And now the 419 with Gretchen de Bakker might kill.

And Kevin Mullin from.

Welcome to the 419, powered by wget and presented by reach for a Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin Mullen.

Gretchen de Bakker might kill them.

In the assembly.

Right.

Grumpy again?

No, no.

We wrote tire some.

It's going well.

Okay, I'm.

I am tires, and that's what we're doing.

All right.

Hey, it's, Wellness Wednesday.

It is presented by work spring.

We got an exciting show jam packed with three fantastic guests.

We're going to have Dave Tippett on the program.

Dave is, also on the board with Nami.

And so we'll talk about, some of the great work that they're doing, and they've got their Nami work coming up, later this month.

At Glass City Metro Park.

Is going to be great.

Yeah, we'll talk about that first.

And then Jeff Schaaf from the Chamber and then Nick Cummins, Toledo City Council person.

So excited to have them on the program.

Really excited.

I don't know if you guys have this a is the spring.

So I'm starting to find, I live amongst cats.

So it is this is murdering season.

Which is shocking to me.

Yeah.

Because, like, you don't strike me as an animal person.

No, I'm not.

And then I feel like every, every week you acknowledge another animal.

Not just some other animal he's brought into the home.

Next is going to be hamsters.

You're going have guinea pigs.

By the.

Cats.

I take care of that.

Yeah.

That's, Yeah.

No, you're both you're you're saying.

Let's see right on both ends.

I'm not a pet person.

You have.

A dog.

But they are.

We are just lying about two by two.

But you do love the people around you.

So thanks to the creatures that we're bringing in.

But my point is that they.

Of the cats, I believe, at least I hope it's the cats.

And that my children are on just a murderous rampage with their carcasses all over the place.

Birds, birds, mice.

I think they're mice.

One of the kids from down the street just sprawled out on it.

Is that like the slower moving kids?

Yeah.

Yeah, that might be one.

That may be.

Might be your child.

Are you sure these are cats?

Yeah.

I don't know what it is.

But it is a dire time.

Yeah.

Creatures.

So these are in and outside cats.

In and outside cats.

And.

Maybe you could just make them outside.

Outside cats?

Like, maybe you just put them down.

Danny had a cat growing up that would go on its murders rampage, but then would bring it to the back door to show off like.

It's a gift.

Yeah, it's like, look what I did for you.

This tribute.

You feed me all the time.

Now I'm feeding you guys.

I've been on the afternoon.

I got you a little something.

Now they're going to be coming back.

I'd be like, great.

Yeah, yeah.

I need, like, a Jesus name is, covered in blood.

Yeah.

Murder the check out kid.

But not a blue jay.

You're going to work.

A Blue Jays and.

Yeah, but, man.

It's really difficult for me.

The girls, I can always tell it is a Kurd.

There's a different.

Is there.

Screaming.

Scream?

Yeah.

I mean, that's.

Pretty consistent in my house, too.

Yeah, but it's a little different when they come across the kids.

We're, home alone.

So, you know, Juliet's watching the boys, and I get a text that says there is a dead bird in the yard.

What do I do with it?

Yeah.

And I was like, well, there's a shovel here.

Yeah.

And she's like, I'm going to get a bucket.

And I'm like, sure, you can pick it up in a bucket.

I come home and there's a bucket upside down.

On top of it.

And I was just I was like, that's smart.

I just don't want to see it again.

Yeah.

There's like buckets all over your backyard.

It needs more buckets.

Okay.

That's exactly right.

All right.

Let's take a break.

When we come back, we'll, talk about less buckets and less dead animals.

Yeah.

Dave is completely from this traumatic experience.

I don't know all of his capabilities.

Yeah, I'm gonna need some unwinding here.

Goodness gracious.

All right, we're gonna take a break.

When we come back, Dave Tippett will join us here on the 419.

Support for the 419 comes from We Row Wealth Management, where we understand that your financial path is personal.

Advisory services are offered through Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra and SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com.

The 419, powered by GT is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.

Welcome back into the 419 powered by GT.

It's Wellness Wednesday, presented by our friends at Work Spring, and we're joined now by Dave Tippett.

Dave, you worked in HR?

Yeah, and worked with the employers association now works spring, right?

For a number of years.

But I understand that you also, have what I believe would be referred to as a cloud or or a glaring, which is a large amount of cats.

Now, I know what you're doing here.

No, no, no, no, I wasn't no no I wasn't.

Yeah.

I already knew that.

And I knew from the TV show Big Bang Theory.

I like it where Sheldon acquired a large number of cats and referred to them as a clutter or a glare.

Yes.

What do you.

Prefer?

One of the two?

Not really.

We just say, Yeah, it was just I. It's our little family.

It's our fur children.

Right.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, yeah, it's it's just getting.

Worse for media.

Well, we're we live out in the country.

So we had some we had some strays.

And then we brought one cat in.

We didn't realize she was pregnant.

And one day we said oh she's getting a little heavy.

Yeah.

And all of a sudden she had some babies.

So are they all inside cats or they're less.

Well one is one is an indoor outdoor okay.

Yeah.

Because if you live in the country you can't have what I think people refer to as barn cats.

Yeah.

One of the most dangerous creatures.

Oh.

Yeah.

They are killing me.

And who decides who's going in or out like the one comes in and out does?

Did the rest of them or.

No, the other ones.

The other ones say, go ahead, have fun.

Yeah.

So I'm going to I'm just we're going to stay in here and get fed 24/7.

Right.

And get our.

Water is so true.

Yeah, yeah.

You just have the buffet, you know, and just, you know, use.

It on adventure.

We had we had a cat that was a stray that we brought in.

And then when we and it was an indoor cat, loved being an indoor cat.

When we moved to Old Orchard, it decided that it was going to be an indoor outdoor cat, and it would only come home to go to the bathroom.

And it was right back out the door.

It's like you could do that outside.

Yeah.

Yeah, right.

I actually prefer you didn't see someone else do.

I don't think I should be alone.

So then.

Please save us.

You can tell.

Obviously, you're listening a little to this segment.

Hopefully you've listened to the show before that we've got.

We struggle from some real mental health issues.

Well let's see.

I'm glad I'm.

Here.

Yeah.

You could be here fast enough.

Talk to us a little bit about your career.

And is Kevin sort of teed up?

And we'll work our way into.

Not me, but tell us the mental state of things and how you're in position to talk to you.

Sure.

That's fine.

I appreciate the opportunity very much.

So, over the years, I am a person, what they call with lived experience.

So I have a spouse who is a person with mental, with, with bipolar.

So, during our relationship for over the years, there was some, you know, inability to hold a job, deep depression, a couple of hospitalizations.

So as a family member, it was it was it was a tough, tough time to navigate, honestly.

And so but through great meds, through a great psychiatrist, through treatments and her willingness to you know, get into therapy and work with me as a partner.

We're in a very good place right now.

Yeah.

But during that journey, Nami actually has stepped up.

There's an affiliate in the Fremont area that I, connected with during part of our journey.

That helped me in some immense ways.

Basically was, okay, here's because I was like, I don't know how to how do I do this?

I don't want to say the wrong things.

I want to, but we're trying to navigate treatment options, trying to find the right doctor.

And you yourself also deserve to live a life you.

Exactly just try and and what my role was as the spouse and just, you know, that's a sometimes a difficult role.

So what now we provided at the time was, you know, basically saying, you've got this, you know, you are stronger than you think.

Here's some resources, here's some support groups.

And most importantly, they gave me hope.

You know, they said, hey, you're not alone in this.

You know, there's a lot of family members who are dealing with this kind of thing.

So that gave me a lot of hope.

So, once I retired, from the employers association and work spring, I just wanted to give back.

So I decided to volunteer for.

I'm, First of all, I'm a volunteer for the national helpline.

Now, me is a national helpline that volunteers serve on.

I can do it from home.

We have all the the technical stuff there.

I'm doing that for about three years.

And then I volunteer for.

I'm on the board of the Nami in Fremont, but I also have great knowledge of the Nami of Greater Toledo as well, where I also volunteer for, going forward.

So my family support.

I'm a fami There's a family support group, that I'm a volunteer for in the Wood County Nami and also in the Fremont as well.

Just to just to give back.

And because my heart is for families, sure.

Not only for people with mental illness, but their families as well.

On the helpline, we we get calls from family members who are in different parts of their journey.

Some are brand new.

What do we do?

I don't understand this house, what I'm supposed to do, and others who have been struggling for a long, long time and maybe at their their wits.

I wanted to ask if there's a common call, right?

If you find that you're getting, you know, one particular call or one particular request, or there's a certain area where there's just a need for more information or support just based on what you're hearing.

That's a great question.

A lot of it's emotional support.

They just want to know that they're not that this is not something that they're, you know, they're not alone in essence, again, and that there is there is hope on the other side.

And just some practical resources.

You know, we we need to find a therapist and maybe for a specific community, you know, depending on the person's background and experience, or how do I what what kind of support can I get as a caregiver?

Because people who are caregivers don't always know how important it is for them to get their own.

Going, help you.

I'm curious, in terms of the journey, as you've articulated eloquently, you know, this now has a name in your house.

Bipolar.

Yeah.

But I risk, making this deeply personal.

You talk a little bit about the beginning.

I don't know that bipolar had a name or there certainly probably wasn't as much going about it as there is today as we're sitting here, and certainly not in your own household would be my guest.

But, whether it's bipolar or, you know, the myriad of other things that people, work are battle against.

But what what is the early stages of your partnership in that communication?

Your journey together look like?

I think I think probably for, for our situation was the deep depression.

Sure.

And then sometimes as the as our journey continue, there was the high highs in the low lows.

Yes, sir.

You know, so on that that was manifested in different ways as well.

And so the journey, you know, was trying different medications.

Yes.

Trying different therapist, trying to navigate job loss.

Yeah.

And and how that affects the relationship as well.

So there's there's a lot to navigate in that as well.

How do you continue or how did you continue to I gue did you deserve better.

Meaning you can settle into almost anything.

I mean, as human beings, although fragile, we are resilient.

But, you know, the it sounds like your your partner in.

You just kept pushing to find more peace.

What is the how do you combat apathy or settling for.

Well, this is just how this is, I guess.

Yeah.

That must be difficult to say that you deserve more.

Yeah, well, I don't always use that that term deserve.

And I appreciate you saying that.

It's it's more of this is my role, you know, and this is what we've been handed so I can make some choices.

I could say I'm done.

I'm working away or, you know, let's let's see what we can do going forward.

We have a shared faith.

So that has helped us to stay strong.

But also starting to understand that, you know, my role wasn't necessarily to to be her therapist, which was to be her spouse, you know, to be that person.

And so there's a there's kind of some different roles there.

And to really then also understand that I've got to reach out and get support for myself.

So building a support network, friends, family members who get it, who are willing to come alongside and say, hey, you know, do you need a break?

You know, let's go out, get a cup of coffee or let's or here's a resource that maybe you didn't know about, share all those kind of things.

So I think it's just recognizing the role, and understanding that this is something that can happen and I don't have to do it on my own.

We're in win in this journey.

Did Nami come into the picture?

Yeah, it was probably within, probably maybe.

Gosh, we've been me 42 years.

So I think maybe for you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Yeah.

She's put up with a lot with me, so.

Yeah.

Yeah, I found this interview taxing.

And the.

Cats.

I know the cats, like.

Yeah, it's.

Yeah.

I forgot the question.

Where in.

Oh thank you.

You.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'd say about ten years ago.

Yeah.

So they, they, they kicked in and, and that's why I'm dedicated to this and I, and I love the fact that and, you know, Nami is this national organization and has 650 affiliates throughout the country and in northwest Ohio.

We're blessed to actually have four affiliates, Nami of Greater Toledo.

There's Nami northwest, which covers the eastern five counties.

There's a Nami in Bowling Green, covers Wood County, and then there's four County, which is out in the Archbold area.

Okay.

And all of them provide core services like support groups and advocacy.

I know the the greater Toledo has a great art program.

And, Family Navigator, but they answer calls.

They try to find resources.

I mean, housing is a huge issue.

So they have, you know, started to have housing, you know, resources as well.

And again, the emotional support channel.

That's how we.

What is the, some of these diseases have a later onset in life.

So when you if you have someone in your life that's starting to exhibit symptoms or signs, what would you suggest that if someone's listening to this, that they do.

Where where should they go.

First.

To try to get either a diagnosis or help or trying to figure out what's going on?

That's a. Great question.

So sometimes family docs can be helpful, you know, to go and say, hey, here's some things I'm concerned about.

Education, you know, like and I'll give nami.org is the nationals main website.

They have a mirai, myriad of information, of, you know, that exact question.

My I'm suspecting my loved one is starting to have a mental illness.

What do I do with that?

How to find therapists, how to find support groups.

All those kind of things are on there.

And then many times, like on the helpline will refer to the local affiliate.

So if someone calls and, you know, no matter where they are in the country, we can find it.

And if local affiliate to help them, you know, figure out what the local resources are, maybe support groups, where they can get, some.

Just some help.

You.

You have been married 42 years.

You are with the family, with the employees association and then work spring.

So you are sort of dialed into this?

Theoretically, yeah.

Although, it's always been difficult to be to bring the work that, you know, than home.

There's a there's a separation there.

I hate to use the word hack because it has such a negative thing, but are there anything that has been helpful from either routine standpoint, everyday things that over this long period of time that you've learned works or functions?

You mentioned your faith.

That is not to be blown by.

Right?

That is a shared purpose.

Right?

And a place that you can hand things over to which has an intrinsic value, have something to say the very least.

Yeah.

So again, I don't mean to use the word hack dismissively.

I mean, in terms of, yeah, I guess like scheduling or like life, things that serve you purpose are layups.

Yeah, I would say, you know, keeping in mind, just again, the self-care what have I what what's my plan today?

Am I going to eat.

Well I'm going to sleep well.

I'm going to have some social connections.

And then with the, with my person two with with my spouse.

It's just, you know, checking in.

How are you doing today?

What's going on?

And not being afraid to have the hard conversations either.

You know, if if things are chill.

To you having those.

It took a while.

It took a while for me as well.

It took a while.

I threw some my own counseling, in my own therapy that I went to just to learn to to actually gain some tools.

Yes.

Certain how to how to, to have those conversations and, you know, and if things are a little rocky or if I can see things are going south and again, we have the conversation, you know, we I, we taking her meds.

Yeah.

You know, are we, do we need to maybe see the doc before our regularly scheduled appointments?

Sure.

So those are the kind of things you get into a rhythm, you know.

And that's not it to blow by the fact that the person that that that has, the illness reputation also has to be committed to living a better life with you, right?

Yeah.

And I'm blessed, you know, because she is very been very willing to come along on that journey with me.

Yeah.

Which is awesome.

And I think and that's what I hear in the helpline sometimes from family members.

That's not always the case.

Sure.

Or the family member.

There's a there's actually it's a clinical designation.

It's called and it's a and a signature, which is a disease that where people feel like they don't have a problem.

Yeah.

I'm not sick.

I don't need help.

Sure.

And that's that's a real challenge for a family member who's trying to get the person to take their meds to stay on their meds.

I don't need meds, you.

Know, if you're a news buff, but we it that is a pervasive problem.

We have, in our nation's capital.

I'm just.

That's not to show.

I'm just joking.

We're talking with Dave Tippett, a volunteer with Nami, former Nami Toledo board member.

You've mentioned as a volunteer on the helpline.

A common call is for people is to know that they're not alone.

Right.

There's an opportunity coming up in a couple of weeks for people to know that they aren't alone.

Here in Toledo with the Nami walk, you talk a little bit about what that is.

Yeah, absolutely.

So now we have greater Toledo has their walk.

I believe it's on the 16th of May, downtown at the, Unit.

Thank you so much.

On the east side.

Right.

And you say it's beautiful.

These Nami walks are designed for a couple things there to, have people come and celebrate.

Either their their current life either with a mental illness or a family member, but also sometimes just to remember someone that they lost, probably to mild illness.

And so that you can come down.

You can register online at the Nami Greater Toledo website.

We look for donations to to support the no cost local programs and services that Nami provides, and it's a great gathering of community.

They're going to have some games for kids, they're going to have food, there's going to be a music and a great venue.

And then people actually do a walk.

So there's a of walk where people just go and walk together.

They'll have T-shirts, and very much volunteer supported as well.

So hopefully folks will come out and support.

It was always, when I attended this walk.

It's always amazing to see the families come together, to see the groups, to see the, the employee groups, right to see companies get together and walk in the teams.

But I was always amazed at it because there's still such a stigma around mental health.

Yeah.

But, you know, to see folks that I know, Right.

And I know what my own mental health journey was, you know, was I know why I was walking, but to be able to see other people and I don't know their story, but I but I now know, like, oh, I know you and we're in this together.

Exactly.

It's that community feel like we're all in this.

And you're right.

I love to see these families get together.

They'll have, you know, their own t shirts sometimes, you know, designating maybe their loss or who they're, you know, who they're supporting.

But you're right.

It's is that again that feeling like, okay, I'm not taking this journey by myself.

Yeah.

Well, before we sign off, we just have a few seconds left.

I'm gonna put you on the spot.

Dave Namer, six cats.

Wow.

Okay.

Tiger.

Shadow, squeaky fuzz.

Meh meh meh.

Oh, that looks made up for sure.

I know she's.

A sweetie, and I'm missing somebody.

Oh, my gosh, that's okay.

David, it's a pleasure to have, thank you so much for being here.

Absolutely.

Appreciate it so much, Dave.

We're gonna take a break when we come back.

Jeff Scharf with the Toledo Chamber of Commerce will join us here on the 419.

To me, community means connecting to others.

I'm Danny Miller, and welcome to the point.

I mean, yes, yes, we are a community committed to education.

Discover new ideas, dive into exciting subjects, and engage with the world around you.

I would send them.

Personally a T-shirt crime doesn't pay in the Old West.

Pass it on.

That's how we cleaned up the neighborhood.

Vision loss for people is not the end.

It's a story.

It's the next chapter.

The public media invites you to get out and play day.

Monday through Friday.

It's the 419 powered by W GTD with Matt Killam, Gretchen De Backer, I'm Kevin Mullen.

What can people expect on the show?

It's going to be an hour reminder of why this is a great place to live, work, and play.

Where you come to watch, listen and learn.

Welcome back into the 419 powered by GT.

We're joined now by our friend Jeff Scharf with the Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

You official title VP of talent strategy and signature event.

Yes, it might be the longest title in the history of the chamber.

Yeah, big business has.

It's got a lot.

Of time by.

11.

Yeah, yeah.

That's right.

Yeah.

Please download my comment.

So what are the signature events of the Toledo Chamber?

So, all of our events, our signature, our major events are would be our annual meeting, our focus on business lunch series.

That happens six times a year.

That's a great.

Series.

It is a great series.

You've been a guest, speaker at that for us before.

Thank you.

And then we also have our clambake, which is our big party in the summer, that has a seafood themed, dinner.

Great networking.

5 or 600 people.

No agenda.

Just show up, connect.

Have a great time.

It's a lot of fun.

It is, it is.

It is that that those throwing anything like that and organizing it, is really difficult.

But, but, Jeff, in a bit of a reveal here, you and I are friends.

It's the talent portion of it.

And your energy level, which I'll get you a second.

But talking about the summer programing and what the talent portion of your role is.

Sure.

So, Summer in the city is our other signature event that takes place throughout June and July.

But the element of talent strategy that I work on is attraction to the region.

So we have over 2000 members at the chamber.

And, my job is to help them sell the Toledo aspect when they are recruiting to the region.

So, it could be recruiting a new C-suite executive, and we might hop in the car for a couple of hours and drive around and talk about those things that are concerns about relocating to Toledo.

That you might not feel comfortable asking your new manager or your HR folks about, we've had some folks that have moved here from out of town that have had kids with that had certain disabilities and were concerned about how they would be welcomed in the school in a different state.

And so we were able to kind of mitigate those risks and put them in touch with superintendents and with the resources that they need, so that they can say yes to that job when it's extended.

But the summer in the city came around about 12 years ago.

It's a big success as well.

I mean, you have, you know, dozens of them to my, my care growing young people, right, doing all manner of things in the city.

So, every year we have around 200 interns in the program.

So anybody who has an intern here for the summer can sign them up.

And we do fun things in the evenings.

So it could be something at the Metroparks.

It could be, almost every year we do a game, a Mud Hens game.

We usually hop on one of the boats and cruise down the river so it could be the Glass City Pearl and the sandpiper.

And then we do a little bit of professional development in the mornings.

So, you know, those skills that employers are looking for, soft skills like communication, soft skills, like, being able to be emotionally intelligent on the job and then things like building your resume and making sure that when you get the opportunity to interview for something, once you graduate, that you actually show off in your intelligent way.

Is this through?

Is this in partnership with epic, or is that a separate thing?

It's in partnership with epic.

We do a lot with them because most of our epic folks went through the program at some point or another.

So our, our director this year, Andrew Mcgauchie, went through a few squiggles he went through a few years ago, our director last year went through and our very first year, Madison, Decatur.

I think most people probably have heard of Madison and Andrew.

So it's really a great partnership.

So when they leave summer in the city and graduate and get that job, they can move into, Epic Toledo.

I imagine a piece of this isn't just supporting employers, but it's also sort of that talent retention piece to make sure that, you know, these young professionals enjoy their time and kind of see what life in Toledo really is like.

Absolutely.

So, sometimes the interns don't get an opportunity at the end of the summer.

Some organizations bring in co-ops just for the summer, and they know that they're only there for the summer and that they may not have a job at the end.

And when they come to us and say, hey, we really want to stay or w looking for another opportunity, we help connect them with other employers, and we make sure that the resources are there, that.

They it what are those.

Qualities of life?

You know, we talk about Toledo as being a place to live, work and play.

What are the qualities of life that that people that may want to move to the area are looking for, that that city of Toledo that you highlight for them?

Sure.

So the thing that I always say, I've lived here for 50 years, I've never found I haven't found another city yet that I really want to move to.

There's great places to visit.

I just think it's really easy to live here.

It's easy to get around.

It's easy to afford to live here.

It's easy to connect with other people in our community.

And then you throw in all of the great major attractions that we have, and the great employers and the proximity to other major cities and the water.

It's just, it's just home to me.

Jeff, talk to me a little bit about that.

This is a interesting, career path in many ways, but a career path helping others career paths, is is a bit of a calling.

Those are my words that, teach us about getting here.

What brought you along your journey to make you particularly good at this?

Because you are good at it.

Well.

Thank you.

Yeah.

What what what is this?

Your mom.

Your dad.

You had your brothers and sisters, right?

Check this out so I can network better.

What?

I mean.

I come from a family that is just very plugged into their community.

My dad, when I was in grade school, coached everything.

He was on parish council.

He was on, the not it wasn't really the PTO board, but it was similar to that.

But I would go to, I went to Saint Joe's in Sylvania, so, go Jaguars.

And, my mom worked at the bank, and so she knew everybody in town.

She worked at Huntington for almost 30 years and in downtown Sylvania.

So she knew everyone you know, we came from a small pocket of the region.

And, when I graduated, when I went to Saint Francis for high school, it was like open new doors.

I didn't know anything about South Toledo, except that there was a lion store at, at Southwick, and then friends in Perrysburg.

And as I got more engaged and involved in the community, I kind of took that similar role of, hey, I really like doing this.

I really like being here.

I really like the people that are in our community, and I want to do more.

And I happened to be in a job that I didn't really care for, and I was really involved in Epic Toledo.

And Wendy Graham is our CEO.

I reached out, I said, hey, Wendy, if you hear of anything that you think might be a great fit for me, just let me know.

Yeah.

And I wouldn't be at the chamber if it wasn't for Wendy.

Yeah, yeah.

What are some other things the chamber does for the community that they're, that they're involved in other than the part of the role that you play.

So we do a lot of great things with 2000 members.

We help them connect to each other, through our events and other other methods.

We advocate we have department that is specifically focused on advocacy and public policy, so they can be doing anything like being for or against legislation that helps or hurts businesses.

Are you generally more for or against?

Where do you come down on that?

And it depends on the issue.

That's not my department.

That's not my.

Department.

So I don't really get to have a say in that.

Yeah, yeah.

I have a personal opinion.

That I can tell you.

Yes.

But we do have a lot of great work there.

So there's advocacy right now for the corridor between Toledo and Columbus.

And so, our team has been leading the charge on that with a lot of partners in our community.

We certainly couldn't do it alone.

Epic Toledo, our young professionals group with I think they're at their highest level right now, almost 2500 members.

That's 75 corporate members, around 2500 individuals.

I mean, that is the next wave of leaders in our community.

And we've seen it.

I mean, all of you hear of probably attended epic events at one time or another back in the day.

I got to clean up after them.

Yeah.

Oh that's nice.

That's what he was asking.

I appreciate the.

The obvious statement of back in the day.

Yeah, sure.

Well, I've been around for 15.

15 years.

So the parallel though, between this, and to some degree an educator I think is obvious.

I mask at the risk of putting on the spot every year.

Yet the re up for summer.

In the city.

Yes.

How do you.

I mean, this is a bit of a revolving door by design.

How do you keep your energy up for this?

How how does that manifest?

Oh, well.

It gets challenging in the spring when you're doing a lot of the planning.

Yeah, but like that first night when you start to meet the interns, it's it's like a light.

Switch back on again.

It's a different group every year.

So one year it could be all the living interns are really in, and they're having a great time, and they're coming to everything and they're asking questions.

And then the next year it may be Owens Corning, or it could be welltower.

It just depends.

And you get some you get some really interesting personalities and they start.

I really like when they come to the first event, and then they bring the people that didn't show to the first event, to the second event, and then by the fourth event, they're all there.

Yeah.

Right.

Sure.

So it is exciting and I, I love my community.

I love talking about it.

So I like to be able to share that with with people who, you know, they could be from here.

They might not be from here if they grew up here, they probably grew up in their bubble or their pockets hundred percent.

You know, I was guilty of that.

Sure.

Growing up in Sylvania, you you go on a school bus back and forth to school, and that's about what you do.

You stay in that little area.

In your home school.

How do you and I know that no one wanted to be around your family.

Your words.

How it was prom.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, I didn't go.

Kevin.

Thanks for.

Asking.

I don't know what he's going to.

He's never going to learn.

I know I never said no.

Let's get by that.

Let's do.

It.

Just a piece of.

Of a piece of summer in the city.

Why do you talk to Matt?

I feel like I'm in the middle of a weird.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

It's weird.

Yeah.

So because.

There we.

It's like a. Brother sister thing.

Yeah.

That's a problem for Gretchen.

Piece of this.

So this is, this is.

You've got people that are from Toledo coming to Toledo for an internship, getting a chance to see Toledo for the first time.

You get a chance to sort of see Toledo through their eyes.

What?

What are you hearing from them?

Kind of.

What's their their first impression of of Toledo?

And why is it the Metroparks?

It's always the Metro.

It's just.

No, it's it's really interesting because most of them are just not aware of what we have as much as we put out all the great things that we.

Have, that's truth.

The way that we consume media today and the way that college students consume media is completely different than the way that I consume media.

And my parents consume media.

So it could be everywhere, and they still miss it because it's just not right in front of them and it's not being force fed.

So what we try and do is really force feed them.

We have a newsletter.

It's me one on one.

It's the epic, advisory board or Epic members.

It's people that are that we strategically invite to the events.

It's making sure that their employers have the information and that we're giving them additional resources.

We can't possibly show them everything over a 4 or 5 week period, but we can lead them to the resources so that they can find more opportunities, and then they can see what's going on.

Why does it why does it matter that Toledo has the Chamber of Commerce?

Why is that important?

Well, we've been around for over 130 years, so I think it's really important that there's a location for businesses to get together and collectively find each other and make an impact in their community.

You know, most of these members that we have that have been or some of them have been members for over 100 years.

And they.

Do easy thing to be able to say.

Right, isn't that crazy?

That's crazy.

This year we're really looking at that because of America's 250.

And so we're taking a look at some of the companies like Deagle or Jones Hamilton, who have been in our community for 100 years and have been members for a long time.

How do we celebrate that?

And so, I think it's just really important that there's an outlet and a space where businesses can get together and know that it's going to be like minded individuals who are having conversations, looking for opportunities to, you know, reduce barriers in their day to day work life, and then also look for opportunities for growth both inside and outside of the region.

I love the idea.

I mean, not the strategic plan and strategy is important, of course, but, in full candor, one of the strategies should be just volume.

Meaning how many touch points can we have?

I don't know, but we will try anything to get to, you know, Omega, right?

Right.

Which is, a tactic, that we use, you know, in all manner of speaking.

Right?

Don't overthink it.

It's not a silver bullet.

Right?

Right.

And, from now, I'm going to talk to both sides.

My mouth.

But from a metric perspective, Jeff is there.

It has to be unknowable.

How many, young people are going to stay in the area?

Do you set a goal, or do you work with individual companies or partners to say we're hoping to retain ten of the 100?

That, that, that data wouldn't matter necessarily.

I am curious as to sort of is there a part of that that it drives?

So the summer or the year?

The metrics are a little challenging for sure, because at the end of the program in the summer, they could go back to school, they could get hired, or they might not get an opportunity.

So we try to focus on the folks that want to be here and maybe didn't find the opportunity, because that's a little easier to track and say, hey, I introduced this intern to these five companies.

They accepted a job here, and now they're working in Northwest Ohio.

The goal is really that they go back to school and say nice things about Toledo, or if they go somewhere else, maybe Toledo is not.

They're not there time right now.

And they go somewhere else, but they have a really good perspective and they're going to say nice things about our region so that if they are talking to someone else, we've had over 2100 people in the program.

The world is the University of Toledo play both with the chamber and also in this summer program.

So we work really closely with the University of Toledo.

We're actually meeting with them this week to talk about some things, and different ideas as well.

But, you know, we need to be in front of the students at the university, both universities, University of Toledo in Bowling Green State University, so that when it comes time to graduate, they understand where to find a job.

They know who our employers are, they know what the career paths are, and that they know that there's cool things for them to do when they're not at work.

How do you learn all these kids names and needs?

I mean, name tags.

I mean that sincerely and.

Tags at every event.

You want this to be personal to some degree, right?

So, and I know you to be a sincere and genuine person.

So, I mean, it's a couple hundred kids.

Not only are you learning, oh, that's Jeff, and that's Tera.

But theoretically you want to help them along, whatever their chosen courses.

Yes.

Is there a hack for that?

Do you have a spreadsheet?

Do you, like, have, golf clubs used to have photos of every member?

And then memorize them?

Yes.

Is there some equivalent?

I do not have a Rolodex of photos of the interns, but that's a that's a great idea.

We have an intern that works with us in the summer, too, so they end up having a lot of conversations and we'll say, hey, I think you should talk to Collin, or I think you should talk to to Sydney.

And and you start to know them as they come to things that were.

Your made up name is better than mine.

Yeah.

We're we're really.

You made up the name Jeff?

Yeah.

Yeah.

What, what what's something you would typically do, like if you were having a great Toledo weekend?

What what is what are a couple activities you would do?

So I'm a big foodie, so I hit one of my favorite restaurants, actually.

Can I say the rest?

Sure.

My tops are too, Can't go.

Stubborn brother.

Yeah.

Good choice.

Maybe hang out for a couple of beverages.

I'm also a member of the Moose Lodge in Sylvania.

So.

Cool.

Okay, nice.

Pop up there and and say, hey, if friends come in town, it's always the casino.

We always pop by for music.

Play a little bit on the slide, too.

It can go there is.

Great.

Yeah.

Think the question is why I would let him answer then.

You know, we do.

Have a lot of great, events that take place.

You know, I was at the Pickle Fest a couple weeks ago.

Was pretty awesome.

It was crazy, like pickle mania.

Totally.

And a walleye game.

A mud hands game.

There's just so much to do.

It's hard to choose on any given night.

It's.

But it's great.

It's like, whatever your flavor is, you can find it here in the region.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

If people want more information on the chamber, where can they find it?

Toledo Chamber dot.

Com.

Awesome.

Yes.

We appreciate you being on the program.

We're taking a break.

When we come back, we'll be joined by Toledo City Councilman Nick Cummins.

Support for the 419 comes from which row wealth management, where we understand that your financial path is personal.

Advisory services are offered through Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra, SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com.

Destination Toledo whether you're a local or a visitor, destination, Toledo invites you to explore the region and be a tourist in Toledo.

Find events, dining and things to do and visit Toledo.

Talk.

Work, spring HR issues and employee well-being.

Go hand in hand.

Work spring supports employers through compliance, training and wellness because healthy workplaces don't happen by accidents.

Learn more at work.

Spring Dawg Toledo Refining Company, a subsidiary of PDF Energy Toledo Refining Company is a supplier of fuels that keep our region moving.

Located in Oregon, Ohio, the refinery processes crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other petroleum products.

And today, celebrating its 55th year of connecting Northwest Ohioans to their community.

More information@tada.com.

Welcome back into the 419 powered by Wget.

We're joined now by Toledo City Councilman Nick Combs.

Good morning.

Right, right before we started.

Nick turns it goes are which ones?

Mike.

That's the kind of energy we need.

We want to break.

That's right.

That's right.

You know, you know, I brought you out for some reason.

How many cats do you own?

I own one.

And how much?

Yeah.

How much murdering does that cat do?

Hardly any.

She's brand new.

She was in a friend's garage for the winter, and I was like, give me that cat.

So I now own Judy.

You shouldn't say.

Oh, and we live together.

She kind of runs my life, to be honest.

She maybe owns me.

It's hard to leave your name now.

Just.

Just.

Judy.

Yeah.

She's a real sweetie.

You know, I've spent way too much money on, like, a cat tree and some other, you know, 1 or 2 things for her.

Yeah.

Nick, in full candor, you are a friend.

But this.

We're bringing you on for a serious matter.

You are a city council, person, and you're not, the only member that, who cares about the environment.

But, these are my words.

You are a, in my opinion, in minimum one of.

But it appears to me the leader of sort of the eco component of our group here in the city.

I know there's some initiatives that are starting off, and there's some events and things like that.

We'll get to that.

But can you talk to me a little bit about, not your strategy necessarily, but the overarching, approach you take to this and the responsibility you encumbered?

Yeah.

You know, when I was first running in 2017, the lake was a huge focus, right?

Because we had just experienced what was widely known as the water crisis.

And algal blooms were sort of just for the first time, really catching our attention.

It was on the cover of the New York Times, and it was just a time when I walked in where I realized, oh, the city is doing what we have to do.

We're required to do because of the EPA regulations or whoever else is telling us from the federal government, we have to do X, Y, and Z, but we weren't really taking any extra steps beyond that.

Right?

There are certainly people within the city who have always been advocating for this.

They want to the folks that environmental services love you all.

You know, they work really hard.

But for the most part, we're contracted by the EPA, so we're just doing those things.

Whereas I was like, what else can we do?

How do we level this up?

How do we stamp this out?

Yeah, yeah, I get it.

And what I found and what I've been educating on, all of my colleagues and just the public as much as possible, is that every time that we do something for the environment, we improve the efficiency of a building and we add insulation, we add a new roof, we add in better windows.

We're going to save on our long term costs.

If we transition our fleet from combustion engines to electric vehicles, we know over the lifetime of those vehicles we will spend thousands of dollars less on those vehicles than we would on a combustion engine.

And at the same time, we're not harming the environment in the way that we are with combustion engines.

Right.

So so we have a duty.

I think, as a city, I saw that I don't want to say as an opportunity, but perhaps as, a space that just wasn't occupied yet.

Yeah.

And I never you know, when I first ran for office, people are like, why do you run for office?

I really thought I was going to do all the fun stuff, you know, like fight for, like, women's rights, LGBT rights, do all the stuff that I really cared about.

And then they were like, you have to know about ditches and drainage.

And I was like, oh, okay.

Yeah.

So, you.

Know.

So then I just ran from there.

Nick, talk to me about, your path to, leadership in general.

I don't know if it's widely known.

But why you decided to, raise a flag and say I should plug in here more there just come from your upbringing.

Is a come from a grandparent.

Your parents.

Why?

Why does this matter to you?

Yeah.

It's so funny.

I will decide if it's funny.

Your question was funny.

But anyways, I. When I was younger, my mom always took me into the voting booth.

I remember, like, at a very young age, going into the volunteer fire department in Genoa.

Yeah.

And going in there from Genoa.

Yeah.

That small village, you know.

Absolutely.

My dad owned the jewelry store in Genoa for like 30 something years.

He just retired and sold this building.

But, you know, we'd go into the volunteer fire department.

They still had those fun, you know, curtains that you'd pull.

It's very secretive, you know that feeling back then?

And we had pencils and fill in bubble, you know, but my mom always instilled in me how important it was.

We we voted in every election.

Yeah, every single one.

In fact, I'll be voting soon because there's a primary coming up, right?

Yeah, sure.

And so it just was instilled in me at an early age that government mattered and who represented us mattered.

And then I would say, just as I continued to get older and especially just like growing up as a queer person in a small place where I recognized early on that I was not the norm.

Yeah.

And watching people make decisions that then didn't include me in many ways.

Right.

And I experienced several traumatic events when I was a younger person, and I just started growing up and thinking like, wow, things don't have to be this way.

Things can be better.

Government is here to serve people.

It's here to make our lives better.

We all use roads.

We all rely on drinking water coming to us and being clean.

We all.

There are these necessary functions in our lives that we somewhat take for granted.

And I just really saw, you know, the opportunity to kind of jump in there.

I started, however, by going door to door and talking to people about what's happening in their backyards in terms of what environmental, you know, tragedies might be in their backyard.

And then I started focusing on voting rights, and then I just kind of got lumped in to just working on campaigns.

I started working on state representative state senate campaigns, larger campaigns, and then eventually on the national Marriage campaign chair, where I, you know, was sent out to California.

We figured out the messaging.

Then we launched campaigns in many states across the country.

Ultimately, a Supreme Court ruling, ended that campaign.

But that gave me the real experience I got in a very large scale of what does leadership look like?

How do I encourage others?

What is organizing look like?

So that's where all of my sure, you know, strength comes from.

And then you must be so relieved that we've abolished bigotry.

No.

I mean.

We can just be totally open now.

My work is done.

All these all these years later.

I mean, you know, you knocked on all those doors.

You told people, I'm going to listen.

I'm going to advocate.

I'm going to do all of these things for you.

How do you feel?

Like that's going?

I feel like it's going really great, to be honest with you.

I think that people are connecting at a more local level than ever before.

Right now, I think it's a little bit of a kickback, right?

I mean, it's so funny thinking about where we come with technology, how we all interact.

You know, I prefer this, I want this, you know, and I think most people actually do.

But we're so used to I have my phone right in front of me because I have notes.

But we're so used to having this thing around us all the time.

And it's really changed the way that we interact.

And I think that also we're seeing just at a federal level, how dystopian disconnected it can be, and understanding and recognizing that no one's going to come save us.

We got to do this ourselves.

We've got to organize in our own communities.

We've got to build those networks, those channels, and provide for one another.

What would you say to someone that, especially in the environment that we're in now that, you know, I'm just I don't get involved in politics.

I just don't get involved with politics.

What would you say to that person.

Yeah, I would, you know, you may not want to get involved in politics, but politics is involved in you.

You know, you want to know how your gas prices cost, what they do right now.

You want to know why the cost of food is going up, why your utility bills are going up.

These are things that impact us every single day.

And whether you like it or not, a politician has made a decision on your behalf.

And so it does matter.

And how can you stay engaged?

Or how can an individual stay engaged when even, perhaps a candidate that we support disappoints us?

Or does something that you think, well, they just, you know, I supported that person.

Now look what they've done.

Right.

And so how how would you suggest if you're feeling that way that that someone engage or get information or it's.

Not a spectator sport.

Yeah.

It's not a spectator sport.

You know, I think that some people do the simplest act in my opinion, that is voting.

Right.

That's the number.

That's the simplest thing that you can do.

Beyond that, some people take to posting, some people come to maybe a No Kings protests.

Right?

All of these things matter because numbers matter.

People also need to be affirmed that their beliefs are are true and that other people believe that belief.

And so this is very important.

I think also just like trying to connect as much as you can to your local politicians, right?

Many of us have social media accounts, and we're putting on events, you know, like Doctor Brittany Jones is doing an entire series right now where she's out in the community.

You can connect with us.

We are here.

We we actively listen.

We show up.

You know, I go to community meetings.

There's like five people there.

What's right.

And I guarantee you that if you showed up, you could make a difference.

And I understand that time is of the essence.

Lots of people have lots of things going on.

But there are so many ways to connect with people these days.

We're talking with Nick Como of Toledo City Councilman.

In addition to your work on city council, you're involved in a lot of different organizations.

Keep you.

Lucas County Beautiful is one of them, and they've got a really cool event happening all summer long where you talk to us about.

Yeah, I love it.

So I've, I've really cherished my time with keeps the Lucas County beautiful.

We're out cleaning up litter, educating kids on recycling all kinds of stuff all the time.

But literally kicks off every summer.

It's a wonderful competition.

All you need to do is sign up on the KTLA Seaborg website on, KTLA Seaborg website.

And you can go on there.

You can sign up for our Little League team.

You just get a few of your friends, and we'll give you all the supplies that you need.

The picker thing is the bags, the gloves, whatever you need, the safety vest.

You just go out and collect bags and count those bags.

It's a you know, we're trusting that you're giving us the real numbers.

But we'll also come pick up the trash when it's done.

But the team that wins at the end gets some prizes.

We do a Mud Hens game at the end of the season.

It's a wonderful way to celebrate excellent folks who are taking time, mostly on the weekends.

You know, the last two Saturdays with different groups, cleaning up litter around our community.

It builds pride in our city, right?

We all care if we're in a place that looks better.

People will litter less if they see a more beautiful place.

So it's important that all of us get out and take, you know, the time to do our part.

To tell us a little bit about the status of the clean litter recycling.

Yeah.

I love that question.

Thank you.

So for many years now, we've been doing, cleanup events around the city.

People love them.

They're super popular on Saturdays.

Right.

Like, it's a great way you're cleaning out your your aunt's attic, and she's got all this stuff.

You don't know what to do.

With this specific.

Not that I have any experience.

And you take it down to whatever location we have.

Right.

And it's been kind of, you know, it's in this neighborhood this weekend.

It's in this neighborhood.

So you always have to kind of follow where it's going.

Well, we decided what if we just created a permanent place where people could bring it.

So I'm really excited to announce that we'll be opening a clean slate recycling center.

It's next to our sewers division.

And what will happen is you can bring whatever you want.

Just bring it to us.

We'd rather you bring us the trash than a lot of people illegally dump it just.

Put it in an alcove or.

Yeah, maybe they'll go throw it in a dumpster somewhere else and maybe they're throwing materials in there.

That's it?

Yeah, yeah.

This is.

Some some some stuff that doesn't belong in that dumpster.

Right.

You know, and that's a big deal.

And so what we're going to do is create a place so you can bring your car load.

Let's say you got a couch, you got a bunch of glass, you got some electronics and you got a tire.

Bring them to us.

I won't tell you though, Nick.

One of the things that from my day job.

But I have to remind people is that, people are very snarky or can be critical.

They're like how these little things don't matter.

First of all, they do matter.

But the larger get, if you will, is to get people change their behavior.

Yeah, right.

This is about advocacy and about learning.

This is educational marketing tool.

And that doesn't make it less significant by any means.

Can you tell me, we've got our trivia quiz we've got to give you we're going to do that, but can you give me one of the moments for you or something you're particularly proud of before we get into the foolery of the show?

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, the reason that I really looked at this was because if you know anything about the city's budget, we're strapped.

Yeah.

You know, and those events that we were doing on Saturdays, we wish.

Well, you know, those events on Saturday were quite costly.

They're very expensive.

Well, this is a model that we can create that actually maybe offers people more of an opportunity.

It's gonna be open Tuesday through Saturdays.

You know, that way if you're got time before work, after work, on the weekends, whatever works for you.

Bring us your stuff.

And when does that opening?

It's going to be early June.

We're looking at like June 2nd.

I want to say, okay, we're just waiting on the few EPA regulations to to clear.

The.

Starting regulations, but they're important.

Yeah, but the.

The really great thing is that we're going to separate everything out, right?

So we're going to be teaching people that like you can recycle glass.

It really does go somewhere.

In fact, it's probably going to stay in Northwest Ohio State, honest with you.

And so it's really important for us to create those behaviors and give these opportunities for folks, no doubt.

All right.

I just learned that if your name is Nick glass in the curbside recycling bin, it doesn't actually get recycled.

Not exactly true.

I'm going to push back on that.

Please do.

Yeah, absolutely.

So we do a single stream recycling opportunity here.

That means you can just dump everything into one bin.

It does go to a place.

It's then compacted and then it goes to another place where it's unsorted.

They use optical kind of stuff.

Right.

It's kind of a crazy operation.

They have lasers, they identify things.

You know, there's like a piece of paper on there it goes and it blows the paper off, but it keeps the glass moving.

Right.

So all of that eventually does make it smarter.

And in fact, there is an initiative in Toledo called Glass Recycling in Toledo Grit that is working right now to recycle glass in our area to keep it in this area, because there's a huge need.

Oh, I need that glass.

Owens Corning needs a glass.

So we you know, this is the next evolution of the Glass City in my opinion.

Right is how to in glasses forever.

It will.

It's a reusable sauce forever.

We can always melted down and reuse it.

So, I'm really excited about all the opportunities that we have around glass right now.

We're going to let's punt the, Gretchen's wacky quiz to social media.

So if you want to see Nick do Gretchen's wacky quiz, you'll, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and we'll do it there.

Because I know you've also, you're involved, with, Saint Paul's.

Yeah.

Yeah, they've they've had a tough go.

Yeah.

An important organization.

Yeah.

What do you kind of catch us up on?

What's going on and what we can do to help.

Yeah.

So they unfortunately suffered an arson.

Recently that really damaged the facility.

Saint Paul's Community Center downtown that we're talking about, which houses a lot of unhoused folks.

And it's a really great model.

It gives people a real permanent place to stay, and they know where they're at.

They have space, right.

It's really important.

So it's, been a little upended from the fire.

I was already working with them on a summer fundraiser, where we're going to do a cookout over lunchtime is going to be on Friday, June 12th.

And so we're just going to invite people to come to the space.

We're going to do an outdoor cookout, let people mingle.

Right.

Let's see the operation, see how important this work is.

Because you know, it doesn't feel good to me to go to sleep and know that some people don't have a place to sleep.

Right.

So.

So Saint Paul's is providing those opportunities.

They definitely could use the help.

So I'm really excited to work with them on this fundraiser and cook a lot of good food for our friends and and family in the area.

Well, how could someone volunteer for that or help out?

Yeah, I would definitely.

Saint Paul's definitely has a website and social media presence.

But you know, that would be a huge help.

And they're always looking for, for food or other, you know, good gifts like coats and other things that are nice.

Now, when are you launching your campaign for mayor?

Ha!

You're funny.

I know the answer to lead us.

City Councilman Nick Combs, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me.

All right.

The 419 quiz.

Gretchen's wacky quiz is coming up on social media.

Thank you so much for joining us.

When we take a take a break, when we come back, we will wrap up this Wellness Wednesday edition of the 419.

Every day when you laugh with us, you learned with us a neighbor.

We made sure your childhood with special memories that could only be provided by PBS and you.

For generations, we've given you programs that made a difference.

Programs that entertain, inform and inspire.

And today is no different.

This is public media in Toledo.

It's where you belong.

Welcome back into the 419 powered by as we wrap up a Wellness Wednesday edition presented by Work Spring.

You guys are on camera.

You know that, right?

All right.

It's it's.

Not anymore.

That's right.

Yes.

It's.

I want to talk about this on the air.

We are, working on the risk of outing.

This is not professionals.

Yeah.

Otherwise a secret.

I mean, every year we have 88 episodes in.

I think they figure it.

Out, try to figure out, you know, the timing of the show, right?

And Kevin is.

Because you.

Have to have time.

That you are.

I think so, too.

Yeah.

So.

Like, there's a time frame and then you.

Yeah, it's a 1 hour to 1 hour show, right?

And so you were saying was going to be done, but that man.

You know, we got worse.

Are you.

What is wrong with you?

You're like I say you're like, ill and died today.

And it's so funny, like, I want to talk, but this is the thing.

So with the show is an hour long, which everyone agrees is about 59 minutes too long.

But the back and forth between our clock.

Yes.

Brought in by Kevin.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And the the general clock.

They don't.

Sync the.

Clock.

You know, the number of times that that, like 16 minutes left in the segment or the clock will say, there's ten minutes left, and they tell me there's it's.

Great, and I'll send.

Them and we're having different.

Times.

Like it's we're.

You know, I actually haven't thought about maybe that's what it is.

They're they're actually timing it on Pacific time.

Right.

Yeah.

Which is on the wrong.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So every day you.

Gretchen, I sit here uncomfortably as Kevin gets slowly more put up with the fact that we're not sinking.

So I say all that to say, right now, we've got to fill this time.

And I can't do with Marquette talk.

Artie carried the show.

Did you did you have cats growing up?

Now?

Yeah.

My dad of five ways.

That was an aggressive for any any animals.

We had dogs, and my brother had a hamster named Reginald Cedric.

And my sister had a bird named Budgie.

The birds or the.

Bird is terrible.

It was.

The bird's name was Budgie.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Was it actually a budgie?

Yes.

It was.

Okay, well.

That's it.

He wasn't.

Very clever.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So the hamster, which got loose several times, named hamster.

Yeah.

Name Reginald Sanders.

We had several dogs.

Yeah.

But no.

Never a cat.

Thank God we had no animals growing up.

And then I meet Danny, and I tell people that I don't necessarily love animals, but I do love my wife.

Yeah, and she loves animals.

Yeah.

And now my kids love animals.

And I do love that.

But, man, I would love to be a. See, I know for kids, saying they love animals is like a selling point.

Like all kids love animals.

Most all kids.

Yeah, whatever.

Huge.

Thanks, Bunny.

Yeah.

That's why you're thinking about it.

Yeah.

Oh my goodness.

Huge thanks to our guest for joining us on the program.

Dave Tippett, volunteer with Nami walk coming up May 16th at Glass City Metro Park.

Find out more information at Nami toledo.org.

Of course.

Jeff Schaaf with the Chamber of Commerce and Nick Combs.

You can, of course, catch him next.

Monster Gretchen's wacky quiz on social media to be a part of it.

And thanks to you for joining this as well.

It's the 418 powered by CTE and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

The 419 powered by CTE is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.