And now the 419 with Gretchen DeBacker, Matt Killam, and Kevin Mullan, Welcome into the 419, powered by WGTE and presented by Whetro Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin mullen, Gretchen de Becker.

And today we are missing Matt Kellam.

We are.

He's under the weather.

You skipped out yesterday.

Matt skipped out today.

Are you going to be here tomorrow?

I technically no, but.

Yes.

Yes.

You know what I think I will, I'm.

Should I take it personally that you guys are just gradually, like, rotating through?

Who has to deal with me on a given day?

Yes.

Is this all because I was grumpy that one day?

It's still not over it.

Okay.

He's.

He's made himself physically sick because he's so upset by it.

How did you find out that Matt wasn't coming?

Because I know how I found out.

I woke up early this morning at, like, 430, and I saw a text, but it was from last night saying that he was sick.

And could I make his apologies today, which I did.

Right, and then I. But you found out when I got here and you told me, right, that you got a text from Matt.

Yeah.

This is my question.

Is it would have taken the same amount of effort, right, for him to text the group that we have for about a year.

So he thought, well, two things.

We actually have we actually have two groups.

We get one with the three of us.

Yes.

And then one with the three of us.

And Shane Shane is our executive producer.

Correct.

And it would have taken simultaneous effort.

They would have been the same right.

For him to notify all of us at the same time.

And technically, even more than texting you, it should have been text to Shane.

Yeah, that's probably true.

The good news is the media will never listen to this, and we'll never know that we talked about this.

That's right.

But, you know, he he has previously commented on the show, his aversion, his serious aversion to group texts.

Like, if he sees that it's a there's more than one person in it.

He's not engaging and assumes that someone will personally.

Yeah.

Reach out to him to follow up.

No, I will say I have that same aversion to mass emails.

Yeah, but I have said if I see an email like but like at work, right.

If the email goes to every employee.

Right.

I just assume that that doesn't apply to me.

Well, I would assume in your position that you were the one that sent it.

That not always.

Sometimes it comes and sometimes it's something that I should pay attention.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, evacuate the building.

It's not like that.

Yeah.

Like on Monday.

Rotary.

Met in a different location.

And because I don't read emails that go to a bunch of people, I went to the wrong location.

And then I had to walk to where they see.

Now, this should be a lesson.

That should be, but that won't be.

Matt will not also learn a lesson from Will not.

That's right.

Learn a lesson.

Yeah, I think it was the the text.

You and I were texting back and forth, about some stuff yesterday.

Yeah.

And then Matt, like, hours later, chimes in with this all set?

You didn't.

It was good.

He did.

He was like, I'm not going to get involved in this, but I'm assuming.

Back and forth for like an hour.

I was getting ready to get on a plane, and so I was trying to do some stuff real quick to get ready for today, etc., etc.. Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Confirm this.

Confirm that.

Then you're right.

Hours later.

Yeah.

Like we all good.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

All right.

Communication is hard.

It is.

But you know how it's easy.

What makes it easy is when you can just go to, like, visit one website and you can get the top five things that are happening that question.

And or even better, you just tune in to this show.

Yeah.

And every Thursday we're giving you our toledo.com community calendar driven by Tada!

And we got the top five events of the weekend events for the weekend.

We got everything this weekend.

You got comic books.

You got trucks.

You got symphony music, you have a run and you have Saint Patrick's Day festivities.

You have everything, anything that you would possibly want or could possibly be in the mood for this weekend.

You got it.

I'm not going to lie to you.

That sounds like what would make for the perfect event is combining all of those.

And I want to see the symphony running three miles potentially either chasing or being chased by a truck or Saint Patrick, while drinking beer.

That sounds perfect.

But we're going to.

We get a chance to do them all separately this weekend.

This week.

So what's number?

What's number one?

What's the top of the top to top?

The toledo.com number one event of the week is the Saint Patrick's Day party in the park.

Which is an exciting another exciting preview event they're doing to get people psyched up for a party in the park this summer.

That's Friday, March 13th at Huron Yards, which we've talked about a little bit on the show, that new development over on, Huron Street, sort of by, the Blarney.

So they're going to have lead foot granny playing, food trucks.

Drinks available for purchase.

And it's a, it's a totally free event.

Heated tents.

Yes.

So and then indoor kids activities, all kinds of cool things going on there describing it as all ages.

So yeah, anybody can come.

Yes.

So that you two party in the park.

That's right.

The next thing I have a sense you're going to go to it and it's the Monster jam freestyle mania.

It is.

Monster jam is legitimately one of the most fun activities I think I've ever gone to watch.

It is just absolute mayhem.

It's so loud.

Sure.

But I'm years and years and years ago, when they came, to the convention center, my dad got tickets and I went with him and took our two.

My two nephews, his two grandsons to it, and we were like, right in the front door.

It was like spraying on us.

But basically it's the the monster trucks.

It's the, the motocross bikes and the famous Grave Digger truck.

You know what that is?

Yep.

My no grave digger that's going to be there.

And they do tricks and jump around and rev their engines.

And it's it's very fun.

But that's Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

Monster jam freestyle mania at the city center.

And then we have if you need to relax your ears a little bit after that, you can go to the symphonic sci fi, which is at the peristyle Saturday night with the Toledo Symphony.

It's going to be a cool concert.

It's part of, a series that they're doing.

They're doing all sort of, as the title says, sci fi music.

So symphonic versions of the Star Wars theme, interstellar theme, back to the future, those kinds of songs.

So it will be very recognizable to people, but it should be very cool.

So yeah.

And tickets for that are available at, Live Arts toledo.com.

Then we have on Saturday, also on Saturday.

So you could go from Freestyle Mania right on over to the Shamrock Shuffle and the Saint Patrick's Day celebration.

This doesn't start until 8 p.m.

on Saturday night.

It's a three mile run, not A5K.

It's I mean, it is so close to A5K, it is almost frustrating.

Like, it's it's like they set up the course and they were like, you know what?

Yeah.

Let's just move the finish line just a little bit closer.

Let's just do three.

Yeah.

So it starts at 8 p.m.. It ends in Henryville Park where they're going to have live music, food trucks and other sort of festivities.

This is put on sponsoring organization is walleye.

And I do believe there's still time to sign up for that.

I keep wanting to say five K for that, but for that three mile for that, almost.

If you if you don't think you're ready for A5K, yeah.

You could sign up and do this three mile run.

Yeah, I, I cannot I'm trying to come up with like what is the theme.

Right.

That could you know that like Jeep Fest does a four miler because of the four wheel drive.

And so I was like, oh well it's a three leaf clover.

There you go.

Oh it's four.

Yeah I don't know.

Now you explained to me earlier today who Saint Who Catterick is which I did not know.

Catterick is the mascot.

I thought, I thought it was just like a like a suit.

That's.

So spike is the fish okay.

And then Catterick is his friend and I was just going to say Spike in Catterick friends.

Yeah I think so.

But you think they hadn't fish right.

Natural enemies.

Especially because Catterick is a fisherman.

So he's not a cat though.

I mean he's also a cat.

Oh, that's how mascots work.

Gretchen.

They can be two things at once.

I only want realistic mascots.

Yeah, like money is both a mud hen and a baseball player.

And the boyfriend of Madonna.

I don't know if they've ever decided that.

Oh, what do you mean?

What else would they be?

A brother and sister.

They could be.

We're just neighbors sometimes.

Sometimes two people are just friends, Gretchen.

Sometimes they're just.

I don't know, All right, we need to get to the bottom of these of these relationships, this conversation with us all the time about Rocky and Rocky.

And it's like, what are they?

And no one knows.

It's clear they're brother and sister.

But I'm not sure about what they say.

So that's more you know what I'm saying?

Okay.

If you don't get if you continue to not want anything based in reality, you can go to Fantastic Con 2026, which again is Saturday and Sunday, at the Glass City Center.

This is a pretty big thing.

They go across the state and the country, comic books, pop culture, sort of like, a regional comicon, if you will.

Yeah.

Like, and it's pretty star studded.

Yes.

They're going to have some cool stuff.

They're going to have the original actor who is Eddie from The Munsters is going to be there.

Yep.

I don't know.

Eddie Munster.

Yeah.

Eddie Munster.

Yeah.

The Starsky and Hutch car is going to be there.

So it's basically like Marvel and Archie comic.

Folks, Gina Lee Nolan, who's that from?

Baywatch?

She gonna, like, sign, be signing autographs.

I don't know, she'll be there.

I imagine she's out and autographs.

Yeah.

So I'm just saying we get to, like, collectibles.

Just, you know, fun talks and that kind of stuff.

And, of course, all of these events, you can get there.

Yep.

By tada!

Check them out.

Save yourself some parking and save yourself some, environmental damage.

And, you know, turtle will get you there.

Of course, all of our top five events, every single week.

You can find them@toledo.com.

It's all part of our toledo.com community calendar driven by Tada.

When we come back, we'll continue this Thursday edition of the 419.

We'll be right back.

Support for the 419 comes from we Trow 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.

Introducing the Local Fred, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public Schools, and Rethinking Jails Injustice.

The local thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community here at weeknights at seven on FM 91, with early access on podcast platforms each morning.

It's a local thread only on GTV.

Welcome back into the 419.

We're always talking with great people that are making an incredible impact on the community, and right now is no exception.

We're talking with Shannon Bova from Sunshine Communities.

Shannon, thanks for being here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

If on the off chance that somebody has no idea who sunshine Communities is, let's let's start there and then we can get into who is Shannon Bova.

But for now, let's start with who.

Who is what is sunshine communities.

Well, if they don't know right, I know I may be a little offended.

Yeah, I'm just kidding.

So Sunshine Communities was founded in 1950, by two parent Roy and Georgia Angler, who, had five children of their own, all born with developmental disabilities.

And as they were aging, they were looking for a home to, allow their kids to be a part of.

As caring for them became a little bit difficult as they got older.

And so they traveled around the state of Ohio to find that place, and they couldn't find it.

Actually, what they found were things that just broke their heart.

State run institutions that just were not going to be acceptable for their children.

And so they came back to their little farmhouse on Miami Western Road, which is where we still are, and founded Sunshine Children's Home.

And as the story is told, they wanted to instill a little bit of sunshine into the lives of other families with kiddos, with developmental disabilities.

And, so they started that back in 1950.

And just as it sounds, we were a home for children, many of whom had Down's syndrome and weren't expected to live into adulthood.

But then they did.

And that's how we can have continued to evolve the last 77 years now.

It's such an interesting story about that time in 1950 when they did that, and that how they were affiliated with the town and or their neighbors and then the church.

Can you talk a little bit about that, about how they would get the washing done and how they would?

Yeah, Gretchen knows she's been a part of the story.

So, ironically, on a curious visit to the Andersons on 20 a, there was a family, a husband and wife, Raymond and Dora Singer, who were traveling from Poland County and farmers looking to go to Anderson's for some seed and, you know, marketing in 1950.

What was it?

I don't really even know, other than a sign out on our front lawn that said visitors welcome.

And, they did just that.

They came to see the space and what they did.

And that's when the relationship, not only with Fulton County in general, but the Mennonite church really started to blossom.

Dora would take mending, as it was called.

Georgette would leave clothing out on the front porch that needed patched or stitched or repaired.

And Dora and her, Mennonite friends from the churches out in Fulton County would come and pick up the clothing and take them back to their sewing groups.

And that's really how it started.

Just through the very curious visit of a visitor's welcome sign.

How did you come about?

To join the team at Sunshine Communities?

So almost ten years ago, I, I was working at the Boys and Girls Club with Billy Man.

Everyone knows Billy.

And my brother at the time was in the IT department at sunshine, and he said, you know, there's this position that's becoming available.

Are you interested?

And I said, no, I live this life personally.

I have my own kiddo, you know, who just turned 14 with significant disabilities and the thought of doing that all day, every day in my personal life.

And then and professionally and seeing the difficulties that my son and my family have gone through, I thought, there's no way.

And then I went to bed and slept on it, and I woke up and I'm like, that was the dumbest thing I could have ever thought.

Of course I want to do that.

And, you know, my son, nonverbal, has never spoken a word in his life, much like many of the individuals that we support at sunshine, who moved in with us as children and, and our aging 70, 80 years old and, it really has made such an impact on my life and the work that I do and wanting to be there.

And it's really just been an inspiring place to be a part of.

I mean, when you when you tell the story of the founding of, of sunshine and the anglers and like you know, hey, we've got this struggle that, you know, we're dealing with, we're not going to solve it for us.

We're going to solve it, you know, for everybody.

Like, that's not a natural resting position, right?

So the natural position is I deal with this in my personal life.

I don't want to deal with this, my professional life.

But it's it's incredible.

People, yourself included, that's a, Yeah.

You know what?

No.

I've got, unique experience and perspective on this.

I'm going to.

I'm going to give that.

And of course, for ten years, I mean, it from the outside looking in, it looks like you love the work that you're doing and you're having an incredible impact.

Yeah, I do, and I'm not really even doing the hard work to, to be honest.

Sure.

My team is responsible for raising the money and sharing, the amazing work that we do, but we have hundreds of direct care workers who are working for sunshine, who are really doing the hard work.

And by that I mean taking care of the individuals 24 hours a day, seven days a week, passing meds, feeding, repositioning, changing.

All of that is done on our main campus in Miami and then several of our homes out in the community.

And so they are really doing the hard work.

Let's talk a little bit more.

Just kind of nuts and bolts of what are the services that Sunshine Community provides, because it has evolved a lot in 77 years.

It really has in in.

So we have about 59 people who live on our main campus in Miami on 28.

They the individuals that are li there have a little bit more complex medical needs.

We have, dozens of nurses on staff that are caring for those individuals.

We have 19 people who live with us that are ventilator dependent, van or ventilator and or trick dependent.

And so their care is a little bit more, intensive.

We have a number of homes out in the community that, maybe there are some in your community who don't really even realize it.

And that's the purpose of what we do, to get individuals out into the community to experience a neighborhood friendships.

We have a vocational center on our main campus where over 100 people go every day.

Between 9 and 2 to learn daily life skills.

We have a transportation fleet, of almost 70 vehicles that you probably see out on the road all the time.

If you don't, you will now, because it's like that car you want to buy and you're going to see them a lot.

Now.

So we're transporting people from their home to day services to their job to medical appointments.

We have a barn.

We have a new goat.

Maybe you've seen that.

Now you've seen the goat.

Seen the goat, a baby.

And he travels around the office.

Oh.

That's awesome.

So?

So the the cost of this care must just be extraordinary.

And I know that it worries some to, families with all the changes in the federal law and the politics involved and all of that, how are what are what is sunshine doing to address?

I mean, is it just a constant need, for more support?

Yeah.

Good question.

So we are almost 100% funded through Medicaid and if you've been paying attention to the news, you know that oftentimes Medicaid is at risk.

Which is why the philanthropy and all of the things that we're doing behind the scenes are so critical to our operations.

We are nearly a $40 million annual, operating organization.

And again, most of that is through Medicaid reimbursement.

But the community support and the giving that we receive each and every year, we raise anywhere between 1 million and $2 million every year.

And that goes back into our programs and our services and all of those things that Medicaid is not funding.

And I often describe it as, yes, a roof over your head is important, but it's all those other things that really make life worth living and enjoyable.

It's, again, our other programs and services.

It's our transportation to get people out into the community to really live a fulfilling life.

All of the money that we raise goes back in to all of those operations that Medicaid.

It's critical funding, don't get me wrong, but there is a gap in our philanthropy, and the support of our community helps us fill that gap.

We had, Phil Skelton on the podcast, and he talked about his own experiences with his daughter and, kind of the work and the challenges that, you know, that the burden that puts on a family.

And what a relief.

You know, the relief that he gets as a, as a parent to have the support, from sunshine.

Let's talk a little bit.

You've got a couple other kind of, you know, entries into the community where folks might interact with you.

It's it's not necessarily driving by and stopping in to say, hey, what can I do to help?

But, you know, you've got a coffee shop you've got in our studio.

Talk to me a little bit about those.

Well, we would love to have you stop in for a tour first and foremost.

But yeah.

So, Georgette surrounding gifts is owned and operated by Sunshine as the sunshine Art Studios.

And both of those are located in Uptown Miami.

Downtown, Uptown, whichever you prefer.

Village idiot is sandwiched in between so you can have some coffee, maybe some pizza.

Go do some artwork and then nice do it all over again.

But the art studios in Georgia a supported employment opportunities.

So, individuals who maybe want to learn about money or even just interaction with customers, they can gain that experience through our coffee shop and through the art studio.

You know, you may remember the great cup of coffee that you're going to have, but really, what you're going to remember is the person that brought you that cup of coffee.

And, you know, we have so many wonderful people that are working at both of those locations that, will really make an impact on your life for the better.

And as much as you would love to see them, they love the people that come in and support them every day and they've built relationships with.

It's amazing to think of the transition, what's happened over the last 77 some odd years where families would institutionalize individuals.

It was a secret, you know, all of a sudden just the sister's gone, right?

I mean, even in very prominent families like the Kennedy family, that this this happened.

Right.

And why is it important to have a, an art gallery right in downtown Miami that anyone can walk into and buy the artwork and interact, with individuals with sunshine, you know, March specifically is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, which is why I'm wearing this shirt.

Choose to include it's more than just a phrase.

It's more than just a T shirt campaign to raise a little bit of money.

It's actually putting the action behind the for the phrase, am I that I mean, I can come here and speak about the great work that we do.

But really, what we want to see happen is beyond the awareness come to our campus, be a part of our community events.

Because not only is it important for the community to be a part of the work that we're doing, but also for the individuals that we support, to continue to build those relationships.

And, you know, we we hope through the the support of the community and all of these events that we're doing to highlight Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month and really just share how wonderful those folks are with the world.

That's really what's changed, is that there's not this stigma and there's not this fear.

We are part of them, and they are a part of us.

And that's really the heart of what it is that we're trying to do.

We're talking with Shannon Bova from Sunshine Communities.

You mentioned the choose to include t shirt that you're wearing.

Of course other folks can pick that up as well as it's part of two modes here for good campaign.

We're 50% of all sales.

Come back to support your organization, and support your mission.

What?

You know, as you, as you look to kind of this campaign and kind of what you guys are doing, what's what's the goal?

Well, specifically for this month, there's there's a couple of opportunities if, if you really want to learn more about the work that we're doing.

And I and I'm willing to bet that somewhere along your life or whoever's watching, they know someone that has a loved one with a developmental disability, or they know someone who's actually lived out sunshine or has worked out sunshine.

And that oftentimes is what happ We would love to meet them.

And we would love for them to to come out and be a part of it.

We have a couple of events coming up that if you're curious to see the work that we're doing, on March 11th, from 1230 to 130 on our main campus, we're having an ice cream social.

If you've been to our campus at all, every Friday in the summer, we have ice cream socials and I mean right now every Friday.

That's amazing.

Right?

And so now we're we're opening up to the community on March 11th to to be a part of that and see how exciting it is and meet the folks that we support.

In addition to that, on March 25th, we are renting out Imagination Station, the the entire oh my goodness, the entire space.

It's not just reserved for the individuals that we support and their families, but for the community as well, for a sensory friendly space.

Maybe you have a loved one and you're looking for potential support, whether that be residential or vocational.

Come out, learn a little bit of what we're doing, meet some of the people, the employees, and just be a part of our community as well.

So there's a number of ways this month to get involved.

But every summer we have concerts on our main campus.

Outside, we have a new inclusive playground that we just built.

So there are many, many ways to get involved that way.

Or even just through volunteer activities, we, we see about 22,000 volunteer hours come through.

That's amazing within every year.

And maybe you like to lay mulch and get your hands dirty.

I don't, but maybe you don't either.

Maybe you prefer a friendship visit we have.

Like I said, we have babies.

We have adults aging into their 80s.

And, maybe you want to read a story or play the guitar or just go for a walk outside.

There's so many different ways to get involved.

I know you know this, in your professional life, when you're when you miss a meeting, you're the one that gets signed up for all the things.

So let's just sign Matt up to do all the march, all the all the things that's going to get signed up for that he is in trouble.

It'll be done.

But we can still sign up.

But I was prepared for the jokes and I know I'm sorry.

We're not we're not as funny as you know.

We're just not.

We're just that we can.

All right.

We're talking with Shannon Bova from Sunshine Community.

When we come back, I want to talk a little bit more about, the individuals and I just I'm kind of just from my perspective as a parent.

Kind of.

I want to pick your brain about how do I parent my kids and, and build that acceptance and inclusion and compassion.

All right.

So we'll come right back after a break here on the 419.

To me, community means connecting to others.

I'm Dani Miller, and welcome to the point I last many actions.

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Welcome back into the 419.

We're talking with Shannon Bova from Sunshine Communities.

During the break you mentioned.

So we talk about your jets, incredible coffee shop in uptown Miami.

You guys just wrapped up Restaurant Week and you're going right into Coffee Quest.

Yeah.

So be there, right?

Yeah.

Come drink the coffee.

We another component of that business that I don't know that people are aware of is that, you can find us at your local grocery stores.

Not only at the grocery stores, but a lot of businesses in the surrounding area have chosen to swap out there.

I won't name other names that appropriate, but they've swapped out their every store.

Bought coffee?

Yes.

Or bulk coffee maybe that they get from, you know, other distributors.

And they swap that, swapped that out and have chosen to serve George's coffee instead.

And at a risk of asking an overly simplified question like, how does that actually help?

So every dollar that is goes into the cafe goes back to sunshine, whether that be through coffee that you've purchased at the cafe or through our wholesale distributor.

Like I said, through the grocery store, you can go to Fresh Market, you can go to own net, you can go to orders, and you can pick up a bag of our coffee and proceeds from every, every sale of that goes back into that organization.

That's such an easy flip in a workplace.

Anything like.

That's right.

We're going to we're going to give away coffee anyway.

Let's do it where it's making a difference.

All right.

So I'm curious, as a parent, at the risk of asking like, an overly personal question, but for me, you know, when, when I'm out with my kids and, and they see an individual with, you know, disabilities, whether they be developmental disabilities or physical disabilities, they're curious.

And, you know, I was raised in a family where you don't ask questions, and you sure, you don't stare and you don't point, you don't do those things.

And so now, as a parent, I'm embarrassed when my kids are doing that.

Kevin's parents didn't talk to him.

That's true.

That's also true.

But, like, what's what's the right approach?

What do we do?

Well, great question.

And first and foremost, I think being curious is completely normal.

And truly, for I will speak for me as a parent.

You know, there were times where my son had a feeding tube in his nose, so it's in his nose, it's all taped to his face, and kids are pointing and looking, which I understand.

Same with somebody who maybe in a wheelchair.

Or maybe they're traveling with their ventilator equipment.

It's okay to be curious and it's okay to ask questions.

And I think as a parent, how you handle that matters.

And I think to reinforce that it's okay to ask questions, and just share to your child or somebody who's asking that they're just like you and me.

They want to be a part of the community.

They want to go out and do all the things, all the fun things, and really no different.

Sure.

Certainly they may have a little bit of extra support and equipment and things to make that outing a little bit easier for them.

But at the end of the day, they truly are just like you and me.

And I welcome the questions and I love the curiosity.

And, you know, to go back to my something I said early on, come out to sunshine and see and allow your child to be a part of that.

You know, I have a nine year old daughter who, my son is non-verbal.

She speaks all the time, makes up for it, oftentimes with attitudes and roles and all the things.

And she this is all she knows with her brother.

And so ever friends, when her friends come over, you know, they high five.

They do all the things with him you would just normally do with any other typically developing child and or adult.

And so I would encourage a parent or just an adult to, love the curiosity and just answer it with love that they're just like you and I. So you have two you have two children I know from social media your daughter is very involved in, I think, dance Right competitions and all of that.

And you have your son, of course.

And you have this full time job.

What do you do when you have downtime?

If you ever have that?

My answer is really lame.

I don't do anything that's laying down flat.

Yes, that's that's really not completely true.

It is true.

Actually.

I you know, I just like to go out and explore restaurants and hang out with my girlfriends, and, I love a good glass of red wine.

Are you a dance, mom?

That's a yes.

Define dance.

I mean, the fact that you have to ask, do you ever stand in front of someone at a mirror taking your picture off and putting people, the girls in a pyramid to say who's the best dancer?

No, but we have watched that show up.

Okay, so I know you know not to do that.

No, but it competitive dance world.

Yes.

It's a different world.

Yes it is.

But she's my daughter is typically shy, reserved.

She goes up on stage and she's wearing these little outfits playing full face of makeup and the faces, and I'm like, I, I don't like, who is that child?

What is this character that she's doing?

So yeah, if I'm not out, you know, just exploring the town and having a good meal and glass of wine, I probably may be taking a nap.

Yeah, that's probably wise.

I think you probably need it many.

We're talking with Shannon Bova from Sunshine Communities.

Just a little bit about you.

Where where are you from?

Because you grew up in the area, I did, yeah.

I am a boulder grad.

I Bowling Green State University for college.

I was an English major.

My dad was always like, what are you going to do with that?

I don't know, and then just one day it changed, and I, I graduated college, and I actually moved out to Phoenix, Arizona for a couple of years.

Oh, wow.

Didn't love it.

Yeah.

I had, like, astroturf for my front yard with rocks and snakes and scorpions in my house, and I look at me, I can't I can't handle that.

I'm not dealing with scorpions.

No.

So I actually my job, moved me from Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

And that's actually where Reese was born.

But then given all the difficulties and things like that, I moved back here, and I've been here.

13 years.

So what was the job that you got back here?

The one with Boys and Girls Club?

It was that, I so ironically, the shift I was in magazine publishing and, when my son was born, we were blessed to be part of a community that rallied behind us, had fundraisers to help offset the astronomical medical bills that we were experiencing as first time parents.

And I had decided that if I need to go back to work, which I did, I needed to be doing something that was more meaningful.

And so that's when I made the shift into nonprofit work and started, at a homeless shelter for women in Findlay and then the Boys and Girls Club and then sunshine ten years later.

That's amazing.

And you've been at sunshine for how long?

Ten.

Ten.

Oh, well, almost.

Yeah.

I mean, doing great work there around.

We'll call it ten.

That's totally fine.

Talk to us about you, about your team, about the folks at sunshine.

I mean, you've got great employees that have been there for a long time.

We got them out.

I don't think people realize just how large the campus we have.

We have almost 29 acres.

In addition to that, we have about 415 ish employees.

Wow.

Yeah, I again, I don't I don't think people realize the how large we are and just the complexities of the individuals that that live with us.

It's no longer a three year old little kid with down syndrome.

It's anywhere from a baby that was just born to an 80 year old.

And it's the full life circle, right?

So range of medical needs and support needs.

Yeah.

Incredible story.

Of the work that Sunshine's doing.

And of course, there was the Toledo stories that we produced about sunshine communities.

You can find it on the new web app.

And you brought us a what's that for?

Our bookshelf of the anglers.

That's so awesome.

This is, a little boy named Haskell.

He came to live with us when he was three.

His parents heard us on a a radio show.

Ironically enough, and from the Maryland area.

And he came and lived with us at three, and he passed away last year.

Oh my goodness, late 60s.

Wow.

So we'll put this on our bookshelf.

Thank you so much for bringing it.

All right.

It's now time to play Gretchen's wacky quiz.

Gretchen doesn't participate.

I've always wanted to be on a game show.

Well, here we go for rapid fire questions from me.

Gretchen is going to do your favorite thing in or about Toledo, and then we'll work with you together to come up with nine words to describe Toledo.

I mean, all of them should be should be.

She's prepared already on Mac killing Mac.

Go back.

Go back.

Go.

We should say the best parts about Toledo.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right.

What is the what is your ultimate comfort food?

Oh, gosh.

Tacos.

I knew you were gonna say that because it's the only answer that's available.

That's not true.

Grilled cheese sandwich.

No.

It's it's mac and cheese and all.

Great.

But.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

If you had to share a bedroom with one family member, who would you choose?

That's a weird question.

Yeah, I don't I don't write them.

Family member.

Yeah.

Any family?

I mean, you wanna choose a celebrity instead?

Is that what you.

Well, no.

No, that's weird.

I'll just say my kids, because they sleep in bed with me anyway.

Often, and it's lovely, so.

Okay.

Say that.

What's your favorite way to travel?

As in, to get there?

I didn't write the question.

Yes, an airplane, because I don't want to be in a car for longer than 30 minutes.

What's what's the, the barrier for you, like a trip?

That is how far you say I'm flying versus driving.

Yeah, it depends on for mental with me.

If I'm right, I. Sometimes I enjoy the peace and quiet, driving long distances by myself.

But if I'm with children and or family members, please, for the love, just get us there as fast as we can.

Yes.

Get this.

What's something that makes you happy when you're having a bad day?

Oh.

I think just the people that I surround myself with really?

Okay.

What's your number one most favorite thing?

Or what you consider to be the best thing about the city of Toledo?

Generosity.

I feel like I have to say that, but I don't have to just say that I've been able to not only be a part of it personally and professionally, and I. I think that we live in a very, extremely generous and giving community here for nine words.

Let's go.

I got the list right here.

You ready?

Yes.

Okay.

Go ahead.

Creative okay.

Underrated.

All right.

Growing okay.

Proud okay.

Home.

Nice.

Community minded.

Is that too hyphenated?

Okay.

Another hyphenated.

Often weather confused.

Oh, gosh.

As of this week.

Yes.

Okay.

Well-rounded.

Okay.

An opportunity that's so good.

I can tell you prepare Shannon Boston with sunshine communities.

Folks want more information.

Where can they find it?

Sunshine.org.

All right.

And the shirts are at here for good or available@gitmo through March 22nd.

Yes.

All right.

Imagination station Georgia studios.

Come on by for to our main campus.

Love to show you around.

Thank you.

Shannon.

Shannon, thank you so much for joining us.

When we come back, Kelly, hearing from Destination Toledo talks all things coffee Quest Georgia.

That's just one of the many stops you can make on your coffee quest.

Over the next three months, we'll be right back on the 419.

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We Trail Wealth Management, where we understand that your financial path is personal.

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

More information at Retro advisors.com Destination Toledo.

Whether you're a local or 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.org works.

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More information@tada.com.

Welcome back into the 419.

We just wrapped up a conversation with Shannon Bova from Sunshine Communities and Georgette Coffee.

We mentioned that they're participating in Coffee Quest, so let's dive in and learn a little bit more about Coffee Quest.

Our friend Carly from Destination Toledo joins us.

Thank you for being here again.

Thank you for being here.

My favorite topic is coffee.

Where to get it?

How much to how much to drink it.

But now we have further incentive.

So Coffee Quest kicks off March 14th.

Yes, nation Toledo is is putting this forward.

What is it?

So Coffee Quest is a coffee challenge or coffee adventure however you want to or just decent coffee exploration of the Toledo area?

We have 29 local businesses participating this year, 31 possible locations you could go to.

So you have three months to finish it, though you have time, you do it also this weekend, right?

Don't try to finish it too fast.

But yes, you have plenty of time to finish it.

No harm can befall you for drinking coffee.

We have.

We.

Okay, well, let's get it.

You might disagree with.

No, but, I mean, other than dying, there's nothing bad that can happen.

I don't think that's pretty bad.

I mean, I'm not a fan of that, but you don't have to just get coffee.

You can get tea.

There's breakfast goods, there's baked goods.

There's.

I mean, every shop has something different.

Okay.

Every shop has a different story.

Every shop has a different vibe, something awesome about it.

So you can take your time.

Okay.

All right.

Yes.

And we can switch it up.

Yeah.

I think that's part of like.

I mean, you guys are a part of Restaurant Week.

We just, you know, wrapped up kind of week.

So exciting.

Celebrate some of that on this program.

It's an opportunity to get outside your comfort zone, right.

Like for me, I mean, I love sip, and so that is my go to.

I got to meet somebody.

I got to go get, like, that's where I go.

And I'm not a coffee drinker, but it's our neighborhood place.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

SIP all the time.

But this is an opportunity for me to discover some new places that maybe I drive by and just haven't gone in yet.

Or maybe I have no idea that they exist.

Where?

How far is the radius for Coffee Quest?

So, for this one to, you know, we have our kind of outbound ones are we have one and see on, Red Rambler.

That's probably the furthest one.

That out that way we have, random acts of Walbridge.

The other direction.

Our furthest north, I believe, is casual grounds and into the area.

And then, we have a couple in Bowling Green, so we kind of cover the Toledo area.

And and stay true to these are your local coffee shops, but everyone's neighborhood is not it's not where your neighborhood is.

So everybody starting the class from a different point, which kind of, encouraged us to kind of expand it when we took it over.

So we wanted it to truly be an exploration of the entire area.

Yeah.

And so how do people track it?

Like what are what are they using to to know where they've been and that kind of thing.

Yeah.

So there's a digital passport.

And you put it on your phone, you sign up the same way you signed up for the restaurant.

We passport.

If folks have ever done the air trail historically or done coffee class in the past couple years, same process.

If you did coffee twice before, you do have to sign up again.

So they just sign up.

It goes right to their phone with a text message.

They have that mobile passport on their phone.

And then with that, there is a QR code at every location that's specific to that location.

So they have to scan it after they make their purchase when they're there.

And then they can check in that way.

And then with the check ins, they get points and they can redeem the points for prizes.

So how does this connect to like why is definite Destination Toledo doing this?

Well, we actually didn't create Coffee Quest.

It was created by the coffee shops.

There have been a group of local coffee shops that had, really created this for themselves to be able to, you know, kind of support each other, support the coffee community.

It boost business during time of the year that they needed it.

And, really they done it a few years on and, off and on and approached us and said, we have businesses to run.

You guys do these things for your job so you can see these things really well, could you help us?

And we we said we would love to.

We said we want to put it a digital pass instead of a paper pass.

And we want to do a few other things like expand it and things like that.

And they said, great, that sounds good.

And since then we've been, you know, we've been we kept a lot of the traditions that the coffee shops had started with, but, you know, implemented some new things as well.

What are they saying?

Have you heard back from the businesses that are participating about what they see during this time period?

They love it.

It's it's for people who, you know, are getting a lot of regular customers.

It's like a fun new time to see some new faces for maybe some of the shops that their daily foot traffic is less than, maybe some of the more centralized locations.

It's it's bringing awareness, like you said, to their shops and maybe, maybe they're discovering them for the first time and they become a regular there.

So they're loving the new faces.

People get excited.

They get excited to have, you know, where their t shirts every year they do.

People like to meet ups with friends or, you know, go on and do mother daughter, like we're going to do coffee klatch together.

So those are the really cool things that people share on social media with us, that it's about the community, it's about doing it together.

It's about supporting local businesses.

That's the stuff we love to see.

You mentioned traditions.

What are some of the traditions that that exist around coffee Quest?

So one of the traditions that I really love is that, the Coffee Quest branding, it has always been a different theme every year.

So we, we always work with a local designer for years, Jacob PA, who's a really talented local designer, created it and Jacob honestly gave us the idea.

He was like, guys, I want other people to be able to do this.

You know, I love doing Coffee Quest, but I would love to see other artists do this.

It's a way to get out of work.

We Jacob, but we and Jacob on the podcast.

Jacob is so smart and he.

But he likes to share the same sort of concept around the flag.

You know, some other design stuff that he's that he's done.

So I mean that that doesn't surprise me that he's going, let's, let's share the love.

And he's I mean, he's a great friend of mine.

And like you said, very intelligent.

Yeah.

I'm like, that's a fantastic idea.

I love that, he did help us create the we kind of created evergreen branding for, for it, which you can kind of see on the like this logo, I like that.

But the other the other times that we've had it, we've changed the designer.

So, we had him do the first year that we took over Allison Bridges ski, did it last year and then this year, our designer thing is Allison Blankenship, and she, is another local designer, so that's great.

I try to rotate and work with the local community and, you know, just kind of have something fun with the theme each year.

And we let them kind of take some inspiration and let us know what inspires them about it and take it in a different direction.

How many of these coffee shops are you going to hit in the next three months?

I do my best.

I have not ever finished it.

Does anybody I mean, does anybody finish all that is the goal is to get it's like, you know, several hundred people finish it every year.

What do you get if you finish?

What are you entered to win or whatever if you finish it?

Like what?

So let me take you through the prizes.

So we have like a few tears.

So your first prize is always your sticker.

We do a sticker every year.

That's another tradition.

That we've kept in place as we, we like to doing a sticker.

And then the next prize this year is a cool patch and it says drink local coffee.

Nice.

I love that like a clothing patch.

Are these you earn these by a certain number of check ins or it's a raffle or so they're points.

So that's what you get your points in the past.

And then there's a rewards tab in the patch.

And you can basically cash them in for the prizes.

They're meant to do them in order.

So so if you visit, the majority of them, you can collect them all.

And then another tradition that we've kept alive is that t shirt.

The t shirts have always been part of the quest.

Granted, now that you have more, you have to go to to get the t shirt.

But that is, printed by Ju Bo, who is sponsor of Coffee Quest, a big supporter of ours.

So that t shirt is still a prize.

And then if you finish all the locations, which this year would be 29, then we do you entered into when one of three coffee baskets that we do and basically we, you know, have a collection of different items and gift cards and things like that from the coffee shop.

And by that time you would be terribly addicted.

So you would need or to win the basket terribly well.

First, to decide which coffee you.

Yes.

Either one either scenario.

As far as my with me, is it possible for the 419 to be a single entity and us just divide and conquer and so we each get, okay, we can't all have the same share, the same parcel.

You have to earn it.

You have to earn it.

I just love it.

No, no, no, I so that's with a smile.

No, you can, you can tell Kelly's a mom.

Yeah.

Did you deliver that?

Very.

Yeah.

I don't care to that.

Was it gentle parenting?

Where can people find information on Coffee Quest?

So visit toledo.org/coffee quest for one nine.

We also have our, Coffee quest social media channels, coffee cups for nine.

You can find information on both of those.

You can sign up for the pass now, even before the actual, quest starts.

Encourage everybody to do that.

So that way they can check it out, see how it works, get comfortable with it.

If they have questions.

All of that, and then plot out their plans because there's a map feature in there.

There's a near me function.

So if you're in a side of town you're not normally and you use area function, find the local coffee shop.

So you just got to work at the got work kid.

You got work at.

Yeah.

What's something else that Destination Toledo was looking forward to this summer that you're working on?

We're really excited about party in the Park, really excited about all the downtown events going on.

I mean, we we're our office is in the convention center.

We're in the heart of downtown.

We love, you know, when you love us.

And being able to go check out the food trucks and there's tons of local, you know, local events going on all the time, big festivals, all of that.

We just love all of that.

Are you going to be at all responsible for bringing in all the dirt for the, monster truck thing this weekend?

I have tickets to monster trucks.

It's so much fun.

It is.

And we will be going again.

Yeah, and we're very excited.

Last year, we didn't even know all the ins and outs of this.

But this year, we are.

We are well-versed.

How were you by how were you better prepared this year to to attend?

I know exactly who's going to be there.

I know grave Digger.

Yes.

Grave digger right there.

You got sons, right?

Yes, yes.

So they're going to be way, way into it.

Yes, yes, yes.

Do you have the headphones that are tires?

We are just normal headphones.

We also have earplugs.

That was a good.

Yeah, we put that away last year.

We are ready.

We are excited now.

Do you wear the ponchos in like in the to be in the front row?

In, Okay.

All right.

You don't have ponchos.

I thought I put in something that we had my truck.

We were in one of the rows, and I thought we not ponchos, but I think we put pulled up, like, trash bags or something so the dirt wouldn't get on us.

Like people in the front rows.

We're doing that.

We have more of a bird's eye view situation.

Got it.

Not so in the dark in the early or my thinking of the guys early 50s.

So it's not SeaWorld in the early 50s and 60s when you started going.

Yes, it was different.

Yeah.

They didn't want to keep the dirt dry.

So we got wet.

There's nothing they could do.

But now they have technology.

Talk to me.

Coffee quest, let's highlight folks that have been a part of it the whole time.

And then who are some of the newer, newer folks to Coffee Quest this year?

Yeah.

So we have, you know, some of the kind of the OGs you have, like your Maddie and Bella chef coffee brew, black kite coffee.

I there's so many that have been a part of it for years.

And then our new ones this year, common grounds out in Perrysburg Township.

That's new one we're excited about.

Jamie.

Is a new one as well.

So familiar with the Giacconi track.

Yeah.

They, they're in the Innovation center downtown.

People were raving about them this year for Restaurant Week, too.

Oh.

So good.

Yeah.

You just continue to continue the fun.

We we did a staff meeting there.

We were really excited about it.

Also new this year.

House of coffee.

If you have not been downtown awesome environment.

And they're just like super friendly Barrier Street downtown.

I'm Madison.

Madison I'm Perry yes you're right, that's it.

And right by the Huntington Center.

Yep.

And then Ernest's at the wheelhouse, as a new addition this year.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, they have, I've heard some really cool flavors that kind of go with the beers.

I'm not a beer drinker, but I am a coffee drinker, so maybe that's that's my angle.

And if we were here, we could be like the Metroparks.

I mean, if Matt were here, but he's not, so we're not going to talk about it.

I think he I think you just did.

Oh darn it.

Yeah.

That's okay.

He's here in spirit.

He's right over your shoulder there.

You can like, see my.

Yeah.

We're gonna have to change that image.

Yeah.

We just need to, like, it's the, I need the old, like, VCR screensaver.

You need our logo just to bounce around the screen.

There's Atari bouncing.

Yeah.

That's right.

I'm not too old to know.

Yeah.

Pong is not what it was.

I do remember all the pong is a separate game.

Oh, see, this is how he is aging.

Really?

So doesn't.

Okay.

Yeah.

I'm old.

No, he tries to act like he doesn't know what that game is because I'm still.

I know what pong is.

Oh, this just wasn't what I was talking about.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Carly.

Thank you.

So what, people want more information on Coffee Quest, dawg?

You can find all the information there.

Coffee quest four and nine on social media.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me do.

Thanks for supporting this program.

Very excited.

You.

We're excited to be able to tell great stories, across the community about cool things that are happening around the region.

Sure.

Today, Gretchen's report back about Monster Jam also.

Oh, I'll give you the full report.

I'll give you a live update.

Please do.

Awesome.

Tag the 419 on social media.

That sounds great.

Carly, thank you so much for joining us.

When we come back, we'll wrap up this Thursday edition of the 419 every day when you laugh with us, you learned with us.

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The local thread only on W ght.

Welcome back into the 419 as we wrap up a Thursday edition.

Took a look at our toledo.com community calendar driven by Tada and some of the top events happening in the region.

Of course, you can find all of them online@toledo.com.

Thanks to Shannon Bova from Sunshine Communities for joining us on the program, talking about all the great things that are happening at sunshine.

Of course, you can head to the Ju mode website and get your here for good cheer and support.

Sunshine communities that are participating in Coffee Quest as well.

Thanks to Carly from Destination Toledo for joining us.

Talking all things Coffee Quest.

Visit toledo.org/coffee Quest 419, something like that.

I'm going to start the Coffee Quest March 14th.

Yeah, this this Saturday.

It's all kicking off.

If you missed any part of the show, you got a bunch of great opportunities to, catch up on it.

Going to be 7 a.m.

on YouTube, 3 p.m.

on FM 91 and Toledo, Brian Defiance and Lima, 6 p.m.

on connect channel 30.4, of course.

Online 24 over seven at Morgan the 419 or download the new wget app.

Thanks to all of our guests and thanks to you for watching the 419 powered by GT, presented by Retro Wealth Management at the 419, powered by GT, is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.