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Episode 45. Eagle's Healing Nest · Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries

• 0:25
  Welcome to the Kindness Chronicles and Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.
• 0:30
  This is a crossover show.
• 0:32
  Crossover warning.
• 0:33
  Crossover warning.
• 0:34
  Okay.
• 0:35
  You gonna be okay over there?
• 0:36
  Yeah, I'm okay.
• 0:36
  I'm good.
• 0:37
  With us, uh, Steve Brown.
• 0:39
  Hi everybody.
• 0:39
  Steve, recently got a haircut.
• 0:42
  He looks fantastic.
• 0:44
  You look very kind of clean cut.
• 0:46
  Sharp shooter.
• 0:46
  Yeah.
• 0:47
  Well, you had a rock star show about 10 days ago.
• 0:49
  That was quite a, quite a program.
• 0:51
  You gotta let it grow out a little bit for the rock and roll and then you got to clean it up and be a professional after that.
• 0:55
  That's right.
• 0:55
  And then KG, where are we calling you at?
• 0:58
  I am, uh, in beautiful Wyzetta, Minnesota.
• 1:00
  Oh, wow.
• 1:03
  It's lovely, although it looks like it's going to rain here tonight, but, uh, nothing will rain on the parade that is our show, and I love that we're doing the, uh, the dual podcast tonight.
• 1:13
  Yeah, we're going to get the two for one out of this deal.
• 1:15
  We have a guest that's going to be with us in just a second.
• 1:18
  His name is Sean Corr.
• 1:19
  He is the executive director, CEO, I don't know what he calls himself, of an organization called Eagles Healing Nest.
• 1:25
  We'll be right back.
• 1:26
  Which is an organization that, I've, grown to, uh, admire.
• 1:30
  And we're gonna get to him in just a second, but we haven't been on for, uh, for a week, and it's time to play a little catch up.
• 1:36
  Steve, I have to tell ya, I went to your show.
• 1:39
  Yeah, there were no red pants, but i'll tell you what it was a great show Yeah, you've got some talent.
• 1:45
  Well, it's just about the pants and that's all that matters to you Well, i'm, i'm a big fan of red the red pants Um, yes, it was in stillwater pd pappy's a place that uh, my band johnny cluess has never played there before and so People kind of came out of the woodwork and they were i was rocking I know that's I know it's gonna be a good show when I get lots of texts and emails from just You Crazy ranges of people, phone calls.
• 2:06
  And so it was all my family was there.
• 2:09
  Um, all the entire family.
• 2:11
  Yeah, everybody, literally everyone in your family, my in laws, my, my, my sister in law and her husband and their kids, everyone's kids do it.
• 2:19
  All, all, all the fan base, like, um, old school Johnny Cluess fan base, their kids are 21.
• 2:26
  So now they're bringing their kids to the bar.
• 2:28
  That's.
• 2:29
  That's what I loved is I discovered a spot outside of the bar But I know I saw the window Where it was like I was in the front row of the concert sort of like where Abraham Lincoln would have been positioned Remember, you know, he had that spot on the side there No, that was cool you were you were actually the the wind the the bar is located on the river and has like a Uh, three sides around it.
• 2:57
  Two of the sides are kind of open.
• 2:59
  So you were on the, on the patio.
• 3:01
  Yeah.
• 3:01
  Just kind of down below to the, to the right side of the, I I was able to look you right in the eye.
• 3:05
  The bull show.
• 3:06
  Yeah.
• 3:06
  I was yelling stuff at you.
• 3:06
  Yeah, you were.
• 3:07
  It was very fun.
• 3:08
  It was fun.
• 3:08
  And uh, Kevin, thanks for coming.
• 3:10
  The Minnesota Wild is starting already.
• 3:14
  It seems like.
• 3:14
  We, yeah.
• 3:15
  It was on our first, uh, first day on the job.
• 3:17
  Today we had Media Day with the team today.
• 3:19
  Um, got to do some fun stuff with some of the players they have their first preseason game is this weekend on Saturday, which is hard to believe at our very first broadcast is next week on the 25th.
• 3:29
  We head down, uh, to Dallas to start our preseason broadcast schedule.
• 3:34
  It, it's remarkable because it's been so warm around here.
• 3:36
  It's right.
• 3:37
  It's been humid eighties.
• 3:38
  It feels like the middle of summer and, and now hockey starting it's uh, it's kind of crazy.
• 3:44
  It's hard to believe that it's hockey season.
• 3:46
  It's nuts.
• 3:47
  And I understand you've got very long road trip to start the season.
• 3:51
  How does that work?
• 3:52
  Do you guys just stay on the road for Is it like 10 games?
• 3:56
  Yeah, it's bizarre.
• 3:57
  The wild open up in three weeks on October 10th.
• 4:00
  They have their their home opener against Columbus.
• 4:02
  They play two games that weekend.
• 4:05
  So they start the season home and you're right.
• 4:07
  10 games on the road.
• 4:09
  They're going to break it up though.
• 4:10
  Uh, I think they're going to go two or three out, come back home for a day or two, and then the long road trip is at the end of the month.
• 4:16
  I think it's uh six games, six different cities in 10 days and you know, I was talking to some of the the players today and they made some good points.
• 4:25
  Some of the veterans talked about how it's it's a lot easier to do this early in the year when you're not worn down from the travel and he said it's also easier when you're trying to get the team to come together.
• 4:34
  If you've got some new players, some younger players.
• 4:37
  You get on the road, um, the wild have a bunch of guys with either new little infants or babies on the way, but when you get on the road, there's no distraction.
• 4:47
  There's no none of that.
• 4:48
  You're just focused on the team and hockey.
• 4:50
  So they said it's kind of easier to have that at the start of the year.
• 4:53
  So we'll see how they do.
• 4:54
  It's still tough to win on the road and In any league and so that that'll be a challenge.
• 4:59
  Yeah, get rid of that family silliness, you know Parenting and all that for a little while gross What'll be really nice is when they get out from under the parisian suitor contracts.
• 5:10
  Isn't this the last year of that disaster?
• 5:13
  This is the final year and there was good.
• 5:15
  There was some real good early on obviously, uh, it's a long time and They've been itching to get that money back in the in the coppers and be able to go get some uh some free agents and they've got some talent, man.
• 5:28
  His team is they've got a core of really good players.
• 5:31
  Now, they've gotta build around it.
• 5:32
  So, this is a really important year for the wild because Contract is up in 2 years and he wants to win a cup and one of his best friends on the wild was Dimitri Kulikov who just won a cup in Florida and I know that had an impact on Kaprizov too and so if this team would miss the playoffs again this year, I think there'd be the danger of him starting to wander around and think about moving to a different spot.
• 5:55
  I I know he loves it here.
• 5:57
  I know he loves the guys but uh ultimately.
• 5:59
  Getting to know Kirill in his four years with this team, he really is pretty myopic.
• 6:04
  He wants to win and he wants to win a cup more than anything.
• 6:07
  So big, big year for the team.
• 6:09
  And he's only got two years left on his contract.
• 6:12
  Yeah.
• 6:12
  Wow.
• 6:13
  It's getting kind of scary.
• 6:15
  Just curiously, the people that you interviewed today, any new faces in the crowd, that, impressed you?
• 6:23
  The Yakov guy we got from Nashville.
• 6:26
  He is quite the imposing figure.
• 6:28
  He's the player we got via free agency.
• 6:30
  That's going to be kind of a third line, big, rugged winger, penalty kill guy.
• 6:35
  Uh, I had no idea how big he was.
• 6:37
  He walked in the room and I'm like, damn, better get out of the way here.
• 6:40
  Um, so yeah, he was cool.
• 6:42
  Yakov Smirnoff.
• 6:48
  I knew that was coming.
• 6:49
  Of course.
• 6:49
  It's so, you know.
• 6:51
  It was an 80s drop.
• 6:52
  Yeah, it just threw that one out there.
• 6:53
  Oh, geez.
• 6:54
  I tell ya.
• 6:55
  You never know what you're gonna get on the, uh, on the podcast.
• 6:58
  God, you're a character.
• 7:00
  Um, okay.
• 7:00
  So, we got our little Sports Chronicles done.
• 7:03
  John, how about you?
• 7:04
  What's, what's the update for you?
• 7:05
  How, how have you been?
• 7:06
  We haven't seen you for a little while, aside from, you Seen you at the, at the, at the Pappy's.
• 7:10
  What's going on with you?
• 7:11
  My wife, uh, just got back from Greece.
• 7:13
  Yeah.
• 7:14
  So, um.
• 7:14
  Saw she was traveling.
• 7:15
  So my couch, got quite a workout.
• 7:18
  Any, any catch ups on any shows that you caught up on that I just spilled some ketchup on my shirt a couple times.
• 7:23
  No, not, not ketchup.
• 7:25
  Ketchup on shows.
• 7:26
  Oh, oh, I'm sorry.
• 7:27
  No, I didn't really watch.
• 7:28
  I've been, I've been kind of keeping up on, uh, what's going on in the world.
• 7:32
  But I will tell you this.
• 7:34
  I organized all of my junk drawers, like there's no junk drawers anymore in this house.
• 7:39
  All of the cupboards were, were completely reorganized.
• 7:43
  I went through my garage and got rid of a whole bunch of stuff that Becky would never notice is missing.
• 7:48
  There you go.
• 7:48
  And when she says, Whatever happened to such and such ago, that thing, we haven't had that thing for years.
• 7:53
  That's smart.
• 7:53
  So I, uh, I had a couple of truckloads of stuff that we took to, uh, to the dump with, it feels good, right?
• 7:59
  To do that.
• 8:00
  God, it feels, I love purging like that.
• 8:01
  I love getting rid of stuff.
• 8:02
  My she in the fall, all my tools are in the same place.
• 8:06
  You know how tools kind of end up and I've got, it was a great week.
• 8:09
  I got a lot accomplished.
• 8:11
  Thank you for asking.
• 8:12
  Let's uh, KG, any, I, I just am curious, um, on the wild.
• 8:16
  So this Yakov guy, anybody else that, uh, that got your attention?
• 8:21
  I'll tell you Yakov, Trenton, no, I, I just, I was reminded again today interviewing Brock Faber, what an impressive kid he is.
• 8:28
  And then, you know, our producer that does the broadcast had a list of questions.
• 8:32
  So they wanted me to ask some of the veteran players about Brock Faber.
• 8:35
  And, and just a handful of guys talking about how humble he is.
• 8:40
  Thanks.
• 8:40
  How, uh, what a team player he is, how he never wants to talk about himself, how he's very, um, team first, you know, when a young guy comes to the league and is up for rookie of the year and finishes second in the voting and plays all 82, you know, some of the veterans are saying some of those guys can get caught up in, in reading their, their press clippings and they said, this guy's just the opposite.
• 8:59
  He does not care about any of that.
• 9:01
  Um, so I guess I was reminded of, you know, speaking to the kindness chronicles.
• 9:05
  Yeah.
• 9:07
  He seems like a guy that would be, yeah, let's, uh, I'm a big fan.
• 9:10
  Let's have him down here in the studio audience.
• 9:14
  Okay.
• 9:16
  We're going to switch gears and we're going to talk to our guests.
• 9:19
  Uh, we have the.
• 9:20
  executive director of an organization called Eagles Healing Nest.
• 9:23
  Is that what we call you, Sean Corr?
• 9:25
  Are you the executive director or CEO or I can be the executive director.
• 9:29
  What do you, what do you want us to call you?
• 9:31
  Cause we want to keep this Sean, okay.
• 9:34
  Sean is just fine.
• 9:35
  Sean, welcome to the Kindness Chronicles.
• 9:38
  I, uh, recently met Sean for the first time.
• 9:41
  Okay.
• 9:42
  He is relatively new at Eagles Healing Nest.
• 9:44
  And before we get into Eagles Healing Nest, Sean, tell us a little bit about your background.
• 9:49
  Well, no, I appreciate the opportunity, John, and I don't get to talk about the Wilds upcoming season or travel degrees, but I'll try to keep everybody as engaged as we can.
• 9:57
  Okay, perfect.
• 9:58
  Um, No, just a little bit about myself.
• 10:00
  I grew up here in Minnesota down in Worthington, um, graduated high school in 94 and joined the Marine Corps shortly after, uh, did a, did a tour in the Marine Corps in 1999.
• 10:10
  Joined the Minnesota Army National Guard, um, went to college at Bemidji State and then afterwards joined the Minnesota Army National Guard full time.
• 10:19
  Working through the Recruiting and Retention Battalion up through the ranks and just retired here at December 2023 as the Command Sergeant Major for the Minnesota Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Battalion.
• 10:31
  So the idea of a Command Sergeant Major has been in the news lately.
• 10:36
  Really?
• 10:37
  Well The, uh, the governor of Minnesota claimed to be a command sergeant major, but he, he didn't exactly retire as a command sergeant major.
• 10:48
  We're not going to get into the politics, but a command sergeant major, explain what that means.
• 10:53
  Well, it's not just a command sergeant major, but just a sergeant major in general.
• 10:57
  Once you get promoted to that rank or you get selected to that rank, there is a pretty rigorous, lengthy school you have to attend.
• 11:04
  And it takes a lot of dedication and commitment to complete it.
• 11:07
  And it's about, it's about an 18 to 20 month school.
• 11:12
  So, if you don't complete that school and you don't get your certificate of graduation from that school, you can't retire at that rank.
• 11:18
  That's all I'm going to say about that.
• 11:18
  That's right.
• 11:19
  Thank you for that, Sean.
• 11:20
  Okay.
• 11:21
  Sean, how did you find your way to the Eagles Healing Nest?
• 11:26
  Well, it's an interesting story because I was actually at a separate golf benefit probably around August of 2023 and I, I had no idea what the nest was.
• 11:38
  I had met a young man there that I had deployed with about 10 years earlier and started talking to him, asked him what he was doing there and he told me he was living at the nest and I was like, well tell me about that.
• 11:48
  He told me about that.
• 11:50
  Some hard times he fell on and into this place.
• 11:52
  It basically saved his life.
• 11:54
  And I thought it was a neat story.
• 11:56
  Told him I was going to retire from the military soon and had some time on my hands.
• 12:00
  So they, uh, Had volunteer opportunities to give me a call and he did probably probably about three weeks later He called me up and asked me if i'd be interested He said there's some stuff and they were going to look for some board positions And he was wondering if it was okay to throw my name in the hat And I told him that I thought that that would be uh, that'd be a pretty good deal and I submitted a bio and resume and didn't hear much and the board at that time then reached out to me and asked i'd be interested in putting in a an application resume for For this position and I did some checking and looking into it and found what I perceived as one of the greatest veteran resources out there that I've ever, ever got a chance to look at.
• 12:41
  Um, and it was something that, that provided purpose for me.
• 12:45
  Um, it was important to the veterans that we serve out there and the service members and their families.
• 12:50
  So, it was a pretty easy decision at the end of the day to jump in and see what I could do to help.
• 12:55
  So the Eagle's Healing Nest is in Sauk Center, Minnesota.
• 12:59
  Which is, a little north of St.
• 13:01
  Cloud a bit, right?
• 13:02
  Yeah, it's just northwest.
• 13:03
  North of St.
• 13:04
  Cloud.
• 13:05
  And, uh, tell us a little bit about the facility.
• 13:08
  How many acres are you on?
• 13:10
  And what was that before it became Eagle's Healing Nest?
• 13:14
  Well, we actually have two facilities.
• 13:16
  We have, uh, our, our headquarters is in Sauk Center and Sauk Center is made up of about 125 acres facility that's comprised of four, four different outlots.
• 13:27
  Um, it used to be called a girl's homeschool back in the day from when it was incepted around 1910, um, I believe until the 1970s, after that, it was a juvenile.
• 13:40
  detention facility until somewhere in the early 2000s and then it sat vacant for a little bit.
• 13:46
  And, and the individual landowner that bought it from Sauk Center, him and his partners kind of always had a vision that it would be a place for veterans to grow.
• 13:54
  There's a couple different people that looked at it until, uh, my predecessor, uh, Melanie Butler came in with her idea and she just built it building to building.
• 14:04
  Building the buildings with five, six, seven veterans at a time, adding on renovate new buildings until it's been built into the facility that it is right now.
• 14:14
  Right now, in our SOPS center area, we can house just about 100 veterans.
• 14:19
  Um, we also have a facility down in Redwood Falls that was donated about four years ago.
• 14:24
  It used to be an assisted living center converted into, uh, You know, standard studio apartments and one bedroom apartments and we use that as kind of an off that silver living facility that we send folks to after they've kind of completed a program up with us at the SOC Center, if they choose to live down there.
• 14:40
  Yeah, the Eagle's Healing Nest was brought to the attention of Minnesota Masonic Charities several years ago.
• 14:47
  Dayton Berg, who was in the Grand Lodge line, he was going to become the Grand Master in a couple of years.
• 14:54
  Connected us with, uh, with Melanie Butler and, uh, did a site visit and immediately recognized what a critical place this was for, for people that were experiencing a variety of challenges, uh, primarily veterans.
• 15:08
  But I understand that you have more than veterans.
• 15:10
  Is there, did I read somewhere that you've got some relationship with the NHL?
• 15:16
  we do.
• 15:16
  We have an organization that came in called The Ranch, and that stemmed from Mark Pavlik spent some time up there at the Eagles Healing Nest.
• 15:25
  One of his wishes before he passed was that his family form an organization that would do something similar to what The Nest does.
• 15:34
  So, The Ranch has since set up a facility on our campus up there, and they're working through building their program.
• 15:40
  But the thing that makes The Ranch and The Nest special is, uh, The fact that we're, that we're primarily funded off private donations and not so many grants because we get, we get the opportunity to help people right now.
• 15:56
  We don't have a lot of red tape that has to be cut through so when we have a veteran or a service member or a family member of a veteran even that calls up and they're in crisis and they're in need to help.
• 16:05
  We don't have to sit there and go through a rigorous intake process to make sure that they're qualified to make sure that they've got this paperwork in order.
• 16:13
  We can get them there right now.
• 16:15
  And start, start taking care of them and give them the treatment that they need.
• 16:18
  And that's one of the things that makes the nest special.
• 16:20
  And specifically, what kind of needs does the nest address?
• 16:24
  we're licensed to the board and lodge facility with special services.
• 16:27
  But as what we do is we provide the board and lodge in a unique living environment that's, that's by veterans and for veterans.
• 16:35
  But on top of that, we also, we also invite, uh, outpatient services onto our campus that can provide, you know, addiction treatment services.
• 16:44
  We invite counselors onto our campus that can provide that therapy and counseling services that people need.
• 16:49
  We also provide transportation programs to get people to and from appointments down from the VA.
• 16:55
  And those are just some of the core programs that we offer.
• 16:57
  I mean, on top of that, we offer art programs out there.
• 16:59
  We offer wood programs out there.
• 17:01
  We offer rock, rock shaping programs out there.
• 17:04
  There's a lot of different programs that we offer to keep people busy.
• 17:07
  Um, That's not even getting into the veteran to veteran classes that the folks that have been out there for a while put together.
• 17:13
  One of the things that I was most impressed with when I toured the nest a couple of years back was the fact that the people that live there really take pride in the facility and they have renovated some of the spaces themselves.
• 17:29
  Isn't that accurate?
• 17:32
  Oh, absolutely, and I think that's one of the things that's different is that when we get people out of the nest we don't invite them in as tenants or patients or residents.
• 17:41
  We invite them in as part of the, part of the nest family.
• 17:43
  So when they're out there, they don't view the nest as a place that they're going to stay for a little while.
• 17:47
  They view it as, as their home while they're out there.
• 17:50
  So just like anybody else that has a home, they take pride in their home.
• 17:53
  They want to take care of their home.
• 17:55
  Yeah, there was a big storm that had gone through right before we toured.
• 17:59
  And I was just so impressed with all these guys are out there.
• 18:03
  the chainsaws are going in there, cutting down trees and just cleaning stuff up.
• 18:08
  And, uh, one of the things that I was most impressed with is I.
• 18:12
  We went in, you've got a little chapel there on campus.
• 18:16
  Yep.
• 18:16
  And inside the chapel there is like a stage or an altar.
• 18:22
  And there were several guys in there playing music.
• 18:27
  And they were playing Marshall Tucker Band music.
• 18:30
  And they sounded as good as the Marshall Tucker Band.
• 18:33
  I'm not kidding.
• 18:34
  We get a lot of musicians we get out there.
• 18:35
  We've got a recording studio, it's one of our programs out there.
• 18:38
  We get a lot of guys out there that just like to sit out there and play instruments.
• 18:41
  Jam on guitars.
• 18:43
  We like to invite people from the outside public that want to come in.
• 18:46
  I can totally appreciate that.
• 18:48
  Just at the website, looking at the, it looks like a beautiful facility, beautiful grounds.
• 18:52
  Um, the fact that you have music there as a form of therapy, it's, probably getting great results from stuff like that because music heals people's souls.
• 19:00
  what's neat about it Not only is it cathartic for these musicians to have an opportunity to is the term jam with other musicians, but that was what was going on when we were there playing with people is like, is like dancing with a bunch of people at the same time.
• 19:17
  You play the music together.
• 19:18
  You're kind of uniting.
• 19:19
  It's really cool.
• 19:20
  But it also makes sense.
• 19:21
  It's not an exclusive club, you know, I mean, even the guys that out there that don't know how to play an instrument or they can't sing, um, they're constantly invited down there.
• 19:30
  We have karaoke nights twice a month out there, you know, it's just about getting folks down there to enjoy listening to music and sitting there and being a part of the program.
• 19:38
  Well, the group that was playing when I was there, I was super impressed with them.
• 19:43
  In fact, I floated the idea of, maybe we should have you guys come down and do a, uh, I You know, do entertainment for our gala or one of the events that we have.
• 19:51
  And, they just kind of snickered at me and said, we're happy where we're at right now.
• 19:55
  We're not, we're not, we don't want to take this show on the road.
• 19:59
  You mentioned that there's some outpatient services that come to the nest and provide like, what, what are you talking about specifically?
• 20:07
  Well, we have a couple of different organizations up there.
• 20:09
  We have sobriety versus out in town.
• 20:11
  We have healing grace.
• 20:12
  It's right on campus that really provides those outpatient services for, for addictions and things of that nature to some of our clients up there that are struggling with those things.
• 20:21
  Okay.
• 20:22
  Likewise, we have a couple of therapists that set up shop right on campus to address some of the underlying needs, some of the folks that are up there.
• 20:30
  We get a lot of folks that are just connected with the VA and prefer the services that they get there, so we provide transportation to and from the various St.
• 20:39
  Cloud VA, Minneapolis VA, Sioux Falls VA, Fargo VA, as needed.
• 20:46
  It sounds like you, you've cut the red tape, which makes it probably so much easier and, uh, comforting for these guys to just to walk in and get help they need and not have to go through all that stuff that people have to deal with.
• 20:59
  How, how great is that?
• 21:00
  That you've been able to move that barrier.
• 21:02
  Well, the last thing that you want if you're, if you're a person in crisis and need help is a lot of automated phone calls and paperwork to send.
• 21:10
  So, so as much of that as we can cut out for folks, you know, that's what, that's what we do.
• 21:14
  Smart.
• 21:15
  It's really smart.
• 21:16
  So how do people find you?
• 21:18
  you're not just serving Minnesota veterans.
• 21:20
  I met a guy that came from Georgia or something like that while I was there.
• 21:24
  Really?
• 21:26
  Well, and I'll tell you, you know, Melanie did a good job at outreach throughout the entire country.
• 21:30
  She traveled a lot and she got the word out about the Eagles Healing Nest.
• 21:33
  Um, it's something that we need to continue doing, but you're right.
• 21:36
  We get veterans from Missouri, Texas, Georgia, California, Montana.
• 21:41
  We get veterans from all over the United States because the need is really that great.
• 21:46
  For a place like the nest.
• 21:47
  Um, obviously we advertise, we have flyers, we have our website.
• 21:51
  Um, one of the things we pride ourselves on the best form of outreach is when we have somebody that's got the successful stay out the nest and they go back to the state that they came from and spread the word.
• 22:00
  We get a lot of people that come here from other states just based off of word of mouth.
• 22:04
  How long might a person stay at the nest?
• 22:08
  Well, I think that's the other thing that makes the nest unique, We don't stamp a timeline on recovery out there.
• 22:12
  We've got folks that come out there and will spend a few months there to get themselves grounded before they move on to the next step.
• 22:17
  We've got other folks that it takes them a year and a half up to two years that they need to be out there and go through some form of therapy or programming or healing before they're ready to move on.
• 22:26
  And we're not gonna, we're not gonna push somebody off the nest before they're ready to.
• 22:30
  Any, uh, specific success stories that you'd love to share?
• 22:36
  you know, I'm not, I can't, I can't mention specific names, but you know, I'm not looking for names, Sean.
• 22:41
  Come on, man.
• 22:43
  Could you give us their address and their phone number?
• 22:45
  No, I'm teasing.
• 22:47
  Oh yeah.
• 22:47
  Now you're poking at me.
• 22:49
  No, I will tell you, you know, some of the stuff that I've seen at the nest that I think is pretty, uh, pretty special is, Is I know that we pick people up right in downtown Minneapolis from underneath one of the I 35 bridges down there and we get them up there and they're, they don't really know where they're at or what's going on, but a loved one or a family member helped get them up there and it's been up to four weeks later and I've seen that individual clean cut out trying to get their first part time job in the community.
• 23:15
  Well, awesome.
• 23:15
  Oh, you know, that's a win.
• 23:17
  That's somebody that's moving forward and changing their situation and that's what we want to be a part of.
• 23:21
  It sounds like you guys are really onto something.
• 23:23
  Is this something that's happening in other states or other areas of the country that you know about, that people are tuning into this easier idea about service and health for vets?
• 23:34
  I do.
• 23:34
  I do know a few other organizations out there in a couple states that are trying to get similar programs going or have similar programs.
• 23:41
  program going.
• 23:42
  it's unique when you see one get off the ground, get up and run and run successfully.
• 23:47
  And it takes a lot of work.
• 23:48
  It does.
• 23:48
  And I, like I said, I will always credit my predecessor with the amount of work she put in to get a program like this off the ground and running.
• 23:55
  It takes a lot of volunteers.
• 23:57
  It takes a lot of generous donors.
• 23:59
  Um, and it takes a lot of dedicated folk to make it work.
• 24:02
  And was it Melanie that, did she have a son that was in need of services?
• 24:06
  That was, uh, and that's, that's what drove her.
• 24:09
  That's one of the things that drove her to start.
• 24:11
  That's amazing.
• 24:13
  Yeah, that's pretty darn cool.
• 24:15
  KG.
• 24:15
  I'm sure you've got some questions.
• 24:17
  We've been dominating the, uh, the conversation here.
• 24:20
  Yeah.
• 24:20
  Well, you know, Sean II gotta tell you first of all, thank you for your service.
• 24:24
  Um just amazing that that you're giving back again in this in this way and I was fortunate enough to emcee an event about a month ago for the ranch and Clint Malarchuk former NHL goalie that that got that skate in the jugular back in the day is kind of the uh the figure head but I was on a stage with a bunch of guys from Mark Pavelich's Miracle on Ice 1980.
• 24:46
  Hockey team that, uh, beat the Russians.
• 24:49
  And, you know, it's amazing to me how they're trying to, the, the template that you guys set, they're trying to mimic that, uh, for former hockey players and all the struggles that.
• 25:00
  That they go through, it's got to be awfully gratifying for you to be a part of such a unique place, such a special place, knowing that now not only is the word spreading throughout the world in terms of military veterans, but now, you know, people that work around the National Hockey League and work throughout college hockey are seeing the value of something like this that you guys have created.
• 25:25
  And I think, though, when you talk about it, you can draw a lot of similarities between young athletes, amateur athletes, and military veterans in the sense that they leave the home early.
• 25:34
  Um, they, they, they're away, they're focused on what they're doing, something happens, you know, and there's, there's, it's just not there for them anymore.
• 25:43
  They need a place to go where they can sit there and reset, maybe, maybe regather themselves a little bit.
• 25:47
  But I think it's more just looking at the way the nest and ranch is trying to operate in, in a way to deal with, with mental health in general.
• 25:55
  Um, the need's gonna be there, and we need more facilities that are able to deal with it.
• 26:02
  you are, as I understand, are in the process of, uh, building a new board of directors.
• 26:08
  What kind of people are you looking for to serve on your board?
• 26:12
  Well, you know, I talked to a, I talked to a representative a while ago and he was teaching me a little bit about nonprofit boards.
• 26:18
  And he said, when you have, when you have a nonprofit board and you're going to look to board members, you want people that can write checks, find checks or provide great influence.
• 26:26
  So those are the kind of people that we're looking for out there right now.
• 26:29
  We've got a couple, we've got a couple of solid board members already.
• 26:33
  Um, we've got eight people on our board, but yeah, we're looking to grow a little bit.
• 26:36
  In fact, uh, Sean and I are having lunch with a prospective board member.
• 26:39
  There you go.
• 26:40
  In St.
• 26:41
  Cloud, Granite City, see you at noon.
• 26:44
  So, I'll do that.
• 26:45
  1130, 1130.
• 26:47
  Alright, don't be late.
• 26:48
  Oh, I heard John is buying.
• 26:49
  I am buying, yes.
• 26:51
  So, Sean, based on your background, and it sounds like this came together kind of fast for you.
• 26:57
  It's not, and it's also sounds like you are the perfect guy for this.
• 27:00
  How did, what, what is it in your background to be able to jump in and do this as well as you're doing it?
• 27:06
  I, aside from, you know, your predecessor did a really good job setting it up.
• 27:09
  You seem natural at this.
• 27:11
  Is this, did you in, in your military work and, and what set you up to be so good at this?
• 27:17
  Well, I think that what I had going for me is that as you come up as a leader in the military, you know, the basis of being a leader is taking care of people.
• 27:27
  And when you look at what the nest is all about, it's just, it's the same thing.
• 27:30
  It's just the desire to take care of other people, help other people.
• 27:35
  be the best versions of themselves.
• 27:37
  And as long as you're bought into that, I think that, uh, I think that anybody could be successful in the field.
• 27:43
  Um, I have to ask when you were working for the National Guard, were you like a recruiter?
• 27:50
  Is that what you said?
• 27:52
  I was in the Recruiting and Retention Command.
• 27:54
  So would you ever go into like high schools and were you those people that would have people doing pull ups and all that other stuff?
• 28:01
  Well, I didn't have a lot of people doing pull ups.
• 28:03
  I would teach more classes and stuff when I went into high school.
• 28:05
  But, you know, I went to a lot of high schools and tried to provide a lot of value.
• 28:08
  Because I have a funny pull up story.
• 28:10
  So maybe it's the Marine Corps that went to my daughter's high school.
• 28:14
  Okay.
• 28:14
  And, they were giving away like a t shirt to whoever could do the most pull ups.
• 28:19
  And there's this one kid that went up there and he ripped off, I don't know, something like 22 pull ups or something like that.
• 28:25
  And, uh, another guy said he was going to go up there and he said something to my daughter, Riley, who's a gymnast.
• 28:32
  Uh oh.
• 28:33
  And Riley was up next.
• 28:35
  And she said to the guy, tell me how many you think you can do.
• 28:37
  So I only have to beat you by one.
• 28:39
  And, uh, cocky.
• 28:41
  Very cocky.
• 28:42
  That's your daughter for sure.
• 28:43
  Totally one of my favorite, uh, Riley stories.
• 28:45
  And how'd she do?
• 28:46
  Of course she won.
• 28:47
  Oh, wow.
• 28:48
  This is a family of champions.
• 28:49
  She got a t shirt.
• 28:50
  Oh, family of champions.
• 28:51
  Yeah, I don't know what, I've never seen that t shirt.
• 28:53
  Maybe she Didn't matter.
• 28:54
  It didn't matter.
• 28:55
  Nah.
• 28:55
  You know, she got the medal.
• 28:57
  That's all that matters.
• 28:58
  She got the medal, she won, that's what it's all about.
• 29:00
  That's right.
• 29:01
  It's all about that.
• 29:02
  KG, how many pull ups can you do these days?
• 29:04
  I I don't know.
• 29:06
  It depends, you know, if I'm getting up off the couch after watching like four hours of Seinfeld and Elaine's pretty motivating, but I haven't really done it in a long time.
• 29:14
  And I was never in the Marines.
• 29:16
  I'm more of a lover than a fighter, but that doesn't change my affection.
• 29:20
  And my dad's an old Navy guy.
• 29:22
  And, you know, John and I were talking before we started the podcast, my dad's going through some.
• 29:26
  Some health issues of 85 and it's amazing how proud he still is.
• 29:30
  He's got his Navy hat at the assisted living facility where he is right now.
• 29:34
  And, you know, he's got early onset dementia and he loves talking about his time in the Navy with his friend, Harry Brown, Harry Brown.
• 29:43
  He's down in Faribault where my dad was the golf pro.
• 29:45
  He's got the car dealership down there, has for years.
• 29:48
  And it's funny what my dad can remember, but the Navy to him is like, aside, you know, again, the family and all that good stuff, the golf, nothing mattered.
• 29:56
  The Navy, I was in the Navy.
• 29:57
  Yeah, dad, you were in the Navy.
• 29:59
  It's amazing how proud he is and how proud we are of him.
• 30:03
  For all of his old service members that are, that are retired.
• 30:06
  We like to talk about.
• 30:07
  The pull ups we used to be able to do.
• 30:09
  Not the way we can do it.
• 30:10
  Absolutely.
• 30:10
  I guarantee you can do more than the three of us combined.
• 30:13
  So that I put my money on that and I know I'd cash.
• 30:17
  Hey KG, we're about to have a crazy small world experience.
• 30:22
  When you mentioned Harry Brown, Steve Brown.
• 30:26
  Said what?
• 30:28
  Yeah.
• 30:29
  Harry Brown is my dad.
• 30:30
  Earl Brown's cousin.
• 30:32
  I just saw Harry Brown LA this past winter, and his kids, he's got a, he's got a son named Steve Brown, which is crazy.
• 30:38
  He sure does.
• 30:39
  I think he runs the car dealership now.
• 30:42
  Dad and Harry are best friends.
• 30:44
  Wow.
• 30:44
  Yeah.
• 30:44
  They're best friends for life.
• 30:45
  That's crazy.
• 30:46
  Crazy coincidence.
• 30:47
  Small world.
• 30:49
  Small world.
• 30:49
  Yeah, amazing.
• 30:50
  Sean, do you know any Harry Browns or Steve Browns?
• 30:54
  I, I do not.
• 30:55
  Well, I can tell you they're fine people with great hair.
• 31:00
  Yeah, Harry's got good hair too, like my, like my dad, yeah.
• 31:04
  Anyway, well Sean, I just wanted to thank you for uh, for spending some time with us.
• 31:09
  I, uh, I'm very proud of the relationship that Masonic Charities has with, uh, with the Eagle's Healing Nest and, uh, looking forward to lunch tomorrow at 1130 at Grand City St.
• 31:21
  Cloud.
• 31:22
  Come one, come all.
• 31:23
  And, uh, I, uh, I'm, I'm bringing Dayton Berg, who, uh, is a past Grand Master.
• 31:30
  He originally introduced the Eagle's Healing Nest and, uh, Dayton is, uh, looking for something to do.
• 31:36
  So, So he doesn't pester me.
• 31:38
  So I'm going to pawn him off on Sean for a while, but, but he's a, a retired Marine Corps guy.
• 31:44
  Uh, he was in the Marine Corps for, I don't know, 25, 30 years or something like that.
• 31:49
  Cool.
• 31:50
  So.
• 31:52
  Well, that's good, because if you have a hard time understanding a Marine, you have to find another Marine.
• 31:59
  Just say cold red, John.
• 32:01
  See what happens at lunch.
• 32:02
  Oh, God.
• 32:03
  How dare you, sir?
• 32:05
  Oh, there he goes.
• 32:06
  You know what we didn't have?
• 32:07
  Did we have a Seinfeld reference?
• 32:09
  You mentioned Seinfeld.
• 32:09
  There wasn't quite a reference.
• 32:10
  I mentioned four hours of, we haven't, we didn't mention.
• 32:13
  We always get to Seinfeld.
• 32:14
  I guess I did mention Matamedi High School, because that's where the pull up situation took place.
• 32:20
  Yeah.
• 32:20
  Yeah.
• 32:21
  But how about the Harry Brown connection?
• 32:23
  That's crazy.
• 32:24
  It's crazy.
• 32:25
  Unbelievable.
• 32:26
  You know what?
• 32:26
  It's all coming together.
• 32:28
  You know, the Kindness Chronicles is the place where big things happen.
• 32:31
  Yes, it is.
• 32:33
  Indeed.
• 32:33
  Well, thank you for all of you that continue to tune into the Kindness Chronicles and Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.
• 32:41
  Uh, we are grateful that you, that you listen.
• 32:44
  And with that, off we go.