Latest / Brian Thomas / 2026 Cincinnati Reds Ford Oval of Honor

Transcript

2026 Cincinnati Reds Ford Oval of Honor · Brian Thomas

• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Seven oh six at fifty five Kersee Talk Station. Trying
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to make it a happy Wednesday if you can. I'm
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: making it a happy Wednesday because I'm looking up and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: seeing across the board here Gregor Minsky.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Greg is here to.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Talk about the Ford Oval of Honor event that's taking
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: place on Sunday that I get the benefit of attending,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: as I have since twenty twenty one. Gregor Minsky is
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the Ford Regional sales Manager. Welcome, Greg, It's a pleasure
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to see you, and I'm really excited about the event. Again.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: This is a lot of fun and what just a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: big salute to Ford and everyone involved for hand selecting
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: these veterans and honoring them at the Reds game.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah. No, it's a great event. We look forward to it.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: You and I have done this many years together, and
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: it's always a pleasure to recognize those veterans who certainly
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: deserve the recognition and the love, and to see their
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: families be part of it as well, because I'm guessing
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: a lot of times the families haven't had an opportunity
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: to see their loved one get recognized and appreciated quite
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: like we do on that day.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: No question about it. And let me if I recall correctly,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: is will there be veterans from each branch of the
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: service represented on Sunday at the event?
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Yes?
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Wonderful to hear that Space Force too. Yeah, so yeah,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: this is the first year for a Space Force person.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Isn't it pretty neat? How about that?
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: That's wonderful? So how many? How many years has this
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: been going on? I know the first Ford Oval of
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Honor event was held on nine to eleven back in
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: twenty eleven at Great American Ballpark, But this concept's been
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: going on a lot longer than that.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it has been, and this is going to be
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: the sixty fourth. So it's not just the event we
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: do at Great American Ballpark, which is a great one.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: We will do them across the state of Ohio. It's
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: been into Kentucky, West Virginia. There's been a lot of
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: locations in Indiana. So it's something that's super special. It
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: gives our local area for dealerships an opportunity to give
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: back to the community and to wreck ignize again those
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: who certainly greatly deserve the recognition for what they've done
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: for our country.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: And I understand you have Ford has honored in this event,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: more than five hundred veterans over the life of this event.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it adds up quick.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Since since nine since he said, since nine eleven, in
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: twenty eleven, there's been a lot of folks and all
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: very well deserved of that recognition.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Well there, you know, sometimes it's really cool to be
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Brian Thomas. And one of those days was that the
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: first one when I got to meet do Little Raider
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Mike Griffin. I mean, you know, shaking hands with history
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: right there, that was truly, I mean just great. Not
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: that you know, I'm not discounting any of the other
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: veterans have been able to meet over the years, but
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: that's particularly cool. That's a slice of history.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's unbelievable what these folks have been through.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: And there's reminders that day of the stories and their
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: background and the trials and tribulations, and it's it's it's
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: unbelievable that they've fought through all that for us, and
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: it's it's again an honor for us to be able
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: to recognize them.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: So is Frank going to be there?
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Of course, he is awesome. The legend of Great yea
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: of the four roval of Honority.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: This is kind of his baby is it is, this
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: is his passion project, and that passion certainly comes through.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: And if anyone in the room can sense.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: That, oh yeah, you'll get sermers up your spine and
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: down your spine when you hear Frank address the crowd
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: at the event. Now, is the the the ceremony itself
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: inside the hall they have there at the Reds Hall
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: of Fame, which is where we always do it. That's
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: not open to the public. That's for the family and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: the veterans.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: We would love for it to be open, but because
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: of the size of that room, it is family and
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: as you know, it's jam packed.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: It's hard the way.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Get the family in there, which is a great sign
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: when it's packed from wall to wall. So, yes, it
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: is a private event at the Reds Hall of Fame
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: prior to but then there'll be vignettes and pictures and
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: things shown throughout the game to help those who are
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: at the game see a little bit.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Of what happened.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so I'm going down on the field.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Yes, some will do some will throw out the first pitch,
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: some will bring out the lineup card. There's a lot
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: of interaction and bringing those folks into the game as
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: much as we can.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: So we up in the is it the what is
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: it the boiler rooms?
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: What they call it?
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Up there in the upper left corner of the steam room,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: it's the what is the name of that area?
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: Check?
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Because I was just there last week at Reds game.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: I can't recall anyhow.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: If you look at left field and look up, it's
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: that area up there, you see the veterans and maybe
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: swing by and shake hands with them.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: So what was I mean Ford?
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I understand honoring veterans, but how did Frank and Ford
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: just come to just glom onto this and do this
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: all these years? I think it was Frank's idea. Yeah,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and the local dealerships loved it.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: It's an opportunity to give back, and our dealerships are
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: always giving back in many different ways. Sometimes it's public,
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: sometimes it's not, but it's an opportunity to recognize and again,
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: everyone appreciates more than you can imagine what the veterans
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: have done for us and their key to everything we
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: have today and the freedoms we have.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: So what a great opportunity to do that.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Well, Greg, you and I were talking about that Mustang
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: that three hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Ford Mustang that
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the Nuremberg Ring record car, and yeah, I have a
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: friend Austin is out there from FORID Exchange. He's signed
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: up the paperwork to try to get his hands on
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: one of those guys. Is that going to be subject
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to employee pricing? That is like you are offering that now. Yes,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: they're back in the day. If you were if you
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: worked for like GM or Ford to one of the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: major motor companies, if you got employee pricing, and everybody's
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: always envious about that on the A plan or whatever they.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Used to call it, that's exactly right.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: You're rolling that out to the world.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, right now. It is open.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: There are a few exclusions, the GTDB wanting being one
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: of them, but very few others. But most everything you
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: see on the showroom floor and the dealerships lot is
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: open to employee pricing, and that is for everyone. That's
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: recognition of the United States two hundred and fiftieth anniversary
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: coming up this summer, and the company wanted to do
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: something special for everyone. So it is employee pricing, which
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: is truly a great deal, and it honestly is the
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: same deal that I get as a Ford employee.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Well that's wonderful. And of course this time in our
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: current economy and as cars has gotten as expensive they are,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: that's a nice little perk that we get right now.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: So I used to own them. Most things I told
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: you off air back in right after nine to eleven,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: speaking of which, remember zero percent finites face was everywhere
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: they were trying to get people because oh my god,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you know, the economy shut down and what's going to
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: happen next. So I got a two thousand and one
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Ford SVT Cobra, and I always wanted a muscle car.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: And when I fired that thing, I was like, this
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: is I'm sold.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: You got a car.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: There were only two left in the in the city
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: at the time. So I bought it and I had
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: such a great time with it. I put all kinds
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: of money in it. I changed the I got four
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: ten gears of it, came with three twenty sevens, and
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I just on and on and on, and it was
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: the best time I had, just building that car over time,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: exhaust building, race valve shocks, just I did everything I
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: possibly could. Three twenty seven at the flywheel horse power,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: which at the time was like that was pretty good.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: So when I sold it, I got the rear real
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: horsepower up to three seventy five. That was the work
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: I did in upgrades. But the modern Ford GT the
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: standard or the V eight line, not the real high
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: end line. But this comes out it with four point
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: fifty or something off the showgroun floor.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: It's amazing.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we get a lot of SUVs in the three
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: hundred horsepower range these days.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, imagine flowers come along.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Really has modern technology. So employee pricing for you, just
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: get in touch with a Ford dealer for that.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, yes, any any local Ford dealership would be happy
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: to help anyone. Again, employee pricing is super simple, super easy,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: no negotiation. You walk in, they'll tell you the price
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: and you'll be very happy with that price they give you.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: All right, So the Ford Oval of Honor event? What
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: time does it start for the veterans? And I acknowledge
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: it right up front. We know it's Memorial Day on Monday.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: This is to celebrate veterans, So this is not a
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Memorial Day related thing. It's the fourd to Oval of
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Honor event to honor veterans from various service divisions. So
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: what times the whole thing kick off with times. There
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: is this the baseball game.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: Start games at one. I think you and I need
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: to be there around eleven. I know we dole Earl,
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah we do.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: That's okay, Yes, And he gave tickets to everybody. All
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: None of the families of the veterans have to pay
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: for tickets, correct, They all get taken care of them.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Have a great time, the the veterans and the family
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: that came with them to celebrate. So it's just an
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: all around awesome day. Well, and I have to imagine
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: the tickets of the Reds game are still available, so
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: I hope the weather holds. I'm a little concerned about
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the wash out the time.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Temperature wise, it looks good, but there's a chance of rain.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, we're going to have a great time.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: And thank you Ford, to you, specifically Greg who's the
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: again regional sales manager, to Frank Bodwell, who's out there somewhere.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Even though he's retired, he continues to support the American
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Veterans for his efforts with the Ford Oval of honor events.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: So God bless you Frank for everything that you've done
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: over the years. And I know the veterans truly appreciated. Greg.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: We'll talk again, I guess on Sunday, won't.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: We sounds good and we thank you for your partner an.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Big anything I can do, I only speak for a
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: short period of time. No one wants to hear Thomas
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: ramble on. But it's just a real pleasure to be
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: a part of that wonderful event. God bless your American
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: veteran again, and for those who pay the ultimate sacrifice.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: Monday is the day to contemplate that SEVENOT fifteen. Right now,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: fifty five Kirsity Talks Station, don't go away. We got
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: a little time to talk if you'd like to call
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: in five on three seven four nine fifty five hundred
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: eight hundre