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Sweethearts & Heroes - Sheriff Jeffrey Smith · Aired Out

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Speaker 1: St St St St St St.
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Speaker 2: St Only.
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Speaker 3: Good morning, Central Vermont. Welcome to a new day. You've
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Speaker 3: got the aired Out podcast from Flying the Wall Productions,
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Speaker 3: North Main Streets in Berry, Vermont on the web at
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Speaker 3: aired out vt dot com, streamed everywhere you get your podcasts,
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Speaker 3: live on Facebook. We're live on YouTube this morning. Shout
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Speaker 3: out to real Bounce, one of our newest presenting sponsors
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Speaker 3: to you. Reel Bounce. A very good morning. It is,
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Speaker 3: of course, Wednesday, April fifteenth, Happy tax Day. Hopefully you
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Speaker 3: got them in on time. Weather from NBC five fifty
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Speaker 3: degrees right now in the Granite City. We're looking at
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Speaker 3: clouds today in around sixty six tonight rain and fifty
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Speaker 3: six tomorrow thunderstorms. Seventy four degrees. Haven't felt that in
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Speaker 3: a while. Friday partly Sunday sixty five Saturday mostly cloudy,
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Speaker 3: seventy not bad. Sunday rain in fifty one degrees. No
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Speaker 3: tornello tornado touchdowns yesterday is at least that I've seen.
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Speaker 3: Maybe there were some. I don't know, but I haven't
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Speaker 3: haven't heard of any just yet. So that's good news.
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Speaker 3: Deb Phillips with us from the World newspaper every single Wednesday. Deb,
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Speaker 3: good morning, How the heck are you? And Gary and
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Speaker 3: the team over there?
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Speaker 2: Good morning JD. We're all doing.
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Speaker 3: Good new paper. It's out today. It's hot off literally
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Speaker 3: hot off the press.
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Speaker 2: Yes, it is.
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Speaker 3: What are we looking at?
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Speaker 2: It's being delivered right now.
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Speaker 3: I love it, well, I love it. What are we
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Speaker 3: looking forward to today?
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Speaker 2: In the depth, Well, we have the shop where You
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Speaker 2: Live promotion featuring one of ten local businesses each week.
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Speaker 2: The futured advertiser this week is Aguay Mount Pilier. You know,
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Speaker 2: visit Agway for all your gardener needs, pet food and more. Also,
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Speaker 2: we have money saving coupons. I know it's time for
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Speaker 2: tire changeovers and all that good fun stuff. And then
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Speaker 2: we also have the Homeowner's Service guide with fifteen professionals
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Speaker 2: that can help you with your projects all the way
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Speaker 2: from the roof to the basement and everything in between.
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Speaker 2: But one thing that I have really been remiss about
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Speaker 2: mentioning is that we have a weekly column honoring the
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Speaker 2: America's twenty fifth anniversary for history buffs. This is a
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Speaker 2: wonderful feel full of great information, of glimpses of Vermont's
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Speaker 2: pass talking about people in you know, on our past
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Speaker 2: and special moments and places in our Vermont history. And
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Speaker 2: this runs every week in the World and the Times Argus,
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Speaker 2: and we started back in January, so we'll have fifty
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Speaker 2: two columns about the Vermont history.
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Speaker 3: So cool. I love that. Deb That is like the
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Speaker 3: ultimate thing for me. If I'm able to carve out
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Speaker 3: fifteen to twenty minutes, maybe even a half hour on
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Speaker 3: a Saturday morning to sit down uninterrupted with a cup
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Speaker 3: of coffee and flip through the world, I would love
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Speaker 3: to read stuff like that. I love seeing those old pictures.
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Speaker 3: It's so amazing. Man, that's a lot of work deb
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Speaker 3: putting that together.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Well, this gentleman, Kevin Kre can I quite
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Speaker 2: say his name? Fianno. He lives in Essex, and he's
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Speaker 2: a historian, he collects Vermont history and he's put all
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Speaker 2: this together, which is a huge project.
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Speaker 3: Amazing.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. And so the World and the Times Argus have
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Speaker 2: committed to running, you know, through all this year, all
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Speaker 2: of these Vermont history and then even into next year
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Speaker 2: where they're going to focus on the eighteenth century in
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Speaker 2: Vermont because next year will be Vermont's two hundred and
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Speaker 2: fifty at the anniversary.
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Speaker 3: Incredible yeah, amazing depth. Vt dashworld dot com. And if
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Speaker 3: someone wants to advertise with you, so simple, two ways
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Speaker 3: to do it. Pick up the phone four seven nine
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Speaker 3: twenty five eighty two four seven nine two five eighty
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Speaker 3: two or sales at vtdashworld dot com. You've got it,
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Speaker 3: no surprise. Yeah, you guys are Central Vermont's favorite weekly
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Speaker 3: newspaper and you have been for well over fifty years now.
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Speaker 2: Yes, yes we have.
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Speaker 3: Thank you Deb, thanks for coming on with us, and
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Speaker 3: thanks for sponsoring. They aired our podcast. We love you guys.
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Speaker 2: Oh we wouldn't. We wouldn't miss watching your column, you know,
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Speaker 2: watching your podcast. Oh.
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Speaker 3: I see you're paying attention too. I see always on
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Speaker 3: their deb posting stuff and and liking and sharing, and
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Speaker 3: it's so wonderful. I love it.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, No, you have some great, great interviews and stuff
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Speaker 2: that you do, and we thoroughly enjoy it.
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Speaker 3: Well, we got a good one coming up right now.
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Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Deb, Thank you have a great
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Speaker 3: rest of your day. First of all, before I go
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Speaker 3: an inch further, I got to say happy birthday to
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Speaker 3: Mark Tetro today. Everybody and the brother knows Mark Tetrow
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Speaker 3: what a great guy he is and all the great
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Speaker 3: things he does in our community. Gosh, I use the
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Speaker 3: word great, but it's such a huge understatement for Mark.
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Speaker 3: He is a real real gem. Curtis Frank's also on
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Speaker 3: the birthday list today, Carol Williams, Steve Weston, Brian Farnham,
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Speaker 3: Jason Woodard, Mark Ellingwood, Tiffany Crow, Tanya Ashford, Emma Watson
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Speaker 3: thirty six today and Chris Stapleton is forty eight. This
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Speaker 3: guy who is joining me right now, I have had
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Speaker 3: on aired out one time earlier. It was months ago actually.
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Speaker 3: Sheriff Jeffrey Smith, good morning, sir. It is an absolute
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Speaker 3: honor to have you with us this morning on our
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Speaker 3: Sweethearts and Heroes Day here on every Wednesday, if they
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Speaker 3: aired out podcast, Good morning.
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Speaker 4: Good morning, Jay, Thank you so very much for having me.
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Speaker 4: It's an honor and a pleasure.
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Speaker 3: It is more than an honor and a pleasure for me.
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Speaker 3: Yesterday I was chatting with Tom Murphy. Not always easy
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Speaker 3: to get that guy off the phone.
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Speaker 4: No, he's He's very passionate, energetic, and as excellent at
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Speaker 4: what he does. So you're right, he's Once he gets going,
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Speaker 4: it's tough to stop.
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Speaker 3: Man. He was throwing huge kudos your way, singing your
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Speaker 3: praises for a long time. Tell us about your your time,
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Speaker 3: your tenure. First of all, as a sheriff. We're talking
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Speaker 3: about twenty five years.
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Speaker 4: Well, I so I've I'm in my thirty eighth year
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Speaker 4: as in law enforcement here at the Sheriff's office. And
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Speaker 4: you know, i started in nineteen eighty eight and worked
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Speaker 4: my way up through the ranks of the office, and
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Speaker 4: I've been the sheriff for eight and going on my
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Speaker 4: third term as the sheriff. And you know, my heart,
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Speaker 4: my brain, my soul, everything I have kind of is
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Speaker 4: in this office, in this community and the people that
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Speaker 4: serve with me.
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Speaker 3: You have told that not long ago you walked out
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Speaker 3: of the Sheriff's department and someone stopped you and asked
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Speaker 3: you a very simple question that kind of threw you
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Speaker 3: off guard. What was the question in What was your answer?
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Speaker 4: Well, I guess it depends on which thing Tom told you.
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Speaker 4: I mean, they always they always ask questions like, you know,
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Speaker 4: how do you do it? How do you stay involved
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Speaker 4: with so many things that are going on? How do
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Speaker 4: you deal with the way law enforcement has changed here
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Speaker 4: in New York State and in the nation, and how
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Speaker 4: people treat and respect to one another and society in general,
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Speaker 4: and all those questions catch me off guard, to be
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Speaker 4: honest with you, because just doing this work is something
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Speaker 4: that I love to do and that keeps me motivated
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Speaker 4: each and every day. But tackling the changes every day
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Speaker 4: and the mental welfare of our staff and being able
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Speaker 4: to handle the different generations and the different changes in
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Speaker 4: the law enforcement criminal justice system have been daunting. And
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Speaker 4: you know, that's one of the reasons why Sweetheart and
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Speaker 4: Heroes was so so important to team up with them
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Speaker 4: and to get them here and create this partnership.
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Speaker 3: What I was, what I was told by Tom, is
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Speaker 3: is that somebody asked you what gives you hope? And
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Speaker 3: your answer was law enforcement and the conduit that they
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Speaker 3: are in our local communities, and without them not only
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Speaker 3: to protect and serve, but also to have a relationship with.
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Speaker 3: Without them, we're screwed.
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Speaker 4: Well, that's the key, JD. I agree, And you know,
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Speaker 4: I appreciate Tom telling you that story and you bring
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Speaker 4: it up because it's not always about making an arrest.
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Speaker 4: It's about a shoulder to cry on. It's about someone
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Speaker 4: you can feel comfortable to reach out when you're having
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Speaker 4: one of the worst days of your life, when something
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Speaker 4: happens and you need that assistance. It's about having the
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Speaker 4: confidence in the men and women in your community that
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Speaker 4: are serving that they'll do the right thing. You know,
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Speaker 4: all those things are so very very important, and without that,
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Speaker 4: you're right. We uh, we like to say we're the
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Speaker 4: where the first and last line of defense in between
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Speaker 4: good and evil and doing the right thing for a community.
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Speaker 3: Listen, we we both know Rick yarsh quite well. Yeah
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Speaker 3: we we we know Tom.
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Speaker 4: We all.
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Speaker 3: Have had some very very bad days in our lives
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Speaker 3: and Rick and I remember Rick saying to me, JD,
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Speaker 3: you gotta you gotta expect them. Don't live your life
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Speaker 3: trying to be the teflon too bad things happening they're
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Speaker 3: gonna happen to you, and it's a guarantee, and it's
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Speaker 3: having the right mindset of how to respond to these things.
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Speaker 3: You've had. In twenty five years in law enforcement, you've
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Speaker 3: had some some pretty bad days, some pretty profound moments
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Speaker 3: that have crept into your soul and will forever live there.
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Speaker 4: For sure. But if we could take advice from anybody,
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Speaker 4: it's Rick Yards right, you know, to learn to respond
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Speaker 4: to adversity and to move forward in a positive manner
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Speaker 4: and to be that light for other people and just
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Speaker 4: to do the right thing. But yes, seeing things, hearing
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Speaker 4: things not only on a personal level, but a professional level.
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Speaker 4: Or you know, we're always taught in law enforcement or
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Speaker 4: we were always taught to just keep that inside and
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Speaker 4: to not share it and to get past it and
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Speaker 4: just to deal with it and be stronger than it.
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Speaker 4: And you know that's sweetheart, and Heroes has made a
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Speaker 4: difference to us and enabled us to recognize it, understand
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Speaker 4: to share it, talk about it, get get over it,
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Speaker 4: but yet still treat it as an important part of
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Speaker 4: our history.
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Speaker 3: Wal could around with a weapon on your belt, protective gear,
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Speaker 3: being the face, being the voice of authority, along with
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Speaker 3: your team. Uh, this is really such kind of a
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Speaker 3: small part of what you're all about.
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Speaker 4: It is, but it occupies a large majority of my
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Speaker 4: life and and many of our lives. It's very difficult
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Speaker 4: to turn the switch off, you know. We always say
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Speaker 4: that when you're in any type of first responder job,
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Speaker 4: whether it be fire, ums or law enforcement, it's a
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Speaker 4: twenty four to seven thing. Even though you may not
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Speaker 4: be physically working, Turning that switch off is difficult at times.
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Speaker 4: And that's another example of this program helping our staff
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Speaker 4: trying to understand the downtime and appreciate it and value it.
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Speaker 3: We're going to talk about circle here, and we're going
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Speaker 3: to talk about you and what you're doing right now
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Speaker 3: as a student resource officer Montgomery County. Do you have
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Speaker 3: any kids?
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Speaker 4: I do. I have two children. One of them actually
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Speaker 4: works here at our office.
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Speaker 3: How old.
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Speaker 4: He is? Thirty five and my daughter will be thirty four.
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Speaker 3: Okay, wow, tell me about an experience that you had
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Speaker 3: where you had to respond to a three month old
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Speaker 3: that was not breathing.
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Speaker 4: Unfortunately, there's been numerous, but yeah, we responded to a
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Speaker 4: three month old who was choking and not breathing. And
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Speaker 4: actually my son, who is our patrol lieutenant, is also
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Speaker 4: a paramedic, and the work that he did and I
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Speaker 4: was just in a supportive role, but to watch him
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Speaker 4: do the work and dislodge and get that baby breathing
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Speaker 4: again to the point where the baby has survived and
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Speaker 4: is doing very well, was absolutely an incredible experience. Now,
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Speaker 4: we've also had some of those incidents that haven't turned
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Speaker 4: out that well and you know, they have not made it,
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Speaker 4: and that's, you know, one of those examples of a
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Speaker 4: call that lives with you for the rest of your lives.
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Speaker 4: So that's two ends of the spectrum there, with two
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Speaker 4: different types of two different calls with the same nature,
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Speaker 4: but something that affects you much differently.
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Speaker 3: So you've you have had the the ultimate bad result
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Speaker 3: of of this. You've you've stared death right in the eye.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, unfortunately, unfortunately numerous times. You know, throughout my career
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Speaker 4: as the sheriff, many times I am the one to
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Speaker 4: make the notification to family members when there is a
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Speaker 4: deceased person. So we have stared it in the eye
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Speaker 4: over numerous types of different types of incidents with numerous people.
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Speaker 3: When I when I hear of when I hear the
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Speaker 3: words s r O or student resource officer, and man,
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Speaker 3: we have an outstanding one right here in our community.
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Speaker 3: Officer Flurry is so well known and so loved by
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Speaker 3: not only so many parents and administrators, but also so
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Speaker 3: many students, hundreds and hundreds of students. Without them, we
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Speaker 3: would not be in a good place. The R the resource,
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Speaker 3: the word resource is critical. Yeah, you guys are You're
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Speaker 3: not just walking around the school with the bad John
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Speaker 3: the authority figure. You have to you must have a
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Speaker 3: relationship with these kids.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, j D. I'm glad that you said that,
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Speaker 4: because it is so important you are a resource to
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Speaker 4: them and the school and to the community and the families.
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Speaker 4: It's not about being the enforcer. It's not about making
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Speaker 4: the rest of these kids. It's about trying to foster
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Speaker 4: a good working relationship amongst everyone. Yes, there's times that
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Speaker 4: you have to make an arrest, and yes there's times
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Speaker 4: that you have to enforce the laws, but what's most
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Speaker 4: important is the relationship created between those students and that
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Speaker 4: SRO excuse me, or the school district, or the parents
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Speaker 4: or the community. And when you're an SRO and you
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Speaker 4: see a student that has since graduated school out in
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Speaker 4: the community and they come up to you and say, hey,
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Speaker 4: you know, I'm so and so you were my SRO.
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Speaker 4: You know I loved you or whatever. That is one
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Speaker 4: of the most rewarding experiences that you can imagine, and
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Speaker 4: that shows that you did your job properly, and that's
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Speaker 4: one of the payoff payoffs for it.
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Speaker 3: But Josh, you have to have some pretty thick skin
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Speaker 3: because not everybody's gonna love you.
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Speaker 4: That is correct, That is true. We have four SROs
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Speaker 4: in our office, four different school districts, and it is very,
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Speaker 4: very difficult. Each one has its own nuances, right, Each
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Speaker 4: school district is a little bit different, whether it be
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Speaker 4: population based or or you know, community based or geographically based.
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Speaker 4: But with those nuances, those SROs are vital to the
20:15
Speaker 4: success of the school system. And as a parent you
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Speaker 4: mentioned it earlier with your SRO. As a parent dropping
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Speaker 4: your child off into school, having confidence that they're going
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Speaker 4: to be safe, they're gonna get a good education, they're
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Speaker 4: gonna have a good experience, it means everything.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely impossible for you to sit behind the desk and
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Speaker 3: just sip coffee all day. I mean, you just can't
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Speaker 3: do it. You can't do it. You're in the hallways here,
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Speaker 3: you're out in the parking lots, You're you're bringing the
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Speaker 3: buses in, You're getting kids loaded up here. You're often
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Speaker 3: the first person that they see the littles getting off
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Speaker 3: that bus.
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Speaker 2: Uh.
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Speaker 3: They need that smile, they need that handshake, they need
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Speaker 3: whatever it is that that you're given, you can't have.
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Speaker 3: We're just getting some some folks just tuning in. What's
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Speaker 3: an SRO a student resource officer? And this is Sheriff
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Speaker 3: Jeffrey Smith, who is at? Which school are you at
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Speaker 3: and how many students are we talking about here? Montgomery County.
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Speaker 4: Yes, I'm the sheriff of Montgomery County, which is in
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Speaker 4: upstate New York between Albany and Utica. And we have
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Speaker 4: four school resource officers, one at the Amsterdam High School,
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Speaker 4: one at the Fulton Montgomery Community College. To find a
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Speaker 4: Fulton Mille Central School in the Fort Plain Central School.
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Speaker 4: The biggest school is Amsterdam and the one where sweethearts
21:41
Speaker 4: and heroes is certainly going to be doing the most work.
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Speaker 4: And their graduation class is roughly four hundred, so it's
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Speaker 4: it's a decent sized school in our community.
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Speaker 3: Little little kids look up to you so much everybody.
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Speaker 3: I shouldn't just say little kids, I mean, uh, just everybody. Does.
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Speaker 3: You are setting the ultimate example, you and the other
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Speaker 3: SROs at this school. I want to ask you, though,
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Speaker 3: so twenty five years as a sheriff, you retire on
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Speaker 3: a Friday, You getting through Saturday and Sunday, and then
22:27
Speaker 3: what's happening on Monday.
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Speaker 4: Well, that's a good question. When when I cross that bridge,
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Speaker 4: I guess we'll have to see what happens. You know,
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Speaker 4: I'm in an election year myself right now, so I'm
22:41
Speaker 4: approaching the last term of my career. I believe so
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Speaker 4: in about four years and eight months, JD, I'll be
22:47
Speaker 4: able to tell you exactly what happens. But I don't
22:49
Speaker 4: think you ever truly retire. I think you're still a
22:51
Speaker 4: community service. I think there's a spot for everybody that's
22:56
Speaker 4: a first responder in public service, even after they take
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Speaker 4: the uniform off. I hope that there'll be relationships out
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Speaker 4: there that have been fostered throughout your career that will
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Speaker 4: continue to keep a community safe, whether that's sharing information
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Speaker 4: or providing a shoulder to cry on or someone to
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Speaker 4: speak to, or giving them contacts or guidance as to
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Speaker 4: how to solve a problem.
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Speaker 3: What is in your definition? And we all we've all
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Speaker 3: heard Tom's definition of this and ricks, but what is
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Speaker 3: for someone who's listening and maybe is not familiar with
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Speaker 3: Sweethearts and heroes? On Wednesdays we talk about circle an
23:43
Speaker 3: awful lot. Circle is something that's frankly ancient. It's an
23:50
Speaker 3: ancient means of communication that Tom infiltrates into all things
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Speaker 3: sweethearts and heroes, no matter if he's dealing with kids,
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Speaker 3: if he's dealing with administrators at schools, even lignemen and
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Speaker 3: now law enforcement. What is circle and what's happening with
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Speaker 3: law enforcement with Tom?
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Speaker 4: Well, to me, I think circle is bringing communication back.
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Speaker 4: I think, and again it's just my personal opinion, but
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Speaker 4: I think one of the problems in today's society has
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Speaker 4: become the smartphone, right the smartphone, everybody communicates by texts,
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Speaker 4: and everybody communicates by email or whatever social media platform
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Speaker 4: they use, and there's not a lot of face to
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Speaker 4: face communication personal relationships anymore like there used to be.
24:46
Speaker 4: And Circle is a way to bring communication back and
24:50
Speaker 4: also break down barriers. So, as we talked earlier on
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Speaker 4: the show, for law enforcement officials who feel like they
24:57
Speaker 4: have to bury these incidents and be wronger than them
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Speaker 4: and not share them. And we worry about their mental
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Speaker 4: wellness and their ability to communicate with the newer generations.
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Speaker 4: I think Circle tackles all of those things individually. You know.
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Speaker 4: It gives the officers the ability to talk about their
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Speaker 4: feelings a little bit, which is important. It gives officers
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Speaker 4: the education on how to talk to the general public,
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Speaker 4: including children in schools. It gives officers the ability to
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Speaker 4: understand when other people have problems, because we all do,
25:35
Speaker 4: every listener, every person on this show, we all experience difficulties.
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Speaker 4: Like rick yarsh had said, you know, expect them. It's
25:43
Speaker 4: how you know, how you deal with them is what's important.
25:46
Speaker 4: So I think Circle is is just it's a problem
25:51
Speaker 4: solving form of education and form of communication that makes
25:55
Speaker 4: a huge difference in our lives.
25:57
Speaker 3: When it first when it first started, uh, with your department,
26:05
Speaker 3: it wasn't necessarily received with wide open arms. I should
26:13
Speaker 3: probably say, I mean, come on, man, you got you
26:17
Speaker 3: got law enforcement, they got the patch on, they got
26:20
Speaker 3: the uniform on, they got a weapon on their belt.
26:25
Speaker 3: We need to do we need to do our damn job.
26:27
Speaker 3: What are we doing sitting around in the circle here,
26:29
Speaker 3: looking at each other.
26:31
Speaker 4: Yeah, holding hands, holding hands, singing. Yeah, it was you know,
26:37
Speaker 4: it was a little difficult in the beginning. Staff was
26:40
Speaker 4: a little apprehensive about it, and and I just encouraged
26:43
Speaker 4: them to to please buy into the system, participate, be patient,
26:48
Speaker 4: be understanding, listen, and I believe after the first session
26:54
Speaker 4: they were sold. And you know, talking to Tom, I've
26:58
Speaker 4: missed one of the sessions because of other work commitments. However,
27:02
Speaker 4: I believe they have gone very well. The ones that
27:04
Speaker 4: I participated in have gone very well. And I believe
27:08
Speaker 4: it's made a difference in our staff, and I hope
27:11
Speaker 4: other law enforcement agencies will get involved and it makes
27:14
Speaker 4: a difference in them and in our communities.
27:16
Speaker 3: This was new to you, though, Sheriff. I mean, you're
27:22
Speaker 3: an officer for twenty five years and the next thing
27:28
Speaker 3: you know, you're at a school sitting in a circle,
27:35
Speaker 3: not with police officers or adults, but kids at the school.
27:40
Speaker 3: What was that like?
27:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, Tom, I first met Tom and Rick at
27:46
Speaker 4: the oeesj which is up and I'm me free to
27:48
Speaker 4: Saint John's Mille School. They were doing some work in
27:51
Speaker 4: one of our school districts here in the county that
27:53
Speaker 4: we do not have an SRO, but there are officers
27:56
Speaker 4: there that used to work in our office and that
27:58
Speaker 4: I'm familiar with. And the school superintendent there, Adam Harrif,
28:02
Speaker 4: and one of the SROs named to Mike Lewis, used
28:05
Speaker 4: to work for us, couldn't say enough good things about it.
28:08
Speaker 4: And Tom came and gave a presentation to a group
28:12
Speaker 4: of law enforcement officials here at the county and school
28:14
Speaker 4: administrators here. And I went to OESJ and watched Tom
28:20
Speaker 4: and Rick talk and was just amazed by their message
28:25
Speaker 4: and their delivery and their ability to get audiences to
28:29
Speaker 4: just buy in. You know, everybody just buys in and
28:33
Speaker 4: they listen to everything that's being said, and they participate,
28:37
Speaker 4: and they come out of their feeling better about themselves.
28:40
Speaker 4: And I was sold. You know, I wanted to figure
28:43
Speaker 4: out a way to make that a part of our
28:45
Speaker 4: training program. And ever since that day, you know, it's
28:48
Speaker 4: been my goal. And we finally reached that goal of
28:51
Speaker 4: partnering with Sweetheart and Heroes and them doing great work
28:54
Speaker 4: for us and hopefully making a difference in this country.
28:57
Speaker 3: What was let's be honest here, You're you're in front
29:05
Speaker 3: of a bunch of teenagers who you've had experiences with
29:14
Speaker 3: young adults many times, who are in their own right,
29:24
Speaker 3: many not all, can be defiant, can be well you
29:35
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying. I mean, I could sit here
29:37
Speaker 3: and run down a bunch of words. But teenagers are
29:43
Speaker 3: not easy to deal with, whether you're you're in your
29:46
Speaker 3: patrol car or whether you're at the school. But when
29:52
Speaker 3: you've sat in a circle with them and heard some
29:58
Speaker 3: of their life experiences that you may not probably definitely
30:04
Speaker 3: would not have had the opportunity to have heard, there's
30:12
Speaker 3: there's something. There's something different when you're forced in a
30:17
Speaker 3: circle environment to listen, to open your heart, to listen
30:21
Speaker 3: to a different perspective that you weren't aware of, and
30:27
Speaker 3: that has impacted you greatly. It has even brought you
30:29
Speaker 3: to tears.
30:31
Speaker 4: It has you know, communication, right, You've got to be
30:34
Speaker 4: a good communicator but also a good listener. And when
30:38
Speaker 4: you sit there and you listen to something from a
30:42
Speaker 4: different perspective where you hear some of the incidents or
30:46
Speaker 4: the things that have affected them even as teenagers or
30:50
Speaker 4: young adults, and then they listen to you, you get
30:55
Speaker 4: a different perspective and you an automatic mutual respons for
31:00
Speaker 4: one another and you see one another in a different light.
31:03
Speaker 4: And as you move forward from that circle, it's almost
31:07
Speaker 4: like there's a bond that was built in that circle
31:10
Speaker 4: that you know, you may not agree all the time
31:12
Speaker 4: on everything moving forward, and there's still maybe incidents that
31:16
Speaker 4: involve each of you. However, that bond that was built
31:20
Speaker 4: in that circle and that experience will tie you together forever.
31:24
Speaker 4: And it has caused me to get emotional sometimes, and
31:29
Speaker 4: you know that's not a thing that is attractive when
31:32
Speaker 4: you're in a uniform, like you said, with a weapon
31:34
Speaker 4: on your side and protective gear and to have you
31:37
Speaker 4: be an emotional person, but it's real life, and it
31:42
Speaker 4: makes a difference to the kids, it makes a difference
31:44
Speaker 4: to staff, and I think it also helps you lead
31:48
Speaker 4: an agency where you gotta respect and appreciate other people's
31:54
Speaker 4: point of view.
31:56
Speaker 3: I wish there were more barriers that were destroyed that
32:02
Speaker 3: could show more and more kids and even adults that
32:08
Speaker 3: police officers are human just like the rest of us.
32:12
Speaker 3: And yeah, they can be a little brash if they
32:16
Speaker 3: need to be.
32:21
Speaker 4: It's a tough time right now, JD. In society, I mean,
32:24
Speaker 4: you know, with social media and the ability to have
32:28
Speaker 4: information at your fingertips instantly that you know wasn't that
32:33
Speaker 4: way years ago, and to be able to comment and
32:35
Speaker 4: share your opinions about things that you may not even
32:39
Speaker 4: know the real facts or what's going on. And that
32:41
Speaker 4: even involves our school children, right you know, there's incidents
32:46
Speaker 4: that take place and you think you know exactly what happened,
32:49
Speaker 4: but you may really not, But yet you still are
32:51
Speaker 4: willing to go out there and comment about it and
32:54
Speaker 4: could it could be harmful comments, it could escalate a situation,
32:58
Speaker 4: And those are some of the things that you know,
33:00
Speaker 4: Starts deal with every day in all days. Trying to
33:03
Speaker 4: educate our youth about that as they continue to grow older.
33:07
Speaker 3: It seems like that would be a huge takeaway for
33:12
Speaker 3: yourself and and your your your fellow law enforcement staff.
33:18
Speaker 3: That we we are, we're almost forced to accept that
33:29
Speaker 3: there's always going to be more context to a situation
33:36
Speaker 3: or a story that we're not aware of.
33:41
Speaker 4: Sure, on both ends of the spectrum, you know, it's
33:45
Speaker 4: not always it's not always gospel with what we say,
33:50
Speaker 4: or it's not always gospel with what someone else may
33:53
Speaker 4: say about an incident. You know, but the facts are
33:58
Speaker 4: the facts. And how we are riven in our careers
34:01
Speaker 4: and it's important in circle to talk about those things
34:04
Speaker 4: so that you do share your point of view and
34:07
Speaker 4: then to understand where the maybe the kids or the
34:10
Speaker 4: other adults in circle are coming from, you know, and
34:13
Speaker 4: it helps you be a better police officer or a
34:15
Speaker 4: better school or student resource officer. And that's really what
34:19
Speaker 4: this is about, is improving those relationships, improving our ability
34:23
Speaker 4: to support our staff and to support our community. And
34:27
Speaker 4: that's where Sweetheart and Heroes comes in. That's where Circle
34:31
Speaker 4: comes in, and that's those repeated sessions and teaching our
34:36
Speaker 4: SROs to do that with students we hope over time
34:40
Speaker 4: will make a noticeable difference.
34:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, these these student resource officers are just cut from
34:49
Speaker 3: a different cloth. Man. If you're just joining us. This
34:52
Speaker 3: is Montgomery County Sheriff Jeffrey Smith, who's our guest this morning.
34:59
Speaker 3: Uh from Sweethearts and Heroes, who he represents, but also
35:03
Speaker 3: his Sheriff's office and also his incredible school out there.
35:10
Speaker 3: I want to read something here, and I'm not sure
35:12
Speaker 3: if these are your words or if they're Tom's words,
35:16
Speaker 3: but I have them in front of me, and regardless,
35:19
Speaker 3: I'm going to read them, it says hopelessness. We sit
35:24
Speaker 3: with it every day. We hear it in the stories,
35:27
Speaker 3: We see it in the numbers that have become too large,
35:30
Speaker 3: too frequent, too normalized to ignore. Middle school suicides rising,
35:37
Speaker 3: thousands of high school students attempting to take their lives
35:40
Speaker 3: every single day. Entire professions like high voltage linemen and
35:47
Speaker 3: law enforcement quietly leading in suicide rates, carrying burdens. The
35:52
Speaker 3: rest of us rarely see these young people, especially young women,
36:02
Speaker 3: reporting levels of despair that would have been unthinkable just
36:08
Speaker 3: a generation ago. So, yes, we live in a world
36:13
Speaker 3: of hope, but we work in a world of hopelessness.
36:22
Speaker 3: Tom's words are yours.
36:24
Speaker 4: Those are Tom's words without a doubt. You know, Tom
36:26
Speaker 4: is various to being able to put words to the
36:31
Speaker 4: problem where some of us may not be as elegant
36:33
Speaker 4: in doing that, and and that's a gift that he has,
36:37
Speaker 4: and but he's spot on, you know he. I think,
36:41
Speaker 4: I think if if some of these things don't affect
36:43
Speaker 4: us directly, right, we we just go about our business
36:46
Speaker 4: each and every day and it never really enters our mind.
36:50
Speaker 4: And that's not a fault, that's just a reality. But
36:53
Speaker 4: when you hear those words, whether you're reading them or
36:57
Speaker 4: listening to them, it makes it's got to hit us
37:00
Speaker 4: in your heart and in your mind, saying, wow, you
37:03
Speaker 4: know we need to do better for everyone society in general.
37:08
Speaker 4: I just said to you JD, how tough society is.
37:12
Speaker 4: And you know, I think you know that. I think
37:15
Speaker 4: your listeners know that it's a difficult society today. And
37:20
Speaker 4: when you add the difficult things that we deal with
37:23
Speaker 4: each and every day to the words that you just read,
37:25
Speaker 4: it's concerning for everyone. I don't care how old you are,
37:29
Speaker 4: what profession you're in, what you do, you know on
37:34
Speaker 4: your personal time, it's a concern and it can hit
37:38
Speaker 4: any one of us at any time.
37:41
Speaker 3: In your circle. Sessions with students at your school by
37:49
Speaker 3: the way, large school you just said earlier graduating class
37:53
Speaker 3: of around four hundred just to senior class alone. You
38:01
Speaker 3: you connect with students, you get to hear their stories.
38:04
Speaker 3: You don't always get a chance to follow up with
38:09
Speaker 3: questions or even follow up with comments of hey, I
38:17
Speaker 3: hurt you, I understand if there's anything I can do
38:21
Speaker 3: for you personally, privately, professionally. Don't hesitate to reach out.
38:26
Speaker 3: You're not always able to say that to every single
38:30
Speaker 3: kid in your school. They have to They have to
38:36
Speaker 3: just know that, they have to know that the badge
38:40
Speaker 3: that you're wearing says that.
38:45
Speaker 4: Yeah. Hopefully your actions will deliver that message without words.
38:51
Speaker 4: But if you get the opportunity, whether it be in
38:53
Speaker 4: circle or passing in a hallway, or when you can
38:57
Speaker 4: notice that the student's having a rough day, or there's
39:00
Speaker 4: an incident in the community or at the school and
39:02
Speaker 4: you can touch base with a few leaders who will
39:05
Speaker 4: help share that message, you know you have to adapt
39:08
Speaker 4: and come up with multiple ways to try to make
39:11
Speaker 4: sure that your staff and your students and the administration
39:15
Speaker 4: knows that you are there for them and knows that
39:17
Speaker 4: you are a go to person to get them the
39:20
Speaker 4: resources they need. And you can only hope and pray
39:23
Speaker 4: that that happens so that when an incident arises where
39:27
Speaker 4: people are struggling, that they reach out for the proper realm.
39:31
Speaker 4: And I think actions are very important, just as powerful
39:34
Speaker 4: as words.
39:34
Speaker 3: Sometimes I can only imagine how many names are of
39:41
Speaker 3: students and teachers are memorized in your brain. I can
39:50
Speaker 3: only imagine hundreds, but there have got to be I'm
39:56
Speaker 3: guessing more faces that you recognize than remembering names, where
40:04
Speaker 3: you're able to see a face and say, can't remember
40:08
Speaker 3: the name, but I remember that she lost her grandmother
40:14
Speaker 3: not too long ago, and it's eaten or alive.
40:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, one hundred percent. You know, faces are very important,
40:21
Speaker 4: and you'll you'll recognize them either pertaining to an incident
40:26
Speaker 4: or where you met them, or something that happened between you,
40:31
Speaker 4: or just the fact that they were a member of
40:33
Speaker 4: the school community and you know that's important and they reckon.
40:37
Speaker 4: You know, it's a little difficult for our SROs and
40:41
Speaker 4: anyone serving in that capacity because it's easier for them
40:45
Speaker 4: to all of them to remember you. You've got to
40:48
Speaker 4: do a much better job of trying to remember them.
40:50
Speaker 4: And there's more of them obviously, so it's a daunting task,
40:54
Speaker 4: but it does happen frequently. Just as you explained.
40:58
Speaker 3: This pilot project with your office, your sheriff's office, what
41:09
Speaker 3: do you say to our law enforcement teams here, our
41:16
Speaker 3: sheriff's office, our local police departments that have not incorporated
41:25
Speaker 3: what you have.
41:29
Speaker 4: Well, I would say this, JD. I would say, I
41:31
Speaker 4: understand all the administrators of the different law enforcement agencies.
41:35
Speaker 4: Budgets are tough budgets are tight. Where do you spend
41:40
Speaker 4: your money? Where do you prioritize? But I can only
41:44
Speaker 4: speak on my experiences and the Sweetheart of the Heroes
41:47
Speaker 4: program has made a difference in our office, our schools,
41:52
Speaker 4: and our community, and it is only going to continue
41:54
Speaker 4: to grow. So find that grant money, find that budget money,
41:58
Speaker 4: give it a chance, not only for the wellness and
42:01
Speaker 4: the mental health of your staff, but for the communication
42:06
Speaker 4: skills and the partnerships that you'll create with students' staff, parents,
42:10
Speaker 4: and your community, and the positive messages that will come out.
42:16
Speaker 4: And as we talked earlier, you know there'll be some apprehension,
42:19
Speaker 4: there'll be some people that maybe don't want to buy in.
42:22
Speaker 4: But have your leaders, identify your leaders that buy into
42:26
Speaker 4: this project and let them bring everyone along, and eventually
42:30
Speaker 4: your entire office will be doing better. And that's our goal.
42:34
Speaker 4: And I've already seen changes in the short time that
42:37
Speaker 4: we've had this relationship. But I'm super proud of the program,
42:42
Speaker 4: super proud of what we're doing. And I would just
42:43
Speaker 4: encourage my fellow law enforcement members to please look at it,
42:48
Speaker 4: give time a call, consider it, and make that move.
42:51
Speaker 3: Easy to do the best way and I've got the
42:54
Speaker 3: link of course in the comments here is just Sweethearts
42:57
Speaker 3: and Heroes dot. But what are the plans from a
43:04
Speaker 3: sustainability standpoint here to keep this going in in Montgomery
43:09
Speaker 3: County after this pilot program ends.
43:13
Speaker 4: Well, that's a great question. So I'm going to try
43:15
Speaker 4: to put some budget money in to keep it going.
43:18
Speaker 4: You know, we always are grants are really how we
43:21
Speaker 4: survive JD. We apply for a lot of grants and
43:24
Speaker 4: receive a lot of grants. But you know, I'm going
43:26
Speaker 4: to try to put some sustainability there with budget money
43:29
Speaker 4: so that we can continue to have this training. And
43:32
Speaker 4: the school districts are getting involved more and more, which
43:36
Speaker 4: is helpful because we can piggyback on the school districts
43:40
Speaker 4: and send officers to Circle, so it's a win win
43:43
Speaker 4: and the schools get state aid and it's reimbursable. Excuse me,
43:50
Speaker 4: So that that is very helpful as well. But I
43:53
Speaker 4: think again, communication with our legislatures, our legislature, I'm sorry,
43:59
Speaker 4: our legislators, our county executive, and explaining the importance and
44:03
Speaker 4: the effect of the training that we've received and supporting
44:07
Speaker 4: the program, and being the person, the leader who wants
44:10
Speaker 4: to make that sustainable moving forward. You know when Tom
44:15
Speaker 4: and Rick and Pat and Wynton, when they show up
44:19
Speaker 4: wearing the free hug shirt, Yeah, you know that's a
44:23
Speaker 4: message in itself.
44:25
Speaker 3: So everything with painted fingernails.
44:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, when you see a shirt that says free hugs,
44:32
Speaker 4: right away you're saying, oh boy, what's this all about? Right,
44:35
Speaker 4: But nobody's ever been hurt from a nice hug once
44:38
Speaker 4: in a while. Yeah.
44:40
Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't want to ask you how old you are,
44:45
Speaker 3: but what what year did you graduate from high school?
44:49
Speaker 4: I graduated in nineteen eighty seven.
44:51
Speaker 3: Okay, so you and I are right about the same age.
44:57
Speaker 3: I'm guessing did you have a student resource in your school?
45:03
Speaker 4: We did not, and there was none in the county,
45:06
Speaker 4: and now every school in our county has one. And
45:09
Speaker 4: I think I think it's unfortunately a result of bad
45:16
Speaker 4: and large scale incidents that have taken place across our
45:19
Speaker 4: country and our world. But I think the positive from
45:22
Speaker 4: it is the partnership and the communication and the ability
45:27
Speaker 4: to bridge the gap between law enforcement and safety and
45:33
Speaker 4: school districts and parents. And you know, I think every
45:35
Speaker 4: day we learn and we get better at it. But
45:39
Speaker 4: it's still been a lengthy process finding the right fit.
45:42
Speaker 4: You've said it before on the show GD today. Having
45:45
Speaker 4: the right person to do the job is key and important,
45:49
Speaker 4: and developing that relationship is of the utmost importance.
45:54
Speaker 3: What was yours like with law enforcement when you were
45:59
Speaker 3: in in your teens? Did you get in trouble?
46:03
Speaker 4: Yeah? I mean I think what did you do different?
46:06
Speaker 4: You know, Listen, I was a kid, just like most people.
46:09
Speaker 4: We were always out of horse playing and you know,
46:12
Speaker 4: doing stupid things like taking Christmas lights off of people's
46:17
Speaker 4: trees and smashing the bulbs and the roads or you
46:20
Speaker 4: know whatever, just doing things that were mischievous. And then
46:23
Speaker 4: when you're dealt with your local law enforcement, they were
46:25
Speaker 4: always holding you accountable. I think accountability has changed a
46:29
Speaker 4: little bit over the years with raised of course I'm
46:32
Speaker 4: talking about New York now too, not necessarily other states,
46:35
Speaker 4: but raise the age. Laws in New York have raised
46:38
Speaker 4: the age with the ability for law enforcement to interact
46:41
Speaker 4: with certain age of kids. And when I was a kid,
46:46
Speaker 4: when you were sixteen, you could go to the local
46:48
Speaker 4: county gym, and you can't do that now. That doesn't
46:52
Speaker 4: happen now. So you know, we have to adapt with
46:55
Speaker 4: the changes in the criminal justice system and how we
46:57
Speaker 4: treat kids, and kids know that, right, so sometimes they're
47:01
Speaker 4: a little more defiant because they know that the accountability
47:03
Speaker 4: is a little bit different, and they kind of got
47:06
Speaker 4: this window of opportunity for them to be a little,
47:10
Speaker 4: a little rambunctious.
47:12
Speaker 3: It's a different world growing up now as a kid
47:17
Speaker 3: than when you and I grew up. We've got so
47:20
Speaker 3: many other influences media, social media. We're too fat, we're
47:28
Speaker 3: too skinny, we're too tall or too short. There's bullying.
47:35
Speaker 3: It's there's bullying is everywhere you see it. Frankly, you
47:41
Speaker 3: probably smell it, and you can probably see it from
47:46
Speaker 3: ten miles away. There's so many stressors. And then throw
47:51
Speaker 3: in what's happening at home. Maybe you've got some substance abuse,
48:02
Speaker 3: maybe you got some domestic stuff going on. Kids are
48:07
Speaker 3: carrying around so much that when they go to school, frankly,
48:14
Speaker 3: they're they're more in survival mode, not so much in
48:18
Speaker 3: the mode of, hey, I want to learn today, I
48:21
Speaker 3: want to be taught something. I want to learn something new.
48:25
Speaker 3: They're walking around with a lot of hopelessness, and you
48:33
Speaker 3: you have to be that that badge that's always shining
48:38
Speaker 3: to say the Sweethearts and Heroes acronym for hope, which
48:45
Speaker 3: is hold on possibilities exist. How are you? How are
48:51
Speaker 3: you able to do that? Though in circle or out
48:54
Speaker 3: of circle?
48:57
Speaker 4: Well, I think we all have bad days, right, so
49:00
Speaker 4: maybe we're not always on our a game. But I
49:02
Speaker 4: think for the most part, when you take that role
49:05
Speaker 4: as an SRO and when you're put in that position
49:09
Speaker 4: to make a difference each and every day, you have
49:11
Speaker 4: to wake up with the energy and the foresight to
49:14
Speaker 4: remember that you need to be someone sunshine that day, right,
49:18
Speaker 4: you need to make a difference and you're there for them.
49:20
Speaker 4: It's not about you or me or our other SROs.
49:24
Speaker 4: It's not about our office. It's about assisting people in
49:29
Speaker 4: the time of need, providing them with a safe, secure place,
49:33
Speaker 4: someplace where they can be comfortable to communicate and reach
49:36
Speaker 4: out for help. And you know, as you pointed out,
49:38
Speaker 4: you don't always know what's going on in their homes.
49:41
Speaker 4: They may be coming to school to get their first
49:43
Speaker 4: meal that they've had, Yeah, you know, in a twenty
49:45
Speaker 4: four hour period, and you have to remember.
49:49
Speaker 3: That, what's the rest of your day? Looking like.
49:56
Speaker 4: I got a busy day today, JD. We got a
49:58
Speaker 4: bunch of things happening in our office, and you know,
50:02
Speaker 4: there's a couple of community events and things like that.
50:05
Speaker 4: But again, each thing that's got to come up in
50:07
Speaker 4: the office today is stuff supporting our community, and you
50:11
Speaker 4: never know what kind of calls are going to come
50:12
Speaker 4: in for service, so hopefully, you know, hopefully you have
50:16
Speaker 4: a peaceful day. Administratively, though as the sheriff, things can
50:21
Speaker 4: get a little chaotic each and every day because you're
50:23
Speaker 4: constantly putting out fires or solving problems. But it's communicating
50:28
Speaker 4: with our SROs every day, talking about what's going on
50:31
Speaker 4: in our schools, you know, trying to stay ahead of
50:33
Speaker 4: the curve when there's incidents in the public that spill
50:37
Speaker 4: into the school, which happens a lot. And that's another
50:41
Speaker 4: benefit of this circle and Sweethearts and Heroes is just
50:46
Speaker 4: just to have the communication tool. I can't state enough.
50:48
Speaker 4: I know I've repeated myself a few times, but to
50:51
Speaker 4: have that tool on your belt is really really beneficial
50:57
Speaker 4: to everybody.
50:57
Speaker 3: Most important tool on your belt period.
51:01
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, communication without a doubt. We used to call
51:05
Speaker 4: it verbal judo, you know, back back in the day
51:09
Speaker 4: when when we started our training, verbal judo it's because
51:13
Speaker 4: if you can communicate well and listen well, you can
51:16
Speaker 4: diffuse or assist people. Most of the time, you know,
51:22
Speaker 4: people in crisis, or or people that are having a
51:25
Speaker 4: manic episode, or people that are just struggling to do anything.
51:32
Speaker 4: You know, having a really, really bad day. Be the
51:35
Speaker 4: sunshine in someone else's life and make a difference and
51:38
Speaker 4: they'll remember it forever.
51:42
Speaker 3: I wish there were more folks like you, or I
51:45
Speaker 3: wish there were more student resource officers like you, more
51:49
Speaker 3: sheriffs like you, more human beings like you. I wish
51:52
Speaker 3: you were cloned.
51:53
Speaker 4: My friend, Well, I big enough to be cloned, you said.
51:57
Speaker 4: Sometimes we're too fat, too skinny. I'm I'm part of
51:59
Speaker 4: that for sure. But there are they're out there you
52:03
Speaker 4: just go to You just got to get to them,
52:05
Speaker 4: and you've got to be a leader to them and
52:08
Speaker 4: lead by example and hope that they start to act
52:11
Speaker 4: that way. And you know, I'm not perfect. I have
52:15
Speaker 4: bad days, and I wasn't always. I didn't always view
52:18
Speaker 4: the world like this, But being put in a leadership
52:22
Speaker 4: position and being responsible for one hundred and eighty employees
52:25
Speaker 4: here at our office has made me learn that I
52:29
Speaker 4: have to try to develop these younger generation police officers
52:34
Speaker 4: so that they continue to deliver that proper message when
52:37
Speaker 4: I move on or retire and when we all become old.
52:41
Speaker 4: Right our younger generations are our future. So if we
52:44
Speaker 4: don't work on them right now, we're headed for trouble.
52:47
Speaker 3: Amazing content this morning, my friend, Thank you ever so
52:51
Speaker 3: much for all of your time. It is so valuable
52:54
Speaker 3: to us and on behalf of all of our listeners
52:57
Speaker 3: everywhere they're thinking you it's well and for everything you do,
53:03
Speaker 3: but also for all the time you've given us this morning.
53:06
Speaker 3: We know you've got a crazy day ahead. We'll let
53:08
Speaker 3: you get back to it, but thank you so much.
53:10
Speaker 4: I hope to meet you, yes, Jennie, thank you so
53:13
Speaker 4: much for having me on the show and given the
53:15
Speaker 4: opportunity to talk about the training and see arts and
53:17
Speaker 4: hero program and what we're doing here. If anybody has
53:20
Speaker 4: any questions, you're always welcome to reach out. But it
53:23
Speaker 4: was an honor and a pleasure, and I wish you
53:25
Speaker 4: all a great day.
53:26
Speaker 3: Thank you, my friend, appreciate it so much. Take care, Yeah,
53:30
Speaker 3: stay well, amazing you know what do we need to
53:34
Speaker 3: do to get this pilot program here in Vermont and
53:40
Speaker 3: most specifically here in Central Vermont. What do we need
53:44
Speaker 3: to do? I think I think at some point here
53:49
Speaker 3: pretty soon we should try to see if we can
53:52
Speaker 3: sneak tom On who's always in school. He's in the
53:57
Speaker 3: school right now, but if we can maybe I don't know,
54:02
Speaker 3: get caught up with them a little bit and find
54:04
Speaker 3: out what we can do here in Vermont. Tomorrow, Tomorrow,
54:12
Speaker 3: here on aired out, I'm going to be sitting down
54:15
Speaker 3: with John beyond Alilo BCK real Estate right down the road.
54:19
Speaker 3: One of our presenting sponsors has been Forever and we're
54:22
Speaker 3: gonna be talking about housing, the lack thereof. We're going
54:28
Speaker 3: to be talking about the real estate market. We're going
54:30
Speaker 3: to be talking about our local real estate market and
54:35
Speaker 3: some of the scary headlines that we see on a
54:38
Speaker 3: national level, but most specifically what's happening here in Central
54:43
Speaker 3: Vermont when it comes to buying selling homes. There's a
54:49
Speaker 3: lot to be said this about this, and you've heard
54:51
Speaker 3: me talking a lot about it. With Downstreet housing and
54:56
Speaker 3: community development. There's some big plans that are going on
55:00
Speaker 3: in and around Central Vermont to chip away at our
55:04
Speaker 3: housing crisis, and yes I did say crisis. Tomorrow It's
55:09
Speaker 3: going to be an interesting conversation. Please join us for it.
55:12
Speaker 3: If you have any questions comments during the live feed tomorrow,
55:18
Speaker 3: drop them. I don't care what they are. We I
55:22
Speaker 3: you and I will ask John anything what his opinion
55:27
Speaker 3: is on any of this. It is Wednesday. We have
55:32
Speaker 3: wing Wednesday at the VFW Post seven ninety Tonight. Donna Thunder,
55:37
Speaker 3: I believe, is going to be there wing a ding man.
55:40
Speaker 3: She knows how to turn it up and bring the fund.
55:43
Speaker 3: Five pm is when it all starts, right there at
55:46
Speaker 3: the VFW Post seven to ninety Route three oh two,
55:50
Speaker 3: just outside of town. It's going to be a good
55:52
Speaker 3: time tomorrow. Forget Thursday. Every Thursday it's Bingo over at
55:56
Speaker 3: the Canadian Club. Friday We've got meet Bingo at the
56:01
Speaker 3: American Legion Post ten. Always a fun time, man. I'm
56:05
Speaker 3: hoping to go to that one too, I really am.
56:08
Speaker 3: I'm gonna try Tomorrow. The sixteenth is the Children, Youth
56:14
Speaker 3: and Family Steering Committee, which is something that you've seen
56:20
Speaker 3: all over the aired out facebook page. If you've got kids,
56:26
Speaker 3: you got questions, and frankly, who doesn't. This is your
56:31
Speaker 3: opportunity to get together literally physically get together you can
56:38
Speaker 3: join virtually too. I'll give you the link on that,
56:40
Speaker 3: I'll post it. I'll post it up on the aired
56:42
Speaker 3: out page. But they always have a different subject that
56:46
Speaker 3: they're talking about. Whether it's IEPs, whether it's bullying in
56:49
Speaker 3: the schools, whatever it may be. It's always about kids.
56:54
Speaker 3: It's always about our youth and how can we as
56:59
Speaker 3: parents navigate some of this whitewater that we're paddling in.
57:05
Speaker 3: It's an incredible thing that Washington County Mental Health has
57:09
Speaker 3: done and continues to do, and it's tomorrow. Keep watching
57:13
Speaker 3: the page for more details on that. You will see it.
57:18
Speaker 3: Nathan Michaud at the VFW Post seven ninety two on
57:22
Speaker 3: Friday night in Montpellier from five to eight. We got
57:26
Speaker 3: Saturday the eighteenth, so much going on, Alive and kicking
57:30
Speaker 3: is going to be rocking out Post ten Coyote Island
57:33
Speaker 3: at the Zen Barnes Summer Street Tavern Spring Fever Fest
57:37
Speaker 3: from one to seven right behind our studios here on
57:41
Speaker 3: Summer Street. Breakfast at the VFW Post seven ninety in
57:45
Speaker 3: Barry on Saturday. We got the Special Olympics Basketball tournament
57:50
Speaker 3: at Norwich University on Saturday from nine to one. I'll
57:53
Speaker 3: be there. I'm gonna be. I don't know what I'm
57:56
Speaker 3: gonna have. It might even be this shirt that I'm
57:58
Speaker 3: wearing right now. I will have a sharpie and I'll
58:02
Speaker 3: be getting autographs from some of these athletes on Saturday,
58:06
Speaker 3: and I can't wait. Sunday finish up the weekend with
58:09
Speaker 3: the Britney Burt Memorial Scholarship Bingo at the Den in
58:13
Speaker 3: Williamstown starts at high noon. We had Christina Burt on
58:18
Speaker 3: the air with us yesterday talking about this. There's a
58:20
Speaker 3: lot of stuff going on, great stuff, and the month
58:24
Speaker 3: of May is jammed. I was chatting with Lucas Herring
58:29
Speaker 3: yesterday and the Veterans Place along with just some amazing
58:40
Speaker 3: people at the Lions Club. Amazing people. And it's not
58:45
Speaker 3: just Mark Tetrow. It's Happy Birthday again Mark with the
58:50
Speaker 3: Lions Club in the Veterans Place, two big powerhouses teaming
58:57
Speaker 3: up on Sunday the twenties for a huge bottle drive
59:04
Speaker 3: at the mutois right here in Barry. You got bottles,
59:09
Speaker 3: you got cans, please hang on to them. Sunday the
59:12
Speaker 3: twenty sixth, we will collect them and one hundred percent,
59:17
Speaker 3: not ninety five, one hundred percent of the proceeds going
59:22
Speaker 3: to be going to the Veterans Place in Northfield. Last
59:27
Speaker 3: year was massive. I'll never forget it. It was so great,
59:31
Speaker 3: so please be part of it this year. I'll be there,
59:34
Speaker 3: We'll be streaming live. We're gonna have a great time.
59:38
Speaker 3: Take good care of one another if you can. Today,
59:40
Speaker 3: take a deep breath. We got some warmer temperatures that
59:45
Speaker 3: are moving in right now, which is so nice. Take
59:50
Speaker 3: a deep breath now, breathe it in. Okay, what is it?
59:56
Speaker 3: Seventy four tomorrow? Yeah, seventy four thunderstorms yesterday? I know,
1:00:05
Speaker 3: I know. This whole week is is raining. Yesterday was
1:00:08
Speaker 3: pouring for a long time. Listen, don't be a Debbie
1:00:13
Speaker 3: downer with the whole clouds and rain thing. April showers,
1:00:17
Speaker 3: bring May flowers. Rainy days are nice, cozy, get the
1:00:26
Speaker 3: chamneys out. Don't worry. We need the rain. Things are
1:00:30
Speaker 3: starting to green up. Crocuses are going to be coming up,
1:00:35
Speaker 3: so crocuses or croquie no plural maybe you know. Have
1:00:43
Speaker 3: a great rest of your day. Everyone, We'll catch you
1:00:45
Speaker 3: tomorrow here in the aired out podcast. God bless