Dog Days of Summer Vendor Market

Mark Chambers is our guest in this portion of WRCO's morning show.

Are you having a neat summer?

Are you?

Having a hot summer.

Hot summer.

It has been steamy the last few days.

I always ask that because they would always write that in the yearbook, you know, have a neat summer.

Have a neat summer.

Have

a neat summer.

No, it's just been, it's definitely been warm and kind of a fast summer.

My gosh, it's just, it's flown by.

You know, you just blank and summer's gone and we'll be back in school soon.

I hate the S word that's early

in the

summer, but it's going to

be there.

Well, I think part of it is because you've been busy with Ryan's route.

You've got a lot of things, a lot of irons in the fire, don't you?

Yeah.

Yeah.

We've been, we've been helping out with some things, which is fantastic.

I mean, that's, that's the essence of what the organization is all about is, is helping other people.

And so, yeah, we've been doing some assistance with different organizations and different events that have been happening.

I reached out to Mick Cosgrove when the...

ThunderFest was coming up and I noticed that on Friday the Friday before you know they were looking for help for setup and stuff and so I said hey Mick you know I said Ryan's here to be able to come over and help you guys out and well hey if you could help you know that'd be great and so we got over there and

helped put up some of the lighting and that they already had the tents and stuff up.

So that was really awesome.

So we put up some of the lighting and the signs and, you know, some of the stage stuff and all of that.

And later, Mick told me, he goes, you know, this might have been one of the quickest days we've had.

He goes, last year, we got out of here at 730.

And then that day we got out of there at 1230.

If I can save Mick seven hours, I'm going to help him save seven hours.

Mick and the others that are helping, Kent Atzett was down there.

And so we had some other folks that were helping out too that kind of joined us to go over there and just

Just lend a hand.

You know, that's what it's about.

That's what we should be doing is helping people.

So kind of a pay it forward thing.

Of course it is.

I mean, um, you know, if that gets other people to, you know, maybe reach out and do something else and, and, you know, maybe they weren't thinking about, you know, wanting to help out with this or that or, oh man, I don't have the time for, well, sometimes it doesn't take much time.

It doesn't take much time at all.

And so kind of as a caveat to that, like with the blood drive yesterday, um,

We talked to Bob and Heidi Shear and just said, Hey, would you guys mind if we posted something about this?

If that would help them, they were like, Oh my gosh, yeah, they'd be great.

You know, so went in and helped them do a little bit of setup, which didn't take long.

And it's kind of that many hands, you know, make light work and did that and some tear down and got some first time blood donors from seeing the video that we put out, which is, I mean, that's amazing.

That's fantastic.

And if that's all it takes to just to get someone to

want to do good for, you know, for others.

And, you know, that's right now, the blood, the Red Cross has put out the blood emergency.

I mean, they're, they're really looking for donors.

I mean, it's, and it's a acute need.

People, I mean, if that's a one thing you can do, I think the average time for

A blood donation, you know for the draw is like 12 minutes.

That's 12 minutes out of your day Of course, you know, there's a little bit of the prep before and you know the recovery after and everything But man if it takes a half an hour out of your day and you can save three lives Why not try that?

You know

just something simple to be able to do

mostly is this kind of the motto the mantra of Ryan's root just kind of Wherever there is a need.

I

think so.

I mean, you know, we

We wanted to just kind of carry on what Ryan's legacy was and Ryan's legacy was he just he wouldn't I remember him telling Shelley one day, you know mom I just I just want to find the good in people I just I look for the good in people and if we can do that and if we can be some of that good and we can help other people Be some of that good that kind of is our mantra.

We just we want to I think that when it all boils down

I think we are meant as people to just help other people and if we can do that we want to do it in a variety of different ways however that looks you know because it's not I mean the needs for people are different all over the spectrum right I mean this person might need financial need this person might need help with you know maybe it's uh getting a ride back and forth or you know the

the Red Cross is looking for blood.

Don't like all of those things or, or Mick is looking for somebody to help out with some setup for the Thunderfest for a community event, you know, for us here.

Why not give a hand for that?

You know, it doesn't take up too much of your time.

So we've got the ability, we've got the hands, we've got the, you know, the numbers of people that are willing to put forth some help and, you know what, we can do it.

So we're going to do it.

Now, a lot of us don't have a lot of money, but we do have a little time.

Of course.

And that's kind of the thing, isn't

it?

And that's it.

I mean, that's why, you know, when I was kind of promoting for the blood drive, we just said, you know, if you can help donate blood, awesome.

if you're going to help donate help like set up great that's maybe you can bring some brownies you know or like whatever like but it doesn't take much um and often I think we we kind of get this

you know stuck in this mindset of like oh man you know I will next time or I don't know I don't have the time for that or I what am I going to be able to give or what can I do you know I don't have or my blood type isn't great or you don't have to you don't have to be the blood donor you can just be somebody that can check on people or help out you know during the day and so that's I mean those things are simple but sometimes we just need a little reminder or something to kind of

you know, prompt our thinking about,

well, yeah,

well, I could do that, you know, I could be the person that could go check on, Hey, can I get you a water?

You know, unless you're looking a little, maybe a little pale for the recovery or to get a nurse to go over and check on them or whatever that is.

So those are all the things that we're looking to do.

And it's just, again, I think it's simple, but it's something that really kind of gets

often overlooked.

And we are, I mean, we're busy.

Everybody's busy.

I look at our calendar and I'm going, it's supposed to be summer.

We're off from school for the summer.

And it's like, what are we doing?

Well, we can't do it this day or this day that, you know, we just, because we're busy folks.

And that's a lot of folks.

Everyone has so many things going on.

And so, but just to carve out a little bit of that time to help out, that's great.

We want to be able to do that.

so yeah

that's our aim definitely and it sounds like it's going well and speaking of financial once in a while it's kind of good to get a little fundraiser and get some and you've got something coming up here real soon

yeah july 25th um we're doing a beanbag tournament um at the community center uh the registration is from three to four and i'll cover this again later or whatever but registration from three to four and then we start throwing bags at 430 uh and this all kind of came about with uh my brother-in-law uh shelly's brother josh

He and Ryan were actually in a beanbag team together down at Sportsman's and so I don't know some folks might have seen our videos coming out that we put on Facebook and Instagram or whatever And that's why we started that original one down at Sportsman's.

I was referencing honkers, but I was kind of talking about honker there And so that he would

Ryan and Josh had the team.

And so, you know, that was something that Ryan enjoyed was throwing bags.

And so we're like, okay, we had the, uh, in February, we had the trivia night.

And I can't even remember if it was that night or right after that or something like that.

Josh, uh, starts thinking about, I wonder if we could do a bean bag tournament in the summer or something like, you know, just kind of do another fundraiser type of thing.

And I was all about it and Shelly was on board with it and the girls were on board with it.

And so I thought, okay, well, we'll kind of revisit it and just kind of see where this gets to.

And, um,

So then we started kind of, you know, putting our heads together and we said, yeah, we could make this happen.

And so I reached out to the community center and asked Jody, I'm like, Hey, what do you guys have available?

Looked on the calendar for a Saturday in the summer, like, well, we have July 25th and that's the old and I said, we're going to book it like let's do it.

So we booked the community center because you never know what the weather is going to be.

So having the event indoors really cool.

So we're going to have 20, 20 boards.

20 sets of boards set up.

So that's enough for 40 teams.

That's enough for 80 people to be throwing bags, which I'm like, that's amazing.

If we can get 80 people there to throw bags or more, even if there's, you know, we have to have a secondary bracket or I don't know what however this is going to work.

It's our first time doing it.

Um, but if we can get people together for a great cause, uh, to donate some money, uh, for us through Ryan's route to kind of help out these other things that we're doing, that's what we're looking for.

Um, and so, uh,

I know honker at Sportsman's has been kind of supportive of us He's gotten us some swag and whatnot and we're gonna help kind of put together some packages for like first second and third place winners It is for fun if you're very very very competitive.

I Just just kind of let you know it is a fun event Try your best obviously But it's just kind of one of those things where it's a it's a fun family friendly kind of event that we can get together people from

All walks of life who love to throw bags.

I mean, that's not just a one type of person, right?

Everyone that loves to throw bags is just out there to throw bags.

And so we thought we would kind of put that and open that up to people.

Um, come on out and, and, you know, have a good time.

It's just, that's what it's about.

It's about fun.

getting together with people, laughing, you know, if you win the game, great.

If you don't, I mean, that's okay too.

So there's some other things that go along with that as well.

I mean, we've got a meal that we're going to be serving there too.

So it's, it's, I think it's kind of a neat cause and it's something that a lot of people can get behind.

So, and have fun with.

How do you find that many boards too?

Well, did you have to go out searching?

Well, that's the thing about.

When we were talking about doing this, uh, it's a good question to ask.

So my brother-in-law has put on tournaments before.

And so he's like, well, I got some, I got some boards.

And I said, well, Josh, how many sets of boards do you use?

Well, I got about 12 sets of boards.

I'm like, well, that's a pretty good start.

But the other great thing was is that with him and Ryan also playing at Sportsman's, Honker was like, Hey, we've got eight sets of boards that will help donate for the for the event.

And we're like, Oh my gosh, that'd be amazing.

So that gets us to 20 sets of boards.

And I'm like, man, this that fills up.

That's a great night.

That's a lot of fun in one evening.

And that many people coming out to help support us.

So if it works, it works.

And we're really hoping that we get a bunch of people to show up

throwing bags.

As you mentioned, all ages, I mean, it could be a team.

Yes, eight and your partner could be 80 and It works out as

a matter of fact you talked about that and it's all ability levels too.

I was at a meeting

I'm just the other day in the morning and I saw Billy Jones there and I said, Hey, Billy.

I said, did you see the, he goes, yeah, he goes, you know, I'm having knee surgery.

I said, Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that.

He goes, you think I could throw from a wheelchair?

And I said,

probably

if you can, let's get you a team.

So,

um, I'm not sure if Billy's showing up or not on the 25th, but if he does, he's going to roll himself in and start throwing some bags.

But no, it is, it is kind of an all ages event.

Like, um, and one of the things that kind of speaking in the ages piece of that is that.

our focus for Ryan's route, kind of for the resources and the help that we want to provide, we're really kind of narrowing in on an age range for kind of the, you know, late teens, young adults, kind of the 16 to 25 year age range.

As our group has kind of come together and talked about things, we said, you know, that

That age range that about 10 years there's a lot of transitions that happen for kids for that time period I mean if you think about 16 years old, you know, you're gonna get your license if you think about 18 You know, you're looking at graduation Maybe college or maybe out to the workforce or and then what are the challenges that go with that?

You know when you quote-unquote become an adult at 18 legally there's a lot of different things that kind of occur and you know sometimes

Kids aren't always ready for that, or they're not always quite sure, OK, well, what do I do about this?

And so we kind of want to, through our organization, we really want to kind of focus to help.

And I guess I say kids, because I'm a little older than that.

But we really want to kind of help kids or young adults in that age range help navigate those things, those challenges that might come up.

And some of those challenges are, you know, just like stress of the job or stress of graduating or stress of, Hey, I got to go to college and I got to have a degree or, but do you really have to, you know, I mean, so some of those things, and that's where we just kind of want to be a resource.

We want to be able to either ourselves, our own organization, help them out with that.

Or if we don't have, you know, that thing to help you out with, maybe we can network with somebody else that can help you with that.

Because I mean life's tough.

There's a lot of there's a lot of challenges that happen out there And if you have somebody in your corner somebody that's able to support you or an organization that's able to support you You're probably gonna have a better outcome and so if we can be that organization We want to be that organization.

So the goal would be like somebody reaches out to you you could

be there to talk to them or send them somewhere else.

Get them in

a direction that

they need to go.

Something positive, something that I think a lot of kids feel stuck sometimes when they get into a situation that they haven't experienced or they don't know someone that has experienced this situation.

And to figure out, how do I navigate this?

What am I supposed to do next?

Or should I even know what to do next?

I think if they...

those kids and young adults have somebody to help get them through that, to guide them through that, to give them some direction or just some support.

Hey, I understand that this is tough.

What can I do to help you?

Um, if we can be that group and, and those kids and young adults can reach out to us and say, Hey, I am struggling with this or I do need a little help with this or I have no clue what I'm doing right now.

Can you guys have a direction of the, if we can be that we want to be that we want to help out.

We want to help people.

I mean,

That's just again, it's kind of, it seems so simple, but sometimes it can be hard.

And so if we can help folks, we want to help folks.

If you can look down the road, Mark, are there goals for Ryan's route that you'd like to see, like five years down the road?

I mean, would you like to have a place, an office or, you know, what are you thinking?

You know, I mean, I guess the pie in the sky thing is that Ryan's just becomes this organization that our family just is that like that just becomes what we are.

Are we there yet?

Oh, gosh, not even close.

Not even close.

I think we just kind of.

to be honest with you Phil I think right now we just kind of take it a step at a time you know what's what's our next thing in front of us we have and that's the other part that kind of actually

filters into what we're talking about for what we want to do for people.

We've got people that support us too, which is absolutely amazing.

I mean, some of the videos that have come out, we've talked about all these folks that are just like, Hey, we're doing this.

And I don't know how many people have reached out and hey, can I donate something?

Hey, can I help with this?

Hey, can I like, that's what this is about.

This is about community helping community, right?

And so that kind of gives us a

I don't know, it gives us like a little uplift, right?

We have actually have a sign in our front lawn that says we rise when we lift others up.

And that's, I think that's what our community does.

I look at these different events that have occurred and I'm thinking about like the Mike Stafford event that happened up at the orchard.

Oh my gosh, like we walked in there and I'm like, look at all these people here.

But they're there for a cause, right?

They're there to help people out.

And that gave me

When we walked in there, I saw Lisa and all the folks and all the donations for like that is what our community does.

We are able to pull together and do things like that.

And so that's so encouraging to see in a time where we hear a lot of negative that comes out, right?

There's a lot of, you know, complaining and there's a lot of arguing and there's a lot of bickering and, you know, you got to be this or this and two-sided stuff.

I don't know that it necessarily has to be that, you know, you can have different opinions about things.

Sure, everybody does.

But when it comes to a common cause, if you can help somebody out, if we're helping community, we should be able to help community and put those other things.

Whatever those things are, you can set those aside for trying to help you out.

Okay.

I might not agree with you on everything, but if you're looking for some help, I can help you.

You

know, it's all

right.

It's okay.

There are areas where we all can agree, you know, helping our youth.

I think everybody can agree on that.

I would 100% agree with that because it is such an acute need.

I

think,

you know, we've, you look at the statistics and all of those things and we just got done helping out.

That was actually one of the other things that we helped out with in April was the.

HHS had put on like a little community forum from the book, The Anxious Generation, and kind of just what the evidence and the data shows behind what is going on with our youth, our younger generation today, and it's a challenge for them.

They're growing up in a much different environment than you and I grew up in, right?

And because of that, it presents new challenges for them.

So if the people that are seeing those things and hearing about those things and learning about those things

can help that generation to be like, Hey, yeah, this is in front of you, or this is something that you might struggle with.

How can I help you with that struggle or with that challenge or I can walk alongside you or coach you or direct you or mentor you, whatever that is.

And I think it's a good thing if we can if we can do that and put those things aside that whatever, and are you going to get pushed back and is everybody going to jump up?

Oh, of course not.

That's life.

But if you can help one or two or three or four or hundreds of people, whatever it is.

that's where we kind of want to be at.

So your original question was asking about like a long-range five-year plan.

I don't know that we have one other than like, hey, this could be awesome as an organization to be able to be like a full-time thing that we can just do.

But I think we're just right now, we're just kind of taking it a step at a time, doing some of these fundraisers, doing these care-like Ryan days to just let the community know that, hey, if you have a need for something and we can help, hey, let's give you a hand.

I know you've been helping in a lot of things that, you know, maybe fly into the radar a little bit.

You know, obviously you don't do it for the recognition.

No,

no, it's not.

And that's the whole thing.

I mean, I, and honestly, that was Ryan too.

Right.

When Ryan would help somebody, it wasn't like, Hey, look at me.

I'm helping you.

He just helped people to help people.

Um, I'm hoping that it was us, Shelley and I, that kind of, you know, instilled that in him.

Um, he had a great.

I, he had great role models too, to be able to help out with that.

So having those things kind of come together and, and define a part of who he was, right?

Um, and so for us to be able to do that then too, and to not gain a lot of recognition for that, um, the thing, I, it kind of grows organically, right?

We just put out, uh, I think it was early last week about 500 Facebook followers now.

And it's, it's more than that now, but like,

We never thought that that was going to be the thing.

We just, again, it's, we just want to help.

And so, um, if people are there and recognizing those things to be like, Hey, this is something that, or some people that I could reach out to that I'm, I'm having a hard time with this.

They might be able to help me out.

Great.

That's, and if that word gets out and that word spreads and spreads further and spreads further, then wonderful.

I mean, right now we are kind of a Richland center, Richland County ish area focus.

well that could go southwest wisconsin it could go the state of wisconsin could go nash i have no idea where this is going to end up um but if if it's if it ends up helping more people then that's the goal that's the end goal of the whole thing

That's the key.

You're still gonna do a trivia night and some other things planned this

year.

I mean the the trivia thing in February That's gonna be a that's gonna be an annual thing.

I don't think we're I think we're shying away from that at all It was oh my gosh, what an outpouring that evening to it That's like those memories are still fresh in my mind about all the people that were there We got to get more tables out because there's more teams like that's just that's amazing That's so cool.

And so we're we're really excited about that and and to be able to run that as an annual thing

is awesome.

Some of these other events that we've been helping out with, we already talked to Mick and just said, hey, next year, put us on the books where we'll be there to help you.

For the blood drive, I'm talking about whenever they're, because it's every other month that they're doing their blood drives.

Hey, let's we'll put some post out for you or something just to kind of get more awareness out there.

So all of those things are things that we want to help with.

Just recently with the Aquatic Center was kind of partnering with Monica Renish and Brittany Mer with for Cole Muth.

And we kind of just asked, hey, can we do a promo video for this?

We want to let more people know that this is going on.

And they were like, absolutely.

So talk to Lizzie Forehand now it's out in front of the pool and

then we had the event there that night and Monica and Brittany were there and so like if we can do that and that helps people and in this case helping the Muth family by all means we want to be able to be that avenue um to to spread that awareness and to spread that help and get those get those folks the the assistance that they need and I think it turned out pretty darn well that night too so

It's

good.

I always say we're very fortunate.

I mean, and a lot of small communities are probably similar.

But you know, a lot of times the bigger towns, you don't even know your next door neighbor and you don't know that they're going through a cancer journey or what what they're going through here.

And then, you know, we're all in it together.

It seems like.

Yeah, it is one of those things.

I mean.

It is a unique thing.

You know some people complain about the small town stuff I mean there's pros and cons anywhere you like you're just talking about the big city Okay, there's all these opportunities But if you don't know your neighbor or you can't make that connection with those folks whereas in this area we have a very tight-knit community a very outgoing giving community and I think that's such a

for the people that are here, I think they recognize that blessing of how that can be such a help and assistance.

It's just it's it's almost like you get a little step up, right?

I mean if you kind of compare it to some other things you can you you can go to your neighbor and I can knock on Jen Hall's door She looks right next to me.

Jen.

Hey, can I get a little you know?

And she be like, oh, of course, you know where the girls would come over Gary and Michelle or right down there, you know, right down the road like I got Jim Hatfield across the street from me like I know who my neighbors are Judy Barnacles right down there like I know who they are and it's so awesome the Drazer across from us

That's invaluable.

You don't get that in every place that you go.

And so I think we're extremely fortunate to have that.

And the other part of that too is that they know us as well because you make those connections.

You foster those relationships.

And keep that going and make that spread.

Man, there's there's a lot of potential that could come along with that.

So you

bet.

Yeah, just that's where you make a difference.

Well, that's what we're trying to do in your own community.

Right.

So the event, uh, Ryan's route 25th on the 25th, the beanbag tournament.

Correct.

Do people pre-register for that?

Yeah.

So there's a couple of things to go along with that.

Actually, there's another piece to that too.

Um.

So I'll talk about the beanbag tournament first.

So the registration is from three to four if you have seen On Facebook that you know, you're gonna go and if you want to click on that link going that's awesome That kind of helps us get a little more

I guess closer on the numbers.

But you don't have to.

So that registration is open for that hour from three to four.

You can come as a team.

It is $10 per person, essentially.

But if you have a team of two, obviously 20 bucks.

But maybe you're just like, man, I don't know.

Maybe I'll get somebody or somebody bails on you last minute.

Show up there might be somebody else that's looking for another person to throw with so you can come on in anywhere between three and four Once that four o'clock time hits then we're gonna start making the brackets for who needs to play who and so on and so forth and Then around 4 3 we're gonna start throwing bags.

The other thing that's happening during that time is that we have

It's gotta be the cheapest meal in town, I think.

I don't know, we'll see.

We have pulled pork sandwiches.

We have mac and cheese.

We have chips.

We have a dessert provided by a couple of different providers, Christie Sunnyside and Mariah Green.

And then we also have waters or lemonade.

And the lemonade is, Lauren has kind of, she's taken on this thing where she's starting to do these mixes and matches.

And so she's going to be making custom lemonade.

There's a couple of different that you can choose from or whatever that can go along with the meal.

And all of that is $10.

And you can either come in, you don't even have to play bags to get the meal.

If you want to come in and play bags and you want to get something to eat,

Perfect.

You're there already.

Uh, if you want to just come down and get the meal and hang out there for a while and watch what's going on, you can do that too.

If you're like, Hey, I'm on the go, but I would like to get that.

We have to go containers.

You can, you can grab a meal or two or five or however many you want, get them in a to go container and take it home with you.

That's completely fine too.

So, um,

I've had the pork I've had the mac and cheese oh my gosh they're fantastic it's delicious oh we're gonna have some different barbecue sauces that you can keep with that too if you want to put barbecue on there the chips are kind of like the Doritos mix you know Lay's chips whatnot desserts Christy I think is making cookies and Mariah I believe is making brownies so you can maybe kind of figure out what you want for that water and then the different types of lemonade and $10

I don't know.

I've heard that phrase.

You can't afford not to.

Maybe you can't afford not to.

That's a cheap meal for the evening.

That's a good deal.

I thought if somebody wanted to throw 20 in for a meal, whatever, right?

Right.

I mean, it's completely up to you.

I mean, obviously, if you're like, hey, it's, you know, the meal is 10 bucks and you want to give a donation, well, that's amazing.

If you're willing to do that, that's perfect.

That's fantastic.

Well, we're going to put it to good use.

We gave out a couple of scholarships to the end of May, one at Weston, one at Erson Center.

Each of those was $1,000.

We're looking to continue that.

You know, each year we want to keep to

And if we can give either more scholarships or maybe even more in a higher amount, you know, if that grows into that, we want to do that too.

I mean, that again, that's the focus.

It's the youth that we want to try and help out.

So if this helps fund those scholarships moving forward, that's what it's all about.

Great.

Keep doing what you're doing.

It's very inspiring.

We're trying.

Yeah.

Good luck to you, Mark.

Thank you.

You bet.

Mark Chambers joining us.

The beanbag tournament coming up on the 25th, representing Ryan's route today.

Good to have Mark Chambers in the studio with us.

On this first part of the morning show today, we're talking about an upcoming fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network.

Marty and Sue Frut are in the studio to join us and talk a little bit about this upcoming event.

We say good morning to both of you.

Good morning.

Looks like your summer is doing you well.

Yep.

Little hot.

It's going well.

So I know that you guys have a great background in organizing events, vendors and craft fairs and Sue, you're looking at doing this for a good cause.

Yes.

We've been doing, we actually did the community center for about 13 years setting it up.

So when Walmart asked him to host one, he jumped in.

Volunteered you then?

Yes, he volunteered us and it seems like I'm doing more work than he is, but that's okay.

That's all right.

So Marty, when you saw this opportunity here, you knew a little bit about Children's Miracle Network having worked there, I'm guessing.

Yeah, it's a good cause.

It helps out a lot of kids and the more money we can make, the better off it is for them.

Walmart has been doing silent auctions and benefits at the cash registers where you could leave your extra change to help Children's Miracle Network.

And when I started working down there, I talked to Charlene Sailing and asked her

with us donating pieces I asked her if they ever considered having a craft show and she said that they had but they had no idea how to set one up.

So I basically, like my wife says, I basically volunteered her to help set up a craft show.

And it's going to be August 1st on the green, which is a grassy area just off the black top at Walmart and Richland Center.

And it'll run from 10 o'clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.

And for the vendors that set up, they can start setting up at 6.30.

And you've got kind of a network of vendors, I'm thinking, Sue, don't you?

Yes, we've contacted the old vendors from the shows we've run before.

And I'm getting a few new ones.

I would like to include the farmer's market people if they're interested.

And also anybody that's even a direct sales vendor could set up at this fair.

And so that's what you're looking for?

You're looking for people to sign up?

There's still room

for vendors,

it sounds like.

And our booths are 12 by 12.

And they're $50 a booth.

And we would really like to get in a lemonade person that does lemonade stands and a kettle corn person.

I do have some people in mind for that.

So hopefully I can, if I can't get ahold of them, someone else would like to give me a call.

That would be great.

What are some of the examples of some of the people that you know of that will be there?

I know I've been contacted with a Tupperware lady, which is fine.

I've also have someone that does a lot with doll clothes.

And I'm still waiting on some other vendors.

We have Kelly Addison, who does a lot of wind spinner type things.

And Sue Hefner does the dow clothes.

And so we're kind of hoping on our old standbys.

Linda Muller has not gone back to me yet, but she does crocheted items.

Valerie Muller, she does lots of facial things.

And we'd also like to get a face painter in there so the kids have something to do.

Something for kids, something for everyone.

You got a little food maybe?

And we have a food wagon coming, which is Cook's food wagon.

And so that will be helpful.

We're trying to get in a mini donut

truck too.

craft vendors, farmers market vendors, you know, retail sales and things like that.

So very good.

So you're, you've been involved in this a little bit.

I think Walmart has done a few things in the past where they've done like silent auction items too.

Haven't

they?

Yeah.

Yeah.

A couple of times a year, they asked for donations from the people that worked there.

The problem with that is as far as I can tell, it's only opened up.

to the workers at Walmart.

I don't think that the customers have a chance to bid on this stuff that we put out.

Um, it does make pretty good money when, whenever they do do a silent auction, but it would just be nice to be able to get the public more involved in this aspect at Walmart.

So everybody can be involved, workers and visitors to the store and everything.

So.

Yeah.

And you'll have tents up, I'm guessing, for all the vendors.

Well, they, they're responsible for their own tents and their own tables.

There's no electricity available, but we do own a generator for ourselves.

And if they need electricity and they have a generator, there's no problem with them bringing it.

Other than that, I mean, set up your tent, set up your table, put out your wares and wait to sell.

Have you had contact with the folks from Children's Miracle Network

too?

I've had contact with Abby Ryan and she's been very good about keeping in touch with me She's very excited.

She's planning on coming down here that day as far as I know And she's been with the agency I think for a couple years She's gotten a few awards for being part of the Children's Miracle Network staff and

So she's the only one though that I've had contact with with the children's Miracle Network.

They're excited for the opportunity and

the

fundraiser here at Ritzel Center.

And it'll be great and Abby is a lot of fun.

She is a very personable person and she'd be a great addition to the show.

Wonderful.

So you're you're looking at getting the word out there.

You can put some things out on social media and trying to jump

Yes, I've been on Facebook and I've been doing a lot of talking We've been going to farmers markets and handing out flyers.

I've sent out about probably 60 flyers to different vendors So we're hoping because of the Walmart crowd people see the tents and see all the things up.

They're gonna they're gonna stop and

see what's going on.

Good location.

I can't recall if they've done anything like this before, have they Marty?

The closest thing that they have done would be the Easter egg hunt that they had for kids.

Deanna I was talking to her and she said the first year it was kind of slow.

They didn't have a lot of kids But the second year and it's like anything when you start out with something normally your first year is not going to be like what your last year is so The Easter egg hunt now is a pretty big thing at Walmart and and I mean they have the Easter Bunny and stuff like that But that's the only other than a food wagon that they bring in maybe two or three

times a year.

That's the only event I could think of.

Will there be opportunities for people to just come in and donate if they'd like to do that

too?

We'll set up a donation.

Probably something to donate there for people and we're going to put up a few things.

I don't know if we're going to do a silent auction on them like Americana things.

We have planters and bird houses and

Don't forget your eagle.

Uncle Sam's and I've also done a life-size eagle that we're going to either donate or put on a silent auction for this event and any of the vendors or crafters want to bring something and donate there more than welcome to.

At

their own booth.

At

their own booth or

it will have a separate table and have somebody man that too.

Describe the eagle that you're going to have in there.

The eagle that I've done is out of two by ten and he

like a sitting eagle so if you put him on a post or if you put him on a birch plan or type thing he looks really great we sold one last weekend and he is done just like an eagle right to the specifications so kind of excited about that first one went pretty good so hopefully the second one goes better

how long did it take you to make that

the eagle took me a couple days

because I didn't really know what I was doing.

So yeah, so it takes a couple days, but I try to do mass production in our crafts.

So when I cut out something, I cut a lot of that thing out and then paint all that up.

And I can get ready for a show in a week with probably 100 pizzas.

That

was

before she went back to work,

though.

So you're doing this in your spare time.

I'm doing this in my spare time.

That's awesome.

I think when you talk about the subject of kids and children in need, Marty, this kind of tugs at the heartstrings a little bit, doesn't it?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I can remember back years and years and years ago, taking the kids with us to the craft shows, and they always got to kick out of that.

And, you know, she'd have when they got

little bigger.

She'd have him help paint the base paint and stuff like that on our pieces, which it's a family thing.

And it keeps families closer together when they're doing things like this.

And to touch on what she was talking about our donations, we're doing it in the patriotic

background, we're going to have a patriotic birdhouse, a patriotic flower planner, and an Uncle Sam.

And then we're the four pieces along with the eagle that we're going to donate for a silent auction or however they decide to do it.

And I'd like to tell anybody out there in the business world, if you want to donate something for this, get ahold of my wife, her phone number is 608-604-4804.

And donate to it again.

It's August 1st

August 1st

coming up.

We're calling it the dog days of summer

Dog days of summer craft fair

and hopefully it's not 103

I think we've got a good chance it'll be cooler.

I mean, anything is cooler than yesterday, right?

That's right.

So, but it's going to be hell rain or shine then.

So yes.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm trying to get my grandson involved a little bit in it.

He is in Wanaki.

He has his own business and he makes tables and cutting boards.

So I'm trying to beg for some cutting boards from him because they're pretty cool.

So he kind of followed in our footsteps.

So it sounds like more to come and people just need to stop by and be surprised

and see what's there.

Cause I'm sure there's going to be a lot of unique things there.

Yeah.

Awesome.

And you just kind of put the word out there for vendors and for people alike to visit this morning.

Yes.

Good deal.

Well, we appreciate you guys coming in today.

Thank you, Phil.

I appreciate being

here.

Good luck with your event.

Dog days of summer vendor market.

It's at Walmart parking lot on August 1st on the green original center.

Anything you'd like to add that I didn't ask you this morning.

Nothing I can think of.

We did inherit or ask Pepsi if they would help us with a big banner and they were good enough that they made a banner for us.

So we've got that sitting in the green on two fence posts.

So if somebody wants to see

that it's right in the entryway to Walmart's parking lot.

Okay.

And that kind of signals where the event's going to be as well then.

So very good.

We'll keep promoting it.

Thanks for coming in today, you guys.

Thank you so

much.

And thanks for stepping ahead and doing this benefit for the Children's Miracle Network.

The morning show continues in just a moment.

Our morning show continues and WRCO again, thanks to Sue and Marty for being our guests and the first part talking about their upcoming vendor fair.

And we thought we dovetail that in a little bit and talk a little bit about Children's Miracle Network and joining us is CMN specialist, Abby Ryan, who joins us by phone today.

Abby, thanks for agreeing to be on the program.

Absolutely.

Thanks for having me.

Tell us about Children's Miracle Network because a lot of us have donated or we've seen your signs and things like that and we'd like to learn a little bit more about it if we could.

Absolutely.

So Children's Miracle Network is a national organization and it was started in 1983 and there are different territories and we are considered the La Crosse Eau Claire Market.

We service 25 different regions, Richland Center, Vernon County, all of those are in our region.

We are housed at Amplify Health by Gunderson and we have been in existence since 1986.

And since we are a nonprofit organization, we're able to help families with kiddos who are currently on medical journeys.

Sometimes kiddos might go to the hospital and they might have a full day of appointments and we're able to provide things like

meal vouchers or gas cards, whereas a family may have a prolonged stay within the hospital, whether they're going through chemotherapy or a long illness.

We are able to provide palliative care.

We sometimes provide hospice care.

We also provide adaptive equipment.

We help with diabetic equipment and supplies.

We just have a multitude of things that we do and we treat every child

regardless of the diagnosis.

So we are a nonprofit organization and Richland Center has been a huge supporter of ours in the past.

And I know you were talking with Sue and Marty, right?

Yes.

And so they are such a huge supporter because Richland Center is in our territory.

Any family is able to apply for a grant if their kiddo is experiencing any medical hardships or journeys.

And that can be found on our website.

But in the Richland Center area, we have many, many local businesses that really support Children's Miracle Network, and one of them being the Walmart in Richland Center.

They just wrapped up their four-week campaign for Children's Miracle Network, and if anybody was in the store, you may have seen it.

When you checked out, you had the opportunity to donate a little bit or round up at the register.

They also have associate fundraisers that they do in terms of like you may have seen they have these amazing walking balloons for sale and Sue and Marty have come up and they have said we're going to do a vendor fair on August 1st and funds from that are going to be given to Children's Miracle Network.

Now people kind of think outside the box with events like this it's got to be really rewarding for you isn't

it?

Absolutely we've got things like

golf tournaments, classic car shows, vendor fairs, cookouts, anything that people can think of to raise money for Children's Miracle Network.

We like to be there, we like to support it.

I will be there on August 1st, um, cheering everybody on, and um, fun little fact, Sue and I have known each other for a couple of years now.

I met her with her crafting.

And when then she owned a business in town and during COVID, I would drive from La Crosse to Ritchell Center with my mom specifically to go to Sue's store and to shop and to see her.

And so for her to come back and say that she wants to do a vendor fair in support,

of Children's Miracle Network.

It's really an amazing full circle moment.

Yeah, that definitely is.

Before we went on the air, you were describing hero families, and we had a hero family not too far from Richland Center, didn't we?

Yes, we do.

We have kiddos each year.

We like to choose five families who have experienced some sort of a medical diagnosis that Children's Miracle Network has been able to help support them.

And we have had, in the last two years, two kiddos from the Verroca area.

Last year, we chose Liam Schott as one of our CMN Hero families.

And this year, from Verroca, we have Sawyer Clements.

So just to help skip and to jump away from Richelon Center.

And we have so many kiddos that receive grants over the course of the year 2025.

We had over 530 families that we were able to support with grants in our region.

So we're very proud to be able to say that a lot of those funds go directly back to families.

And the funds that we raise stay 100% locally.

And these grants are various sizes?

How much can people apply for generally, Abby?

Generally, it depends on what they're applying for.

Adaptive equipment, they can apply for about $3,000 or less.

Every little bit helps, especially when you have an unexpected medical expense.

We had a little child who was waiting to get some special nutrient drinks.

She was going through cancer treatments and we needed to get them to her as a fast turnaround.

And sometimes it can be as simple as like $120 Amazon request that we needed to get her some nutritional drinks.

Or it can be adaptive equipment, like our CMN hero, Sawyer Clements, from the Verrocco area.

Sawyer is really, really into sled hockey or ice hockey.

And we were able to get him some adaptive equipment so he could play with his teammates.

So just an entire plethora of things that people can apply for.

It's good to know because I think we've all seen the signs and we know about Children's Miracle Network, but it's good to shed a little light on what you actually do and where the funds go, Abby.

Yes, and you know, a little known one is kiddos who are able to go to specific medical camps.

We have a little tyke in Melrose, Wisconsin who has diabetes and we were able to send him to diabetes camp this month.

And he was so excited for it.

He was like, I get to be around kids who have the same thing as me.

And they understand what I'm going through.

We've had another little tyke recently who was able to go to a camp for kiddos suffering with cancer in Colorado.

And so we are able to support those wonderful endeavors as well, because those things can be costly and we want to be able to support families in our area.

So events like the one Marty and Sue are organizing on August 1st are very important.

I understand that you're going to be here that day as well.

It sounds

like.

Yes.

Yes.

I will be doing my best shopping.

I am a crafter.

I love to shop at craft fairs, vendor fairs.

I love to see what all the local people have to offer.

It is incredible.

The generosity and the creativity of people who participate with vendor fairs.

So I get really, really excited to see what that I can purchase to bring home to my own home.

And also knowing that when I purchase something at the vendor fair, it's going to a great cause for Children's Miracle Network.

Thanks for joining us today.

We really appreciate it, Abby.

Absolutely.

Thanks for having me on.

Abby, Ryan, CMM specialist with Children's Miracle Network.

Again, the dog days of summer vendor market invite coming up August 1st, 10 until four at Walmart parking lot on the green.

This is the morning show.

On this first part of the morning show today, we're talking about an upcoming fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network.

Marty and Sue Frute are in the studio to join us and talk a little bit about this upcoming event.

We say good morning to both of you.

Good morning.

Looks like your summer is doing you well.

Yep.

So I know that you guys have a great background in organizing events vendors and craft fairs and sue year You're looking at doing this for a good cause.

Yes We've been doing We actually did the community center for about 13 years setting it up.

So when Walmart asked him to host one He jumped in

Volunteered you then

yes, he volunteered us and it seems like

I'm doing more work than he is, but that's okay.

That's all right.

So Marty, when you saw this opportunity here, you knew a little bit about Children's Miracle Network having worked there, I'm guessing.

Yeah, it's a good cause.

It helps out a lot of kids and the more money we can make, the better off it is for them.

Walmart has been doing silent auctions and benefits at the cash registers where you could leave your extra change to help Children's Miracle Network.

And when I started working down there, I talked to Charlene Sailing and asked her

with us donating pieces I asked her if they ever considered having a craft show and she said that they had but they had no idea how to set one up.

So I basically, like my wife says, I basically volunteered her to help set up a craft show.

And it's going to be August 1st on the green, which is a grassy area just off the black top at Walmart and Richland Center.

And it'll run from 10 o'clock in the morning until four in the afternoon.

And for the vendors that set up, they can start setting up at 6 30.

And you've got kind of a network of vendors, I'm thinking, Sue, don't you?

Yes, we've contacted the old vendors from the shows we've run before and I'm getting a few new ones.

I would like to include the farmers market people if they're interested and also anybody that's even a direct sales vendor could set up at this fair.

And so that's what you're looking for.

You're looking for people to sign up.

There's still room for

vendors,

it sounds like.

And our booths are 12 by 12 and they're $50 a booth.

And we would really like to get in a lemonade person that does lemonade stands and a kettle corn person.

I do have some people in mind for that.

So hopefully I can, if I can't get ahold of them, someone else would like to give me a call.

That would be great.

What are some of the examples of some of the people that you know of that will be there?

I know I've been contacted with a Tupperware lady, which is fine.

I've also have someone that does a lot with doll clothes.

And I'm still waiting on some other vendors.

We have Kelly Addison, who does a lot of wind spinner type things.

And Sue Hefner does the dow clothes.

And so we're kind of hoping on our old standbys.

Linda Muller has not gone back to me yet, but she does crocheted items.

Valerie Muller, she does lots of facial things.

And we'd also like to get a face painter in there.

So the kids have something to do.

Something for kids, something for everyone.

You got a little food maybe?

And we have a food wagon coming, which is cooked food wagon.

And so that will be helpful.

We're trying to get in a mini donut

truck too.

So craft vendors, farmers market vendors, retail sales and things like that.

Very good.

So you've been involved in this a little bit.

I think Walmart has done a few things in the past where they've done silent auction items too, haven't

they?

Yeah.

A couple times a year, they ask for donations from the people that work there.

The problem with that is, as far as I can tell, it's only opened up to the workers at Walmart.

I don't think that the customers have a chance to bid on this stuff that we put out.

Um, it does make pretty good money when, whenever they do do a silent auction, but it would just be nice to be able to get the public more involved in this aspect at Walmart.

So everybody can be involved, workers and visitors to the store and everything.

So yeah.

And you'll have tense up, I'm guessing for all the vendors.

Well, they,

they're responsible for their own tents and their own.

tables.

There's no electricity available, but we do own a generator for ourselves.

And if they need electricity and they have a generator, there's no problem with them bringing it.

Other than that, I mean, set up your tent, set up your table, put out your wares and wait to sell.

Have you had contact with the folks from Children's Miracle Network

too?

I've had contact with Abby Ryan and she's been very good about keeping in touch with me.

She's very excited.

She's planning on coming down here that day as far as I know.

And she's been with the agency I think for a couple years.

She's gotten a few awards for being part of the Children's Miracle Network staff and

So she's the only one though that I've had contact with with the children's Miracle Network.

They're excited for the opportunity and

the

fundraiser here at Ritzel Center.

And it'll be great and Abby is a lot of fun.

She is a very personable person and

should be a great addition to the show.

Wonderful.

So you're, you're looking at getting the word out there.

You can put some things out on social media and trying to jump.

Yes.

I've been on Facebook and I've been doing a lot of talking.

We've been going to farmers markets and handing out flyers.

I've sent out about probably 60 flyers to different vendors.

So we're hoping because of the Walmart crowd, people see the tents and see all the things up.

They're going to, they're going to stop and see what's going on.

Yeah.

Good location.

I can't recall if they've done anything like this before, have they, Marty?

The closest

thing that they have done would be the Easter egg hunt that they had for kids.

Deanna I was talking to her and she said the first year it was kind of slow.

They didn't have a lot of kids But the second year and it's like anything when you start out with something normally your first year is not going to be like what your last year is so The Easter egg hunt now is a pretty big thing at Walmart and and I mean they have the Easter Bunny and stuff like that But that's the only other than a food wagon that they bring in maybe two or three

times a year.

That's the only event I could

think of.

Will there be opportunities for people to just come in and donate if they'd like to do that

too?

We'll set up a donation.

Probably something to donate there for people and we're going to put up a few things.

I don't know if we're going to do a silent auction on them like Americana things.

We have planters and bird houses and

Don't forget your eagle.

Uncle Sam's.

And I've also done a life-size eagle that we're going to either donate or put on a silent auction for this event.

And if any of the vendors or crafters want to bring something and donate there, more than welcome to.

At

their own booth.

At their own booth.

Or

we'll have a separate table and have somebody man that too.

Describe the eagle that you're going to have in there.

The eagle that I've done is out of two by ten.

and he is like a sitting eagle.

So if you put him on a post or if you put him on a birch plan or type thing, he looks really great.

We sold one last weekend and he is done just like an eagle right to the specifications.

So kind of excited about that.

First one went pretty good so hopefully the second one goes better.

How long did it take you to make

that?

The eagle took me a couple days.

because I didn't really know what I was doing.

So yeah, so it takes a couple days, but I try to do mass production in our crafts.

So when I cut out something, I cut a lot of that thing out and then paint all that up.

And I can get ready for a show in a week with probably 100 pieces.

That was

before she went back to work,

though.

So you're doing this in your spare time.

I'm doing this in my spare time.

That's awesome.

I think when you talk about the subject of kids and children in need, Marty, this kind of tugs at the heartstrings a little bit, doesn't it?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I can remember back years and years and years ago, taking the kids with us to the craft shows, and they always got a kick out of that.

And, you know, she'd have when they got

little bigger.

She'd have him help paint the base paint and stuff like that on our pieces, which it's a family thing.

And it keeps families closer together when they're doing things like this.

And to touch on what she was talking about our donations, we're doing it in the patriotic

background, we're going to have a patriotic birdhouse, a patriotic flower planner, and an Uncle Sam.

And then we're the four pieces along with the eagle that we're going to donate for a silent auction or however they decide to do it.

And I'd like to tell anybody out there in the business world, if you want to donate something for this, get a hold of my wife, her phone number is 608-604-4804.

And donate to it again.

It's August 1st

August 1st

coming

up.

We're calling it the dog days of summer

Dog days of summer craft fair

Perfect.

And hopefully it's not a hundred and

three.

I think we've got a good chance it'll be cooler.

I mean, anything is cooler than yesterday, right?

That's

right.

So, but it's going to be hell rain or shine then.

So yes.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm trying to get my grandson involved a little bit in it.

He is in Wanaki.

He has his own business and he makes tables and cutting boards.

So I'm trying to beg for some cutting boards from him because they're

pretty cool.

So he kind of followed in our footsteps.

So it sounds like more to come and people just need to stop by and be surprised

and see what's there because I'm sure there's going to be a lot of unique things there.

Yeah, awesome.

And you just kind of put the word out there for vendors and for people alike to visit this movie.

Yes.

Good deal.

Well, we appreciate you guys coming in today.

Thank you, Phil.

I appreciate being

here.

Good luck with your event.

Dog Days of Summer Vendor Market.

It's at Walmart parking lot on August 1st on the green at Richland Center.

Anything you'd like to add that I didn't ask you this morning?

Nothing I can think of.

We did inherit or ask Pepsi if they would help us with a big banner.

And they were good enough that they

made a banner for us.

So we've got that sitting in the green on two fence posts.

If somebody wants to see that, it's right in the entryway to Walmart's parking lot.

Okay.

And that kind of signals where the events going to be as well then.

So very good.

We'll keep promoting it.

Thanks for coming in today, you guys.

Thank you so

much.