Jacque Ecuyer Shares How Operation Give Back Honors Local Veterans | Buying Local #68

00;00;00;00 – 00;00;16;14
Speaker 1
Welcome, everyone, to buying local. I’m your host. I almost forgot my name there. I’m your host, Mike Nelson from Five Towers Media. This is probably my fifth meeting. I think today so far, it’s 1:00. It’s, you know, brain’s a little bit mushy, and I still got a few more.

00;00;16;14 – 00;00;40;08
Speaker 1
So, but I’m gonna put my best foot forward here, Jack. And we’re going to talk about Operation Give Back. Before I do, though, Jack. And so that I don’t mess up, even though I’ve known you for, I think, 25 years now, I. I’m still going to mess up your last name. Brother. So, if you don’t mind, just introduce yourself to us real quick, and, but, tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do.

00;00;40;10 – 00;00;42;16
Speaker 2
All right? Yes. Jack Esquire.

00;00;42;19 – 00;00;44;03
Speaker 1
Equal. Hey, there it is.

00;00;44;04 – 00;01;09;25
Speaker 2
Spell it phonetically. Next time I will have it in front of you. Yes, I think it’s been about 25 years. Yeah. I am the, founder and creator of For Us for life, which is a, local organization that benefits, everyone dealing with mental health. This, event itself is geared toward our veterans, which we all know, can use all the help that they can get.

00;01;09;27 – 00;01;28;25
Speaker 2
But I think over the years, we’ve helped, thousands of people. We have raised Jesus, hundreds of thousands of dollars for all different causes pertaining to mental health. We’ve done an anti-bullying campaign, health and wellness program, and the Queensbury School operation Give Back. We did a lot during Covid, so sort of like you all over the place all the time, constantly going.

00;01;28;25 – 00;01;29;16
Speaker 2
So yeah.

00;01;29;16 – 00;01;32;08
Speaker 1
Even got to be on that hustle right. Got it.

00;01;32;08 – 00;01;32;16
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00;01;32;18 – 00;01;44;25
Speaker 1
Got to I don’t know I hear from people that they talk about being bored and I, I’m just always like what’s that like I don’t ever have time for being bored. Yeah I don’t think you do either with all the stuff that you got going on.

00;01;44;25 – 00;01;58;11
Speaker 2
No, I think, you know, like, I was just having this conversation my wife the other day and I said, you know, I think, you know, you talk to men that are older and they retire and they get and once they lose their purpose, man, it seems like you look at these guys and they’re just like, there’s no desire there.

00;01;58;15 – 00;02;12;24
Speaker 2
They just lose everything. I mean, you have to stay busy. I think it keeps us young and keeps us active and keeps us, you know, sharp. And I think, yeah, I’m going to do it until, they put me in the ground, I think, or my wife says that’s enough.

00;02;12;26 – 00;02;30;18
Speaker 1
Well, to your point, man, I think I think purpose is the key component that’s missing in a lot of people’s lives. I think having purpose solves a lot of problems, and, keeps you it keeps you move and gives you something to to work for, live for. And the purpose of our show today is operation Giveback.

00;02;30;18 – 00;02;35;02
Speaker 1
So let’s let’s talk about that, man. Tell us a little bit about Operation Give Back.

00;02;35;04 – 00;02;56;13
Speaker 2
All right. So Operation Giveback is a military appreciation day. It’s a full day of music, food, raffles for John, for, veterans, their families and kids open to the public. 100% of the proceeds go to local veterans organizations. So over the last this is year five. So it’s a big year for us. It’s our fifth anniversary.

00;02;56;15 – 00;03;22;03
Speaker 2
It’s consistently, exponentially built each year. But we’ve helped everyone from the Adirondack bed house operation at ease. Therapeutic horses of Saratoga, tons of VFW, American Legion’s, anything that has to pertain to veterans. And we can help in any capacity. We like to do that, but more importantly, it’s to create a day in an atmosphere for our veterans, for them to feel the love and supports in their communities, you know, for the sacrifices they make and to come out and have the camaraderie, the like.

00;03;22;03 – 00;03;44;26
Speaker 2
They have the military, you know, share stories, laugh and cry, and just have a great day. In a great area. Slick been brewing Company every year is military owned. Chris and Heather March are phenomenal people. They open their doors up every year. They were one of the founding partners. So myself, my organization, Chris and Heather, and also Alan Lapel from vested veteran Grill, we’re the three, people that started it.

00;03;44;26 – 00;03;48;26
Speaker 2
And, now it’s blown up to, what it is now.

00;03;48;28 – 00;04;02;10
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And year five. Now, you guys, you guys are packing the house over there. Is that is that my understanding? And I still, I, I was trying to get there last year and I, I can’t remember what something kid related ended up happening over there, but.

00;04;02;12 – 00;04;24;14
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think, honestly. So it normally runs from noon to, we’ll say, closing, which is about 10 p.m. the last band is on like 8:00. So it’s it’s, solo acts in the beginning for, for our solo duos. And then we get into some, some full bands, you know, so it’s probably like 1500 people in and out of that brewery throughout the day at different times.

00;04;24;14 – 00;04;41;11
Speaker 2
I mean, we’re we’re packed at capacity. I mean, it has a huge if you haven’t been to slick, then, you know, it has a, taproom, but it also has a huge outdoor back, patio area with a large army surplus tent. It’s all enclosed, with the flaps that are rolled up. That’s seating for people. We have the stage in the back.

00;04;41;11 – 00;04;47;09
Speaker 2
There’s cornhole boards, fire pits. It’s just a really good place to be, to be around.

00;04;47;12 – 00;04;50;24
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. So you guys are on rain or shine or on.

00;04;50;24 – 00;05;09;14
Speaker 2
Rain or shine? We have an extra big tent. Normally entertainment one over here in Hudson Falls. John Myers normally, donates an extra tent. So we have plenty of coverage between the two tents and indoors and, Yeah, as I said, everyone donates their time all the bands. We’ll have three, hopefully three different food.

00;05;09;14 – 00;05;38;08
Speaker 2
I know al lapel with vest event will be there, I believe stumps, which is right up the road stump is pizzeria. Amy, she’s she’s amazing. Wanted to be a part of it. And I’m possibly going to have a third one just to, you know, cut down on lines and, you know, give people, you know, a little variety, you know, especially because we’re bringing kids and a lot of kids don’t want a full barbecue meal, you know, get something, you know, a a small pizza or a grilled cheese or mac and cheese or something that, you know, can keep them damn happy so the parents can stay in and spend more

00;05;38;08 – 00;05;40;28
Speaker 2
money on raffles and silent auction items. Right.

00;05;41;00 – 00;05;47;27
Speaker 1
There we go, there we go. And what is the what is the raffle and silent auction typically consist of?

00;05;48;00 – 00;06;08;28
Speaker 2
So we normally get things. Honestly, I’ve had things mailed from all over the United States. Woodworking items, tickets to events, overnight stays in hotels. And then, of course, if you’ve been to fundraisers, you know, different kind of baskets and gardening baskets and, Black Rifle Coffee Company donated a ton of stuff last year. We did 3 or 4 baskets with all the red cloth, and they’re military owned as well.

00;06;09;03 – 00;06;11;05
Speaker 1
Absolutely.

00;06;11;08 – 00;06;31;16
Speaker 2
So, yeah, I mean, what you see typically, you know, at the and then of course, our shirts, we have shirts, sponsors of many businesses out there. I’ve seen Five Towers Media as a sponsor. You know, you guys run the shirt every year. And it’s a great way for them to advertise because these smaller businesses, you know, especially ones that are just starting, when people see that you support their veterans, they’re going to more than likely support your business as well.

00;06;31;18 – 00;06;42;01
Speaker 2
Yeah. And it’s a great way to do it. It’s 100 bucks to sponsor, you know, put your logo on there. If it’s 500 shirts. I mean, that’s that’s you’re not going to find cheaper advertising than that.

00;06;42;04 – 00;07;01;17
Speaker 1
Think I’m curious, Jack. And I know that we’ve talked about this, in past years on the show. But for anyone that’s just getting introduced to Operation Get Back for the first time, how did this whole thing even come to start? You and, I think you said. Is it Alan from vested veteran and Heather and Chris March?

00;07;01;17 – 00;07;05;12
Speaker 1
Yep, yep. You guys just sitting around having a beer one day and.

00;07;05;13 – 00;07;23;02
Speaker 2
Yeah, I yeah, we frequented, so my brother in law is a marine, and, you know, a lot of the their clientele is obviously 90% military. And we, you know, we go down and have a good craft IPAs out there and just hang out, you know, have a cigar out back. You know, it’s a nice place to go do that when you’re with your with your buddies.

00;07;23;04 – 00;07;39;15
Speaker 2
And I was just sitting at the bar and I was talking to Heather, and, I’m looking around the taproom, and I said, wow. I said, there’s no events in the area that strictly pertain to military, where everything goes back to the military. I said, what would you think about maybe hosting a military appreciation day? And it was that easy.

00;07;39;15 – 00;07;55;00
Speaker 2
Heather’s eyes lit up. She said, you know what? She pulled her husband Chris, over. She goes, hey, we planned it in three days. I mean, it was just like something we threw together and it was like, okay. And, first year we raised like $3,500. And for our, like, $1,000 an hour was ridiculous. And, then we were like, hey, how can you know?

00;07;55;00 – 00;08;09;26
Speaker 2
Obviously, like, everything else, you like to add things each year. So then we started to add music and it was a couple bands and there were a couple of musicians, and then we had to get to another food truck, and then it went from 3500 to 8000 to 13 to that is, you know, started to grow and it started to catch on.

00;08;09;26 – 00;08;30;05
Speaker 2
And people got so excited about this event. And it goes back to what you said, having that drive in that purpose, when people support you, such as, you know, companies such as yourself or friends such as yourself, and you see the excitement in their eyes about, man, I can’t wait to that event next year. It makes you that much more excited to go, okay, what can we do to make this even bigger and better and set aside the money aspect?

00;08;30;05 – 00;08;51;01
Speaker 2
I mean, yeah, we’d love to make more each year. But you know what? Honestly, as I said to my wife, if we went in this year and only made $5,000, it wouldn’t matter. It’s to create the atmosphere that those veterans feel like they are appreciated. And I think that’s what’s lacking, obviously, in this country nowadays is getting, you know, treated like third class citizens when they when they come home and, you know, it’s it’s uncalled for.

00;08;51;01 – 00;08;57;03
Speaker 2
So if we can create that kind of atmosphere for them and their families, I think it truly goes a long way.

00;08;57;06 – 00;09;21;28
Speaker 1
Absolutely. And I you know, I’m curious about, you know, obviously the, community. I’m sorry my phone started ringing there. Jack. I’ve got this new system set up and I don’t have anything configured, and I call this that. Everything’s connected and I don’t want it to be connected. So. Sorry, Jack. Bear with me here. I don’t know.

00;09;21;28 – 00;09;25;04
Speaker 2
You’re good, buddy.

00;09;25;06 – 00;09;29;07
Speaker 1
There we go. All right. I got you back. I, I lost the window, I lost everything, I couldn’t see her.

00;09;29;07 – 00;09;31;20
Speaker 2
Oh, man. That’s right. You don’t need to see me. You know what I look like?

00;09;31;20 – 00;09;33;15
Speaker 1
Technology. I’m supposed to be giving you this.

00;09;35;13 – 00;09;58;02
Speaker 1
So, you know, from a community standpoint, it really sounds like every year the community is pitching in, whether it’s people in, you know, obviously, you know, slick fans in Fort Edward, but it’s not just the Fort Edward community that’s coming together. Can you can you speak a little bit to, where everybody’s coming from geographically business wise, you know, perfect walks of life, all that stuff?

00;09;58;04 – 00;10;15;02
Speaker 2
Yeah. I mean, basically it’s open, you know, for Washington, Warren, Saratoga County, and it’s slowly expanding. You know, Fort Edward, it was great just because the brewery was already there. And, you know, like when you’re planning an event, everyone knows your most important thing is getting your date and your venue. So venues are always, you know, you know, it’s not cheap to do a venue for any event.

00;10;15;02 – 00;10;29;26
Speaker 2
You know, you’re talking about thousands of dollars. You know to just even to rent it and sometimes without food without. So when we decided to start it, you know, and we had the venue because Heather and Chris were like hey was could open the door and I’m like, wow, that just saved us. So there’s the good thing.

00;10;29;26 – 00;10;48;00
Speaker 2
And the reason why we can donate everything back is there’s no overhead for this. Okay. So the venue is literally donated. The food trucks, donated back. I’ve never asked them to, but they always donate back, so they make their own money. The musicians all donate their time. I mean, if you add up what you would spend on eight bands or musicians.

00;10;48;00 – 00;11;04;08
Speaker 2
Plus, my sound guy does it for free. I have a professional sound engineer who comes on and takes on the entire event and sets up everything from the stage to the lineup. The volunteers, the women I have every year I keep coming back. There’s 8 to 10 of those. I have one of the girls softball teams come in to volunteer this year and do 5050.

00;11;04;08 – 00;11;17;06
Speaker 2
They want to be a part of it. So I think it’s it just catches on and it’s like anything else where when you’re when you put good out there and people see that they want to be a part of something, because not everyone knows how to start something, but they can be an integral part of it. Hey, someone else has started.

00;11;17;06 – 00;11;28;25
Speaker 2
All I got to do is show up. Hey, I want to, you know, I want to jump on. I want to sponsor, like you said, or I want to, do a raffle basket or I just want to show up and hang out, listen to music and whatever way you want to do it. You know, we invite people from from all over.

00;11;28;25 – 00;11;48;04
Speaker 2
I mean, we work with Adirondack Peer to peer, which is Jeremy Doers. They, they come out and they’re another partner with us. Feeder Canal Alliance. They start advertising. I’m going to be on channel ten in May on a new thing called Soldiers to Service, with Ryan Peterson. And, we’re to talk about the event, which is going to be huge exposure for us.

00;11;48;06 – 00;12;00;26
Speaker 2
And that’s in the Albany area where I was born and raised. So now people down there see me up here, and I’ve had people come up that I went to high school with or grade school to like, man, we can’t believe that you are doing all this. And like, hey, you know what? That’s that was my calling.

00;12;00;26 – 00;12;04;23
Speaker 2
I guess somehow it found me along the way. And, here I am.

00;12;04;25 – 00;12;25;06
Speaker 1
Yeah, it’s, As far as putting the event together, I mean, logistics has got to be the hardest thing, right? Like, how do you handle all these different groups, all these different people bringing them all together, getting them their, you know, attendance? How does that all work?

00;12;25;09 – 00;12;39;01
Speaker 2
Well, so it’s funny because once we get done with the event, like last year’s event, at the end of the night when I was sitting, hanging out, I started hitting up my musicians that night and saying, anyone that wants to come back, let me know. Now. I went right to my sound guy, are you in for next year?

00;12;39;01 – 00;12;57;02
Speaker 2
Yup. I already knew Chris and Heather were in. Talk to the food truck. It’s always about staying ahead of it. So like right now, obviously venue’s done. I have two IBS is, they donate, a couple porta johns for us because it’s for veterans to help some of that capacity. So when you have people like that, I have a volunteer coordinator who I just reach out to her.

00;12;57;02 – 00;13;10;19
Speaker 2
I put them in a group message. So what you do is you delegate, sort of like, I mean, you know, this, you delegate. So you have a volunteer coordinator. They take care of all the volunteers setting up the baskets, setting up the auction items, doing the raffle tickets, getting the t shirts ready. They do all of that.

00;13;10;22 – 00;13;27;25
Speaker 2
Now, your sound engineer takes care of all the music they do. The lineup, the stage, the sound system. Okay, another problem. Heather and Chris. The brewery is self-sufficient. It takes care of its own. Their staff takes care of the beer and all the things. The food trucks are their own separate entity, so they bring their own staff. All they do is say, where do I set up here?

00;13;27;25 – 00;13;45;23
Speaker 2
You are there. Good. All I have to do is, is go up and network, which is what I want to do. I just want to be able to sit around and talk to these veterans and learn about them and their stories and, just, just enjoy the day. And, you know, if you if you delegate it properly, I think, and you have the right people, I mean, without any of these partners, this doesn’t work.

00;13;45;23 – 00;13;58;21
Speaker 2
You take Heather and Chris out, you take Allen out, you take the sound. It doesn’t work. It’s a team effort. I mean, and that’s what it is. We have a very, very strong, cohesive team that puts this event together each year. And I couldn’t do it without any of them.

00;13;58;23 – 00;14;13;11
Speaker 1
Amazing. What? Jack, as far as when you’re looking at what to do with the funds each year, how do you evaluate who’s the most needing or where the money is going to go? Like, what does that look like?

00;14;13;14 – 00;14;31;00
Speaker 2
So we normally reach out, we’ll we’ll put feelers out, a couple months before, people that don’t know what a lot of the military organizations do know now, who we are and what we do. So they’ll start reaching out. Hey, and, you know, they’ll they’ll give us a background. And so what we do is each partner picks a beneficiary.

00;14;31;02 – 00;14;51;01
Speaker 2
So that makes it fair across the board. So I’ll pick one person. Heather picked her own Allen picks one. We normally try to do four. I think we did four last year. I think it was either 4 or $5000 to each, organization. We do a check presentation right at ten. So, sometimes it’s not just need, it’s it’s who’s in the area where I know where the money’s going to, like, I’ll use the bet house.

00;14;51;03 – 00;15;14;10
Speaker 2
The other event held by run by Jeff Barnett. He coached all my boys in wrestling for 30 years. He’s a marine, but I know exactly where that money’s going here locally. I know what he does at the vet house. Where somebody like Wounded Warrior we would never donate to. And I don’t mean to say that negatively, but when your CEO makes six figures, on a nonprofit organization, that makes me a little leery of where that money’s going.

00;15;14;12 – 00;15;27;07
Speaker 2
So I want it to go to. I want to keep it local. And that’s huge. When someone like yourself say, if you came with your wife or kids that you came here hanging out, you want to know that your money stays in our community. It’s not going to Iowa or California. It’s staying right here to take care of our veterans.

00;15;27;07 – 00;15;31;08
Speaker 2
We have to look out, you know, for the people in our communities. And I think that’s very important.

00;15;31;11 – 00;15;47;25
Speaker 1
Yeah, absolutely. And little shout out to the Adirondack Vets house, too. We actually we, we host their website for free because they’re a veteran organization. And, and try to help those guys out with we don’t ever hear from them because they don’t need much from us. But, you know, we’re always there when they do, appreciate what they do.

00;15;47;25 – 00;16;15;05
Speaker 1
Obviously. Great organization. And, and great cause it’s, and I love what you said, though, like, as far as being able to make sure that that money is, you know, where it’s going, right? Like it’s going to have impact because to your point that, I mean, I think everybody at this point has read stories about larger organizations that do all this fundraising, and then a small, small percentage of that money actually goes to where you think it’s going to go to help the people.

00;16;15;05 – 00;16;31;19
Speaker 1
You think it’s going to help, right? So knowing that it, is going to go back and actually help real people. Right? And it’s not, not not paying for a CEO’s, you know, expensive lifestyle or whatever it is. But I think, yeah, you know.

00;16;31;22 – 00;16;46;12
Speaker 2
That’s the thing. You know, when I asked for those sponsor, you know, especially the local businesses, they want to know they’re sponsoring, you know, veterans here and, you know, the bigger, scheme of things, you always hope that maybe someone in a different town saw what you were doing and it could still happen. And go, hey, we might want to do that.

00;16;46;12 – 00;17;03;26
Speaker 2
Nah. And that’s what you hope for. I mean, when you start something like this, you’re hoping like maybe Bennington, Vermont, maybe, you know, using them as an example, saying, hey, they’re doing this in upstate New York. Why don’t we do something like this for our veterans? You know, my ultimate goal would be to if I could just travel around and set up these events and help get them started, I would do that.

00;17;03;26 – 00;17;16;22
Speaker 2
I mean, I would be open to that. And I think it would be it would be great because they could do it right in their own community. So rather than try to ask the the state or the federal government for money for your veterans, do it. You’re do it yourself. Go out. I mean, we raise money for everything, right?

00;17;16;22 – 00;17;24;18
Speaker 2
From cancer to the South. Hi, dad. I mean, South High dance, $712,000. I mean, it’s like, you know what the veterans could do with 700 some thousand dollars for us.

00;17;24;25 – 00;17;25;05
Speaker 1
I mean.

00;17;25;10 – 00;17;42;09
Speaker 2
And they do a great job. But same thing. Our veterans deserve the same type of, you know, support. So I, you know, I think that it’s very important that, to keep it local and like I said, not expand too much. So Warren, Washington, Saratoga County, we try to keep it right in that, in that scheme of things.

00;17;42;09 – 00;17;59;02
Speaker 2
And, I think it will continue to grow and we’ll see where gold maybe has to expand and it may outgrow the brewery. I might have to make it at multiple locations, which was a thought this year. But I don’t want to spread myself too thin. So it’s then it’s then it’s compiling two different events, even though it’s under the same umbrella you have to have.

00;17;59;03 – 00;18;17;06
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah. It’s a whole new. Yeah. You gotta have a point person here and somebody here. So I was like, you know what? So what we’re doing is we’re doing, I have two friends of mine, Brianna and Lance Bergman, who come to every event. They are doing something, call it the the bowling tournament on April 11th, Broadway Lanes and Fort Edwards called No Pins Left Behind.

00;18;17;06 – 00;18;34;09
Speaker 2
I thought it was a catchy name as, like, No Man Left Behind. But anyway. Yeah, yeah, it’s, it’s in the afternoon. It’s a Saturday, I believe it’s like 1 to 4. It’s for veterans and their families, but it’s open to the public. I’ll have a DJ. We’re going to do a 5050. That money will probably donate to the Marine Corps League, which I’m now a part of.

00;18;34;09 – 00;18;49;23
Speaker 2
I’m doing some of their fundraiser fundraising for the US Marine Corps League. So we’re tying in and it continues to grow. And more and more people want to be involved. And we need to grow those ranks in the, American Legion, the VFW that have the that older, that older group, the younger guys don’t want to get into it as much.

00;18;49;23 – 00;19;12;27
Speaker 2
And I think we need to get something to attract them into it and show them the importance of building those ranks. Because there is a lot of help out there for the veterans if they seek it, if they, you know, if they choose to look for it, there is a lot of help. But I realize that going to my first Marine Corps League meeting as a, civilian, because as I said, my brother in law is a marine, my family is military, my wife’s family is all military.

00;19;13;00 – 00;19;30;12
Speaker 2
But for what I do in the community, they wanted me to be a part of it. And I was honored to be, you know, brought in to that, to that family and to be able to witness these guys doing what they do. They do toys for tots every year. They do a lot for the community. So, I think I’m going to make them my beneficiary from Give Back this year and donate back to the Marine Corps League.

00;19;30;12 – 00;19;31;27
Speaker 2
And what they do.

00;19;32;00 – 00;19;57;01
Speaker 1
That’s amazing. And, you know, in some of what you’re saying, you know, really resonates with us at Five Towers. You know, one of the reasons why we started buying local to begin with is because we truly, truly, truly believe that if everybody focused on their community and making their own communities better, if everybody did that, if every community did that, what a world we would live in, right?

00;19;57;01 – 00;20;24;18
Speaker 1
And so, we obviously love anything local. We love anything that is supporting local businesses, local causes, local people, anything that uplifts, uplifts our local community. You know, we’re 1,000% behind it, so I love it, man. I think what you’re doing is great. Well, all you guys are doing is great at, you know, at Heather and Chris over at Sullivan, great beer, great people, you know, and, I just I just think it’s such a great event.

00;20;24;18 – 00;20;28;21
Speaker 1
So we’re, we’re super excited to be, involved, even the small part that were involved in it.

00;20;28;21 – 00;20;46;07
Speaker 2
So, no, I, I appreciate I mean, like you said, we’ve known each other for a long time. You remember me from starting out for us, for life. And when I just started out, you know, we’ve had a lot of discussions. We raised me to coffee over crew and had our chats. And, you know, we’re very similar. Our background, the way we are, the type of man, you know, men that we are, the, you know, the type of belief system we have.

00;20;46;07 – 00;20;59;21
Speaker 2
We’ve always, you know, thought about, you know, the same thing. We have the same vision, I think in a lot of aspects. So I appreciate that. And the website, I had some other things I have to get back on there because I have stuff to add, you know, for this year’s event just to get it updated.

00;20;59;25 – 00;21;01;10
Speaker 1
Yeah, let’s get that site up there because.

00;21;01;10 – 00;21;06;02
Speaker 2
I think it does it, Jeremy, that I think he’s the one that, email is there a Jeremy?

00;21;06;05 – 00;21;22;14
Speaker 1
Jeremy’s one of our guys. Yeah. He’s, he does like, a lot of our SEO and, and webs. He probably might email to you about an update or something that we did. Yeah. But yeah, sitting on over, man. And we’ll get that stuff updated and, get some fresh pictures on there. And. Yeah, I’m sure we’ll get the change of date on there.

00;21;22;14 – 00;21;24;13
Speaker 1
Right. What’s what’s the date for the, so.

00;21;24;13 – 00;21;40;22
Speaker 2
The date is May 16th. May 16th. Yeah. But we used it so every year. Oh, here’s the, the thing that got me the last, every year we’ve done it on Mother’s Day weekend. And it’s been a banger. Like every obviously it’s grown. And, the problem is, is that Heather being a mom in her birthday is the next day.

00;21;40;22 – 00;21;53;12
Speaker 2
She always gets stuck working it. So I talked to her this year and I said, you know what? I said, why don’t we give everyone a break and we’ll do it in bits? So we’re doing in between Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. So I don’t think it’s going to affect anything. I mean, if people are going to come out, they’re going to come out.

00;21;53;12 – 00;22;09;17
Speaker 2
It doesn’t matter if you switch the date, they’re coming out with the cause. So as I said, the bowling event is like a kickoff. It’s something that they wanted to do for the event. So it’s a kick off for Operation Get Back. It’s about a month before, And I’ll have some information there. I’ll have the last couple of years shirts.

00;22;09;19 – 00;22;22;26
Speaker 2
I’m going to sell the. Anything that we sell goes right to the, you know, to the cause. But I’ll be on hand to talk to people about the event, what we do, there’s limited sponsorships available. Businesses are a contact. I mean, my phone’s blown up. I mean, it’s just people just want to be on the.

00;22;22;26 – 00;22;35;20
Speaker 2
Sure they will, I how can we help? And so it’s amazing to to have that kind of support when you’re doing something local and know that the community stands and believes in what you’re doing, you know, that means a lot. So that’s what keeps pushing it forward, I think.

00;22;35;22 – 00;22;38;18
Speaker 1
Absolutely. So May 16th what’s the time again.

00;22;38;20 – 00;22;56;21
Speaker 2
Starts at noon and goes all day. So it’s all day event, live music, all day. Like I said, 2 or 3 food trucks will have the raffle. Silent auctions. There’s no, charge to get in. It’s just you walk in the brewery, come on. And actually, the other thing is. So Adirondack peer to peer every year.

00;22;56;22 – 00;23;11;14
Speaker 2
Jeremy. They. Jeremy. Doers over there. They buy the first thousand dollars in food. So what they do is for veterans, they’ll give you vouchers, so they’ll pay it ahead. So say, if you were to come in, you’re a veteran. You go up and you tell them which you know, which food truck you want to for they give you.

00;23;11;14 – 00;23;26;17
Speaker 2
So you get a free meal and peer to peer. So I mean, that’s that’s a huge thing at first thousand dollars and food is already paid for. So, you know, you get in the door, you get you know, you get a quick snack, you have a great beer slip. And you this also some great music, take a shot at a raffle and then, you know, even by the end of the night last year, the band still had.

00;23;26;17 – 00;23;36;19
Speaker 2
I guarantee you, there was probably still 100, 150 people there right up to, you know, 930, 10:00 still wasn’t that last band. So, yeah, it’s it’s it’s it’s crazy. It’s it’s amazing.

00;23;36;21 – 00;23;46;22
Speaker 1
Love it, love it, love it. What? If people want to get a hold of you, they want to learn more about the event. Maybe they want to donate. They want to get involved. How do they find you?

00;23;46;24 – 00;23;50;00
Speaker 2
I’m easy to find. Like, you know that.

00;23;50;03 – 00;23;50;19
Speaker 1
I’m easy to.

00;23;50;19 – 00;24;05;29
Speaker 2
Find. So you can, you can go on to for us for live page. You can find me social media. You know, I’m on Facebook and Instagram. Just message me. I’m always posting, you know, if you if you follow me. A lot of people that we know are very similar. So they follow it and they see it.

00;24;05;29 – 00;24;22;28
Speaker 2
So, the event page, will be up. Probably within the next week. The event page will be all over social media. And, you know, like I said, anybody that wants to, you know, we’re going to be looking for baskets for the raffle, silent auction items. Again, 100% of the proceeds go right back to the local veteran organizations.

00;24;23;01 – 00;24;37;04
Speaker 2
That’s very important. And, you know, just come on out and have a good time. And, you know, if you haven’t been, it’s like, then come on out, try great beers and great food. I just be around some great people. I mean, that’s truly what any event should be about. It’s, the money is the secondary aspect.

00;24;37;06 – 00;24;58;24
Speaker 2
I mean, it’s always nice. As I said, you know, to raise the money and help what you can. So we’d love, you know, to, to make a ton of money. But the, the importance of the day, because we always do it like a moment of silence about halfway through, one of my musicians plays the Star-Spangled banner and on his guitar, and, we do a moment of silence for all those soldiers that have made the ultimate sacrifice.

00;24;58;27 – 00;25;15;08
Speaker 2
And we honor them as well. So it it brings everything together. A lot of tears. Last year I had a I picked out a song and probably it was a song. I think it might have been, which was Tim McGraw as anything. It’s it’s about a soldier coming home. I can’t think the name of the song. And they bury him up on the end of the road where he grew up.

00;25;15;08 – 00;25;35;27
Speaker 2
And I and I had more veterans come up and it was it was silent, but I didn’t know it would have that effect. And it was a good effect. But it was just like, man. And to see all these guys really show their true humanity and not have that, hey, I have to be tough for everybody. It was really good to see them just just be a human being and just and just just be part of the day.

00;25;35;29 – 00;25;49;20
Speaker 1
Yeah. Love it man. And website is Operation Give Back got us. Yes. And then the. As for us page is, on Facebook. What is that again for us.

00;25;49;20 – 00;26;06;08
Speaker 2
For life is on. Yeah, it’s on, Facebook. And, the link to the website is on that page, so you can find it right on that page. And I will get you the, the new date. I’ll get you, as soon as I get the lineup. Food truck. Like any pertinent information you need for the website that you guys helped create, I’ll get that up.

00;26;06;08 – 00;26;14;20
Speaker 2
So if people want to visit that. Yeah. That’ll be a direct link right to the event. And they can, you know, see the shirts this year and the sponsors and everything else.

00;26;14;20 – 00;26;23;01
Speaker 1
So amazing. Love it. Doc, thanks for coming on, man. Giving us an update and talking about the event. It’s always good to see your face now.

00;26;23;03 – 00;26;26;14
Speaker 2
It’s always good to see you. Well, to catch up on these days when we’re not doing anything.

00;26;26;19 – 00;26;36;05
Speaker 1
I know we’ll have to do it. We’ll have to actually do it live instead of, Oh, yeah. I’m here. You know, spending my whole life on zoom meetings these days. Jackets, you know.

00;26;36;08 – 00;26;48;24
Speaker 2
It’s amazing how technology has come to zoom in like you used to have to do it. And, you know, I think you’re the same way I am. Like, I don’t mind the zoom because it does help. Because we’re so busy. Yeah, but I, you know, I do I would always and I always tell people I want to do coffee.

00;26;48;26 – 00;27;11;21
Speaker 2
I’d like I love to have that personal touch with the conversation no matter what we’re talking about. Just to have that personal interaction, I think is very important to keep us connected as, you know, as as human beings, because I think we lose it or we don’t, but we do. And I think it’s it’s important to, to catch up every once in a while with people and definitely make that, you know, that you try to squeeze it in because I know you’re busy.

00;27;11;21 – 00;27;26;14
Speaker 2
Like I said, thank you for squeezing me in, and I was I just have to think about it. I was at the Goldstar meeting the other night because one of my friends, one of my wife’s friends is in that group. Tracy. Parker. So. And, she invited me, and I went to talk to them, and we were I was talking at the time, the met.

00;27;26;14 – 00;27;37;05
Speaker 2
And I was like, oh, yeah, we’re talking money. And then when everything. And I was like, okay, yeah, I got to get a hold of Mike now, and you’re like, oh, I’m so, so thank you for squeezing me because I was worried also. And I was like, oh, what are we going to do now? Because you were like, I’m booked up in March.

00;27;37;05 – 00;27;40;17
Speaker 2
I’m like, oh crap. And you’re like, no, I’ll get you into my car. All right. So I appreciate.

00;27;40;19 – 00;27;53;02
Speaker 1
That. And I, I always make time for you, my man. And I appreciate the time for, causes like this and helping our veterans. So, happy to do it. And happy and glad that we got to jump on here, man. So thanks a lot.

00;27;53;09 – 00;27;55;09
Speaker 2
All right. I appreciate it, Mike.

00;27;55;11 – 00;28;15;12
Speaker 1
And of course, thanks everybody for listening. You know, you can find this episode and other episodes at buying local.us. You can listen to our podcast, Apple, Spotify. You can, take a look at Jack in my ugly mugs here, on the video if you want, on YouTube and rumble and, you know, we appreciate everybody listening. You know, don’t be afraid to share the show.

00;28;15;12 – 00;28;23;10
Speaker 1
Send it to a friend. Like, subscribe. All those fun things. And, again, we appreciate everybody for listening and everybody for viewing. So thanks a lot, everybody.