UK
December 6th
2023
If it's 7 o'clock at Saturday morning, it's time for this week in walkie-shaw. I'm your host
Coverboy Donnie Brown down Brown coming to live and local from the office of former alderman Don Paul Brown
Here in the walk radio studios in the old Nami building at 217 Wisconsin Avenue right around the corner
From Theodore Jalman's park where proud to honor our suffragette heritage here in the shot
And this morning's guests represent the second of three generations that I know of
We're part of the walkie-shaw south sports tradition
Older brother Billy is currently the
boys varsity soccer coach who has put together a winning tradition there
and as also
a phys ed teacher and as a student he starred in soccer and basketball
Before embarking continuing that successful career at Ripon College in both sports
Billy returned to his hometown to coach boys varsity basketball before handing over the reins to Bo Richter
And was also an assistant basketball coach at
Carol University and then um younger brother Julian
Excuse me as I scrolled down on my notes here. I'm so unemployed
Yeah, currently
Julian was uh and this I just found out the associated press basketball player of the year in
1999 is senior year when you led the black shirts to a conference championship
I believe in a regional final appearance
Uh, he's considered the greatest basketball player in south history perhaps all of
Wachsha high school basketball history and still loans you know more than 20 years later the scoring and rebounding records
um
And then he was a member uh as a member of Dick Bennett's Wisconsin Badger team that went to the final four
And he saw he's coached with some major basketball programs
As an assistant at Memphis and at at Georgia Tech
He also has a masters and a bachelor's in um
I mean actually the bachelor's in psychology from Carol where he finished
And a master's in uh school counseling from Marquette
And has also um forged a great career as a counselor
And uh julie and I didn't share this with you, but uh, I'm a Spartan
So I remember that 2000 uh, yeah, but I remember I still think that's one of the all-time
Great NCAA teams, you know, you look I agree the flints of the you know the way the landscape has gone now with
The uh the players being so much younger and so forth. He looked that that was just an old veteran team. So yeah, that's true
Beat us four times that year my team cleaves and I remember in that final four game
The scored half-time was like 20 to four. It was a real defensive battle
It was a really low scoring and I think that was coach Bennett's strategy
Against this high-flying Michigan state team and yeah, so that that had to be a lot of it had to be pretty exciting experience
Not many people get to go to a final four. Yeah, it was neat that that whole ride was sure. It was was unbelievable
Sure, so but um back to the present day and in switching gears to
Billy because we had we didn't have a chance to meet about another great soccer season
Tell us how the how the boys finished
Well, we had uh another winning season that's three winning seasons in a row overall
And we had back-to-back winning seasons in the classic eight
It it it was a great year
To follow what was
Arguably one of our best years a year ago, right? You went to the regional final correct
We did when the regional final with the sectionals. Okay. That's how you say you lost the market
Okay, you know, they're sure number one historically every year
Yeah, top five for sure in the state. Sure, and so um, you know to follow that up a crazy stat
Uh this year is we had two wins
Zero losses and six ties in the classic eight. Wow
So I think we finished fourth or fifth
But we had zero losses and uh, there's some coaches uh that we met at the all conference meeting
And I asked uh John Bisworn from CMA true started CMA just
Boy soccer program bow in the late 70s, I believe really he's still the coach and he said he's never seen anything like it so wow
Guys bought in guys were great
And um
Yeah, cuz I we just didn't know what to expect this year
Showing last year's team will graduate a lot of seniors a year ago and without your all-state goalkeeper
Charlie Merle was right who said yeah, Charlie decided to uh play in the MLS next team. He was all state
I was keeper of the year in the conference as a junior and um and so he he chose to to play at the club level
and so we had to find a keeper and
And uh kind of rebuild in the back a little bit um we changed we changed our formation this year
Had to play a little bit more defensive um which probably led to all the ties, but at the end of the day
We got you know three winning seasons in a row overall and back-to-back classic eight winning seasons. So sure sure
It's been great. Hey, and I I forgot and I apologize to mention our um our faithful producer anesthesia
Welcome on you
Morning. How are you? Just great. I always glad that you're here and and for everything you do
Not only for my show, but for um many great shows including Maggie Don
That appears is at six to seven Monday through Friday correct. Yep. That's right
So again later on in the show uh peach wobble will be calling in a new personality to civic media
And he's also on wau k Monday through Friday eight to ten p.m. And his shows is so my show is pretty much about all things
Waukesha
Pete's show is about all things Wisconsin. So we're looking forward to Pete's call
I believe it's later on this this hour and uh great guy from Marinette small world
I used to work with the sister Julie when I lived down in uh Evanston, Illinois
Back in the roaring nineties. So uh it's great to reconnect with the Schwabba family and um so
basketball scores last night
salted loss to icon excuse me icon. Oh con
I think they think their icons out there now uh those are twelve point loss
I didn't get a final score
Um, I was um eighty three seventy one. I believe eighty three seventy one. I didn't go to the game, but yeah, thanks Julie and then um
West had lost him a guana go sixty eight forty eight. So a tough loss for them and then the game our game of the week last night
Waukesha north had lost a kettle marine
seventy six forty three
Patrick still led the north stars with nineteen points and the score of betrays
What a great game. It was for most of the game. It was um
There were double digit lead changes in the first half
Really great back and forth and then
It was I blues an eight point KM lead
At halftime, but in the second half
North had had scratched their way back to um like a four point deficit, you know, it's still a game
And because KM could go deeper into their bench. I mean there are there are guys seven or eight or nine line
I think it's start for a lot of other teams and so I think it was just really a war of attrition, but
Yeah, unfortunately like as it's been the experience for salt, you know a lot of classic eight games, you know
The wheels come off, you know much earlier in football, of course
Because of the depth of talent and in these other schools so but
Last night we had the honor of having the varsity football coach at north vinciano on the pregame long athletic director
Carly Anderson and uh, they're excited to be playing in the parkland conference
Next season more equitable, you know playing field
And then also
Carly Anderson has been working with salsa athletic director
Dan trier and uh things are looking really good for the rest of the athletic program to move over into the woodland conference
So same thing it's uh, I guess that I'll used to be one conference parkland and woodland like all those teams
But the demographics, you know, the resources they all match up. They align much better with north and south
Versus like you know, I always compare north and south playing in the classic eight for football like whitewater
Trying to play in the big 10
So yeah, it uh, a couple things on that
um
Just coaching
Basketball and soccer here on the last 20 some years coming back
Built a lot of uh relationships with coaches that are still coaching
Jeff Stalas and arrowhead on the soccer side and kraghazi on the basketball side and you know the list goes on
So personally, I'm going to miss the classic eight
Uh, but
What our athletic director Dan trier has done at some of our coaches meetings is um, he showed us
where
All of our sports
Have record wise what we've done the last 10 years right on a spreadsheet sure sure and him and I had a conversation
You know
Look at this spreadsheet when we start the woodland conference for all sports. Let's look back. You know, let's 10 years
And let's look back at that and yeah, the colors that are coated with wins losses and ties is
It's going to completely change. Yeah, so it's
It's sad to you know, personally, you know, being a lifelong black shirt in this community and yeah planning competitive conferences
Sure on all the way back. Yeah, and coaching in these competitive conferences. Right. Uh, you know, it's it's a no-brainer
It really is you know for for north and in that it'll sell for sure to participate
Right, right. Yeah, so which I think will be great. So it's a lot of positives. So um
So switching back to july and in in addition to your success on the court
You also had a 4.15 GPA. Hey walk a chess south and um
And perhaps like I said, you're as we discussed for the show probably one of your greatest achievements has been your successful battle
Uh, over mental health challenges. Nothing any kid dreams of and I know this from my own family's experiences and
um, again, I want to say public it really meant a lot to me
having a mental health history in my family
That's something like yourself. I did come out very publicly about your your struggles. How you overcame them
And um, even pursued academic, you know, your professional career and counseling. Yep. So yeah, um, well first off
Well, when I was joking, obviously when I when I said
Unemployed, but it actually is true um
Just uh, I decided last I'd been gone 11 years
Uh, like you said, I coached four at Memphis and then the last seven at them Georgia Tech
Um, my boss who's who's who's just awesome um, we got let go
Um, in the spring of the year, there's an 80 change and like I said the culture the landscape of college with
And I help portal everything and yeah, essentially he just kind of came in and and he wanted his own guy
I know it was very easy to see. I thought I would struggle with that. Been very very
Uh, proud just to um, how I've handled that and uh, I knew right away
Um, um, I could take the advantage of um, I'm still single um, no kids put a little plug in there
I don't know if there's any single anybody at 70. I'm gonna say
Yes, very much as a master's degree um, on a Saturday morning at seven, but uh
um
Took advantage. I honestly in all in all reality. They've been really really lucky and fortunate to be able to
Take almost like a sabbatical year and um, um, I wanted to really invest in uh
Spend a lot of time with my parents and doing some things that I haven't been able to do
Um, in the last 11 years being gone and so forth and uh, so anyway
Just really grateful appreciative just one of you know, if this had a lot of great experiences one of these being on the show
Watching we talked about Billy. I got to watch his whole soccer season um, it coached south of our city team
We talked about them with my dad all summer and fall um, so I've had a fun year and yeah good when we come back from these important
Community messages more with the sports brothers and julien's up
Um, success in many ways yeah and billies and um the carol mental will be coming up soon too
So don't go away. It's this week. Watch the continues nwa uk 101 FM by 40 a.m
We'll be a UK
I
Won't say
Hey, we're back this week walk shot
And I can't play this song enough this holly season. It's the fairy tale of new york by the pokes and um
The our first christmas without Shane McGowan who recently passed away and um this song was performed at its funeral with Glenn
Handsome and a collection of other artists and um
If you're into the pokes or you're into any any type of um if you like rock and roll. I highly encourage
Actually, and this is going to sound strange, but I'm Irish
Watch Shane McGowan's funeral and because it's like a concert. It's just a great musical celebration of the guy's life and uh
I had just learned that the catholic church was very upset about the way the funeral was organized and said it was very
inappropriate
But that's you know, Shane McGowan wanted to be buried. He he was a catholic and in spite of his
many
What should we say uh his own bouts with with alcoholism and other struggles um
That's you know, that's how we wanted to be buried he was buried with
His favorite one of his favorite LPs, which is the first LPI I'd ever bought and I'm showing my age here was that leds up one too
In a DVD of the godfather among other uh relics. So I thought that was uh because he loved movies
so and um
So yeah, we continue to celebrate him here. It's it's for me down brown. It's Shane's world. We just live in it
But uh actually here in wakasham. Some would say it's the Swartz's world
So um, but it's me three generations in one school your your dad had had um
coached here
Yes, I had at halftime. I had al alt on my show who coached a lot of different sports on the same time year
I guess his daughter played for your dad when he was coach at north. Yeah, and so it's it's just neat that you have this
continuity of families that are part of the Waksha community um last week. We had uh
Um
Well, and I announced you guys are coming in the show those I forget the woman's last name was pew and she said my family's been a Waksha
For three generations too. And I said oh, we should have you on the show and she's well my granddaughter Meredith Marx was on the show last week
Yeah, promoting the salt program and uh
Pues a great family. Yeah, and you know, and it says a lot about this community that you have people that that
Choose to stay here and build their lives here
As the Swartz family has and and even to come back like you have that Waksha still a very special place
So care to comment on that. Yeah, no very much so and and like I was saying uh
Just
Grateful and appreciative as I look up this kind of the you know w auk a week in walkie-shots. It's you know
Been gone 11 years and it's it's really um it's cool to be back and uh
um just
Just have been enjoying just a lot of different unique experiences one like this
Like I said got to watch billy billy can really really coach sure
Their soccer team was incredibly fun to watch their inspiration. I say I'm just taking the year and staying with my parents and
It's incredible
Watching their their players. They sneak onto that soccer field over across the street
And it's it's it's unbelievable. I mean there's there's a reason why
They've been so successful those guys just play play play and it's been really really neat to see um
And speaking with my dad probably the coolest thing
Uh, I've gotten to do uh, I
I coach I approach coach Richter
Um this summer and uh, I got my dad to sit on the bench with me and we coached the south varsity for the 23 games in the summer
And then and then 10
10 games in the fall just to do that with my dad was uh, it was extremely special and um and then be able coach billy son
Who's hurt right now Morgan who very very close with so so anyway
um
That's kind of yeah, what I've been up to
Yeah, that's terrific and it's great to be able to reconnect with family here and uh
I want to switch gears with uh here and just go right into the uh the carol minute
Speaking of basketball and I know
Swartz brothers will appreciate this
One day after earning the the cciw women's basketball student athlete of the week honors Carol guard
Olivia rangel earned a spot on the d3 hoops.com team of the week basically the national team of the week
and um
I had the honor of broadcasting uh the pioneer women's team is a lot one their last two games a commanding
24 point victory over north park, but then last Saturday
They beat uh number one team in the conference number nine in the nation
undefeated militant who arguably had they have the player of the year on their team
a senior named Elise Knudsen amazing player
And uh Olivia scored 30 points in that game and again it went over time was just really exciting
and
With 1.7 seconds left in the game after a missed militant shot all Carol had to do is inbound make sure there were no
They're inbounding it from that same spot where uh Isaiah time is through the ball and buried bird stolen
That way that playoff games. I was like oh god don't whatever you do throw it throw it
Throw it the other way throw it yeah throw it yeah throw it in touch throw it deep
They found Olivia rangel about near half court right where I was broadcasting and in front of the university president
Dr. Cindy Nantiger who's been a huge uh one of the big reasons the care athletic program is really
picked it up a few gears in recent years and um after rangel caught the ball and let the clock run out
You know the everyone is standing and clapping including the president
And she was standing as close to Olivia as as Billy is to me and and Olivia handed her the ball like giving her the game ball
It's such a cool moment and uh it very impromptu to just a really classy thing from this junior
Uh from Franklin. That's one of many stars in this chair. Holy honest got her the ball. Yeah
Yeah somebody had 50 last night jalen brunson
You know makes it and uh one of the players it was funny kind of
Made a spark of that and went and grabbed it. Make sure he got it
You know just kind of trolling you honest a little bit. I love it. I was funny the other night. Oh sure sure
Yeah, and so um the season the student athlete of the weekboard that was rangel second and only five weeks into this season
So I thought that was a terrific uh
It's just a great honor for this growing team. That's uh
Seven three and one is it's Billy is saying it uh Lindsay Schultz has done a great job
Coaching that program there and building it up too. It's she has no one Lindsay
Long time and I was on the men's side from 13 to 19. That's how's going to ask you to excuse you guys both
You have a connection to Carol because he's a he's a rip and grad. That's right. I'm a Carol grad. That's right
Yeah, it's funny, but then he came over to the good side and uh no I love I love rip and I yeah I was I was like my second town
Showering up watching early. So yeah no one of my favorite athletes is a rip and graduate named Lane Barnes who's playing pro ball in Germany
And he's had a lot of I had the fortune of working with him a few years ago and uh it's great to see him continuing his professional career
And really enjoying and in Germany of all places. How fun is that
So yeah, I'll tell you what D3 uh make a plug for D3. Yeah spending
Uh
Five years in my college career playing three sports at rip in and then I spent two years as an assistant men's backs
Bocoach right out of college and I was at soccer as well and then spending six years at Carol here recently as an assistant
um
D3 sports across the board. Yeah, I mean
You know, yes, you're paying to play and it's probably you know the most pure
There still is I call the authentic the authentic college sports experience
Yep, you watch that division three national championship football game last night. Yeah, more central. They're in Carol's conference
My regrets to John stillman. I know he's uh
He's still probably very heartbroken. Yeah, he's a 3837. Yeah, he's a he's a proud nor central. Sure is. Yeah, had a great alum
And um, you know D3 sports though is so pure and it's it's so good and and
People have no idea high school kids. Yeah, yeah, have no idea how good you gotta be to play. Yeah, absolutely
That's very true when we come back from these important messages more with the sports brothers
And they're they're they're triumphs and tribulations is well as some other local news
Especially Christmas shopping. So don't go away plenty more to unwrap here on this week and walk a show
Well, so could anyone you took my dreams from me
Do you remember that sunny day
And somewhere in London in the middle of nowhere
Didn't have nothing to do that day
Didn't want to do nothing anyway
You got away
Oh
Do you guys know this song? No, it's good though
Hey, we're back this week walk shot in w8 UK 101.1
FM 540 AM the Shaw
And I'm your host down brown with the sports brothers and you're listening to
Chinatal Connor with Shane McGowan doing uh one of the lesser known great love songs called haunted
And so I'll yeah, I'll make sure you get a link to that Julian's legs. Oh, no, that's a great song in and we
You we also lost needle Connor earlier this year, so it's nice a little ode to both of them
Great route brilliant artist sounds like good music. Yeah. Yeah, here you go. There you go
Hey, I think now would be a good time to play that um that speech again at the 1805 mark
Please and I'll tell you when to stop
And see if the sports boys know
The youngest member of my family Joseph is
And this is dedicated trove deed it
Well, we keep bouncing it up
Nope, that's okay. I think we got enough. I think enough of that
Joseph is very ill
He has leukemia
And if I could dedicate this trophy to him tonight and give him a couple days of happiness. It's worth everything
Thanks
Do you guys know what that was 50 years ago this week December 13th 1973
Sports related definitely sports related
Joe it took place in 1973 it took place at uh in New York City this moment
Uh trophy acceptance speech that might give it away right there
Uh
Would that be the the husband the hyzen trophy award presentation
Mm-hmm, and um join me. Yeah. No, it wasn't name it. Oh, but it was pencil van you were nameless from
It was um
Penn State's only hyzen trophy winner John Capilletti. Yeah, no way it was and uh at this presentation
He dedicated the the trophy to his younger brother Joey who was um battling with leukemia. Oh wow
They made a movie for television about it
Uh
Like a couple years later that I remember my my mom had us watch all of these shows like Brian song and
Eric and and some because you know, we'd I'd lost her brother to leukemia if I was born and um
That moment I was it really surprised and disappointed me that nobody in sports media had really
Um reflected on that moment that even in the hyzen trophy presentation last week
There was no reference to it at all and that was one of the most inspiring
moments in 20th century American sports history
I mean that to me is up there with the um us Olympic hockey team beating the Soviet Union in 1980
And uh again, I guess it's personal for me, but still very surprising and I also wonder too if if Penn State Penn State's hesitant to really
Celebrate that or honor that in light of the the Jerry Sandusky scandal the handle haven't many years later
I wrote a blog about this too, and I think it's something that
The university and now they're big 10 school that that they should embrace that really all these um
collegiate sports writers and teams and even in civic media my own you know this as kind of just pointed that
With this great this very deep bench of great sports reporting professionals that no one had really commented on it or mentioned it on any of their shows and um
And it's a good lead in because what made that moment special too for a family like ours is when capillaries did that he
He made something very public that a lot of families chose to be very private about
And he made it uh made it okay to talk about
Cancer and leukemia and especially back then the research hadn't really come to her the point that and so moments like that had led to more research and more progress
And it's actually you know again
It's you know when you were diagnosed with leukemia in the 60s and even the early 70s. It was a death sentence
But today there's you know, there's higher percentage of kids and adults that um that live with it that that survive it
And um
Which is a great lead into you know your own your own personal struggles julie and that
You are very public about your mental health struggles and how you had had fought overcome them and um
It has really kind of you to talk more about this here and the show yeah yeah no um
You know i'm 43 now and uh
You know looking back. I think one of the things most proud of um is
Just how you know how open
um
That I was at a time and again late 90s early 2000s
um, you know the
The stereotype um and
Just not the education the awareness the acceptance and so forth that just wasn't
I think that was really talked about you know
You there were struggles and things was more physical companies mental health as we know it
Um really wasn't at the forefront and um
So just kind of looking back listen at at the time honestly
um
When I did when I was open and honest through
Lot of different outlets whether it be the media who kind of picked up on it um
I did a lot of speaking. I spoke probably at every different venue and audience and so forth
Um did a lot of uh teaching um of it as well um
But at that time for me
um
I wish I would have maybe had better
Therapy um, I don't know that I necessarily
The core of what I was going through was maybe getting addressed
Um from a professional standpoint at that time. It was kind of like I took the lead and trying to
To do it myself and um thought at that time trying to help other people
Um, ultimately was was the best form of of therapy looking back. I don't know
If that was but um
I was
My heart was in the right place
You know, I did that just to like I said just to try to help other people and um
I think God
God really took it if you would you know see the kind of the stories and the stuff that I've received and um
It's it's it's pretty incredible and I think I God kind of took it and like you said looking back now
Something that really just proud of is I mean you look at where mental health is now
I mean even the words mental health right
I mean behavioral health. Yeah, I mean yeah, and just like like I had OCD
OCD now is like they use it as an adjective. I mean people back in the 20 years ago. Yeah, what's that? Yeah
um
And so it's just come it's really come full circle. I've got some incredible stories and um
So just just being able to again, I did it
Uh to ultimately I thought it was was was was help it myself and um
I think the biggest thing and and some of them very proud of is is to this day
Just never was embarrassed
Never was embarrassed never was ashamed
Um, and I was just very open and honest and um and and I thought if it could help somebody else
You know great and uh, it's just really cool to see where
Where things have come yeah, especially professionally, you know, you get all these celebrities in that and let me just say this too and coaching
Um, you know, because I've coached at the youth level
Of coach at the high school level coach at the high major level college level
And it is I mean it is is so
It is it is so needed. Yeah, um, good mental health. We all can use it. It's incredible
Yeah, you look at I I love the the Ohio State football coach
I mean, I think he's got four. He's signed four
Full-time professionals, you know at that level and I think it could be used more so, you know, even at the high school level youth level
Um, I just think it's so it's it's important. It's valuable. It's critical
You know, and just happy to see where uh, where that's all come
Yeah, and again, I want to use this platform to thank you because you and your family
Have made this so okay for other um people dealing with it to um to come up
You know, it's okay because it's it's like any other disease
Cancer or an injury or
Covid or the flu that it shouldn't be this stigmatized. It should be something that the more
Public you are about it. I think the more you're the greater your chances for getting the help that you need right exactly
So especially in this holiday season too, which there's a lot of people that you know, yeah, yeah
Yeah, I'm very very sensitive on. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean even being back. I mean listen
I've been there 11 years in in a warmer weather climate and
Even kind of transitioning back has been and um, obviously, you know, you talk about depression and there are a lot
of different um
You know a lot of different
Disorders and mental illness that correlate with just kind of seasonal and right definitely and probably around here
Just this kind of
You know, it's been it's opened my eyes a little bit like you just you forget about how dark it gets early
How cold and just you know, I mean it can these dog days are it's not easy. Right. Right
So that's true. Yeah
So and that's what you know
One of the things my one of my family members have observed in his travels that like
The people he thought that were the most charismatic
Where where people that grew up kind of in the broader Midwest here with a lot of cloudy days and
Not necessarily great weather because you in a lot of ways you had to invent your own fun
You didn't have a beach to go to you didn't have you know
A sunny diamond and I was just waiting for you and your friends to play like in January or those things
And so in a lot of ways, I think there's a lot of creativity a lot of great athletes a lot of great, you know, scholars
And come out of this region of country for that very reason you have to kind of
Take the vacation inside your head or you know kind of create your own fun
So and I know the Swartz families have a Swartz family has for many generations here in Waksha
Tell us about oh, and I need do we have a caller. Yes, we do start about that. Who's uh, who's our caller?
We have the one and only peach shwaba on the line
Peach shwaba. Okay, we're gonna switch another
Wisconsin native who's come home like Julian Swartz. Pete. Who are you this morning?
Hey, I'm good done. How are you good? Good. Thanks for your patience
Peach shwaba. I was telling you about from the Marinette shwaba's has a new show on WAUK
And and in other stations in the civic media stratosphere called the nightlight. It's from 8 to 10 and
After I was broadcasting the north KM game last night Pete
I caught the tail end of your show and it was great. There was a guy I forget the last names Anderson. What was his first name?
Oh Frank Anderson. He's great. Yeah, he founded the website wasconcenology.com great website
And if you want some great Wisconsin lore, I highly recommend it. I was reading the
This morning about a music genre unique to Wisconsin called polka billy
Which I thought was really wow. Yeah, yeah, so I was gonna wear that but I will say this down. We last night
We talked about
Ten chimneys, which is in Waukesha County. I believe yeah, it's a foreign actress, right? Like with Frank
Yeah, it's off. They're like 83
Yeah, and who was the actress that owned it?
A John five John Fountain. Yeah, yeah, and they hosted Lawrence Olivia
And Catherine Hepburn it was like a revolving door of big Broadway stars that would come to southeast Wisconsin and
Stay at this state, which is now a museum
So I just learned about it last week. I can't wait to check it out
And for our movie expert in residence here, Anastasia, you should definitely
You should check out 10 chimneys. I hear I want to take my wife there one of these days
Check out the the location or is there also a tour? No, it's a house right? Yeah, and that's her John Fountain and her husband or partner
He was also in the filmmaking industry correct
Yeah, they were Broadway stars the biggest stars in the world. That's what it was. Yeah. Yeah, they would bring people here to southeast
Wisconsin to their estate and it's a museum now. It's really cool
That's what I heard. So yeah, we definitely want to check that out. So but you know your show is about kind of all things
Wisconsin kind of like what my show is like all things walk a shot and
I've noticed I've lived in many places and one thing I know about there is kind of a Wisconsin state of mind
That's it's almost universal like throughout the state. There's a kind of a common culture
Obviously, there's the brand-new old-fashioned and the cheese curds
But why do you think that is Pete? Whereas other states can be very regionalized
Um
Boy, that's a good question. You kind of put me on the spot
Sure
I don't know what Wisconsin is a really
It is a unique place. It's very quirky. I'm transplant, but
What I've fallen in love with is kind of the sense of humor that people have the pretty self-deprecating and
they definitely
It's definitely like their old-fashioned and their cheese curds. So yeah, I would totally agree with you there
Yeah, no doubt
Brandy old-fashioned though
Brandy old-fashioned. That's just I just it's funny. I just started
sure actually appreciating
Old-fashioned and everywhere else except Wisconsin. You didn't get those down in charge on Memphis
But no, it's it's whiskey right it's it's bourbon or whiskey. This is the only place where we share. Yeah
Pete can you stick around after we um can we can you stick around after we um make these important community messages
Do you have a couple minutes? Okay. Yeah, so stick around more to talk about with the Swartz Brothers and with uh
Peach Waba of nightlight
Uh here on this weekend walk a shot on wuk. Do not go away
We're all around you
I'm this is the day
I'm around you
I'll stay beside you
Never leave or tell you all those lives that you never leave
Run behind the bush
Run behind the bush
Run behind the bush
Run behind the bush
Here we're back this weekend walk a shot. We played this song last week and uh
To these walk a shot natives Julien Billy Swartz even recognize the band the vocals should give it away
I say my area Billy
It's all you by so if I tell you where these guys are from you'll know
Tell you what they used to record albums
um
When back in the dark days of walk a shot downtown maybe the boating 90s. Yeah boatings. Oh
I love the this is their Christmas on Christmas time. Yeah, some boatings at concert in high school nice
But they speak about main street and yeah
And yeah, have you been to mountain top cafe yet on main street? I have not that's the great
So in fact, I'll be there after the show meeting um
Small business champion in realtor Troy Thiel and he's meeting a local um
City planning expert in Michael stumps him and oh, I'll get to meet for the first time
So I'll be up a mountain top further down a main a few doors down from um
people's park was
Back when that was aborted up building it was you know it was
The landlords would rent it out to bands like the bodeans because it was spate and they could make a
recording studio out of it and that's where some of the bodeans best stuff was made including other
uh bands so my dad a long time six great teacher and uh
He had one of the bodeans in class. Oh really? Yeah, that's neat. Yeah, a lot of
Sammy Lana's I think. Yeah, is that it? I think so. Oh very cool. All right, and we're and peach wobba you're still there
Yeah, I'm here. Will you a big bodeans fan Pete?
I was I actually uh, it's funny. I discovered that song probably about 20 years ago
And it's actually one of my favorite Christmas songs by like a rock band. It's really well done
I made a film yeah, I made a film several about about 20 years ago or or a little less called uh the godfather of green
Bay and the bodeans were one of my favorite bands
And I reached out
And got in contact with Kurt Newman of the band and he ended up writing a score for the movie and gave me a lot of bodeans
Songs to use nice, so I sort of become friends with Turk and yeah big fan. Love the bodeans. That's great
It's great now Pete just like Julie and you had you had traveled to seek your
Professional success and fortune. I know you did stand-up comedy you did some acting and you've also done some radio
Down in in LA is that correct?
Uh, I didn't do radio out there one okay in LA. I was primarily a
Stand-up and a writer I writer that's a fortunate to have some yeah
I enjoyed I wrote primarily movies, but also some TV I wrote on a TV show called sports soup where we would
Sit in a room and watch sports and write jokes about it was one of the best jobs I ever had in my life
Perform sketches. It was really fun. Yeah, sure sure, so but yeah, I lived out there for about 14 years and uh
wrote some movies, wrote some TV and uh, and I enjoyed the warm weather. I heard you guys talking about that too
I
Become a wimp pretty fast about winter when you live in a warm time. Yeah, period of time. Yeah. Now are you living in Green Bay or are you back at Marinette near the family?
I'm north of Green Bay yet closer to Marinette, so it's uh and I guess my show out of Green Bay
So yeah, I commute back and forth which uh fantastic just avoid the deer and
Other than that, it's not a bad commute at all. Yeah, now Pete had me as a surprise guest on his show and that was a lot of fun and and the show we mentioned um that we
Uh, we should say a mutual acquaintance or we have a history with the Schwabba family that Pete didn't know about
I did not yeah you
You weren't you and my sister Julie you guys both worked in Evan's Senator restaurant was at the Davis Street
Well, it was a restaurant group called the Clean Play Club
And it was four conceptually unique restaurants and the first restaurant was the Davis Street Fish Market
Which was Chicago and its first attempt at uh or successful attempt at
Cajun like New Orleans style seafood. It was a really fun place like there was no menu
The menu was a big chalkboard or different chalkboards because the fish was coming in fresh daily
And um, they took like there was an actual retail fish market in the front as you walked in near the bar
And they would cut out fish paper and that became the tablecloth
The servers all had like shorts and um, you know running shoes and the t-shirts on the back
You know say Davis Street Fish Market in the front but on the back it had like a
A picture of an old guy carrying a big crate of crabs and it says forget about the meatloaf mom. I'm coming home with the crabs
and
There would be an hour wait for dinner like even on a Monday night. It was such a great place and it was so much Friday nights
Yeah, that was the first place. Oh, sorry go ahead you go ahead
Well, I was just gonna say I my wife and I went there. It Julie's urging for lobster
And all I'd ever had to that point was lobster tail
So we get there and they put this full lobster on the plate and I'm like I kind of didn't even know how to go about it
Like a little overwhelming. Sure. What parts of this do we eat, you know
Yeah, it was a great atmosphere and a really fun place
Sure was yeah, and the other places there was the place that I kind of cut my teeth was um
A place called Tommy Nevin's Pover most people knew it as Nevin's pub and it was the first
Irish pub concept that wasn't in an urban Irish neighborhood
Evanston's urban it's where Northwestern is
But it wasn't like in an Irish neighborhood and we had like Irish or Irish American staff. We had
Perfect planning. We saw the most Guinness in the state of Illinois and it was a really great
We'd have traditional music on Sundays and
I'm saying and St. Patrick's Day when there be a line out the door the owner would come out
With a bottle of patty which you couldn't get in the US at the time
You need to have a little plastic um shot cups on a tray and you pour the pat and you give it to people
While they're waiting in line in the call the six or they're just so many great touches
We also had a barbecue place in a New York style
uh
Jazz steakhouse that had live jazz every night
So it was really great if the owner hadn't died in 95
I'd probably still be working for him. It was a real empressario
And so it was and you got to meet people colorful people like Julie Schwabba and uh and now her brother Pete
So it's like that to that experience as a gift that still keeps giving so
And Julie's back in New Wisconsin too right after a time in L.A. Yeah, I was just gonna say
She went out to L.A. Um, I don't know a few years after we did live right by us
And then we came back to Wisconsin about 10 years ago and then Julie came back about I don't know four or five years ago
And now she was really close to us too. That's great. Um yeah, it's fun and uh sounds good. Put a price on
Sure can't so well Pete Schwabba I can't wait to catch more of your show Monday through Fridays eight to 10 p.m
And uh think about putting uh the Swartz Brothers on your show one of these nights
They're a big part of Wisconsin. It's 10 p.m.s more mic time. That's in some way. Hey
This year, yeah, this is a yeah, seven to nine is early
We'll do that. We'll do that for sure
It sure was. Yeah, let's do it again soon and uh, Pete Schwabba for nightlight
Thanks for calling in and looking forward to uh
See or hearing more great things on your show Monday through Fridays here in WUK 101
FM uh eight to 10 Monday through Friday. Thanks again Pete
How much time we have before so we got one minute left and um
When we come back from these important messages
We've got another full hour to spend with the Swartz Brothers and a lot more to unpack about growing up here in Waukesha
Your parents influence on you and uh as well as a progress support on uh Morgan Schwartz
Who's recovering from an ankle injury suffered in the New Berlin West game and um some great Christmas shopping tips too
As well some more uh community uh news from the city and um
Including a federal complaint that was recently filed so lots to unpack here in the second hour of this week and walk ashon w8 UK
101.1 FM 540 a.m. Do not go away
At Christmas time