love heartstrings.
And anywhere I can kind of plug them in,
he is also very adaptable and wants to be a part of these things.
I don't know how he has, I see him everywhere too.
So I'm not sure where, I sometimes I think he has
like a clone out there because I swear I saw him like Starbucks.
I wouldn't be surprised.
Yeah, community theater, he's playing out of state,
he's playing, it's I'm like, how are you making
all this happen, do you sleep?
Yeah, we're big fans of us.
So love Ben and really, really grateful
that he's going to be around evil in the park.
And obviously we have Casey Twist,
we've got some outdoor games.
So definitely very grateful as well as our date sponsors,
our Irko and DomTar.
So definitely come out, the City of Nicos
is our season sponsor for that.
We'd love to grow that, we want our attendance to be higher.
Obviously, please come out, it's free.
It's on the, you know, it's out right on the river
and great time to, you know, spend time with family
and it's in the middle of the week.
So you can kind of get out before the weekend,
get it out of the kids' systems
to where you can maybe look.
Yes, oh, that's a great point right there.
It's something to keep in mind with this.
And it's some, also, the more we have of attending
these things, the bigger and better they can be.
We want you to be there.
And I like one of the things that I like talking to people
about, especially people that go consistently.
The first time they go, go, check it out.
You got nothing to lose, it's a free event.
And then they come back and then they come back again
and again and again.
It's just one of those fun things.
Encouraging to check out Rhonda Boo in the park.
Gather by the gazebo and lunch by the river.
All great events going on with our chamber.
Coming up, Lacey, you've got a big one.
Lucky's golf classic is coming up.
Or wait a minute.
Yeah, yeah, Lucky's golf classic is coming up.
Yes, very excited.
End of the month.
So we're going to be at Lake Arrowhead on the Pines course.
You can register online if you want
to do some kind of team building, as well as we still have
today's the last date for sponsors.
So we have two platinum sponsors left.
That is 18 holes of golf for two golfers, including
the cart, two lunches, two dinners.
You get a sign featuring your logo at an assigned
hole, as well as a business logo on event signage, website,
event page, as well as your business name on the whole pamphlet,
and then options to promote your business
during a Facebook Live, and then as well as recognition
during the dinner announcements.
So it's definitely a great way to get your business name out
there, as well as supporting local, all the funds
that we make from these annual, these type of signature events
that we have that is all going to support this community,
put more to kind of elevate these events,
and try to make it to where this community is somewhere
that people want to go.
And I'm really, really passionate about the signature events,
and I'm very grateful that we've had a lot of support so far.
So today's the deadline, please reach out to me,
or you can always go and pay online, www.wisconsinrapidschamber.com,
or you can absolutely call if you are a member,
and you want to get in on this, please let us know.
You do not have to be a member to golf at this event,
and I know we have some space available for golfers.
It is 125 per golfer.
We also have raffle prizes and baskets for 25 and up,
and that also is some more marketing to get out there,
as well as wine liquor poll.
And then I think we have three or two gold sponsors left.
Everything also sold out besides the platinum and the gold,
and that includes a lot of the recognition and the sign,
and then as well as you know, you having your logo there,
on all of that print material that everyone's seeing
during the entire time from lunch and dinner,
and we picked a very, very interesting dinner option.
So really excited for our buffet of just endless appetizers.
Oh, that's a great idea.
Yes, just non-stop hot wings and mashed burgers.
I mean, that's awesome.
So really, really excited for that.
Please come out like Arrowhead,
you can register on there, golf outing their page too,
or register on the Chamber website.
I have a couple of friends that I talk to in the movie industry
and entertainment industry.
Most of them live out in California and work out west,
but we talk a lot about PR and getting your money's worth out
of something, whatever, if you're a business,
and attaching yourself to something.
And every one of them will tell you,
there are a few things that will help your brand
like supporting something local.
There is nobody has ever had a bad PR
from attaching themselves to something local.
It only gets more eyeballs on you
and more people to be able to see your business
that might not see it otherwise.
And that's before even talking about something like this.
There's all those factors, and then you add on the fact
that this is not only the 41st annual,
which congratulations on that, that's pretty cool.
But what this event means to the community,
and you know people show up,
and you know how much people love golf in this area.
All those factors added on top of it,
be call Lacey, get a part of this,
and you will see the benefits of it.
Absolutely.
And just the other part of this too
that they always like to bring up
is that no business has ever been like,
wow, we shouldn't have done that.
Like no, they feel great being a part of these things.
It also means something to the business and its workers,
and giving them motivation, giving them some, you know,
feel good about working for a company
that puts back into their community.
Yes, and I know we're going to attend
a the YMCA golf outing.
And so we're going to have a spot there too.
And I think you can't forget about, you know,
marketing, marketing your own business.
And I mean, even McDonald's spends money on marketing.
So I think everyone has to, you know,
have to try to get what you can with the money you have.
And I know a lot of, we're over halfway through the year
right now and budgets are tight,
and I understand that completely.
But I think even with just golfing,
the golfing part of it, to get out with your team,
have some, you know, some rail, have some team building,
and then get to know your, you know,
get to know your people more.
Yeah.
And I think it's different than when you're in the dust,
versus when you're driving around together.
And there's games at all these holes.
So there's sponsors that are, you know,
that are going to be out there and have fun games.
I am a very different personality as everyone would know.
And so I have some different type of ideas for games.
So I'm going to have the sheriff and the police chief,
and they're going to be playing a game.
And I already told them they're like, don't make us golf.
Just we're not going to golf thing.
Just I'm like, I'm not going to have you golf.
So they're going to be essentially,
like little snipers with their squirt gun.
So I wanted something different.
And then as well as something where you can kind of get
to know them, I think that it's so,
it's so hard to get to know people on a personal level.
And I think this is a great opportunity
to spend time with the mayor.
He'll be there as well as the police,
you know, the police chief and the sheriff,
as well as a lot of people that are, you know,
pretty active in this community.
A lot of businesses that, you know,
they support this community.
They want it to thrive.
So they are absolutely out here.
Not only are they golfing, a lot of them are sponsoring.
And I think it's great for them to be able to kind of get
out of the office, get to know people, you know,
lunch and dinner is obviously included in that,
as well as the golf carts.
There's a bunch of swag bags.
I want to do some VIP stuff next year.
And I think it's just, I'm excited for it.
I'm not good at golfing.
But it's very fun to think about, okay,
what can they do with this hole?
We're also gonna have yellow shots.
We're gonna cut, yeah.
So it'll be really, really fun.
Definitely excited for it.
Please reach out.
We do have, you know, obviously those two platinum sponsors
left, which include golfing.
So definitely, definitely come.
As well as we have the three,
it may be two now, old sponsors.
I've been trying to keep it as updated as I can.
This morning, so please reach out.
If you have any questions, please call me.
We'll call the office 715-423-1830
or communications at WisconsinRapisChamber.com.
You bring up some really good points there
that I did not think about.
The team building exercise or team building.
You can never have enough of that.
That's a great point to bring up.
We all act differently from work to wear in a person alive.
And it's a great opportunity to get to know your people
better and all that.
And I appreciate the fact that you,
you like a lot of people in this community.
See something that, well, something to be blunt about it.
Sheriff Becker and I have been working at
since the first time we started talking.
I've been talking with Sean for a little over seven years now.
And what we've wanted to do, one of the major things
we've wanted to do is create a better bridge
between the community and our law enforcement
to make it so that there is not one young person out there
that hesitates going to an officer.
That we have more and more of our community
that reach in lean on them and trust them
and believe in them.
And these kind of events, it may not seem like it to some,
but boy, that adds to it so much.
So that's a great insight right there on that.
It's going to be a fun event.
Again, reach out to Lacey to find out more in response
or one of those holes.
Coffee with the chamber coming up, Lacey,
one of my favorite events you guys do.
Yeah, and I'm so excited with us having it
and changing it to where we're quarterly.
Yeah, it's a really good idea.
It's more impactful and it's not just
we're trying, you know, we're trying to fill any spots.
It's, we are genuinely bringing what we think
is needed in this area.
So they're going to, you know, it's going to be Kyle Kerns,
our director of community development from the city
and then as well as Matt Zacker, the mayor of the city.
They are both going to talk about just things
that are coming up as well as, you know,
we're going to talk a lot about economic development,
you know, the general community, the mill, the foundry.
I think there's a lot of things
that people are like, what are they doing with this?
If you genuinely want to know, then you need to be
at the coffee with the chamber on August 28th at 8.30.
And you can also be virtual if you can't make it there.
Please register online.
It is free if you are a chamber member
and if your business is a chamber member,
you are also a chamber member.
And then $10 if you are not a member.
But it is, that's probably the number one question
that I get asked and I, you know,
with me working with the chamber, you know,
the chamber and obviously I do sometimes know
some things before other people,
but typically I don't know about, you know,
I know that we've talked about selling things
from the, you know, people have talked about that
and I've heard it.
But I think it's always good to go straight to the source.
And if you genuinely want to know things,
then you need to ask by people.
Yeah.
So I think having a better understanding,
you know, the downtown planning project,
the master plan, things kind of giving things a facelift,
making sure that the businesses and the storefronts are full.
I think that when there's businesses
that want to come to town, I think they're more likely
to come when they see that the, you know,
see that the town is in a position to take them
and that they have those things to offer.
So I think that if you have, you know,
questions or if you have concerns about the city,
you should absolutely voice them there.
That is, that is a, you know, the best place,
obviously professionally and making sure
that they can definitely receive it.
But I think it's a great way to, you know,
have a better understanding of the community
you live in, where it's going.
And, you know, what you can do to kind of assist with that.
Yeah.
One of the things Matt wanted to do right out the gate
was get involved with the community and talk to people.
Not just their emails or phone calls,
but be in person right out there in events like this
or the kind of thing he was talking about.
Kyle is so good at what he does.
And is so insightful and has so much knowledge
about these subjects.
But the community has to be, has to speak up.
We have to hear from the community
because if you want this new project to look like you,
you want your community to look like we need your feedback.
We need to hear from you.
So whether there's the city planning meeting
that is coming up or coffee with the chamber,
any of these kind of events, you gotta be heard.
You gotta get out there.
Otherwise, you know, it's never gonna,
the things that you're trying to accomplish
aren't gonna happen.
This is a great way to make that happen.
At coffee with the chamber coming up August 28th.
And we've got another one wanted to talk
with Lacey about ACE.
2024, 25 registration is now open.
Yeah, so the community leadership program
has received some updates and changes this year.
Where obviously we want to elevate things.
We're not gonna, you know, completely come in
and kind of make a lot of changes with things,
but we have two amazing updates.
So it is going to be called ACE,
which stands for advancing community education.
So there's gonna be emphasis on building better leaders
for stronger communities.
It's an eight month journey essentially,
you know, designed for adult leaders of all ages and roles.
Excuse me.
And the second amazing change is that the program
is now going to be accredited through mid-state.
So you will have a credit, you know,
if you take this class as well as the things that you learn.
Obviously we come here for, you know, in radio
and we talk about other people that have been participants
and kind of what they've gotten out of it
and not just networking,
but a better understanding of where they live,
how they can, you know, assist
and how we can, you know, grow as leaders in this community.
So it's gonna cover topics including power dynamics,
leadership styles, as well as just kind of understanding
your role, your communication styles.
And I think it's really, really great
that we're able to have this accredited.
There is multiple leadership, you know, courses,
things that you can do in this area,
not just, you know, throughout, not through chambers,
but different organizations that run community leaderships.
And some of them, you know,
have been a little bit more price-wise,
but we are essentially a pretty good,
with now being accredited,
there's no other ones that are accredited in this area.
So I think that if you are wanting to,
you know, you're wanting to grow.
I think, obviously, like I say it every time,
you can only lead people beyond where you are.
And if you are able to continue growing in any role,
I think you're gonna be a better leader.
I think you're gonna be a better coworker,
probably even a better parent,
because you understand other communication styles,
in a way that where I'm like, okay,
I can sometimes come across as like,
I'm kind of, you know, I can kind of be very direct
and I've learned, okay, there's some people
that you need to scale it back, or say something,
and then ask how they feel.
And I think that as a parent, I sometimes I'm like,
no, we're just gonna do it my way,
because I'm, you know, I'm right and you're wrong,
and I'm big in your little,
I can get into a Danny DeVito over here,
but that's kind of how it is,
and I think that even just understanding, okay,
I need to make sure that I am, you know,
that she understands, because typically, you know,
if there's an issue, it's not the other person
is the issue, it's just the communication.
So I think that the understanding that I got from that,
as well as the networking,
and having a better understanding of other positions
in this area, and ODC, and even Mariani,
and having, you know, it's been,
it's been really, really great to be a part
of the program last year.
A little jealous that it wasn't accredited when I took it,
but definitely excited for the changes,
and obviously reach out to Laura Bono Ridgeway
at Workforce at WisconsinapolisChainbird.com,
or by phone at 715-423-1830 for more information,
but registration is open.
I know they are looking for one sponsor for that,
and then that's gonna be the,
essentially the title sponsor.
So you're gonna have naming rights
for this entire season.
Everything will be set with your business before.
So they're gonna, you know,
I think subliminally attach, okay, they're a leader.
They're a leader in this business field,
they're a leader in this community,
and they want to lead us in the direction
where, you know, we're having stronger people,
and I think that the stronger we are,
the more united we can be together.
Mm-hmm.
It's so great to hear that program credit it now.
That is very big.
We'll talk more about that.
I'm excited.
We got Chamber Cash available.
Yes, we do.
So one for 10, three for 20,
Assumption Catholic Schools is our print sponsor for that.
We are selling through kind of the whole summer,
and we'll start drawing winners September 8th,
even if you win, you still go back in.
So definitely a pretty good choice
if you're trying to make a little investment this summer,
maybe get the kids some more school stuff,
and then $1,850 in Chamber Gift Certificates
will be awarded in those 16 days.
We'll kick it off with $250 from Ho Chiang Gaming,
and then we have another $250 on the 19th,
and then another stole core on the 27th.
So essentially, you could win quite a bit of money,
even with just $20, you know, let's retake it.
So please reach out.
Obviously buy for me because I should be the one
that wins this, just because I sell.
Yes, yeah.
Then last but not least, our July's member of the month,
I can't believe it's already July,
but we have L Cafe, a business located in Port Edwards
on Market Street.
They are open, even with all this road construction
we have going on this lovely summer.
And I have heard that they have one of the best fish fries
in this area as well as really, really friendly staff,
and I love pie.
So they have homemade pies there.
He's been really supportive of someone that works there
at that's their dream.
And I think it's really great that he has absolutely empowered
them to grow and to start making homemade pies there
out of the business.
So definitely support Fidel at L Cafe.
They're open, obviously, pretty early in the morning
and they have an extensive Mexican menu too.
Yes, but we have L Cafe is our birthday and anniversary club
sponsor and we talk about them endlessly all week long.
The roads are open.
They actually have all the construction done in Port Edwards.
So you can get there easy, go say hi to our friends
over at L Cafe.
Lacey, we appreciate the time.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you.
Find out more at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com,
WisconsinRapidsChamber.com, reach out to them
and follow them on social media.
We'll be back in more midday magazine.
