Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 08-06-2026: Melinda Jones talks summer events in Rock Falls

Transcript

Talk Line 08-06-2026: Melinda Jones talks summer events in Rock Falls · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's eight thirty five on your Thursday morning, and as promised,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: it's your double dose of talk line. I'm joined in
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the booth once again by our good friends from Rock
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Falls Tourism Melinda Jones in the studio today. How are you, ma'am?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: I'm good good.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Oh I heard it's actually getting kind of okay outside
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: this morning. Is that that true?
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Nice temperatures?
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah me, but hey, I'll take gloomy over the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: triple digit heat and meat too everything else we've had, so.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, it's nice cyb relief.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: We're gonna start off talking about what we didn't get
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: to last time, and that's eats and beats this weekend.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's coming up on Saturday, August eighth, from
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: five o'clock to ten o'clock. We'll have a couple of
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: food trucks down there, Britos, Sunday Fun Day, t and
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: D Barbecue, Main Squeeze, and then our highlight is having
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: the Freefall Band. And the free Fall Band plays eighties music.
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: They're actually from Freeport, Monroe area, so they bend to
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: rock Falls before, so people know them, so come on
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: down and enjoy their great music.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: I love it. And when when is all this going down?
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: How far is it stretching throughout the day.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: So it'll start at five food trucks and then the
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: band will start from at seven o'clock and play until
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: ten o'clock. So, and I've even seen on Facebook some
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: people are gonna come in their eighties you know, outfits
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: and stuff.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: So it's got to be fun. So our courage are ready.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: To do that. I've seen some cool outfits out there
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: at some of the different celebrations throughout some of the
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: different communities, and so I am looking forward to that. Yeah,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: I have one who loves a good dress up.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Oh there you go.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: So I have an eighties like what were they called
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: like this the jacket and the pants and stuff. I
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: can't remember that there was a certain name for those
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: I had.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: That it like the rhinestone one.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: No, wasn't. It was just all the fluorescent collars and stuff.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: I used it for another event that I was at
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: and I'm like, should I wear that?
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, I don't know, I know, I know, so,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: but yeah, so we're looking forward to it.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: It'll be a good time again, you know, it's free
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: fall great And like I said, they played in Rock
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Falls and the bar that they played at was packed,
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: so you got to you don't want to miss them.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: No, put it on your your calendar. Get out there
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: this weekend. Always something to do. Weather's going to be
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: clearing up, so it's going to be good. But uh,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: you know, speaking of getting out outside and celebrations and
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: things to do. Even even bigger is Aquapalooza.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: Yes, so we're excited. This is our first inaugural event
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: for this. So the Rack Falls River Chase, they had
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: gotten a hold of me and said, hey, can you
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: guys do like a weekend thing, you know, because we've
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: got the racing going on both days, but I'd be
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: nice to have other things going on in the evening
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: and different things. So we pulled together our aqua Palooza,
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: that's what I came up with, and we got the
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Optimus Club. They're going to do a kid's fishing derby
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: and that's going to be at Centennial Park. They have
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: to go to Larsen Shelter to register. Starts about eight
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: o'clock registration and I think fishing is till as at nine,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: So that's a good thing for the cad And then
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: the rockfoot Falls River Chase will happen from ten thirty
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: to five thirty on FOS Saturday and Sunday at Seward's Park.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: They're always fun because the boats go like up to eighty.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Mile an hour.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: They're fun to watch and they'll have different heats and stuff.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: And then the Brotherhood concert will be that night at
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: the Army and W District and that is at seven
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: o'clock they play. We'll have food trucks there about five
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: or so. Brotherhood is actually a classic rock metal band,
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: so we're gonna go from eighties when we get back
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: over to classic rock and metals, so that would be fun.
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: And then we're bringing the event into Sunday, so this
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: is unusual for Rockfalls tourism a two day event, but.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: We're doing it.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: We got a cardboard regatta, so that's where you make
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: your boats out of cardboard and duct tape and we
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: will be at Centennial Park and we'll have awards for
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: that for the most dramatic sinking and you know who
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: got first in their age group and stuff. The registration's
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: about ends on August tenth, so if you planning on
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: doing it, go on our website. There's a registration to
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: fill out. It's ten dollars to register, and then we'll
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: about ten thirty you can come you know, get checked in,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: and then from eleven thirty to twelve thirty everybody can
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: come out and check out the boats, view them, see
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: what they're like, and then the races will start at one.
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: So totally excited about that. Got our trophies. My assistant's
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: very creative and she made cardboard trophies, so that'll be fun.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: And then the Stock Valley Ski Shows duck race that
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: they have every year, and that's actually a fifty to fifty.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: Whoever wins duck wins, they win the fifty to fifty
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: of the money raised and the other half of that
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: money goes back to the Rock or to the Sock
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Valley Ski Shows to hopefully get them off the ground
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: here soon, hopefully within a year or two.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, those are always fantastic shows.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, so we really want them in the area.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: So if anybody you know is interested in help them
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: with that organization, get a hold of Matt Hicks and
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: he would be happy to get you on board and
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: help get that going.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I know he's been very passionate about that,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: but this is just such an awesome day out on
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: the river and along it and just yeah, yeah.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: It's going to be a fun weekend.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: And you know, we've we're hopeful that this will be
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: the first year that next year we can grow it
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: even bigger. So it kind of started out small. We've
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: got a lot of ideas in the back of our
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: head for next year, so we'll just see how this
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: goes this year. But really, get your cardboard boat ready.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: We want to get that going.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it'd be a cool thing. Yeah, I love it.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Most dramatic sinking. I've got a feeling some of these
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: awards are going to be more entertaining than which boat
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: actually stays afloat long right.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, you know.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: And it's for kids or it's for families to get
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: together and make their boat together. Yeah, you know, and
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: in joining the fun of it. And you know, the
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: only requirement is you have to have a life jacket on.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Want any accidents or anything. But it'll just be fun.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: So we have like only three registration so we need more.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, get on out there, get registered. This fun. I
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: remember when I told my wife about it, because she
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: is not a swimmer, so like I had to tell
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: her about the life checket. She was like, and they
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: get in them. I was like, yeah, I was like,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: that's it. Yeah. I was like, it's just the coolest
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: thing if you've never seen it. But what a day,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: seriously out on the water. This is one of those
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: things that you don't get to see everywhere, and we're
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: lucky enough to have it right in her own backyard.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Right especially the Rock Falls River Chase.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: I mean, they used to do it for years when
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: I was even younger, down at Stewart's Park, and then
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: they quit for quite a few years, and then Terry
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: Huks took it over and got it going because he
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: was a lover of it when he was a kid,
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: and he lives right on the Rock River and so
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: he's gotten it going and it's great. I mean, we've
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: got people coming from Michigan and Wisconsin, Iowa to do
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: these races and they bring their boats down there and
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: you can walk down there and actually see their boats
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: and see the crew and everybody. And it's fun, it
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: really is. And everything that we're doing is free. So yeah,
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: that's the other thing, except for the registration for the regatta,
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: but it's ten dollars to help cover our cost of
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: on the other end, and more accountability too, So.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, I love it. I'd love to
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: see more of this because there's really no reason these
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: events couldn't become like the Aquatic Cordova drag strip of
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: the Salton Valley, you know what I mean. So yeah,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: that would be so cool.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so yeah, so come on down, get your boat
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: ready and come down and plan on rocking out on
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Saturday night on August fifteenth, and we'll have a good time.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: And excuse me if you already covered. You just want
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: to double check how to Folks register.
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: They can go to visit Rockfalls dot com, slash Aqua
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Palouza okay, and then or otherwise to give our office
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: to call anytime or stop by too, so really easy.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Follow us on Facebook.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: There's links on Facebook as well, so yeah, just follow
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: everything and you'll be able to find it, so really easy.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: So there you go, online, phone, call in person. You
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: got a way new Excuse anything else you want to
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: share This.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: Morning, we'll be gearing up, but we'll talk about a
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: little later, but just get it on your radar. August
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: twenty ninth is our Art in the Park Sculpture Walk
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: and our outdoor art gallery. We've got over twenty five artists,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: so we'll be down there selling their wares, and then
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: we'll have eight new sculptures to join the other five.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: So we had thirteen sculptures down at the RBNW District area,
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: so that's a big day. While music, we've got wine
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: tasting this year we've added that, so that's a really
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: nice nice day for art and we've got local and regional.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: So that'll be really cool. My wife and I are
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: big art lovers. Got I some might say too much,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I said, I didn't say too much. I just say
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: I need to find more wall space. But I love art.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: So that'll be a really cool one and we'll definitely
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: talk more about that when.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: You're on next definitely.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much for coming in and all
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: the hard work you and everyone over there at Rock
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Falls Tourism does to make sure that there's just so
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: much to do with it community.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Can I give a shout out to a couple.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Of sponsors, yes you can.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: So these are top three spon level of sponsors. We
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: have a lot more, but thank you to everybody, but
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: the top levels are Johnston Oil, socc Valley Bank, CGH
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Medical Center of Rock Falls, Holiday and Express and Suites,
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Losher Heating and air Conditioning, and River Country one on
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: one point seven. So I do want to let you
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: know to that band the concert this weekend with free Fall,
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: that is actually a sponsored by Holiday and Express and
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: Suites really so yes, so they have the prime sponsor
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: of that event.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Well thank you Holiday and in Suites and all the
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: other sponsors. Uh and everybody. Really, you know, we should
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: give a you know, one of those, because so many
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: of these community events just wouldn't be possible without sponsors
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: at all, like most. Oh yeah, it really wouldn't. It'd
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: only be a handful if it was left to other things. Uh.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: And so if you want to be you don't have
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: to be a multinational mega corporation to be a sponsor or.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Anything big or small helps. So you know you heard
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: about these events marking them down. But you can get involved,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: whether it's volunteering. I imagine you guys still use volunteers.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: So whether you can donate your time and effort or
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: you know a little bit of money towards these that's
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: another good thing I would encourage you to as well.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, because every community around here wants to throw
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: these events on and keep our community involved and make
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: them free events for everybody.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: So yep, there you go. Well, Melinda, thank you so
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: much and I look forward to having you on again.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: All right, thank you