Episode Transcript
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to the September edition. Is it September? Oh, my. Jen, this has been a good morning already.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: It has.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: We've got a studio.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: I mean, I'm sorry the radio wasn't on already because we've had learned so much.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. I tell you, I love the. You know, it's coming up on Fall. I love the weather.
And what I really love is we've got all these great events coming up.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: But we've also got some really interesting guests this morning. The new cao. And I'll tell you what that stands for, because everybody's like, what's that stand for?
AB Is here. We're going to be talking to him this morning. I love him already. We're already bonded and of course, we've got some. So many.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Wait, did you share food off your plate that bond?
[00:01:03] Speaker A: No, I didn't go that crazy.
I didn't want to scare him off. You know, that'll be down the road.
They don't know that about me.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: Oh, now they do.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: So anyway, but we've got so many great guests this morning. Gotten. You know, some of our newest members are here this morning.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah. I love you new members.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: Just information to tell the audience. So stay tuned.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Yes. We'll jump right in.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Okay. Good morning, Jen.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Good morning.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Okay, so you know, Tisha's not here yet, so Tisha's for listening. We're gonna let brother Chad jump in front of you. But before then, we've got. I'm gonna talk about yesterday. We were in Alexandria yesterday.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: I saw some fabulous pictures. Was everyone in Alexandria in that picture?
[00:01:46] Speaker A: I think so, yeah.
We probably had 50 people there for the ribbon cutting at Mercantile Markets. It is the coolest place.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: Right.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: And know, Alexander, just this last week or so, they have got three new businesses. And that's just the last week or so.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: And so welcome to September. Right.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I tell you, it's going to be fabulous when we're through with it.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Just the street front looked fantastic in the pictures.
Alexandra is really hopping.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: So anyway, we're so grateful. Everyone needs to run around this way.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Everyone needs to slip on down to Alexandria and check out those new businesses because we're so proud of them and they put a lot of time and effort. Effort. And you know, you might find some nifty little treasures down there.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: So many. And the owners are Tony and Jamie Bates. I've bonded with them. They're awesome people. And that's located at 107 Public Square in Alexandria. You can't miss it. And you'll just find all kinds of treasures and antiques and homemade bread and fried pies. Oh, my goodness, they had everything. So anyway, I loved it.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: So since Tisha has just popped up.
Good morning. Good morning.
I wonder what she wants to talk about today.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: I want to talk about.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: The chili. Cook off's almost here again.
[00:03:05] Speaker C: So exciting.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: It is. Yeah.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: And the weather is starting to get us ready for.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: Make us feel like chili. That's right.
[00:03:12] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:03:13] Speaker B: What's the date this year?
[00:03:14] Speaker C: October20. Tell me the 24th.
I've got last year's flower.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: I'm sure all the information is still the same.
So.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: October 20th.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: Friday, October 24th, 10:30am to 1:00pm Although.
Although.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: To the new guys.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Get there by noon.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Show up no later than noon if you really want to try all the chili.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: Yeah, we do run out lots of times.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: It takes a while to go to.
[00:03:43] Speaker C: All the booths, but usually there are at least a few booths that hasn't have.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: I mean, you can always find some chili.
[00:03:48] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: But it's hard to do the competition if you don't get there early.
[00:03:52] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Just a little pro tip. Yeah.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: Yeah. And so if you're a newbie and have never been to the chili cook.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: Off, which we highly recommend.
[00:04:00] Speaker C: Yeah. So we have usually somewhere between 15 and 20 ish teams. And you can go around with a sample cup and try everybody's chili.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: And who knew there would be so much variation in chili. You'd be surprised when.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Delicious and delicious.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Well, some of them are.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: No, I'm just kidding.
[00:04:20] Speaker A: Never had a bad chili. I love them all. Yeah, I do.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Some of them are just not my definition of chili. But, you know, it makes it fun.
[00:04:29] Speaker C: It's all good.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: What was that in there?
[00:04:32] Speaker C: Right. And then we also. We also have baked goods for sale. And so.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: It'S just a great. It's a great promotion of Habitat for Humanity. It's for a great cause.
It really is fun to have lots of folks come out. It's a big crowd every year.
[00:04:50] Speaker C: Absolutely. We're looking forward to it. And so we have some big news, which we've been on the radio with Dwayne already last week, but Habitat, DeKalb county, we are merged. We have merged with Upper Cumberland Habitat. And that is a real win. Win for all of us. We've those of us that have been involved in Habitat since the early days back in 2001.
You know, it's.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Yes, I remember the first one.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: We.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: We've been all volunteer this whole time. And it's very hard to run a nonprofit of this magnitude with all volunteers, you know, because we all work and have families and just you have a.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: Life outside of that. It's just hard.
[00:05:34] Speaker C: When we built the first house, my son was, too, and I just strap him in the van and he would sit at the work side and, you know, do whatever so.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Long.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: But we have built over the years, six houses. But with our. With our merger with Upper Cumberland, we will be building a house every year, and possibly they're thinking of building two.
Not next year, but the next. But building one for sure, next year. So we will be opening applications for our next family, and they tap into lots of grants, some shelter in place grants where we can do rehabs.
So they're committed to being very active in our community. And of course, we will still be raising money to help with all of that and just want the community to continue to support us because it's going to be even better.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: Oh, that's exciting news, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:06:29] Speaker C: And so the staff is really great over there. They have, I believe, Jeremy Bird. He's the executive director. They have about 20 on staff, including the Habitat Restore and Cook.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: So, yeah. And I've served on the Upper Cumberland board the last two years as a DeKalb county representative. Sharon Evans is one of our new representatives. So we're still going to be, you know, plugged in, and we will have a local advisory board also.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: That is great news. Congratulations.
[00:06:58] Speaker C: And so the most important thing I want to tell you today, though, is if you'd like to have a chili team, I'm going to give you a phone number. 931-528-1711. That's the Habitat Upper Cumberland number.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: But you can give me that again, would you?
[00:07:13] Speaker C: 931528. 1711.
And. But you can always call my office and we'll give you the number.
[00:07:21] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: They'll ask for 10 seconds.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: Typically, they come to me, and if they come to me, I will forward them. It's okay.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: But we're.
[00:07:31] Speaker C: But we're trying to centralize.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: Yes. I love this. I love this because I know how hard you work and you still will be working hard.
[00:07:37] Speaker C: Absolutely, Sharon. And we're in great financial shape here, and we own property. I mean, we're good. We just don't have the staff. Yes. So that's what we're excited about.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: Well, don't miss this event because I tell you, the atmosphere of being there is one of my fun. The funniest times I have all Year is being at the habitat. Chili cook off.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: There's some healthy competition. You know, some teams come back every year and there's somebody new decorated up. Yeah, they do decorations. But it's all about the food.
[00:08:08] Speaker C: Yes, I mean it is all about.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: The food and it's also all about promoting Habitat for Humanity, which is a great cause.
[00:08:15] Speaker A: If it. We have bad weather, where are we going to go?
[00:08:17] Speaker C: To the county complex.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Okay. But otherwise we'll be at the square.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: Right? We'll be at the square and so hope to see everyone out.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:08:26] Speaker C: Eating chili at 10:30 in the morning.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: You can get it to go. Yeah, that's right.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Thank you. Office chili.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:08:35] Speaker A: So Jen, you have not met this bunch yet, but you're going to love them from. Okay, I hope I pronounced this right. Gammon, Drewrick and Watson CPAs.
[00:08:43] Speaker E: That's close enough. Gammon, Druick and Watson Druick.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Druick and Watson CPAs. And this is Devin and this is Evan.
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:08:51] Speaker F: Yeah, good morning.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: And they're representing this company and tell us a little bit. Well, okay. Where are we located?
[00:08:57] Speaker E: Yeah. So right down the road at 297 West Broad. We've been in the. It's Tom. Janie, if you remember Janie Associates.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: If we remember Tom.
[00:09:05] Speaker F: If you remember Tom.
[00:09:06] Speaker E: Tom's unforgettable.
Tom is unforgettable.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Tom was a past president of the chamber.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: I think when they hired me. Yeah, he hired you.
[00:09:17] Speaker B: He did.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: He was on the board. I remember.
[00:09:21] Speaker E: That was the last good decision you made, I guess.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: May he rest in peace.
I love Tom.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: So let's talk about some of the services that you offer.
[00:09:31] Speaker E: Yeah. So we offer tax and business advisory services. So we do everything except audit and assurance work. So what that means is a lot of times we're partnering alongside clients to really help them understand that maybe their tax situation. Overall, we're very big into education and why we think that taxes and accounting doesn't have to be black magic. Right. It's not something that just kind of goes on. So we really spend a lot of time in education and why with our clients. So a lot of times we're a pretty integral part of their operation if we're providing monthly accounting services for them.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: Well, I had about probably over an hour meeting with Dev and we had the best talk and the best time. We're so taxes.
I don't think that didn't came up. That didn't come up.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: What is in your cup?
[00:10:16] Speaker E: I was prepared to recite the internal Revenue code this morning.
[00:10:18] Speaker F: I don't know.
[00:10:19] Speaker E: They said we only have five minutes.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: I was like, is there anything you want to add about our local office or anything?
[00:10:27] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: So we are actively trying to be a little bit more involved in the Smithville community now that we've kind of sort of come full circle with our rebrand. We've got our new signage up, so.
[00:10:37] Speaker C: We'Ll have some events coming up for clients and staff alike. So I'll have that information available as soon as we've got it finalized.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: But we're really excited about kind of kick starting this, this new chapter with the Smithville community and our team out there.
[00:10:51] Speaker G: We've loved it.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Oh, we're excited. We want to have a ribbon cutting here pretty soon. Yes, we do.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: And we also would love to have a participant in the Leadership DeKalb class.
[00:10:59] Speaker D: Oh.
[00:11:01] Speaker E: I've done Leadership Wilson.
Our other office is in Wilson County. So familiar with that.
[00:11:07] Speaker H: Huge.
[00:11:08] Speaker E: Just like in Wilson County. So I saw on the Matrix Chamber Board of Commerce, I sit on that board. So excited to just get involved and really let the community know who we are. That's more about, you know, we're a relationship firm. And so it's important to us that you see what brought us here in 2022 when we met Tom was we immediately fell in love with the staff, the team there, and Tom included the team there and then the clients. But really like those people, it's just a wonderful group of people down there that we are so blessed that all of them stuck around, all of them are still with us. That's a huge deal. And anytime you have a merger, acquisition, anything like that. So I think that says a lot about not only them, but what we came offering to the community. So we're not a big corporate outfit from out of town that just kind of stormed in. We're all, you know, Wilson county natives just right down the road at our other office in Mount Gillette. And we all wrote, the partners rotate through coming up here. So, yeah, we're excited to be here.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Oh, we are glad to have you here.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Yes. And welcome aboard. Thank you for becoming a member of the chamber.
[00:12:09] Speaker E: Absolutely.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: Thank you for having us.
[00:12:11] Speaker A: They're awesome. Our local pastor is here. What's going on with the church community? Brother Chad, how are you guys?
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Great.
[00:12:19] Speaker I: Good morning.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: Good morning.
[00:12:20] Speaker I: We were just talking over there. We're coming up with new ideas to reach out to the community and all those wonderful things. And I think one of our newest, I mean, fresh off the. Fresh off the press ideas is A booth at the Chili Hook off, passing out Rolaid's.
[00:12:37] Speaker J: Ready?
[00:12:38] Speaker I: And Beano and Beano and Beano and Beano. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. We're gonna be located right next to the porta potties.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: So.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: Somebody else.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Very appropriate. That's a brilliant idea. Why is no one thought of that?
[00:12:54] Speaker I: No one's thought of this.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: Yes, yes.
[00:12:56] Speaker A: No.
[00:12:56] Speaker I: We are excited to get back in.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:12:59] Speaker I: Every Wednesday nights are back open.
Sundays are always been going on, but man, just God's just doing awesome things in our community. Churches are doing good. So just looking forward to all the stuff going on. The biggest thing is you guys are about to talk about is our. The Haven Hope tournament's coming up and talk a little bit about that today and that's this weekend.
I think they have a little more info on like how much is available. But what a. What a. I'm doing a double plug here. But what a wonderful ministry. The Haven is just to provide Christian counseling and just good counseling to our community. One of the few, if not the only in this whole region. So just a great thing for that. That's this Saturday at Smithfield Country Club.
Or is it a country club, golf course, whatever it is. Yeah.
There we go. But that's just been a great thing. But just, you know, wonderful times going on with the church and the community.
Really looking forward. I know it may sound crazy, but November's gonna be here before you know it. We have the prayer breakfast that November 20th. There we go. We were gearing up for that.
Glad to host that again.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: We love that. That is like such a wonderful blessing.
[00:14:11] Speaker I: Wonderful event. Wonderful event. Got that coming up. We also got our in fall on Halloween. Our fall festival will be next month. So mark your calendars for that. So we'll be. I believe it starts about 6 o' clock or so. We'll have our fall festival on Halloween this year. So it's on a Friday. They got the football game on a Thursday. So Halloween's on a Friday. So we'll be out there doing all of that fun stuff.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: That's great.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: Brother J. And I happen to have our chamber of prayer breakfast speaker. Ah, Captain Larry Cripps.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:14:42] Speaker I: I wish I had a drum roll for this.
[00:14:45] Speaker B: There we go.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: Hope for the what was his book Hope? I loved his book. But anyway, Kathy probably will remember it and tell me in just a minute. But hope something.
[00:14:54] Speaker D: It'll come.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: And it was awesome. And so we're excited to have him. I think he's gonna be a great speaker for our prayer breakfast.
[00:14:59] Speaker I: Absolutely. So, as always, we just encourage everybody to get plugged into whatever church, get local.
There's a little great churches out there. So get him plugged in one and love God, love others.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: So, yeah. There you go.
[00:15:10] Speaker I: Have a great day, guys.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Thank you. Thanks, brother.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Chad K. Jen, I'm so excited. Yes. You know, I've told you that the new cao, the Chief Administrative Officer is what that stands for.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Isaac Heller is here, and I just. Have just been so impressed. Good morning.
[00:15:27] Speaker H: Good morning.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: To see you this morning.
[00:15:28] Speaker B: I tell you, Ascension Hospital is really in good hands.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Oh, they are.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: We're so excited to have you here and in the community.
[00:15:37] Speaker H: Yeah. Well, thank you. I'm happy to be here.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Well, give us a little bit about your background and where you're from, what and whatever you want to tell us on that.
[00:15:44] Speaker H: Yeah. So. So I grew up near Pensacola in North Florida, and then I went to the University of Florida. I got two degrees and met my wife there. So a lot to owe to the University of Florida and in Tennessee, that sometimes makes me enemies, but that's all right. And after that, you know, I held multiple leadership roles in the state of Florida, most recently in the Keys, where I was also focused on operations down there at the tip of the spear in Key West.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: So he left Key west to come to Smithfield.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Well, of course. Who wouldn't?
[00:16:16] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. And he's glad about it.
[00:16:19] Speaker H: I sure am. My wife and I, we love it here.
So I moved here with my wife and. And two young kids. I have a three year old and a one year old. And we move less than five minutes from DeKalb Hospital.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:16:31] Speaker H: So it's a really. It's a good time. I love my commute.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: You don't have to. Yeah. Drive an hour to work.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: Right. You can go home for supper, lunchtime.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: So.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: Great. So what's new as ascension to cab?
[00:16:43] Speaker H: Yeah, so a few things to. To cover for us.
And you actually had Dr. Ellis on a few months ago.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: We loved him. Yes.
[00:16:52] Speaker H: Yeah. So he.
We brought him on in February. He's a general surgeon. He's nearing 100 procedures done at the hospital.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Wow, that's great.
[00:17:01] Speaker H: So, yeah, he does a variety of procedures. He'll do skin lesion removal, he'll do hernia repair, a lot of gi.
He'll do mass excisions.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: So facelifts? No, don't worry, not facelifts.
Joints are useful, Dan. I'm sure he would try.
[00:17:21] Speaker J: I don't know.
[00:17:22] Speaker H: We have to ask him. We have to ask him.
[00:17:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Nick. Yeah, sorry.
[00:17:28] Speaker H: No, that's great. So he. Yeah, we'll have to ask him. I think it's going to be a no, though. But we can always ask. And so, yeah, he did. He joined us the end of February, and the feedback has been great for him. He's doing really well. And all the referring providers are happy with him. All his patients have been. Been happy with him. So excited to have him there as well.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: You're also expanding some diagnostic capabilities, right?
[00:17:54] Speaker H: That's right. We sure are. We're going to be adding a bone density scanner soon to the cab. And so, as you might know, that is helpful in the diagnosis of osteoporosis and other things. And so you know that we're excited to bring that service to the CAB as well.
And then in addition to that, we have another imaging modality we're expanding. We're replacing our Nuclear Medicine camera. And so currently we have a Siemens Nuclear Medicine camera. We're replacing that with a ge and what that really means is it will reduce scan times by about half.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:18:34] Speaker H: For instance, a cardiac scan takes around an hour right now, and that'll reduce it to 30 minutes.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:18:42] Speaker H: And so significant, isn't it, bringing some operational efficiency and some new technology into the cab. And we're just excited to be doing that.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: Thank you for that investment. That's great.
[00:18:51] Speaker H: Yeah, thank you.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: That's really great.
[00:18:52] Speaker H: And that'll. We should have that February March around that timeline.
[00:18:58] Speaker A: Okay, so what else we got?
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Oh, well, my husband and I just went to the Harvester for the event of the year. We didn't know it going in, but we felt a little underdressed.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: Oh, did you?
[00:19:12] Speaker B: The.
The hospital was celebrating 10 years that Ascension has been the owner of the DeKalb County Hospital. And it was such a great event. It was just. Everything about it was fabulous. The. The presentations, the. The vibe of having lots of people from the greater Ascension system coming and celebrating here in Smithville. It was just a really great event. So congratulations on that.
[00:19:41] Speaker H: Yeah, thank you. We really enjoyed it. And so for a little bit of history, that event celebrated in July 2015. That's when DeKalb Hospital and three other hospitals, which we call the East Regionals in ascension, joined ascension St. Thomas. And so it really highlights the care we provide to the communities that we're in and our commitment to those communities. So we were really happy to do that. It was an exciting time, and it's an exciting time, you know, at Ascension St. Thomas in general, and Dekalb Hospital.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: That's great.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: We are so blessed to have such a great hospital. And, you know, so many communities don't have that.
And, you know, the first thing people ask when they're thinking about moving here, especially if they're over 50 or 60, they say, do you have a good hospital? I go, oh, let me tell you about it. So we're so grateful and we're so grateful to have you.
[00:20:36] Speaker H: Yeah, well, I'm happy to be here and happy to have joined Ascension, St. Thomas, and, yeah, I love to see how much of a blessing a hospital is to a community.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: Well, it is. And we're just so grateful to have the hospital. And you, you're going to be a great fit.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Thank you for being here this morning.
[00:20:54] Speaker H: Thank you.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: Okay, Jim.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:20:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: So Next Thursday is September 11th, huh? And we all, you know, think about September 11th. Patriots Day, 9, 11. There is going to be a small ceremony this year right on Evans park, right next to the Smithville Fire Department and the post office right there. We're going to honor all emergency services, state, county, city and the military. And we just want to say that as we gear up for that event that we are so appreciative of all of our first responders, all our emergency service folks.
Just yesterday I drove by a fire along Short Mountain highway and Patterson Road that when I drove by, I thought, that looks like a field fire that's gone wrong. And sure enough, I saw that fire departments all responded, fire stations all responded. And it just helps to remind us that at any given moment we might have a really bad idea or it might go in this situation. The wind shifted and it just got out of control. And thank goodness for our DeKalb County Fire Department for.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Oh, it would have taken homes and everything.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Yeah, they're all volunteer, all, you know, I mean, they, they work during the day and they are very trained and they are trained. They responded immediately and saved half a dozen homes in that area. So as we're thinking about what September bring, let's not forget our, our fabulous emergency responders and emergency services here.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Don't ever take that for granted.
[00:22:54] Speaker B: Yeah, that's for sure.
[00:22:56] Speaker A: Okay, so. Oh, look who's here. Randy Cohen.
[00:23:01] Speaker B: Welcome, welcome.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: That means we must be talking about some great downtown Smith. Olivia.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: There are always great things happening in downtown.
[00:23:08] Speaker J: September 19th.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: We've got a room for.
[00:23:12] Speaker J: Exciting and here, what, two weeks from. From Friday. So we have grown from, I think what started as 12 artists to now we got 30 plus artists.
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
[00:23:22] Speaker J: And we just really have just some fantastic variety of different mediums, different styles, all that. Again, it's all about coming out, supporting those artists. You know, you don't, you know, I never realized this until we really started doing show. Artists just, just don't have this supply of art that they can go to an art show or an art walk with. They have to make, they have to make it for that event. So they spend a lot of time in advance of the event, you know, creating and providing product.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: The biggest optimist on the planet.
[00:23:53] Speaker J: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: So like it's going to be a great night.
[00:23:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:56] Speaker J: So keep that in mind when you're going around there, you know, and supporting because again, they don't come back, you know, unless. Unless you know, you're buying art. So apparently we might. It must be working for us as a community because it's growing every year. We've had some help in growing. That first bank has been a great spot. They're a sponsor again this year.
[00:24:13] Speaker A: So many banners up.
[00:24:14] Speaker J: Appreciate that. We got the banners up. Home services is providing some in kind services for us as well. So we've got a band that's going to be playing down by the bank.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: Bigger and better is for sure.
[00:24:27] Speaker J: Food truck. So we've got the, you know, we've got, you know, all the businesses will be open as well. We'll be shutting down Walnut during the day to give the vendors a chance to get set up there. So. But keep in mind the businesses are open during the day as well too. So just because we have that street block, don't, don't think that we're closed.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: So the times this year, right, Randy?
[00:24:45] Speaker J: Yeah, we actually moved it up a little bit from. It used to be from five to nine. We've moved it up to three o' clock this year just because one of the feedbacks we heard from the artists is they'd like a little bit more time to, to be there, you know, make it worth their while to come down. So. So yeah, so hopefully we capture, you know, some of the kids coming out of school too. Maybe for the football game they can come down. You know, people are going to the football game. They got a little chance to come down and, and see the artist and all that. So.
So yeah, just really excited about this year's event and the growth that's taken place with the event as well.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: That sounds really awesome.
[00:25:20] Speaker J: Yeah, it speaks well to our community that they feel, you know, they feel that it's, it's worth their while to come to come out here. So really, again, encourage everybody to come out. You know, even just stroll around for an hour and just.
[00:25:31] Speaker A: Just, you know, Randy, it's already time to start Christmas shopping a little bit too.
[00:25:34] Speaker J: Yeah, yeah.
Art is a great.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Some people do.
[00:25:39] Speaker A: Some people do.
[00:25:40] Speaker J: Yeah. And the thing to say about starving.
[00:25:42] Speaker B: Artists, some people put their trees up like in October. I don't know. Some of us don't me do it.
[00:25:49] Speaker J: I didn't even get my tree up. I got my shop all decorated, so I got one.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: There you go.
Some spirit in there then.
[00:25:56] Speaker J: One other thing is just mentioned, the Kiwanis Club again, too. I mentioned it last month. So we have started a Kiwanis club here in DeKalb County.
We are having our Kiwanis Club charter kickoff ceremony, September 16, Tuesday from 6 to 8 at the county complex in the auditorium there. So if you're not familiar with the Kiwanis Club, we are focused on children. We are focused on how we can help them reach their potential, how we can help them succeed. And whether that's through fundraising or volunteering or collaborating with other organizations where children is their passion, that's what we're seeking out there. We're seeking members as well. Again, we just got started a few months. Months ago, so we're in the initial stages there. So if you've got an interest in volunteering or getting involved with that, certainly would encourage you to do that. We do have two great chefs that are on our founding members that have Hillcrest restaurant that, if you remember Hillcrest there.
And then also the chef that had the mad platter in Germantown in Nashville is. And they will be fixing some food, some little finger food, you know, for the event. So. So I'll make sure maybe they have some bacon. I'll check to see, make sure we.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Can have bacon just for September, the.
[00:27:15] Speaker J: Theme going for September. So whatever it is, it'll be good. Try to do that. But. But yeah, I appreciate people coming out. You know, we will have like the. The lieutenant governor will come out. You'll see some other representatives from other Kiwanis clubs within the region.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: So even if you have. If you are not really that familiar with Kiwanis, you've heard it, but you're not really know what they do or what the. What the goals of the club are. That'd be a great event just to show up and learn more.
[00:27:42] Speaker J: And it's just a meet and greet. Very informal. We'll have a little formal ceremony to officially them to hand our charter to us. And then the fun begins.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: Yeah, great. So.
[00:27:50] Speaker J: So, yeah, so we'll be there. The. The. The founding members or the founding board members. The founding members will be there. So. Yeah, we're learning too, you know, as. As new members, I'm fortunate. I've got several friends that are involved in different Kawash clubs, so I'm a little bit familiar with it. So. But a great organization. And what a great mission statement too, For.
[00:28:08] Speaker H: For the.
[00:28:09] Speaker J: For the organization to have.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: I gotta say.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:12] Speaker J: And here's. Before you go, okay, before you forget, this is your personal invitation. So I expect to see you there. Pass this on to this young lady down at the end there.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: So.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: So, you know, Randy is the person every community wants. Don't anybody out there in other counties try to steal him, because, oh, my goodness, he is involved in everything. And anything I call and ask him to do, he's like, what do you need me to do?
[00:28:39] Speaker J: I appreciate the kind words.
[00:28:40] Speaker A: I'm grateful to you and your volunteerism. I don't know how you do it all.
[00:28:44] Speaker J: Well, I'm retired. That's how I do it all.
You find the time. I like a busy retirement.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: I'm sorry you ruined your retirement because.
[00:28:52] Speaker J: No, you didn't ruin you. You've enhanced my retirement.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: I would without it.
These are great events. Thank you.
[00:29:01] Speaker A: Never get bored, let me tell you. We keep him.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: Yeah, Right.
[00:29:04] Speaker A: How's the dancing coming along? We even got him involved in the wct.
[00:29:07] Speaker J: Oh, my God. Yeah. You know who got me involved in that?
[00:29:10] Speaker A: He said Susanna got two left feet. But now he's taking dance class. Aren't you?
[00:29:14] Speaker J: I am. Yeah.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: We're.
[00:29:16] Speaker J: Yeah, we're part of the w. Look at him.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: He's like.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:20] Speaker J: The interesting part is we had our first dance lesson, right? So going through the choreography and going for the. Through the first steps and what seemed like was a minute and a half there when we did it in real time or real pace or whatever, it was like 20 seconds. And all I can think of is I've got like eight of these 20 second segments to now remember somehow how to do this. So I'm handling. You know, it's taken me a whole month just to get the first 20 seconds down. So.
So hopefully I'm not going to embarrass anybody.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: It's all for a good cause.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: You cannot embarrass us if Jen and I don't embarrass ourselves enough.
[00:29:59] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. You're in good company. That's all I got to say.
[00:30:02] Speaker J: Thank you.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: Thank you.
So DTC Communications annual meeting is coming up, you know, it is the annual meeting.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: You should receive one of these in the mail if you. One of these.
[00:30:17] Speaker B: If you are, if you are a customer of DTC, a member of DTC Communications. That's Saturday, September 13th, and it is at the DeKalb County Fairgrounds, as always, in Alexandria. The gates open at 7:45am you can cast your vote. It is an annual meeting where you're voting on your representation. If, if that rotating membership is up in your area or what do they call it? Your. They got a special word for dispatch switch.
[00:30:49] Speaker A: You're asking me.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: So. No, I decided I'm not going to ask her.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: But the, just as a reminder, it's one vote per address or, or business membership. So the business meeting begins at 10:00am well, for more information regarding membership and voting, don't ask Jen clearly or Suzanne, call 615-529-2955. That's DTC Communications. And they, of course, just as a reminder, provide world class broadband and technology solutions to improve the quality of life for its members and the community that it serves.
[00:31:31] Speaker A: Every square inch in the whole county.
[00:31:33] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And beyond.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: And beyond. Yes. So Nick Barras told us he gets the best. He's in Wilson county and he said, thank goodness for DTC Communications. I love that.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
Well, we have the services we have because we have the great service from dtc.
[00:31:52] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:31:52] Speaker B: And so we are so proud of them. And, and I hope everyone enjoys the annual meeting on September 13th.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Okay, Jen. We are going to have a new regular guest on Chamber Chat, hopefully.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: This month from Haven of Hope.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: She just raised her eyebrows later.
[00:32:08] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness.
Sometimes it'll be Dee Dee, sometimes it may be Bill Conger, sometimes it may be somebody else or whoever you want to bring. But anyway, we want to say Haven.
[00:32:18] Speaker B: Of Hope is such a fantastic resource.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: Oh, goodness. Anytime you say Haven of Hope in this community, people go, oh, we're so grateful to have this service.
And you know, mental health awareness is so important and we just, you know, a lot of times we don't, we don't talk about things that are, you know, that mental health, because we have, there's a stigma kind of attached to it.
[00:32:38] Speaker D: We forgot to put our mask on.
[00:32:40] Speaker A: Yes. I mean, I can tell you, DeeDee, that on my worst day, I will have a smile on my face and you will never know it. She'll probably know it. She'll go, what's the matter?
Kathy will know it because they know me too well.
But, you know, normally people would never Know, so, I mean, that happens a lot. But. And this is also going to be. September is suicide prevention month. So that's, that's a big issue to, you know, to think about. And I'm sure y' all have help for that.
[00:33:09] Speaker G: Yes, we have.
So we actually have five full time counselors there now.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:33:17] Speaker G: From what I remember when Ms. Kim K started.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: Taking care of.
[00:33:20] Speaker D: Everybody loves Ms. K. She's always will.
[00:33:23] Speaker G: She has sainthood, you know, but she, it was just her right. And she did so much. Well now like with five of us, we can do so much more. Right. We don't just see court mandated clients, we see all types of clients. Right.
Mental health isn't just for the person, person with a big diagnosis. Right. Mental health is for the person that maybe you've lost a child. Right. Maybe you had a huge life change. Right. Maybe you've lost your job of 20 years, maybe you're getting divorced. Maybe, maybe you, somebody in your family's got a big diagnosis. Right. Like life is hard.
[00:34:03] Speaker A: Life is hard for all of us.
[00:34:04] Speaker G: For all of us every day. And so we provide those services. We, we do have people licensed and can provide for those serious mental health diagnosises. We also have a medication provider now that can provide your mental health medications. But we also provide services just for those hard weeks, those hard months. Right. For people going through life changing situations, you know, for all ages.
[00:34:33] Speaker A: I mean, what age?
[00:34:33] Speaker G: All ages.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: You know, a child going through mostly.
[00:34:36] Speaker G: Children or family therapy.
[00:34:38] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:34:38] Speaker G: And so I start seeing kids as young as four. I do play therapy with them and like that's my passion is children and families.
I worked with DCS for a long time and saw, I guess the aftermath of not getting the preventative work, not getting the help.
And so I love being able to give children a voice.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:00] Speaker G: Right. Being able to, to help them through their stuff no matter what it is. Right.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: We give them a safe space to be able to figure out what's going on. Yes.
[00:35:09] Speaker G: To just be them.
[00:35:10] Speaker A: Right.
[00:35:10] Speaker G: And to.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:11] Speaker G: Figure it out and let them know.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Like it's about anything. Yeah.
[00:35:14] Speaker G: It's not your fault.
Life is hard. And let's work through this together.
[00:35:19] Speaker J: Right.
[00:35:19] Speaker G: Because the worst thing ever is to have a child on the other end of that suicide prevention. Right. We never want anybody on it. But when it just hits different when it's a child.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:35:31] Speaker G: For all of us. So that's, that is big. We do have, if you call, we have after hours crisis services as well. So if somebody is struggling, of course there's the 999 88. There's that nationwide number, but we also have local services.
[00:35:49] Speaker B: And what is that number?
How might somebody be able to reach.
[00:35:53] Speaker G: Out to you at having a hope? It's actually 597 hope.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:35:57] Speaker G: So 615-59-7, 4, 6, 7, 3. But 5, 9, 7 hope is the easiest way to remember it.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Very easy.
[00:36:04] Speaker G: And then if you just listen to the recording, it does have our after hours information on there and how you'll reach one of us after hours. You know, we're always happy to, you know, I've come back to the office at night. I know Samantha has. We're always happy to help people out there's because we just love our people.
[00:36:22] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:36:23] Speaker G: This is our community. I've grown up here. I've lived here. I know our director has as well. So we just love people and want to help them.
[00:36:30] Speaker A: Well, what a great service for our community.
[00:36:32] Speaker B: Yes. Thank you for being here and sharing that information with us.
Hopefully someone might listening or viewing, might see themselves in that or know someone and this might give them an opportunity. Opportunity to reach out and have the courage to seek help.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much. Thank you for all you do for our community. And you know, a lot of times, Jen, people look at Facebook and you only put the pretty stuff on there. You know, everybody's life looks so perfect on Facebook.
I do not put my worst days.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: On there, for sure. And everyone has low points.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: So it is hard. Life is. Yeah, it is hard for everybody.
[00:37:11] Speaker G: And I think people forget that because they look at Facebook and they say, oh, they have it all together.
[00:37:17] Speaker A: I'm never gonna put my bad stuff on there.
[00:37:19] Speaker B: Yeah, right. I can assure you I'm not putting my bad stuff on there.
I'd rather go blank a day than put. Yeah, but it is deceiving and it also, I think, isolates people even more. And this is a time when it's great during the month of September to kind of reengage with mental.
Mental health awareness and help us help ourselves or our neighbors or our loved one to encourage them to seek help if, you know, they're struggling.
[00:37:53] Speaker A: Well, thank you for being here and we'll see you next month.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: Yeah, okay.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: Okay.
Thanks, Deedee.
Well, we've got the Cat Prevention Coalition Drug Take Back is coming Saturday, September 13th from 10 to 2. They'll be at the Smithville Walmart this time.
[00:38:09] Speaker B: Oh, that's convenient.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: In Alexandria City Hall. And that includes not just any old drugs or drugs you're not using anymore. But vape devices use new, any of that. If you say, hey, I'm not gonna do this anymore, just take it to them and they will dispose of it correctly.
[00:38:25] Speaker B: And I know some folks may think, oh, I just flush that down the toilet. But just think about where though, where all of those chemicals go in. You're putting it into a system.
[00:38:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: Or even if you're throwing it out, you're putting it into a system that, that doesn't really put it in the right spot. So this is really a great opportunity.
Any kind of medicine that has reached the expiration, they'll, they'll take anything. But in particular you, you would want to look if you're, if a loved one has passed away and you're clearing out their medicine cabinet, you're not sure whether something is, you know, going to be harmful to the environment or you don't want it to go in the wrong hands. This is a great opportunity to bring all of those things.
[00:39:18] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:39:18] Speaker A: And then you know, to get prevention. They got a lot going on right now.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: The Overdose Awareness day is Saturday, September 13th from 6 to 8pm at the Greenbrook park, the large pavilion there on the hill. They'll have free overdose reversal training. They'll have dinner for you, provided live music from the Ghost Town Bullet.
[00:39:39] Speaker B: That sounds fun.
[00:39:40] Speaker A: Yeah. They'll have a glow vigil walk and the glow material will be provided.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:39:45] Speaker A: And they'll have Prevention resources, resources there. So for more information call Jennifer at 615-215-2024. And then they've also got something, those busy bees.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: They are also doing a large coat and shoe drive.
This is the time of year where we're beginning to be mindful of cooler weather. And so they are in a coat and shoe drive. Any gently used or if you want to go purchase some new ones, coats, jackets, shoes for both children and adults.
This is county wide. It's coordinated by the DeKalb County Juvenile Court system. Safe Baby Court, the Spot, which is one of my favorite new organizations. We need to have them on again.
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Yeah, we will.
[00:40:36] Speaker B: And DeKalb Prevention Court Coalition that, that this is an opportunity for, it's a kind of a win win. You can clear out all your old stuff. Your, maybe your, your kids have outgrown some things and you're ready to clean those closets. All the drop off locations are on Facebook. They're, they're trying to get those items promoted of what they, what they need. They need to be clean and in good condition. Don't just like new. Yeah. Don't, don't just use it as. Yeah, yeah. The deadline for all of that is October 24th. So we've got a couple of months adoration.
B and T Appliances, Bryant's Auto repair and towing, DeKalb Prevention Coalition, Hometown Loan and Tennessee Credit are all drop off locations. So if you do have any questions, feel free to reach out. That Number again is 615-215-2024. Sorry. 2024.
[00:41:40] Speaker D: 2024.
[00:41:40] Speaker A: Okay. Second annual Ride for the Kids is Saturday, September 20th. This is also for the, and this for the last minute toys shop, right?
[00:41:50] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: And enjoy a ride through 60 miles of the Center Hills scenic area. Registrations at 9am at DeKalb Market and ends at Twisted Oak at. Jen, you know, when I was in Alexandria yesterday, I saw where they're also having their motorcycle ride that they do every year on September 20th. So call Alexandria. Somebody in Alexandria. Yeah, get that info cuz I don't have it. Right.
[00:42:11] Speaker B: But we know it's coming.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: It's coming. So. Yes, but that's a very popular event.
So.
[00:42:18] Speaker B: So we got things for pets. We are just so well rounded this morning. Taxes, hospital, hospital, mental health. Now we can talk about our lovely, our lovely fur children.
DeKalb Animal Shelter is partnering with, partnering with DeKalb Animal Clinic and Finance, which is microchipping service.
On Saturday, September 20th, they are doing a free microchipping at the DeKalb Animal Shelter.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: You don't lose your.
[00:42:50] Speaker B: Yeah, this is great.
We have done this with every dog we had.
They just pinch between their shoulders and, and put that little microchip in. And that way no matter who might pick up the dog or pet that they have a way to re, you know, get a hold of you and get, you can get your pet back.
The event is from 12 to 2 at the transfer station address of the DeKalb Animal Shelter. And this is to my knowledge, I don't think they've ever offered this free.
[00:43:26] Speaker A: I don't know but I saw it and I thought let's promote it.
[00:43:29] Speaker B: So this is, this is great. If you have not microchipped your pet, this is going to be a great event for you on Saturday, September 20th.
[00:43:38] Speaker A: Well, since Angie Manows of the Smith Review didn't have enough to do, she's.
[00:43:42] Speaker B: Now having another festival, the Miss Pumpkin Festival. I love it.
[00:43:47] Speaker A: Saturday, September 27, beginning at 9am pageant to all girls in Tennessee.
Deadline to enter is September 19th. Pageant fees $25. Of course, they always have optional categories.
And this also proceeds support the last minute Toy shop.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: She is busy. This is her time of year.
This is her time of year to be raising money.
[00:44:10] Speaker D: She needs to be cloned, isn't it?
[00:44:14] Speaker A: Well, the Family Medical Center Health Fair is coming up, Jen.
[00:44:16] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And have just a couple of quick details about that. This is Friday, October 4th, so not September. But we wanted to get the word out.
[00:44:28] Speaker A: Well, because the next program is going.
[00:44:30] Speaker D: To be like October 6th.
[00:44:31] Speaker B: So this is the annual event at Family Medical center in their parking lot. If you're driving around wondering where it is, just look for the great big.
Yeah. Circus tent.
And this is sponsored by Cigna Healthcare, Family Medical Center, Wilson bank and Trust and DeKalb Senior Center. So these are.
This is a great event for free screenings. Health Springs is going to be there offering different, different types of Medicare screenings. There's games, prizes, refreshments. So we encourage everyone to come out. It is sponsored by the DeKalb Senior Centers. But.
And it's kind of focused on senior health and Medicare. But. But anyone's welcome to come and be a part of learning more about how being healthy is.
[00:45:26] Speaker A: It's all a fun day, too.
[00:45:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, it is. It's very festive. So. So that's Friday, October 4th, talking about being festive.
[00:45:32] Speaker A: Kathy Hendrickson is here from the DeKalb library system. And what's coming up in the library.
[00:45:40] Speaker D: We do set up for the health fair we have for the last I don't know how many years. We always set up a table to give out things.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
There are lots of booths and lots of freebies. It's a great event.
[00:45:50] Speaker D: A lot of vendors come in and set up and give information. So that's great. Well, there's not a lot going on as well. Library because we had all of our summer readings over with so we're gearing up for fall. We are gonna start our story times back on October on September 26th at 10 o'. Clock. We'll have. It is for preschoolers. A lot of my preschoolers are going to kindergarten this year, so I'll be losing some of my story. The little kids that come to story time regulars. But I hope more kids start coming in that are some new regulars. Gotta take their place, you know, fill in the slots.
[00:46:20] Speaker A: Time is story time.
[00:46:20] Speaker D: It'll start at 10 o' clock and that'll be September 26th. Of course, we'll be doing the Boo Fest, the Boo Bash in October.
[00:46:28] Speaker A: Oh, do you know what you're going to be yet? I know y' all always dressed up.
[00:46:31] Speaker D: We're talking about it. I don't know, we may just go individual. Everybody just throw on something. I don't know.
Usually we'll sit and talk about it and say okay, somebody will have an idea. But this year we just haven't had an idea. So it probably will come to us. It'll come.
[00:46:44] Speaker B: Favorite book character.
[00:46:45] Speaker D: Yeah, maybe we'll, we'll think of something, I'm sure. And then of course we'll do the Christmas on the Square in December. But I encourage everybody to come to the library. We're kind of like one stop shopping.
We do have books and movies and don't have music CDs anymore. But we do have the Smithville Review and the Tennessean. We have magazines, of course, we have wifi 24, 7 see somebody sitting outside on Sunday in front of the library or sitting on a beach, you know, using our WI fi. So we do have computer Internet access. We have a wonderful genealogy room. And that's all because of Mr. Tommy Webb and some other people. Earl France and Doris Gilbert and Ms. Doreen Parsley. You know, they were just instrumental in that. We do black and white copies, we have computer, we have the newspapers on microfilm.
We have fax service, interlibrary loans. If we don't have the book there we can borrow from another library.
We don't do the TWR voting exams anymore. They can actually do those online now.
They don't have to be proctored. We just found that out. Just.
[00:47:49] Speaker B: But if you don't have a computer.
[00:47:50] Speaker D: You can, they can come there and they can use that for that. We have the voter registration forms, the tax forms and season. I think we're the only one in town that carries the tax forms and it's very limited to what they'll send us now. It's usually the 1040s, 1040s, the instruction booklets. That's about all they will send out now. Everything else is online. Yeah, we do have notary. I'm a notary and Wendy is. And we're there from 8:30 to 3:00 in the afternoon. So free notary service. But we do have, like I say we have, we're just a one stop shop. We don't furnish food so. But you know, bring food in. Yeah, except during. And of course you know, we have the Older Americans Day and the summer reading programs and then we do the Tennessee Promise volunteer opportunities for the kids. We just encourage them not to wait till the day before they have to have their eight hours in. Give us at least a month or so start coming in gradually. That way we can find something for you to do. But we do that.
So we have book signings and things like that. So get into the schools. We're going to do the after school program for the early literacy night. So we're going to be doing that at the high school. So promoting literacy. So just a lot of things, you know, we furnished at the library. But we're going to be gearing up for some fall stuff.
[00:49:00] Speaker B: That is such a great overview of what the library has to offer.
What a great resource in our community.
[00:49:06] Speaker D: We try to be.
[00:49:07] Speaker B: Yes. All right.
[00:49:08] Speaker A: Will you stay and help us finish up here?
So let's go quickly because we got to get to the Ed Graves State Park. But the Alexander Old Timers day is Saturday, October 4th, from 9 to 2 at the Alexander Public Square. You want to go because not only will you be helping. Yeah, it's so fun. And the Alexander Volunteer Fire Department will be doing all the cooking. So they're not going to have food trucks, they're going to have the fire department cooking. It's a great day to support the small local businesses, especially these new ones just opened up.
And there's no vendor fee this year for vendors and crafters.
And you'll have a 10 by 10 space. Bring your own table and covering and you can register at City hall or Junk and jewels. I love junk and jewels.
[00:49:50] Speaker B: Favorite.
[00:49:51] Speaker A: Yeah, love that place. Kathy. How about the toy shops Golf scramble.
[00:49:56] Speaker D: That is Saturday, October 4th. Shotgun. Start at 8am Bring your own four man team for $75 per player, 300 per team, cash payout for first and second teams. Chance to win $15,000 hole in one.
Sign up at the Smithville Golf Course. Deadline is September 27th. Lunch provided by KFC. All proceeds benefit Last Minute Toy Shop which provides Bibles and gifts for DeKalb county children at Christmas. Wonderful.
[00:50:23] Speaker A: Again, that means Smith will review Angie.
I don't know how she's doing it.
[00:50:28] Speaker D: Let's call this the Angie Show.
[00:50:29] Speaker B: Well, guess what I did last Saturday.
[00:50:32] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:50:33] Speaker B: Went to Edgar Evans State park and hiked the Millennial Trail.
Yes.
We had a fabulous hiking experience.
We are getting ready to go hiking in Colorado. A little backpacking trip. And so we had empty backpacks except for the 20 to 40 pounds each that we were.
Yeah, we, well, we put weights in there. But, but the Millennial Trail was amazing.
The pine cones had dropped and so we had great, great fun there at the state park. What else is going on?
[00:51:11] Speaker F: Well, we've been, we've been really busy. August 2nd was our 50th anniversary. We had a wonderful turnout. We had about 85 people there, the corps, past employees of the park. And it was, it was just a great celebration of our park family. And then the best being a State park for 50 years going into September, you know, national public lands Day is September 27th. I think that's a Saturday we'll be doing. I think state park's doing a national public lands week. So it's a great opportunity for any of the students that need to get their Tennessee promise hours. That's a great way to give back for that. You can get on there and register for that today. Going on today right now is our draw for the hunt in October. So we have a safety zone only hunt every other year. So this is the year for that.
We'll draw 100 hunters and it'll be open up for archery throughout the park to help thin down the park's herd.
[00:52:08] Speaker B: I will say we saw a lot of deer.
[00:52:11] Speaker F: There's a lot.
[00:52:11] Speaker B: And they all were standing on the side of the street like, go on, go on past and then we're gonna cross.
[00:52:17] Speaker F: There's a difference in park deer and non part deer. Cause like when I was leaving for school to take the kids to school this morning outside of the park, those deer are crazy. You know, the ones in the park, they like, look for cars and they like.
[00:52:28] Speaker E: Yeah, they look, they learn at an early age.
[00:52:32] Speaker F: But the non part deer kind of. Yeah, you gotta, you gotta watch for them.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:52:38] Speaker F: That's right.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: But you know, how do they know when it is the.
[00:52:41] Speaker F: Yeah, I think the, I think the, you know, it's like Bambi or something. I think the mother deer shows the fawns, you know, hey, you know, don't lose your mind. That's what happened. One lost their mind and just ran out right out in front of me. And so, I mean, it's. I think they actually just being around, being out in the park and you know, we had a plug for the, for the Haven of Hope or, you know, mental health month or suicide awareness month. Nothing does better for our mental health than getting outdoors, getting outdoors. It's been proven. Nature, you know, nature helps us. You just feel better when you sit in the sunshine or you get outside. So, you know, please remember that. Come out to the park and hike a trip. You know, nothing makes me feel better when I've had a rough day is getting outside and going for a little exercise.
[00:53:26] Speaker B: Low, fresh air, fresh air. Getting outside in the park recognition that life is good.
[00:53:32] Speaker F: And it's like everybody has a bad day. So I mean, you don't know what battles people are facing. So we, you know, parks are a great way to come and unplug and rewind.
Coming up in October, we'll have our Halloween at the park event on the 25th. I think that's the campsite decorating contest.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: That'll be good going on.
[00:53:52] Speaker F: We'll be doing some boat rides throughout the month of September. October. Check our website out.
[00:53:57] Speaker B: Those leaves turning off of the water, fixing the tur.
[00:54:01] Speaker J: Fixing.
[00:54:01] Speaker F: Mother Nature's fixing to put on a big show. So we're just gearing up for all that. And then, you know, big, big thing that happened in August. We got our cabins. We got WI FI in the cabins now. So our cabins are caught up with the times.
If you haven't stayed with us in a while, consider that we've got, you know, full, you know, the cabins are full amenities and we actually now have WI fi and new, new new smart TVs and all the cabins. So it's. We're making small upgrades as things, things go through.
[00:54:30] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:54:31] Speaker A: Oh my goodness.
[00:54:32] Speaker B: Well, how wonderful. And you also have kind of looking down the pike November 22nd, the.
The damn five miler.
[00:54:40] Speaker A: Oh, they love saying that.
[00:54:41] Speaker B: Oh, I do.
[00:54:42] Speaker F: Well, we had to move it. We, we, we had it set for May. We didn't have very many participants. Right now we're up to 35. So if we can get over 50, this is definitely happening. But it's. Registration is open. You can go to Facebook. Find. Find Edgar Evan State Park.
[00:54:55] Speaker B: It is not a breeze.
[00:54:57] Speaker F: Oh no, it's a ch. It's one of the most challenging races in the Upper Cumberland. So you real seekers come and come and try it.
[00:55:03] Speaker B: Yes, it's, it's, it's one that, that, that, you know, it's not for the faint of heart. It's.
[00:55:09] Speaker F: And pets are welcome.
[00:55:10] Speaker B: It's uphill both ways. I don't know how they did it.
[00:55:13] Speaker A: The pets can be in it.
[00:55:14] Speaker F: Pets can be in it.
This is like your grandpa's race. You know how they decided how they had to walk to school uphill both ways. This is actually pretty well it.
So when they come and do it. But registration is open. And find a go to Edgar Haven State Parks Facebook page. Look down, you'll see the damn 5 miler sign up is on there. I think it's runsignup.com is where it's going through. But all the proceeds go to the Friends of Edgar Evans, which is a great, great organization, doing a lot of good, doing a lot of good things.
[00:55:45] Speaker B: Well, thank you.
So get outdoors out of town.
[00:55:49] Speaker A: But we've got to talk about leadership.
[00:55:50] Speaker B: Leadership dekalb class of 2026. If anyone is interested, you got to live or work in DeKalb County. It is an opportunity to meet on a monthly basis. You meet existing leaders in education and government and business.
The fellow classmates become like family by the end of the year.
And our opening session begins September 29th. That deadline is coming up. So if you'd like more information on how to apply or what those dates are throughout the year, feel free to reach out.
Look, look for the Chamber call. The chamber call get you an application.
[00:56:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:32] Speaker B: And we really, we really are looking for a few more participants. So if you've waffled you you wondered if maybe this is something we hope that this is the year that you decide to to join Leadership DeKalb.
[00:56:45] Speaker A: Yes. And I've also got it on the Chamber Facebook page and the Leadership DeKalb Facebook page. So you can get an application there. Well, you'll have to share yours.
[00:56:54] Speaker B: I will. I will.
[00:56:56] Speaker A: Remember, if you have an upcoming events remote, just go to our website at www.decabtn.com. click on info, click on then calendar events and you can add your own event and we'll promote it on so Easy and on our website. The Chamber wants to help promote your news or special events. Call 615-597-4163 or email me at directorecalbcountychamber.org or tag me on Facebook and I'll help you see Spread the word.
[00:57:23] Speaker B: We are talking so fast because we had fabulous guests this morning. We want to thank all of them and we're so grateful for WJLE Radio and DTC TV for sponsoring our Chamber Chat program every month.
[00:57:35] Speaker D: Yeah, you can watch chamber chat on DTC3 as well as their website. Just go to DTC3TV and click on Chamber shows to view the program anytime you want.
[00:57:45] Speaker F: We appreciate all our listening and viewing audiences and hope you tune in next month.
[00:57:50] Speaker A: Same chat time, same chat channel. Thanks for joining us and happy almost fall, y'.
[00:57:55] Speaker J: All.
