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An Inside Look at Towing: Road Trips, Training and Tales of Resilience · Towing News Now

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome one and all to the American Toe and Recovery Institute podcast.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Remember this is your podcast to promote safety, education, positive public relations and networking within the professional and business minded toeing and recovery industry.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, and better known as the Toe Doctor, and I'm honored to have as the host the real host of this program, a 40 year toeing industry veteran, the founder of American Toe and Recovery Institute, a guy that has done over 910 hand on classes throughout the United States and Canada, the one and only dear friend of the industry and a dear friend of mine, wes Wilburn.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Wes, how are you today?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: I'm doing good.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: DJ, you're too kind with your words, as always.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I do appreciate them, but you are too kind.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Well, you're a good friend of the industry and a dear friend of mine, believe me.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: It's nice to be here at the table.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: It's nice to be working with everybody.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: I appreciate all our listeners.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: of course, the boys of the podcast just grow like a weed, isn't it?
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Oh, but boy, you're so close to 8,000 listeners now that we got to, and I think because of your last place I think you were up at Empire State, toe and Recovery Association meeting up in Lake George I think that has kicked us up to the 8,000 level.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: So now you're talking.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: Well, we hope it does.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: As people listen to this, it's a couple weeks later but yeah, as we're recording it, we're just a couple days out of a 10 day road trip that started in Indiana with a great friend there at Paddock for a great hands-on class and ultimate real world recovery after the class.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: And then we got right on an airplane and went to New York and met my lovely wife and Ron Moore and did a one day cross training with the fire departments up there.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: And then, right from that training event we crossed the state of New York up to the north.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: The day Wednesday the class were in that horrible fog out there in Almyra during the training We were in it.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Not it wasn't the most intense part, but it was noticeable.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: And then we were very lucky.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Wednesday night we went north to Lake George as planned.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: We didn't change the plans or anything, it was what was planned.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: And as soon as we got up to Lake George you could tell we were above the fog and the smog and the haze or whatever else was to be called that the fallout from the wildfires in Canada that produced that horrible haze.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: So we got above it.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: When we got up to Lake George, tocho and we had a great Tocho there.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: We drove home Sunday and Monday and back at work Tuesday and here we are Thursday just after all that.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: So we're kind of running adrenaline at this point, dj.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: That's the typical life of Wes Wilburn.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: You really are.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: You're busy all the time bud.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a privilege to be at the New York Tocho and of course, that's what's going to be.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: the focus of this episode is a wrap up.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: First time I've been there as we talked about it was from a friend's time.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: it's been 15 years since I attended that show, so me and April had a wonderful time there.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: We're planning on coming back next year.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: The folks in New York are so friendly and there's such a camaraderie between the towers up there.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: It was really something exciting to be a part of and we just had a great show and happy to be there.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Like I say, i don't think I talked about anything.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: God, dj, i'm really so tired.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: I don't remember for sure, but did I talk about the great class we had in Indiana that afterwards would be going out on a real world recovery with Paddocks on a?
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: island.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: You talked about Paddocks and you talked about how great that show was, but you didn't give us a real chance to talk about what happened with you and Ron Moore, because, remember, we did an episode with Ron Moore just before you were about to go out and meet with all the team.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: Well, just to wrap up Paddocks, we went out with them on a real world recovery.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: That happened downtown the city really, where they're being headquarters is And a terrible accident not a terrible accident, but a very dangerous accident to the community.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: A very dangerous load of hazardous materials overturned and there was no available anchor to come out and offload the thing, so it had to be stood up loaded.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: It was right in the downtown square, it was explosive, it was at the thousand feet from a hospital.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: So it was a very, very dangerous situation.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: And the team at Paddocks, they performed flawlessly And there's very few selling companies, there's a handful of that.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't even stay on the team on a job.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: That that was dangerous And the way they started out, the way they handled everything very professional in my mind.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Could they've done some other things?
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: You know everybody else sit back in Monday morning quarterback, but the reality was they got that hazardous material back on its wheels and up and out of there And the community should be proud of what they did to help their community.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: The teamwork with the local fire police was very good.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: It was just a textbook example of a bad situation and all the different entities working together to mitigate the circumstance for the good of the community.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: So you know I have to.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: In hindsight, as I look at everything, that was one of the big moments of the trip.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Then, like I say, we got on an airplane Monday morning, came back to Syracuse, got picked up there by the Ryn Walshkes you know great people there are We came down to their place, myself and Ron Moore.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: It was a two-day excuse me, one day cross training with fire, rescue and towing personnel, a whole bunch of the classrooms about electric vehicles.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Now, of course, on everybody's mind in training class.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Then we also did two different hands-on scenarios where the firefighters and the towing operators worked together to solve situations that can happen any day in a neighborhood with everybody, any day in anybody's part of the world with an accident and a heavy truck and an automobile.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: It's very unfortunate when they happen and many times telling the recovery can be a quick solution to help the rescue personnel be able to free the trapped patients and get them on the way to the hospital for that golden hour that we talked about, which of course means that if the patient is involved in an accident and gets to the hospital being able to receive care within that first hour, the chances of surviving go up tremendously.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: We were glad to be a part of that.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: The training we did with Ron Moore was, of course, to NFPA the National Fire Protection Association to their standards for firefighters and towers working together, and we're going to have several of these classes throughout the year.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: We're looking at several cities and I'll be talking about that in next week's podcast as we get some dates nailed down.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: So, boy, I rambled around the long way, dj and I ain't even got to the tow show yet, but the tow show is going to be part of with our special guest today.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: So I think we're maybe running a few minutes short, but we're going to go ahead and take a quick commercial break and we're going to come back and introduce our guest and do our astro tow show from, like, george Raffa, the 39th year boy, dj.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: it was a great show.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: I can't wait for you to hear about some of the great things that happened there.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: I look forward to it and I agree with you We'll take a break and we'll be right back listeners.
• 8:48
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• 8:50
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• 8:56
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• 9:03
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• 9:08
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• 9:13
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• 9:19
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• 9:29
  Speaker 3: That's 636-639-9700.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Celebrating 40 years in the towing industry, that's PurposeRekkercom.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: You have been listening to the American Towing Recovery Institute podcast with Wes Wilburn, dj Harrington and our special guest is coming right up Every week.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: We do our very best to bring you informative episodes.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Make sure you download and listen.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: We're available Now, get ready.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: We're available on Spotify, itunes, bandora, google Play, stitcher, iheart Media, amazon or wherever you get your podcast.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: We're there.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: You're there.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: We're here, wes.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: I'm turning it over to you, buddy, so you can introduce our guest for today's episode.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Thanks, dj.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: I did forget to address the Fourth of July.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: We are coming up on that if the listeners are listening to this.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: We want everybody to have a safe Fourth of July.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Stick to that age-old motto Don't let the kids play with the fireworks, let the adults who've been drinking all day deal with the fireworks.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Oh no, you're not supposed to say that anymore.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: I'm just saying I expect that last part, but we are proud of America.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: We're celebrating another birthday.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: You know, dj, i remember 1976, and what pride this country had when we celebrated our 200th anniversary.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: I hope we can, as Americans, feel some of that pride as we celebrate this birthday, coming up and be proud of who we are and what we have, and we need to continue working hard to be proud Americans.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: With all that being said, what are your plans for the Fourth of July, dj?
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Well, i want all of our listeners to know, in the Harrington family we are big Fourth of July celebration.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: We break out, you know, not just hot dogs and hamburgers, we have nice steaks.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: We go out of our way to go to Food Depot one time a year to get the real good steaks.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Then we come back, we barbecue.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: We do a Fourth of July celebration.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: My son-in-law has a real big turnout, big barbecue, and so we go there and we watch fireworks and so forth.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: But I want all of our listeners to know, i fly a flag every day of the year.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: I kneel for the cross and stand for the flag.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: And so I agree with you, wes.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I think that this Fourth of July, more than any other, we should celebrate America and the great freedom that we have here that we need to celebrate.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: So that's right, DJ.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Well, without further ado, I'd like to welcome our next guest friend of the podcast but on a previous episode we need to have more often Mark Gorman, president of Esther, the Empire State Telling and Retail Association, who just put on their 39th annual trade show at Lake George, New York, which, you know, a lot of folks from out of the country, out of the state, don't understand New York.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: They, you know, they're in New York and they think of New York City And that is a wonderful, vibrant part of New York State.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: There's a whole bunch more of New York State.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: That's not a big city like that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I dare to wager that New York has as many farms as, not more than, most states in the Union.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Lake George is upstate by the has your head up north, so Albany has your head towards the Canadian border, magnificent lake there, the city is built around, and just a magnificent area of the country.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: So, like I say, Empire State Telling and Retail Association just put on that show there.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: We went, we had a great time, We invited Bob to come on and we're going to do a wrap up talk about what happened there and what the plans are for next year.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: So, Bob, for folks that don't know, you just do us a favor, give us a little introduction to New York and Astra, et cetera.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: I'm a third generation tower and I believe, as you guys spoke about July 4th, there's no more patriotic people other than farmers, than towers, and I've been operating a business here in the city of Poughkeepsie for 87 years.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: I've been on the board of Astra for 18, served various roles as Hudson Valley regional vice president, then I moved into secretary and then the first vice president and now president for the last five plus years.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, we had a great tow show.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: This was more of a regional field because there was no other tow show in the northeast, from Maine down to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, there's no other tow show other than ours.
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: So upstate.
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: I had a question, just a little chuckle there, when you said you know, New Yorkers are very friendly, But yeah, it was almost like a family reunion and it was good to see you last in April there and not just at a bigger, you know, regional show somewhere else in the country.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: We had more vendors, more people through the gate, more sponsors.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: We had an incredible meet and greet sponsored by our Marshall and Sterling, our administrator for our safety group, and at that time that's when, Wes, you had the idea of maybe doing an auction and raise a little extra money, you know for whether it's the extra scholarship fund that was started years ago and was funded by the proceeds of the tow show.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: Typically, 50% of the tow show proceeds went into the scholarship fund to build it up where it was a self-sustaining amount of money.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: The other part of that is all the different funds that we put together.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: So we have a 501c3 scholarship fund that we put monies aside and will accept tax exempt donations to, And we have our education fund that we do, where we provide scholarship for hands-on training from a separate set of money for trainers like yourself, Wes, that come in, like we did in Elmira, And we've got some other ideas to further get more involvement in our training across the state.
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: We've in the past offered up to $150 off the price of a ticket for someone who passed the test.
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: But I think, going forward, as we spoke on the side Wes, I think that's going to be something up front.
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: So we're going to go back to that where we started, back when I was a oh actually, yeah years back.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: I was the chair of the education.
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: That's where Wes and I built up our relationship and friendship 20 years ago at this point now.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: So that was a lot of work is put in.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: We have a tow show chair Melissa Perlow.
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: It's in Long Island.
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: Herner husband come up, Scott, he's the extra secretary and they do a phenomenal job.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: The beauty pageant we had as many trucks as we had 10 years ago, So this was really post-COVID, one of the best and biggest shows we've had yet.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: And I want to get back.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I'll just go ahead and do it Real quick, bob.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: I hope all our listeners are picking up this.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: This is why it's so important you choose what tow shows you support and where the money's going.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: This tow show was run by volunteers.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: All the money went to those things.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Bob discussed some things.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: He didn't discuss his estrogen association and I'm not trying to correct you.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: I just want to share a little bit more, Bob.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, sure people don't think about is the lobbying, how important it is to have a kind of organization paying attention to what's going on in your state capital, and we'll get Bob to circle back around at that point.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: But I just want to, bob and I'm sorry for interrupting you because you're on a roll I just want our listeners to pay attention to when they attend a tow show.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Is the money going to private organization that does nothing for the industry or very little for the industry?
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Is it going to an organization like you guys that everything you do goes back into the industry one way or another?
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: So I just thought it was important to interrupt you and make that point, bob.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: Well, we raise money one of two ways membership, sponsorships and basically the tow show.
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: So when we look at raising money, we put it towards education, hiring trainers, getting our members as much training as we can, whether it's business or hands-on recovery and towing style training.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: We have a legislative body that, yes, and I don't want to cut you off there, but I want to have a big conversation with the industry And we're against a hard break.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: We've got to take the short commercial break.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Okay, when we come back, i want you to get in depth.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: I didn't want you to get going and have to cut you off 15 seconds in, so I apologize.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Okay, no problem, hang around, we'll be right back after the break.
• 19:26
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• 20:38
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• 20:42
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• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Welcome back listeners.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the American Tone Recovery Institute podcast.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Remember to like, review and share everywhere.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: We can't thank you enough for the 8,000 listeners listening to this podcast.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: God bless each and every one of you.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: If you'd like to hear an industry expert like a Bob Gorman, by all means you dialed a hotline number and Wes Wilburn will do his very best to get a guest like that person on the phone.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: 706-409-5603 is the hotline number here in the podcast center.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Without further ado.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: I thank the world of Bob Gorman, so let me turn it over to you, wes, and I'm dying to hear the rest of the story.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Thank you, DJ.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: And thank you, of course, to our listeners for liking, sharing, giving us a rating, all those things.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: We appreciate it.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Bob, sorry, I cut you off.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: We're talking about Esther and the things they do.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Go ahead and come right back at us with where we left off, if you would please.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: Sure, sure.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: So we're talking about what we do with our funds that we generate from the Toe Show and from membership.
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: So one of the biggest parts of our budget is our lobbyists and to promote, you know, and to be in there both at the Senate and the Assembly, to the governor's office to make sure that bills are passed with proper language that doesn't hurt us but helps us do our job and get paid for our job.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: And then we have, you know, the education funds that we do.
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: So we did the education that would be a scholarship for hands-on training and business training.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: We have a 501C scholarship program for tax exempt donations, which has been very good, and that goes towards scholarships for academic schools and our trade schools.
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: So we have a $2,000 a year scholarship for member owners and there is a whole application process that has to be done by May 15, i believe, before the Toe Show, and I just was able to award a scholarship and $2,000, $2,000.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: We've upped that over the years because we've done so well.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: So typically half of the proceeds of well, let me finish on the scholarship.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: So $2,000 to two member owners, $1,000 to employees have been there more than three years, same qualifications for the students.
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: So we could offer almost $3,000 per year for four years $12,000.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: So that's, that's a bunch of money that we put together from a lot of hard work.
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: Now, who's doing the work?
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: they're volunteers, like you said, west, 15 board members.
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: Now We have a full board.
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: We have a toeshow chairperson, melissa pro.
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: That puts the toeshow together, but we have a lot of key people.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: We have, you know, myself and I've, you know, worked with the village and the town of Lake George.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: They've been great to work with.
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: We've been there like, like West said, there are 39th show so so they have been very forthcoming and providing us the needed facilities and Financial help to keep us there at the show because basically, we were the whole, we were the whole village, we had the whole thing to ourselves, which was great.
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: America was the week before we switched They gave us a little bit more of a tax incentive, but we came back, you know, rented the road, we had a huge beauty contest, so everything was was great across the board, had a little weather issue on one day, but it's, it's like George, it's upstate New York.
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: You're, you know, with the mountains, you can never tell what goes on with that, but in you didn't take away from anything that was going at the show.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: I think West, your particular booth With Brian one well ski was busy.
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: I mean, there was people walking out with with armfuls of stuff, and that's exactly what we want to see, and and it was a family reunion type of atmosphere and that's what you know.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: Everybody's constantly talking back and forth in different groups and stuff, and you know We had a phenomenal light show.
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: Those are almost a glow over the park at night.
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: Well, all the trucks lit up, very competitive guys were having a lot and it's a lot of fun too.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: So you know, you had the kids going around.
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: we we actually had.
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: Well, we have to mention bill Haffner from tollway LLC up in Glenn's Falls.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: So he got a whole crew of guys, his rotator.
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: He's letting the kids play with the controls of the rotator, trying to put buckets on top of each other filled with water.
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: So it was just, you know, overall it was just a great time.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, i'm building a great job with making a equipment available for demonstrations.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: We were proud to do a demonstration there and that's sometimes an issue at a tow show that if somebody's maybe Favors one trainer over the other, but they're absolutely fair to everybody.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Everybody had a fair chance to demonstrate.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: And Also the facility you guys were at there, the county park city park.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure what it is, some kind of menaceable park.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: It's just a perfect setup with the track to walk around.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Everybody's on the front row place for the show truck.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: The food truck was awesome, with those fresh made donuts In the breakfast sandwiches.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: The yeah, you know that that always attracts me.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: Things like that, bob, that's where.
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they had the hot dogs for you too.
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: But you know, yeah, that was that was what we wanted to make sure that we have, you know, quality food.
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: We had a beer booth there, you know, and going moving forward were actually Ralph Bielneves from AC's towing.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: In all, in the capital of districts connected, the Albany area, he's actually gonna sponsor a band, put it on a flatbed, so we're gonna keep everybody there starting at seven o'clock next year on our 40th, which is gonna be a huge, huge celebration there.
• 27:10
  Speaker 4: But that 40th is where we're gonna keep people in the park all night long.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: That food truck She's gonna expand her menu and and actually add a dinner Dinner portions and and a different thing for late night snacks.
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: So she's gonna be there throughout the whole white show.
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: Get the beer booth that we're gonna have.
• 27:29
  Speaker 4: I think we're gonna use her liquor license that even moved the bourbon down from the hotel down there.
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: So we're working on the hotel with that holiday in our host hotel.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: What about your super people?
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: I don't.
• 27:43
  Speaker 4: They haven't raised the price in four years.
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: I had to mention that at the meet and greet.
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: It was just phenomenal service that we get with them and quality in the rooms were Seconds and on.
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: I mean I had a view of the pool and and the lake when I woke up in the morning and And I was worth a couple extra bucks, but yeah, no, it was just great all the way around.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: It really was, bob, like you say, that the folks, the hotel were excellent.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: The way the hotel is so close to where the the show is, the grounds where the show was was really nice And everything you want it was right there.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: It was an excellent, excellent job, yeah we.
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: You know the proceeds of that show, whether it was in the Sponsorships in the tow show booklet, whether it was the, the vendors that paid for vendor space there, and that's the Charles Wood Park that used to be the old gas lake village.
• 28:40
  Speaker 4: When I was a kid we'd go up the lake George and you know Lake George, the entire area is nothing but a battleground from this, the Revolutionary War.
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: So there's all this artifacts to walk around.
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: So you bring the family, bring the kids, there's all kinds of stuff to look at the Fort William Henry's next door, you know, and they.
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: There's all historic sites throughout upstate, new York as New York State.
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: Actually, dutchess County was the capital of the country for a while and then they moved the capital up against it.
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: So a lot of history in New York And upstate is just gorgeous, no matter it, no matter what you do, there's bike trails up there now There's hiking trails.
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: So it'd be, it'd be worthwhile the next tow show To actually, you know, bring, bring the family and stay in an extra few days and enjoy the area.
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: That's, that's how nice it is there.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: We came in a day early and I really enjoyed the extra time there and plan on staying a day late next year.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: We're already looking forward to next year and I want to talk about that a little bit.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: But we got to ask you to hang out for one more commercial break.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Okay, let's go, sir.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you, bob.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Let's do this.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Hang around.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: We got a little bit more to share with you on this Fourth of July edition.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: Happy birthday America.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: God bless America.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: We'll be right back after the break.
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: Information in this podcast is made possible by generous sponsorship from Henry's record.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: Serving the community with quality towing and recovery for over 40 years, henry's record dot com.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, folks to the special Fourth of July issue of the Podcast American towing and recovery Institute podcast.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: So, wes, let me turn it right back over to you.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: This has been a great one, you.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Bob, one of the things I really appreciated at this 39th show was your recognition for the founders, and could you tell us a little bit about the recognition of what was it?
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Five founders I remember Tommy Luciano Warren Roosevelt.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: God rest his soul.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: Good, good man.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: I worked with him a lot with the television thing.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: One bloom, i believe, was another one.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: Oh and blow.
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he was actually the spearhead 40 years ago.
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: He got tangled up toe in the wrong car someplace and ended up getting arrested.
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: He's a nice, quiet guy and easy going now, but probably back in the day he probably wasn't.
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: He was probably like the rest of us when we were there all full of spit and vinegar.
• 31:32
  Speaker 4: Well, he got out of jail.
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: He got a whole of Dick Frazier, tom Luciano.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: Today we ought to do something about this.
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: Warren Roosevelt wasn't far behind and Frank Yershawsky from Future Wrecker up in Amsterdam.
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Frank ended up must have been late to the meeting because they made him the first president.
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: That's always been my case with Esther.
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: Every time you're late to a meeting, they make you the president or chairman or something.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: So those five guys.
• 32:01
  Speaker 4: I said Warren has been gone for a little while now.
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: So I was like, well, we got to start doing something about that.
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: And Owen was ready to come up to the show and he was mobile.
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: So I was like, well, now's the time.
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: So it made a special invitation to Dick Frazier.
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: Dick and Edna made it on Sunday, tom Luciano wasn't, he had some family issues to deal with, but Warren's granddaughter, janelle, was down, janelle Roosevelt and well, and and oh and blow.
• 32:34
  Speaker 4: We presented those on Saturday afternoon And you know it was just a warm feeling.
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: We got to speak out, everybody crowded around real quick and took a few minutes to thank him for having the, the poor sight and the leadership to get Esther rolling.
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: And you know, back in the day it was all handwritten stuff and notes back and forth and phone calls.
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: There was no texting, there was no Zoom meetings, it was all you know pick up the phone and and power at somebody and get him to do something With that.
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: Now we move forward.
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: Sunday Dick Frazier showed up.
• 33:11
  Speaker 4: Dick Frazier is the one that started the whole scholarship thing.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: I often want to name it the Richard Frazier Scholarship Fund, but he says I want it to be called extra scholarship fund, but he'll be back next year.
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: He had a good time, he was able to get there And you know they're not able to move around too well, so it was just a good to see them And we had a bunch of pictures and presentations.
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: In fact, you know, when Dick Frazier's presentation, we did it before we did the awards And there was there was 150 people crowded around for that on Sunday.
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: So that was just a good feeling.
• 33:45
  Speaker 4: We wanted to, you know, tell them thank you, for you know all these years of all their hard work and you know all those years at the Fort getting vendors and you know, without email, without you know they were faxing stuff back and forth.
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: So where?
• 34:03
  Speaker 4: now we wouldn't know what a fax machine is, but the new generation.
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: But you know it was just a lot of work that they put together.
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: We need to circle back to that auction, i think, because that was really the pivotal part of the meet and greet dinner on Friday night.
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: That was really a great idea, wes, that was your idea.
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: You called me today How about a?
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: how about an auction?
• 34:27
  Speaker 4: And next thing, you know we have stuff for a live auction.
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: We have some very interesting items Wes.
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: Do you want to mention the people that donated the most?
• 34:38
  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: I absolutely do.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, if I get together with a group of telling professionals that I do something good for some telling related organization and obviously with Astra and this is one of their main fundraisers.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: There it was a no-brainer and actually just started out with asking did they have door prizes or anything?
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: We always, when we come to our event, we like to bring that kind of stuff.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: So, talking with Bob a little bit, we just had to do a little auction to benefit Astra and they put in their general fund and do what they did and there's different funds and things they did which we all talked about earlier.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: So it's a great thing to support and I had the privilege of being a part of it.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: We got the word out of Melissa Pearl.
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: I got the word out to the board members about the auction.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: They brought some wine baskets.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: The Renoiseke brought some wine, my wife brought a pair of baskets, had some wine.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: It seems like there's a lot of wine involved.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: But there was other stuff too.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: The trucks met brought some very rare collectible tow trucks from the Interstate Towing Association, first gear trucks made, i think, in the 1980s or 90s.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: So they're very collectible.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: We donated a few little things.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: Eric from Big Wheel truck guys always got a big heart and I say Eric from Big Wheel recovery solutions, make sure you get this straight.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: I find a mass juice that everybody knows you're talking about.
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: Eric died with a big heart that he is donated a free seat to the recovery unlimited building seminar, which has a $2,500 value.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: I'm in Devon from Highs Alert donated one of their systems with that auction and then another auction where they donated the system with several users.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: The high system, if people aren't aware, comes across some ways and different applications that if you're part of the whole service and they're announcing the name of your towing company, the head on the side of the road to warm people and it's ways and several other programs that's available on.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: I should have looked up the names before I'm talking about it.
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: Well, i actually have them in my trucks.
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: It's Apple Map, it's Tesla, it's all the Chrysler vehicles and Jeep right now.
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: So all the manufacturers with their navigation systems are finding that it's a GPS signal when your rotators are on your primary strobes or rotators when you pulled over alongside the road.
• 37:32
  Speaker 4: So you're coming up to the vehicle about a half a mile away, all of a sudden you'll see, in my particular scenario they'll say Gorman's garage ahead on the side of the road, 0.2 miles, please slow down and move over.
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: So with that, and then plus releases, come with the service as well.
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: So I think Tom Parbs from Hossler from Chicago gave one device and three years of service was one of the donations that he did.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: And then he donated another and an additional device and another three years of service on that.
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: So that was substantial.
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: It's a monthly fee that you pay per truck And it's just another level of protection for your employees that they're out there alongside the highway.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: So super people.
• 38:24
  Speaker 4: Devin Banks comes from Toronto.
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: So when we look at our demographics because we register everybody they have people from 16 states and Canada.
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: Last year I haven't seen the demographics for this year I think it's more.
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: So that was just a phenomenal turnout for everybody.
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: That auction generated Over $6,600 just a live auction.
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: I think we generate another $2,000 from the silent auction And that was just a quick you know.
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: Last minute week before the show, hey, can everybody bring a basket from their area of New York And that's what we did.
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: It was great, great idea, wes, thank you so much.
• 39:08
  Speaker 4: And next year I think we're going to expand on that and have a little bit more fun.
• 39:12
  Speaker 4: But that was a little, you know, rather than a boring meeting and just an update on what Esther is doing to the membership.
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: You know that was.
• 39:20
  Speaker 4: Everybody was involved in that thing, so it was.
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: You know it was a fun.
• 39:26
  Speaker 4: It wasn't a, you know, a professional auction.
• 39:30
  Speaker 4: You know where everybody was at each other's throats, but it was just friends, especially that seat from Big Wheel.
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: That was the big poll.
• 39:36
  Speaker 4: I got a bunch of people bidding on that because that was a big dollar amount And that was a great donation.
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: So you're welcome And you're right.
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: The seat from Big Wheel, the house of her, the whole energy in the whole room.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: we're just thankful to be a part of it.
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: Well, then we get like almost $1,000 for the trucks.
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: It was like 950 or 960.
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: You're up to on one of the trucks.
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: I mean the trucks went well too.
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: I mean it was all.
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: Had we had more time we could have gotten, but we had a, a tome eight light We had.
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: We had a bunch of stuff.
• 40:12
  Speaker 4: We had t-shirts and hats that were just thrown to people that were bidding you know as some fun.
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: But yeah, it was, it was a, it was a good time all the way around, for sure.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: Like you said, we're going to do a bigger and better next year And we were just happy to be a part of it.
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: I think that we do have to mention that.
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: one other thing I'd like to mention about that auction is very generous bid from many, many different people.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: Probably the classiest of all was Joe from all counties down on Long Island.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: He paid real money for that seat for big wheel and has been many times and gave it to one of the other bidders that dropped out that just as a nice gesture.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: didn't know the person, i don't as far as I could ascertain, just the class, class act.
• 41:02
  Speaker 4: He was a hard worker throughout the entire show.
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: He's our Long Island regional vice president, did a super job And you know, left the all in the Albany area with our golf carts and haul and stuff back and forth And the show set up and the beauty pageant parking trucks.
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: But we had one of our lifetime members, jim Bach, out there with Bernie Rosini act, our western regional vice president, setting things up.
• 41:31
  Speaker 4: Of course John Bowman came in from Buffalo area So we covered the whole state of New York.
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: There was no.
• 41:37
  Speaker 4: There was no gaps in state of New York.
• 41:41
  Speaker 4: We had, you know, the Hibbler's up from Binghamton area.
• 41:45
  Speaker 4: Of course you know Rick Waltsky's in working the booth, setting the show up, setting the booth up and then working and then helping to clean up and everything.
• 41:53
  Speaker 4: It was a great team effort all the way around.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: And you had Chuck Schmidt, joe Joseph Robles from the city.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: All people from all over there at different stages, working and helping.
• 42:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Joe's, our treasurer down there Was that the meeting Had to leave the show early.
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: He had some issues going on back in Brooklyn and Statenice developing a new business down there, But you know, everybody just kicked in across the board.
• 42:20
  Speaker 4: It was, you know, it was really good to see everybody working together And we, you know there's always issues that pop in but we've already solved them for next year And we can't do a tow show without Kelly Holt and her husband, Joel, that come and do the registration, you know, and they, they.
• 42:40
  Speaker 4: That's where we set Chuck Schmidt as our Walmart greeter And he loves it because he knows everybody, because he's been here for past president and he's been around for the 40 years that Esther's been there.
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: So it was just good, good fun And it was good to see you in April and looking forward to next year.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: We are as well.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: We enjoyed it.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: We're putting in our map as the David picture.
• 43:07
  Speaker 4: No, but I think, i think that second weekend of June is going to be the thing.
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: We stay away from the motorcycles and have the entire village to ourselves, and I think that was the biggest poll for our particular show.
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: You know the weather, the surroundings, the fact that you can walk to a restaurant, you can walk to get ice cream, you can walk to see the lake.
• 43:33
  Speaker 4: I did a lot of walking.
• 43:35
  Speaker 4: I did like 39,000 steps during the weekend.
• 43:37
  Speaker 4: So it was, my feet were sore when I got there, so sore, but you know that's.
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: You can walk to the bars at night.
• 43:45
  Speaker 4: You can walk from the host hotel holiday and end the days in and the Tiki and walk down to the park.
• 43:53
  Speaker 4: And you know the park is a beautiful park.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: We didn't really talk about it.
• 43:57
  Speaker 4: It was a grassy surface and a track around it.
• 44:01
  Speaker 4: So we line everybody up around the track, you make a couple of laps, stop here, stop there, working facilities, washrooms there.
• 44:11
  Speaker 4: So you're not, you don't have to use a portafilter or anything.
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: They have regular facilities right there, running water.
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: So it just, it just makes for a nice, easy day to enjoy.
• 44:24
  Speaker 4: Of course, you know all the stuff that we sold out of the ester boot, t-shirts, hats and stuff.
• 44:29
  Speaker 4: So that was a real good.
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: Plus.
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: Melissa does a great job with that.
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: Kelly, we're putting the book together, so you've got all of our members in the book, you've got all of our associate members and you have all of our sponsors right there and all of our information.
• 44:45
  Speaker 4: So I tell everybody, keep one of those tow show truck booklets and each of your trucks, get a handful, And so if your guys ever break down in New York State or need help or don't have something, or something breaks, the cable breaks or strapped and you need something, you know where to find a member in your area.
• 45:03
  Speaker 4: So that's it.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: Well, bob, i want to thank you for coming on with this tow show wrap up.
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: We need to have you back on more often.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: Keep abreast of what's going on in Empire State.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: We plan on being back there in the fall with a fire tow across training.
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: We're looking at probably either September or October to be back there for a two day class on the weekend.
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: Like you said, we're working on some stuff together that will be announced in the public, so we'd like to have you back on our future episodes.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: I think we can get you back Sounds good, all right, good.
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: Happy July 4th.
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: Be safe out there.
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: To all our listeners, eja, i want you to enjoy the 4th with your family and to all our listeners, thank you for the service you bring to your communities that help keep the roads open and road safe.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: God bless each and every one of you.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you, happy 4th of July.
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: Be safe.