Latest / Buying Local Podcast / Jacque Ecuyer Shares How Operation Give Back Honors Local Veterans | Buying Local #68

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Jacque Ecuyer Shares How Operation Give Back Honors Local Veterans | Buying Local #68 · Buying Local Podcast

0:00
Welcome everyone to buying local.
0:01
I'm your host. I almost forgot my name there.
0:04
I'm your host, Mike Nelson from 5 Towers Media.
0:08
This is probably my fifth meeting, I think today so far
0:11
it's 1:00. You know, brain's a little bit
0:15
mushy and I still got a few more so.
0:17
But I'm going to put my best foot forward here, Jacques.
0:21
And we're going to talk about Operation Give back before I do
0:26
though, Jacques, And so that I don't Messa, even though I've
0:28
known you for I think 25 years now, I, I'm still going to mess
0:32
up your last name, brother. So if you don't mind, just
0:35
introduce yourself to us real quick and but tell us a little
0:38
bit about who you are, what you do.
0:40
All right. Yeah, Jacquie Equie.
0:43
There it is. Spell it phonetically next time,
0:45
Michael. Have it in front of you.
0:49
Yes, I think it's been about 25 years.
0:52
Yeah, I am the founder and creator of 4S for Life, which is
0:56
a local organization that benefits everyone dealing with
0:59
mental health. This event itself is geared
1:05
toward our veterans, which we all know can use all the help
1:08
that they can get. But I think over the years we've
1:11
helped thousands of people. We've raised Jesus hundreds of
1:14
thousands of dollars for all different causes pertaining to
1:17
mental health. We've done an anti bullying
1:19
campaign, health and Wellness program in the Queensbury School
1:22
Operation Give Back. We've did a lot during COVID, so
1:26
sort of like you all over the place all the time, constantly
1:28
going. So yeah, man.
1:30
Got to be on that hustle, right? Gotta.
1:32
Gotta. I don't know.
1:34
I I hear from people that they talk about being bored and I I'm
1:38
just always like, what's that like?
1:40
I don't ever have time for being bored.
1:42
Yeah, I don't think you do either with all the stuff that
1:44
you got. Going on.
1:44
No, I think you know what, I was just having this conversation
1:47
with my wife the other day and I said, you know, I think, you
1:50
know, as you, you talk to men that are older and they retire
1:52
and they get and and once they lose their purpose, man, it
1:54
seems like you look at these guys and they're just like that.
1:57
There's no desire there. They they just lose everything.
1:59
I mean, you have to stay busy. I think it keeps us young, it
2:02
keeps us active. It keeps us, you know, sharp.
2:05
And I think, yeah, I'm going to do it until they put me in the
2:08
ground, I think, or my wife just says that's enough.
2:12
Well, I, to your point, man, I think, I think purpose is the
2:15
key component that's missing in a lot of people's lives.
2:18
I think having purpose solves a lot of problems and keeps you,
2:23
keeps you moving, gives you something to, to work for, live
2:25
for. And the purpose of our show
2:28
today is Operation Give Back. So let's, let's talk about that
2:32
man. Tell us a little bit about
2:33
Operation Give Back. All right, so Operation Give
2:37
Back is a military appreciation day.
2:40
It's a full day of music, food, raffles, such on for veterans,
2:45
their families and kids. Open to the public, 100% of the
2:48
proceeds go to local veteran organizations.
2:50
So over the last, this is Year 5, so it's a big year for us.
2:54
It's our fifth anniversary. It's consistently exponentially
2:58
built each year, but we've helped everyone from the
3:00
Adirondack Vet House, Operation at Ease, Therapeutic Horses of
3:03
Saratoga, tons of VFWS, American Legions, anything that has to
3:08
pertain to veterans that we can help in any capacity.
3:11
We like to do that. But more importantly, it's to
3:13
create a day and an atmosphere for our veterans, for them to
3:16
feel the love and support from their communities, you know, for
3:18
the sacrifices they make and to come out and have that
3:21
camaraderie, the like they had in the military, you know, share
3:23
stories, laugh and cry and just have a a great day and and a
3:27
great area. Slickman Brewing Company every
3:30
year is military owned. Chris and Heather March are
3:32
phenomenal people. They open their doors up every
3:34
year. They were one of the founding
3:36
partners, so myself, my organization, Chris and Heather
3:39
and also Alan Lapel from Vested Veteran Grill were the three
3:43
people that started it and now it's blown up to what it is now.
3:49
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Year 5 now you guys, you
3:52
guys are packing the house over there.
3:54
Is that, is that my understanding?
3:55
And I still like I was trying to get there last year and I, I, I
3:58
can't remember, it was something kid related ended up happening I
4:00
couldn't get. Over there.
4:01
But yeah, I think honestly, so it, it normally runs from noon
4:06
to we'll say closing, which is about 10:00 PM.
4:08
The last band is on at like 8:00.
4:10
So it's, it's solo axe in the beginning, first four hours solo
4:14
duos and then we get into some, some full bands, you know, so
4:20
it's probably like 1500 people in and out of that brewery
4:23
throughout the day at different times.
4:24
I mean, we're, we're packed at capacity.
4:26
The, the, I mean, it has a huge, if you haven't been to slick
4:28
Fin, you know, it has a tap room, but it also has a huge
4:32
outdoor back patio area with a large army surplus tent.
4:36
It's all enclosed with the flaps that are rolled up.
4:39
That's seating for people. We have the stage in the back.
4:41
There's cornhole boards, fire pits.
4:44
It's it's just a really good place to to be, to be around.
4:47
Yeah, yeah. So you guys are on Rain or
4:49
shine? Or on rain or shine, we have an
4:51
extra big tent, normally entertainment one over here in
4:54
Hudson Falls. John Myers normally donates a,
4:57
an extra tent, so we have plenty of coverage between the two
5:00
tents and indoors. And yeah, as I said, everyone
5:04
donates their time, all the bands.
5:06
We'll have three, hopefully three different food.
5:09
I know Al Lapel with vested Vet will be there.
5:11
I believe Stumpy's, which is right up the road.
5:13
Stumpy's Pizzeria. Amy, she's she's amazing.
5:16
Wanted to be a part of it. And I'm, I'm possibly gonna have
5:18
a third one just to, you know, cut down on lines and, you know,
5:23
give people, you know, a little variety, you know, especially
5:26
because they're bringing kids and a lot of kids don't want a
5:28
full BBQ meal, you know, get something, you know, a small
5:31
pizza or a grilled cheese or a Mac and cheese or something
5:34
that, you know, can keep them them happy.
5:36
So the the parents can stay and and spend more money on on
5:38
raffles and silent auction items.
5:40
Right, there we go. There we go.
5:43
What is the What is the raffle in silent auction typically
5:46
consist of? So we normally get things
5:49
honestly, I've had things mailed from all over the United States,
5:51
woodworking items, tickets to events, overnight stays at
5:54
hotels. And then of course, if you've
5:57
been to fundraisers, you know, different kind of baskets, A
6:00
gardening baskets and Black Rifle Coffee company donated a
6:04
ton of stuff last year. We did 3 or 4 baskets with all
6:06
their coffee and they, they're military owned as well.
6:09
Absolutely. So, yeah, I mean, what you see
6:12
typically, you know, at the and then of course our shirts, we
6:16
have shirt sponsors of any businesses out there.
6:18
Obviously 5 Towers Media is a sponsor.
6:21
You know, you guys are on the shirt every year and it's a
6:22
great way for them to advertise because these smaller
6:25
businesses, you know, especially ones that are just starting,
6:27
when people see that you support their veterans, they're gonna
6:29
more than likely support your business as well.
6:31
Yeah. And it's a great way to do it.
6:33
It's 100 bucks to sponsor, you know, put your logo on there for
6:36
500 shirts. I mean, that's, that's you're
6:37
not going to find cheaper advertising than that.
6:41
I think I'm a serious Jacques and I know that we've talked
6:43
about this in past years on the show, but for anyone that's just
6:48
getting introduced to Operation Give back for the first time,
6:51
how did this whole thing even come to start you?
6:55
And I think you said is it Alan from Vested veteran and.
7:00
Heather and Chris March. Yeah, you guys just.
7:03
Sitting around having a beer one day and yeah.
7:06
I, I, yeah, we frequented. So my brother-in-law is a Marine
7:10
and you know, a lot of the, their clientele is obviously 90%
7:13
military. And we, you know, we go down and
7:15
have a, a good craft IPA, something just hang out, you
7:18
know, have a cigar Outback, you know, it's a nice place to go do
7:20
that with your, with your, with your buddies.
7:23
And I was just sitting at the bar and I was talking to Heather
7:26
and I'm looking around the the tap room and I said, wow.
7:28
I said, there's no events in the area that strictly pertain to
7:32
military where everything goes back to the military.
7:34
I said, what would you think about maybe hosting a military
7:37
appreciation day? And it was that easy.
7:39
Heather's eyes lit up and she said, you know what?
7:41
She pulled her husband Chris over.
7:42
She goes, hey, we planned it in three days.
7:44
I mean, it was just like something we we threw together
7:46
and it was like, OK. And 1st year we raised like
7:49
$3500 in four hours. It was like $1000 an hour.
7:51
It was ridiculous. And then we were like, hey, how
7:54
can you know? Obviously, like everything else,
7:56
you like to add things each year.
7:57
So then we started to add music. And it was a couple bands and
8:01
there were a couple of musicians.
8:02
And then we had to get into another food truck.
8:04
And then it went from 3500 to 8000 to 13.
8:07
Then it's, you know, it started to grow and it started to catch
8:09
on. And people got so excited about
8:11
this event. And it goes back to what you
8:13
said, having that drive and that purpose.
8:15
But people support you such as, you know, companies such as
8:18
yourself or friends such as yourself.
8:20
And you see the excitement in their eyes about, man, I can't
8:22
wait till that event next year. It makes you that much more
8:25
excited to go. OK, what can we do to make this
8:27
even bigger and better and set aside the money aspect?
8:30
I mean, yeah, we'd love to make more each year.
8:32
But you know what, honestly, as I said to my wife, if we went in
8:35
this year and only made $5000, it wouldn't matter.
8:38
It's to create the atmosphere that those veterans feel like
8:41
they are appreciated. And, and I think that's what's
8:43
lacking obviously in this country nowadays is, is getting,
8:45
you know, treated like third class citizens when they, when
8:48
they come home. And I, you know, it's, it's
8:50
uncalled for. So if we can create that kind of
8:52
atmosphere for them and their families, I think it it it truly
8:55
goes a long way. Absolutely.
8:58
And I, you know, I'm curious about, you know, obviously the
9:04
community. Sorry, my phone started ringing
9:08
there, Jacques. I've got this new system set up
9:11
and I don't have anything configured and like all of a
9:14
sudden everything's connected and I don't want it to be
9:16
connected. So sorry, Jacques, bear with me
9:21
here. I don't.
9:21
Know you're good, buddy. There we go.
9:25
All right. I got you back.
9:26
I I lost the window. I lost everything I couldn't.
9:29
See your Oh man, that's all. You don't need to see me.
9:31
You know what I look like. Technology, I'm supposed to be
9:32
good with this stuff. So, you know, from a community
9:37
standpoint, it really sounds like every year the community's
9:41
pitching in, whether it's people in, you know, obviously, you
9:45
know, slick fins in Fort Edward, but it's not just the Fort
9:47
Edward community that's coming together.
9:48
Can you, can you speak a little bit to where everybody's coming
9:53
from geographically, business, why, you know, perfect walks of
9:56
life, all that stuff. Yeah.
9:58
I mean, basically it's open, you know, for Washington, Warren,
10:00
Saratoga County, and it's slowly expanding.
10:03
You know, Fort Edward, it was great just because the brewery
10:06
was already there. And you know, like when you're
10:08
planning an event, everyone knows your most important thing
10:10
is getting your date and your venue.
10:11
So venues are always, you know, you know, it's not cheap to do a
10:14
venue for any event. You know, you're talking about
10:16
thousands of dollars, you know, to, to just even to rent it and
10:19
sometimes without food, without. So when we decided to start it,
10:24
you know, and we had the venue because Heather and Chris were
10:26
like, Hey, we're just gonna open the door.
10:27
And I'm like, wow, that just saved us.
10:28
So there's the good thing. And the reason why we can donate
10:31
everything back is there's no overhead for this.
10:33
OK so the venue is literally donated.
10:36
The food trucks donate back. I've never asked them to but
10:39
they always donate back so they make their own money.
10:42
The musicians all donate their time.
10:44
I mean if you add up what you would spend on 8 bands or
10:47
musicians. Plus my sound guy does it for
10:49
free. I have a professional sound
10:50
engineer that comes on and takes on the entire event and sets up
10:53
everything from the stage to the lineup.
10:56
The volunteers, the women I have every year that keep coming
10:59
back, there's 8 to 10 of those. I have one of the girls softball
11:02
teams coming to volunteer this year and do 5050.
11:04
They want to be a part of it. So I think it's it just catches
11:07
on and it's like anything else where when you're when you put
11:09
good out there and people see that they want to be a part of
11:11
something because not everyone knows how to start something,
11:14
but they can be an integral part of it.
11:16
Hey, someone else is starting. All I got to do is show up.
11:18
Hey, I want to, you know, I want to jump on.
11:19
I want to sponsor, like you said, or I want to do a raffle
11:22
basket or I just want to show up and hang out and listen to music
11:25
and in whatever way you want to do it.
11:27
You know, we invite people from from all over.
11:28
I mean, we work with Adirondack peer-to-peer, which is Jeremy
11:31
Dewar's. They they come out and they're,
11:33
they're another partner with us, Feeder Canal Alliance.
11:35
They start advertising. I'm going to be on Channel 10 in
11:38
May on a new thing called Soldiers to Service with Ryan
11:43
Peterson. And we're talking about the
11:45
event, which is going to be huge exposure for us.
11:48
And that's in the Albany area, where I was born and raised.
11:50
So now people down there see me up here.
11:52
And I've had people come up that I went to high school with their
11:54
grades going like, man, we can't believe that you are doing all
11:57
this. I'm like, hey, you know what?
11:59
That's that was my calling. I guess somehow it found me
12:02
along the way. And here I am.
12:04
Yeah. It's as far as putting the event
12:12
together. I mean, logistics has got to be
12:15
the hardest thing, right? Like, how do you handle all
12:18
these different groups, all these different people, bringing
12:20
them all together, getting them there, you know, attendance?
12:24
How does that all work? Well, so it's funny because once
12:27
we get done with the event, like last year's event, at the end of
12:31
the night when I was sitting hanging out, I started hitting
12:33
up my musicians that night and saying anyone that wants to come
12:35
back, let me know. Now.
12:36
I went right to my sound guy. Are you in for next year?
12:39
Yup. I already knew Chris and Heather
12:40
were in, talked to the food truck.
12:42
It's always about staying ahead of it.
12:44
So like right now, obviously venues done I have to IBS is
12:48
they donate a couple of porta Johns for us because it's for
12:51
veterans to help some of that capacity.
12:52
So when you have people like that, I have a volunteer
12:55
coordinator who I just reach out to her.
12:57
I put them in a group message. So what you do is you delegate
12:59
sort of like, I mean, you know this, you delegate.
13:02
So you have a volunteer coordinator, they take care of
13:04
all the volunteers setting up the baskets, setting up the
13:06
auction items, doing the raffle tickets, getting the T-shirts
13:09
ready. They do all of that.
13:10
Now. Your sound engineer takes care
13:12
of all the music. They do the line up, the stage,
13:14
the sound system. OK, another problem, Heather and
13:16
Chris, the brewery is self-sufficient.
13:18
It takes care of its own. Their staff takes care of the
13:20
beer and and other things. The food trucks are their own
13:23
separate entities. So they bring their own staff.
13:25
All they do is say where do I set up?
13:27
Here you are. They're good.
13:29
All I have to do is is go up and network, which is what I want to
13:31
do. I just want to be able to sit
13:32
around and talk to these veterans and learn about them
13:35
and their stories and just just enjoy the day.
13:39
And, and you know, if you, if you delegated properly, I think,
13:43
and you have the right people. I mean, without any of these
13:44
partners, this doesn't work. You take Heather and Chris out,
13:47
you take Alan out, you take the sound guy, it doesn't work.
13:49
It's, it's a team effort. I mean, and, and that's what it
13:51
is. We have a very, very strong,
13:53
cohesive team that puts this event together each year.
13:56
And I couldn't do it without any of them.
13:58
Amazing. What, Jock, as far as when
14:02
you're looking at what to do with the funds each year, how,
14:05
how do you evaluate who's the most needing or where the
14:11
money's going to go? Like what does that look like?
14:13
So we normally reach out. We'll, we'll put feelers out a
14:16
couple months before people that don't know it.
14:18
A lot of the military organizations do know now who we
14:22
are and what we do. So they'll start reaching out.
14:24
Hey, and you know, they'll, they'll give us a background.
14:27
And So what we do is each partner picks a beneficiary.
14:31
So that makes it fair across the board.
14:32
So I'll pick one. Chris and Heather pick their
14:34
own, Ellen picks one. We normally try to do 4.
14:38
I think like we did 4 last year. I think it was either 4 or $5000
14:41
to each organization. We do a check presentation right
14:43
at Slick Fin. So sometimes it's not just neat,
14:46
it's it's, it's who's in the area where I know where the
14:49
money's going to. Like I'll use the vet house, the
14:51
ad running vet house by run by Jeff Varmet.
14:53
He coached all my boys in wrestling for 30 years.
14:56
He's a Marine. But I know exactly where that
14:58
money's going here locally. I know what he does at the vet
15:01
house where somebody like Wounded Warrior, we would never
15:04
donate to. And I don't mean to say that
15:06
negatively, but when your CEO makes 6 figures on a nonprofit
15:10
organization, that makes me a little leery of where that
15:13
money's going. So I wanted to go to, I want to
15:16
keep it local. And that, that's huge.
15:17
When someone like yourself say if you came with your wife or
15:19
kids and you came or hanging out, you want to know your money
15:21
stays in our community. It's not going to Iowa or
15:24
California. It's staying right here to take
15:25
care of our veterans. We have to look out, you know,
15:28
for the people in our communities.
15:29
And I think that's very important.
15:31
Yeah, absolutely. And little shout out to the
15:33
Adirondack Vets House too. We actually, we, we host their
15:36
website for free because they're a veteran organization and and
15:40
try to help those guys out with. We don't ever hear from them
15:43
because they don't need much from us, but we know we're
15:45
always there when they do appreciate what they do.
15:47
Obviously great organization and, and great cause it's, and
15:53
I, I love what you said though, like as far as being able to
15:56
make sure that that money is, you know where it's going,
15:59
right? Like it's going to have impact.
16:00
Cause to your point at, I mean, I think everybody at this point
16:04
has read stories about larger organizations that do all this
16:08
fundraising. And then a small, small
16:11
percentage of that money actually goes to where you think
16:13
it's going to go to help the people you think it's going to
16:15
help, right? So knowing that it is going to
16:19
go back and actually help real people, right and it's not not
16:24
not paying for a CE OS, you know, expensive lifestyle or
16:29
whatever it is, but. I think, yeah, you know, and
16:31
that's the thing, you know, when when I asked for those sponsor,
16:33
you know, especially the local businesses, they want to know if
16:35
they're sponsoring, you know, veterans here.
16:37
And, you know, the bigger scheme of things, you always hope that
16:41
maybe someone in a different town saw what you were doing and
16:43
it it could still happen and go, hey, we might want to do that in
16:46
our. And that's what you hope for.
16:48
I mean, when you start something like this, you're hoping like
16:50
maybe Bennington, Vt make, you know, using them as an example,
16:53
saying, hey, they're doing this in in upstate New York.
16:55
Why don't we do something like this for our veterans?
16:57
You know, my ultimate goal would be to if I could just travel
17:00
around and set up these events and help get them started, I
17:03
would do that. I mean, I would be open to that.
17:04
And I think it would be, it would be great because they
17:07
could do it right in their own community.
17:08
So rather than try to ask the, the state or the federal
17:11
government for money for your veterans, do it.
17:13
Your do it yourself, go out. I mean, we raise money for
17:16
everything right from cancer to the South High.
17:17
I mean, South High dance 700 and $1000.
17:21
I mean, it's like, you know what the veterans could do with 700
17:23
and something, $1000. I.
17:24
Mean and they do a great job, but same thing.
17:27
Our veterans deserve the same type of, you know, support.
17:31
So I, you know, I think that it's very important that to keep
17:35
it local and like I said, not expand too much.
17:36
So we're in Washington, Saratoga County.
17:38
We try to keep it right in that in that scheme of things.
17:42
And I think it'll continue to grow and we'll see where it
17:45
goes. Maybe I have to expand and it
17:47
may outgrow the brewery. I might have to make it at
17:49
multiple locations, which was a thought this year, but I don't
17:52
want to spread myself too thin. So it's then it's then it's
17:56
compiling two different events, even though it's under the same
17:58
umbrella. You have to have.
17:59
Oh, yeah, it's a whole new, yeah, you got to have a point
18:01
person here and somebody here. So I was like, you know what?
18:03
So what we're doing is we're doing 2 friends of mine, Brianna
18:07
and Lance Bergman, who come to every event.
18:10
They are doing something called. There's a bowling tournament on
18:13
April 11th at Broadway Lanes in Fort Everett.
18:15
It's called No Pins Left Behind. I thought it was a catchy name
18:18
as like no man left behind. But anyway, it's, it's in the
18:22
afternoon. It's a Saturday, I believe it's
18:24
like 1 to 4. It's 4 veterans and their
18:26
families, but it's open to the public.
18:28
I'll have a DJ. We're going to do a 5050.
18:31
That money will probably donate to the Marine Corps League,
18:33
which I'm now a part of. I'm doing some of their
18:35
fundraising for the US Marine Corps League.
18:38
So we're tying in and it continues to grow and more and
18:40
more people want to be involved and we need to grow those ranks
18:43
in the American Legions, the VFWS that have the, that older,
18:47
that older group, the younger guys don't want to get into it
18:49
as much. And I think we need to get
18:50
something to attract them into it and show them the importance
18:52
of building those ranks because there is a lot of help out there
18:56
for the veterans, if they seek it, if they, you know, if they
18:58
choose to, to look for it, there is a lot of help.
19:00
And I, I realize that going to my first Marine Corps League
19:03
meeting as a civilian, because as I said, my brother-in-law is
19:08
a Marine, my family's military, my wife's family is all
19:11
military. But for what I do in the
19:13
community, they wanted me to be a part of it.
19:15
And I was honored to be, you know, brought into that to that
19:18
family and be able to witness these guys doing what they do.
19:21
They do Toys for Tots every year.
19:23
They do a lot for the community. So I think I'm going to make
19:26
them my beneficiary from give back this year and donate back
19:29
to the the Marine Corps League and what they do.
19:32
That's amazing. And you know what, in some of
19:34
what you're saying, I, you know, really resonates with us at at 5
19:38
towers. You know, we, one of the reasons
19:40
why we started buying local to begin with is because we truly,
19:43
truly, truly believe that if everybody focused on their
19:49
community and making their own communities better, if everybody
19:53
did that, if every community did that, what a world we would live
19:56
in, right? And so we obviously love
20:00
anything local. We love anything that is
20:03
supporting local businesses, local causes, local people,
20:06
anything that uplifts, uplifts our local community, you know,
20:09
we're 1000% behind it. So I love it, man.
20:12
I think what you're doing is great.
20:13
Well, all you guys are doing is great at, you know, at Heather
20:16
and Chris over at Slickfinn. Great beer, great people, you
20:20
know. And I just, I just think it's
20:24
such a great event. So we're we're super excited to
20:25
be involved, even the small part that we're involved in it so.
20:29
No, and I appreciate that. I mean, like you said, we've
20:31
known each other for a long time.
20:32
You Remember Me from starting out for us for life.
20:34
And when I just started out, you know, we've had a lot of
20:36
discussions. We used to meet at coffee over
20:38
at crew and had our chats and you know, we're very similar.
20:41
Our background, the way we are, the type of man, you know, men
20:44
that we are, that you know, the type of belief system we have.
20:46
We've always, you know, thought about, you know, the same thing.
20:48
We have the same vision, I think, and a lot of aspects.
20:52
So I appreciate that and and the website and I had some other
20:54
things. I have to get back on there
20:56
'cause I have stuff to add, you know, for this year's event,
20:58
just to get it updated. Yeah, let's get that site
21:00
updated. 'Cause I think there's a Jeremy
21:02
that I think he's the one that e-mail.
21:04
Is there a Jeremy? Jeremy's one of our guys, yeah,
21:07
he's, he does like a lot of our SEO and and web.
21:11
He probably might have emailed you about a late update or
21:13
something that we did, but yeah, send it on over man.
21:16
We'll get that stuff updated and get some fresh pictures on there
21:20
and I'm sure we got a change of date on there, right.
21:22
What's what's the date for the update?
21:24
So. The date is May 16th.
21:27
May 16th. Yeah, but we used to we so
21:29
every. So here's the the thing that got
21:31
me so last every year we've done it on Mother's Day weekend and
21:33
it's been a banger like every. Obviously it's grown.
21:37
And the problem is, is that Heather being a mom and her
21:39
birthday is the next day, she always gets stuck working it.
21:42
So I talked to her this year and I said, you know what?
21:44
I said, why don't we give everyone a break and we'll do it
21:47
in. So we're doing it in between
21:48
Mother's Day and Memorial Day. So I don't think it's going to
21:51
affect anything. I mean, if people are going to
21:52
come out, they're going to come out.
21:53
Doesn't matter if you switch the date, they're coming out for the
21:55
cause. So as I said, the bowling event
21:58
is like a kickoff. It's something that they wanted
22:00
to do for the event. So it's a kickoff for operation
22:03
give back. It's about a month before and
22:06
I'll have some information there.
22:07
I'll have the last couple years shirts I'm going to sell though.
22:10
Anything that we sell goes right to the, you know, to the cause,
22:14
but I'll be on hand and talk to people about the event, what we
22:16
do. There's limited sponsorships
22:18
available. Businesses are a contact.
22:20
I mean my phone's blowing up. I mean it's just people just
22:22
want to be on the shirt. They will like, how can we help?
22:24
And so it's amazing to to have that kind of support when you're
22:27
doing something local and know that the community stands and
22:30
believes in what you're doing. You know that means a lot.
22:33
So that's what keeps pushing it forward, I think.
22:35
Absolutely. So May 16th, what's the time
22:38
again? Starts at noon and goes all day,
22:40
so it's all day event. Live music all day.
22:43
Like I said, two or three food trucks.
22:46
We'll have the raffle, silent auctions, there's no charge to
22:50
get in. It's just you walk in the
22:51
brewery, come on. And actually the other thing is
22:53
so Adirondack peer-to-peer every year, Jeremy, they, Jeremy
22:59
Dewar's over there, they buy the 1st $1000 in food.
23:02
So what they do is for veterans, they'll give you vouchers so
23:05
they'll pay it ahead. So say if you were to come in,
23:07
you're a veteran, you go up, you tell them where, which, you
23:09
know, which food truck you want it for, they give you.
23:11
So you get a free meal on peer-to-peer.
23:13
So I mean, that's, that's a huge thing.
23:15
The 1st $1000 in food is already paid for.
23:17
So, you know, you get in the door, you get a, you know, you
23:19
get a quick snack, you have a great beer from Slick and you
23:21
listen to some great music, take a shot at a raffle.
23:23
And then, you know, even by the end of the night last year, the
23:25
band still had, I, I guarantee you there was probably still 100
23:28
and 150 people there right up till, you know, 93010 O'clock
23:31
still listen to that last band. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's
23:35
crazy. It's it's amazing.
23:36
Love it, love it, love it. What if people want to get a
23:40
hold of you? They want to learn more about
23:41
the event, maybe they want to donate, they want to get
23:43
involved. How do they find you?
23:46
I'm easy to find, Mike, you know that I'm easy to find.
23:50
No, you can you can go on the 4S for life page.
23:53
You can find me social media. You know, I'm I'm on Facebook
23:56
and Instagram. Just message me.
23:59
I'm always posting. You know, if you, if you follow
24:01
me, a lot of people that we know are very similar.
24:04
So they follow it and they see it.
24:06
So the event page will be up probably within the next week.
24:09
The event page will be all over social media.
24:13
And you know, like I said, anybody that wants to, you know,
24:15
we're going to be looking for baskets for the raffles, silent
24:17
auction items. Again, 100% of the proceeds go
24:20
right back to local veteran organizations.
24:23
That's very important. And you know, we just come on
24:25
out and have a good time. And, you know, if you haven't
24:27
been to Slick Fin, come on out, try a great beer, some great
24:29
food. I just be around some great
24:31
people. I mean that that's truly what,
24:33
what any event should be about. It's the money is the secondary
24:36
aspect. I mean, it's always nice, as I
24:38
said, you know, to raise the money and help what you can.
24:41
So we'd love, you know, to, to make a ton of money.
24:45
But the the importance of the day 'cause we always do it like
24:48
a moment of silence about halfway through while one of my
24:51
musicians plays the Star Spangled Banner and on his
24:53
guitar and we do a moment of silence for all those soldiers
24:57
that have made the ultimate sacrifice and we honor them as
24:59
well. So it, it, it brings everything
25:01
together a lot, a lot of tears. Last year I had AI picked out a
25:04
song and probably it was a song. I'm trying to think it might
25:07
have been, it was Tim McGraw. It's anything.
25:09
It's, it's about a soldier coming home.
25:11
I can't think of the name of the song.
25:12
And they bury him up on the end of the road where he grew up.
25:15
And I and I had more veterans come up and it was, it was
25:18
silent, but I didn't know it would have that effect.
25:19
It was a good effect, but it was just like man, and to see all
25:23
these guys really show their true humanity and not have that
25:28
AI have to be tough for everybody.
25:29
It was really good to see them just just be a a human being and
25:32
just and just just be part of the day.
25:36
Yeah, love it man and website is operation give back dot US.
25:42
Yes. And then the S4S page is on
25:47
Facebook. What is that again?
25:49
For ask for life is on yeah, it's on Facebook and the link to
25:53
the website is on that page so you can find it right on that
25:56
page and I will get you the the new date I'll get you as soon as
26:00
I get the lineup food, like any pertinent information you need
26:03
for the website that you guys help create, I'll get that up.
26:06
So if people want to visit that, that'll be a direct link right
26:09
to the event and they can, you know, see the shirts this year
26:12
and the the sponsors and and everything else so.
26:15
Amazing. Love it.
26:17
Jock, thanks for coming on man, giving us the update and talking
26:20
about the events. Always good to see your face.
26:23
Oh, it's always good to see you. We'll have to catch up on these
26:24
days when we're not doing anything.
26:26
I know we'll have to do it. We'll have to actually do it
26:28
live instead of overcoming here. You know.
26:32
Spending my whole life on Zoom meetings these days, Jacques,
26:34
It's, you know. It's amazing how technologies
26:37
come to Zoom like you used to have to do it.
26:39
And you know, I think you're the same way I am.
26:41
Like I don't mind the zoom because it does help because
26:43
we're so busy, but I, you know, I do, I would always and I
26:46
always tell people I want to do coffee, but I like, I love to
26:49
have that personal touch with a conversation, no matter what
26:51
we're talking about, just to have that personal interaction.
26:54
I think is very important to keep us connected as, you know,
26:57
as, as, as human beings, because I think we lose it sort we
27:00
don't, but we do. And I think it's, it's important
27:04
to, to catch up every once in a while with people and, and, and
27:06
definitely make that, you know, that, you know, try to squeeze
27:10
it in because I know you're busy.
27:11
Like I said, thank you for squeezing me in.
27:13
And I was, I just happened to to think about it.
27:15
I was at the Gold Star meeting the other night because one of
27:17
my friends, one of my wife's friends is in that group.
27:20
Tracy punted her so and she invited me and I went to talk to
27:24
them. And we were, I was talking at
27:25
the time to Matt and I was like, Oh yeah, I already talked to
27:27
Mike. And then when everything.
27:29
And I was like, OK, yeah, I got to get a hold of Mike now.
27:31
And you're like, oh, so, so thank you for squeezing me in
27:33
because I was worried. All of a sudden I was like, oh,
27:34
what are we going to do now? Because you were like, I'm
27:36
booked up in March. So I'm like, oh, crap.
27:38
And you're like, no, I'll get you into my guard.
27:39
So I appreciate. That man, I'll always make time
27:42
for you, my man and, and I any time for causes like this and,
27:46
and helping our veterans. So happy to do it and happy and
27:50
glad that we got to jump on here, man.
27:52
So thanks a lot all. Right.
27:53
I appreciate it, Blake. And of course, thanks everybody
27:56
for listening. You know, you can find this
27:58
episode and other episodes at buying local dot US.
28:01
You can listen to our podcast, Apple, Spotify.
28:03
You can take a look at Jacques and my the ugly mugs here on on
28:08
the video if you want on YouTube and rumble.
28:11
And, you know, we appreciate everybody listening.
28:13
You know, don't be afraid to share the show, send it to a
28:15
friend, like subscribe all those fun things.
28:18
And again, we appreciate everybody for listening and
28:20
everybody for viewing. So thanks a lot everybody.