1234.

Get my shoes in.

Out the door.

Five.

I'm lost.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Feels great.

I'm gonna shine.

After I do what I'm gonna do.

I do it again.

Yeah.

Look at the sky with the beautiful color.

But never just for me.

You gotta share it with another.

I got to show, to give.

Let I want singing show.

Take a look and say a beautiful morning that turns into a beautiful evening.

And together make beautiful art.

And if you wanna see that, come along with me.

That's right.

Welcome to Experience Michiana and Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

As we get out and explore the Michiana area, we are so thankful that you are with us on this journey.

Let's just jump right into it as Dave.

Is it the Acorn Theater?

And he has a chance to meet a rock and roll legend?

So it is very exciting for me as somebody who spent all my career as a radio host, to talk to this guy.

This face is better suited for radio, but they let me on TV once a week.

But I want to introduce from the band The Ides of March.

Jim.

Peter.

Rick.

Jim.

It's really so exciting to talk to you.

Hey, Dave.

Thanks for having me on.

And, you look fat and you look way better than I do.

Thank you.

That is not true.

I mean, look at the amount of rock and roll.

Just coolness that you are, just got going on.

I mean, you look cool on zoom.

You're the only person I've ever seen that looked cool on zoom, but.

And we're also going to be chatting with, Ashley Magnus, who is the executive director of the Acorn Theater as well.

A little bit later on to talk about this show that's coming up on other shows before Christmas.

But Jim, Ides of March, the band, you guys, the same original members have been around since 1964.

I mean, you officially became the Ides of March in 66, is that correct?

Yeah, we were the Shondells, and we had to change your name because of Tommy James.

Okay, I'm still mad at him, but we found a better name.

They added some March, and, we've been that for almost 62 years, and it's still the original members all still playing together.

How did you guys manage to keep it going so long?

You know, we are friends.

We were friends even before we were a band.

I've known Larry, who you met earlier today, since third grade.

Birdland tour and Cub Scouts together.

Mike.

High school band.

You know, it's a family.

Really?

Yeah.

And I know that a lot of people will know the song vehicle from from from that band, although you had many other songs, but you also took a hiatus for a time where you started the band survivor then, which of course, everybody knows eye of the Tiger.

Right.

So.

So what was it like taking that break from Ides of March and going in this survivor direction?

Yeah, that was really kind of difficult, really.

But I felt it was time and, survivor was a great experience and it was a whole different, kind of arrangement of songs and type of songs, and some are all harmony and, you know, it was just amazing band.

Survivor was a little more hard edged.

And our first singer, Dave, had that gritty sound.

And of course, with him we recorded probably the biggest selling of my career, eye of the Tiger.

Know it was all about Dave Baker's voice driving that, you know.

So the transition was hard, but it's when I had to make and it's it almost I mean, in a way, I had the Tiger almost didn't happen because I know that originally in the in the Rocky movie, it said that they were trying to get another One Bites the Dust by Queen, who said no to that.

And then that's where eye of the Tiger came in.

So I mean, talk about a moment of absolute fate.

I always think, Queen, for that, you know, you, Freddie, thanks for saying no, but yeah, right.

But what an opportunity.

So tell me a little bit about this show that's coming up at the Acorn Theater on December 6th.

Well, we are so looking for.

It's the first of three Christmas shows we're doing.

An acorn happens to be one of our favorite venues to play.

It always has been.

We must have done shows there for the last 15 years, I want to say.

And great acoustics, great staff, great people, great people.

We love the Acorn.

We're so excited to bring this Christmas show to the Acorn.

It's going to be, well, Christmas is a great time of year, you know, and, we love this this opportunity to sing some of our favorite Christmas shows, Christmas songs.

First set is mostly, well, it's all Christmas oriented, but a lot of its original Christmas music.

I don't know, like the first song we do, a song I wrote with Larry called On This Christmas Day.

And, it's it's charming and wonderful and the meaning of Christmas and the Larry sings there's a boy.

And then Mike Baucher drummer gets up in front.

We do Little Drummer Boy and, Three Kings, the brass section do, Three Kings and our bread.

So amazing.

Of course we do.

Distant trumpet.

Scott performs.

He a poem that he writes every year.

And then we go into the so-called Book of Dreams, and then we end with that set, which during Christmas, set two is mostly, rock standards that we help make famous.

But we start with a Christmas song that we wrote called Not So Silent Night, and it really rocks.

Then we transition to, it's a march songs, like ily goodbye flip side, rocking the vehicle and we always end with eye of the Tiger.

Yeah, yeah.

It's a it's a two set show and each set delivers something different.

I love that that it has the mixture of, you know, the Christmas songs and then the rest of the year songs.

Well, thank you so much for coming on and, continued blessings.

And I hope you have a lot of shows in the future and a lot of more fans discovering your music.

So thank you.

Are you ready for this?

Dave?

Dave?

Dave?

Dave.

Dave.

Dave.

Dave.

Dave.

Dave.

Dave.

Oh, that's I wish I still had a radio show because that would become my new jingle.

Please.

Thank you so much.

Great talking to you.

Thank you.

Take care.

So actually, that's obviously one of the big shows at the Acorn.

And can you tell me a little bit about some of the other Christmas shows that are coming up as well?

Absolutely.

We have an array of holiday shows.

There is something for everybody.

I'm going to rapid fire these at you because there are just so many.

Several of these are free or low cost to attend.

Kicking off right after Thanksgiving on November 28th, we've got our dancing Queen ABBA tribute, which might not sound like a holiday tradition, but it absolutely is.

People dress out in their finest sequins and party to all of the hats from ABBA.

So it's an annual holiday event for us.

November 29th.

We have two holiday shows.

We've got Sean Masterson's Magic at 2 p.m.. That's a family show.

Again, a popular holiday tradition at the Acorn.

And then that evening is Joel Patterson's, Hi-Fi Christmas guitar.

It is, an electric guitar Christmas album that is ubiquitous with the holiday season that he will be, performing live for everyone.

So don't miss that.

At 8 p.m., November 29th, Friday, December 5th, the Chris White Trio presents A Charlie Brown Christmas, so they play the Charlie Brown Christmas music beginning to end in such an iconic soundtrack as you know.

And then of course, we just heard from Jim Patrick about December 6th with The Ides of March.

That is a blast.

I mean, do not miss it, I don't, I need I say more.

We've heard so much about how fabulous that show is going to be.

That Sunday we have a free show December 7th at 4 p.m.

the Harbor Country Singers Harbor Country Christmas show will be happening.

That is a show in partnership with the School of American Music, and that is free to attend.

Thursday, December 11th at 7 p.m., we have a holiday themed open mic night.

That's again free to attend on be featuring tons of holiday themed songs by local artists.

Some you know, some will be new to you.

And I know that that weekend and the 12th and 13th, it's kind of like a tribute weekend.

You got some a tribute shows going.

That's right.

We've got tributes to Taylor Swift and to the Eagles.

Would you know if you want a little break from some of the holiday themed stuff happening all around you?

That's such a great palate cleanser and they'll be incredible favorites.

Both of those will be high energy shows.

Heartache Tonight that Eagles tribute is an annual favorite and fearless.

The Taylor Swift tribute is a new act to us, so we're really excited.

In fact, check that out.

I'm finishing out.

I've only got two more, holiday themed things to rattle off at your December 19th at 7 p.m., we have a showing of, a muppet Christmas Carol.

That'll be that holiday classic.

Favorite movie?

Arguably one of the best Muppet movies, I think.

But we can argue about that all day.

And then Saturday, December 20th is a Celtic Christmas at 8 p.m.

featuring, Celtic Group On the Lash, which will be just a really beautiful evening.

It's a high spirited, and a great way to ring in the holiday.

We do have a New Year's Eve show as well.

December 31st, featuring second Hand news, which is a Fleetwood Mac tribute that has been here for years.

That's at 10 p.m.

that shows another annual celebration.

And, we do a countdown to the night together.

So of course, I know I've rattled off a ton of stuff.

It's all at Acorn live.org.

For folks that are just looking for some holiday cheer and some fun live shared experiences.

In this time.

Well, thank you so much.

Yeah.

Of course.

Thank you.

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and it certainly is here at the History Museum.

I have with us my friend Marilyn, thank you so much for joining me.

And this is I've been in this space before, during the holidays, but it really is something magical when you are surrounded by what is part of history of South Bend and also bringing all of the Christmas decorations, it's just lovely, isn't it?

I think so too.

And thank you for for saying that.

But, you know, oftentimes people will ask us, how long does it take to get everything ready for your hand?

Because, you know, we offer tours of the mansion every single day of the year.

Oh my gosh.

But we begin working on the Christmas decorations right after Halloween.

Okay?

And officially it is going to be all beautiful with Christmas decorations as of Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

So you guys get everything done in like a month?

Yes, yes.

They work very, very quickly.

Yes they do.

Because as you are going to notice, there are over 20 Christmas trees decorated in this mansion.

Now, there are 38 rooms but 20 Christmas trees, which is remarkable.

It is and is and they're all beautiful.

And they all kind of have their own theme and coordinating into each of the rooms.

Absolutely.

Do you have volunteers who put those together?

No.

It's our curator of capture home.

And then she has a special volunteer who works so well with her.

And together they they create, they decide on decorations.

Because a lot of people don't realize that every single tree, every single fireplace is decorated differently.

Each year.

So if this is your how is your, holiday tradition?

It certainly isn't each year.

You bet it'll be different.

It'll be new.

And trees may be in locations where they weren't last year.

They certainly will be decorated.

So you get kind of a little hut on the way to life.

And then we have so many different Christmas, events going on through the month.

Tell us about those, because I'm just happy to.

This is a great time to visit if you haven't been here before, which of course you should by now.

But this is a phenomenal time to visit.

It really is.

Yes.

Yeah it is.

So we open officially for the Christmas tours on Friday, and then the next Wednesday, the first Wednesday of December, we're going to have as part of our monthly lecture series on the history of Christmas caroling.

Do you like to go Christmas, darling?

You know, we at our old house, we had Christmas carolers come to our house one time, and we were kind of like, is this actually happening?

And it was.

It is amazing.

I love that you guys are doing a special lecture.

Just focus on the history behind.

That's right.

How it started, when it started and why it has become a great tradition that will be given by our curator of Capture Home, Amber gobble.

And that will be on Wednesday.

Then the following Saturday, we're going to have the sugar plum Fairy tea, which we began having about five years ago.

Oh, it was so popular, I'm sure you know.

And families again return again for the tradition.

But because it's especially happy time for children, we see that parents bring their children and then their children return with their children.

So making it that long really tradition and very fun.

Really.

That's what this space is all about.

It is making those traditions, making it a part of your family.

You bet.

So the T takes place in the museum, in the Layton Gallery, and there are tables, and it's very elegant and beautiful and it's, catered by the Oliver in Bed and breakfast.

So it's quite a fun occasion.

And then as part of that, people are invited to come over and take a tour of the first floor of the mansion.

So we incorporate the mansion with that, and then we have Christmas at Capture Home.

Christmas at Capture Home has been going on for well over 30 years, really, where we have special days.

And this is December 7th and December 14th.

Okay, so just two days for just two days for that.

And the special part about this event is that these are self-guided tours.

So you can take your time in the space you yes, you can.

And though our docents are located throughout the house and they certainly will answer questions and give you information.

On the other hand, you can walk through the house at your pace, at your leisure.

If there's a particular tree or fireplace or room that is especially appealing to you, you can stop and just drink it all in.

It's wonderful.

So that's very special.

We don't rarely open the house for self-guided tours.

So yeah, this is, this is, exactly.

That's the word.

Yeah.

It is it is.

But and that's another where the tradition of coming every single year is special because it's always different.

You're always going to see something different.

And families return again and again.

And, and we love that.

Because we are history.

We are a learning place to learn and a place to enjoy.

We take the beauty of this mansion, which, by the way, you may not know the capture home got its name from the Oliver family.

They moved in here on January 1st, 1890 709.

Okay.

97 I thought it was 96.

Okay, perfect.

So they moved in and then within a few years they named their beautiful home capture home in honor of, JD Oliver's father.

So that's where the name got its origin.

But the fact that it's so much history and of course, the Oliver family in this community had had a wonderful chill plow factory and it was so successful.

And then they had this house, and when the family donated the house to the history museum, they gave it to us completely intact.

So all of the furniture, furnishings that you're looking at, our original to the home.

And when people come through, they learn and they can see the house as it looked when the Oliver family lived here, which is just so incredible.

Everyone has an opportunity to come out and visit the space, especially in the holiday season.

It just brightens it up.

I think a little bit more, thank you.

It does, and I know you have one more special event that's coming up.

We do goes along with one of your exhibits.

Yeah.

Well it it's in company with the Rockne exhibit that's now on view.

And it's a lecture by a nationally known author Ivan Marcel.

And he is going to talk about his most recent book, which just came out in September.

And it's on coach Frank Leahy.

And particularly he's going to talk about how Rockne and Leahy worked together.

And Leahy played for Rockne and then later became a coach.

So that's a great opportunity, especially for our Notre Dame fans out there as it is.

So we just feel like the month of December is there's something almost every single day.

And, you know, the museum loves that one.

It's like that because there's so many different ways that people can learn about history and enjoy history.

And so we like to say, take your pick or come to everything in this room.

We have these cold winter days that are coming like, come in here, get warm, enjoy the space.

Yeah, make some new family traditions or continue the ones that you already have.

Where can people get tickets for all of these events so they can go online to the History Museum South Bend website.

And that's History Museum, dawg.

And they can buy tickets or make their reservations for any of these events.

And I'm sure some of those you want to make sure you get those reservations ahead of time.

Absolutely sure.

They're going to sell out.

Absolutely perfect.

All right.

Thank you so much, Marilyn.

Q I'm going to go look around to see if I can find my favorite story.

Hey, you want to come?

Yeah.

Go.

Okay.

Well, this season is all about holiday traditions, and one of the newer ones is the Bergmann at the Maurice, and we are excited to welcome both Jillian and Nathaniel.

Guys, we are excited for this concert coming up in just a few days.

I imagine you are too.

Oh yeah, we are.

First and foremost, always good to see you and to be on the show.

And yeah, we are getting so stoked to kick off Christmas in South Bend at a South Shore Christmas concert.

And we've been preparing, you know, I don't know, maybe since like first week of August.

So we're definitely ready for this show and excited to come back to our hometown and one of our favorite venues in the country, The Maurice, which is a true gem and excited to bring this show there.

And it's becoming bigger and better as they are working on finishing the additions that are happening.

So that's pretty cool.

Oh, it's so cool.

I cannot wait to see it.

I mean, we were there doing some promo videos in July and we could see all the bones, but I think now it's actually getting to the point where, you know, they're almost done.

So yeah, from what I heard, they were working on putting in some of the flooring and, really getting close.

So, we will hopefully feature that real soon and experience Michiana.

But about your guys's concert, who all is going to be involved?

A lot of times this is the big band.

We have seen other local choirs, you know, who's going to be involved in this one?

Yeah.

So we will have our big band and we'll have the Notre Dame Children's Choir this year, a feature that we've a partnership really, that we've had over the last couple of years or last year, and we really, really love working with them.

And putting together this Christmas is getting to play some venture, all these songs and some of my favorite Christmas tunes, rockin around the Christmas like Christmas Tree, Bell Rock, I'm dreaming of White Christmas, you know, so big hitters, we always look at it as like it's the perfect way to celebrate.

In South Bend.

You got Black Friday going on.

Then you head over to the Vermont console, and then you got small business Saturday.

There's a lot of things that you can do, and this is just the perfect way to start the season off the right way.

You get to hear the music, you get to have a good time with hopefully friends and family and just, the, the in the season for the night.

There's two ways to really go about it.

If you if you're not sick of your family by Friday, all the family can come.

And if you are sick of them, you can be like, oh man, you'll really wish you'd come to this visit.

Have plans of going to the Burger Watch concert?

We've heard both already, so both of those are good reasons to be there.

Your your guys's music is tremendous, but one of the things that I love is actually seeing you guys in person, because the energy level that you guys approach the show with and how you interact with your audience is just something very special.

Thank you, thank you.

You know, one of the things that we're doing really interesting this year is we are putting out, last year's concert, a live album from that this week so you can listen to it in preparation for the show, when you're making your turkey and doing all the things.

And then we're also going to be putting out a YouTube video as well, with all the performance elements from last year.

So you can kind of see the show.

And if you know, if you got an uncle who's like, I don't want to go see that, you can show him a little bit of this.

Maybe they'll change their mind.

So we're putting out a lot of stuff this week, coming up in Thanksgiving so you can enjoy and get ready for the show.

And then come Friday, it's going to be party time.

Yeah, that's pretty special.

Now let's talk about this is the kickoff to a tour.

And so where are you going from here.

Yeah.

So we are so stoked about this because this is our first time ever doing a Christmas tour across the country.

So it's a big deal.

We're kicking off in our hometown in South Bend tomorrow.

So we go from the Morris and then we go up into Michigan, Traverse City.

Then we take it to Charlotte, North Carolina, and there we're going to be at the Carolina Theater in Traverse.

We're going to be at the City Opera House, and then we're gonna go all the way out west, first time ever bringing the show out west to Scottsdale, Arizona, to cattle track arts compound's beautiful space outdoors.

So we are really, really excited we're flying our band.

God bless them all.

They're flying all over the place.

Yeah.

So we, It's going to be fun.

It'll be fun.

It'll be a South Shore Christmas.

The kind of Midwest tradition meets a cattle track.

Christmas out west.

So it's gonna be fun.

We're bringing in some different elements, and, you know, every part of the country has a special kind of flair to it.

So we're hoping to kind of integrate that into the show and into this tour and also bring some special Midwestern roots that we bring to every show, because that's who we are no matter where we go.

And it's fun to bring some of those stories all over the country and our like our, like, deeply nostalgic Christmas stories.

So like, my mom's from one out of ten from South Bend, Indiana.

My grandparents, you know, born, raised Catholic.

So growing up I would go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We do a wonderful midnight Christmas Eve mass, then go over to Grandma and Grandpa's with the whole family, you know, shoved in like sardines and the energy of just love in the air.

That's the energy that we hope to bring to every single city.

So people feel welcomed and like, this is a really fun Christmas tradition to keep alive.

That is so special.

And we really do appreciate you taking the time in the midst of all your preparations and travel, to just share a little bit about the concert that's coming up and, we're excited.

Where can people get tickets?

Where's the best place for people to, to grab their tickets ahead of time?

Yeah.

So you can get them at Morris center.org and that's the first one.

But if you want to catch us in other locations, maybe some people might be traveling.

Just go to the amont brg a m ot.com, and all of the tickets are up on our home page.

There.

That is so awesome.

Thank you guys very much for the time.

And, we can't wait to see you on stage and all the energy that you bring, lifting up and kicking off the holiday season.

Thank you so much.

Thanks.

I'll see you there.

Peace.

Hey and welcome to Grape Road in Mishawaka to the Humane Society of Saint Joseph County.

I'm here with Jennie Brown, who's the executive director, and we're also here with a cardboard cutout of Doctor Pessina from aft end.

So, Jennie, tell me what's going on between now and the end of the year.

Yeah.

So we're doing our adoption special with Afton.

So it's home for the holidays and all of the pets adoption fees are waived.

Thanks to our friends at Afton and thanks to doctor Roger Pessina.

So last year was the first year that you actually did this partnership.

So Doctor Christina came along and said that I want to cover all the adoption fees for the last month of the year, basically, and even Thanksgiving as well.

So what difference does that make last year to the organization?

Last year we doubled our amount of adoptions from the year previous.

So we're hoping to stay at that number or do a little bit more this year.

Because all of these pets that are here at the shelter deserve a great, loving home.

Right now, but especially during the holidays.

Yeah.

For sure.

And so how do you balance that with a promotion like this?

An adoption special with some people that kind of, talking around.

Oh, people adopt them at the holidays and then they don't necessarily want them afterwards.

How do you just make sure that this isn't just something that people do for Christmas, and then all of a sudden they just do it anyway.

That's a great question.

And we still do the same adoption procedure that we would any other time of the year.

So our adoption team are processing adoption applications.

We're talking with our adopters, counseling them, talking to them about their current pets or previous pets and what kind of pet that they're looking for and what their needs are.

And, you know, part of our adoption contract, there is a sentence in that.

I was like, if you don't mean for this to be a lifelong pet commitment, then it's okay to say no and step away right now.

And thankfully, we didn't see a ton of returns last year, and we don't feel like that's going to be a problem again this year.

And I know that as a as a shelter, I mean, you're pretty you are very diligent on the adoption process.

And I know that's something that sometimes even people criticize.

Like it's like you guys are where you do need to go deep to make sure that it is a good fit.

Exactly.

You know, everybody wants to make sure that the animals go to great homes, but we don't want to get in in our way, really.

You know, we don't want create additional barriers for these to get adopted.

But we do want to make sure that people are set up for success and that our pets are set up for success.

So, you know, we have pets that would be good for families with kids.

We have pets that would be good just for adults.

So we really want to make sure we're making good matches.

Yeah, absolutely.

Because in the end, the cost more to have them come back and do all that.

Of course.

Yeah.

So, so offense has come in so far.

It started on November 24th and all the way through to the end of the year.

Yes.

Every adoption at the shelter.

Or is it only like our puppies?

Everyone, puppies and kittens are included if we have them.

Yeah.

We do have kittens right now.

I don't think we really have many puppies right now.

We do have some pets that are individually sponsored by other individuals or people, and they'll still be sponsored.

But whoever doesn't have a sponsored fee.

Our friends at Afton are going to take care of that for our adopters.

That's great.

And as you mentioned last year at double the number of adoptions.

So how many animals are in your care right now?

So this morning when I looked at our computer system, we had 352 animals in our shelter system.

Not all of them are ready yet for adoption because we do animal control, so some are on stray hold.

We're still waiting to find their owner.

So sort things and all of our animals are spayed or neutered.

They're microchipped, they're vaccinated before they're available for adoption.

So, it takes a little bit of time to arrange that for every single animal.

But we have over 100 animals that are ready right now to go home.

And that would be amazing if they all went home during the holiday, it'd be great.

Yeah.

And if people have like travel plans, those are things they can still fill out their application right now.

We keep it on file for three months, but you would want to make sure that you adopt during the adoptions if you're wanting to take advantage of that.

But like, say you're going out of town for Thanksgiving, you can still put in your application and you can circle back when you're back in town.

And I know as well that, I mean, you talk about all those animals in your care.

The average it costs, what, about $20 or just over $20 a day to care for each animal?

It's between like 25 and $30.

Yeah, because of the increase in assistance.

Yeah.

And then you talk about the spay neuter, the vaccines, everything that they get.

And then even when there is an adoption fee and I always try to encourage people, there's the adoption fee is still minimal compared to what you are investing in the animal to be ready for that home, even when it's not covered by EMS, you know?

Absolutely.

So like our cats, for example, to spay and neuter a cat, it's about $80.

And our adoption fee for adult cats is only 75.

So really?

Yeah.

I mean, like, we're losing money, but we're not.

We're, you know, these animals are going to great homes.

Thankfully, we have a great community that supports us and the donations of items or in monetary donations.

And then of course, with our animal control contracts too, that we're able to stay afloat.

Yeah.

Well, thank you to Afton for doing this, holiday special home for the holidays.

Make sure if you're looking for a new family pet, come to the Humane Society of Saint Joseph County.

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