Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk-Line: Dallas Knack on "Hot Dog Day" and more

Transcript

Talk-Line: Dallas Knack on "Hot Dog Day" and more · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: Our quarter past the hour. This is Monday, It's July seven,
0:03
Speaker 1: the year is twenty twenty five, and it's time for
0:05
Speaker 1: another informational edition of talk Line here at WIKES and Radio.
0:09
Speaker 1: It's time for our bi monthly look at news and
0:11
Speaker 1: information from the Sock Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
0:14
Speaker 1: And who better to deliver the goods than the executive
0:17
Speaker 1: director of the Sock Valley Area Chamber, who's live with
0:19
Speaker 1: us in studio for our report this July. Our dear
0:22
Speaker 1: friend Dallas Nack joins us at the microphones this morning
0:25
Speaker 1: here at wix in.
0:26
Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, Good to have you with us,
0:28
Speaker 2: Thank you for having well.
0:29
Speaker 1: It's always a pleasure having Dallas on board because we
0:31
Speaker 1: always have a full plate of news and information to
0:33
Speaker 1: share from the Sock Valley Area Chamber. And to kick
0:36
Speaker 1: things off is our calendar of events. And we are
0:39
Speaker 1: going to start with an event coming up as a
0:41
Speaker 1: matter of fact, in just a couple of weeks, well
0:44
Speaker 1: less than two weeks, it's actually in ten days now.
0:47
Speaker 1: This is a gathering at Sock Valley Community College that's
0:49
Speaker 1: become very popular for not only the Salk Valley Area Chamber,
0:53
Speaker 1: but all chambers in our northern Illinois area to get yes.
0:57
Speaker 3: So this is our monthly Business after Hours actually includes
1:00
Speaker 3: all five of our local chambers. So if you are
1:03
Speaker 3: a member of Rock Falls, Dixon, Stockfalle Area, Oregon or Morrison,
1:07
Speaker 3: we invite you to come out.
1:08
Speaker 2: To Stock Valley Community College.
1:10
Speaker 3: It'll be at five o'clock out on the riverside patio area.
1:14
Speaker 3: It's a really fun event. It's a Hawaiian shirt party
1:16
Speaker 3: because we know doctor David Helmick really loves his Hawaiian shirts.
1:19
Speaker 3: So we are excited to bring together all of the
1:22
Speaker 3: regional chambers. This is the only event that brings together
1:26
Speaker 3: all five of our area chambers, so that's very unique.
1:29
Speaker 3: Sometimes we do have two or three that will co host,
1:31
Speaker 3: but this is the one that brings together all of
1:33
Speaker 3: our area chambers, so we're very excited for it. It's
1:36
Speaker 3: a really nice way to ring in the summer, have
1:38
Speaker 3: a great time. There's a lot of fun activities and
1:41
Speaker 3: it's a great way for our members to get.
1:43
Speaker 1: Together absolutely and to share information. This is five chambers
1:46
Speaker 1: talk about you know, you know, it's very popular with
1:48
Speaker 1: the Business after Hours on a single you know chamber
1:50
Speaker 1: basis with the Stock Valley Area Chamber getting together during
1:53
Speaker 1: their sarees. But this one involves five chambers, so the
1:57
Speaker 1: you know, I'm sure the attendance increases by the way.
2:00
Speaker 1: Five chambers that are going to be getting together and
2:02
Speaker 1: networking at sok Valley Community College. Again, an annual event
2:06
Speaker 1: that is held every year at SVCC. Great networking event,
2:09
Speaker 1: a lot of information shared through the chambers, and that
2:11
Speaker 1: is July the seventeenth. Chamber members and their guests are
2:14
Speaker 1: invited to pretty much to attend. And again that is
2:19
Speaker 1: July seventeenth at Sock Valley Community College. I have never
2:23
Speaker 1: seen doctor Helmick in a Hawaiian shirt.
2:26
Speaker 2: To come out.
2:27
Speaker 1: I know, yeah, I know, you know, you know what
2:29
Speaker 1: he visits with us. You know, he's always a suit
2:31
Speaker 1: and tie, so I can't imagine it.
2:34
Speaker 2: I've tried to.
2:34
Speaker 1: Think, no, I never Okay, But that is July the seventeenth.
2:39
Speaker 1: Then we move on and talk about a couple of
2:41
Speaker 1: August activities that Dallas wants to share with you this morning.
2:45
Speaker 1: And one is a main event through the Souk Valley
2:49
Speaker 1: Area Chamber. An annual event that is held and a
2:51
Speaker 1: for a very good cause. And this is what year
2:54
Speaker 1: forty of this.
2:55
Speaker 3: Yes, this is the fortieth anniversary of the state in
2:58
Speaker 3: the country. So this is our big fundraiser that goes
3:01
Speaker 3: for our EG scholarships, EG Education and workforce development initiatives
3:05
Speaker 3: at the Chamber.
3:06
Speaker 2: And again the fortieth.
3:08
Speaker 3: Year of this, so we're very excited to have it
3:10
Speaker 3: again this year. It will be at Ted Jacob's farm.
3:13
Speaker 3: We're very very grateful that Ted allows us to have
3:15
Speaker 3: this event there because it's a wonderful area for it.
3:19
Speaker 3: It'll be on August seventh. We're going to kick off
3:21
Speaker 3: at five thirty with a happy hour that is sponsored
3:24
Speaker 3: by Nutrient and then we will have our scholarship recipients
3:28
Speaker 3: for this year there. We will do of course the
3:31
Speaker 3: famous or infamous I'm not sure at this point.
3:33
Speaker 4: Dessert auction, yes, very good, yes, along with the you know,
3:39
Speaker 4: along with the great food that is going to be
3:42
Speaker 4: this is just this is an outdoor steak fry.
3:43
Speaker 1: This they actually you know, open up the grills and
3:47
Speaker 1: grill out some delicious steaks. And again, as Dallas mentioned,
3:51
Speaker 1: the dessert auction will take place during the evening. The
3:54
Speaker 1: recipients of past scholarships will be there to kind of
3:58
Speaker 1: you know, lend you know, their thoughts you know, on
4:01
Speaker 1: their moving forward courtesy of the Stock Valley Area Chamber
4:04
Speaker 1: in this regard and it's all being held at Jacob's Farm.
4:08
Speaker 1: Forty years you've been doing this and for a good
4:11
Speaker 1: cause once again for the scholarship, the AG scholarships that
4:14
Speaker 1: are handed out every year through the Stock Valley Area
4:17
Speaker 1: Chamber of Commerce. And again the start time is five thirty.
4:21
Speaker 3: Public is invited, Yes, yes, everyone is invited to this,
4:25
Speaker 3: anyone who wants to talk about ags celebrate AGG in
4:28
Speaker 3: the area. We know it is one of our largest
4:30
Speaker 3: industries and so we like to bring everyone that is
4:33
Speaker 3: interested together to talk about this and celebrate it. It's
4:37
Speaker 3: a really great way to mix and network and maybe
4:40
Speaker 3: catch up with your neighbor.
4:41
Speaker 2: That you don't always get to see.
4:43
Speaker 3: And then again to meet some of our scholarship recipients
4:46
Speaker 3: and just to support our workforce development initiatives that we
4:49
Speaker 3: have at the Chamber. We're very grateful for the support
4:51
Speaker 3: that we have that allows us to do things like
4:53
Speaker 3: our Certificate of Employability as well as support our local
4:57
Speaker 3: FFA organizations and chapters and our scholarship recipients. Of course,
5:02
Speaker 3: this is one of our main fundraisers that helps with
5:04
Speaker 3: all of our workforce area.
5:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, so have tickets gone on sale for this year.
5:08
Speaker 3: Yes, tickets are available, They are available online. They're twenty
5:12
Speaker 3: five dollars. Again, this includes a steak dinner. The steaks
5:15
Speaker 3: are provided by the Cornerstone Agency, which we're very grateful for.
5:19
Speaker 3: And then Sock Valley Bank is one that grills up
5:21
Speaker 3: the stakes and you'll see them set up right out back,
5:23
Speaker 3: grilling them up right before we eat them.
5:25
Speaker 1: So good, good, and twenty five bucks. I'll tell you
5:28
Speaker 1: what for a steak dinner and all the amenities. That's
5:30
Speaker 1: a great price again that you're paying and the monies
5:34
Speaker 1: that you're paying for, as Dallas just explained, going to
5:36
Speaker 1: some very important areas of the Sock Valley Area Chamber.
5:40
Speaker 1: So please, if you wanted to enjoy some delicious food,
5:43
Speaker 1: some delicious camaraderie, make it a point. This is their
5:46
Speaker 1: fortieth annual, so I'm hoping for a good turnout at
5:49
Speaker 1: the Jacob's Farm a month away. It's a month long month.
5:53
Speaker 1: It's a month away on August the seventh at jacob
5:57
Speaker 1: I can't believe it's come up this fast, but their
5:59
Speaker 1: fortieth annual Steak Fry through the Stock Valley Area Chamber
6:02
Speaker 1: of Commerce is this coming month next month again and
6:05
Speaker 1: you can contact the Stock Chamber. We're going to give
6:07
Speaker 1: you phone numbers. You go online to again register for
6:10
Speaker 1: the event. Twenty five dollars is a great price for
6:14
Speaker 1: a delicious meal at the Jacobs Farm in August. Dallas
6:18
Speaker 1: Neck tells us all about it today. She is our
6:20
Speaker 1: executive director of the Stock Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.
6:22
Speaker 1: Our guest today on the Monday morning talk line here
6:24
Speaker 1: at WYXAM. Another August event comes prior to the steak Fry,
6:29
Speaker 1: and you wanted to talk about this kind of an
6:31
Speaker 1: association with another group in Sterling, right, yes.
6:33
Speaker 3: So Friday, August first is hot Dog Day and Sterling,
6:37
Speaker 3: if you're familiar with it, it's been going on for
6:39
Speaker 3: decades at this point. Sterling Main Street organizes the hot
6:43
Speaker 3: dog all of the cooking and all the cook sites
6:45
Speaker 3: where you can go and get very very recently.
6:47
Speaker 2: Priced hot dogs.
6:49
Speaker 3: And during that we provide a free family funfair that's
6:52
Speaker 3: down at the Sterling Marketplace. If you're familiar with where
6:54
Speaker 3: the Farmer's Market is, it's down under the pavilion and
6:57
Speaker 3: that brings together a lot of our nonprofits to provide
7:00
Speaker 3: games for kids and families. We have a bounce house
7:04
Speaker 3: that is sponsored by the Impact Program and it's just
7:07
Speaker 3: a really great way to maybe get some of that
7:09
Speaker 3: energy out of the kiddos once you get your hot dogs.
7:12
Speaker 3: So we are looking forward to seeing everyone on Friday, August.
7:15
Speaker 3: First down at the Sterling Marketplace.
7:17
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, again that's down near the river front.
7:19
Speaker 1: This is the improvement location that's all being improved. Now.
7:23
Speaker 2: There's a lot going on down there.
7:25
Speaker 3: If you haven't been down there's new playground equipment. That
7:29
Speaker 3: ice skating ribbon is coming along very well. We're very
7:31
Speaker 3: excited to see that progress and we can't look. We
7:34
Speaker 3: can't wait for it to finish up here in pretty quickly,
7:38
Speaker 3: just a couple of years.
7:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, very nice area. That's going to be really again
7:42
Speaker 1: a staple as far as Sterling is concerned. And again
7:45
Speaker 1: this is where in that Sterling Marketplace area is where
7:48
Speaker 1: the Sterling the Stock Valley Area Chamber will locate their
7:52
Speaker 1: activities for that hot Dog Day, which is August the
7:55
Speaker 1: first pretty much runs through the mid days. Yeah.
8:00
Speaker 2: Two for the cook sites.
8:01
Speaker 3: The funfair is eleven thirty to one thirty, So we
8:04
Speaker 3: try to have it throughout so that you can go
8:06
Speaker 3: get your hot dogs to come down or vice versa.
8:08
Speaker 3: We want to make sure that you can still go
8:10
Speaker 3: to all of those downtown businesses, because this is a
8:12
Speaker 3: great way if you're not familiar with some of the businesses, stroll.
8:15
Speaker 2: Around, pop in.
8:16
Speaker 3: A lot of them have different sales going on or
8:18
Speaker 3: different events or activities. It's a really nice way to
8:21
Speaker 3: just explore down.
8:23
Speaker 1: To Hounse exactly. And before the kids are back in school,
8:26
Speaker 1: you know, So take the kids for the hot dogs
8:29
Speaker 1: again during the midday on August the first, and enjoy
8:32
Speaker 1: all of the again extra activities going on, like the
8:35
Speaker 1: Stalk Valley Area Chambers activities at the Sterling Marketplace on
8:38
Speaker 1: August the first, that's a Friday midday. As Dallas mentioned,
8:42
Speaker 1: hot Dog Day in Sterling courtesy in part of the
8:46
Speaker 1: stock Valley Area Chamber, but Sterling Main Street pretty much
8:49
Speaker 1: the organizer of the event. But again a lot of
8:52
Speaker 1: organizations getting together for that event in Sterling. So we
8:55
Speaker 1: have hot Dog Day on August the first, we have
8:57
Speaker 1: the steak Fry. You're getting me hungry. The seventh, I
9:01
Speaker 1: think we're going to kind of take a turn here
9:03
Speaker 1: and talk during our latter portion of the talk line
9:06
Speaker 1: today Dallas about rebranding. You wanted to talk about that.
9:08
Speaker 3: Too, Yeah, let's get away from the food talk a
9:11
Speaker 3: little bit.
9:12
Speaker 2: Stone Scrowling, so.
9:15
Speaker 3: You might be familiar with the Keystone Group. They are rebranding,
9:19
Speaker 3: so they have changed their name to Stock Valley Under forty.
9:22
Speaker 3: This is a group that has been going on for
9:24
Speaker 3: about seven years now.
9:25
Speaker 2: It started as.
9:26
Speaker 3: A panel of young millennials that some of our area
9:30
Speaker 3: officials wanted to hear how do we retain or bring
9:33
Speaker 3: back those millennials? And as the group has progressed, I
9:37
Speaker 3: mean we're talking seven years here now, so we're trying
9:39
Speaker 3: to get gen z involved in it and the younger
9:41
Speaker 3: and younger we can get involved. So truthfully, the group
9:46
Speaker 3: just felt like maybe the name just wasn't working anymore.
9:48
Speaker 3: We're spending more time explaining what we do and who
9:50
Speaker 3: we are, so let's just get it out there. It
9:53
Speaker 3: is officially a Stock Valley under forty, so it is
9:56
Speaker 3: open to any individuals under the age of forty within
9:58
Speaker 3: the Sock Valley region. I don't care where you work, live, play,
10:01
Speaker 3: whatever that looks like. If you're under the age of forty,
10:04
Speaker 3: and want to get involved. We welcome you to do so.
10:08
Speaker 3: So the part of the rebrand is they're kind of
10:10
Speaker 3: refocusing right now. They really want to work on some
10:13
Speaker 3: networking aspects. So a lot of times when a business
10:17
Speaker 3: hires on some young individuals or maybe even have some
10:19
Speaker 3: summer interns, they bring them to the chamber and they say,
10:22
Speaker 3: we want to plug them into the community, we want
10:24
Speaker 3: to get them involved, we want to get.
10:25
Speaker 2: Their hooks in them. How do we do it?
10:27
Speaker 3: And so I take those individuals, usually one on one,
10:31
Speaker 3: and I introduce them to places like Keiwanis, Rotary, some
10:34
Speaker 3: activities that they want to get involved in, things that
10:37
Speaker 3: matter to them. So we're trying to do that on
10:38
Speaker 3: a broader scale now. So we're trying to bring together
10:42
Speaker 3: all of the individuals under the age of forty that
10:44
Speaker 3: really want to call this place home and make their
10:47
Speaker 3: impact on it and see where they want to be
10:50
Speaker 3: involved and then bring those opportunities to the table. So
10:53
Speaker 3: one of the things we did in January was we
10:55
Speaker 3: brought individuals from Kiwanis and from Rotary and from Sock
10:59
Speaker 3: Fail Leadership Program and Professional Women's Network individuals that we're
11:03
Speaker 3: all in that age range under the age of forty.
11:05
Speaker 2: To talk peer to peer about why you should.
11:08
Speaker 3: Get involved in this, why you you know, need to
11:10
Speaker 3: care about it. Because we know that some of those
11:13
Speaker 3: organizations are aging out, We know that their demographic is
11:16
Speaker 3: getting older. But how do we get some younger recruits
11:18
Speaker 3: into it. How do we get people to care about
11:20
Speaker 3: these organizations that make our community run truthfully, they're the
11:23
Speaker 3: backbone of our community, and how do we keep them
11:25
Speaker 3: young and fresh and have those volunteers that you care
11:29
Speaker 3: about it and want to be involved. So that's what
11:31
Speaker 3: we're working on with the SoC Valley under forty. We're
11:35
Speaker 3: trying to broaden that. We have another networking event coming
11:37
Speaker 3: up in August. It'll be an outdoor one. We're hoping
11:40
Speaker 3: to have some outdoor activities while also just expanding horizons
11:45
Speaker 3: making sure that our individuals under the age of forty
11:47
Speaker 3: feel like they have a network, they have a community,
11:50
Speaker 3: they know people in different industries.
11:53
Speaker 2: You know, maybe we bring some people.
11:55
Speaker 3: We have a lot of people in marketing that just
11:56
Speaker 3: want to meet other people in marketing within other organizations.
12:00
Speaker 2: This is a great place to do it.
12:01
Speaker 3: We have a lot of people that are in nonprofits
12:04
Speaker 3: that just want to meet other individuals in nonprofits maybe
12:06
Speaker 3: have that sounding board, have those people to feed off of.
12:10
Speaker 2: It's a really great way to do that.
12:11
Speaker 3: We also have some people that are just like I
12:13
Speaker 3: like outdoor activities and I want people to go on
12:15
Speaker 3: hikes with me. This is a great area to meet
12:18
Speaker 3: those individuals and just build that network in that community
12:21
Speaker 3: here so that they have a place to call home.
12:25
Speaker 3: We know that people are moving out right, they're going
12:27
Speaker 3: to universities and they're.
12:28
Speaker 2: Not coming home.
12:29
Speaker 3: But how do we build that area that makes them
12:32
Speaker 3: want to come home?
12:33
Speaker 1: Sure? Absolutely, And through this group you're able to again
12:38
Speaker 1: connect with this age group, this especially important age group,
12:42
Speaker 1: as you mentioned Dallas, the under forty age group, which
12:44
Speaker 1: is the future, you know, which are the leaders coming
12:48
Speaker 1: in and taking over and taking part in, you know
12:51
Speaker 1: what shaping our communities. You know. And again you mentioned,
12:58
Speaker 1: you know, the keystroone group more into the under forty group.
13:03
Speaker 1: I mean, is there any other criteria other than being
13:05
Speaker 1: just under forty dead?
13:07
Speaker 3: Okay, Nope, there's not. And I'm going to be really honest,
13:10
Speaker 3: I'm not checking id's at the door there you go, Okay, okay,
13:13
Speaker 3: but no, there's no criteria to it. And the reason
13:16
Speaker 3: that we did that is because we know that our
13:17
Speaker 3: millennials are getting a little bit older. Maybe their priorities
13:20
Speaker 3: aren't the same as our twenty year old that is
13:22
Speaker 3: just in their very first job, right, So we're trying
13:25
Speaker 3: to keep that group making sure that it's younger, it's fresher,
13:28
Speaker 3: it supports all the needs. Because we're starting to span
13:30
Speaker 3: such a big age range. There's a lot of life
13:33
Speaker 3: that's happening within those years. There was a lot of
13:36
Speaker 3: life that was happening within those keystone years. We're seeing
13:38
Speaker 3: people get married, have kids, you know, move, do all
13:42
Speaker 3: the things. So we're trying to just narrow in that
13:46
Speaker 3: focus so that we can better support those individuals. And
13:49
Speaker 3: we're hoping that under the age of forty that age range,
13:52
Speaker 3: you know, right now we're really looking at most of
13:54
Speaker 3: our individuals are between the ages of nineteen and thirty
13:57
Speaker 3: eight ish, and you know, we all have very similar goals.
14:02
Speaker 3: Even though they might come from a lot of different
14:04
Speaker 3: walks of life, they have a lot of different things
14:06
Speaker 3: going on in their lives. They're very like minded individuals.
14:09
Speaker 3: So we're trying to help those people create that community
14:12
Speaker 3: that they're looking for.
14:13
Speaker 1: Sure and putting the word out now with the Stuck
14:17
Speaker 1: Valley Area Chamber again kind of guiding through than this
14:21
Speaker 1: group that has been established. And that's good that you've
14:25
Speaker 1: established the group and now you're kind of rebuilding, so
14:28
Speaker 1: to speak, rebrand as you mentioned.
14:30
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, and you know, things always change, things have
14:32
Speaker 3: to evolve to stay current. And the individuals that were
14:36
Speaker 3: very active in it. We have some that have been
14:37
Speaker 3: very active from the very first day and they just
14:40
Speaker 3: have said, you know, I think that we need to
14:43
Speaker 3: find like a.
14:43
Speaker 2: Fresh direction for this.
14:45
Speaker 3: We think that this is the feedback we're hearing, and
14:47
Speaker 3: if this is the feedback we're hearing, we want to
14:48
Speaker 3: make sure we're catering to those people that want to
14:50
Speaker 3: be involved. So when we hear that feedback, we want
14:53
Speaker 3: to be able to make those changes.
14:54
Speaker 1: How can people get more information about this?
14:57
Speaker 2: They can call me, they can email me.
14:58
Speaker 3: They can go to our website, so my email is
15:01
Speaker 3: director at SoC Valley Area Chamber dot com. Or they
15:05
Speaker 3: can give us a call at the office. The number
15:07
Speaker 3: is eight one five six two five two four zero zero.
15:11
Speaker 3: They can stop buy the office. We have all the
15:13
Speaker 3: information on our Facebook and on our Instagram accounts.
15:16
Speaker 1: Too, So okay, so there are many ways again to
15:19
Speaker 1: get the information again to uh again uh become involved
15:23
Speaker 1: in this very important age group and this again uh yeah,
15:26
Speaker 1: rebranding and retooling and again working with these particular age groups, uh,
15:34
Speaker 1: you know, and getting them established and getting them in
15:37
Speaker 1: the right direction obviously that again stalk Elly Area Chamber
15:41
Speaker 1: wants to do and continuing uh their build on this
15:44
Speaker 1: uh is great. I think, you know, just just to
15:47
Speaker 1: keep it going and you know, like you said, just
15:49
Speaker 1: a little tweak here and there.
15:51
Speaker 3: You know, Yeah, I mean it's necessary for anything.
15:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got to keep it.
15:54
Speaker 1: First exactly, you know, just just tweaking and and keeping
15:57
Speaker 1: it running smoothly through the Stock Valley Area Chambers. So
16:01
Speaker 1: again call them or go online with their very many
16:04
Speaker 1: social networking areas and again get involved in Stock Valley
16:08
Speaker 1: Area Chamber activities, starting with the business after Hours on
16:11
Speaker 1: July seventeenth, working into August with their Steak Frime, their
16:15
Speaker 1: Hot Dog Days, lots of activities on the SOK calendar
16:18
Speaker 1: as well, and Dallas Knack was here to tell us
16:20
Speaker 1: all about it here at Wixon. Thanks for your visit today.
16:23
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
16:23
Speaker 1: Our executive director of the Stock Valley Area Chamber of
16:26
Speaker 1: Commerce Dallas NACK our friend today here at Wix, and
16:29
Speaker 1: let's