Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: James Lillyman shares updates on the '26 Reagan Run

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Talk Line: James Lillyman shares updates on the '26 Reagan Run · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: All right, Sog Valley. You're back with the Waking crew
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  Speaker 1: on FM ninety five to one and AM fourteen sixty
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  Speaker 1: WIXN and it's time for more talk line and I'm
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  Speaker 1: joined in the booth today by James Lilliman here to
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  Speaker 1: talk about this year's Reagan Run. Sir, how are you good?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, appreciate the invitation. Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: I absolutely happy to have you. Love all the community
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  Speaker 1: events that we have here, and Reagan Run is certainly
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  Speaker 1: a big one for the community.
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  Speaker 2: We are.
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  Speaker 3: Indeed, this is our twenty sixth year and our twenty
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  Speaker 3: fifth edition. We started in the year two thousand, but
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  Speaker 3: obviously took how to take a year off for COVID.
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  Speaker 3: But we're back with an exciting run for twenty twenty
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  Speaker 3: six and I've changed the course a little bit. Can
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  Speaker 3: I share that with you.
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  Speaker 1: I'd love to hear about it.
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  Speaker 3: So, now that we've got the new pedestrian bridge coming
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  Speaker 3: to Dixon, we've incorporated that into the Reagan five k.
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  Speaker 3: Traditionally we had the Reagan five k Run would be
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  Speaker 3: a mile on the street and then we do a
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  Speaker 3: mile in the woods in Page Park area, and then
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  Speaker 3: we do a mile back on the street. We've always
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  Speaker 3: started up at the Reagan home and run down through
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  Speaker 3: town through the main street area and then over to
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  Speaker 3: a Page as I shared with you, and then we'd
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  Speaker 3: finish up at Haymarket Square. Well, this year we're going
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  Speaker 3: to do a similar run. We're going to come up
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  Speaker 3: We will start again at Reagan's boyhood home and we'll
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  Speaker 3: head over to the high school, around the back side
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  Speaker 3: of the high school and then into the new paths
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  Speaker 3: in Page Drive area. We'll get about a mile out
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  Speaker 3: of that and finish up on top of the new
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  Speaker 3: pedestrian bridge and then head back south across the bridge.
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  Speaker 3: And this is going to be at about the two
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  Speaker 3: mile mark when we cross that bridge, and it's a
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  Speaker 3: beautiful view from up there on top of that bridge,
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  Speaker 3: and if you think about a runner, you're pretty exhausted
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  Speaker 3: by the second mile, and you're getting the excite the
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  Speaker 3: reinvigoration of the water flowing underneath you. And then you
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  Speaker 3: cross the bridge and then we're on the new path
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  Speaker 3: that they've renovated in the last couple of years. It
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  Speaker 3: ends us up at Seventh Street. From there, we'll get
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  Speaker 3: off a seventh Street and we'll go over to Highland Avenue,
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  Speaker 3: and then finish.
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  Speaker 2: Down at Hey Market Square again.
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  Speaker 3: So we start in the same place, Reagan's home, and
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  Speaker 3: we finished in the same place, Hey Market.
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  Speaker 1: Square, keeping the tradition alog. But I know that I
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  Speaker 1: am not the only one that appreciates incorporating the new
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  Speaker 1: pedestrian bridge into this year's Reagan Run. I'd heard from
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  Speaker 1: several people before it was finished that they were hoping
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  Speaker 1: that this was going to be something that would be
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  Speaker 1: part of this event and other events, just because to
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  Speaker 1: get people down there. Because you're absolutely right, once you
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  Speaker 1: start going over there, you got that breath taking view.
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  Speaker 1: I like that, I like you got it set up.
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  Speaker 1: Kind of gives them that second wind to keep pushing
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  Speaker 1: after you've gone over that beautiful spot.
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  Speaker 2: Indeed it does.
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  Speaker 3: And the misnomer, or the deceptive piece about it is
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  Speaker 3: that when you're down in page Drive and you're starting
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  Speaker 3: the ascent up to the bridge, it's a long, slow,
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  Speaker 3: probably a four hundred yard hill to get to the
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  Speaker 3: other side of the pedestrian bridge, because the pedestrian bridge
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  Speaker 3: actually crosses the river at a bit of an angle,
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  Speaker 3: and you're going uphill probably four percent, so it is
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  Speaker 3: a slope.
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  Speaker 1: Still, well, keep I the Tiger playing in your mind.
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  Speaker 1: You can do it, and it's absolutely worth it, and
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  Speaker 1: it's going to feel fantastic. Now. I love this twenty
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  Speaker 1: six years of getting people to run. The only folks
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  Speaker 1: out doing you or the dinner bell.
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  Speaker 2: There you go.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 3: The unique thing is the five people that have been
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  Speaker 3: volunteering on this have been here for twenty six years.
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  Speaker 3: We were a group that were formed twenty six years ago.
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  Speaker 3: Main Street came to some of us local runners and
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  Speaker 3: asked us if we would assist them in putting together
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  Speaker 3: a five K for them.
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  Speaker 2: And at that time main.
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  Speaker 3: Street representatives would have been Nancy Varga and Chuck Jones
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  Speaker 3: from PLN Insurance, and they reached out to Dave Blackburn
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  Speaker 3: and myself. Dave was on the city Council at that
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  Speaker 3: time and I was on the Park District both runners,
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  Speaker 3: and then to Candy Stapleton who was a coach over
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  Speaker 3: at the high school. And the five of us have
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  Speaker 3: stayed together for all this period of time, maintained this
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  Speaker 3: event and helped run it. And it's been a lot
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  Speaker 3: of work, but it's been pretty rewarding too. As I
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  Speaker 3: can say yes.
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  Speaker 1: I'd have to say so to have that many people
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  Speaker 1: been in it from the beginning, and to keep it
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  Speaker 1: going this long. I mean, you know, volunteerism is a
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  Speaker 1: thing in itself, but to have you core group of
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  Speaker 1: folks running that, that's awesome. I love that. What would
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  Speaker 1: you hope to see for the future of the Reagan Run, James.
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  Speaker 3: Well, eventually some of us are going to have to
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  Speaker 3: step off of it, so I hope that there's continuity
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  Speaker 3: and that we can continue to keep this event going.
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  Speaker 3: It's a difficult event in that it's so entwined with
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  Speaker 3: the city and you're twisting through the city proper and
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  Speaker 3: down through the main street, and we need cooperation from
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  Speaker 3: all the entities within the city to make it happen,
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  Speaker 3: and we have that.
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  Speaker 2: We couldn't do this without the cooperation.
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  Speaker 3: Of the city itself, police and Fire, the Booster Club.
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  Speaker 3: There's just a bunch of volunteers that jump in to
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  Speaker 3: make this event happen, and you think about it, in
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  Speaker 3: an hour, it's over.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's done.
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  Speaker 3: But it takes a lot of preparation to get this going.
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  Speaker 3: We start meeting in January and we meet for six
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  Speaker 3: months every other week to make this event happen, and
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  Speaker 3: have since the inception.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's you know, it always kind of blows
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  Speaker 1: my mind, even over the years when you peel back
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  Speaker 1: the later layers on events like this to find out
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  Speaker 1: like what it actually takes to make happen. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: you bring up a good point wanting to see this
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  Speaker 1: go for in continuity. If somebody wanted to get involved,
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  Speaker 1: wanted to be a part of that to help keep
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  Speaker 1: it going, is there room right now or is there
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  Speaker 1: a channel or process to do that to onboard people
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  Speaker 1: who who want to volunteer and help continue the Reagan run.
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  Speaker 2: There is always room.
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  Speaker 3: And if you want to volunteer, reach out to Main Street,
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  Speaker 3: reach out to myself, if you know any other Nancy Vargar, Dave,
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  Speaker 3: reach out to us and we'll incorporate you into the
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  Speaker 3: meetings and see there's a slot for you to fit in.
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  Speaker 3: But we are always looking for help that can't be denied.
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  Speaker 3: There's just a lot of effort that goes into this constantly.
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  Speaker 2: And you probably would question where do the proceeds go.
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  Speaker 3: There's two things that we've really tried to do, and
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  Speaker 3: that's keep this a family event, keep it a fun event,
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  Speaker 3: and keep it inexpensive. So we've maintained our twenty dollars
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  Speaker 3: entry fee across the board since well probably two decades now.
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  Speaker 3: We haven't raised that and that's unusual. Most events are
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  Speaker 3: thirty to thirty five forty bucks, but we try to
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  Speaker 3: keep it low so that we can supply a family
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  Speaker 3: event and bring all the people together. We are excuse me,
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  Speaker 3: are benefactors form the Reagan Run because all the money
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  Speaker 3: we get goes back to not for profits. The four
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  Speaker 3: major benefactors, and they have been since day one, are
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  Speaker 3: the Dixon Boosters Club over at the High School Dixon
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  Speaker 3: Main Street which is now discovered Dixon Dixon Park District,
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  Speaker 3: and then to Dixon YMCA. And if you're a not
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  Speaker 3: for profits, you understand how hard it is to raise
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  Speaker 3: five hundred dollars or one thousand dollars. But we've been
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  Speaker 3: blessed to be able to give these entities a few
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  Speaker 3: thousand dollars every year, year in and year out.
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  Speaker 2: We do not we.
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  Speaker 3: Called back a little bit seed money for the next year.
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  Speaker 3: But we do not have a profit orient organization. We
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  Speaker 3: simply give back to those groups that I've shared with you.
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  Speaker 1: See, well, that's fantastic information for any of you wondering
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  Speaker 1: that that's a really great point, like this is something
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  Speaker 1: that helps and goes back into your local community. It's
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  Speaker 1: a fantastic event on its own, but being a part
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  Speaker 1: of that means that you are giving back and investing
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  Speaker 1: within your own community. Anything else you want to share
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  Speaker 1: about the Reagan Run, James.
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  Speaker 3: I'll share with the number with you if you have
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  Speaker 3: a second hair I contribuly do. We have returned four
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  Speaker 3: hundred and two thousand dollars over the past twenty five years,
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  Speaker 3: four hundred and two thousand dollars to the to the
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  Speaker 3: organizations that I've mentioned. On top of that, we've also
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  Speaker 3: shared fifty three scholarships for a total of thirty thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 3: So we have three scholarships male and female that we
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  Speaker 3: have created and given away every year. And one other
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  Speaker 3: piece I'll ad is don't forget there is a kid's run.
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  Speaker 3: So right before the big race at eight o'clock on
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  Speaker 3: July fourth this year, there is a kid's run at
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  Speaker 3: seven thirty.
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  Speaker 1: There you go, get the little ones involved. It's always
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  Speaker 1: a fun time. Plus they're going to sleep good that
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  Speaker 1: night after they've taken part in the kids run.
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  Speaker 3: It is indeed, it's our feeder run, and there's kids
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  Speaker 3: that have run us and come back and graduate to
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  Speaker 3: the bigger run.
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  Speaker 2: And one of them wrote an article on the paper recently.
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  Speaker 3: Belzer was his last name, and it was a very
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  Speaker 3: interesting article because he shared how this has always been
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  Speaker 3: part of his life and he's always run this event
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  Speaker 3: even when he was a little kid, and now he's
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  Speaker 3: a graduate from DHS and shared that in our article recently.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's you know, events like these and others that
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  Speaker 1: happen in Dixon A just become core kind of childhood
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  Speaker 1: memories for a lot of people. And again getting them
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  Speaker 1: involved early. You might not think I think it, but
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  Speaker 1: I mean like your kids are going to enjoy this,
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  Speaker 1: so bring them on out. I absolutely love that. Anything
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  Speaker 1: else to share.
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  Speaker 2: James, I think that wraps it up.
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  Speaker 3: We got to thank our supporters, our sponsors. We've had
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  Speaker 3: very loyal sponsors over the last twenty five years, and
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  Speaker 3: we have to again thank the city for its support.
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  Speaker 3: And then I do want to mention one more time
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  Speaker 3: the volunteers have been so wonderful.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate the opportunity today.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely have to thank the volunteers. I know any organization
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  Speaker 1: I talked to you know it can always be a
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  Speaker 1: struggle trying to keep a strong volunteer base, so again,
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  Speaker 1: kudos to your core group for having stayed through for
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  Speaker 1: over two decades. That's fantastic and as James said, there
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  Speaker 1: is always room if you want to help be a
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  Speaker 1: part of this fantastic community event and give back. They
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  Speaker 1: are always looking for volunteers. James, thank you so much
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  Speaker 1: for coming in sharing this information and for all the
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  Speaker 1: fine work that you and the other folks do to
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  Speaker 1: make this a staple in the Dixon community for the
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  Speaker 1: past twenty six years. I'm my hat to you, sir.
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  Speaker 3: I appreciate the opportunity and if you are a runner
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  Speaker 3: and you can't participate, come and cheer them on.
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  Speaker 2: It's fun to watch.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely get on out. Thank you, James,