Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Monday April 14th 2025.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here in part two today.
We're going to speak with our friend Kayla Rumbalski Community Development Educator Wood County,
where you W Extension looking forward to that.
Right now we've been looking forward to this all weekend.
Jeremy Schmitz in with us from the hotel me got a bunch of great events to coming up that
we're are going to be talking about Jeremy.
But our audience are our very in tune smart audiences going to be like, I know that name.
Jeremy's been with us before.
Let's go ahead and Jeremy real quickly.
I want to touch on your connection with the hotel me certainly and hopefully I'll be coming back
again sometime.
Oh yeah definitely.
I am the sales and marketing director there at the hotel me.
So here to let the whole community know about all the wonderful events that we're having.
Fantastic.
Thank you for that Jeremy and yeah as I've worn Jeremy off air plenty of times you've done too good
on the air with us you have to come back.
That's the catch that's when you're really good on the air we keep bringing you back.
So that's it's a mixed back but we appreciate you being here Jeremy.
Let's dive right in.
And I want to let people know right away that if they'd like to go ahead at home while they're
listening to this I encourage you to pull up either the hotel me its website.
You can look at their events page there by going to hotelmead.com or pull up their Facebook page
and like their page subscribe to the things that they're doing over there and you can kind of
keep up with the things that we're going to talk about today.
And we're going to go right in and letting people know that on Wednesday Wisconsin County
country style line dancing coming up.
Yes sir so we had the Wisconsin country style land dancing their last month and we were kind
of only expecting between 20 and 30 folks and ended up seeing over 75.
That definitely meant that you know country style line dancing is here to stay at
Rapids and hopefully even having it more than once a month eventually.
You know we have a community that has been you know just itching to get out and do things
and get out of the house and have some fun and everything it's you know winners in Wisconsin
that's how it goes and have something like this lined up.
It's not only fun and really like a perfect for this community for this area and everything
but it is one of those things that really gets people not only out hanging out maybe meet some
new people but you're also getting some great exercise.
I may surprise some people out there because my background is more break dancing and some of
those things. Line dancing is a lot of fun. I've done a lot of line dancing in my life.
It's a lot of fun. It's a great exercise too.
And another one of these great ways to get out there doing some fun stuff.
The hotel meet is such a great atmosphere.
A lot of positives to this one.
And the best part about it that I saw last month was the ages spanned from
seven and eight year olds to 78 year olds.
Oh that's awesome.
I mean think of that.
So it's a really good family event so bring everybody out.
When it comes to something like this Jeremy I imagine that this one is something that you
will guys you said before you know let's see how this does.
That's why I wanted to make sure to let people know hey wouldn't you like these events?
Make sure you let them meet no like hey this is a great event.
I really enjoyed this.
It gives them a little bit more of an idea of like okay these are the kind of things we'd
want to kind of hit on and we kind of want to do.
I know how much that how good the meet is always been for for a long time longer than I've
even lived in this area the meet has really been in tune with this community.
So they don't need my notes but they could use yours always.
Your feedback is always great everybody and we love being able to hear how you like these events.
And what is most important for me about the meet is how that you know we have this event space
and we the hardest thing to do in my position is figure out how to get folks
out of their homes and wanting to come out right.
Especially with today's digital everything you can just do at home.
So getting people out but once we get them out you know they're going to stay out and want
to have fun. So this is really to not just for the hotel me but it's really another community
effort to get folks just out and having a good time.
There is no app you can download that's going to give you the what this can.
At least of this event or the other events we're talking about and that you're so
right about that. I appreciate the transparency about that because it's something we deal with
in radio quite a bit and I know there's a lot of businesses out there that are I wouldn't say
struggling because I think especially on a local level mom and pop level businesses are doing a
really good job of adapting but we're all learning and and we learn best working together
and communicating together so that's why again that data is so helpful and and trying different
things. You throw stuff out there see how it does it's something I talk a lot about on this show
with a lot of our nonprofits. This is a great one where you see it right you see the results almost
instantly with you're expecting this number you get the 75 that's really cool to see yeah yeah
when are they dates and times for this event. So that is coming up this Wednesday starting at 7 pm
it'll be in the grand ballroom of the hotel. Is this an event that be people need to register for
anything? No we should have I mean we had enough room last time for the 75 we're actually
going to have more dance floor space this go around putting it in the grand ballroom so
no need to register ahead for this one the other ones we talk about there's going to be some
tickets to purchase. I imagine is there a teacher a certain instructor in charge of this or anything?
Yes his name is oh and I hope I get his last name right but his first name is Jeremy last name
court I believe so he runs the country style line dancing there. It's always nice when they
have the the share of names. Yes you don't forget that first one that's great that's great that's
really cool to hear we'll be talking about this on our morning show making sure people know about
it and show up. Also got another great event coming up the very next day let's talk about that one.
Yes so April you know and you mentioned a little bit spring people need to get out of the house
so that the hotel me the whole month of April is our month of magic music and gratitude so
Thursday continuing the magic trend certainly a different type of magic in terms of how it
wows people but Jim Mitchell the astonishing hypnotist is going to be coming this Thursday.
It's a going back to a vaudeville days a really fun act and it still really hits with audiences
they hypnotist and being able to do that now if you've seen hypnotists before you get an idea of
things but if you haven't heard of them before you've never seen anybody like Jim Jim is a very
unique and brings a really original touch to this and this for I think is a get for our community
to be able to bring somebody like him and and bring and and bring something different to the
community too we have a lot of great venues that host different you know acts like Jim and do a
really nice job I don't know many that have brought a hypnotist in before I think that's a really
fun opportunity for the community to be able to do something very different and where usually you
travel into lacrosse or Milwaukee or Madison or something like this having it right here in town
really is going to bring a lot more fun I think for Jim as well as our audience I don't think he's
dealt with a community like ours before he's going to have some fun with this one yeah absolutely
so tickets are on sale for that right now you know just like all these events there's limited
tickets available for that one it is going to be dinner and the hypnotist so it is $75 a ticket or if
you get an entire table you can get the whole table for $500 it's a really great way to mentally
plan an event have a something to look forward to and everything but something where there's very
few events where you can go there you plan and you know you're going to have a good time but you
don't know what else is going to happen like that's a fun thing to be in and then the dinner part of
this is a really nice addition to this so it seems like something that you would have to register for
yes I mean it's going to be a buffet style but actually we'll have the menu out chef Angie's working
on that either today or tomorrow so stay tuned on our Facebook page as well and you'll be able to see
what we're offering that night too and I encourage you to look up a little bit about Jim Mitchell
everybody hypnotist Jim Mitchell he's got a great website and it's very good at this I've been doing
it for a while he's very good at what he does it's a great preview and I give you something like okay
I got to get tickets I got to be a part of this Jeremy one of the also talk about another great event
you have coming up on Friday the 18th yes so every Friday we are having music at the
mead so once the weather even starts getting nicer you'll be back out on the terrace I know there's
a lot of people who've been mentioning how excited they are for that again so this Friday is going
to be Brian Bethke and while you're at the tavern or the Whitney you can also you know make sure
you enjoy our incredible fish fries it's really good stuff over there and a great artist great
artist to be able to have there a really good music goodbye that this Brian's going to create
over there for everybody and you mentioned that every Friday you're going to music over there yes
that is my goal and in fact right now the schedule has every Friday I believe through September so
music is definitely around the mead very cool very very very cool you you you didn't have
on the head right away Jeremy this is something that our community like looks forward to every summer
music over there on the terrace and that and the the mead once again has always done a really good
job of having great acts over there and something to look forward to so it sounds like we're going to
have another not just summer but spring into that it's going to be a lot of fun yes and a shot
to Brian for being a part of this and doing this and everything is a great artist great guy we
appreciate that wanted to wrap up as far as events go for the month of April at least with a really
important and meaningful event yes so again this Saturday April 19th is our standing ovation to our
first responders and hidden heroes and we spoke about it last Friday it is going to be truly a
wonderful event way to celebrate you know not just this week you know being that this is Easter
week but also celebrate you know just our community and everything that we do here it's a great way
you know there are not enough opportunities in life in general for us to shout out our first
responders or appreciate them or thank them these kind of events are so meaningful for that
giving us a chance to do that now none of these first responders expect any of this and it's all
the more reason why I encourage people to go out of their way and be a part of this event or
to shout out our first responders and those that we can't we don't get to shout out nearly enough
the idea for this event seems meaningful though it seemed not just to you but to the
need to to the community itself yeah this was something that is a bit of a labor of love and
along with just something that you thought was really good for the community as well oh it
absolutely is I mean you know when I'm driving down the roads and seeing the you know men and women
doing the construction or you know responding to an accident like anytime you see any of those
individuals out there I just I think about you know what's going on you know the individual that
they're responding to and how they're having to cope with it so it's for me yes it's definitely
a chance to give you know a shout out if nothing else you know like I say in here standing ovation to
those men and women who are truly being the the best parts of our community is this event to
register for anything general yes so there are tickets you can go online you can go on Facebook
or you can stop by and purchase the tickets at the front desk we're speaking with Jeremy Schmidt
from the hotel me right now and Jeremy we got some other great April events one of the touch on
as well yes absolutely so right after our April 19th event for our hidden heroes and first
responders we actually Easter Sunday morning have a huge Easter Sunday brunch plan and the
responses already been tremendous it's going to be in the grand ballroom again so I encourage everybody
if they don't have their Sunday brunch plans made yet the menus are already on Facebook they can
find out exactly what it's going to be and anybody who's had Chef Angie and her team's food knows
it's phenomenal over there yeah really good stuff she's great you know certainly Easter a lot
of family a lot of those things we also know that we have a community that has a high senior
population and unfortunately a number of those members are alone for the holidays I can't think
of a better event to really be able to be with fellow people in the community fellowship maybe
even make some new friends it's a great opportunity for that and this is another one that people need
to register for that one is no they well they should call ahead if they're gonna have large groups
yes but otherwise they certainly can just come on Easter Sunday yeah yeah that's very cool
and a really nice idea to do too and appreciate that her and her team cooking on that day and
everything as well that's awesome we have some other great April events coming up yes yes so
and then April 23rd we have another magic at the midnight with Brandon gear he'll be in the
grand avenue tavern performing his various street level type of magic performances there at all
your tables so come on out and you'll get to have great food and entertainment right at your table
I meant to bring this up right away your your theme for this month is fantastic I love the name I
love I love the the mix of stuff in there along with certainly being able to shout out our first
responders or anybody else it's a really good mix having him in there as well as a nice
different edition of magic a little bit different angle on and everything but does a great job
that's a nice one yeah it's it's great and then you know like I said every single Friday we do have
music at the meet as well so you know I encourage everybody you know check out our Facebook page
in terms of scheduling but we are having not just music on Fridays but we are expanding it as the
summer gets warmer here in the weeks to come you'll start seeing even more acts on Thursdays
Saturdays and even some Sunday matinee's one so we're fortunate Jeremy in this area they have
so many creative so many artists and musicians if I am a musician hearing this right now and I
would love to be able to perform there or something like that so I just reach out to you is that a
good way to do it yes you can absolutely reach out to me the emails about is easy you can make it
sales at hotel me dot com and I you will do my best to get you on the schedule like I said we
actually do have a lot of performances booked here between now and September but the fall
and winter are certainly up for people who want to come on out he's not kidding everybody before
the interview I was trying to get my band penguins and planes on and everything it's just me and
my fur brother Sam I from my dog Jeremy were booked we're booked and it's really better for the
community it's really better for everybody but now they reach out to Jeremy with your real bands
and give you a part of this it's really fun you know one of the things that Jeremy and I were talking
about it a little bit in our pre-game is the some of the stuff that we've seen I passed the hotel
meet almost every day and in the throughout the winter we've seen some construction seen some additions
seen some cool things going out of the hotel meet was really curious all winter long to know
some of that stuff that was going on and I know that the community has been really excited about
it too so with with that we notice that there's some new you know volleyball courts over there
and some of that some re some re-imaging or just some nice additions the lights some of those
things I just wanted to get on a tip my hat to the meet for doing this and investing in our
community like this and you know where I see this all the time in businesses and you know you're
doing well and you just kind of stand pat and and and I don't have anything wrong with that you're
running your business I'm not technically going to tell you how to but I admire when businesses
especially in communities like ours go above and beyond and really invest in their community
and I am a big fan of I always bring up call versus an example call versus doesn't have to
advertise you know about call versus and call versus probably going to be fine even without
advertise and be yet they go out of their way to invest in their communities and be a part of
their communities and and market and advertise in communities and part because that also creates
money and sales and economy for communities yeah the hotel meet is no different
meet is is incredible and it is it is a benchmark in this community has been for a long time
I don't know that they need to do these kind of things but it's so awesome that they do and it
shows how much they're a part of the community they care about the community it's got to be really
fun to be a part of that too I imagine Jeremy oh it absolutely is and it's you know it's
truly a two-way relationship the other bars and establishments downtown you know by bringing
the folks out to the meet they're you know going to be able to then piggyback off of you know
our earlier evening events and have either later events or just simply like you said I mean
we're not going to be able to have an event that's going to attract everybody but the more
events that are going on downtown the more that people talk about Wisconsin Rapids as a whole
you know not just then in Wisconsin Rapids but around central Wisconsin and you know my draw
really is to try to get Wisconsinites to come and visit central Wisconsin yes I want them to
stay at the meet yes I want them to spend money at the meet but the reality is is they're going
to come to Wisconsin Rapids and enjoy all of Wisconsin Rapids so we got to be a part of that
and the fact that you guys get that is so awesome it's not common appreciate that and certainly
again rising tide raising all boats kind of situation we get that here in radio we I think the
community overall gets that and something that I've talked about a lot with our nonprofits and
whether it's Terry the United Way or Kim and encourage or anything the rising tide raising all
boats with our with our nonprofits as well so it's great to see that with business in this community
and only not only makes our community a much stronger but honestly our economy that much
stronger in this area and there's nobody who couldn't use that improved so that's a fantastic
win-win kind of situation Jeremy did you have any other events or anything they'll sit you
on to touch on there you're pretty busy over there yes we are and I could actually spend probably
hours talking about all our events but I do want to mention as the month of April wraps up and
this actually was how I started the whole idea was with let's create stampede event that they
do may first through the third and it's a multiple multi day many many vendors I haven't personally
witnessed it yet but the way I've been explained is that these vendors and the community basically
invades the hotel and it is you know almost difficult to walk between all the vendors and people
that are coming there it is an amazing event that let's create throws and that night prior April
30th we will have Shannon Allen performing his magic stage performance is again dinner and magic
as the month of magic music and gratitude wrap up and then right into May and let's create
stampede you know Russian in the spring and summer man do I love that idea oh that's a great idea
that's not everybody gets to experience running with the bulls in Pamplona or anything but this
thing no what when I that's a really fun idea and I love a good marketing angle or idea or
creativity on that that's always fun that's really well done what's even better than that is our
vendors and some of our our ag people out there some of the individuals that don't always get it
every opportunity to get to have their their sell their goods or something like that as a win
for everybody and here's one more opportunity for that again investing in the community showing
that you know supporting the community and so many individuals out there that really need
these events every one of them they can to be able to sell this stuff that's a very fun event
and it's all just right there for you too so you really you're not running around all over the
place to find these things are all around town to find them they're right there for you yep yeah
and then once everyone's done with their shopping the best part is is they know what other places are
in the community to keep you know going back so yeah if a vendor wants to know more about this
or any individuals do who should they reach out to them so I'm not you know because this is
actually an event that the hotel is hosting let's create in Wisconsin Rapids they'd be the ones
to reach out to and find out any more additional details and for all of the things we've talked
about today if you need to register you need tickets or just want to find out more about the hotel
me good hotel me dot com hotel me dot com it's a fantastic website it's also a great way to book
your rooms and everything I don't want to skate past that there's a great place to go and rent
a room into stuff I kind of stated to meet a bunch of times I love that hotel it's great place
Jeremy it's always fun talking with you we appreciate the time appreciate everything that you
put into this community and the me does as well if people need to reach you specifically how can
they do that and the earlier emails sales at hotel me dot com is definitely the direct way to get
a hold of me excellent we'll talk again real soon man and thanks again for the time all right thank you
and we'll have more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 975 FM 1320 AM WFHR
locally grown radio
