Episode 136

full
Published on:

14th Jan 2025

A Night at the Races with Kewaskum Friends of Parks

We’re off to the races! This week, I’m joined by Anna Cain and Bekki Scheel of Kewaskum Friends of Parks to talk about their exciting inaugural event, A Night at the Races. Taking place on Friday, January 31, 2025, at Foundry 45 in Kewaskum, this Derby-themed fundraiser will support the group’s mission to enhance the village’s parks system.

Anna and Bekki share details about the event, including what to expect (spoiler: there’s video horse betting, prizes, and Kentucky Derby-inspired food and drinks), as well as their ambitious plans to improve Kewaskum parks with projects like:

• A beer garden with a community room at Kiwanis Park

• A kayak launch at River Hill Park

• An all-abilities playground at Kiwanis

If you’re looking for a fun way to support your community, grab your Derby hat, buy your tickets, and join in the fun!

Episode Highlights:

• Meet Anna Cain and Bekki Scheel and learn about Kewaskum Friends of Parks.

• Details about A Night at the Races event.

• A sneak peek at the park improvement projects in the works.

• How you can get involved and make a difference.


Event Details:

A Night at the Races

Friday, January 31, 2025

5–11 PM

Foundry 45, Kewaskum, WI

Tickets available on Eventbrite.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Kewaskum Friends of Parks on Facebook: Facebook

• Tickets for A Night at the Races: Eventbrite

Connect with Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz:

• Website: fuzzmartin.com

Thank you for supporting Kewaskum Friends of Parks and for tuning in to another episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz! Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review—it really helps!

Transcript
Fuzz Martin:

Hello, fine listener.

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It's been about a month.

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I hope you're doing well.

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My name is Fuzz Martin, and this

is a podcast about positive things

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happening in and around Washington

County, Wisconsin called Fifteen Minutes

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with Fuzz, and each week I chat with

someone from the local community about

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positive things happening in our area.

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Take care.

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Bye.

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Since it's been a month, I'm a

little out of practice and forgot

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to record the intro in the studio,

so I'm using a different microphone.

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So if it sounds different, that's why.

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If you can't tell that's because,

man, I've been editing audio

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since my first radio gig at 104.

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5 WSLD, your home in the country,

uh, since I was 17 years old.

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And at that time, by the way, I went

by the name Fuzzy the Weekend Guy.

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And then when I turned 18, because

I was an adult, I dropped the Y and

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that's how I became Fuzz, origin story.

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Anyway, enough strolling down memory lane.

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Today, we are speaking with Anna

Cain and Bekki Scheel of Kewaskum

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Friends of Parks about their upcoming.

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A Night at the Races fundraiser, which

is taking place on Friday, January 31st

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at Foundry 45, right here in Kewaskum.

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It's a great event at a great

venue for a great cause.

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It's going to help some

of our great parks.

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And with that, here are 15 minutes on A

Night at the Races with Bekki Scheel and

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Anna Cain on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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Bekki

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and Anna, thank you so much for joining me

again here at Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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Can you start by telling us for

those who maybe hadn't listened

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to the First episode that we did

together, which was for the Pints

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Polka event that you had, last year.

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Can you please tell us about

Kewaskum Friends of Park, what the

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group is about, what inspired its

creation, and what is your mission?

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Anna Cain: So, Kewaskum Friends

of Parks is a non profit.

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We, have a board of now eleven people.

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Our goal is basically to maintain

and improve the parks in Kewaskum.

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So, lots of goals in mind and

what we are fundraising for.

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Fuzz Martin: Excellent.

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So what role do parks play

in the Kewaskum community?

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Why is it so important to

maintain and also improve them?

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Bekki Scheel: I think the parks

in Kewaskum are really beautiful

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and we have some really great

groundwork that's already laid out.

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Just some of the places and buildings

and so on in our parks are just a

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little bit outdated and I think that

there's some really great opportunities

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to build up those areas and help to

draw people to utilize our parks.

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In a way better, more amazing way.

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Fuzz Martin: Yeah, than

they're currently being used.

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Right?

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Absolutely.

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Bekki Scheel: We want to

see people out in the parks.

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We want to see people

utilizing these public spaces.

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We want to host events in the parks.

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We want kids to be able

to play in the parks.

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We want to draw people to other, from

other communities to our community

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to show them how awesome Kewaskum is.

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And I think improving some of

the parks that we already have.

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We'll really go a long way.

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Fuzz Martin: Sure.

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And, obviously, I'm gonna speak from

a politician's standpoint right now.

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There's not a whole lot of funds

from taxes and things like that that

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can go to this, so that's where An

organization such as yours is important

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to helping support that, right?

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Yeah.

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Bekki Scheel: And every

community has a Parks Depart or

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a parks friend of Parks group.

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Mm-hmm . Like what we have, ours is

just, you know, newer to inception and

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we're just getting the ball rolling.

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But there's a lot of other communities

that have these parks group that

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have done really cool things

within their communities, and I

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think that that's our goal is to.

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Find the inspiration from some of

these other parks groups and see what

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they've done and how we can replicate

and do awesome things in Kewaskum too.

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Fuzz Martin: What are some of the key

projects that Kewaskum Friends of Parks

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are, what are the projects that you

are currently working on for the parks?

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Bekki Scheel: Yeah, we have probably

like a top three I would say right

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now that we've kind of identified with

community help and within our group.

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So, the first one is, once the Kewaskum

pool was closed down, we have this

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beautiful blank space up there.

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We really have some big intentions

to put a community room slash beer

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garden, a place that people can rent

out a space to have a bridal shower,

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a graduation party, a family reunion

that has indoor and outdoor space that

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we can use year round in Kewaskum,

and also attach to it a really cool.

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Beer Garden stage area where we can

also host outdoor events, and, and have

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just a really nice community space.

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another one that I have some

passion for is a kayak launch.

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I think we have a completely underutilized

river space in one of our beautiful

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Kewaskum parks and being able to access

that river in a, a fully different way.

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Then what we've been able to

utilize it for, fishing, kayaks, get

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people out on the water would be a

really, a really neat thing to do.

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And then I think Anna would

probably take the, the last big

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project that we have our eyes on.

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Anna Cain: Yeah, the last project, that

will hopefully be in the area of the, Old

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Pond would be the All Abilities Playground

that we are currently working on building

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and coming up with the renderings for.

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Fuzz Martin: All of these things obviously

take money to make that happen, and

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in some cases a lot of money, right?

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That's where fundraising events

come in, and Kewaskum Friends of

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Parks has a big night coming up on

Friday, January 31st from 5 to 11 p.

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m.

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at Foundry 45 in Kewaskum.

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Can you walk us through

a night at the races?

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And what attendees can

expect at the event.

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Bekki Scheel: Absolutely.

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So, part of getting, Kewaskum Friends

of Parks name out there is trying to do

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some of these really fun, creative events,

and the Night of the Races came from,

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one of our members attending a similar

Kentucky Derby themed event out of state.

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The night will be at Foundry

45, which is a really beautiful

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venue right in our own community.

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So, What you do is you buy a ticket, you

come, get in the door, we have a wonderful

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menu from Crave Catering that's going

to be doing Kentucky Derby style food,

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beverages, and a dessert bar, we will

have the projector, uh, on the stage,

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so Everybody will be able to watch these

live horse races, like a DVD or a video

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of some horse races that, you know, might

s, might be from the:

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They're not the Kentucky Derby that

you can Google to see who wins.

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It's some obscure horse races, but

you'll be actually watching live footage

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of horse races prior to every race.

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Every attendee will have the

opportunity to buy some funny

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money, like Monopoly cash.

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They can use that Monopoly money

to place their bets on the horses.

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Everybody will have a brochure

with the horse names, the, the

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horse odds, and you can make some

educated guesses on how to try to

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figure out who you want to root for.

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And then collectively as a big group

of hopefully 300 plus people, we'll

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all be able to cheer on the horses

and watch each race individually.

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Winners get called up on stage,

congratulated, and then they

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win tickets that they can enter

to win some awesome prizes.

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Fuzz Martin: Can you talk about

what some of those prizes are

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that people are able to win?

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Anna Cain: So, yeah, we have lots of

very fantastic prizes that have been

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graciously donated by so many people.

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We have a free membership for Honey

Corp golf course that they donated.

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Ace Hardware has donated a Blackstone.

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We have Chainsaw.

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We have a nice cooler, Drexel

donated some of that stuff.

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We have also kayaks that are going to be

there, as well as paddle board, portable

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pick a ball net, anything that kind of

has to do with, obviously, the parks.

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Fuzz Martin: Again, that event

goes from 5 to 11 on the 31st.

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How much are tickets for people to get in?

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Bekki Scheel: Tickets

are 60 per individual.

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We also have, some tables

that are available.

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So.

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a larger group or a business can

get a VIP table, kind of a front

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row seat with some extra fixings,

to view the horse races also.

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Fuzz Martin: Great, and if people

want to get tickets or buy a

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table for their organization,

what's the best way to do so?

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Bekki Scheel: Yeah, we have an online

link that you can use that we can,

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send out or find us on social media.

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We also have, the Village of

Kewaskum is having ticket sales during

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any of their open business hours.

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You can stop in there

and, and get a ticket.

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Fuzz Martin: Great.

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So, so just walk into the Annex

and, and they'll hook you up.

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You got it.

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Yep.

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All right.

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Perfect.

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So, tell us about how you came

up with the idea for the event.

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You said one of your board

members had attended one of these.

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Is this an event where somebody,

like, you have an organization that

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comes in that does these kinds of

horse races or are you guys doing

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all the work yourself here on that?

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Bekki Scheel: We are not doing all

the work ourselves, thank goodness.

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This is a nice package that we can, that

we can purchase and we can utilize for

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the event and it'll walk us through it

and make a great experience for everybody.

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Fuzz Martin: Awesome.

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Sounds fun and I, I've never

been to one so, looking forward.

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I still have to get my tickets, so.

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Bekki Scheel: This is your reminder.

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This

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Fuzz Martin: interview is a reminder

for, this interview is a reminder

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for me more than it is an interview

for the guests, so just remind

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me to get, to go buy our tickets.

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Stay in, in the Kentucky Derby theme.

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So it says in your Facebook event that

people are, encouraged to dress up.

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So tell us, tell us what you think,

what are, what are people going to be

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wearing at the, Night at the Races.

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Anna Cain: So, think Kentucky Derby.

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We want to see your big hats,

your pastels, your suspenders.

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It's going to have the

decor is lots of red roses.

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So come in your Kentucky

Derby inspired dress.

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Fuzz Martin: Okay.

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I'm excited to see what Adam Gitter

is going to show up in just because

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I can only imagine right now.

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Bekki Scheel: And there's

prizes also for best dressed.

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We have wonderful giveaways for.

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For those who are voted the best dressed

of the evening, so more, more incentive.

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Fuzz Martin: Excellent.

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All right.

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Well, I got to start working on that too.

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So, the, you also mentioned Crave will

be catering, and they'll have some

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Kentucky Derby themed food and beverages.

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I'm guessing mint juleps

will probably be on,

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Bekki Scheel: On the menu.

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On

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Fuzz Martin: the menu.

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What else, what, what other kind of

food or beverages can people expect?

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Bekki Scheel: I think we have some

bourbon, and some really great

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bourbon giveaways and, and, and

different prizes to win that are,

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you know, along the theme also.

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I believe we also have some really great,

you know, chicken and, Mac and cheese.

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Foundry

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Anna Cain: 45, has a drink also

inspired, that they do donate

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back a percentage of the drink.

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I think it's mint julep inspired.

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Sure.

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I think Moscow Mule.

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Fuzz Martin: Oh, excellent.

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Yeah.

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Thank you.

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All right.

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Very good.

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I'm in.

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Um.

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I also recently saw on Facebook that

you've landed Mike Paul of Paul Auction

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Company to be your emcee for the night.

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So that makes it official because

he's really good at what he does.

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Bekki Scheel: Isn't that true?

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Um,

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Fuzz Martin: so can you tell us

about, that part of the event?

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Like, so you're not actually having actual

raffles that are like auctions, right?

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Correct.

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It's not an auction, no.

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But from, but there are prizes

that people can win as part of the,

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The video, horse races and such.

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Is there none of those?

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Bekki Scheel: Yep.

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Yep.

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If you're gonna, if you decide

that you want to bet on the horses.

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We have you winning the raffle tickets

so that you can go ahead and put your

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ticket into tons of really great prizes.

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Mike's role in all of this, and

we're so fortunate and lucky that

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he agreed to help us out with this.

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Mike's awesome, and if you know or if

you've ever been to any of his events,

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Other events, you know, that this ticket

will not only be horse races, but it'll

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be, you know, the Mike Paul comedy show.

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Mm-hmm . And the Mike Paul

Entertainment for the evening.

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Um, which is probably worth

the $60 ticket, in my opinion.

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Mm-hmm . So, he's just gonna be our mc

for the evening, kind of help us to keep

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things moving and to keep on the pace.

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And then to help us to announce

the winners and to hand out the

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tickets for the winners and, and.

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The whole program.

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Fuzz Martin: Great.

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That's excellent.

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Sounds like a lot of fun.

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So all the proceeds from the event go

to toward park improvements, right?

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So can you share about what specific

projects or upgrades you're planning to

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fund or hoping to fund with this event?

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Bekki Scheel: Yeah, those top three

that we had kind of mentioned I

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think are the ones on the list.

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So the beer garden, the playground,

you know, what we can do with that

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space and if we can kind of get

that up and rolling sooner rather

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than later would really be ideal.

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The kayak launch is a, you know,

a smaller ticket price point.

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So I think that that's something that

we really have intentions of getting

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done here in the near future as well.

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And we're definitely getting close to

making a lot of these things happen.

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But like you said, a lot of these

things come with big ticket prices and

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the continuing fundraising on, on our

team's part is what we really need to

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do to keep kind of spreading that word.

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Fuzz Martin: Absolutely.

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So.

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What is the long term vision

for Kewaskum Friends of Parks?

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What are you guys looking to do?

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I know you've got these three, but what do

you want to accomplish in the long term?

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Bekki Scheel: I think we really just want

to make Kewaskum Parks a destination park.

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We want to have the amenities here where

people talk about us in other communities.

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And they want to come and visit us.

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When you have your kids scheduled for

a baseball tournament, and you know

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that you're playing in Kewaskum this

weekend, we want you to be really excited.

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Like, Kewaskum is a great facility,

and we know that there's a lot to do

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there, and everybody that goes there

is going to have an enjoyable time, and

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we want that feel throughout our parks.

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And it's not about all just Kiwanis

Park, it's about River Hill and getting

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people to utilize the river, and Utilize

that park in different ways, too.

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We just have a lot of untapped,

really beautiful spaces

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that we want to capitalize

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Anna Cain: on.

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Having a destination for people to go

to also with having a beer garden or a

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playground, this kayak launch will also

bring in money for businesses in the area.

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So someone comes to play on

the playground, takes their

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kids to Dairy Queen afterwards.

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So our goal is to bring more.

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People to the area.

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Fuzz Martin: Strong parks are good

for a strong community and strong

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businesses and everything, right?

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Bekki Scheel: Absolutely.

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Fuzz Martin: So, for each of you,

you obviously have passion for this.

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What, uh, for, and this is a question

for, that you should, I'd like you to both

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answer please, which is, what drew you to

become involved with Kewaskum Friends of

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Parks and really found Kewaskum Friends

of Parks, um, and what has been the

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most rewarding part of your work so far?

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Anna Cain: So what initially drew me

to the parks is, I started visiting

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all inclusive playgrounds with Two of

my kids, my older son had passed away

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young, who would potentially have a

disability if he were still here, that as

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a way to honor and remember him, I took

my kids to these all inclusive parks.

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We had to travel to do that.

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I got this bug that we need to

have one in every community.

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There is no reason to put up a

playground without every child.

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in mind.

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So that's initially what drew me and

then I got this huge passion for how

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important parks are for everybody.

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Fuzz Martin: Great.

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And you, Becky?

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Bekki Scheel: Yeah, I think just being

local to the Kewaskum area and being

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raised in these parks and raised in

these facilities and now being a mom

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who's raising my kids in the same parks

and same facilities, we spend so much

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time every summer at Music in the park.

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We spend so much time every

summer at the Ball Diamonds.

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You know, this is something that our

family is just really involved in.

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Spending a lot of time up there

means I want the facilities to

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be awesome and I want them to be

awesome for a really long time.

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So, I think, Just jumping in with

Anna, this has been kind of a fun

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experience for us to go through together.

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Fuzz Martin: Excellent.

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For those who can't attend Night

at the Races, what are some other

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ways that people can get involved

with Kewaskum Friends of Parks?

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Anna Cain: We are always looking

for people to help volunteer.

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We have meetings every month

that we are more than happy

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to get the community involved.

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Involved and attend, you can donate

to, obviously, Kewaskum Friends

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of Parks, you can look for us on

social media, follow us that way,

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share, post, power of social media.

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Bekki Scheel: And definitely watch

for other events that are coming up.

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So, we already have the repeat

Pints and Polka date out there.

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Off the top of my head, I can't think of

what day it is, but it is in May again.

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May 17th, I believe.

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Fuzz Martin: Okay.

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Bekki Scheel: And that is going to be

A repeat, but even better than I think

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what we did the first time around.

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So, so that one's coming up and

I'm sure we'll have another couple

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other events happening in the

summer in the different parks.

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We had an awesome, successful

pickleball season up at Keewanese Park.

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We did monthly pickleball leagues,

you know, just ways to get people

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out using the park, socializing,

meeting new people, staying active,

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Fuzz Martin: all of it.

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Well, thank you both for your passion

for this and for all you're doing to

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help improve and maintain the parks in

Kewaskum, and I think it's awesome that

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you're so passionate about it and actively

involved and getting others involved.

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So thank you very much

and thanks for coming on.

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Bekki Scheel: Yeah, thank you so much.

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Thanks for having us.

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Fuzz Martin: So again, Night at

the Races is happening on Friday,

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January 31st from 5 to 11 p.

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m at Kewaskum, and you can get tickets

by following the link on social media

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if you go to Kewaskum Friends of Parks.

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You'll find it, right?

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Anna Cain: Absolutely.

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It's there.

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We're stopping at the annex.

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Fuzz Martin: Thank you again to Anna

Cain and Bekki Scheel of Kewaskum Friends

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of Parks for joining me on this week's

episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

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If you ever have an idea for a guest

for this show, don't even think

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about hesitating to reach out to me.

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You can email me at my

personal email address.

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That I've had since I was

22 years old, 23 years old.

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And that is fuzz at fuzzmartin.

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com.

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Again, fuzz at fuzzmartin.

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com, or you can use

the form at fuzzmartin.

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com slash guest, that's G U E S T.

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Episodes of the show, you

can find them at Spotify.

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Apple Podcasts, YouTube,

iHeartPod News, or at fuzzmartin.

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com.

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New episodes coming on Tuesdays.

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You're awesome every single day.

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And I appreciate you listening in

your car, AirPods, on your computer

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speakers or wherever, right here

to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

Show artwork for Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz

About the Podcast

Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz
Showcasing the positive things happening in Washington County, Wisconsin.
Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz showcases positive people, events, and organizations in and around Washington County, Wisconsin, with host, Fuzz Martin. Fuzz is a local business owner (EPIC Creative) and a former radio personality (92.5 WBWI - now Buzz Country). New episodes launch on Tuesday mornings. https://fuzzmartin.com

Whether you're in West Bend, Kewaskum, Slinger, Hartford, Germantown, Richfield, Jackson, or anywhere else in the area, 15 Minutes with Fuzz serves the community with fun and positive people, places, events, and attractions.

About your host

Profile picture for Fuzz Martin

Fuzz Martin

Fuzz Martin is a partner and Chief Strategy Officer at EPIC Creative in West Bend, Wis.