Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this August a 12th, 2025, of your host Jans here.
We're joined right now by our friends in the heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.
We have events and engagement director Lacey Alling with us. Lacey, good to have you here.
Good to be here. It's been a while, nice to talk to you again. It's great to be back.
Yeah, that great to have you here. We appreciate that. Thanks so much for being here.
Really big shout out to the chamber. I know that we're going to be talking about future events,
but just to rewind for a second. What a successful summer for the community, for the chamber.
All of those signature events doing well. I've heard nothing but good things about lunch by
the river, gathered by the gazebo, some of these other events. Just heard really good things.
I think a very successful summer for the chamber, which means a successful summer for our community.
It's nice work by you and the team. Thank you. Yes, we definitely put in a lot of work for it.
We got some upcoming community events to dive into and speaking of,
though, gathered by the gazebo and some of those. Let's go ahead and kick things off
right there or gather by the band show. Yeah, so tonight, I know it's so hard to,
I think saying, I was combining things. I was combining events. Yeah, I feel like I am guilty
of even now that I was part of the name change. I still because of it just flows.
But yes, our final gather by the band show tonight out in Rome. So really excited,
the newly constructed band show has been wonderful. It's great for the acoustics for the entertainers.
And tonight we have Bob Allen. We love him. And then chatterbox catering is going to be our
food truck out there, taking cash or card. This year, we also added alcoholic beverages. So that's
been, that's been a huge hit too. I think it's really fun to have something to do on a Tuesday night
on Rome. There's a splash pad out there. There's a playground. It's really open. And you can see
everything. So as a parent, it's a great place to take kids to where you can still enjoy yourself
and then also still kind of keep tabs on them. And it's really fun. I love going out there.
It's, I'm sad that it's the summer's like already over, but yeah, really fun. 5.30 to 7 p.m.
I do want to give a shout out to our sponsors. This event is presenting by visit
Rome. So they were huge in part of that, that alcohol edition this year. And then also our
season sponsors San Valley and cobalt banker advantage. And then our sponsor tonight is US bank.
Big thank you to them and all the whole community supporting this event coming on down.
And the extra work that I know that you and put into this, I know you wanted this one to be
even more successful than years past. And it really has been a kudos to everybody involved.
Absolutely. Yeah, we've really we've really been trying to elevate all of the community events.
And then they're free and they're open to the public. So please come out. I know a lot of people
are like, if they see things happening, they kind of assume that it's a private party,
but please come. We want everyone to come. Gather by the ban shell. One more time. Tonight,
5.30 to 7. Enjoy some Bob Allen, some great food from chatterbox and plenty of other great
things down there. Lunch by the river. We are excited about this coming up lunch by the river.
This one right coming up right around the corner. You should be excited. You are absolutely
one of the sponsors. So you should be excited for the sponsor. Not biased at all. Not biased at all.
Are we a sponsor for that? I forgot all about now. We're very excited about this. We get to get
out into public and everything. We don't get to do that often. So you're locked in here. I get it.
So our entertainer this Thursday, it's interesting because it's Tuesday, but it's called Manic
on Tuesday and great name for a band. And we're excited to have them as their first time coming
there. So great. I love having new things and then obviously kind of mixing them with some of our
nostalgic stuff. So really excited to have them there. This week, we are also having not you're
not the only sponsor. We also have paper city savings. And then you'd shout out to our presenting
sponsor, Embridge and then Royal are Royal flush sponsor. It sounds so weird. But Crockett,
Septick, thankful to them to have Port of Hotties at every one of these events so that they're safe
and fun and definitely brings in more of a crowd when you can stay there longer. So excited to have
Crockett, Septick. We appreciate them, especially here at this show. Of course, they sponsor our show
here. But one of those businesses you know if they're not there, you would know. You would know
if they were not there. So we really appreciate them. And especially when I think all of our
food trucks and everybody coming down, a real big shout out to paper city savings. Of course,
love our friends over there, work with them for many years. And appreciate the chamber inviting
us. We were happy to be a part of this. We love this event. We love being a part of this one
every year. Here's knocking on wood for good weather and all that. And weather, whatever the weather
is, we can tell you that it's going to be a good time down there. And we've only got a couple
of these left. I know. It's this year. I can't believe how fast 2025 went. I think that it's,
I mean, I guess it's a good thing. It's got, we've obviously been busy and there's lots of things
to do. Hopefully we can take it in a little bit more and enjoy it. And then we do have
tea atterbox, rocky recocos, Jamaican kitchen, and El Sembrador as the food vendor is down there
this week. Great stuff. Something for everybody. Yes. We'll make, make plans and meet us there.
1130 to 1 this Thursday at beautiful Vettions Memorial Park for lunch by the river. It's going to
be a lot of fun. rendezvous in the park. This is a great one that takes place in one of my favorite
places in all of Wisconsin, the riverside park. I know you love riverside. I can't
I wonder if you're just secretly living there in one of those pavilions. Just don't look too
closely. Jet, don't look too closely. I got to stay somewhere. It's the roof or it's over there.
Lacey, I mean, they have shelter and they have a lecture. So I get it. It makes sense. And
there's public restrooms there. So, you know, judgment, again, and now you get me to think about
it a little bit. Actually, I like it that much over there. At least a couple of months a year,
you know, maybe, maybe I just high and stash out over there, bring a sleeping bag. I'll just
set up. We love Nikusa. We love the city of Nikusa. Huge shout out to them for, you know,
their support in this and understanding how important it is to have community events.
But they've been a seasoned sponsor for that. And they continue to work with me and all the things
that I want to do to elevate it. So we're excited for this one. We obviously had to cancel our July
one due to the tornado watch and weather. We want to make sure everyone's safe. So we will have
all of the sponsors from July coming to August two. So we'll have mid-state and Ho Chiang,
which will be giving away free play as well as Dom Tarr and Erko. And then the Nikusa Lions Club
will be giving away free food. So free dinners to everybody that comes. We'll also have bench
attacks. So love having him. Excited for him to be there. So please come out. Obviously,
it's free dinner, live entertainment. We've got different sponsors. The Nikusa Fire Department came
and they actually set up some little obstacle courses and they're doing a cadet program, which
wonderful that we have these opportunities in this area with mid-state and also some grants that
they got to kind of further that if you have that, you know, giving, caring heart and you want to
work with the community to please go. You can try it out there. There's a, you can fill out the
application if you'd like as well as if you want to try pool. We're going to have pool tables down
there. The spot by Jacobi has agreed to bring down their traveling table. So people can kind of
try it out. Maybe they don't necessarily want to go into the bar environment, but they still
want to try doing new things. So please come down there. We always bring our fun little games and
give away a whole bunch of swag that we bring. So please come 530-7 at Riverside Park and Nikusa.
Great people over there at Jacobi. I appreciate them thinking of that. That's a great idea.
It gets more people involved in pool. I love pool. So getting more people involved in that game
and everything. That's always cool. And it helps everybody. It's a rising tide raising. All boats
kind of thing. I feel bad that the last event was canceled, but a credit to you guys for taking
making that call. I think that's smart. And it kind of worked out because all of this and one
plug man to have one last larger than life. Yeah. Yeah. That is pretty cool. You have one of the
greatest musicians in all of Wisconsin there tonight. I will die on that hill. Ben is that talented,
that good at what he does. Having something like that. That's a selling point right there.
Free dinner. I know. You're going to get people who weren't even thinking about this cup of
dough for that one, which is really nice. Big shout out to the Nikusa Lions Club for doing something
like that. That's above and beyond. This is going to be a fun event. Yes. We are very excited.
Obviously, if you have, if you want to reach out, if you have any questions, you need more
information. We'd love to have people to be part of these things for next year. We're already
kind of planning 2026 and trying to get our layout. So if you're interested, please reach out to
the chamber or my email at communications at WisconsinRefitsChamber.com. Speaking with our friend, Lacey
Alling from the heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce and Lacey getting ready for an event that
my sister, one of the bigger things, Jill doesn't, she's in Madison now. She's living her
real life and everything she's doing really good. But everyone said a while there are events that
she really misses in the area and asked about how they're doing and what's going on with them.
One of the ones that I know she always liked was the downtown grand affair. Her and my mom love
checking out all the vendors and seeing some of those things. We got the 25th coming up. Is that right?
Wow. 25 years. Man, that's impressive. Yes. It's impressive and it's a note to the community
enter the work being done by all the vendors by the chamber to make this happen for 25 straight years.
That's impressive. That's fun. When is this coming up? So this is Sunday, September 7th and we,
we want to definitely give a shout out to our sponsors, the US being Cracket Sceptic, Ergo, Ho-Chung,
Renaissance, Paper City Savings, Rapids Transmission, Raptors, and then Valley Community Credit Union,
as well as BeastHap House. We're having, we're adding alcohol to this one this year. So obviously,
it's got to be closed when you leave the establishment and we're trying to get,
hopefully we can get some more chamber businesses and stuff down there to kind of participate.
And then Creepers Car Club, they'll be doing the car cruises.
Last year, they ran out of space. So there was like 199 cars and one bike.
And this year, the chamber actually gets to pick a vendor, so we have a chamber's choice.
So really excited for that. We have a lot of different food vendors. A lot of new ones.
We have like progies are us. So a lot of different kinds of things. So I love being able to offer,
even if it's a small community, but just to offer so many different kinds of options for everybody,
as well as obviously the craft vendors. We are still accepting unique craft vendors.
Some of those local entrepreneurs, so please reach out. We have a lot of food vendors,
so I would prefer more craft vendors right now. But if you have something unique that you make,
we please reach out. We want to have something different. And I love handmade things.
Obviously, we've talked about that for years. It's not the same. The quality is not the same as
when you buy from these big stores. Obviously, sometimes we have no choice but to support them.
But when we have events like this in our community, and a lot of these people that are vendors
are from here. So you're supporting local and then you're supporting their family.
And I think that it's kind of like a full circle moment for that. So please come out.
That is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 7th, right in the downtown, right in the heart of
Wisconsin Rapids. Can not wait for it. It's going to be a fun. And as Lacey said, there's still time
if you're a vendor out there and you want to be a part of this, reach out to her. We'll get you
that information before we wrap up. Also wanted to talk about a couple of other big things coming up,
like networking at night. This is always a fun one, very well attended. And that is coming up this
Monday. Yes, the name, I think, kill the cag. It's kind of, it's such a, the name just kind of
lives on now. Even if we try to not do it and we try to not have alcohol, it's going to be,
they still call it that. Yes. So our networking at night will be at the right after. So
what are field. And then that's going to be Monday, August 18th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. And then
there'll be 50, 50. There's going to be raffles, obviously free beer, free food, until it runs out.
I know we did run out last year. So please don't wait until 645 to come, because chances are there
isn't going to be much left. They definitely try to push it. So obviously this is open to members,
future members, and free to attend. And then as well as that, it's going to be, you can check out
the rat trap, you can check out the craft river, the press box. I think it's fun to kind of get to go
there when there isn't, not that like the game is, you know, obviously that's what we're going
there for. But it's, you can kind of like get more of like an inside scoop and get to go up there,
take some pictures up there, check out the locker room. It's so great in there now. So it's fun,
obviously there's music they're playing. And then kind of, I mean, take some, do some photo
apps if you want up in the, you know, up in the rat trap things like that. But come check it out.
It's free. There's free food. Obviously, it's that stadium food and cheese curds and gigantic
hot dogs and you're here. You had me, you had me have cheese curds. Free beer.
Um, here you go. Any other selling board we need, you might have even just been able to say that.
What else do you have to say? There's free beer. So you should just come and 521 Lincoln Street.
It's a fun event. We appreciate that going on. All the live music and all that kind of stuff
is a really cool part of this. And I love the note about going there when there isn't a game
being played. I don't think we would have a hard time selling anybody when there's a game going
on. It's very exciting to be down there. Sure. But even when there's not a game, it can be exciting
and fun. And this event is a really good way of showing that also really giving people an
opportunity and not only look behind the curtain and see all the work that's put into this.
But I think another reminder, especially after the season we just had, I have the Raptor players
on and Jake and their assistant GM on all the time. And Jake and I were talking about this on
air and off air. The purpose of the Raptors and the idea of it is certainly we want to see a
winning team. We like to go to the ballpark and see W's for our Raptors. And we know what it's
like to win a championship around here. I'll never forget that year. But the purpose of this team
and this organization is certainly to help these players get onto the next level and to impact the
economy of our community. And if you're just looking at those two factors, we that's a,
that's like we've did that. Like we did that like for two weeks into the season. We did that.
It's a very successful season for the Raptors in that regard. I know it's not the wins that we
wanted in some of that. Nobody wants it more than the players in that front office. But
it's another reminder, this event going down there, checking things out when it's the off season if
you will, a reminder of what really matters with this team and how lucky we are in this town to
have a team like that. Now, there's only a handful of teams in the Northwoods league. And not
everybody's got a team like this. Not everybody has a team that can do something like this. The
Raptors are the only team in the Northwoods league that own their own stadium. So when they want
to have a concert like the Glam band down there, the day after the regular, the first regular
season game, or they want to host an event like this, they can do that. They can put back into
their community that way, along with also opening their doors and showing you a little bit of the
behind the workings and stuff. It's a fun event. Absolutely. Yeah, we actually drove by
Friday night and date night. We drove by there and we saw it. And I was like, I didn't even realize
that first what was going on. I thought they're like, I thought the games were old. But it looked
like it was very well attended. And that's what we need. We need more things to do in this community.
And that always things that, you know, for younger, for older, I think we just need more
opportunities to get out. Obviously mental health is something that, you know, staying home,
it's hard. So if you need to get out, go get some sunlight, go listen to some, you know,
free music. There's tons of free opportunities in this community. And obviously the community
supporting you guys. So come and support them. Yeah. And come to coffee with the chamber. That is
coming up August 27th Wednesday, August 27th. That'll be going on over with our friends
with midstate or no, it's got one of the speakers is from midstate. Yeah. So it will be at the
heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce. So that 1120 Lincoln Street guys get to host it. Yeah,
that's cool. They're going to come to us. And then it's going to be Wednesday, August 27th
from 830 to 930. And then our speakers from midstate were Jackie Esselman and Brenda Houdok.
And they'll be sharing some insight on building tomorrow's talent apprenticeships and custom
training. It's a big one. That's a huge topic. I don't care how big or how small your business is,
how well it is doing or anything. That's an important topic for everybody. It's something we
pay a lot of attention to in radio. When I first got in the radio, they were telling me, well,
you know, I don't know how long this business is going to be or something like that. 22 years
later, radio is doing great and still very thriving very well. But anybody that loves this industry
can't just sit back and like, all right, well, we're good. Like, no, we need young people to care
about this business. We need young people involved in it. And that's everybody. There's no business
out there that can't survive without young input young people. Another great note about this,
when you're bringing in interns, when you're doing some of these apprenticeship things,
is you're getting a chance to also have a window into that world, into what it is to talk to a
younger person, being a younger person, all these things. The most coveted market in all of sales
is 18 to 27, 18 to 34, that age range. When you can tap into that in any type of way,
that's business. 101, like, that's important. And these two individuals really know what they're
talking about. They're really able to help people, especially those that may not even know where to
begin with something like that. You know, it's a great opportunity, a great thing to feature as a
part of coffee with the chamber. Yeah, we're definitely, we take advantage of it. I mean, we have
interns from UWSP. We have ones from mid-state. We also have volunteers from ODC. And I think,
obviously, it takes a village to not only raise a child, but I think to grow and to have your
mindset, I think, changed a little bit. We've been really fortunate with our interns that they've
been able to pick up some of the slack with certain things or take things above and beyond where
we're trying to get them, as well as sometimes they can think outside the box or they talk,
they talk different, they know certain words to use, certain hashtags. They understand the
importance of marketing and different platforms. And then kind of just, I think they have a different
perspective. And even though I feel like a lot of us think, like, oh, we're so young,
okay, we'll go hang out with an 18-year-old because I guarantee you that you will not feel older.
Yeah, yeah. When it comes to, when we think of internships and a lot of those things,
more times than not the business or the workers or whatever thinking about what that intern can do
for what they can do for them work wise and everything. They don't think enough about asking
the intern questions and finding out things from the intern and stuff. They are obviously going to
more times than not be younger and they're going to have an insight that you just don't have.
No matter how hip or cool anybody is out there, we're all getting older and getting less
cool by the day. Trust me, don't worry about it. But all of that said, it's also any chance you
can lower the ladder and help people up into an industry. That's, to me, that's the job when
you get to a certain place. That's one of the first goals is so I got up here so I can lower that
ladder and other people can come up. Absolutely. It's a great opportunity to be a part of all of those
things and check out the chamber. It's the last time we've been over at the chamber stomping grounds.
Get on over there. Yes. And I think it's great to have, I mean, especially with us doing it
in our parts, we see that it can be cost effective. If you are, I mean, obviously we're
non-profit, but if you're a smaller business that's looking, sometimes they're, I mean,
mid-state will work with you where they're paying. I mean, they're paying some of those wages.
And then you're getting staff members and maybe you can't afford to pay certain things and
they'll work with you. And as well as, I mean, they'll help with the onboarding process.
There's so many grants and there's, I think it's a great way to train people and obviously get
them in and get them interested and then keep our talent here. Yes. Yeah. Where they're not leaving
and going to those bigger cities because there's opportunity here. Just as well. If they're,
if they're enjoying, if they're treating well, they've treated well and they have an opportunity
in the business, they're already started in to move up. I mean, yeah, they stay in town more
than times than not. That's a great point to make up. And coffee with the chamber coming up
Wednesday, August 27th, 830-930. Over at the chamber stomping grounds, go check that out over there.
And as we're wrapping up, ladies, just wanted to touch on a couple of other things.
I know we always like to highlight the member of the month. We've got our August member of the month.
Yes. You probably see them everywhere. Lower next year's is our member of the month.
So definitely if you're, if you're looking at having anything done, we do have their contact
information on our website. So you can go and use that platform to get there, to get additional
information. I know they do some free estimates and there seems like they're everywhere.
Yeah. Their signs are everywhere. Their trucks are everywhere. And then as well as we have a
ribbon cutting for Milltown coffee. And that's on Friday, August 15th, from 11 o'clock to 1130
at 38, 21, 80th Street, South Wisconsin Rapids. So you're going to recognize that address as
chatterboxes address. But yeah, they're working in there. And obviously, Kathy has two kitchens.
So great way to expand and get stuff out there. I've heard some people are out there eating
and that it's phenomenal. Obviously they have their food in, you know, in mid-state too. So
I've heard nothing about good things. Absolutely. Yes. We've, we've done a mid-state quite a bit
recently and they're always making food for us and definitely appreciate. I love, there's nothing
like a quick sandwich, but it's also still like you can tell that it's homemade and the bread's good
and the avocado and it's fresh and definitely a huge amount of it to them and they're ribbon cutting
and growing. Obviously that's what we want to see. And especially with 2025, I mean, it gets harder
every day and I'm we're proud of them. Yeah. Yeah. It's really cool to see be a part of that.
Come on down has some good food and coffee and be a part of the ribbon cutting coming up on August
15th, 11th or 11th or 11th or 30 over there at at the Midtown coffee. And finally, the chamber cash
calendar raffle wanted to talk about that. Yeah. So we've been selling all summer and obviously we're
going to start drawing at the downtown Grand Affair. That'll be our first one. So $1,650
in chamber gifts certificates awarded in 16 days and you can win and go back in and then win
again. And we had that happen several times. So obviously if people were like, oh, I already
want to take it. Well, you can buy another. That's pretty cool. That's so quality plus printing is
our print sponsor for that. So huge shout out to them for printing our lovely gigantic posters
and our boards. And then so it's one ticket for 10 or three for 20. We were selling them at
obviously all of our community events as well as the chamber. You can definitely call if you want
to pick some up and please, please buy. It's yeah, I had my child enter and she won. I think there's
a lot of people that are winning and definitely it's it's a fun thing to kind of do. And if you're
only putting in 10 bucks and you win 100, that's pretty good investment. It's a pretty nice
investment right there. Can't say that about a lot of things these days. Right. And and the investment
you make already you win. Regardless of if your name is pulled out there or not, you're helping the
chamber. You're in the chamber is it's number one job. It's really only job is making this community
better and whatever way it can. So you're investing in your community by doing that. You win already.
But yes, as Lacey noted, you couldn't win also very. Yeah, you can win six. Yeah, up to 1,650 bucks.
And we'll be drawing every single day at those businesses that have sponsored it. And then we'll
obviously will be calling too, but we'll do a Facebook live. So yeah, definitely tune in. I think
we're doing it around 11 o'clock for that month. So yeah, with the Facebook live you mentioned
there that gives me a note to encourage the audience to go on to Facebook, throw into your search
bar. Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce. Be sure to follow along with the things that they're
doing over there and share them on your page so that other people can see them. And of course,
if you want to know more and be a part of the 25th annual 25th annual downtown grand affair or
be a part of coffee with the chamber next year, any of the events that we've talked about are
anything going on with our chamber. Lacey, how can they get a hold of you?
Yes, so please reach out. You can obviously go on the www.wisconsinrapischamber.com. And that will
take you to if you go, it's pretty user-friendly compared to our older website. And it'll take you
to just different pages as well if you don't have Facebook. But then also obviously our heart of
Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Facebook page. And then you can reach me at communications at
Wisconsinrapidschamber.com or you can call us at the chamber at 715-423-1830.
Appreciate you, Lacey. Thanks so much for hanging out with us and a big thank you to everybody
over the chamber. Say hi to them for us. I will. Thank you. And thank you for joining us for
another edition of WFHR's Ravon Support, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic.
