Hello world, welcome to WFHR's rapid support for this October 29, 2025.
Have your host James here.
I want to say a big thank you to our friends at Crockett Septic sponsoring this, uh,
segment this show, giving us an opportunity to talk to a great, some of our great local
people and highlight certain events and certainly talk to people like our great friends over
at the Wisconsin Rapids.
Elksilage number 693.
Uh, we got our, our good buddies from there.
How you doing, man?
I'm doing good.
How are you?
We have you in studio as always, catching up with you as always is always fun and highlighting
the Elksilage every Wednesday.
We talk about, uh, bingo and that's going on over there.
Some of the different events that you guys host and today is no different.
We're going to focus on something coming up on Halloween.
What do you got going on?
So we actually have a lot going on in Halloween this year.
We have a trunker treat that we are doing both at the city hall, um, with the police department
and then across the street at the lodge itself.
We're doing trunker treat out in the parking lot there.
So if you want to come distribute your candy, hang out there.
We're kind of making an event of this.
So we'll have some food trucks there.
We'll have some, uh, other things going on.
I can tell you for sure my truck will be there.
Dearest food works and we got a Halloween theme menu and then we also have, uh,
Kristen Smokehouse barbecue that's coming down to join us, um, but beyond that, uh,
it's a good opportunity for the kids to come out and have that.
Um, the time is from three until about 6 p.m.
Is the trunker treat and it leads right into a heartbeat's Halloween, uh, dance.
Mm hmm.
So this is a little bit different.
You remember last year we did our, uh, Nightmare Before Christmas theme.
It's fantastic.
It was fun.
We had a blast putting it on and doing it.
This year, uh, we were approached by Ben from Heartbeats, um, BJ Ben Ylava, as he's calling
himself as, uh, that's great.
He's a great local guy.
He's from Rapids here.
Now lives in Marshfield.
He's an EMT and what this does is gets out.
He's trying to raise funds to get the CPR wrapped devices.
They're a little packaged item that basically if you open it up, it teaches you how to save
a life step by step.
And as you know, um, with CPR and cardiac events every minute counts.
So if you're like me, you're not versed in CPR, this will literally, you put it right
on the victim and it'll take you step by step, how much pressure you name it, it tells
you exactly how to save a life.
So he's looking at getting these in like three different sizes from infant all the way
to adult, um, and distributing these throughout Wood County.
So I thought that was a great cause and originally we'd planned to do it a little earlier,
but Halloween just kind of fit for both of our things.
And I was like, this is a great idea.
We can turn it into a costume party.
So the event itself is all ages.
It is from six until midnight at the Lodge.
Again, the food trucks will be hanging out for a while.
So it's not like they're just coming for trunk retreat and then leaving.
They can serve as late as they want up until about midnight 11.
I'm not sure how late any of those are going to stay.
So, um, keep that in mind, certainly 10 dollar admission at the door.
And you will get entered in for a door price of some sort.
I'm not sure what he's got going for that.
He has some pretty nice raffle baskets that have been donated to a lot of different sponsors.
High, high end, high dollar value items.
So please just, please, uh, contribute to those as well.
See what you can find.
There's probably something everybody likes in there.
And of course, the Elks will have our regular baskets out that we do for our youth activities
as well.
Uh-huh.
So those will be fun things to check out there.
Having a raffle attached to these events, of course, vital is always important and the
community loves those.
So that's really cool to hear and a big shout out to all those businesses, all the people
that add to those and make those such great prizes for people.
Yes.
And we were fortunate enough to have the Milwaukee Brewers donate to this as well.
They donated a two ticket voucher for any game Monday through Thursday for the upcoming
season.
So that is a huge, huge, huge package that has immense value to it there.
So hopefully this helps him raise the funds that he needs.
We donated the lodge for the night.
And hopefully this gets us, you know, a good showing and hopefully we'll continue to do this
again next year.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And when it comes to this area, and you know, this as well as I do, man, when it comes
to having a fun time for a good cause, nobody does alike this area.
People come out of the woodworks, they come out, people you may not even seen in a while
and then you see very, very familiar faces and people to show up at a lot of these events.
This is a great time of year.
We love having fun on Halloween.
We also do Halloween better than most communities do in this area.
So you combine forces with these things.
And I think you create not only a really fun event for people, but a chance to really
bring funds and attention to a great topic and for a great cause.
I think a lot of people may have just found out about these devices, may have just even
heard that this is a thing.
Yeah.
Newer thing.
So just even bring attention and awareness to this, I think goes a long way.
Let alone the fun that we're going to have from this and hopefully the funds that we
can be raised.
I shouldn't say hopefully the funds we will raise from this because we know again, we know
this area, we know people are going to show up for this one.
Yep.
It's just wanting more and more people that we could possibly get.
So make sure to spread the word about this event.
Make sure everybody knows about it.
The trunk or treat at the Wisconsin Reps Elk Slice, number 633, happening from 3 to 6.
And then the heartbeat's dance will go from 6 to midnight.
People need to register or anything like that.
Nope.
Just come on.
Come to the door.
You'll get a wristband based on age so that we can determine who is the young and who
is not because the bar will be open.
And beyond that, it's just a fun time that everyone can come and enjoy and just something
we're trying to do good in the community and leave it out there and be good.
You know, and I got to ask the hard questions, time to time here and everything, can you wear
costumes?
Absolutely.
All right.
We are absolutely doing a costume contest.
I don't know the details on that for sure.
What he's giving away as a prize or any of that.
But it counts.
Jumes are absolutely encouraged.
This is going to be a fun night.
So we want everybody to, in the spirit of Halloween, dress up, come out, have a good time.
If you're coming and you got a costume, know that there will be kids there.
So keep it a little bit PG if you can.
Yeah.
It's a good call.
Good call.
But beyond that, you know, it is what it is.
It's Halloween where they're to have fun.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Enjoy yourself.
And come and costume if you feel it.
Enjoy.
There's a few things better in this world than seeing little kids dressed up for Halloween.
It's a blast.
It's so much fun.
It's going to be a really good time.
Looking forward to that.
We'll be talking about it on our morning shows, making sure everybody knows and promote
this.
It's just a community.
It's good as we are at our job and as good as you guys are over there promoting yourselves.
We know where the mouth goes so far.
So be sure to spread the word about this event and a big shout out to not only all these
businesses and everything and everybody involved, all the volunteers, but certainly the Elk's
Lodge.
I've talked about this a couple times this week and I want to bring note to it whenever
we can.
There is a chance that the Halloween you and I got to do when we were kids isn't around
anymore.
It's really not.
As a society, we've kept Halloween going.
We keep it a thing.
We just found new ways to do it.
We found new ways to adapt to have events for kids to be able to go to that are safe and
fun, like the Elk's Lodge is hosting this Friday.
I commend our community, I commend the society for that because I think it's pretty
darn cool.
Yeah, because I think especially after COVID, a lot of that went away.
You didn't want people knocking on your door during that time and I think the trunker
treats that popped up were actually a very good thing because you know, now we get a lot
of people in a small group just think just around us down there, downtown.
We've got the police station that's doing it.
We've got us that's doing it.
I'm sure boys and girls club is doing something.
So you've got three major things and then usually they make their way up to the churches
and the other organizations that are doing it.
The rafters are doing a little bit later on in the days so they can make their rounds
and hit up all these spots and they don't have to knock door to door to get in like
we did back in the day.
You know, now that we're saying it out loud, I'm a little jealous actually.
Yeah.
That's pretty cool.
It's pretty cool that that happens.
Don't have to put on all the miles.
Yeah.
Right.
We're going to know the right avenue where they've got the big candy bars.
We really knew street sides too.
We really knew where we were going and you know what house was out, what road and everything.
Yep.
Oh yeah.
They had the big ones last year.
We're going there.
We're going there.
We know that you guys do a great job for Thanksgiving.
We've hosted a number of different events over the years over there for Thanksgiving.
This year got a really special one lined up.
Yep.
So last year we had done our inaugural community Thanksgiving.
So it was the first year and we did about 125 people.
I planned for about 150 to 200 people.
So obviously we had a bunch of food left and we were like, what do we do with that?
Salvation Army is about the only pantry that you could take it to around that time of
year prepared.
And again, they're overrun with the same thing as everyone else.
So we thought of this one of our Elks officers and the sister of one of the Nikusa County
cops that are Nikusa city cops that works with us.
And she was like, why don't we bring it to the law enforcement officers that are working?
So we were able to drop off meals for the working officers on that day at Nikusa, Wisconsin
Rapids, Wood County jail and dispatch and Port Edwards as well.
We did reach out to Grand Rapids, but none of those guys were in, so is what it is.
So this year we've kind of set that bar a little higher.
Costs are up just a little bit.
They're not terrible.
I've been watching it here around since all this craziness in the world now.
But fortunately the costs haven't been terrible.
There's said Turkey's out about 12%.
But beyond that, everything else is looking pretty good.
Some things have come down actually, so.
We're putting this on on Monday, November 24th this year from five until seven p.m. at
the lodge.
It is an absolutely free meal to anyone in our community, anyone, doesn't matter what
walk of life.
Doesn't matter if you're in need, doesn't matter if you're alone.
Maybe you lost your spouse this year and you've gotten nowhere to go.
Maybe just don't feel like cooking.
There's an option there and it gives enough second option and why we did it so early
in the week because that's probably the biggest criticism.
Why not on the day?
Well, yes, one I do like to spend time with my family on the day, but that's not a guarantee.
And two, the thought was this.
If I do a meal earlier in the week, if there is someone out there that is in need of this
meal, this gives them a second opportunity to go join another meal later in the week.
So there was some thought process that went into this and I think it's a great meal.
We're going to have all the favorites.
We're going to have oven roasted turkey, honey glazed ham, mashed potatoes, stage
stuffing, gravy, green beans with baby carrots, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce and everybody
gets the same plate and yeah, it's a great, great thing.
It's a, it's a really meaningful event.
It's one of the more meaningful things that happens in November, I think.
I appreciate so much that you do this.
I appreciate that you and your team work so hard on this.
When it comes to the event itself, getting all the supplies together, all those things,
is there anything we as a community can do to help with that?
So you can donate to that.
I'm not asking for food, I'm asking for funds because I do order it through my food vendors
and get as best deal that I can for me that's easiest way to do it.
We have had a lot of donors so far.
Many people came in.
We had a $500 anonymous donation, James, that was crazy to me.
They came in.
They handed me an envelope.
I'm thinking, you know, maybe it's a hundred bucks or something like that, which is great
in itself, but they donated $500, chose to rename, rename anonymous so.
That hits the heart.
That's awesome.
And that paid for about roughly half of it based off the funds we had left from last
year after doing breakfast with Santa and things with that.
That all goes back into that fund.
So if those funds are not used, we rolled into another community event.
So yeah, this was great.
We are about $200 to $300 short of our current destination there.
We've had some great donations from individuals and community
and members as well as Elks and Sunrise Rotary as well.
So we appreciate them donating to it.
And again, we're looking to serve about 150 to 200 people just like last year.
In this time, we want to do one better.
Law enforcement deserves recognition, but also the EMT is in fire department workers
that are doing that.
I know a lot of the stations like to make their own meal and do all that themselves,
but we'd like to offer that out to them as well.
This year as a way to get out to the community and get back to them.
Yeah, a great idea and appreciate the thought.
Appreciate that you guys think of that and everything couldn't agree with you more, man.
So say people do want to add to that.
They want to put into those funds.
What's the best way to get in the hold of you?
What's the best way to do that?
Best way is to stop into the lodge and talk to me.
I'm always there, usually.
Except for obviously right now, but stop on in, make a donation, and we'll get those
funds up.
I have a little thermometer that kind of tells us where we're at that I've been kind
of doing that just in the lodge and be sharing out another post later because we've gotten
to that point where now it's let's get this stuff in so I can get it ordered and get
everything set.
We're looking good on plates.
We're looking good on stuff like that, but also we're going to need volunteers, people
to help serve, clean down.
Everything's on disposal, bulls, except for maybe the silverware will use real silver
ware that day.
But beyond that, it's a real simple day, easy to help out, easy to be there.
I've got about four volunteers currently, maybe five.
So we'd be looking for a few more people.
And again, if you just want to come out for the event, that's great as well.
And I just as far as the event and the day of the event, I appreciate that it's not
on Thanksgiving for one for you and all the volunteers to be able to spend Thanksgiving
with your loved ones.
But we do eat every day, I mean, we need food every day.
I actually think it works out better not having it on Thanksgiving because hopefully on
Thanksgiving, those individuals that do need these meals will have somewhere to go that
is traditionally open on Thanksgiving.
We have a lot of nonprofits, a lot of organizations doing things already on Thanksgiving, thankfully.
Having it on another day, especially of that week, I think that's fitting.
I think that works out great.
And appreciate the event again so much.
What are the dates of Thanksgiving meal again?
It is Monday, November 24th, from five until seven p.m. at the outsludge in the hall.
You'll come in, you'll check in with somebody, just to kind of give us an idea of what the
numbers were.
We're not taking it down because we need to know your name or anything like that.
We're just taking it down so we have future reference on, okay, we ordered this much last
year.
So we have book work to know that, hey, we did this and this is how many people had impacted.
And one more time, the fun Halloween event coming up this weekend over at the outsludge.
So again, chunk of treat from three till six and then Halloween heartbeat stance for
all ages from six p.m. until midnight at the Lodge.
And if people have follow questions, want to know more, want to reach out to you, whether
it's donations, volunteering, anything like that, you mentioned, stop them by the Facebook
page.
Is that another good way to get away?
Yeah, Facebook page is a wonderful way.
Myself and Carrie monitor that and we do a good job on making sure we're responsive.
We also post out all the events that are happening and we also post out the events that are
happening in the community or for the community on our door.
So you can see what nights were open for burger night or bingo or any of those type of things.
Yeah, keep that in mind, everybody.
Not only bingo every Wednesday over at the outsludge, which it's always hop and always
busy over there in a good time, but at the food that's available, I believe Wednesdays
and Thursdays, you guys offer your Wednesdays and Thursdays.
We're open from 11 until two for lunch.
We're back on DoorDash now so you can check that out as well.
And yeah, we're just trying to do the best we can to get people back in the door and coming
back into the Lodge.
The reason for opening up lunch was honestly to drive members that haven't been in there
or our senior membership that doesn't maybe drive after seven o'clock at night.
So they can still come out and use the Lodge and feel like they're appreciated and feel
like they're still part of the thing.
Yeah, it's a really smart idea.
It's great.
And it's in good hands over there, really as we appreciate you, man.
Thanks a lot for stopping by.
We'll be sure to be talking about these events and we'll be seeing you there.
All right.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you, everybody, for joining us for another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
Thanks for joining us for another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
Thank you.
Don't forget to subscribe to WFHR's Rapids Report.
And I'll be back with another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
Bye.
