
and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.
Good afternoon, everybody, live from beautiful Lake Wissota, Wisconsin in the Chippewa Valley.
I'm Todd Allbaugh, along with our producer and engineer, the fantastic Mr. Aaron Zommers, back home at the World Headquarters of Civic Media in downtown Madison on State Street.
Zommers, good afternoon.
It is Friday, TGIF, May 23rd, 2025.
It is a great day to be Wisconsinite.
Glad to have all of you along with us.
Zomers, it's the sun is starting to come out a little bit here as for those watching on the stream on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the like, beautiful Lake Wissota right behind us here.
Many thanks to our colleague, Pat Critello for letting us set up here in his backyard where he does, well, he doesn't do it as he said from the backyard, but he does it from his home studio here, the Lake Wissota studios of mornings and Pat Critello every morning from six until nine.
Zomers, how are things back down in Madtown?
so I know you do I know you do and you love the the cooler weather it is the kickoff Of the Memorial Day weekend here.
We came up last night and big shout out to my favorite youngest niece Isabel Galoy as she along with all of her classmates at Eau Claire Memorial High School graduated last night the old Abe's
here in Eau Claire.
It was a good time had by all.
We're continuing the festivities over the weekend.
I know a lot of people have weekend plans and a little bit later this half hour, we're going to lighten things up and bring on our friend Peter Rapine, managing editor of Epom's world and talk about the wild and wacky nature of human behavior.
Before we go any further, I want to once again give everybody the text to win word this hour up until four o'clock here.
Up for grabs are four tickets that are
Club level seats for next Tuesday's game on May 27th, the Milwaukee Brewers taking on the Boston Red Sox.
The first pitch at 6.40 p.m.
Make sure you are able to go.
If so, dial up the old Civic Media app on your smartphone, open it up.
You'll have a little icon there that says text, click on that, and then text the following word right now.
The word is score, S-C-O-R-E.
Score text the word score singular form.
Remember the computer chooses this so any misspelling you're out of luck the word is score S C O R E Text it right now score to the civic media app to be eligible to win in our Friday ticket our free ticket Friday brewers giveaway But right now coming up here at nine minutes past the hour of three o'clock.
I want to turn to the phone line
And joining us via the phone right now is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Badger Honor Flight, Brian Ziegler, who is on the phone.
Big event this weekend down at Kopkes Greenhouse in Dane County in the town of Dunn, just outside the city of Oregon.
They're having a broad stand tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, and all the proceeds from that, as well as their big plant sale,
on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Goes to the 100% of the proceeds, the Badger Honor Flight.
Brian joins us via phone right now.
Brian, good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you.
When I get on the road, Brian, I get a little spacey and I thought I booked you for this hour and you were kind enough to show up at the top of the show.
So thank you for bearing with us and rearranging your schedule for us.
I really appreciate that.
No problem.
So so tell us a little bit about for those that might not have heard I know you get a lot of press at least a local television with these flights come back home But I'm sure there are people that are like badger honor flight.
What is this all about?
Tell someone who might not have heard of yourization what you are
Badger honor flight is part of the honor flight network, which is comprised of 130 were called hubs across the United States and our mission is to take
veterans to Washington D.C.
at no cost to them to visit the memorials built in their honor.
And so for us it's a one-day trip.
We leave Madison typically around 7 a.m.
and we get out to D.C.
Ronald Reagan Airport and we visit the Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Vietnam, Korea and the World War II memorials and sometimes the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial.
And we do all that in one day.
Then we come back to Dane County Regional Airport here in Madison.
And we have thousands of people there waiting to welcome them home.
We have a band that plays.
Benedict and Red Cross is there serving refreshments, sign making area for the kids.
And it's just a great way to long overdue.
Thank you and welcome home to our veterans.
I can't say enough great things about you folks.
I know our friend and colleague Phil Knee and W.R.C.O.
Richland Center has had you on his show and talked to you.
I know our friend and colleague Jane McNair, McNair on air every morning from 9 until 11 on the network.
She's had to believe people because there's there's a, I don't know what to call a sister companion organization on a Milwaukee, right?
That does a similar thing.
Yes, there's actually six of us hubs in Wisconsin.
So yes, there's stars and stripes out of Milwaukee
So this is a great way for people all around the state wherever your hub is at to get involved But I'm most familiar with the Badger honor flight out of out of Madison like I say the TV station most of them do a really great job
of these homecomings.
Tell us how this began, Brian.
My understanding was originally to honor World War II veterans as they started to just age to a point where they were dying before they ever got properly honored.
Was it with them or was it with Vietnam vets or how did this start?
Actually, about two days ago was our 20th anniversary of the first ever honor flight trip.
And that was coordinated by Earl Morris out of Ohio.
And the World War II Memorial had been dedicated the year prior, and Earl had worked in the VA hospital system.
And he talked with several of his patients who were World War II veterans, and quickly found out that these men and women didn't have the financial wherewithal to go visit the memorial that took so long to be built that was built in their honor.
And Earl got this idea together that, well, you know what?
He was a pilot, and he got...
12 Seth knows to take 12 veterans out to Washington, DC.
And that's how he started it.
And then the other co-founder of the Honor Flight Network is Jeff Miller, who started out a similar organization out of Hendersonville, North Carolina, in honor of his dad, who were war two veterans.
And he did a charter flight.
Earl and Jeff got to learn about each other, got together, and they have now formed, will be now called the Honor Flight Network.
And since 20 years ago, we have flown over 317,000 veterans nationwide.
Congratulations.
That is just absolutely amazing.
Talking to Brian Ziegler, the chairman of the board of directors for Badger Honor Flight out of Madison.
Brian.
Talk to us a little bit because Koppke's greenhouse, they do this annual event.
I think Gordy said they raised north of, I have the number wrong, but I know it was north of $12,000 between the auction and the and the broadstand out there.
Do you, do you folks fund Badger Honor Flight?
Is it totally funded on donations or how does this happen financially?
Yes, Badger Honor Flight is funded 100% by donations and guardian fees.
And we are also 100%
Volunteer ran so we don't have any
staff any paid facilities that we got to pay for So pretty we're proud to say that over 96 cents of every dollar that's donated to us goes straight to that flight day
every one of for badger We every one of our veterans has a guardian who is responsible for companionship and more importantly the safety of the veteran
everything from leaving Madison that day throughout DC and getting home that night.
So each of those guardians pays a $500 fee to go along on the flight.
well.
I just think it's amazing that the community, again, this is part of what makes Wisconsin great, Brian.
I don't care what party, what candidate people voted for.
I would hope that, and so many of us do, in Wisconsinites, we rally behind those who served.
Because, again, we might not always have agreed with the conflict or the war they were in, but all of us should be thanking and honoring the
men and women who put on the uniform to protect our freedoms.
And this is just an amazing thing that you all do.
Again, for those watching on the stream or for our listeners, if you want to get involved to help raise money for Badger Honor Flight, go to Kopke's Greenhouse in the town of Dunn.
Tomorrow, Sunday and Monday for their Broadstand, all the drinks proceeds and food proceeds go to Badger Honor Flight.
And then on Sunday,
at 3 p.m.
They're auctioning off about 45 or so of these big, beautiful planter pots live there at Copkeys at 3 p.m.
If you can't make it, if you're listening to other parts of the state and you want to help out, here's the number.
Zomers has it on the screen.
We'll put it in the show notes as well.
608.
835-7569-608-835-7569.
And as you just heard, Brian there say, 96 cents of every dollar goes 100% to the Badger Honor Flight.
Yes, yeah, that's, each of these flights cost $135,000.
So when you donate money to us, we put every
penny possible towards those flights.
We were very mindful of our generous donors and the money they give
Yeah, just a couple minutes left here, Brian, before we let you go.
Just give us a personal memory.
I'm assuming you've probably gone on at least a couple of these, or you've talked to veterans or their families, their guardians, as you call them when they come back.
Give folks just a personal memory of yours something that really touched you and why you're involved in Badger honor flight
I got involved years ago by a fellow Iraqi war veteran that I served with he got me involved and then spent one of the best things I've ever have done in my life but
The personnel is actually in the last flight, so that's very recent for me.
We have an area out there.
They're doing a lot of renovation in DC by the Thomas Jefferson FDR Memorial.
And the path is under repair.
And I had a veteran and one of our volunteers out there say that this veteran and the guardian wish to walk on the walkway that we had said, please do not walk because it's unsafe.
And I come to find out that the veteran used to live in DC, and him and his wife did, and they used to walk this path for years, and it would have had a lot of sentimental value for him.
So I said, yes, I will go with them, so that he could have one last memory, had his wife's photo with him, and he was holding it, and every so often he would stop.
go by a chair, go by a tree, which had a special meaning.
And I've come across a lot in my years doing this with Badger on a Flight, but to help a veteran have an extra special memory out there that was not related to a memorial, but more personal, that really hit home for me.
And I think you just encapsulated perfectly each of these flights.
There is a memory for each veteran.
It means something.
It's not just a trip, not just a day vacation.
It's a deep held meaning to have that for some people closure, for some people, a thanks.
But this is an individual and we talk a lot about how do we honor people?
This is by getting involved and donating to Badger Honor Flight.
You're giving each one of these veterans a personal memory, am I correct?
That is exactly correct.
Have a great event at Copkeys this weekend.
We'll keep plugging it throughout the show.
Brian Ziegler, thank you so much and best of luck with these Badger Honor flights.
Thanks so much for being here.
Thank you very much, Todd.
Yep, our pleasure.
Come on back.
We will do our next round of What's Worse.
Stay with us.
We're live from Lake Wissota across Wisconsin on the Civic Media.
Ready now.
Well, there's no storms yet.
Welcome back.
We are live on location at All Balls show across the Civic Media Ready Network here in beautiful Lake Wissota on the shores thereof with our host at the Crite Low compound, the host of Mornings with Pat Crite Low.
Every morning from six until nine, Mr. Pat Crite Low.
Pat, we are going to maybe go off the pond too, but a little nippy right now.
We'll do it in a future show.
I like how for years now, I've been in this house for 30 years and occasionally people
I prefer to do it as the the Crite low compound to see it in writing down here on the screen now on social media is uh that's a little off-putting to be honest.
It sounds like there should be you know bars up to keep you from getting out.
It's like the Kennedy compound you know as long as there's no okay okay okay you're better off with the Gilligan's Island references.
than chap, a quiddicker.
So yeah, we could do a could do a three hour tour
I think so.
Maybe a few more show.
Many thanks to Brian Ziegler of the Badger Honor Flight.
Great organization, Pat.
He would say like there are six
chapters basically around the state of Wisconsin.
I know you've talked about on your show, James talked about on hers, but they do such great work for our veterans across Wisconsin.
Well, of course, and it's just so important to not only maintain that level of respect, which is done in many ways by the way, you know, protecting health care and things like that, but also the signs of appreciation and the signs of
honor that, as you said, was started with an aging World War II generation and continues on.
The number at Kopkes is 608-835-7569.
608-835-7569.
Before we do what's worse, quickly on the phone lines, I believe we have Ollie.
Ollie from the Northwoods.
Ollie, guess what?
I'm north of Highway 29, so I'm technically in the Northwoods.
Say I'm looking for Ollie right now.
Ollie, what do you
I just wanted to say that I had heard earlier about your honor flight program and the flowers.
And it reminded me that I had seen an episode on NCIS of an actual honor flight thing.
And it was in season 14, episode 19.
I looked it up.
It's Douglas McGill who was a Vietnam vet and it is really quite moving and would people would definitely enjoy watching that program and seeing just how it's handled and how good it is for the veterans.
Well,
tip
Especially now with this streaming age, you can look up anything like my episode.
I really appreciate that.
A good shout out there.
Great when television can take a moment to salute real life as well.
All right.
It is 26 minutes past the hour.
Three o'clock.
Let's do a quick one.
One time once again for what's worse.
Let's go.
Time once again for what's worse.
Nothing to give away, no prize money involved, but it is your chance to have your voice heard all across to all 11 news talk sports stations in the Civic Media Ready Network.
No better place to advertise your business than Civic Media.
Find out how at civicmedia.us.
All right, Thomas, timely, timely indeed.
It is Memorial Day weekend.
Lots of people coming to the Northwoods, right, Pat?
You get the influx.
of the fibs of all the folks coming in from Illinois.
So today's category, timely indeed, what's worse, a Southern accent or a Chicago accent?
A Southern accent or a Chicago accent?
A Freedian slip.
There's a lot of freeways there.
855-752-4842.
855-752-4842.
Or you can text us on the Civic Media app.
Well, okay, I'll grant you one there.
But honestly, do I get a vote?
course, you're
here.
You're a
host.
What's worse?
Yeah.
It's gotta be the Chicago accent.
The southern one, when you meet, we've got people on our staff, we've got an outlet in North Carolina, we've got people from Georgia, and they just, they have this lovely lilt to their voice, you know?
But then Chicago.
Tony,
totally agree with you.
Yeah,
but the tourism areas up here love you bring your money
absolutely come come talk to us it's not about football please exactly and shumacher who's on all the time he's just up river right now and uh... is insufferable during cubs season really uh... at bear season
8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2
I don't have my Text up in front of me here.
So if you got a text in let me know I know we you can read it read it out.
I I tend to agree with you Pat.
I I think
I find Southern accents kind of cool and charming on most people.
Most people.
No, it can't be done as you a lot of times see in the movies like in a very condescending way, you know, Buford T justice on Smoky and the Bandit or something like that.
Usually if it's some kind of a boss hog.
Boss hog.
Yes.
Rostopee
Coltrane.
Really, it's a homie dude.
It's two old guys in their rocking chairs talking about old TV.
Yeah.
Oh gosh,
Yeah,
Yeah.
All right.
Well, we're out of time.
I guess I'm going to say, I'm going to say Chicago accent is worse.
All right.
Well, come on back.
We'll talk to our old friend Peter Rapine, the world of the wild and the wacky.
Don't go anywhere.
It's the Taddleball Show from Lake Wissota.
Yee!
Ha!
On the Civic Media Radio Network.
Live on location from beautiful Lake Wissota in northern Wisconsin.
This is the title of our show on the Civic Media Radio Network.
It is 35 minutes now past the hour of three o'clock.
T-G-I-F.
That means it's Friday.
No better way to end the week than with our friend, our ongoing contributor.
He is the managing editor of Epom's World.
Joining us from beautiful Brooklyn, New York.
It's Mr. Peter Rapine.
Peter, how the heck are you?
I'm doing great.
I'm here with you.
Oh, you're too kind.
You always feel better when you join us, Peter, because at the end of the show, we have a smile on our face after we've laughed a little bit, and it always makes us feel better spending time with you.
We're here at Beautiful Liquid Soda, as you see behind me here now before, because people are curious.
People have built up a rapport with you, Peter.
They've come to know you a little bit, and we appreciate that about you.
You told us now a couple weeks ago that you've met this new significant other, this young woman in Mexico, and we understand now things are going very well, and you're going to Europe now to meet her.
Is this right?
He didn't get charged.
They let him go.
Scott Free, they were like, here's the exit, sir.
But they don't know how he ended up there.
And I wonder if he even
probably someone ordered Tordash on a plane or at the airport or maybe it was a worker or someone in you know like the plane maintenance facility.
No one knows but he didn't get in trouble.
I imagine maybe just you know gave the officers who pulled him over a free hamburger and they let him go.
First of all, I have great admiration for whoever ordered it because with the wacky airlines right now, people are spending hours stuck inside of a plane on a tarmac, either unable to get off or unable to take off.
And so I think it's hilarious if someone was caught there.
Well, what the heck?
I'm going to order a door dash, right?
This will
person.
Is that right?
Yeah, so this is a one of the funnier police body cams we've seen and it's a supercut of sorts of a man on his car is in a ditch on the side of the road.
And he is just talking he kind of sounds a little drunk But he's just talking about how he's in a rush to get me ball subs and we have some really great audio for it.
All right, here we go Zommer's
kids one some people sandwiches the kids wanted me both sandwiches.
All right
This literally is a meatball sandwich result.
That
This one might actually be the best audio of the week.
Dude links uncle's Tesla's turn signals to fart sound.
So basically what a guy did is he hacked his uncle's Tesla.
And you can turn the sounds in the car to different things.
And he turned it so that every time he put on his turn signal, it made fart noises.
And this is inside the car.
Inside the car.
And this is the reaction when he finds out.
We're going to go right.
Take that off.
You know what?
I'm an analog guy living in a digital world because this just when you get to a certain age, I would not know how to shut that off if like my nieces or my God's sons were doing this.
And so I have a certain amount of empathy for this guy.
He's bought a Tesla.
He's probably a little ashamed.
Now he has a Tesla and now his kids are putting fart noises on his turn signal.
The best drink would probably be a Sprite with a snack.
And then all of a sudden you just let a big monster burp rip.
My name is Kimberly
And I hold the world record for the women's loudest burp.
I've always been told I was the loudest burp or anyone's ever heard.
One time I got kicked out of a bar just for one burp.
A lot of people are disgusted at the dinner table.
My mom hated when I burped.
But I started recording my burps on TikTok and it really took off.
A lot of my fans like me to burp
their
names.
My audience grew really fast, so just be yourself.
Because you never know how many people out there are going to enjoy you for just being you.
Enjoy you for just being you.
Peter, what the hell am I doing here next to Lake Wasota with my little dog and pony show where I can be belching for a living and with a lot more money and a lot more followers.
I'm going around taking this equipment all across the state trying to talk about news where I should just be belching, you understand?
My sister could give her a run for the money, though.
My sister is a loud belcher.
We should have her on the show sometimes.
All right, stay tuned more with Peter Ray Pine on the other side, the wild, wiki, wiki, wacky, wiki review, and Cryt Lo may bring us a drink.
Stay tuned or like we saw it on the all ball show.
Welcome back to the Tahleball show on location at Lake Wissota across the Civic Media running at work where it is eight minutes now before the hour of four o'clock at the top of the hour.
ABC or CBS News depending on which of our great stations you're listening to.
Brittany Merleau and her weather team with a weather update.
I'll tell you what it is.
Nice.
That's what it is up here at Lake Wasota.
And then our great sports reporter Mike Clemens in with a look at what's happening across the state of Wisconsin in terms of sports.
And then stay tuned for Maggie Dawn and the Maggie Dawn show every afternoon.
From four until six and then Pete Schwabba live from WGBW in Green Bay with nightlight with Pete Schwabba right now joined here on set, which is beside Lake Wissota That's stately Crite low manner by our fine host himself the host of mornings of packed Crite low every morning from six until nine across the network Mr. Crite low who has brought us a beverage Cheers Patrick.
It's
old-fashioned time old-fashioned o'clock here on Lake Wissota
Had a little practice here over time.
Some might say too much.
But
You're gonna coffee.
Next headline.
And I've said this a few times now.
But this is
actually my favorite audio the week.
It's a type of story that I think only can happen in America.
Headline reads Walmart shopper has light hearted running with the woman who stabbed him.
Walmart shopper has a light hearted running with the woman that stabbed him.
All right, go ahead.
And the preface is I'll just say most people say forgiveness isn't true.
But true forgiveness is real.
It's difficult.
And this man can teach us all lesson in that.
Run the
audio.
All right.
Here we go.
Audio.
Hi, how's it going?
Now, what happened?
What did you do to me, sir?
Well,
I caused it though.
I stabbed him.
Stabbed me and I flew in the helicopter.
I died twice, but you know what?
I'm
like reborn Christian and I'm and I've just hugged her and I told her she said I apologize.
I was young and we
were done.
Like I made a mistake.
I was drunk.
I mean, you know,
yeah, she killed me.
Give me a hug.
I love you girl.
Don't worry
about it.
Come and see me preach
in
two weeks.
What did he say?
Come and hear me preach in two weeks?
Come
Yeah.
Yeah.
Does there a lot of stabbing up here at Walmart in northern Wisconsin?
I was gonna make some kind of a comment about Clark County, but you know I'm not
Yeah,
always about the tiktok
lot of back story to that one.
A
Yeah, that's got many layers about youth, stupidity, alcohol, sharp instruments.
still back.
I'm still stuck on Bump.
That's how old I am.
Bump is the little shot glass of Jameson that you order with a beer.
Oh.
And you
and you get a bump.
Yeah.
You kids and what you've done to our definitions.
Did they used to call it a key?
What do they call
What would they call blowback in your day back?
I believe that was called Friday.
Happy
everybody.
Prepare for my Dom session with me.
So the prep for this session starts the night before because this man likes to be
on.
If you are new here,
every single month.
LOL.
I wanted Jamaican food.
So we got Jamaican food this time.
Of course, I have to try to eat it all.
If you know about Jamaican food, this was so much
Right now it's gone.
I used to be a legitimate anchor.
Most rules here on television.
And I got stuck with all the talking about entombment tricks.
Happy Friday.
Happy Friday.
On that note, Peter Rapine, thank you for you can find all these stories at epomworld.com, the Wild and Wacky of Human Behavior, the Week in Review.
Thank you, Peter.
Have a great and safe trip over to the EU.
We'll talk to you when you get back.
Take care.
All right.
Thank you very much.
Peter Rapine, everybody.
Many thanks to all of our guests, not the least of which, Mr. Pat Critello from being our host today.
You can hear him every morning from six until eight with mornings of Pat Critello.
Also, James Kelly, Brady Ewing, Brian Ziegler, and Peter Rapine and Zommer's back at home.
We'll see you.
We have a special show for you on Memorial Day.
Be safe out there.
Take time to remember those who served us and who gave up their lives.
Pat, have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
Thank you for coming up.
Thank you very much.
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