Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: Scott & Marilyn Spangler discuss the Franklin Grove Area Historical Society's May WWII reenactment

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Talk Line: Scott & Marilyn Spangler discuss the Franklin Grove Area Historical Society's May WWII reenactment · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good Morningsock Valley. You joined the Waking Crew here on
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  Speaker 1: FM ninety five one and AM fourteen sixty w I
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  Speaker 1: x N. It's now eight fifteen on your Wednesday morning,
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  Speaker 1: and that means it's time once again for talk line
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  Speaker 1: and I'm joined today by our friends from the Franklin
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  Speaker 1: Grove Area Historical Society, Scott and Maryland Spangler.
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  Speaker 2: How are you, folks, They're good? How are you doing?
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  Speaker 1: I can't complain. I've been in here. I cut through
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  Speaker 1: the fog and yeah, man made it safe through.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, there's a few patchy spots out there there,
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  Speaker 3: but it's not.
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  Speaker 1: Bad hopefully, yeah, and not too bad. Hopefully it lifts up.
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  Speaker 1: But we want to talk about something, you know, very special.
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  Speaker 1: We've got the two hundred and fiftieth National Anniversary and
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  Speaker 1: you guys are doing something very special for that for
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  Speaker 1: World War Two and that's a reenactment.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Yes. Yes. Historical Society.
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  Speaker 3: And Franklin Grove has been around since the early nineteen
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  Speaker 3: eighties and it.
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  Speaker 2: Kind of.
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  Speaker 3: The founders got older and went away and it kind
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  Speaker 3: of went to a place where it wasn't doing a
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  Speaker 3: whole lot. And we've been in a rebuilding phase for
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  Speaker 3: last four or five years, and so we felt that
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  Speaker 3: the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary or our country is
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  Speaker 3: a good time to really kick off a new beginning
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  Speaker 3: for the Historical Society, and we're doing it in a
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  Speaker 3: big way with this World War Two reenactment. It's going
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  Speaker 3: to be a three day affair in May May fifteen,
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  Speaker 3: sixteen seventeen. Marilyn and I are both retired teachers, and
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  Speaker 3: when we talked to the reenactors that came to us,
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  Speaker 3: we said one thing that we really wanted was a
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  Speaker 3: day for education for the kids. So on the fifteenth,
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  Speaker 3: which is a Friday, we're going to have an education
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  Speaker 3: media day and we've invited area junior highs to come
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  Speaker 3: to the site and experience World War Two, and so
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  Speaker 3: we've already got between three and four hundred junior high
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  Speaker 3: students committed to coming on that day, which we're really
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  Speaker 3: happy about.
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  Speaker 2: And they'll meet.
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  Speaker 3: Soldiers from reenactors from America, Britain and Germany. And the
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  Speaker 3: whole scenario is in Franklin Grove at the Chaplin Creek Village,
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  Speaker 3: which is thirty acre tract of land that the Historical
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  Speaker 3: Society owns. We have a small village that we've built,
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  Speaker 3: and the Germans will occupy that village like an Italian village.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be dressed up like an Italian village,
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  Speaker 3: and it will represent the British and the Americans pushing
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  Speaker 3: the Germans out of Italy. And so the kids will
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  Speaker 3: be able to see their encampments. They We are trying
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  Speaker 3: to get as much big equipment there, like tanks and
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  Speaker 3: armored cars and different things as we can, and they'll
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  Speaker 3: experience the sites and sounds of.
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  Speaker 2: What went on in those days.
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  Speaker 3: And then on Saturday and Sunday we'll be open to
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  Speaker 3: the public and we'll have a battle, two battles each day,
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  Speaker 3: one at eleven thirty, another at three thirty, and in
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  Speaker 3: between the public and go through the camps and see
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  Speaker 3: the equipment. We're going to have displays and vendors and
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  Speaker 3: food trucks and you know, all the stuff that you
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  Speaker 3: need for such a thing. And we're trying to honor
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  Speaker 3: This will be a tribute to all the veterans, because
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  Speaker 3: we wouldn't have this country if it weren't for the
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  Speaker 3: people that have sacrificed in the past. And then we're
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  Speaker 3: especially honoring our greatest generation. You know, this may be
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  Speaker 3: the last hurrah for a lot of them. And we're
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  Speaker 3: really fortunate in Franklin Grove that we have a citizen
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  Speaker 3: that lives north of town, Willard Simpson, who will be
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  Speaker 3: one hundred and two in September, and the greatest guy
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  Speaker 3: in the world. He's very active, comes to the restaurant
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  Speaker 3: every day, and he just talked to a group of
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  Speaker 3: reenactors Valentine's Day weekend and they were just captivated by
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  Speaker 3: what he had to say. He's a veteran of the
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  Speaker 3: Battle of the Bulch and he went to Europe on
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  Speaker 3: the Queen Mary. I mean, he's got quite a story
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  Speaker 3: to tell, an amazing life. Oh yeah, yeah, very amazing
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  Speaker 3: person to talk to, and so you know, it's kind
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  Speaker 3: of a special thing, kind of a history geek when
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  Speaker 3: it comes down to this stuff. And I just love
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  Speaker 3: talking to Willard, and we really need to honor these guys,
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  Speaker 3: and the Chaplin Creek Village will have a hospitality tent
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  Speaker 3: for all the veterans. We're gonna in cooperation with the
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  Speaker 3: Legions and the VFWS in the area. We're going to
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  Speaker 3: give them sandwich and something to drink and so forth.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, we're hoping that the weekend will be a
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  Speaker 3: big tribute to all these people that come out.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I mean with the scale of this, this is
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  Speaker 1: I mean certainly going to be a fantastic event. How
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  Speaker 1: many reenactors do you have or are you still looking
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  Speaker 1: for people?
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  Speaker 3: The reenactors come from all over the country and we
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  Speaker 3: anticipate three one hundred and fifty at least reenactors. Maryland
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  Speaker 3: has already found out on social media from a group
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  Speaker 3: in Florida. They heard about our event and they said,
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  Speaker 3: we're headed to Illinois. And so we've gone to some
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  Speaker 3: other events over the past year, and you see license
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  Speaker 3: plates from Texas and Maryland and you know, Canada and
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  Speaker 3: from all over the place. And so they're really into
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  Speaker 3: the hobby. When they step onto the battlefield, they're completely
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  Speaker 3: back in time. They can't talk modern talk. They got
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  Speaker 3: to have the right haircuts, they got to have everything's
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  Speaker 3: got to be very very well done, you know, to
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  Speaker 3: be in period. So, yeah, it's in the battleground. According
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  Speaker 3: to the re enactors, they say it will be one
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  Speaker 3: of the largest in the Midwest. And we have a
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  Speaker 3: thirty acre tract of land out there, so I mean
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  Speaker 3: there's a lot of room. We've got hills, we got woods,
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  Speaker 3: and we got all different types of terrain. So yeah,
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  Speaker 3: the they're very excited about. They've had a couple practice
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  Speaker 3: times out there and they just love doing their thing
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  Speaker 3: out there. So I hope the public comes and enjoys
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  Speaker 3: it absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that's about as close as you get to
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  Speaker 1: time travel and in going back into the into the past.
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  Speaker 1: And I mean, you're right these reenactors, they take it
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  Speaker 1: very seriously.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of them.
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  Speaker 1: Would probably have like their their own uniforms or do
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  Speaker 1: you guys provide these.
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  Speaker 3: No, they have everything's their own. You know, the uniforms.
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  Speaker 3: Some of them still have some of the genuine uniforms,
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  Speaker 3: but they can there's places that make uniforms that are
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  Speaker 3: correct that they can buy. But like the helmets and
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  Speaker 3: you know, the hard things they try to use, and
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  Speaker 3: the weapons.
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  Speaker 2: Some of them the rifles.
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  Speaker 3: Are genuine, but like the automatic weapons and stuff are
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  Speaker 3: like movie props. They can't shoot bullets or anything. They
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  Speaker 3: shoot blanks. Everything's blanks, and everyone's checked out and there's
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  Speaker 3: a big safety check that goes on, and the battleground
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  Speaker 3: is scripted and everything.
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  Speaker 2: It's just like a movie set.
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  Speaker 3: It's pretty amazing, all the preparation that they're going to
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  Speaker 3: on their end to make this a genuine event. Our
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  Speaker 3: big thing is right now, we're looking for funding or
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  Speaker 3: for people to help us to get the large vehicles
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  Speaker 3: like a tank or an armored car. It costs on
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  Speaker 3: the average twenty five dollars per vehicle to get it there.
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  Speaker 3: We've had some local trucking companies donate some trucking Martin Trucking,
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  Speaker 3: Atkinson Trucking from Franklngrove, and we've had some people say
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  Speaker 3: that well, they'll bring it, you know, for the cost
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  Speaker 3: of gasoline and everything, because they they want to put
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  Speaker 3: on a show. And the people that own these vehicles
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  Speaker 3: don't charge you anything because they want to use them,
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  Speaker 3: and they don't they can't use them in their backyard,
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  Speaker 3: so we give them the opportunity to use them, and
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  Speaker 3: we just got to get them there. So we're still
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  Speaker 3: looking if anybody out there has a semi with a
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  Speaker 3: low boy and likes to, you know, could maybe donate something.
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  Speaker 3: We're looking for veterans to help us. We're looking for
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  Speaker 3: any group to really help us. We got about two
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  Speaker 3: months left, so it's getting tight.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I got to imagine if you've got a working
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  Speaker 1: tank in your backyard firing aside.
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  Speaker 3: Anyways, Yeah, yeah, it's pretty amazing when they get out there,
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  Speaker 3: you know and start running around.
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  Speaker 2: Valentine's Day weekend, they.
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  Speaker 3: Had a practice out there and they had what they
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  Speaker 3: call a half track, which is the front ends a
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  Speaker 3: truck and the back ends like a tank, and it
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  Speaker 3: was running around out there and it didn't tear up
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  Speaker 3: the ground or anything. I mean, it was really surprising
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  Speaker 3: how nimble it was too for such a big piece
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  Speaker 3: of equipment. But yeah, they try to be as authentic
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  Speaker 3: as possible, and this is going to be a good
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  Speaker 3: opportunity for this, especially the young people to see what this.
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  Speaker 2: Stuff is really like. It's not a video game. This
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  Speaker 2: is real.
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  Speaker 3: This is something they can touch and you know, there's
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  Speaker 3: a little finality to it and so forth.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm just really.
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  Speaker 3: Hoping that the parents bring their kids and spend the
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  Speaker 3: day out there and everything. There's going to be two
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  Speaker 3: days that they can do that.
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  Speaker 1: So absolutely, when with two days, you've got your options
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  Speaker 1: really come out see that. You know, not only is
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  Speaker 1: it a great time, but it's an important way to
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  Speaker 1: honor our veterans and to remember this very pivotal moment
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  Speaker 1: in American history very much.
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  Speaker 4: So yes, we'd also like to give a shout out
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  Speaker 4: to Christfood and Vanilla Industry. There have been a couple
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  Speaker 4: of our early sponsors for the event, so we're looking
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  Speaker 4: for more as well.
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  Speaker 1: And if anybody listening, if they want a sponsor, they
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  Speaker 1: want to help, they got that tank in their backyard,
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  Speaker 1: what's the best way to get a hold of you
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  Speaker 1: to get involved.
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  Speaker 3: We have a website, it's Franklin Grove Area Historicalsociety dot
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  Speaker 3: com and we're also on Facebook. Chaplain Creek Village. If
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  Speaker 3: you go there now, you'll see some of the reenactors.
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  Speaker 3: We had a hundred of them out there couple of
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  Speaker 3: weeks ago, and you'll see how genuine everything looks, and uh,
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  Speaker 3: it's really something to see. And so, uh, well, we're
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  Speaker 3: going to have other equipment on display. We're going to
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  Speaker 3: have a display.
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  Speaker 2: Area where there will be modern.
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  Speaker 3: Equipment and older stuff and so just kind of like
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  Speaker 3: a museum type setting, if you know, if we get
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  Speaker 3: enough there and so we're pretty excited about it, but
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  Speaker 3: we are really in need of donations, so we're trying
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  Speaker 3: to do it all through donations.
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  Speaker 4: Take it also call eight one four two six if
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  Speaker 4: they have any other questions.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, folks, you've got the number, you've got
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  Speaker 1: the sites hop online, give them a call. Better yet, donate,
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  Speaker 1: help out and you know, bring yourself, bring your kids,
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  Speaker 1: help support this cause. So, Scott Maryland, I really appreciate you,
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  Speaker 1: you coming here and sharing this in for and for
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  Speaker 1: what you're doing for our veterans. I think this is
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  Speaker 1: a really unique way to do that and to make
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  Speaker 1: sure that you know this moment and these these people
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  Speaker 1: that they're never forgotten.
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  Speaker 3: You're I appreciate you having us here. This is going
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  Speaker 3: to be a big event for Lee County and actually
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  Speaker 3: the northwest part of Illinois according to the tourism people
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  Speaker 3: in Illinois. So I appreciate you having us.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely my pleasure. Thank you.
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  Speaker 3: Bank