Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line Monday: Dixon Township Supervisor Brent Reuter

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Talk Line Monday: Dixon Township Supervisor Brent Reuter · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sock Valley. You're listening to the Waking Crew
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  Speaker 1: here on AM fourteen sixty FM ninety five one WIXN,
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  Speaker 1: where you're never more than moments away from all the
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  Speaker 1: local news, sports and entertainment information needed to start your day.
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  Speaker 1: And we are moving on to our portion of the
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  Speaker 1: show that is our talk line segment, and I am
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  Speaker 1: joined today by Dixon Township Supervisor Brent Ruter. Brent, how
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  Speaker 1: are you this morning, sir?
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  Speaker 2: I am doing well. Brandon, how are you?
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  Speaker 1: I am very well. Thank you so much for joining me.
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  Speaker 1: I really appreciate it, and I always like to start off,
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  Speaker 1: you know, for maybe the folk folks who don't know,
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  Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about the Dixon Township Government,
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  Speaker 1: what it does and your your role as its supervisor.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, it's one of my favorite things to discuss.
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  Speaker 3: So the township government is actually the oldest existing unit
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  Speaker 3: of government continuing to serve on the North American continent,
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  Speaker 3: which is yeah, blew my mind the first time I
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  Speaker 3: heard it too. But as a township supervisor, my basic
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  Speaker 3: functions are to administer the general assistance and the emergency
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  Speaker 3: assistance program that can provide monthly assistance financial assistance for
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  Speaker 3: basic needs such as rent, utilities, food for individuals, things
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  Speaker 3: of that nature, which I know is a hot topic
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  Speaker 3: right now. So there's an application process to determine eligibility.
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  Speaker 3: The application for general assistance emergency assistance is the same,
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  Speaker 3: but obviously get ahold of us at the Dixon Township
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  Speaker 3: office if we're needing assistance. Emergency assistance requires a shut
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  Speaker 3: off notice or an eviction notice to qualify for that
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  Speaker 3: as well. But I'll reach out eight one eight four
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  Speaker 3: four seven five. Again, I'm Brent, the supervisor. You can
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  Speaker 3: speak with me. But beyond that, the township also offers.
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  Speaker 3: We have the Assessor's office that does the basically the
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  Speaker 3: assessment of real property for the basis of local taxation.
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  Speaker 3: And then the Road Commissioner, wh which is the maintenance
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  Speaker 3: of all roads and bridges outside federal state and other
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  Speaker 3: local jurisdiction. And that's kind of the township and a whole.
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  Speaker 1: Has anybody ever told you you've got a real.
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  Speaker 2: Voice for me? Yes, they have. I think mister Marco
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  Speaker 2: mentioned that a few times, so.
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  Speaker 1: He's absolutely right. I'm surprised you to try to nail
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  Speaker 1: you for a co host. That's great and and that's
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  Speaker 1: you know, these things that you're bringing up really important.
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  Speaker 1: As you said, there are a lot of folks out
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  Speaker 1: there right now struggling. They need help. Having these local
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  Speaker 1: organizations that can plug you in, you know, and get
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  Speaker 1: you to the right place. The work that you guys
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  Speaker 1: are doing is very important. So I really appreciating you
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  Speaker 1: letting everybody know what's going on and what you guys
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  Speaker 1: are doing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, And you know, and I like to tell people,
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  Speaker 3: you know, if I if I can't find here, if
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  Speaker 3: I can't you know, solve your problems, there's a good
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  Speaker 3: chance I know somebody that might be able to or
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  Speaker 3: be able to help with that. So I do my
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  Speaker 3: best to point you down the right the right path
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  Speaker 3: there with other organizations locally here to help alleviate those
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  Speaker 3: issues for people.
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  Speaker 1: And speaking of local help, you wanted to talk about
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  Speaker 1: a couple of fundraising events right.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, so beyond the township, if you're not familiar
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  Speaker 3: with me, I also run Rock disc Off or co
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  Speaker 3: own it with my wife, Nora Ruter.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so shout out Nora.
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  Speaker 3: So we've got a couple of fundraising events coming up here.
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  Speaker 3: So each year we host a couple of different events
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  Speaker 3: one of them coming up January tenth, twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 3: Here it is a Veterans for Vets tournament. It's called
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  Speaker 3: the disc for Honor seven, So basically it benefits the
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  Speaker 3: Honor Fight of the Quad Cities, specifically our Lee County chapter.
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  Speaker 3: So this will be our seventh year now hosting this event.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know the exact numbers. It's easier when I
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  Speaker 3: compile all the events and have a total number of
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  Speaker 3: all the different things we've done. We're closer to or
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  Speaker 3: just north of the twenty thousand dollars mark, so very.
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  Speaker 2: Proud of that.
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  Speaker 3: But beyond that, we also have a Frozen Chains tournament
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  Speaker 3: coming up on February seventh, and that actually benefits the Sock.
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  Speaker 2: Valley Food Bank.
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  Speaker 3: So a lot of these programs that we put on
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  Speaker 3: are these tournaments are things that we do. We obviously
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  Speaker 3: try to keep those funds of those fundraising efforts low,
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  Speaker 3: so that's a big part of that.
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  Speaker 2: But beyond that, you know, we've done a number of
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  Speaker 2: other events.
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  Speaker 3: Coming Petuny Festival each year, we have an event as
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  Speaker 3: part of that, and then we also have a big
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  Speaker 3: event which last weekend we were able to donate and
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  Speaker 3: give the check to Rockerver Hospice at home. So we
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  Speaker 3: do a big event for them every year and we
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  Speaker 3: just donated three thousand dollars to them last week.
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  Speaker 1: That is amazing, absolutely amazing. And one I think also
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  Speaker 1: the Quad City Honor Flight right.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, so the Quad City Honor Fight there, that
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  Speaker 3: would be the Veterans for vets. So okay, the tournament
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  Speaker 3: we're doing on the tenth, so it benefits the Quad
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  Speaker 3: City Honor Fight, but specifically the Lee County.
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  Speaker 2: Chapter because we like to see, you know.
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  Speaker 3: Not, we love to see all vets go out there, obviously,
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  Speaker 3: but we like to focus, obviously and keep those those efforts,
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  Speaker 3: of those fundraising efforts local or as local as we can,
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  Speaker 3: so we try to put those funds back into the
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  Speaker 3: Lee County Chapter specific out of our VFW here in Dixon.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, I love seeing the amazing work that
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  Speaker 1: you've done with disc Golf in the Sauk Valley and
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  Speaker 1: really giving back and for folks who don't know, and
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  Speaker 1: I think Brent is being quite humble about the work
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  Speaker 1: that himself and his wife Nora have done. When I
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  Speaker 1: think disc Golf in the Suck Valley, I think you two,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I first really learned about that work, you know,
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  Speaker 1: early in my career with Seau and I had, you know,
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  Speaker 1: had interviewed you guys you know about that work. But
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  Speaker 1: I kind of want to go back for folks, How
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  Speaker 1: did that all all begin? Because again I already know
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  Speaker 1: you when I think disc golf, Salk Valley, and you've
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  Speaker 1: done so much for the area in it.
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  Speaker 2: But how did that begin?
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  Speaker 3: Well, honestly, it didn't start with us. It started with
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  Speaker 3: a group of individuals over in Sterling with Sinnesippi Park, right,
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  Speaker 3: Sennahippie Park. Now I'm gonna be on the radio here
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  Speaker 3: with so I believe was installed in nineteen eighty two,
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  Speaker 3: was when Sinnssippi was first installed. So great group of
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  Speaker 3: individuals of guys some how now since passed, but they
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  Speaker 3: were a really big crucial part of getting disc off
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  Speaker 3: brought to this area. My wife and I in twenty
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  Speaker 3: eighteen kind of got the firelight under us with a
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  Speaker 3: local board park board commissioner here in Dixon just kind
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  Speaker 3: of said, hey, somebody came to a meeting and said, hey,
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  Speaker 3: you know what about disc off. Have we looked at add
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  Speaker 3: that in the parks And he happened to know that
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  Speaker 3: we played it and so just reached out and I
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  Speaker 3: hate to say, like the rest is history, but but yeah,
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  Speaker 3: now we're on our We're working at redesigning Page Park
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  Speaker 3: with the the expansion there of the walking bridge and
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  Speaker 3: the walking path multi use path.
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  Speaker 2: Going through town.
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  Speaker 3: So we'll be redesigning that and expanding that slightly. But really, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I just started with a conversation. Somebody just simply asked,
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  Speaker 3: you know, hey, could you guys come out and talk
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  Speaker 3: to us a little bit about this or educate us
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  Speaker 3: a little bit more, and you know, kind of to
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  Speaker 3: you know, loop things full circle. It's you know, back
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  Speaker 3: to township government, back to disc Off. You know, it's
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  Speaker 3: it's really just educ hating people on what's available, the
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  Speaker 3: opportunities in their community.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 3: But really I think this golf allowed us to find
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  Speaker 3: a niche in our community to you know, again raise funds,
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  Speaker 3: you know, outside of your normal fundraising events, but then
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  Speaker 3: to also just open up something something outside of or
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  Speaker 3: something different than what others are you know, your normal sports,
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  Speaker 3: your basketball, your baseball, your things of that. What's great
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  Speaker 3: about disc Off Any person, any walk, any.
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  Speaker 2: Any person can play the sport.
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  Speaker 3: And what's so great about that is that now we
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  Speaker 3: have different courses, whether it's a nine hole or an
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  Speaker 3: eighteen hole, a short course or a long course, we
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  Speaker 3: can kind of cater to any of those I guess
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  Speaker 3: skill levels. But yeah, it really all just started with
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  Speaker 3: a conversation and back in twenty eighteen somebody said, hey,
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  Speaker 3: can you show up and kind of educate the uneducated?
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  Speaker 3: And that's that's what I like to tell people, is
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  Speaker 3: you know, that's the best thing you can do anymore,
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  Speaker 3: is just kind of ask questions and try to find
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  Speaker 3: the answers.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, And since then, you guys have been showing
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  Speaker 1: up consistently and taking the Sauk Valley to church. When
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  Speaker 1: it comes to disc golf, I mean, you've literally put
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  Speaker 1: Sinissippi's course on the map in terms of disc golf.
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  Speaker 2: Well, not really. I won't take credit for that by
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  Speaker 2: any means.
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  Speaker 3: So back to Sinissippi, with it being installed in eighty
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  Speaker 3: two and it's been here, you know, forty plus years now,
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  Speaker 3: it's a staple and for the longest time it was
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  Speaker 3: one of the most played and best I guess courses
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  Speaker 3: in the area, or one of the most challenging level
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  Speaker 3: courses in the area.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously, with the growth of the sport in Covid.
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  Speaker 3: It boomed, just amazing the boom that came from that
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  Speaker 3: of COVID, But now it's starting to die off, but
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  Speaker 3: we still have our tournaments. So like this year alone,
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  Speaker 3: we were able to get this past year, were able
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  Speaker 3: to get twenty seven new signs at Sinnesippi and give
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  Speaker 3: it a little bit of an upkeep uplift, and then
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  Speaker 3: also some new tea pads out there too that haven't
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  Speaker 3: been replaced in probably thirty years.
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  Speaker 2: So just little things like that, you know.
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  Speaker 3: And then the addition of the local courses we now
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  Speaker 3: have on Franklin Grove, Polo Amboy most recent with tea
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  Speaker 3: pads added this past year too, and then again the
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  Speaker 3: redesign of Page Park coming and then actually hopefully starting
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  Speaker 3: the design of nine additional holes at Lowell Park as well,
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  Speaker 3: so we can get eighteen holes out there and do
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  Speaker 3: a little bit more fundraising efforts locally to kind of
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  Speaker 3: you know, offset some of the organizations are the lack
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  Speaker 3: of funding for some of the organizations in our communities.
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, just continuing to grow the sport is our
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  Speaker 3: biggest thing. Put courses in the ground, introduce the sport,
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  Speaker 3: to families, to kids. Especially, something I really would like
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  Speaker 3: to see happen this year is to get a.
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  Speaker 2: Club in the high school. That would be fair. I've
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  Speaker 2: got the perfect name, Brandon. It is the disc in Dukes.
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  Speaker 1: Oh and it doesn't get better than that, No, it doesn't,
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  Speaker 1: Margot Weppin, do you hear that the disc and Dukes
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  Speaker 1: needs to happen?
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  Speaker 2: And we've got a couple.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I'm gonna throw them out in the air,
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  Speaker 3: but we've got a sophomore in high school. Jimmy isn't skiing. Jimmy,
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  Speaker 3: I'm putting you on the spot. Jimmy is the.
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  Speaker 2: Highest rated person.
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  Speaker 3: So with your discof complain competitively, you get a PDJ number,
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  Speaker 3: which is your Professional discof Association number. Jimmy is the
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  Speaker 3: highest rated I guess you could say professional player in
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  Speaker 3: our area. And he is a sophomore in high school.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow.
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  Speaker 1: And I mean that's what's great about this sport. It's
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  Speaker 1: like you said, anybody can play, you don't you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's not like nothing against golf, but like you don't
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  Speaker 1: need an eight hundred dollars set of clubs to feel like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, maybe you can compete with the big boys.
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  Speaker 1: It's such a low cost entry. Get to play everybody
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  Speaker 1: from every walk of life I see on the course.
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  Speaker 1: I remember it. So I first got into sixteen. I
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  Speaker 1: turned forty two this year, and I've been playing at
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  Speaker 1: Sinissippi my whole life. You know, some of the smaller
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  Speaker 1: went nims over and rock Falls was when you would
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  Speaker 1: go to when I want to, you know, a shorter
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  Speaker 1: game and not throwing those those big pars. But I
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  Speaker 1: remember when the first big tournament came after you guys
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  Speaker 1: had really started the work in there, and it was
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  Speaker 1: just it was just a normal weekend day and I
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  Speaker 1: was going out and I started noticing all the car
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  Speaker 1: was like, huh, everybody's out here. And then I start
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  Speaker 1: walking up and this is just classic me, like head down,
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  Speaker 1: tossing my disc in the air, and I get to
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  Speaker 1: look up and I was like.
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  Speaker 2: What the heck is going on?
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  Speaker 1: There were the stands with all the merch, the players.
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  Speaker 1: Every hole was just you had a queue of people
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  Speaker 1: like waiting up and I was like, oh my god.
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  Speaker 1: And I was like, Brenton Nora are responsible for this.
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  Speaker 1: I was like, I don't have to ask, and I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to but I'm like I know Brenton Nora have
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  Speaker 1: to have had something to have done with this.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's great about it.
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  Speaker 3: I mean just yesterday I went to Ottawa and played
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  Speaker 3: the Illinois State doubles Championship. So obviously myself and another
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  Speaker 3: friend went down there to compete. We tied for fourth,
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  Speaker 3: so but happy with the overall play. But you know,
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  Speaker 3: that was a nine hole Pine Hills golf course. That's
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  Speaker 3: just a nine hole golf course they have just in
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  Speaker 3: the outside of Ottawa there that the tournament director worked
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  Speaker 3: with and actually went to school with him. But every
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  Speaker 3: year they set up a temporary eighteen whole course out
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  Speaker 3: on the on the golf course kind of after the
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: season a little bit. You know, not too many golfers
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  Speaker 3: are out there, but they charged money for that round.
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  Speaker 2: You get a golf cart.
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  Speaker 3: With it too, but additional funds right for that that
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: golf course or that that entity that wants to do that.
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  Speaker 3: So they love it. But a great turnout. Seventy two
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  Speaker 3: people total came out and played. But yeah, there was
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  Speaker 3: a couple reason I'm bringing up. There's a couple of
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  Speaker 3: golfers out there taking pictures, senior pictures, some high school kids,
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  Speaker 3: and you could tell the looks on some of their
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  Speaker 3: mom's faces. They're kind of like, what is going on
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  Speaker 3: out here? Where are all these people? Like you know, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: it's a Sunday in November and all the golf course
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  Speaker 3: is packed and why and so but it's great because
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: you know, for us, we look at it as like, hey,
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  Speaker 3: that's got an additional revenue or additional ways to uh
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  Speaker 3: to fundraise and things like that by having these tournaments
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  Speaker 3: and and doing all these things.
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  Speaker 2: So it really is a labor of love.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so no, you can you can tell through everything
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  Speaker 1: you guys have done. And now I know when it's
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  Speaker 1: it was a few years ago you didn't, but you've
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  Speaker 1: you've got your your own little one that I imagine
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  Speaker 1: is going to be uh seen on the on the
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: disc clinking the chains with you. Yeah, at some point, Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Little Hue.
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  Speaker 3: Actually, funny story, he got his uh again back to
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  Speaker 3: the Pro Professional Discolf Association. So when you sign up,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: you get a number and that number is you know,
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: that's your number for the number that you signed up
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: with of all the people that have registered, and so
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: you know it was probably I hate to say, you know,
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  Speaker 3: about five minutes after his birth, we got in the
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  Speaker 3: room and he had his PDGA number three, two, nine hundred.
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  Speaker 3: That's that's you, your Oders PDGA numbers. So when he's ready,
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: he'll hit the course.
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  Speaker 1: That is so awesome. He is so good to thank
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  Speaker 1: you for that. I absolutely love that. That is so
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: full circle and I can't wait to see what you
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: guys are are going to continue to do. And just
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  Speaker 1: from one disc golf enthusiast to another, thank you so
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: much for picking up that torch. You know, I've lived
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: in all the small communities around the Sauk Valley, plenty
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: of which didn't have disc golf course, and I know
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: you guys have helped in some of those smaller communities.
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  Speaker 1: I've seen these courses start to pop up now and
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  Speaker 1: you're you're helping kids who would otherwise. You know, idle
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: hands are the devil's play thing, and putting a disc
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: golf in a kid's hand gives them something good and
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: constructive to do, so I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and again I couldn't have done it with the
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: you know, the amazing people that I've matt along the
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: way and the people that you know make.
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  Speaker 2: Up our rock riverer disc golf So kudos.
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  Speaker 3: To all of them, and thank you Brandon for having me,
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: and again you thank you sofv out community for always
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: supporting us.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, absolutely they do. They love it. This community,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: especially in disc golf, is growing bigger, so we'll rally
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: around together. So we're about out of time, but it
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: won't be the last time we have on the show.
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  Speaker 1: Bren I, thank you very much for coming on today.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, and thank you. Have a great day.