Hello world, welcome to WFHR's rapid support, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this August 26th, 2025.
Have your host James here.
We're joined by our great friends on the Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.
We have Lacey Eileen with us.
Lacey, hey, how you doing?
Good.
Lacey, all in with us.
I didn't even have to correct you.
Got it.
I didn't have it written down.
And it true'll be for a little bit.
Lacey, thanks for being here.
How you doing?
Good.
How are you?
Doing good, doing good.
It's been a really busy summer.
Things not so much winding down, but just not as much stuff going on, maybe.
Yes.
A little bit of pivoting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We got a lot of fun things lined up.
I wanted to get into with you.
We have some upcoming community events that we're going to start off with.
And the last lunch by the river, oh, I just realized that.
The last one of the season, I know.
What do we have to look forward to with this one?
So this one we're trying something a little different.
So please come and support.
So that way my boss lets me do these kind of things.
No pressure.
So we're going to have Creepers car club down there.
It's kind of like a little pre-embell for obviously our next event, but we'll have them
down there.
So they'll be playing some nostalgic cartoons and things like that as well as bringing
some classic cars down there.
I like that.
So we're going to sprinkle some cars.
They're not exactly sure how many they're going to bring.
It's kind of kind of depend on weather and their availability, but they're going to bring
them down.
And obviously they're going to be playing the music.
And then you can kind of walk around, check out some cars, kind of see what downtown
Grand Afer is going to be like.
Obviously that's coming up next.
So we thought, you know, go out with the bang, try something different as well as we have
car sponsors for this lunch by the river so that it kind of seamlessly went together
and kind of, I'm sometimes I can be a little thingy.
We're excited to have Rapids transmission and Cheryl Tire and auto service as our two
date sponsors for this event.
So really excited to kind of have a little bit more of, you know, things that are important
to them and then kind of align for their business as well.
We're definitely going to do a little bit more of that for next year's lunch by the
river.
But yeah, please come out.
This is our last one of the season.
This event is presented by Embridge and then our food vendors of the day will be chatterbox
and rockier cocos as well as dairy's food works.
Big thank you to all the sponsors throughout the whole season.
It's been a great lunch by the river season and we've really enjoyed it.
Big thank you to all the food trucks and everybody involved and certainly you and all the
chamber members working so hard on this one.
I love this idea.
I'm a sucker for classic car so I'll admit that.
But I also know that we are losing more and more of our car shows and opportunities
to have a lot of these things to car shows that are so we're such a big deal in this area
when I moved to this area.
And we're seeing less and less of them.
So having opportunities like this is wonderful people, the one to bring out their vehicle
or something like that or giving more opportunities for things like this going forward, maybe.
And to be honest, changing it up a little bit like, you know, I feel like it's one of those
things where there's what's the harm, but you know, it can only lead to good things.
At the least we had a fun different lunch by the river, whether we do this again or not
or something.
We appreciate that.
It is easy and safe to stay pat and to keep doing the same thing.
But as you and I know in our industries, that doesn't work.
You have to change it up.
Audiences, communities, people, they want change.
They want it a little bit here and there and stuff doing something like this is not something
I feel like there's change and then there's something that you're working with the community.
If you were to put, if I were to put on a Simpson show for the community, nobody's asking
for that.
It's something I want to do.
But a car show is something that is listening to the community.
You know this community loves car shows.
You know these kind of things.
So you're working lunch by the river with the community.
You're looking at things that interest them.
That's something our chamber does, thinks about the community first and does that kind
of thing.
I think this event and this lunch by the river in particular shows that really well.
Yeah, I'm really excited.
I think most of the pictures of me as a child, I am next to a car.
That's if we were doing something during the summer, we were going to every single car
show all summer with my parents.
And so I'm excited to get to kind of bring some of that out to be a little bit more.
And then we're right on the river.
You have at the classic cars.
I think it's a great way to take some cool pictures.
And then also, I mean, you can go down there, you can listen to the music, you can walk
around, go to the farmers market, look at some cars, you know, listen to some music that
will take you back.
And I think it's just, to me, summer is almost over.
And I'm sad to see it go, but I'm really excited for fall.
And I'm really excited for upcoming events and downtown Grand Affair.
Obviously, this is kind of, we're showing you a little bit, a little bit of a, a little
tease of what that event looks like.
And obviously we'll be down there and kind of takes us into that next event.
Yeah.
Obviously, we're still, you know, we're excited.
I'm excited if you're interested in being a vendor and entertainer or a sponsor for
lunch by the river for next year, please reach out to me.
That's going to be communications at Wisconsin Rapids Chamber.com.
I want to, I want to keep doing this kind of stuff.
I want to make sure that things align and that it does, it does align with your business.
So it, you know, you're getting something out of it.
You're down there.
Those people that are interested in cars are down there.
And I feel like, and it kind of breaks the ice a little bit.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well said.
And again, reach out to the team over there at the chamber.
If you're interested in being a part of lunch by the river next year, in any way, at
all, because it's one of our bigger events throughout the summer and one of the better
ways for you and your business to be seen by so many people.
Absolutely.
We're ready to next year's and we'll be there this Thursday at Veterans Memorial Park,
1130 to 1 over there for lunch by the river, 1 more for the season.
You mentioned upcoming events, certainly got to touch on this, the 20, wow, 25th annual
downtown Grand Affair.
That's amazing.
So that's going to be Sunday, September 7th.
And that will also be paired with the Creepers car club.
They're going to have their car show, car crews registration will be on site for that event.
They, I think their max is 200 cars that they can take.
And they did take that last year and then as well as the motorcycle.
So we're really excited, even in the mayor, the police chief, we'll also be picking a car
really excited to be down there.
We are still accepting some unique craft vendors.
I'm full for food vendors, but craft vendors, if you have something that you want to show
or something you're passionate about, also, if there's different kind of activities or
balloons or caricatures, things like that, we would love to be able to do that.
We'll do a national anthem to kick it off, obviously, we're pretty close to September
11th.
So we want to make sure that we, you know, we talk about that as well.
And then really excited, the VFW and Sean, he's always, he's an ambassador for the chamber,
but he is such an asset to this community and making sure that we celebrate that we, you
know, keep, keep all these traditions going.
Yeah, sure that's Sean.
He joined us during our open house the other day on the air and he just jumped on.
It was kind of last second, it's such a great job.
He did a great job.
He was awesome.
And note everything you're saying there.
This is one of the events that we, I think, look forward to when it comes to the changing
of the season.
It kind of is familiar with that a little bit.
And it's another great opportunity as we know, we know what it's like here in the Midwest.
It's only going to get colder and we're going to be living indoors a little bit more.
Get out, enjoy, see some people, have some fun.
Check out some of these great things that the downtown Grand Affair offer.
Absolutely.
And then this one, obviously, I'm not sure if you pay attention to the common council
meetings, but we did.
We were able to do the suspending open and tax, so we are going to have, well, we'll
be able to have alcohol down there as well, excuse me.
And then obviously grab a drink, support the local businesses, obviously, there's a lot,
it's moving down there.
Yeah.
So please come out.
We've got, you know, coffee.
We have food.
We have different, different kinds of food vendors.
We're really excited to have a little bit of different things this year.
We have got even pierogies are us, they're going to be down there.
But obviously, we've got, we try to cover all of the different categories so that there's
something for everyone, as well as even baked goods this year, and a lot of different
kinds of things that we haven't necessarily had, but we've been kind of pushing this to
even wider net so that we can encompass and make sure that we, you know, are covering
everybody and that everyone has a chance to events from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, September
7th, West Grand Ave.
So the corner, Gary's coins will have all the classic cars across the bridge up to
Roger's cinema.
And please come out, support, obviously, we're the events sponsor by US Bank, Cracket
Sceptic, Ho-Chunk Gaming, Nikusa, Bailey Communities Credit Union, Renaissance, Paper City
Savings Bank, Rapids Transmission, and the Rafters and Ergo Worldwide.
A big thank you to all of those businesses buying local, supporting local, support those
that support this community, and certainly come on down to the Grand Affair, support these
vendors and so many other great people down there.
And if you are interested again, reach out to Lacey if you can be a part of it.
Absolutely.
We are speaking with Lacey Alling from the Wisconsin Rabbids Chamber Commerce, and Lacey
got some other great stuff coming up, a workforce programs and events are right around the corner.
Absolutely.
So tomorrow, we have coffee with the chamber, and that will be at the Heart of Wisconsin
Chamber location.
So if you want to come down, check it out.
That is 830-930.
This is free for chamber members, and it's in our boardroom downstairs.
Our speakers are going to be Jackie Esselman and Brenda Houdick, and they are going to be
talking about building tomorrow's talent, apprenticeships, and custom training solutions.
Really, really, I can only speak highly of this.
We have been really fortunate to be able to take advantage of some of this, the intern programs
that they have there.
And then obviously pairing with people that it makes sense.
And then obviously, if you're a local business, you want to keep that talent here.
We've actually done some where we have an intern, and we are hiring them on.
So it works, and it's obviously something they're passionate about.
We want to keep them here.
We don't want our talent to leave and go to those big cities.
So come out, listen to Mid-State talk about how you can take advantage of these programs,
right in our area, and then as well as if you want to come down, have some coffee that's
sponsored by Milltown Coffee, and then coffee with the Chamber is presented by Paper City
Savings Bank.
Having interns can be a game changer for your business or for your industry.
And as somebody who, I'll be honest with the audience and everybody, for the time that
I, my second act here at WFHR, which is going on 10 years next month, we've been looking
for interns.
We've been trying to get interns in radio and get younger people involved in this industry.
We certainly could use the hands, but also just try to keep this industry alive and well
and everything and get younger people involved, and it can be difficult.
Sometimes it's not so bad, sometimes it can be.
But when we're talking to young people, there are the foot in the door.
It gives you to these businesses and these industries, cannot be taken lightly.
I have mentioned before on the airwaves, I've interned a lot of jobs in my life.
I wasn't that a lot, but like three or four.
One of them was on Conan O'Brien show and got to intern on there.
It was there for nine, ten months, being on his show.
And it's an experience that not only does it give me content to name drop whenever I need
to, but it gave me world experience, not just entertainment experience and different opportunities.
I understand that might be a big example to some, but it couldn't have happened more randomly
or more like any other internship does.
And it's just an example, whatever the industry, it can be a game changer for you, not just
in the business world, but the connections you make, the things that you learn, not only
bringing interns in, but being an intern encouraged more of that.
That's really a great one for our community here because we also know that we're dealing
with a lot of mom and pop businesses and a lot of places that could really use those
interns.
You got people that know what they're talking about as doing this as well, Lacey.
Absolutely.
And they're really good at explaining how to get those tax breaks if you're a small business
as well as a lot of these internships.
They summer with pay, summer without pay, summer's just the experience.
And I think that, I mean, who can't benefit from a set of fresh eyes, someone that can
come in there, think outside of the box, and maybe even if it's just one little thing
that you get out of it, they get so much out of it, it builds so much for their confidence
as well as it's great for their resume.
And I mean, our interns have been an asset, especially with us being a small, I mean,
a small local non-profit and obviously we can't be everywhere and they've been really
great at getting to go out, talk to people, be a fresh face, and then also being open.
So they're so open to taking it all in and it's really been great to watch them.
I think it's a great note that you had too about that pipeline and keeping the talent
in the city, in this state and everything.
That's also noteworthy and a great part of this.
Wanted to get into networking at night with you, talk a little bit about that happening
over at Whiskey Rapids, I see.
Yes, so we're going to partner with the CVB as well as Whiskey Rapids because they're
right next to each other now that they moved and that is our next networking at night.
So our September one and really excited to come out network, obviously future members,
prospect members.
If you're someone that wants to network, wants to build some of those relationships, but
you don't really know where to go.
It's not like we're kids.
We can't go to school and make friends and just walk up to people.
Right now you're sometimes you're just chained to your office all day long and you
really need to make some of those connections and this is a great opportunity to do that.
This is free appetizers, there's raffles and then obviously we typically try to keep
it in more of a relaxed setting, not a lot of pressure.
And then if it is like your first time, tell someone that's there and then we'll kind
of buddy with you and then kind of walk up to people and get to know them, bring your
business cards.
If you have any kind of marketing brochures, things like that and then definitely come
out, check it out and be social.
We just don't have enough opportunities like this for strangers, next to strangers, laughing
or having a good time.
The opportunity to, as adults, gets less and less, it feels like to make new friends or
to make new connections business-wise, so any of the above.
And I think it's also noteworthy and more and more I'm talking to people and listeners
that they can relate to this.
The idea of, you know what, I got out of the house and I did something.
Just even that is a win.
Yeah.
There's plenty of social butterflies out there that it applies to every day or whatever,
but there's a lot of people that struggle with getting out and doing those things, whether
it's motivation or agor phobia or different things like that.
Just doing that is a win.
Let alone the business connections you can make or the friendships you can make or any
of those things that could really add to your life or to your business.
Absolutely.
And this is free.
So it's free for everyone to come.
That'll be at 160 Second Street North Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
And that'll be at Whiskey Rapids on Monday, September 15th.
Love that you guys do these.
Looking forward to covering more and more of those networking at nights.
One of the more important things that I think that we're seeing and we're doing and you
guys at the chamber are certainly doing a lot of us putting a focus on areas that we haven't
always done a great job of in our world and our society.
And certainly even in communities, like ours and rural communities and that, the networking
exchange for women professionals is another example of this to me of opportunities for
more women to support women, have each other's back share information and even camaraderie
or just great information, Lacey.
Absolutely.
So with us doing this last year, it kind of took off.
And then we had to separate it into two different cohorts because it was so busy that we
weren't sure that it would be able to be as like where people will be open when there's
so many people.
It's hard to kind of like get below that surface level.
So this is going to be our September 24th from 8.30 to 10 a.m. at mid-state.
And then we are going to be speaking about from Wisconsin to Western Kenya, women, wisdom
and the will to lead.
I like that.
I don't know.
They were, they tried to keep it very vague to kind of, they don't want to give it all
away.
Sure.
But our speaker is going to be Alison Fiber, the VP of marketing and communications
at Emplify Health.
And definitely excited for these that this is free for chamber members.
And it's a great way to come meet people, especially even network.
They typically will change it up so they want you to everyone to kind of sit with someone
they don't know and then get to know them and then try to, they typically ask some questions
and then kind of how you're doing with everything in your life and what you need in support
system.
I think that obviously I'll always be on my soap box about mental health and I will not
ever stop.
So please come out at 10.
You can register online.
There is a QR code on the marketing flyer or go on our website or come in if you want
to.
And we can definitely walk you through how to do that registration closes September 17th
for this event.
And we definitely want our members to come out and please be comfortable, be open, be
honest.
And if you're something that you want to see, there's a topic that you want to discuss,
please tell us because this is one that we, we try to tailor it to what the people that
are attending are looking for.
So if there's something that you need help with or something that you want to talk about
or shed some light on, please reach out.
And spread the word about this event, everybody.
Make sure that everybody knows that this is coming up.
Along with that, make sure to mention the 2025 business expo, that's also right around
the corner.
Yes.
So very excited for this probably because I just love like the event planning portion
of it.
And I'm going to help a little bit when it comes to the, the theme is candy land.
Oh, nice.
So I'm going to stay, she doesn't know it yet, but she's going to be like a little, I'm
going to turn her into some kind of cartoon.
Yes.
She can like just like float around the board.
I cannot wait to see that.
That's awesome.
She doesn't know it yet.
And hopefully she doesn't listen until after I get it done.
So this is October 28th at Bullseye Golf Club from two to six p.m.
This is for different businesses.
I think that it would be wonderful to have things if you were starting a business.
Everything that you need.
So if there are certain businesses that you're like, every business needs me, please
reach out.
If business cards, headshots, resume building, any kind of marketing, any kind of networking,
any kind of merch, anything at all, I definitely want different things.
And I want it to feel like if you're starting a business or if you're in a business, everything
that you need to put in your tool belt to be successful.
So anything big, small, I would love to have, I have like a whole list of things that
I would like.
But whether you're an entrepreneur, business professional, or you're just interested
in what local businesses have to offer, this event is for you.
Please reach out.
There will be business to business, networking, so it will be closed.
You will only be able to network with the people that are there that have booths because
obviously you're kind of stuck there, after people start coming.
And it's hard to network and get when you're like, okay, people keep coming.
So I can't really get out there.
So that will be two to four.
And then that will be exclusively show your business card to enter and then open to the
public from four to six p.m. for local businesses, anyone that wants to come and attend.
And that will be free for those people to get in.
This event sponsor by usbeng, Samuel's group, Marshfield Clinic, security health plan,
Hochunk gaming, Nikusa, and will obviously be at Bullseye Golf Club.
Mm-hmm.
Shout out to them and all the businesses involved in this one.
If there is a business that would like to still be a part of things and the business
expo, can they do that?
Absolutely.
So our cutoff is going to be October 14th.
There is, we haven't released the QR code yet for you to be able to register online.
But there's different booth options.
Obviously, if you remember booth, non-profit booth is a little bit more affordable because
obviously we want to make sure that we support our local nonprofits and that we kind of give
them a little bit of a handout.
Well done.
So please reach out.
There's obviously electrical if you are interested as well as we want this to be fun.
So we want people to come out.
We want people to decorate.
The best booth will win on award.
And last year, we did October Fest theme.
So we're kind of switching it up and trying to keep it fun and keep it light.
I love the board game theme.
That's good.
Yes.
Yeah.
Life's a game, right?
Yes.
Yes.
Whether you're playing or not, it's still a game.
But yeah, definitely reach out if you are interested in being a booth, if you're interested
in attending, if you're interested in, you know, even bringing people there.
We'd love to have, you know, a job center.
We'd love to have local businesses that are looking for things.
We want to have everything there.
So please reach out.
If you're a business, consider this event of the chamber itself, a real starter kit,
if you will, for your business, you want to be a part of this one.
Reach out to Lacey in the chamber and make sure that you are.
Yes.
This will be workforce at Wisconsin Rapids Chamber.com, or you can give us the call.
And that's just going to be our plane 715-423-1830.
And as we're wrapping up, one of the make sure to mention chamber cash calendar.
That is also something that we're looking forward to.
Yeah. So we have almost, I think, sold out of all of the tickets that we're selling
for this. And I'm not sure of even how many we had.
Thank you to our ambassadors and our volunteers.
And then that our print sponsor for that is Quality Plus Printing.
And then obviously that's $1,650 in 16 days.
Tickets are one for 10 or three for 20.
And they are at our community event.
So obviously you'll be able to find this at lunch by the river if you want to buy them.
Or you can come into the chamber.
Or you can visit us online.
We've had people reaching out even via email saying, hey, you know, charge my card for this.
I want, I want three of them.
And even if you win, you go back in and you can win again.
That's crazy.
I can't believe you guys do that.
That's crazy.
But it's awesome.
It's awesome.
It's awesome.
It's awesome.
Make sure to get in on that.
Everybody ends plenty more that our chamber is up to find out more by going to their website
WisconsinRapidsChamber.com and lacy if people have follow up questions or want to know more.
But some of what we talked about today, how can they reach you?
Absolutely.
I want to talk to me personally.
You can obviously call the chamber as well as if you want to call 715-423-1830, obviously
that communications at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com.
Or if you visit our website and you were to just click on any kind of community events,
it's going to take you straight to me.
So do that.
Obviously come in.
We're there Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. unless we're at a community event.
So I'll be at lunch by the river, obviously this week.
And then obviously stop by tomorrow if you want to call the chamber.
Get on over there, everybody.
Make plans for that.
Lacy, we appreciate to say hi to the team over there.
We'll talk again next year real soon.
Thank you.
And again, you can find out more at WisconsinRapidsChamber.com.
Be sure to follow them on social media and share their posts on your page.
You just never know who might see it otherwise.
We'll be back with more rapids report, probably brought to you by Crocketseptic here at WFHR.
www.crocketseptic.com
