Welcome, everyone, to WFHR's Rapids Report, proudly brought to you by Crockett Sceptic for
this June 24th, 2025.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here, welcoming into the studio.
One of my favorite people to talk to, Amy Shide is with us from the Wisconsin Rapids
Family Center.
Amy, how are you doing?
I'm fantastic, James, and you're a favorite of mine as well.
It's always good to have you in the studio talk, not only just hang out with you and get
to talk a little bit, but certainly talk about our Wisconsin Rapids Family Center and
the vital, important, wonderful work being done over there by you and the team.
We appreciate you so much.
Thank you again for the time.
Let's die.
I don't want to keep you too long because I know a busy you guys are.
Let's dive right into some of the events going on over there, Amy.
And one of them is going on today over at Taco John's, one of my favorite places to go
eat.
Love our friends over at Taco John's, dying to donate at Taco John's happening today.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
I just want to talk.
Yeah.
I did this earlier too.
I'm so sorry.
Yes.
It's okay.
We can talk about it for two days.
I'm really glad.
Yeah, that's good.
That's good.
It's going to be a good time though over there.
Yeah.
We're calling it the summer of fun.
And we have many, many opportunities for you to support the Family Center in ways in
which we'll also bring joy to you and your family.
And we'll kick that right off with eating tacos tomorrow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's going to be a great time.
One percent of these sales donated between, is it four and eight?
I'm not saying yes.
Between four and eight.
We'll go to the Wisconsin-Sarabas Family Center.
They've done this for years.
They've done this for a long time.
Big thank you to them for that.
We really appreciate that from the community, you know local supporting, local and all of
those things.
And every year they've done this, it's been very helpful.
I feel I don't I don't like to be dramatic unless it's actually called for.
I use it for, unless I'm on stage, of course.
But I don't believe it's ever been more vital that that 20% is being, you know, brought
to the family center.
We've talked about this quite a bit, and me about the cuts and the funding to our violence
shelters around the country.
And certainly local and how this has affected us, that money that is raised, it impacts
this community on so many deeper levels that we really even have the time to get into.
There's so much of data impacts and it does.
And helps out the family center along with local people in this area.
I agree.
There's so many folks that have for many years and even adding to that list in recent
years that have taken the daily business that they do each and every day and shared just
a portion of it with our organization and with all of you in the community who've been
impacted by sexual or domestic violence.
And Taco Johns has been on that list for a good long time.
You can visit them, get your Wednesday tacos, four to eight, June 25th.
This will be going on, encourage you to check that out.
Everybody get on over there, get some good food.
And a big thank you again to our friends over at Taco Johns.
You aren't kidding.
A whole summer of great events, Amy, a really nice job by everybody over there, planning
these out and having these coming up.
July 21st, we're going to be over at White Sands, ice cream and mini-golf.
Yes, we've been privileged to be added to their list of non-profit Monday support that
they've been doing since they purchased White Sands.
So on that Monday, one dollar from every game will be donated to Wisconsin Appets Family
Center.
And there's just a myriad of things you can do over there.
I am blown away at how they've added to that facility.
It's not just mini golf folks, there's ice cream and a game room and a little break from
the beach, if you will.
So maybe get your toes in the sand and your golf club in your hand, eh?
Such as whether it's you and your buddies, your friends, or if it's you and the family,
it's a great time over there.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
And that goes for all of these events, as Amy kind of touched on there.
These are great family events, and we just don't have enough of those in the area.
Everywhere, really.
It's not just our area, but all areas.
But especially the idea that if it's me and my friends that want to go and hang out over
a White Sands region and do this, or if it's me and my kids, or along the any of these
combinations, going to have a great time.
Absolutely.
Not easy to do always.
So you guys have like multiple events like this.
It's very well done.
Tacos ice cream and golf so far James, we're in a good place.
Yes, yes.
This is going to be a fun summer.
This is going to be good.
That is again going on July 21st.
Make sure to make plans head on over there and get some mini golf in along with helping
out our community.
July 26th, one of the bigger events.
And the family center wall is a part of some of these events.
Don't get to really host events very often.
I should say, you know, be kind of the headliner, if you will, of the event.
The touch of truck event is an important one in part because of that.
And just I imagine for the staff and everybody a great moment as well.
I would agree.
We need a drum roll for this one.
Yes.
There we go.
Touch truck and it's fifth year, I think you can believe that even with the plans for
COVID, we're quite proud of being able to bring that event back and continue to build
upon it a fun new addition this year.
Should you have some free time in your schedule that day James is going to be a dunked
in.
Oh, really?
Oh, okay.
Bomp, bomp, bomp, bomp.
I actually have always wanted to do that.
Really?
I've always wanted to do that.
Okay.
You heard that folks.
Off air because again, we got to make plans on that.
Yeah.
So just a ton of fun things on that day.
It's action packed all the way appropriate for all ages.
All kids who might want to be more engaged in seeing the trucks, the loud noises, those
kids that want to have a quieter experience where we're not seeing the sirens go off
or quite sensitive to that.
There's games, food.
Now the dunk tank, all the different trucks we're hoping that the helicopter will be able
to land again this year.
There's vision screening by the Lion S. Raffles, oh, my office is like touch a truck exploded
in there right now.
Thank you to everybody who's sponsored, who's donated raffle prizes and who has this event
on their calendar.
It's one of the fun things I think about these events is all the layers.
Two of them and all the different things that you offer and you can have a lot of fun
with that you touched on really well there.
Another part of this too that I've noticed over the years is how many times I hear from
a parent or even a kid themselves about the spark that it starts in them, about being
more curious about our police departments or our fire departments or some of these things.
When I talk to Sheriff Becker about this, how important these events are to him and his
team?
As I mentioned this with the family center, but it's very similar for them or our fire
department, there aren't a ton of light moments in the job.
There aren't a ton of moments where you get the chance to just be a part of the community
and have some fun and enjoy and you have spread information and awareness certainly.
But also just being able to be a citizen, you know, I talked to Sean about this a lot
and the idea of those things and helping people understand that better and having that connection
better, if ever needed, you know, being able to feel, not think for a half a second to
go to our Sheriff's Department if you need to, to go to our fire department if you need
to and to go to our family center if you need to, normalizing these things more, making
those bridges stronger.
These events do that, these events are almost 100% do that along with also, you just don't
know what spark might start.
I was actually just talking with Lacey about this from the chamber a little bit.
When I was a kid, the first field trip that I remember, I think we went to the Brookfield
Zoo, but it was either before or after that, we went to the fire department and, you know,
everybody knows that I love acting and all this.
Well, before that, I wanted to be a firefighter because I saw those fire trucks and I saw
those firemen and they were superheroes to me.
They were amazing.
They were what they were doing and everything and how nice they were, how much fun it
was talking with them.
To this day, I still think about it and I still get excited when I talk about it and everything.
Just not just me, it's so many people out there.
It's a great event to bring the kids to.
It's a great event for you out there.
Not only all of the things we're talking about, but just so much of the fellowship that
you touched on earlier too.
Agreed.
We talk all the time about, it's important to raise funds at these events, but it's also
important to raise friends.
So just know that touch-a-truck is not only a fundraiser, but a friend-raiser.
And we're looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
We've had just shy of 1,000 people the last few years.
I'd love to go over that number, folks, so put July 26th in your schedule.
Friend-raiser is one of the better phrases I've heard in a long time.
That was fantastic.
Thank you.
We wrap up in August with the second annual drive against violence.
This went really well last year and was very successful.
We talked about it beforehand as we were kind of gearing up to it on air off air a little
bit.
This area loves golf.
It supports these things and really loves golf for a cause.
People just step up for these events.
Well, that is for sure, and I just want to shout out to Swing from yesterday.
I pray we're going to see better weather than they did.
There was a bit of duck in Coveray yesterday going on out there.
Please don't forget about that important charity in our community and the years that people
like my good friend Amy, we work, have sponsored and participated and worked hard for that
event.
Bad weather really caused issues.
Fingers crossed that we're going to see better weather on August 18th for this fundraiser.
Those of you who want to trade in that mini club from participating at the White Sands event
for a real set of golf clubs, we're going to be at Bullseye.
There's a lovely meal happening at 11.
We tee off at noon, tons of games out there.
We have a minimal number of sponsorships still available for that event.
A few whole sponsors and one of the major sponsors are available.
So if you have an interest in that, please give me a call over at the Family Center or
visit our Facebook or website.
We do still have some spots for golf.
Be sure to find out more if people want to register.
The portal is open right now.
It is.
How would they register if they need to?
They would go to the Wisconsin Rapids Family Center page.
You can either go to our Facebook page or to our web page.
And then in right, you'll see right on the main page, the event itself, you can click
on that.
It'll take you right to where you register, either your sponsorship or your participation,
your team of four.
And we'd love to have you.
We love having you guys in the studio.
We love talking with you and everything.
If you don't mind, I want to keep you a little longer to talk about the event coming
up in September because you've got a really good one coming up in September.
I'm going to be at the Artisan Market in Marker Square, a market square.
Yes.
So maker square.
Yes, there's a lot of M's in there.
This is new to us and new to our community.
And if you have not taken a visit over there, it's right across from our West Side IGA.
It is the art.
They have an artisan market on Sundays once a month.
They support a local charity each time they do it.
And it is the neatest place.
It is a showcase for the artists in our community.
My daughter, Gabrielle is a ceramicist.
She also does jewelry.
And she often talks about how it's, you know, she doesn't just want to do online sales.
She's looking for a way to focus her sales of her materials in a local supported way.
And this is one.
So if you want to see some beautiful talent from our community head on over there on September
25th from 10 until 3, I'll be there.
And not only are they featuring our organization, but they're collecting much needed supplies,
those things that you see on what we need Wednesday list.
Bring them by, you know, we, there's so much need in pantry for, you know, soups and
side dishes and those things that take just one little bit of worry off a victim to know
that there's going to be food on the table or supplies in their, in their bathrooms or
their kitchens.
For everything you donate, for everything you give, it is an investment in our community.
Absolutely.
It is helping impact our community in ways that we don't get the opportunity to do often.
But it may not seem like a lot, but it sure is.
And it's one thing that the clients, that you and the staff that you don't have to worry
about if we can take care of and you can focus on other things.
When we're talking about whether it's this or any of these events and any donations, whether
they are financial or they are your time, it is one of the bigger impacts you can make
in on your community.
And as I touched on earlier, it's never been more vital to be able to do those kind of things
and to help out where we can.
So it cannot encourage you enough to attend all of these events, attend as many as you can.
And certainly spread the word about them.
They have a great Facebook page, the Wisconsin Rapids Family Center.
When they share stuff, share it on your page as well.
You just don't know who might see these things that wouldn't otherwise.
It really helps out.
It goes a long way.
And certainly, of course, the water cooler and all of that, sharing these events and talking
about them.
And be sure to attend.
We'll see you at them.
Get ready to dunk me.
Get the touch of drunk.
And somebody, other great things.
One more time.
One encourage you.
If you want to register, find out more about any of these events.
Amy, should we send the website?
I think that's a fantastic start, James.
Familyctr.org is where you'll go.
Familyctr.org.
Please do keep in mind as well as speaking of spreading the word about things.
The Family Center is a 24 hour crisis line.
If you need it, we got you 715-421-1511, 421-1511.
And again, like them on social media as well and share the work they're doing over there.
Amy, always good to talk with you.
Thank you for the time.
Thank you, James.
And thank you out there for joining us.
Big thank you to all of you and Crockett Sceptic for joining us on WFHR's Rapids Report.
