Latest / Grow Clinton Podcast / GCP266 - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Supporting Youth Literacy w/Tammy McClimon

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GCP266 - Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Supporting Youth Literacy w/Tammy McClimon · Grow Clinton Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Talking to individuals, you know, to donate.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we're always constantly looking for money, but we're also always looking for kids.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: You're listening to the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Grow Clinton is a 501c6 nonprofit economic, community development, and tourism organization based in Clinton, Iowa.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: For more information, visit growclinton.com.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Again, that's growclinton.com.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Now, back to the show.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: What's happening, all you amazing people out there in Podcast Land?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the One, the Only, you love it, you know where to find it, folks, the Grow Clinton Podcast, brought to you by Grow Clinton, an economic development, community development tourism organization based in Clinton, Iowa, right along the mighty Mississippi River.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: As always, I am your host for today's episode, Andy Sokolovich, president and CEO at Grow Clinton.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: Joined in the studio, my co-host, Jenny Holm, our director, member in community relations.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: Jenny, what's happening?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: What a week.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we have we're tapping it off with a great event.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, tonight, 5 30 p.m.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: Kickstart the inaugural Oktoberfest celebration hosted by Grow Clinton over at the Copper Mill here in Clinton, Iowa.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: We're very excited about this.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: Tony's put in a lot of hard work.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_03: Tony Girk's our director of marketing and event planning, born in Greece, raised in Germany, so she understands what a true Oktoberfest is going to look like.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_03: The band is here.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: We have a traditional German polka band from Chicago.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Wait.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: And they're going to be hanging out with us for several hours.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then, of course, Paul, the head chef over at the Copper Mill, is going to have several different options to choose from brats, German potato salad, all sorts of things.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: And then we will have a German beer by the Rusty Wagon, Lindsay Moorhart's operation there.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: And then we will also have wine.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, if you don't like either of those, you can always go in the copper mill to the bar and get whatever you like.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_03: There you go.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all it's going to be great.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: And it's raining right now.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: However, the forecast shows in the next two hours, it goes down to like 5% chance.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know what though?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you're in Germany, this is kind of traditional for this.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, this is a straight up European weather.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: No, but good stuff, Jenny.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: I'm very excited about that.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: But yes, it's been a long week, a very long week.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm not going to lie, I am excited today's Friday.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: I need a little bit of a reprieve.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: You do.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: So here's our sponsor, Citizens First Bank.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's right, Mike Jack, courtesy of Citizens First Bank, making your finances and our audio on the podcast here crystal clear.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: These new mics in the Grow Clinton Podcast Studio are proudly sponsored by the bank that's always in tune with your community.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Find them at gocfb.bank.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: That's banking as it should be with Citizens First Bank, member F D I C.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: Agcraft Printware and Sully Sports.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Agcraft's been around since 1974, started out as a small operation here in Clinton.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: Now a cutting-edge, top-notch, customized printware that they offer to teams and companies all across the United States.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_03: For all your custom printware needs, check them out online, at craftusa.com.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Be sure to visit Sully Sports.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_03: They have a physical location at 19th Avenue Northwest here in Clinton.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: All your sporting good needs, or you can go to Sully Sports.com.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's S-U-L-L-Y-S Sports.com.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: Be sure to join the Sully Shirts Club.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for getting my shirt by.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: No problem.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: You liking it?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was a very nice one.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: It was football this time around.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: But for$24.99 every single month as a club member, I get an exclusive t-shirt plus 10% off everything in the store.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: Can't beat it.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: Miles Communications.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, they provide us with wicked fast high-speed internet to ensure this broadcast remains crisp, clear, and consistent.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: They offer residential and commercial high-speed internet services as well as television and telephone options to meet your home or company's communication needs.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_03: For more information, milestelephone.com.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: Lionel B cell.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: Turnarounds wrapping up.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: I know it.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's uh it may be done.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_03: This is it.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: I bumped into a buddy of mine last night.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_03: Uh he's out there as a contractor, and he said that that's uh that was his last night.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they that's no joke.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Those they were efficient, they got it done, they came into town and uh no complaints, everybody was well behaved.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: So wrapped up another successful turnaround.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Again, those happen every seven years at Lined USL Clinton Complex.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: You don't know what they do?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, they produce high density, low density polyethylene plastic pellets used to create a variety of products, including household industrial bottles, pressure pipes, food packaging, pecs, tubing, all sorts of stuff.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: LYB, as they're commonly referred to on the stock dicker, is proud to be a responsible and engaged neighbor in the community where they operate, just like here in Clinton.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: Lined Ub Cell, solutions for a better tomorrow.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_03: Good show today, Jennifer.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: Oh man, this is my jam reading to kids.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: So we have with us Tammy McClyman.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: Tammy is from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: Tammy, thank you so much for joining us.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: So the late Dolly Parton, I tell you what, probably one of the most philanthropic, generous individuals on the planet.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, tragically we lost her, but she was how old?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um but she's done so much.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: And the Imagination Library was kick-started in 1995.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: Now tell us how that program works and how people in our community could take advantage of it.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: So uh she started it in her county, uh just in her county in in Tennessee, and now it's worldwide, including here in Clinton County.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in the state of Iowa, we have to be self-funded.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to raise um$31 per child per year to uh to provide them with a book every month from birth until age five.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_03: So how many children do we serve here in Clinton County?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right now we're right around 1,300.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh an interesting thing happened with Dolly's passing.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: We usually average about 30 kids a month that we enroll.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the month of her passing, we enrolled 90.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: I think people just sat back and didn't realize all that she had done.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: And heard about the program and yeah, youth literacy was a big thing.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_03: She just thought everybody should learn how to read.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: Children should grow up.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, what was the I mean, what was the impetus, I guess, behind her starting the Imagination Library?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh her father was her father wasn't a reader.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: He did not know how to read.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And he she realized that that just really uh kept him from from living his dreams.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So she wanted, she started the program in honor of him.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Reading is power.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: And now look at the legacy.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I wonder you had more people sign up, but nothing will change now with her passing.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's gonna continue.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: If anything, it's gonna get stronger.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: We got uh just random donations from people that we don't usually so all of that happened.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we're hoping to continue to grow on that.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we get uh grants from um the gaming board, um, grants from United Way, uh businesses you know, always are supporting us.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: So if somebody's listening and wants to invest or donate to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library here in Clinton County, what's the easiest way to do it?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um the easiest way to do it is to go to um the Lincoln Way website in DeWitt, and then it'll have a button up there in in the upper right-hand corner that says um donate now.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you just I'm sorry.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: No, I just want to say the Lincoln Way Foundation is in DeWitt, and they fall under the umbrella of the Greater Duke Community Foundation, right?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: Which our River Bluff Community Foundation in Clinton is the kind of the same thing.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: So just in case you were confused as to what Lincoln Way is, that's that their office is right there next to uh Murphy's.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not uh just uh Clinton proper.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's Clinton County and it's our county's huge.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's yeah, yeah.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: We serve uh we serve uh every every town, every school district has uh someone that that is enrolled.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the bulk of the children come from Clinton, uh followed by DeWitt, but we serve every town in Clinton County.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: So this has nothing to do with how much revenue you come, you make and nothing like that.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's she opens it to everyone.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: My daughter gets a book every yeah.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: My granddaughters get books.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we love it.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we love it.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: My mom, my mom watched the podcast, she watches every podcast.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_03: Hi, mama.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but she watched the one that you were on and she thought that was really interesting.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I think she even enrolled my nephews in Pennsylvania um in in the program.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_03: So and my daughter, she'll age out, she'll be five in January.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but she looks forward to that because she always wants to know if there's mail for her.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I wish there was more mail for her because then that means less bills coming in for me.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, no, that one's for dad.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, can you shred that one?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: But no, it's amazing.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: So 1,300 children that are being served in Clinton County.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: You need to raise$31 per child to fund the program.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: Now, is it different in Iowa than other states?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, like uh Illinois is uh fully funded.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: By the state?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: By the state.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh interesting.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: So Iowa is not.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And not every county in Iowa has this.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we're pretty lucky.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, we are.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh Scott County does not.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: I noticed that.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, Scott County.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: Now why not?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: Just because there's they don't have somebody to manage it?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know the United Way used to sponsor it, but uh their funding, you know, as it as it dwindled, um, they uh they gave up on it.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: So how is it managed?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you have a board.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there are um so it started here, uh, I can't remember what year we started.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and it was a group of educators that we realized how important this was.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh kids are so much better prepared for kindergarten and for success in school if they're read to.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we knew that it was very important.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we started it uh very small and we've gradually grown.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think there were maybe six at the beginning on the board.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we now have a board of about 16.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and we have educators, uh, retired teachers, moms, grandmas.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and we are very much a working board.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we just had our major uh fundraiser, which is a touch a truck program.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we just had that last week.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So you have a background in education, yes.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And what is your background?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I was a school librarian at Central Dolly.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think that makes you qualify to run the Imagination Library.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's fresh.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: Have you ever met Dolly Park?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: No, I have not.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'd love to.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: The last time you brought her cutout.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I did.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Standing.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, it was raining today.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: We don't take her out in the rain.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: That's smart.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's smart.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I, you know, for anybody that has more or questions about the Imagination Library, you can go to ImaginationLibrary.com, or if you're watching this live stream on social media or YouTube, in the top left-hand corner, I created a little QR code you can scan with your phone, and it'll take you right to the website.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: But there's some just amazing numbers that are listed here.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's crazy.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: When this was launched in '95, I mean, it just it it had blossomed.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, now it's international growth expanding into Canada, the UK, Australia.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: Very, very impressive.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_03: And how many books do you think that go out as a total of this program, not just in Clinton County, I wonder?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: I can't even imagine because like in Clinton County since the beginning, we've uh mailed out 166,000 books.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And what's better?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's so much more than just getting a book.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's, you know, reading to your child or you're seeing your.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I always love seeing them, even if before they could read, just looking through it, right?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I just love that.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: And the time that you can spend reading to them, and a lot of times that's how they learn to read when you start answering them.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's power.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Reading is power.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: I found the number, uh, 2025.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: So this is a year old, but 304,539,509.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: The book.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wait, that's messed up there.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's it's way more than that.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh books gifted since inception.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, it's uh no, I was right, 304 million, but that's insane.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like equates to a book mailed every 0.78 seconds.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't that cool?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: What an impact.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, like Andy said, her uh philanthropy is legendary.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: And look at it's a legacy now instead of you know a living legacy, it's a legacy now, and it'll be like you never heard about scandalous Dolly Parton, right?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_03: No, right.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, she just lived a great life, and yeah, you know, I do think it's not funny, but interesting that there's all these, you know, like Mick Jagger still alive and Chris Richards, and yeah, you know, and and Dolly passes at the ripe old age of 80, and you know, they live like a bunch of hooligans still rocking.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: What do they say?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: If the world comes to an end, it'll be cockroaches and Keith Richards still rocking out.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, that's there's some impressive numbers again.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: Dolly Partons, Imagination Library, Imagination Library.com.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: The great thing about two um for families is if you have three children, all three of your children will be getting different books.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just not that fourth, yep.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Is is so smart because they're all at different levels, number one, but if one per they're gonna fight, we all know that.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna fight over who's getting the book or whose name's on the package, right?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, that comes in the mail.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: And that that was smart to give every single kid their own individual book.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it means so much to them.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they will all get a different book at age two, right?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not getting the same one.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine if you have three children by the time your last one is five, the size of library you have.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, family is is amazing.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you can pass it on.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, right.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's right.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: I have a little book problem.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you do.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh they should have this for a deal.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: It is not, it's not healthy.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, it was so bad.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it is still bad, it hasn't changed.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: But at one time I lived in the north end right off of Buell, and the mailman came to the house and dropped off the package, and I grabbed it and he turned around and he said, Hey man, how's the store going?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I said, Store.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: And he's like, Yeah, you're don't you have a bookstore?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, nah.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_03: And he's like, You buy all these books for yourself.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, Yeah.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: And he's like, Do you read them all?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, No.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: But you use them like a set of tools.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what I do, actually.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you do.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it's I have a funny story about kids reading.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: I always read to my kids, of course, like everybody else.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I I taught them to read just out of we were so bored because we weren't living at home and I was an at-home mom.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I taught them to read, and they could read by the time they were three or four.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I told my daughter, the reason you should learn to read is so you can order off the menu.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: And she always acted so disinterested and like she didn't want to.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so we went to eat one night, and I said, Okay, this is your chance.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: You got to prove that you can read.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew she could read them because she read off the stuff and then she ordered Scooby snacks.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: So she had a Scooby-Doo book, and that's what she ordered.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: She thought they'd have Scooby Snacks.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you gotta watch it because now my daughter, she's starting to learn how to read, and uh, she sees who I'm texting.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: So like I'll pick her up from school and say she gets like a little disciplinary warning or something.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: She'll be like, Don't tell mom.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I'll be like, okay.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: And then I get in the truck and I open up the phone and I go and I'm texting my wife, and she'll be like, Dad, I said don't tell mom.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, How do you know what I'm doing?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_03: She's like, It says Megan.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, ah crap, I can't do that anymore.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, no, this is this is great.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_03: And my daughter loves books, and I I just yeah, I have a lot of books, and I don't sit down and read cover to cover.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: I take away snippets, but I think it's something about just like physically having the book.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think so too.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_03: Because I still do Kindle and I still do like uh um what's the other one?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the audio versions, but like audible, and I will listen and then I'll get like four or five chapters in.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, oh, I really like that book, and then I'll buy the I want it to trophy.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: Some of the books I read, most of them are like self-help, business, you know, they're they're nonfiction, and it's hard because they sometimes they come with like little um like exercises and study guides and stuff.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: You don't necessarily get that without the physical versions.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about your touch a truck event.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's always the Sunday after labor day.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: It it happens in uh the DeWitt High School and the people park in the front lot and all of our trucks are in the back lot.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we have about six 36 different uh types of vehicles.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um we have uh grape harvester um this year winery brings that.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, Tychoga brings that.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um this year we had uh a dog groomer bring their van, and she actually uh groomed a dog while she was there.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Who was that?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: I used to be like Kin's bark wagon.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Bark wagon to look that up.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, this has grown.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, um, yeah, and she let the kids paint the dog's toenails.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the Clinton Sheriff's Department always brings their um That little barrel train.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Barrel train, train forum.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we have fire trucks.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: One of our favorites is a school bus.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody wants to get in and honk the horn and shut them.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we have tractors, yeah.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh dump trucks, snow plows.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we were we were hoping to get uh the helicopter from Mercy One, but they got called out.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully next year we'll be.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's nice you do it to wait.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: If you're ever looking for a larger location, though, the Clinton Municipal Airport has done touch a truck stuff in the past.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_03: And they have a I mean ton of space, obviously, the entire tarmac.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: So that's great.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think it's so cool.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: No, my dog hates going to the groomer, so I can have somebody come to my house, that would be amazing.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because I had to do it myself.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_03: And it was like shearing a sheep because she's a Bernie doodle.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, if you do not groom them like every six to eight weeks, they get very matted very quickly.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_03: And it was very tough.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's cool for kids to be able to see all that stuff.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like funny, school buses.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like, look how far advanced like cars have become.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: But school belt.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: School buses are the exact same, nothing's changed.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, nothing has changed.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: Still no seat belts.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no seatbelts, right?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_03: Still barely working air conditioning if they have any at all.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: But you think about how the automobile has changed just since when I first started driving at 16 to today, you have almost autonomous vehicles.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the buses never change.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: Bus never changed.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's interesting.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's like where they just kind of like forgot about the school buses.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: I was around for crank windows.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no power.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's so cool.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a bark wagon, and this is really grown.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: How did you start out?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, did you start out with all those vehicles?
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: No, uh-uh.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: We started, I think maybe we started with uh 15.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we were begging people and we were like, oh boy, will they even come back?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: And now uh we have people calling us.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: How do I get my how do I get my vehicle in there?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: Now the most important question, Tammy, somebody wants to sign their child up to receive these books, how do they do it?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they go to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library dot com and there will be a button for them to uh to s uh to see if it's available in their um county.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, very cool.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know that we talk about Dolly and how uh I call her Dolly, like I'm in the inner circle.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: Me and me and Dolly.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Me and Dolly, but uh you know, how giving she was and how you know effective she was.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: But we've got to talk about your board too.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that takes a lot of work.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: You said you're a working board, which is absolutely true, and Clinton County is huge.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: So what is what does that look like for you?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, we do the touch-a-truck thing.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're constant so we have two roles, and it's interesting because on one hand, we're always looking for money, writing grants, talking to companies, talking to individuals, you know, to donate.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we're always constantly looking for money, but we're also always looking for kids.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're always looking for people to continually grow the program.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: We know there's 3,000 that we could be serving.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the fact that we're only getting to 1,300, okay.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're constantly um working on that.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we work, we work with the libraries, we work with the AEAs, the preschools, the daycares.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's every kid from zero to birth to birth to five five.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's a lot of your time though, too.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we're a hardworking group of do you ship the books out of your office or do they get is it automated for it's all automated out of uh Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: I had a relative who was hello.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: She's probably listening, worked at Dollywood.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and I can't remember, she was in uh gymnastics, I think a water uh dis water activity or something.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_03: But um, she was like a performer.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, performer.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: And uh she just said that working there for Dolly uh pardon was amazing, just a really giving person.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: When she could have actually, you know, gone a whole different way and been a real crazy idea.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: Like just imagine sitting there being like, you know what I need?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_03: An amusement party.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I would do something.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: I would call it Dollywood, and I'm gonna do this and this and this.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's crazy the sticks.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I know she has a truck stop, right?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, a car stop or whatever.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I go what I'm gonna do.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: I read an article that, yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: I read an article that uh there was her hometown.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: There was a vacant building, a large uh footprint of a vacant building, and she bought it an And turned it into something like super cool, like a community center or something.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: But she didn't want her name tied to it because she didn't want anybody to know it was her, so she just paid for it and yeah, they closed it.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: I want that life.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, they also said up to the end she had uh kidney cancer, right?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: But they said that uh she was she knew she was terminal, I guess, and said just do whatever experimental you need to do.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: I knew that.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that you know you could try to do something with this.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm I don't know, that's a mindset, you know?
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: Well, how how big of a genius is she for writing nine to five?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, everybody sings that song at anybody that has a job's like I work at night five.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, just another thing, just to reiterate that this is for all kids.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: All kids absolutely everybody in Clinton County.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: It would be great to get all 3,000.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: So again, you can go to imaginationlibrary.com, and then if you scroll about halfway down the page, you'll see some very large, brightly colored buttons and in red.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_03: You can check your availability to see if it's available in your community.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: We know for sure here in Clinton County we have it, but if you're living elsewhere, check that, and then you can register your child and you can start getting books.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: So how long do you know how long it takes from the time they register till they receive their first?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's probably a month.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I know uh they're kind of backed up due to the fact that uh so many people uh have registered their children.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I got several emails right away that they said, hey, don't worry, we're we're working through it.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: But our websites kind of you're also, I mean, just like you said, always looking for fun donations.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: So if there's anybody out there who is into literacy and children reading, please get a hold of Tammy and her.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: But you can't set a student up better for success in school than reading books to them.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: For your whole life.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Too look at her dad.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's why she did it.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's your whole life.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's, you know, I think a lot of people don't understand that.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there are people who have math brains and there are people who don't.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: But there are also people who have reading and English brains and people who don't.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And why not give them a start, you know, a jump on it so that they can at least get into it and you know for sure.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: Just doing some quick math.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: That's about uh you need about forty-one thousand dollars annually to support the demand that's here in Clinton County currently.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um that demand continue to grow, obviously, funds are always needed.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: Right, correct.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_03: Keep it going.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: What a beautiful program.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: We got some great people working.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yeah, you can't mail somebody a YouTube video, you know.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: My kids drive me nuts, you know, especially when they're watching videos of people playing with games that they actually own.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like you own that board game.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: Why don't you play it?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, well, I'd rather just watch this kid play.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and you brought up a really good point.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the screen time, you know, and we all do it.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna say I don't, but this I I always say it's like being a spectator at life.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's not actually living your life and being able to give a kid a book, it's theirs, you know, that just that ownership is so cool.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then being able to take care of it and loving it, you know.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, just imagine if you're in a meeting and somebody just opens up a book and puts it in front of their face and starts reading.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna be like, oh, that's rude.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_03: But people do it with their phone all the time.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_03: They do.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, how many meetings are we in?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: Professional meetings with people that cannot look away from their phone.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: They can't.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, they have it right in their face, and they're I guess they're listening, maybe, who knows?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_03: But it always makes me question.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and it it's it's rude no matter what, but also do they remember what they're even looking at?
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Do the kids remember that?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: The kids remember their books.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's tangible.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I have my ADHD's off the rails, so there's no way I could do that because I'd be like, uh I can't.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta focus.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, right.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: I have to.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta concentrate.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta focus.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Tammy, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_03: Best of luck to you.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: Again, if you want to donate, please do so.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's very, very simple.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: If you have any questions, reach out to Grow Clinton or contact Tammy McClyman herself, and we'll be able to help you out and make sure that the money goes to a very, very good program.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: Jenny, what do you got going on the rest of the day, Oktoberfest?
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_03: You know what?
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: Go home and try to squeeze into that drendle.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: That is a traditional German dress by the way.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: I got one.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: I have not tried all my Literholes and so I'm hopefully it looks good.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: I saw them, though.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: They look legit.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, they are legit.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, they're about 15 pounds of pure leather.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm very excited that the temperature is gonna be a high of 72 with a nice little breeze because if it was stagnant out in like 89, yeah, uh, wearing, I mean, that is some thick leather.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's not like old school Wilson leather jacket from the mall type of leather.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: This stuff is like somebody killed a cow, cut the high, and just it is insane.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you think that is.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you talk about somebody who is the leader, but also does all of the work that anybody else would do is Andy.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: He's been out there all morning trying to get this all ready to go, working hard.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: Not it's not as easy as I thought it was gonna be.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: Tony's like, oh, you're gonna go do it yourself?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, Yeah.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: She's like, nobody's gonna go with you.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, oh, you know, Matt's gonna help me out, but I'll be okay.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I got there and I looked at the size of those panels for the stage, and I was like, ooh, what?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: This is gonna be, you know, my back's jacked so as it is.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_03: Oh no.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, doctor always says, Can you stop lifting heavy stuff?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I go, Yeah, sure, buddy.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I'll just quit lifting heavy stuff.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's like sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: Show must go on.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: So true.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: All right, everybody.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: Again, thank you to all of our sponsors, Citizens First Bank, at Crear Printware, Cele Sports, Miles Communications, Lionel.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_03: Without their support, we would not be able to bring you over 265 episodes of the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_03: We will be back next week, I'm sure, with another episode.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: So be sure to tune in.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_03: And we'll be launching our Grow Clinton Podcast app here very shortly that will be available via the Apple store and the Google Play Store.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm very excited about that.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: See ya.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Grow Clinton Podcast.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: Be sure to subscribe and follow us on all your socials.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: Until next time, see ya.