Latest / The Dave Allen Show / 06/17/2024 The Dave Allen Show on 580 Live - Ray Whiting, Tim Brady
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- 0:00Unlock your dream property with Meex Realty Group, where Rich the realtor makes real
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- 0:24WVRC Media. From the studios of WVRC Media. The country, the United
- 0:31States of America, the state West Virginia, the city Charleston. This is
- 0:39the Dave Allen Show on five eighty Live, and your host. What we've
- 0:45got here is heil the Milk's kind of a big deal. I have come
- 0:51here to chew bubble gum and check out got am all out of bubble Dave
- 0:57Allen, Good Monday Morning to you. Welcome to the show. Ryan Nicholson
- 1:03is our producer Today, Big Lee Pigley Wiggly Hotline three zero four three four
- 1:07five fifty eight fifty eight Fruit Pharmacy Texts three zero four nine three five five
- 1:11zero zero eighth The Day Island Show on fine. Any life comes to you
- 1:15from the Parmar Store studio. If there's not a Parmar store near you now,
- 1:18that will be soon. Parmar again fielding the Adelphia Summer Conference Series in
- 1:22Marietta, Ohio, only a ninety minute drive for downtown Charleston. Weekend one
- 1:26features the Wallflowers on Friday, June twenty eighth, plus Struggle Jennings, Blacktop,
- 1:30Mojo, Bubble FLYX, Cowboy Killer Truck Stop and Sybil's Silence on Saturday
- 1:36the twenty ninth, and Uncle Cracker and Black O Brown on Sunday the thirtieth.
- 1:40For tickets, visit Theodelphia dot com. And remember there's not a Parmar
- 1:44store near you now, that will be soon. And when I brought to
- 1:46you by Thornhill Otter Group including Thornhill Mitsubishi on the Thornhill Motormile US one nineteen
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- 2:00First of all, I me to say this, if you're traveling in eastbound
- 2:02into the city this morning, well it's been one accident, one delay after
- 2:07another on I sixty four East. So please please please please use caution.
- 2:13I mean I say use caution because you're not gonna be going more than about
- 2:15ten miles an hour, so that some accidents happen there too, So just
- 2:20be prepared for some delays come out of this morning. The celebration of June
- 2:23teenth, it's a holiday, and it's this Wednesday. Celebrations commemorations going on
- 2:29nationwide. There was one of the Capitol Grounds on Saturday. There's gonna be
- 2:31another one Wednesday in downtown Charleston. Ray White in one of the organizers of
- 2:36that event on Wednesday. He's going to join us momentarily. Also coming up
- 2:39a little bit later on Tim Brady with the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureaus.
- 2:43So many big events going on this summer in the city where God has covered
- 2:46up. Winding Jazz Festival is going on as we speak, and we're gonna
- 2:52look back into last month when the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships were held in
- 2:57Charleston. They're still compiling the economic impact of that event. But I wanted
- 3:01to get with Tim to get some of the preliminaries on how it. Wendy
- 3:05was on with Coop on one of the days I was out, but I
- 3:07haven't had mister Brady on since the event, so you'll be coming up a
- 3:09little bit a little bit later on. Plus your calls and text are welcome
- 3:14to again big Ley Pickley Wiggly Hotline three zero four three four five fifty eight
- 3:16fifty eight for pharmacy text three zero four nine three five five zero zero away.
- 3:22This Wednesday's Juneteenth, and for some people it's a new thing, but
- 3:25for many others it's been commemorated for a number of years, decades. In
- 3:30fact, there was unveiled as I said, held at the Capital on Saturday,
- 3:35and another one in conjunction with the City of Charleston happening Wednesday at slack
- 3:38Plasa. Ray Whiting is the committee chair for the event at Slack Pousa,
- 3:40and he joined us now via the big Ley Piggley Wiggily hot Hotline. Ray,
- 3:45Good morning, welcome to the show. Goodbrye and Dave Allen. How
- 3:47you doing. I'm doing fine, Thanks for being here. Educate us a
- 3:51little what exactly is June teenth? Okay, when President Link came up with
- 3:58the Special cruct Nation three. It was both free up the slaves, and
- 4:03in some areas slavery was still going on until June nineteen of eighteen sixty five,
- 4:09where General Gordon Granger made the final proclamation that all slaves were freed,
- 4:15and they started in Galveston, Texas. So it started eighteen sixty five,
- 4:19So that's when it fully became as far as slavery fully ended. That is
- 4:25the reason for June nineteenth. But you've run together, it's called June Team,
- 4:30and I think it's interesting. I've done a little bit of homework on
- 4:32this over the last couple of years as well that even though as you said,
- 4:35the proclamation was signed, the word I mean, they didn't have Twitter,
- 4:39you know, they didn't have their cable television, so it took a
- 4:42little while for the word to get to everybody, right, correct, Yes,
- 4:46I mean not that you were there, By the way, I do
- 4:47want to say that you were not there, right, I have old man,
- 4:50but not that old. I had to take that shot. Editor's not.
- 4:54Ray and I are actually very good friends, and as good friends,
- 4:56well, we're as good as friends as you can be when one's a Steeler
- 4:59fan and the other tra cow boy fan. So that comment was made with
- 5:01a lot of luck. So what took it so long for this to become
- 5:06observed by everyone in your opinion? Right? Well, because again it kind
- 5:15of goes back to the social aspect because again and some people they say,
- 5:21well, why not celebrately fourth as Independence Day? Well, if you think
- 5:27about it, when America became America in seventeen seventy six, if you read
- 5:31the Constitution, people of color will consilled three fifths human and so and the
- 5:40thing is when people question that, you know, I say, if you
- 5:44listen to the speech of Fresh Douglass, he says, what does July fourth
- 5:51mean to the Negro Because again from seteen seventy six to eighteen sixty three,
- 5:57when America was America, we're still slate. So but but coming to today,
- 6:03uh, I think it's just a matter of of jubilation that you know,
- 6:14it needs to be honored and celebrated. Within Ray and again we're talking
- 6:17with Ray White, and who's the committee chair for the Juneteenth celebration is going
- 6:20to happen this Wednesday and Slack Plaza in Charleston conjunction with the City of Charleston.
- 6:26Within the black community. Ray, has this been something that's been commembered
- 6:30because I said, I mean, I said decades, but I mean I
- 6:33think he could say probably, you know, a century that this has been
- 6:36Is it Has it been as big of deal as what it should be within
- 6:40the black community or people of color? Yes? Yes, and it is
- 6:44very is very popular in the state of Texas. Uh my, my pastor
- 6:48Paul Dunn, he is from Texas and Texa Natives and he talks about how
- 6:53big is in Texas. So yes, in the black community, some people
- 6:59do celebrate it, you know, give and it depends on how folks take
- 7:03it if they want to celebrate it. If not, that's fine, that's
- 7:05on now. But uh, it should be commemorated because again, this is
- 7:09something that took place in American history and what kind of teaching moment could it
- 7:16be? Could it be for everyone else? Because we don't want to think
- 7:20about this as just I mean, the whole idea behind let's say Martin Luther
- 7:24King Day, when it first became a thing in a federal holiday, was
- 7:27everything is It wasn't just for you know, as you said, people of
- 7:30color, I mean, it was it was to educate people about the teachings
- 7:33of doctor King. Do you see this June teenth as something that this is
- 7:39for everyone. This is for everyone, but again mainly is about people of
- 7:45color because again because of what we've been through through the struggle throughout the years.
- 7:49Because think about this, two hundred for six years of slavery, ninety
- 7:54two years of Jim Crow and if you really think about it, the last
- 7:59thing that would that's really helpful to African Americans was the Civil Rights Act ninety
- 8:07sixty four, Voting Rights Act nineteen sixty five, in a Housing Act in
- 8:09nineteen sixty eight, all by LDJ. So that's about it, really,
- 8:15and so there are some things that still need to take place. But again
- 8:18we need to come together. And again and I don't mind having the conversation
- 8:20with anybody. I mean, I just hope that they have an open mind
- 8:24and not be mad because again this is what took place. And again,
- 8:28let's make it right. Let's all come together. Doctor Ray Whiting again,
- 8:33who is the program chair for the event the Juneteenth. The commemoration is going
- 8:37to be Winnesday and Charleston today, violand show and five Idea Life presented in
- 8:41part by Pinnacle Consultants whether you're replacing a rough freemodey in the kitchen or replace
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- 8:58Pinnacle Consultants. Because what you don't know can hurts you. Now it's Wednesday
- 9:03at Slack Plaza. What time does everything get underway? The parade starts at
- 9:05eleven o'clock at the King Center and then from the King Center is going through
- 9:11Court Street up Quarrier and then Summer Street leading into Slack Plauza, and then
- 9:18the lineup goes. There will be opening prayer and welcome Back. Twelve am
- 9:22twelve pm. Twelve twenty will be a June tenth Insight by Reven Dunn.
- 9:28Twelve thirty will be a love performance by the Jordan dire Trio. Twelve fifty
- 9:33five presentation of June tenth Winners. One fifteen pm there will be a Youth
- 9:37Spotlight Poetry and dance presentations. Three twenty will be a live performance by four
- 9:43Chill. Three fifty five will be a live performance by the Capital City Fellowship
- 9:48Choir. Four fifty five will be a live performance by Stratus, and five
- 9:52thirty will be a culture marks and prayer. And where can people? I
- 9:56know you threw out a lot of information. There is there a is there
- 10:00a pretty good like Facebook page. We had a website out there. People
- 10:01can go look up all the individual times. We do have a website.
- 10:05It's juneteenth wv dot com. And Ray, I know a lot of work
- 10:09you and others have put a whole lot of work into this thing. You
- 10:13don't pull something like this off just overnight, man, So go ahead,
- 10:16Dave. I have to say that I have to get a shout out to
- 10:20the crew that really puts it together. Chanta Ellis, Jennifer Farr, to
- 10:24marry You, Banks, Karen Williams, Jamie Claire Woodson, Dax Miller,
- 10:31Trent Samuels, Rashan Poor. I mean, I mean just goes on and
- 10:35on and on and again. These folks really put the work in and again
- 10:39I salute them and I appreciate what they've done. Ray, it's always a
- 10:43pleasure to talk to you, my friend. Thanks a lot. I know,
- 10:46I think you were out of town, but you're heading back and we'll
- 10:48see you downtown on Wednesday. Man, thanks a lot, Thank you.
- 10:50You take care. Ray Whiting again, I mean not a bad guy for
- 10:54a Steelers fan, He's really not. It is nine to eighteen in the
- 10:58heart of West Virginia. Their exist to profound force that goes beyond the realm
- 11:01of sports, transcending limitations and fostering the sense of belonging. Special Olympics talking
- 11:05about a remarkable initiative showcase of the latest episode of West Virginia Enrich in collaboration
- 11:11with Huntington, stands as a testament to the power of determination, unity and
- 11:15unwavering support. See of video highlighting Special Olympics at Facebook dot com, Slash
- 11:20five ADWCCHS, big Lei, Pickli Wiggley Hotline three zero four three four five
- 11:24fifty eight fifty eight, Fruit Pharmacy Text three zero four nine three five five
- 11:28zero zero eight to Dave Allen Show and five eighty Live. Brought to you
- 11:31in part by Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm, Tim Brady
- 11:37from the Charleston CVB. We got some Oh I think we may have some
- 11:41numbers to at least some preliminary numbers to talk about about some of these things
- 11:43going on to Charleston. We'll talk to mister Brady right after this from the
- 11:48Parmar Stores Studio on the Voice of Charleston WCCHS. Brought to you by the
- 11:52Eric Jtar Family Businesses. Eric Jtar Family Businesses have been creating jobs in West
- 11:58Virginia since nineteen ninety seven. Make this summer the summer in a new twenty
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- 12:26now that I'm retired, I make a point to journey as much as i
- 12:28can. But when night driving became a challenge, my son and I decided
- 12:33it was time for a doctor's visit to insure my safety behind the wheel.
- 12:37I was worried, but instead of restrictions, we discuss solutions to make sure
- 12:41I can continue on my journeys. Aging can alter how we drive. Take
- 12:45charge of your safety and independence by evaluating your driving skills regularly. Learn more
- 12:48at staysafewv dot com. This message is brought to you by the West Virginia
- 12:52Governor's Iway Safety Program. Aggressive and buy more happiness or something close to it.
- 12:58Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affliates an sure is not avaiable. Else needs Welcome
- 13:01to PoCA Valley, where we've been in business since nineteen oh eight. Today
- 13:05we serve Frown Canal, Putnam and surrounding counties. We believe you deserve banking
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- 13:26Poka Valley where relationships matter. We've reft I see nine twenty even eight islands
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- 13:54nine three five five zero zero eight. Hoppykerchful back in a big chair at
- 14:00for a week's vacation. He'll be hosting talk Line from the Incovia Insurance Studios
- 14:03and the Dale Miller Building. Morgan's out coming up at ten o six.
- 14:05West Virginia Revenue Secretary Lady Pack on the show today. Dave Callahan, who
- 14:11is the President of the Marcelas Shale Coalition, on the opening of the Mountain
- 14:13Valley Pipeline, plus Jonathan Savage, Ryan Schmels from Fox News Radio and more.
- 14:18Hobby Kirsch will coming up at ten o six with talk Line. Tim
- 14:20Brady from the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau joins us. Now, mister Brady,
- 14:24good morning, Welcome to the show, Dave, Thanks for having me.
- 14:26Always always a good time to be here. Always been rocking the Pirates
- 14:31at today. Yeah, this is the old school Pirates logo late seventies,
- 14:35early eighties. My first sports memory was the seventy nine World Series. I
- 14:39remember watching that with my grandfather and that's when I fell in love with the
- 14:41with the Pirates. So I'm rocking the old school logo till with the we
- 14:45are family and it's chop Stargel and the whole. So now you're originally from
- 14:48the Northern Yeah, I grew up grew up in Clerksburg, and that's part
- 14:52of what led to the not That's why I'm here to talk about. But
- 14:54you know in Clerksburg, you're in the Pittsburgh tv DM exactly. You grew
- 14:58up watching Katie Ka and WT and w p X I. So I grew
- 15:03up watching Katieka and Pirates games with my my grandfather. Now down here it
- 15:07was most mostly rare. So there's a few Pirates fans here there, sure,
- 15:09But I want to talk about the cycling event in Charleston. To say
- 15:13it was a success, I think would be an understatement. You folks the
- 15:16CVB city at Charleston, you knew it was going to be big, or
- 15:20you wouldn't have gone after in the first place. But what is it the
- 15:24success you thought it would be. It blew every expectation that I had out
- 15:28of the water. You know, we're still I will be honest, we're
- 15:31still digging through a lot of the data. We don't have the full economic
- 15:37impact report ready. Yeah, we're still still working on it. Hope to
- 15:39have that ready soon. But you know, just in some of the initial
- 15:43you know, research that we've done on it, one of the things that
- 15:48I found most fascinating was, you know, visitation during that time frame was
- 15:52up comparatively speaking, but then when you look and we have the ability to
- 15:56look at you know, the density of crowds and populations in say, downtown
- 16:02Charleston during that event. So visitation was up, but visitation share, which
- 16:07is the number of visitors compared to the number of locals, was actually down.
- 16:11And that's a fascinating statistic because what that tells you is, yes,
- 16:15visitation was up, we had more out of town people in downtown Charleston,
- 16:18but there were so many locals there and engaged in the event that the visitation
- 16:23share was actually down. So that's honestly, it's kind of the best of
- 16:26both worlds because we're driving visitation, but then we're also getting people out from
- 16:30the community active. And I will say that the community engaged with this event
- 16:34in a way that I had hoped for, but it blew our minds.
- 16:40How engaged the local community was. The community of Charleston embraced this event and
- 16:44that was really great to see. And so many people volunteered for the event
- 16:48because you can't have an event like that. And I was talking to Matt
- 16:52something last time he was on the show, and the governing body of this
- 16:56organization said that in other areas. I guess they were in Knoxville for a
- 16:59while, and the folks in Noxille did a great job with when they had
- 17:03it. But I think it was Sutton that said to me that, you
- 17:06know that the organizers said that they didn't always have the community buy in at
- 17:10events, even similar events like this, because you can't pull off an event
- 17:15like this in a geographic location tim like Charleston without buy in. And I'm
- 17:21not just talking about fans, I'm talking about people sweating downtown off sweat equity
- 17:26to pull this thing off. Yeah, we had about two hundred and twenty
- 17:29five volunteers. We'd like to get up to three hundred next year because we
- 17:32still see a need for additional volunteers. But the volunteers we had were really
- 17:37great. I mean, they showed up, They they spent long hours in
- 17:40the heat. You know, the volunteer agement was one of the best parts
- 17:45of this, Between that and just the fan engagement in areas like Slack Plaza
- 17:49and at the start finish line and Works Avenue. I can't say enough great
- 17:55things about the residents and the families that live over on Worts Avenue. They
- 18:00absolutely embraced this event coming through their neighborhood on Saturday and Sunday, and they
- 18:06volunteered as a group. They cheered, they made posters, they were engaged
- 18:11with the racers and the race organizers as they came through the neighborhood. So,
- 18:15you know, Wurtz Avenue is kind of now our model for how do
- 18:17we want this to be in other areas of the city. We want neighborhood
- 18:21engagement like what we had on words. So they really set the bar for
- 18:25next year. And I couldn't be more pleased with how that sort of that
- 18:29area of the race turned out. Talking with Tam Brady again from the Charleston
- 18:32CVB the Dave Island Show in five Any Live is brought to you a part
- 18:34by your hometown baseball team, The Charleston Dirty Birds off night tonight for the
- 18:38Birds. They begin a three game a road trip tomorrow with Lexington. They're
- 18:41back at home Friday night facing Gastonia. Tickets, merchandise, Dirty Birds,
- 18:45a gear, and more visit dirty Birds Baseball dot com. Now, I
- 18:48know you said that you wouldn't have the figures. Maybe the next couple of
- 18:51weeks, a couple months, something like that. But overall, and I
- 18:55mean, let's talk some dollars and cents here. You and I are both
- 18:56CVB guys. I have the honors serving his present and the Putnam County CVB.
- 19:02So I understand the concept of heads and beds, and there were a
- 19:03lot of them, Yeah, a lot of heads and beds, and a
- 19:07lot of heads in Airbnb beds. This was a great driver for Airbnb activity
- 19:12in the city of Charleston. Many airbnb's. Off the top of your head,
- 19:15do we have here? IM sure? You know that's It's a question
- 19:18that I get all the time, and it's a little bit hard to answer
- 19:21because you know, some of them are registered with the City of Charleston in
- 19:25the Collection's office, and I think some of them probably aren't. And you
- 19:26know, we're Ballpark two hundred Okay, there is that reason I asked that
- 19:33is because I was in a meeting not long ago with Joe Stevens from the
- 19:34city of Nitro, and he was talking to telling me about the number of
- 19:40bed and breakfast area airbnbs that there are in Nitro, and I had no
- 19:44idea that there were that many. All right, I got off subject.
- 19:47But let's talk about the heads and beds and people that came in, because
- 19:48there's a whole lot. Yeah, a lot of a lot of heads and
- 19:52beds. We had ballpark five hundred athletes. They traveled with teams, they
- 19:56traveled with friends and families. They stayed four five six days total across the
- 20:04day range of the event. Hotel occupancy was up. Airbnb occupancy was up
- 20:11incredibly significantly. The riders like the airbnb's because they can stay in a whole
- 20:15house as a team and sort of be together and they've got their bikes and
- 20:18their stuff and it's you know, so it's airbnb friendly. But yeah,
- 20:23visitation, visitation was up, occupancy was up. We expect an incredibly strong
- 20:29economic impact report when we finally get all those numbers. And the reason it's
- 20:32taken us a little longer is because number one, it was such a a
- 20:36spike and visitation, so there are a lot of things to look at,
- 20:37but also the companies that we use to analyze or aggregate rather this data.
- 20:41This is event season, so everybody's running a little bit slow because there are
- 20:45a whole lot of communities like Charleston that are expecting and asking for this data.
- 20:49So it's taken us a little bit longer. But the other thing is
- 20:52now we're kind of at the point where we're working on dates for next year.
- 20:56Because we have this event for five years, there may be something to
- 21:00the idea of releasing dates and economic impact at the same time. So dates
- 21:04for twenty twenty five we're working on those. Now, what did you learn?
- 21:08What did you and the organizers learn from this particular event to say,
- 21:11because anytime you have an event, there's an after action plan. You said
- 21:15then and say, well this worked. Maybe I want to say it didn't
- 21:18work, but maybe we could improve on this little bit on some things you
- 21:21want to improve on. Well, I think, first of all, I
- 21:22will say, and it's one hundred percent sincere when I say this. The
- 21:26list of things that we can do better is very small because a whole lot
- 21:30of people. A big team made this thing work through months and months of
- 21:33planning and logistics and putting it into action. So not a lot, but
- 21:40I will say that number one again, I'd like to have more volunteers next
- 21:42year. We had great volunteers, we just need a few more of them.
- 21:45I think. The other thing that we can do better next year is
- 21:49now that we have our heads wrapped around exactly how this thing goes down.
- 21:52Better community engagement and what I mean by that is more opportunities for the public,
- 21:57for the cycling fans, for the just the average Joe and Charleston to
- 22:03interact with racers, with organizers from USA Cycling, to get out on the
- 22:07course themselves, and not participate in the races obviously, but take advantage of
- 22:11the courses. You know, we did in partnership with Regatta, the CVB
- 22:15gave away one hundred bikes to kids from the city of Charleston, free bikes.
- 22:22You know. Next year, how great would it be to take those
- 22:23kids that just got a bike and put them out on the course for even
- 22:26a little stretch of it and let them ride where the pros ride and get
- 22:30more kids engaged with cycling as not just riding bikes in the neighborhood with your
- 22:36friends, but cycling as a sport, as an athletic endeavor. So I
- 22:40think the I think the opportunities for us next year are to create more of
- 22:45those chances for the community, whether they be adults or kids, to engage
- 22:51with the race itself and feel like they are part of the action. Talk
- 22:55with Tim Brady again from the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau. You know,
- 22:57Tim, I was at phone with Dome a couple of weeks ago. You
- 23:00couldn't have got another person on the boulevard and Charleston Bragatta, as you mentioned,
- 23:04coming up, we got wine and jazz, these major soccer events at
- 23:07Shawnee Barbersville. Those events impact the CVB. You even had you know,
- 23:12Yackfest this weekend in Saint Albans huge and that's you know, you can bring
- 23:18a few thousand people there. It all impacts the entire valley here. It
- 23:23does, and that's why you know at the Charleston CVB, and you mentioned
- 23:26being on the board of the Putnam County cv B, and you know,
- 23:30I'm very good friends with their director Kelly Steele and Joe Stevens you named check
- 23:33Joe. Joe and I have a great working relationship. None of us really
- 23:37worry about our municipal boundaries. It is there is a genuine spirit, especially
- 23:44at the tourism level, but really among the cities themselves. But at the
- 23:47tourism level is what I can speak to. We have a great sense of
- 23:49collaboration. What's good for Kelly and Putnam County the Meeks Mountain Trail, that's
- 23:53a fantastic development that just continues to grow and there's tons of opportunity there.
- 23:59That's good for t Arlston, even though it's in Putnam County. You know
- 24:02Joe's pickleball courts as I call them in Nitro. It's in Nitro, but
- 24:07it's great for Charleston. The soccer tournament's going on. There's a US Youth
- 24:10Soccer President's Cup going on right now, and then starting on June twenty seventh
- 24:14is the National Championship East Regionals at Shawnee and at Barbersville. That's great for
- 24:21Charleston too. You know the old cliche, which I kind of hate now
- 24:26it's gotten to the point where I hate hearing a rising tide raises all boats,
- 24:29just because it's so corny, but it's true. And so what's good
- 24:32for them is good for us, and what's good for us is good for
- 24:33them. And we all see that, and we don't care about tourists don't
- 24:37care about municipal boundary lines, and neither do we. And it's amazing to
- 24:41me. And I've got a little bit on this. I may do a
- 24:42little bit later on the show about sports storism because I'm a big proponent of
- 24:47it. I mean, so when people come in for some of these events
- 24:49tamp like you mentioned the soccer outings at Shawnee and Barbers or whatever, sometimes
- 24:53the nearest hotel may be an hour away. That's right, Well, that's
- 24:57right. I mean, if you're playing in one of those big soccer tournaments.
- 25:00I can tell you a couple of years ago we had people staying in
- 25:04every hotel between Huntington and Beckley. Even Chief Logan Lodge had had soccer teams
- 25:11staying there and driving up for play at Shawnee. So yeah, it does.
- 25:18But you know, again, I just I'm sort of at this point
- 25:21in my career where now I'm also looking at bigger picture thoughts and ideas.
- 25:25And a family comes here and they have a great time. And it's not
- 25:29out of the realm of possibility to say that one day they're looking to relocate
- 25:32and they remember what a great time they had in Charleston. So looking at
- 25:33everything holistically, it's yes, it's great for tourism and the heads and beds,
- 25:38but you know, we talk about economic impact. I'm talking a lot
- 25:41more these days about community impact and giving people a sense of place and making
- 25:45them proud of where they live, but also show showcasing this community as a
- 25:49place where other people might want to come and live. So you know,
- 25:55if we grow organically that way, then the sky's the limit for how big
- 25:59tourism can be come in Charleston and in the metro valley and in the state
- 26:03of West Virginia. And then before we let you go, I want to
- 26:04mention our good friendship Paul Smith. I'm gonna take it home to James Beard
- 26:07Award in Chicago last week. How cool is that? Oh my gosh,
- 26:11that was an amazing accomplishment for Paul, but also an amazing accomplishment for the
- 26:17staff of ten ten Bridge, Paul's team, Paul's support structure. An award
- 26:22like that and Paul would be the first one to tell you that an award
- 26:26like that doesn't happen without the hard work and the buy in of a whole
- 26:29lot of people. So, you know, the staff at ten ten and
- 26:32Paul specifically, are you know a lot of what's good about the city of
- 26:37Charleston. The mayor and I had the opportunity to go up last week.
- 26:40It was it wasn't a media event, it was just us going up and
- 26:45it was really her and I got to tag along to thank them. But
- 26:48I told the staff, I said, you know, when people compliment the
- 26:52CVB on something great, like the cycling race that's happened, my standard response
- 26:56is we have a great team that's working really hard to make this place better.
- 27:00And that's what the staff of ten ten Bridge is doing as well,
- 27:03and other restaurants in the city and right now, and you mentioned all of
- 27:07these great things that are happening, and we haven't touched on probably half of
- 27:11them, but all of these great things that are happening in our city and
- 27:14continue to happen throughout the summer, it's because there's a really great team of
- 27:18people working to make this place better. And I'll fall and I'll end on
- 27:22this as far as because I'm a you know, I'm a food gap.
- 27:25I'm a foodie. I'm a foodie. Charleston and Chef Paul and I talked
- 27:29about it before the event that I had him on the morning after he went,
- 27:32Charleston is becoming a place that people are looking and that and that helps
- 27:36you because you can market it one hundred percent. One hundred percent people travel
- 27:41for food. There is a culture of people. Just like when the new
- 27:42National Park opened at the New River Gorge, we know that there is a
- 27:47subset of the tourism population that travels because they want to visit every National Park.
- 27:52There is a huge subset of the tourism pop tourist population that travels for
- 27:56food because they want to go to James Beard resta James Beard Award winning restaurants.
- 28:00Now we can say in the city of Charleston we have a James Beard
- 28:03Award winning chef and a James Beard Award winning restaurant. People will travel for
- 28:08that. People are already traveling for that. And that's just as you said,
- 28:12that's one more arrow in the quiver for us to market Charleston as this
- 28:17really great destination, whether it be for travel, sports, food. We
- 28:22have a great music scene and an art scene, and it's walkable and we've
- 28:25got all of these cool things happening and booking great concerts at the coliseum.
- 28:27So yes, it's huge for us for Paul to win that award. And
- 28:32I can't thank him enough because you know, he stood on that stage and
- 28:34talked about Charleston, West Virginia to a population of people that will travel to
- 28:37eat in his restaurant. Absolutely one percent. Tim is going to be a
- 28:41busy summer. It's already started already. It's not even officially summer yet.
- 28:45That doesn't happen later this week, but we'll see at all these events.
- 28:48Man, I appreciate you being here. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Dave,
- 28:49always appreciate it. Tim Brady from the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
- 28:53The Dave Allen Showing five eighty Live is brought to you part by Bridge Valley.
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- 29:15WCCHS. Brought to you by the Ericjtar Family Businesses. Ericjtar Family Businesses are
- 29:22small businesses with big impact, including generations, physical therapy, and snap fitness.
- 29:27If you use tobacco, chances are you've thought about quitting, and all
- 29:32of us at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network think that is truly awesome.
- 29:36Quitting is tough. It requires commitment and support, but first it requires
- 29:41thinking of quitting. You've taken the first step on your own. The West
- 29:44Virginia Tobacco Quitline can help you take the next one. Call one eight hundred
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- 29:52tobacco for good. Quitting is tough, but West Virginians are tougher. You've
- 29:57got this. Hey, it's Dave val Stores and now that the warm weather
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- 31:26com, twenty two minutes away from ten. Ryan Nicholson Design Producer Today,
- 31:45Big Lee Pigly Wiggly Hotline three zero four three four five fifty eight fifty eight
- 31:49for pharmacy texts three zero four nine three five five zero zero eight. Rest
- 31:55of the show is yours or mine, both of us because I got some
- 31:59things I want to get into as well, but as always do have some
- 32:00text to get to a gets room here momentarily, could you use five hundred
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- 32:23Halfway Market in Milton, Pew Furniture of Charleston, East Coast Ts and Nitro
- 32:28Shuckers of Saint Albans and Tractor Pros at Saint Albans. We're gonna draw the
- 32:30winter. July twenty seventh during a special event at eight is the Outlet in
- 32:34Saint Albans. Starting at ten am, Great Gas Giveaway is presented by WVRC
- 32:37Media Charleston and Parmar Stores. If there's not a part of Oar store near
- 32:40you now, there will be soon. Going back to June tenth, tex
- 32:45says Dave. Juneteenth is a Texas holiday and an important one. Slavery ended
- 32:50in December eighteen sixty five with ratification of the Amendment. The Emancipation Proclamation actually
- 32:54kept slavery in Union hilld territories, including all of West Virginia. Gallston fell
- 33:00to the Union and was not exempted like West Virginia, says a Texture,
- 33:06And somebody pointed this out to me earlier this morning. Uh and and you
- 33:09know, June teeth is a it's a as I said, We're gonna talking
- 33:14to Ray White and earlier. It is a fairly new holiday as far as
- 33:16observation by a great number of people. But that's on Wednesday, and it's
- 33:23going to be one of Some offices are closed, some offices aren't, you
- 33:27know, kind of a thing. But on Thursday is West Virginia Day.
- 33:31And so if your governmental employee, many of them will take will have Wednesday
- 33:37off and Thursday off. And I know for my time in state government that
- 33:45if you got days off like that, most people will take off Friday too.
- 33:47So for a lot of people, this is going to be an off
- 33:51day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So uh, just know before you go.
- 33:55You may want to contact, you know, people before you head out
- 33:59and make any big plans. Coming up on tomorrow's show, Speaking to Big
- 34:02Events Thursday through Saturday at Oaksfield in South Charleston. And hey, Ryan,
- 34:07check this out. Taco Fest. It's a thing. Three days. I
- 34:13just reading something about it earlier. Three days of tacos, three days of
- 34:16fun, tacos, tequila and mariachi bands. I mean, well, can
- 34:22you not love? One of the organizers is going to join us to talk
- 34:25about it on the show tomorrow. If you didn't get enough floating in over
- 34:30the weekend at Tour de Cole the Benny keatam Shrine is putting together a float
- 34:35the Elk River event. Now that's going to be a week from this Saturday.
- 34:37Chris Witra, our old friend from the Benny Kingdom Shrine, is going
- 34:40to join us to talk about that tomorrow. Plus Kanaha County Commission President Lance
- 34:45Wheeler will be stopping by on the show tomorrow as well. Big Ley Bigley
- 34:49Wiggley Hotline three zero four three four five fifty eight fifty eight Fruit Pharmacy Texts
- 34:53three zero four nine three five five zero zero eight. So I wanted to
- 34:59talk about that you may have heard or read about or seen in the news
- 35:05or whatever. And this didn't happen in Charleston or in the Kanawh Valley,
- 35:08but it actually happened in Huntington. Now, as you know, June is
- 35:15Pride month, celebrating the LGBTQ community, and that's been a thing for some
- 35:22time. There have been events in Charleston at the Ballpark, et cetera,
- 35:25et cetera. So, as best I understand this story, through through several
- 35:31grants, some volunteers placed a giant rainbow on the streets of downtown Huntington.
- 35:43And if you're on social media, I'm sure you've seen the video now,
- 35:46and of the local TV station showed the video some some dude, apparently offended
- 35:54by the artwork, did a burnout on the radio, on the radio on
- 36:01the rainbow defacing him. Now, I'm not sure why he couldn't just drive
- 36:10over it or ignored it if it bothered him so much, But I digress.
- 36:17Well, he did it in broad daylight. Now, I'm not sure
- 36:22what time of day it was, but in looking at the video, and
- 36:24as I said, it's easily available online, it was daylight. And the
- 36:30video has gone viral. Now the guy has been outed by people. They've
- 36:39put his name out. I'm not gonna mention the name because it's not important.
- 36:44But the guy is now being celebrated as a hero by some and as
- 36:53the worst thing since Osama been laden by others. Oh oh oh, and
- 36:59by the way to facing a road, not cool and doing it in broad
- 37:04daylight and a very noticeable truck with your license plate displayed also probably not the
- 37:10smartest thing. I'm not I'm not sure that he'll he'll be charged. I
- 37:19don't know. Uh. There are those though, that want it. I
- 37:22want him charged for this event that took place in Huntington and they want it
- 37:28prosecuted as a hate crime. Now I'm not sure about that. I'm not
- 37:35an attorney or any kind of an illegal expert, but I but I guess
- 37:40my question for the guy would simply be, why what is so fragile about
- 37:52you that you felt the need to do this, and why do you care
- 37:58so much? And look, I have my issues and I'm going to put
- 38:01it out there now with some of the people that some of the people that
- 38:06are part of the lg t b Q movement, mainly because they keep adding
- 38:12letters to it, and I guess the idea is to keep it going until
- 38:16all the letters in the alphabet are used. But you know, and in
- 38:22the time that I've been talking about this, three more letters and symbols have
- 38:24been added. But come on, dude, I mean, maybe I view
- 38:31this a little bit differently, but I simply I simply don't care. I
- 38:38really don't. I have I have friends that are gay, I have people
- 38:40on the show that are gay. I've worked in my career with plenty of
- 38:45gay people. It it doesn't impact me in the least. And I simply
- 38:57don't care who who's sleeps with whom, or who or whom. And it's
- 39:05not a I'll be I'll be accused of taking a liberal position on that.
- 39:08It's not that I'm taking a liberal position. I'm taking and I don't care
- 39:14position. I mean, do you want to be gay? Be gay?
- 39:17You want to be straight? Me straight? Knock you suf out. And
- 39:22as in my way of thinking, as long as you're not involving kids or
- 39:27animals, have at it. I mean, I I simply don't care,
- 39:31and I don't know and I don't I don't know the guy that did this,
- 39:35As I said, you can find his name out there. He is
- 39:37reveling in this whole thing because I did a little dig because I'm nosy that
- 39:40way. I you know, he he's reposting things on Facebook page's being seen
- 39:45as a hero for something for some people. And that's that that whatever whatever
- 39:50floats your boat. I simply don't care what what people do. And since
- 39:57Pride Month has become a thing over the last couple of years, every month,
- 40:01and you see these people that will come out and no pun intended,
- 40:06and will come out and say, you know, well, why don't we
- 40:08do something for the military. Well, we have May's Military Appreciation Month,
- 40:14and One of the things I thought was interesting in reading the comments on all
- 40:17this was the number of veterans that commented on things about it and talking about
- 40:25this guy say look, you know again, this is what I this is,
- 40:30this is why I fought for so again. Just doesn't really matter a
- 40:37whole lot to me who people sleep with. It's none of my business,
- 40:40but it apparently bothers some people. Tex says the homosexual artwork of public property
- 40:46is very highly offensive to most people. We don't ask for that garbage to
- 40:51be placed on taxpayer funded public property, nor do we expect that Huntington is
- 40:55wrong in this and they need to correct their behavior. Well, it wasn't
- 40:58the city of Huntington that did this volunteers, but now I will to the
- 41:02texture's point, they obviously had to had to allow it, and I just
- 41:10I don't I mean, I just I don't care. I just don't care.
- 41:16But if voland showing five any life is proude to you by fresh Air,
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- 41:30Air Filters dot us or call three zero four four four zero one one zero
- 41:35four for fresh air because everyone deserves fresh air. Text says, why do
- 41:39liberals find it appropriate to think it's acceptable that we paint public crosswalks at intersections
- 41:45and colors that indicate someone's private sexuality. That's weird, says a texture.
- 41:52Well, if you've not done so yet, this is not weird. Make
- 41:57sure you download the all new Metro News TV app. You can enjoy your
- 42:00favorite metro news programs talk Line, sports Line, three guys before the Game
- 42:02of More are the new Metro News TV app for Apple, tv iOS,
- 42:07Android, Roku, Amazon, and more. Metro News for your ears and
- 42:09your eyes with the all no all New Metro News TV app. Six Tex
- 42:17says again, I ask why are logos, murals and flags for special interest
- 42:22protector groups like lgbtq BLM all painted on streets. That seems intentional, does
- 42:30it not. It's as if these groups leaders anticipate pushback, so it's all
- 42:36for antagonization. Answer me this. If I paint an American flag on the
- 42:39street and someone desecrates it by burning rubber on it, then would hate crimes
- 42:45be charged filed against the anti American bigot Like them or not, these are
- 42:50legitimate observations and questions, says a Texture Bigley Picgli Wiggly hotline three zero four
- 42:58three four five fifty eight. If for pharmacy, texts three zero four nine
- 43:01three five five zero zero able to check a break. We're back after this
- 43:05from the Palmar Store studio on the Voice of Charleston wcchs. Looking for an
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- 43:27Putnam County Assessor's Office is mandated to ensure your real estate is evaluated properly then
- 43:32fairly. This year, their field personnel will be in the Tays, Valley,
- 43:37Curry and Hurricane districts to revisit homeowners, plus new construction in the county
- 43:42will be assessed. They will be in marked vehicles and we'll have photo ID
- 43:45and business cards. If you have any questions about this process, visit their
- 43:50website at putnamco Assessor dot com. That's Putnamcoassessor dot com. Let's talk about
- 43:57your business phone system. It's old and updated, but you probably think if
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- 44:22Business Systems. We've kept West Virginia's business data safe, secure, and deficient
- 44:25for twenty five years. Beg Leae Pegley Wiggly on Spring Street has served three
- 44:30generations of shoppers since nineteen fifty five as the largest locally owned independent grocery store
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- 44:43the freshest produce and in house deli bakery, great wine selection, and more
- 44:45of your favorite brands. Every purchase gives you a gasoline points so you can
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- 44:54Leipegleywiggly on Spring Street. No One Beats the Pig. It's a metas away
- 45:12from Tambaday Islands show on five Adie Life Rights You're parted by Live Healthy West
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- 45:40four three four five fifty eight fifty eight Fruit Pharmacy Texts three zero four nine
- 45:45three five five zero zero A Texas man, All these guys are afraid of
- 45:50rainbows, like it's just colors. Close your eyes, bro, says a
- 45:53Texter Texas. Why do conservatives get their feelings about inclusive art? It must
- 46:01be because they're hate filled and depressed. Jesus is judging you all by being
- 46:07so hateful to your fellow humans. Texas, Dave, I belong to the
- 46:12id GAD group. I'm with you. I don't give a damn, says
- 46:17Texture Texas. I went to California years ago and thought how bad the murals
- 46:25looked in the city. Now we have them here on buildings, bridge piers,
- 46:28and streets. I think it's terrible, tex says God to get my
- 46:37snarky comment to the right person. Public displays of ideology by tax exempt organizations
- 46:43is outrageous. How could we let this happen? Says it Text Texas says,
- 46:46last time I checked, this is a free country. You can be
- 46:50who you want to be and I don't care. But if Trump gets elected,
- 46:53no more freedom, says a text. But David alan Chow and five
- 46:58Ady Life presented a part by General Hardware of Windfield and Milton General number of
- 47:00Winfield two. For all projects big and small, shop locally, visit General
- 47:05Hardware WV dot com. So from the what's CTV file, he said,
- 47:15tongue in cheek. The first presidential debate is going to set for Atlanta on
- 47:25June twenty seventh, between President Biden and former President Trump. It's going to
- 47:30be hosted by C and n's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. It's a ninety
- 47:35minute debate, including two commercial breaks. Podium positions because everything's important in these
- 47:43things, you know, podium positions will be determined by a coin flip.
- 47:47There will be no studio audience. One of the things that I like about
- 47:53this is that Mike's will be muted when their time is up. Anytime I've
- 47:59watched any of these debates, whether it's two people or ten, and then
- 48:02whether it's national or state wide, whether I've always wondered, why do the
- 48:07MIC's not just cut off completely? You know when your time is up,
- 48:10your time is up, So that's gonna happen. Who has the most to
- 48:15gain or lose in this debate? My way of thinking, clearly, it's
- 48:22Joe Biden that has the most to lose. I'm going to be honest with
- 48:28you. I'm not sure he can go ninety minutes, and I'm not trying
- 48:31to be mean. I'm just steadying my opinion. Trump will be Trump,
- 48:36He'll be rude, he will try to not follow the rules, but let's
- 48:42face it, politics aside. President Biden ain't the fastest guy in the world
- 48:47on its feet. It has potential, in my opinion, to be a
- 48:54absolute train wreck and a sad, sad display for all the world to see.
- 49:06And I think Joe Biden has the potential to really really be exposed here.
- 49:15I really, I really do. I think he has the potential to
- 49:20really be exposed here. So we'll see what happens again, it's coming up
- 49:25at the end of the month. Twenty seventh in Atlanta, Check says along
- 49:35these same lines, Dave, both presidential candidates have a lot of flaws,
- 49:37for sure. We'll look at the policies and that they support. It is
- 49:43clear President Trump has the best polity policies for the company thanks of country.
- 49:50I don't know why I'm having trouble reading today to Texas. Agree with you,
- 49:53Dave, To each his or our own. However, I think a
- 49:57month of celebrating anything is too long. Well how many? And I'm not
- 50:00disagreeing that's the person's opinion, but I mean how many. If you're not
- 50:06of I don't know how. I don't know how many straight people are celebrating
- 50:08Pride month. I mean I'll be honest with you. Now, there are
- 50:12you've seen, you know, if you're on social media, you've seen a
- 50:14lot of people saying, you know, I'm an ally and so on and
- 50:17so forth. I just again, just yay, yay. People do what
- 50:22you want. Texas dude, the paint at American Flag on the road.
- 50:28Texter doesn't understand flag desecration. Painting the flag on the road is desecration,
- 50:32as is all the flag clothing and anything other than flying a flag on a
- 50:37pole and respectfully folding it. It says, it's extra and there is something
- 50:42to be said, you know, for that as well. Some changes for
- 50:45the East End. Cats Skelton with the lead story wv Metro News dot com.
- 50:47The canal manufacturing company on the East Ends about to undergo a twenty million
- 50:52dollar transformation. Charleston Eary Alliance purchased the property. It's nine acres, one
- 50:58hundred and ten thousand square feet and they got it for two million and they
- 51:01plan on churning it into what's been called a modernized innovation center. It's called
- 51:07LIFT, which stands for Learning, Innovation, Food and Technology Center. Marshall
- 51:13University is involved. They want to reuse the existing space in the former warehouse
- 51:17and renovate it, turning it into a center for workforce development, renewable and
- 51:24alternative energy products, and a commercial food hub. The Charleston Pathway Center is
- 51:30expected to be one of the tenants of the new building. They help this
- 51:34whole group. They help people that for one reason or another have fallen out
- 51:37of the workforce and are looking to get back in. Now. The Charleston
- 51:40Food Hub right now, you have my interest also expected to be part of
- 51:45it. They support food based entrepreneurs and the Marshall Green Battery Institute will also
- 51:52be a part of it. It's part of the Marshall College of Engineering.
- 51:54So the Alliance is part of this, as is the Coalfield Development Corporation,
- 51:59City of Charles Elton, the Private of Economy Development for the state West Virginia,
- 52:01International, Yeager Airport, and Advantage Valley all working together on this thing.
- 52:06Morgan News for the area and more. For some people to complain about,
- 52:09go check out Cat Skelton story wv Metronews dot com. All right,
- 52:14gotta go. Thank you. Tim Brady from the Charleston CVB and Ray Whiting
- 52:16from the Juneteenth celebration that Cydniya Charleston doing Wednesday at slack Plaza. Coming up
- 52:22on the show to mar Chris Withrow from the Benny keatam Shrine is on the
- 52:25show. We're gonna talk Taco Fest plus knak Aunty. Commission President Lance Wheeler
- 52:30is on the show today as well. Download the all new Metro News TV
- 52:34app if you haven't already. Hope Kirchwell is back in the big chair of
- 52:37talk Line coming up at ten oh six. Stay cool and enjoy this Monday.
- 52:40I'll see you tomorrow. Till then, have fun and love somebody.
- 52:46FSA ninety six point five FM Charleston at one four point five Cross lanesl UVRC
- 52:52Media Station. We are proud to live here too,