Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 09-25-2026: Jared Shaner & Roger Fegan on DHS track & field improvements

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Talk Line 09-25-2026: Jared Shaner & Roger Fegan on DHS track & field improvements · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Dixon High School Principal Jared Chaynor and Athletic and Activities
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Director Roger Fagan. Did I get that right, Roger?
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Roger Fegan.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Fegan. Oh, so close. And yet strike one. There we are.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: But you guys have got some pretty exciting things happening
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: over at DHS. Part of that doing with renovations to A.C.
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  Speaker 1: Bowers Field and Rich Lawton Track and some fundraising and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: capital campaigns. And that's a good headline. I'm going to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: let the real people behind the story take it away. Guys,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: what the heck am I talking about?
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  Speaker 2: Sure. Yeah, it's super exciting.
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  Speaker 3: You know, the school district has backed us and we're
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: excited to get some things going over at A.C.
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  Speaker 2: Bowers Field with our track.
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  Speaker 3: And field turf on the field and a brand new
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: six lane track. The capital campaign is going to kind
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: of touch on some of those extras, the fan amenities,
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  Speaker 3: press box, a video board that's going to be unveiled tonight.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: So we're super excited about that.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: And then hopefully our booster club will get a jump
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  Speaker 3: start too with a brand new concession stand.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Super cool. I didn't want to say anything about
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the video board because I know sometimes the best laid
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: plans and then something happens. I don't know, truck delivering
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  Speaker 1: it blows a flat. So I was like, I was
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: going to go in the opener and I was like, no,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to wait and see. So I am awesome
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  Speaker 1: to hear that's a go for tonight.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. It's safe. They're still actually working on it right now,
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  Speaker 2: so we're working through some kinks.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Feegan was sending me videos at 9 o'clock from the
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  Speaker 4: field last night troubleshooting, so we feel pretty good. There's
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: still some work to be done today, but we'll have
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  Speaker 4: some stuff up there for sure tonight, and it's a
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  Speaker 4: pretty awesome site, that's for sure.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel bad for the neighbors, because it was
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  Speaker 2: pretty bright last night.
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  Speaker 1: I feel pretty bad for you. If you're old enough
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  Speaker 1: to remember troubleshooting a VHS, this dude had to, like,
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: on steroids-sized video board. Man, that had to have been
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  Speaker 1: a process, but I'm glad to hear it. It sounds
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  Speaker 1: like things have smoothed out and are a go.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, very excited about it. It's going to be a
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  Speaker 2: great addition to the stadium as a whole.
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  Speaker 4: And I think along those lines, we would be remiss
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  Speaker 4: if we didn't give a shout out to Sauk Valley Bank.
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  Speaker 4: They made this happen, our local community bank here. When
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  Speaker 4: really Roger kind of began putting the plans together, I mean,
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  Speaker 4: quite literally years ago. And we talked about what we
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  Speaker 4: could do, what a timeline might be funding.
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  Speaker 1: As Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Feagin said, our school board is committed to the turf
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  Speaker 4: and the track piece. And then we have launched a
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: capital campaign. And Sauk Valley Bank came to us early
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  Speaker 4: on and said, we want to do the board and
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  Speaker 4: kind of kick off this capital campaign. So what an
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  Speaker 4: awesome way to kick it off. We're going to have
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  Speaker 4: some great videos up there tonight. And hopefully everybody will
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: be excited and want to join in and help us,
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: our high school and our community, give our kids and
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: our fans some extra amenities that we don't currently have.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, everybody gets excited for Friday Night Lights.
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  Speaker 1: It's packed, and I mean, even going beyond the actual
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  Speaker 1: field and the stadium itself, you see people up in
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  Speaker 1: the hills right behind, you know, where the field goal is,
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  Speaker 1: like all the way back up by, I think it's
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  Speaker 1: an insurance agency or some parking lot, but people will
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: be posted all the way back up. I think your
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: next major project might be like building the stadium up
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  Speaker 1: to make it look like some futuristic stadium. dome that goes,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, 20 feet up because people just want
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  Speaker 1: to pack in there.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. That costs a lot of money.
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  Speaker 4: Look at me here writing checks for DHS. Thank you,
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  Speaker 4: River Country, for that donation that Brandon just gave.
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  Speaker 1: And on that note, I'm refreshing my resume. You are right, Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Feegan and I.
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  Speaker 4: Really, our timing, I guess maybe by just good luck,
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  Speaker 4: with the city getting the walkway done, kind of all
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  Speaker 4: the improvements down in the Page Park area, it is
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  Speaker 4: really good timing. And there's some really beautiful views down
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  Speaker 4: there now. We've both had a chance to be up
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  Speaker 4: on that walkway path. And then all the way back
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  Speaker 4: around kind of on the top of the hill by
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  Speaker 4: the armory when you come around on the path. It's
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  Speaker 4: just going to be a really neat view when we
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  Speaker 4: have all these things completed and really just a great
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  Speaker 4: space for, you know, for our students and for our community.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really connected everything together. And I mean, Dixon,
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  Speaker 1: whether it's through schools, the path, you know, the gateway.
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  Speaker 1: is really just continuing to build and expand in the
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  Speaker 1: best ways possible, honestly. I love the way that path
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  Speaker 1: is connecting over there and the way to see it
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  Speaker 1: getting integrated, and just makes it easier, folks, to be
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  Speaker 1: able to go and catch the game.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, and it's really like a generational opportunity, right? The
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  Speaker 3: timing is unique, and we're having generational impact. It's an
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  Speaker 3: opportunity for us to create something special for the future,
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  Speaker 3: and that's really what we're trying to focus on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and when we're thinking of these improvements, is there
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  Speaker 1: anything that we're missing, haven't touched on, that folks should
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  Speaker 1: know about, and asking what all is coming with this?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know if we touched on the ticket
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  Speaker 3: plaza area, and so we're kind of really opening up.
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  Speaker 2: If you've been to A.C.
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  Speaker 3: Bowers Field, our concession stand is very close to that
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  Speaker 3: bleacher area, so we're really trying to open that up
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  Speaker 3: and allow more of a social area, an opportunity for
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  Speaker 3: people of all ages to kind of mingle and be
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  Speaker 3: a part of the experience.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a big part of what you see with
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  Speaker 1: Friday night football games is you'll see a lot of
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  Speaker 1: students who they aren't even there necessarily for the game.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure they're cheering on in spirit, but it's that
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  Speaker 1: I love seeing it because it was the same when
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  Speaker 1: I was a kid. I got to assume for you guys,
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  Speaker 1: you came to socialize. You came together. You knew everybody's
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: going to be down there. You're going to see everybody.
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  Speaker 1: And it's just a good time. So I like that
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  Speaker 1: you guys are keeping that in mind and just wanting
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  Speaker 1: to build on that spirit and say, hey, even if
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  Speaker 1: you're just here to hang out with everybody, we want
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  Speaker 1: you to feel welcome and have an improved area for that.
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  Speaker 1: So that's very cool.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that was one of the keys in this project.
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  Speaker 4: And kind of as a larger overview again, our school
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  Speaker 4: board is committed to the turf and the track piece
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  Speaker 4: at about a $ 2. 2 million cost. And then we are
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  Speaker 4: launching a capital fundraising campaign. We're hoping that our community
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  Speaker 4: steps up and supports. It's going to be fantastic to
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  Speaker 4: have brand new turf, brand new track. Our entryway concession stand,
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  Speaker 4: that building over there, Mr. Feegan and I have been
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: out there a lot. You know, we're talking kind of...
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  Speaker 4: just piecemealed together over the last 60, 70.
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  Speaker 1: Literally 80 years.
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  Speaker 4: So we are hoping that our capital campaign, that people
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  Speaker 4: will step up and help fundraise that. So we don't
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  Speaker 4: want to have that old building with a brand new
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: turf and brand new track. We're really hoping that we
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: can kind of start fresh there. And as you said,
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  Speaker 4: kind of make it a great experience for our fans
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  Speaker 4: and just that socialization and just a really nice entryway
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  Speaker 4: for when people come to AC Bowers Field.
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  Speaker 1: And from the kind of community support that I think
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  Speaker 1: we've come to know and expect here in Dixon, I
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: think that'll be a very reasonable goal and one we'll
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  Speaker 1: see happening in the near future. For anybody listening and
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  Speaker 1: wants to get either directly involved, they want a donation, sponsor,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: however it works, what's the best way for them to start?
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Who do they need to call? Website?
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Sure. Tonight at the game, we'll have a table set up.
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  Speaker 3: You can stop by that and pick up some information,
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  Speaker 3: but you can also go to our Main website, so dps170. org,
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  Speaker 3: and there's a link that will take you to the
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  Speaker 3: fundraising efforts and show you all of the information that
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  Speaker 3: goes along with it.
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  Speaker 4: We've really tried to make it pretty user-friendly on the
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  Speaker 4: fundraising site. We've worked with a guy who develops websites
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: and things like that. We have some frequently asked questions
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: because we know there will be questions from our community.
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  Speaker 4: We have some renderings of what we're hoping that the
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  Speaker 4: completed project looks like. And then, of course, we have
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  Speaker 4: a lot of different donation levels. from some major corporate
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  Speaker 4: sponsor type donations with some signage and some sponsorship for
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  Speaker 4: an extended period of time, all the way down to
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  Speaker 4: just single individual donations of whatever people are comfortable with.
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  Speaker 4: And then once you reach a certain donation level, when
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  Speaker 4: our project is complete, our goal would be to have
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  Speaker 4: kind of some bronze plaques on the building with the
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  Speaker 4: donation levels and all the people who have made this
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  Speaker 4: come to life.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go. Get out, excuse me, help support
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: your local team, your local school, Can't think of a
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  Speaker 1: more fantastic way to do this. Gentlemen, anything else you
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  Speaker 1: want to share about this this morning?
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  Speaker 3: No, we just truly appreciate the support and the opportunity,
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  Speaker 3: and we're just really excited for what it can offer
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: for our kids.
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  Speaker 2: And for our school.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, we appreciate it. I mean, I'm just sitting
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: here letting you guys talk about the work you're doing.
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  Speaker 1: And it's for our kids and it's for the generations,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: you know, their kids and their kids. So I'm excited
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  Speaker 1: to see what will happen. You guys are always forward
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: thinking and the future is only going to be brighter
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  Speaker 1: for Dixon School. So I love it. Thank you guys
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: for coming on. Appreciate it. Thank you for having us, Brandon.