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Holiday Fantasy in Lights Returns: 37 Years of Holiday Magic with IBEW Local 159 · Ask The Experts

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  Speaker 1: 1310 WIBA, Madison in the Morning. Sean Preble with you,
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  Speaker 1: joined in studio this morning by Mike Killian. He is
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  Speaker 1: the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
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  Speaker 1: You may know him as IBEW Local 159. Mike, how
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  Speaker 1: you doing this week?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing great, Sean.
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  Speaker 1: It's good to see you.
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  Speaker 2: You too. Thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 1: It's great to have you. I have a great respect
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  Speaker 1: and fear of electricities.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: We can talk about that out there. We've got a
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  Speaker 1: really fun event coming up, opening November 14th at Olin
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  Speaker 1: Park at the Fantasy and Lights, Holiday Fantasy and Lights.
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  Speaker 1: You can learn more online, fantasyandlights.com. That's fantasyandlights.com. And Mike,
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  Speaker 1: the IBEW has been a major partner and player in
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  Speaker 1: the Fantasy and Lights. Let's talk a little bit about
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  Speaker 1: the background, what the Brotherhood does there, and a little
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  Speaker 1: bit about your guys' involvement.
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  Speaker 2: Sure. So for 37 years, we've been putting this event on.
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  Speaker 2: Started out at Warner Park, and the event had grown
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  Speaker 2: so large that we had to move it just to
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  Speaker 2: accommodate all the traffic. So now it is at Olin Park.
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  Speaker 1: It's a pretty cool event, and it started out at,
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  Speaker 1: you mentioned, of course, Warner Park. I think there were
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  Speaker 1: like 10 or 11 displays originally. Do you know the
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  Speaker 1: number you guys are up to as far as lights currently?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, as far as the displays that we're up to,
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  Speaker 2: we're over 60.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. Do you know how many light bulbs there are
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  Speaker 1: out there?
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  Speaker 2: No, I don't know right offhand because we use a
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  Speaker 2: different– ours are bigger because of the displays. So I
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  Speaker 2: don't know the exact number that are on there.
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  Speaker 1: But– Somebody wants to take the time to count.
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  Speaker 2: They've got a project. Yes, they could.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking of the lights and speaking of electrical stuff, I
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  Speaker 1: know a number of years ago, the Fantasy and Lights
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  Speaker 1: moved from incandescent to LED. That's probably been a major
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  Speaker 1: game changer for that event, hasn't it?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, it has been. So, yeah, we're just trying to
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  Speaker 2: keep up with the times and more energy efficient.
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  Speaker 1: With that, and let's talk about, not just for the
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  Speaker 1: Fantasy and Lights, but also people in general... LED lights
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  Speaker 1: have come a real long way. They're a pretty amazing product,
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  Speaker 1: aren't they?
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  Speaker 2: Very good. And they've made a lot of advancements with them,
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  Speaker 2: you know, so before you can only, you know, wouldn't
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  Speaker 2: be able to dim them. There was no colors. Now
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  Speaker 2: you can do all kinds of different, different stuff that's adapting.
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  Speaker 1: And we're, we're seeing that play out as well at the,
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  Speaker 1: at the fantasy and lights.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, correct. We, we switched everything over to LEDs a
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  Speaker 2: few years ago. And so all our displays are LEDs,
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  Speaker 2: which is really nice. Our retirees put them all together. The, the,
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  Speaker 2: Our retirees start building them in spring and do the
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  Speaker 2: maintenance on them. They get them ready to go. And
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  Speaker 2: then our apprentices help along, too, setting them up, which
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  Speaker 2: they're going to be setting up just next week. And
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  Speaker 2: lights will be coming on the 14th of November.
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  Speaker 1: How long does it take, typically, to set up the displays?
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  Speaker 2: So the guys will be out there at the park
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  Speaker 2: for two weeks setting them all up and getting them
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  Speaker 2: all going.
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  Speaker 1: Is it already powered? Do you guys have to run
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  Speaker 1: lines out there and everything? And I'm getting kind of
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  Speaker 1: probably in the weeds and nerdy on this, but this
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  Speaker 1: probably speaks to your passion. How does that work kind
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  Speaker 1: of behind the scenes as far as making sure all
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  Speaker 1: of those lights operate? Is it something that's pre-installed or
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  Speaker 1: you guys got to run lines everywhere for this stuff?
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  Speaker 2: No, that's a great question. So the majority of it
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  Speaker 2: is underground already that's already put in there. Then we
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  Speaker 2: have specific boxes in there that we just get into
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  Speaker 2: and then run cords from that.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, very, very cool. Talking this morning with Mike Killian.
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  Speaker 1: He is the business manager with the IBEW Local 159.
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  Speaker 1: We are previewing Fantasy and Lights, the holiday Fantasy and Lights.
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  Speaker 1: You can get all the details online, fantasyandlights.com. That's fantasyandlights.com,
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  Speaker 1: as Mike mentioned earlier. kicks off on November 14th at
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  Speaker 1: Olin Park. You're not going to beat the price either.
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  Speaker 1: It's a free event, isn't it? It is a free event.
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  Speaker 2: The only thing that we have is we have donations
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  Speaker 2: as you come through, and that's just to keep the
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  Speaker 2: event free for everybody because even though our members volunteer
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  Speaker 2: to do all this, but just the lights and the
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  Speaker 2: displays and to get logistics and stuff. So anything that
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  Speaker 2: we get in donations goes back into the event, what's
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  Speaker 2: ever left over, we give it to donations through various
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  Speaker 2: charities throughout the community.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's really great to hear. What about for you, Mike?
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  Speaker 1: Is there one particular display that you have a particular
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  Speaker 1: fondness of or anything that you really look forward to
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  Speaker 1: each year? Sure.
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  Speaker 2: So there's one. I'm not going to tell you which
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  Speaker 2: one it is because you guys are going to have
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  Speaker 2: to go around and see all of them and see
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  Speaker 2: the new ones that we have. So there's always new
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  Speaker 2: ones that we put in. We have a few new
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  Speaker 2: ones that are getting this year. Well, one that I
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  Speaker 2: always think is interesting is the one that has– It's
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  Speaker 2: very similar to the Christmas story.
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  Speaker 1: Oh.
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  Speaker 2: You guys will be able to figure it out once
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  Speaker 2: you drive around.
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  Speaker 1: I have a pretty good guess right now. I don't
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  Speaker 1: want to spoil it. I want everyone to cruise through.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to ask you, too, the candy cane thing,
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  Speaker 1: the free candy canes. Do you know what the history
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  Speaker 1: is there? I think for a lot of us, it's
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  Speaker 1: just kind of like a highlight to get the little
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  Speaker 1: candy cane as well. Do you know the story there?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know how. I think just over the years,
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  Speaker 2: we just came to give something away with it. And
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  Speaker 2: that's where they came from. Before you stop by the
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  Speaker 2: donation booth, you get a candy cane. Or if you
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  Speaker 2: have a pet, you get a pet treat.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's such a neat thing. I was going to ask, too, about,
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  Speaker 1: we obviously were talking about the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Also,
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  Speaker 1: as a radio guy on this side, I love the
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  Speaker 1: fact that there's a cool soundtrack. It kind of sets
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  Speaker 1: the mood, sets the ambiance as well. That's going to
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  Speaker 1: be back again this season.
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  Speaker 2: Isn't it? That's correct. Yep, you'll just be able to
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  Speaker 2: go in and you have to... uh get that app
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  Speaker 2: i believe and then and then you'll be able to
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  Speaker 2: play it play the songs as you're.
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  Speaker 1: Driving around i get kids or grandkids.
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  Speaker 2: Yourself i do i have one daughter oh excellent.
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  Speaker 1: Uh is this something for her that she looks forward
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  Speaker 1: to each and every year.
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  Speaker 2: She's out there every year with me when we when
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  Speaker 2: we light them up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah what is it what goes into that like we
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  Speaker 1: talk you talk about the line do you guys do
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  Speaker 1: any kind of like ceremony for when you throw the
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  Speaker 1: switch and officially open the.
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  Speaker 2: Gates yeah so usually we we have there's some media
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  Speaker 2: out there so one of the tv stations or a
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  Speaker 2: few of the tv TV stations stop out. And then, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's kind of a big event because of the construction
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  Speaker 2: that's happening on John Nolan, which the event's still going
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  Speaker 2: to be able to be accessed, probably easier to come
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  Speaker 2: into the south end. But they used to have like
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  Speaker 2: a 5K run. And that, because of the construction, they
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  Speaker 2: moved that this year. But, yeah, it's a pretty big event.
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  Speaker 2: And there's always people in line waiting to go as
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  Speaker 2: soon as we throw the lights on.
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  Speaker 1: Is there a best time to go for folks? Maybe
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  Speaker 1: you've got some kiddos and you want to kind of
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  Speaker 1: expedite things. Is there a better time? Personally, I like
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  Speaker 1: it when it's busiest just because I feel like there's
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  Speaker 1: that great sense of community. But are there times where
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  Speaker 1: it's a little easier for folks that may have impatient
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  Speaker 1: kiddos to.
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  Speaker 2: To drive through? You know, it really varies a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if there's a specific time that is.
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  Speaker 2: One of the times that I always enjoyed is right
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  Speaker 2: after the fresh snow.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And then so you have the lights and then the
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  Speaker 2: glow off the snow. It's kind of neat.
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  Speaker 1: Has with the LED lights also helped some of that?
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  Speaker 1: I know I look as I drive around the neighborhood
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  Speaker 1: and you'll see back in the old days with the
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  Speaker 1: incandescents that gave off heat, these kind of melt the
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  Speaker 1: snow and other things. Those LEDs don't do that because
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  Speaker 1: they're not giving off the same kind of heat. Does
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  Speaker 1: that help as well with some of the setup with
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  Speaker 1: those lights and kind of keeping them looking festive for
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  Speaker 1: the season?
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  Speaker 2: Sure, it makes it a little bit easier. And yes,
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  Speaker 2: it does keep more of the snow around some of
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  Speaker 2: the ones that get kind of toward the ground.
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  Speaker 1: That's fantastic. Talking this morning with Mike Kiliany, of course,
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  Speaker 1: he is with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. And
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  Speaker 1: you guys do a lot of the work, including the
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  Speaker 1: radio interviews, but you guys have partners as well in this,
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  Speaker 1: don't you?
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  Speaker 2: We do. So one of the partners that we have
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  Speaker 2: that with us is the National Electrical Contractors Association, NECA.
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  Speaker 2: So between the partnership between the IBEW and NECA, we
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  Speaker 2: put the displays on for everybody as just something to
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  Speaker 2: give back to the community.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, that is great to hear. And you can learn
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  Speaker 1: all about a holiday fantasy and lights, the website, fantasy
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  Speaker 1: and lights.com. That's all one word fantasy and lights.com.
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  Speaker 2: Even better.
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  Speaker 1: Simply mark your calendar for November 14th. That's when it
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  Speaker 1: kicks off, runs through the holiday season at Olin park. Again,
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  Speaker 1: all the details online, fantasy and lights.com. Those candy canes
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  Speaker 1: or 30 to 10 PM every single night. So you
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  Speaker 1: definitely want to get those as well. It's a great
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  Speaker 1: thing too. If you've got visitors from out of town, uh,
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  Speaker 1: It's such a beautiful thing. You take the trip through
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  Speaker 1: Olin Park, check out the lights. I always like to
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  Speaker 1: go then down John Nolan. To me, that's always, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know if you'd agree with that, Mike. I know
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  Speaker 1: you and I are both kind of originally from the
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  Speaker 1: eastern part of the state. When I have visitors, even
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  Speaker 1: when they're from the Waukesha or Milwaukee area, I love
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  Speaker 1: taking them down John Nolan. It's just such a pretty view.
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  Speaker 1: It's a great view of the city. It is.
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  Speaker 2: We do the same thing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. So you can partner those and pair those
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  Speaker 1: up together. Again, more information online, fantasyandlights.com. That's fantasyandlights.com. Mike,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for all the great work you guys do,
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  Speaker 1: and thanks for joining us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. Really appreciate it. Thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 1: News comes your way next right here on 1310 WIBA.