Latest / Something You Should Know! / Something You Should Know - September 11 Jill Baker CAVCON Sept 14 and 15

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Something You Should Know - September 11 Jill Baker CAVCON Sept 14 and 15 · Something You Should Know!

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  Speaker 1: RADIO to get free shipping. That's BetterEnergyDrink.com. Excited to visit
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  Speaker 1: right now with Jill Baker. We're going to talk about CAVCON.
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  Speaker 1: This is sneaking up. Is it Monday and Tuesday? Is
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  Speaker 1: that right?
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  Speaker 2: September 14th and 15th.
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  Speaker 1: Yes. And let's talk about what is the name of
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  Speaker 1: your organization again, Jill?
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  Speaker 2: All right. So the name of our organization is Community
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  Speaker 2: Action for Veterans.
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  Speaker 1: And that's why it's CAVCON. That's the C-A-V part. And
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  Speaker 1: Jill Baker, how long have you been with Community Action
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  Speaker 1: for Veterans? You started this, right?
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  Speaker 2: Well, started the work in 2015 and we became a
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  Speaker 2: nonprofit in 2022, so.
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  Speaker 1: And you guys do some wonderful things. And we've had
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  Speaker 1: a chance to talk so many times. And it's always
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  Speaker 1: fun to visit. But I'm so excited for CavCon 2026.
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  Speaker 1: I've been watching online all of the fun announcements and
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  Speaker 1: a lot of fun things. You've got a lot going on,
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  Speaker 1: don't you?
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  Speaker 2: We do have a lot going on. And we recently
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  Speaker 2: got a Staff Sergeant Fox suicide prevention grant. So I've
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  Speaker 2: also been able to hire three people. That is amazing.
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  Speaker 2: So now there's four of us where there was one.
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  Speaker 1: There you go. That's awesome. And we've got some people
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  Speaker 1: spectating today.
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  Speaker 2: We do.
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  Speaker 1: And you're watching, which is kind of fun.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: So let's talk about what's happening Monday and what's happening
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  Speaker 1: Tuesday at CAVCON 2026. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So this is our second year of hosting this. So
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  Speaker 2: last year was the CAV conference. And so once again,
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  Speaker 2: we're partnering with the VA. So I'll talk about the
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  Speaker 2: expo first because I'm really hoping that we can reach veterans,
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  Speaker 2: military families, service members through this interview that we're having. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So the Expo runs– I'm going to look at my notes.
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  Speaker 1: That's all good. That's why you have them. That's a
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  Speaker 1: good thing.
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  Speaker 2: So on the 14th– is this the right one? Yes. Okay.
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  Speaker 2: So on September 14th, it runs from 9 to 4,
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  Speaker 2: and September 15th runs 9 to 1230. Now, this is
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  Speaker 2: the Expo. So this is where we partner with the VA,
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  Speaker 2: and they bring in services from all their different– at
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  Speaker 2: the hospital and the benefits side. So a veteran can
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  Speaker 2: walk in the door– and meet with all the different
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  Speaker 2: services that the VA has to offer. They can apply
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  Speaker 2: for their benefits. They can look up their benefits and
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  Speaker 2: see how things are going with them. They can also
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  Speaker 2: learn more about what the hospital has to offer. So
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  Speaker 2: they can do all of this. And last year, we
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  Speaker 2: were working with the Veterans Experience Office, and Tammy was
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  Speaker 2: running it. Her name was Tammy. And she said that
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  Speaker 2: a veteran can come in and do in one day– well,
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  Speaker 2: an hour, what could take months to get done. And
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  Speaker 2: so that's really our goal is to provide veterans, service members,
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  Speaker 2: their families with the opportunity to connect with the VA,
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  Speaker 2: but also our community resource. Our community partners will be
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  Speaker 2: there as well.
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  Speaker 1: And all of these resources are available to you and
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  Speaker 1: you should tap into these and utilize these. And like
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  Speaker 1: you were saying, sometimes you're going, I don't have the time.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to take a month to do all this.
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  Speaker 1: You can do it in one day. You can do
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  Speaker 1: it in about an hour. So make the time next
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  Speaker 1: week to come out and tap into these resources. Is
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  Speaker 1: there a cost to go to CavCon?
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  Speaker 2: It is free.
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  Speaker 1: Nice.
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  Speaker 2: So the CavCon is the conference side of it. So
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  Speaker 2: we have that direct service, the Expo, where the veterans,
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  Speaker 2: they can come in, they can learn about their benefits,
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  Speaker 2: they can apply for benefits, they can visit all of
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  Speaker 2: the vendor booths that are, they're all there to support veterans.
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  Speaker 2: One cool thing is we're working with the Vet Center,
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  Speaker 2: and they're bringing their mobile unit into the building. So
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  Speaker 2: we're at the convention center. So, yeah, we had to
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  Speaker 2: pay a little bit more with insurance to get that,
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  Speaker 2: but I think it'll be really neat. So we will
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  Speaker 2: also be there with the booth providing information about our
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  Speaker 2: VetConnect SD program. So we'll be there right alongside the
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  Speaker 2: VA and our partners there.
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  Speaker 1: To serve veterans, yeah. And this is this coming Monday,
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  Speaker 1: the 14th.
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  Speaker 2: Monday and Tuesday.
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  Speaker 1: And Tuesday, the 15th.
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  Speaker 2: Yep.
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  Speaker 1: And again, this is at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: What time do we start on Monday once again?
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  Speaker 2: They can come at 9.
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  Speaker 1: 9 a.m., all right.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, both days, 9 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: Both days at 9 a.m. And again, free admission. Free.
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  Speaker 1: So if you'd like to come and be a part
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  Speaker 1: of this. Are you looking for volunteers? Is there anything
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  Speaker 1: that the community can do to step up and help
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  Speaker 1: you in your missions?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we could use some volunteers. I can always use volunteers, right? 605-910-4045,
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  Speaker 2: extension 2. There you go. Let's keep pushing buttons eventually.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So she's our outreach coordinator that's coordinating the event.
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  Speaker 1: Very nice. And if you struggle getting through and you
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  Speaker 1: can't connect that way, reach out to the radio station.
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  Speaker 1: We'll connect you for sure.
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  Speaker 2: And I want to share the CavCon, too. We have
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  Speaker 2: been really trying to be intentional about how can we
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  Speaker 2: better serve our veterans. And so one thing that we're
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  Speaker 2: really passionate about is providing the opportunity for our partners
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  Speaker 2: to learn about how to better serve our veterans. So
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  Speaker 2: the CavCon this year, the theme is post-traumatic growth beyond
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  Speaker 2: physical and hidden disabilities. And that doesn't necessarily always mean
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  Speaker 2: mental health. A hidden disability could be a TBI or,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, toxic exposure, things you just wouldn't know. And
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  Speaker 2: so then there's three learning tracks, mental health, rural challenges,
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  Speaker 2: and military families. And so we have a great lineup.
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  Speaker 2: If an individual wanted to earn some extra– CEUs, those
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  Speaker 2: are continuing education credits, have partnered with Avera to be
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  Speaker 2: able to provide that opportunity. Again, that's free as well.
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  Speaker 2: That's awesome. But anybody that's serving veterans or is thinking
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  Speaker 2: about it can come.
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  Speaker 1: And what time is that on Monday and Tuesday?
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  Speaker 2: So it runs a little bit. It's about the same time,
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  Speaker 2: but on Monday it runs like 9 to 5.30. They
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  Speaker 2: can register both. As early as, I think, like 8 o'clock.
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  Speaker 2: And then Tuesday it runs 8 to 1.
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  Speaker 1: Is there a cost at all for this?
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  Speaker 2: We've made it all free. And last year we did
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  Speaker 2: charge a fee to attend, which was fine, except that
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  Speaker 2: it was a barrier to actually fully partnering and integrating
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  Speaker 2: the VA into our work.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the thing that's beautiful about this is now there's
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  Speaker 1: no reason not to. I mean, again, I understand when
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  Speaker 1: we were talking about signing up for the different benefits
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  Speaker 1: that are available as a veteran, you should be able
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  Speaker 1: to do that in an hour. And you can. You
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  Speaker 1: can come in and go from table to table, walk
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  Speaker 1: from place to place. Some of the stuff you might
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  Speaker 1: not qualify for, but you don't know until you ask.
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  Speaker 1: And if you go and ask and find out, you
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  Speaker 1: might discover all types of things that could make your
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  Speaker 1: life better. That you earned. You earned these. These are not,
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  Speaker 1: you know, just we're giving these because, you know.
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  Speaker 2: And deserve it. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: But you earned it and you deserve it. So this
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  Speaker 1: is something that you absolutely worked for. So get out
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  Speaker 1: there and reap the benefits that you absolutely earned. Again,
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  Speaker 1: take an hour. Take a couple hours if you can.
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  Speaker 1: Be a part of the whole thing. There's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of fun stuff going on.
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  Speaker 2: If they came with the intention of checking out the
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  Speaker 2: resources and then decided, hey, maybe I want to sit
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  Speaker 2: in on one of these workshops. Yeah. Absolutely, they could
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  Speaker 2: do that.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Again, this is all coming up on Monday and
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  Speaker 1: Tuesday of next week. Sioux Falls Convention Center is called CAVCON.
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  Speaker 1: What is the other part called?
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  Speaker 2: The VA, it's the Veteran Assistance Expo.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, very nice. So if you'd like to get more information,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to throw the information on our Facebook page
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  Speaker 1: as well. Jill, thanks for stopping in.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was good to see you again.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Again, all the details can be found at facebook.com
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  Speaker 1: slash sunnyradio and facebook.com slash Sioux Falls News. Something you
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  Speaker 1: should know.