Episode 354

The Heart of Ox Fest: Music, Community, and Giving

OxFest is not just a music festival; it’s a celebration of community, giving, and the joy of coming together to support a good cause. In this episode, we sit down with the charismatic Ken Boland, who has been the emcee of OxFest since its inception. The episode takes you on a journey through the festival’s history, starting from its birth around a campfire to its current status as a beloved annual event that features a lineup of fantastic bands.

Ken recounts the stories of his cousins who inspired the festival, highlighting their struggles and how their memories fuel the mission behind OxFest. Listeners will learn about the various charities (see below) that benefit from the festival, including programs for at-risk youth and those affected by diabetes. It’s a heartwarming reminder that while we enjoy great music, we’re also making a difference in our community. Tune in for some laughs, insightful discussions, and a heartfelt appreciation for the power of music and charity!

[00:00] Introduction and Welcome

[00:44] Hair Talk and Sponsor Shoutout

[01:36] Thought to Ponder

[02:07] Ox Fest Origins

[02:30] Meet the MC: Ken Boland

[03:10] Festival Details and Lineup

[07:18] Main Stage Highlights

[10:12] Blues Stage and Food

[13:35] Family Fun and Parking

[14:59] Beneficiaries and Volunteering

[24:03] Property Deeds and Legal Issues

[24:24] Ox Fest Overview

[24:41] Mortgage Advertisement

[25:26] Welcome Core Initiative

[26:19] Ox Fest Details and Logistics

[28:15] Ken Boland's Background and Involvement

[31:17] Ox Fest Food and Beverages

[33:34] Ox Fest Growth and Charities

[36:59] National Days and Fun Facts

[43:41] Concluding Remarks and Credits

Takeaways:

  • Saturday, September 20. Washington, MO Fairgrounds. Gates open at 11:30 am
  • Tickets available at Eventbrite
  • OxFest started from a simple barbecue idea and blossomed into a major music festival, showcasing community spirit.
  • The festival is not just about music, but also about supporting local charities and creating awareness for important causes.
  • With nine bands scheduled, attendees can enjoy a full day of music and fun while helping the community by participating in OxFest.
  • The event takes place on September 20th, with gates opening at 11:30 AM, so mark your calendars and don’t miss out!
  • OxFest is all about community vibes, bringing people together for a great time while raising funds for local charities.
  • It's a family-friendly event with activities for kids, so bring the whole crew and enjoy a day of music and fun!

2025 Band Schedule for Main Stage

Shooting Star

Pink Houses USA

The Mighty Pines

Klose Kuarters (Mark Klose from K-SHE)

The FREEZEOUT Band

The OxFest Blues Stage

Tony Campanella

Jeremiah Johnson

Bag Lunch Blues

The Pugan Experience

This is Season 8! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com

#oxfest #oxfestival #oxfestmusicfestival #washingtonmo #musicfestival #communitypride

Transcript
Speaker A:

Did you ever sit around the campfire and wonder what could be?

Speaker A:

A couple guys did and they organized a barbecue, but then it turned into a music festival.

Speaker A:

And we're going to talk about today on St. Luis in Tune.

Speaker A:

Welcome to St. Louis in Tune.

Speaker A:

And thank you for joining us for fresh perspectives on issues and events with experts, community leaders, and everyday people who make a difference in shaping our society and world.

Speaker A:

I'm Arnold Stricker, along with the effervescent.

Speaker A:

Totally got a guy that got hair on his head.

Speaker A:

Mark Langston.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

What happened to your hair?

Speaker B:

It's like a landing strip up there.

Speaker A:

That is taking a siesta for a life.

Speaker C:

There's one of us that has hair.

Speaker A:

One of the three in the studio today has.

Speaker B:

Oh, my gosh.

Speaker B:

Right?

Speaker B:

Oh, I am.

Speaker B:

I'm the only one with hair.

Speaker B:

What's going on?

Speaker C:

And I trimmed my nose.

Speaker A:

Oh, yay.

Speaker A:

Correct that age.

Speaker A:

Where it grows where it's not supposed to.

Speaker B:

I know.

Speaker B:

I got hair coming out of everything and I don't places.

Speaker A:

We'll stop right there.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Thanks for listening, folks.

Speaker A:

We're glad that you joined us today for this hair conversation.

Speaker A:

We want to thank our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage for their support of the show.

Speaker A:

You can listen to previous shows@stlntune.com please help us continue to grow by leaving a review on our website, Apple Podcast or your preferred podcast platform.

Speaker A:

I got a great thought to ponder today, Mark.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker A:

And has nothing to do with hair.

Speaker C:

Good.

Speaker A:

Although you could infer from it.

Speaker A:

Or lack of the lack of.

Speaker A:

That's right.

Speaker A:

The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.

Speaker A:

The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but seen with new eyes.

Speaker A:

Marcel Proust.

Speaker B:

Good.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Spell that name.

Speaker C:

Very good.

Speaker A:

Marcel, how do you spell post?

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So we see with new eyes.

Speaker A:

Because who would ever think that a sitting around the campfire.

Speaker B:

Love it.

Speaker A:

Wondering what could be to grow into a.

Speaker A:

How many years has been going on.

Speaker C:

So nine years, but we had a little virus.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker A:

Eighth is our eighth annual Oxfest which takes place in Washington, Missouri.

Speaker A:

And if you're from South City, Washington, Miss Missouri, we want to welcome Ken Boland.

Speaker A:

Ken, welcome to St. Louis in Tune.

Speaker C:

Hey, Arnold.

Speaker C:

Mark.

Speaker C:

Thanks for having me.

Speaker C:

This is great.

Speaker A:

Now you are fun.

Speaker A:

You're the emcee of the festival.

Speaker A:

So you're used to this stuff that we're doing here.

Speaker C:

Yeah, I am the MC and for the past eight years.

Speaker C:

So every year, if I counted that.

Speaker B:

Yeah, you must be doing something right.

Speaker C:

I don't know what it is.

Speaker A:

They even gave him a shirt, too.

Speaker C:

No, I paid for the shirt.

Speaker B:

They're cheap.

Speaker A:

You have to pay to be the mc.

Speaker C:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C:

I pay him a lot because it's well worth it.

Speaker A:

It is a great festival.

Speaker A:

Tell us about the origins and the campfire and how it got to be such a large following today.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Again, thanks for having me.

Speaker C:

And the history is important because that's why we're doing it.

Speaker A:

It is.

Speaker C:

And then we have all our charities because of that.

Speaker C:

So I had three cousins, Doug, Dwayne and David.

Speaker B:

No, that's not true.

Speaker C:

Really is true, Doug.

Speaker C:

Wayne and David.

Speaker C:

Wayne and David.

Speaker C:

Yeah, that's true.

Speaker B:

The 3ds.

Speaker C:

3Ds.

Speaker C:

And had docs.

Speaker C:

There's two more Ds there.

Speaker C:

That's how we got Oxfest.

Speaker C:

Was had docs.

Speaker C:

We all played football.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

And these guys were big, and so they were called Ox.

Speaker C:

So that's how we got oxfest.

Speaker C:

Doug and Duane both had diabetes, and they died prematurely from the effects of that.

Speaker C:

Doug in:

Speaker C:

So around:

Speaker C:

And at one of the barbecues, the surviving brother, David, was talking to my good friend Kevin Walde, and they said, those guys supported a lot of things and we should.

Speaker C:

Maybe we should raise some money.

Speaker C:

And Kevin goes, that'd be great.

Speaker C:

Why don't we have a band?

Speaker C:

And David says, that sounds like a great idea.

Speaker C:

And that was it.

Speaker C:

They left.

Speaker C:

There was some whiskey and scotch going on, I'm sure.

Speaker C:

Big fire, a lot of pork and beans.

Speaker C:

I don't know.

Speaker C:

But anyway, Dave calls and says, hey, I've rented the stage.

Speaker C:

We're gonna have five bands.

Speaker C:

And Kevin goes, what are you talking about?

Speaker C:

What are you talking about?

Speaker C:

I thought we were talking about a band, maybe in my backyard.

Speaker C:

No, we rented a stage at Fairgrounds, and we had five bands.

Speaker C:

And that started in:

Speaker C:

2017.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Wow.

Speaker C:

So that's how it got going.

Speaker C:

And here we are today, 8th annual who would have Thought?

Speaker A:

And it's in Washington, Missouri, which is a great town, folks.

Speaker A:

If you've never been down there, you can catch the train down Kirkwood and ride the train down.

Speaker B:

Yeah, you can.

Speaker B:

That's right.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

It's really close.

Speaker C:

t the fairgrounds, located at:

Speaker C:

And we always kid about it because we come to St. Louis for ball games, hockey games, restaurants.

Speaker C:

It's only 30 minutes from Washington to the St. Louis area.

Speaker C:

And it's hard to believe, but it's the same amount of time going the other way.

Speaker B:

This is going to be a long show.

Speaker C:

People are like, oh, I don't know if I can go all the way out to Washington.

Speaker B:

My gosh, is this the same pack of one, same place that the Town and Country Fair is?

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

In Washington.

Speaker C:

Mark, you are educated.

Speaker B:

I'm an educated.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Educated.

Speaker B:

Yes, I am.

Speaker A:

He's literate.

Speaker C:

I'll tell you about the Town and Country Fair.

Speaker C:

It's a big deal too.

Speaker C:

And we think we're the next big thing.

Speaker C:

We'll never be the Town and Country Fair.

Speaker C:

We don't want to be the Town and Country Fair, but we think will be the next big thing.

Speaker B:

And you don't want all the livestock.

Speaker B:

They have a lot of livestock, which.

Speaker C:

Oddly enough, I enjoy.

Speaker B:

Yeah, okay.

Speaker C:

Especially on the grill.

Speaker B:

That's very.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker C:

So anyway, where are we going with that?

Speaker C:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker C:

So it's at the fairgrounds.

Speaker C:

And they built a million dollar stage.

Speaker C:

So it's legitimate.

Speaker C:

It's a huge stage.

Speaker C:

It's produced professionally on that stage.

Speaker C:

Not they didn't perform at oxfest.

Speaker C:

But let me just tell you some of the acts that have been on that stage.

Speaker C:

Nelly, wow.

Speaker C:

ZZ Top, Adam Wainwright, Florida.

Speaker C:

And we had, at our festival, we had the Steel Drivers the year before.

Speaker C:

COVID Steel Drivers brought a really good crowd.

Speaker C:

So it's legitimate stage.

Speaker C:

This year we happen to have two, but we do have a million dollar stage and it's fantastic.

Speaker A:

And this is going to be Saturday, September 20th at the Washington Fairgrounds.

Speaker A:

The gates open at:

Speaker A:

The music starts at noon and I want to get this out there.

Speaker A:

You can get tickets if you go to Eventbrite.

Speaker A:

Go to Eventbrite and just plug in.

Speaker A:

Oxfest O X F E S T. Or you can go to oxfestmusicfestival.org and you can get a lot of information there.

Speaker A:

Let's talk a little bit about the main stage and who you have coming on.

Speaker A:

And then you also have a blues stage there.

Speaker C:

Right.

Speaker C:

Let's talk about the main stage first.

Speaker C:

So we have five bands on the main stage and starting at noon is a band called the Freeze Out Band.

Speaker C:

Classic rock, country, good harmonies, nice band, really good band.

Speaker C:

Following that is someone you may have heard of, Mark Close, Close quarters.

Speaker B:

Oh, no.

Speaker C:

I know that's what most people say.

Speaker C:

Oh, no.

Speaker C:

I heard his band the other day and I thought Mark can spin records and he can tell stories.

Speaker C:

He can actually play the drums.

Speaker B:

It's hard to believe I'm having dinner with him on Wednesday night.

Speaker C:

Are you really?

Speaker B:

Yes, I am.

Speaker B:

And he's going to pay.

Speaker C:

He should pay.

Speaker C:

We're actually paying him to come out.

Speaker C:

So yeah, he should pay.

Speaker B:

I'll mention that to him.

Speaker C:

But his band really surprised me how good they were.

Speaker C:

They were an excellent band.

Speaker B:

What does he do in the band?

Speaker C:

He's a drummer.

Speaker C:

He started playing drums when he's 55 years old.

Speaker B:

Oh my.

Speaker C:

And they got.

Speaker C:

They got these primo.

Speaker C:

I don't know if they're brothers or cousins or what, but the lead guy, the lead singer and the lead guitar player are unbelievable.

Speaker B:

And Mark is still, I think on Casey or so I think he's on Mark Close is still on one of the radios.

Speaker C:

He's on a couple of them or something.

Speaker B:

I don't know what he's doing.

Speaker C:

So they were.

Speaker C:

They're going to be a really good band.

Speaker C:

The next band called the Mighty Pines.

Speaker C:

Not a lot of people have heard about.

Speaker C:

They're a nine piece band.

Speaker C:

They're now traveling nationally.

Speaker C:

They've got several albums.

Speaker C:

But the lead singer, Neil was on the Voice 20.

Speaker C:

The:

Speaker C:

Got four chairs to turn.

Speaker C:

His coaches were Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton.

Speaker C:

And when you hear the rest of the band, all your chairs are gonna turn.

Speaker C:

Really good band.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker C:

The fourth band you probably know.

Speaker C:

Ed Callison, Pink Houses.

Speaker C:

Pink Houses usa Another just professional.

Speaker C:

Great band.

Speaker C:

They've played out the family arena before in front of 5,000 people.

Speaker C:

We're hoping to have a couple thousand at ours.

Speaker C:

So you get really close to the stage.

Speaker C:

But he's a John Cougar Mellencamp cover.

Speaker C:

You're gonna hear Pink Houses.

Speaker C:

Of course you're gonna hear all the good songs.

Speaker C:

Hurt so good.

Speaker C:

Jack and Diane Cherry Bomb.

Speaker C:

All the.

Speaker C:

All the good stuff from Cougar.

Speaker C:

And the last one is a shooting star out of Kansas City.

Speaker C:

Now this band's been around for a long time.

Speaker C:

No classic rock fan wants to miss this.

Speaker C:

They're a 60s and 70s band and they really get after it.

Speaker C:

Very good band.

Speaker C:

They've played at the town and country fair before.

Speaker C:

They're so important we had to get them rooms.

Speaker C:

We had to pay for their rooms.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker C:

I know.

Speaker C:

That's.

Speaker C:

I know.

Speaker C:

That is a.

Speaker C:

Woo.

Speaker A:

They could take the train from Kansas City too.

Speaker C:

Fortunately, we had a really nice donor that's going to take care of.

Speaker B:

That's good.

Speaker C:

They could take the train.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And the thing about this is it's one cost to hear all those bands.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

And then one cost to hear the blues stage bands too.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

The Blues stage band is something brand new for us and we're really excited.

Speaker A:

How did that come about?

Speaker C:

We had a donor that said, hey, I tell you what, if you guys do a blue stage only, I'll take care of the expenses.

Speaker C:

And we're like, wow.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker C:

So we're very careful about our expenses.

Speaker C:

Most.

Speaker C:

We don't have any volunteers.

Speaker C:

We don't have any volunteers.

Speaker C:

We don't have any employees at all.

Speaker C:

They're all volunteers.

Speaker C:

The cooks, the people taking the tickets, setting up, setting up the fairgrounds, the whole bit.

Speaker C:

We're all volunteers.

Speaker C:

In this case, we've got four bands.

Speaker C:

Puget Experience, they're a blues Rocky type band.

Speaker C:

They might play a little country bag lunch Blue.

Speaker B:

I love it.

Speaker C:

How about that?

Speaker C:

Paul Cochran has been around for a long time.

Speaker C:

He's the leader of the band.

Speaker C:

He's with the Washington Blues Society.

Speaker C:

Really well respected guy.

Speaker C:

They're a hip shakin juke joint, let's get it on type band.

Speaker C:

They're a lot of fun.

Speaker C:

Then Jeremiah Johnson's coming on.

Speaker C:

And Jeremiah was an international artist.

Speaker C:

Yeah, he's still a national artist.

Speaker C:

He's got several albums and my favorite song, Hot Diggity Dog, he'll be all over that.

Speaker C:

He's great.

Speaker C:

And then his good friend Tony Campanella, he could be best described a heavy rocking blues guy.

Speaker C:

Really got that St. Louis vibe, that blues guitarist vibe and fantastic artist.

Speaker C:

You'll love him.

Speaker C:

So Those are our nine bands.

Speaker C:

If you can believe.

Speaker C:

We have nine bands for 30 bucks.

Speaker A:

That's crazy.

Speaker B:

It is crazy.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Quite an undertaking for y' all to get nine bands, pay for them all and even make a nice contribution along the way.

Speaker C:

Yeah, we have great donors of bank of Washington, Taco Bell.

Speaker B:

Oh, good.

Speaker C:

Pepsi, Buzz Echo Camp.

Speaker B:

Good for him.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

The Echo Camps are really kind to us.

Speaker C:

They're really good for the community.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

So, yeah, we're very lucky to have this type of talent here for our charities.

Speaker A:

Absolutely.

Speaker A:

How far away are the stages from each other?

Speaker C:

Far enough.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I was gonna say, I thought the same thing.

Speaker C:

One faces one way and the other faces the other way.

Speaker C:

One band starts at noon.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker C:

The blues will start at 1 o'.

Speaker C:

Clock, so there'll be an overlap.

Speaker C:

About 15 minutes depending on the band.

Speaker C:

So they're only like 300 yards away.

Speaker C:

And it's very easy to walk between stages.

Speaker C:

We're super pumped about it.

Speaker A:

And naturally food and drink available.

Speaker C:

Gray Eagle is one of our sponsors.

Speaker C:

So we'll definitely have drink and Pepsi.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Food and drinks all provided.

Speaker C:

Not for the 30 bucks you have to actually pay.

Speaker C:

But we'll have hamburgers and chicken sandwiches and brats and hot dogs.

Speaker C:

But the one thing that I encourage you to get there early, far before it runs out is the brisket.

Speaker C:

We've got this guy named Keith Piontek.

Speaker C:

He's really a hard headed guy and he wants his brisket to be the best.

Speaker C:

I'm sorry, Sugar fire.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

But Mike Johnson brisket is to die for.

Speaker A:

Seriously perfecting it.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker B:

Huh?

Speaker C:

Including the Dave's Hot Famous Hot pickles on that if you like.

Speaker B:

Oh man.

Speaker B:

Come on.

Speaker B:

I'm coming out for that.

Speaker A:

Only starting to salivate.

Speaker C:

Mark's ready to wrap this up and go get a brisket.

Speaker B:

That's right.

Speaker B:

I like a good brisket.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

So yeah.

Speaker C:

And then for the kids it's.

Speaker C:

Any kids under the age 12.

Speaker C:

12 or under are free.

Speaker B:

Good.

Speaker C:

So we have a free kid zone for them.

Speaker C:

A little bounce house.

Speaker C:

Faint pace, face painting.

Speaker C:

Easy for me to say.

Speaker C:

We got a bag game for them.

Speaker C:

We've got some other stuff out there for him.

Speaker C:

Arnold.

Speaker C:

That they'll just have a good time.

Speaker C:

They can come out and throw their Frisbee or whatever because it's a wide open area.

Speaker C:

And the beauty about it is you can get as close to the stage as you want or you can get back.

Speaker C:

Just bring your chair, bring an umbrella, maybe a pop up tent.

Speaker C:

We might be able to put you somewhere.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

It's on a little hillside.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

It's got a little slant to it.

Speaker C:

So nobody's in their way.

Speaker A:

People are going to ask where do I park?

Speaker A:

After I've driven 30 minutes from St. Lou.

Speaker C:

Only about 200ft from the venue.

Speaker A:

That's great.

Speaker C:

In a free parking lot.

Speaker A:

There you go.

Speaker B:

Cut it out.

Speaker A:

There you go.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

We'll even show you where to park.

Speaker C:

Little Point.

Speaker C:

But yeah.

Speaker C:

It's free parking.

Speaker C:

Free for kids under 12.

Speaker C:

We really, we.

Speaker C:

It's a family event.

Speaker C:

It really is.

Speaker C:

And so we're excited about.

Speaker C:

The people in Washington are just so friendly.

Speaker C:

And they are.

Speaker C:

And it's a cool town.

Speaker A:

It is.

Speaker C:

It's a great setting.

Speaker C:

So you got the park and then there's a big lake, Lion's Lake, right there.

Speaker C:

Far in.

Speaker C:

It's just.

Speaker C:

It's fun.

Speaker A:

I'll tell you a story about that sometime.

Speaker A:

This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Luis and Tomb.

Speaker A:

We're talking to Ken Bolen.

Speaker A:

He's the emcee for the Oxfest.

Speaker A:

And one of the things Ken, I wanted to get into was to have people volunteer to do something like this and for this to continue and continue to grow the way it has.

Speaker A:

It's the cause of why the festival was started, but it's also the beneficiaries of the money that is raised through this festival.

Speaker A:

Would you please talk about some or all of the beneficiaries?

Speaker A:

Where does this money go?

Speaker A:

Because you said there are no employees.

Speaker A:

So the money goes somewhere.

Speaker A:

And folks, you got to listen to this because some of these are just.

Speaker A:

They blew me away.

Speaker C:

This is the most important part.

Speaker C:

And this is why we're doing it.

Speaker C:

This is why we serve.

Speaker C:

Because once you serve, it just opens up an all new avenue for you.

Speaker C:

You look at life differently when you hear about these organizations, what they do, who they support.

Speaker C:

It's kids and youth, adolescents based.

Speaker C:

ecall, my cousin that died in:

Speaker C:

A funny story about that is he was a beneficiary of this place called Whole Kids Outreach.

Speaker C:

And we're like, Doug, if you're supporting a place financially, there must be a woman involved.

Speaker C:

And he's oh yeah.

Speaker C:

And her name was Anne Francione.

Speaker C:

Doug dated her for a while.

Speaker C:

And I hope I don't offend anybody by saying this.

Speaker C:

Doug must not have done a great job because she's now Sister Anne Francione.

Speaker C:

So she's a nun.

Speaker C:

So way to go, Doug.

Speaker C:

So we used to kid him and Sister Ann, Sister Ann, if you're listening to this, I've told this story on the stage.

Speaker C:

I'm not going to tell it on the stage anymore.

Speaker C:

You've taken enough abuse, but you are such a wonderful person.

Speaker C:

She is a wonderful person.

Speaker C:

So she runs the Whole Kids Outreach.

Speaker C:

It's a non profit.

Speaker C:

They provide in home nursing and outreach programs to pregnant women mainly and families living in poverty generally in the Southeast Missouri.

Speaker C:

Southeast Missouri.

Speaker C:

Unbelievable.

Speaker C:

There are six others.

Speaker A:

So hang on, I want to read something about, about that particular Whole Kids outreach.

Speaker A:

They serve 11 counties in rural southeast Missouri where the average yearly income for a family of four is $15,500.

Speaker B:

Southeast Missouri is very.

Speaker B:

It's poverty.

Speaker B:

There's a lot of poverty in that.

Speaker A:

Did you get that, folks?

Speaker A:

A family of four, $15,500.

Speaker B:

That's unbelievable.

Speaker A:

I read that.

Speaker A:

I was like, that's crazy.

Speaker A:

It grieved my spirit.

Speaker B:

It does.

Speaker B:

It hurts.

Speaker B:

It hurts to the core.

Speaker C:

Thanks for reading it.

Speaker C:

I appreciate that.

Speaker A:

So that's just one of the beneficiaries Sorry.

Speaker C:

No, don't be sorry.

Speaker C:

I appreciate you bringing that up.

Speaker C:

And it's.

Speaker C:

It's important to know our festival.

Speaker C:

It's great, it's a lot of fun.

Speaker C:

But educating people right on what's going on in our state and around our.

Speaker A:

State is really important because people may even decide supporting the festival by coming, but they may decide to support these other groups too on their own.

Speaker A:

Individually.

Speaker C:

Exactly.

Speaker C:

Exactly.

Speaker C:

We think we've got a mutual fund of charities.

Speaker C:

So we have seven of them and we have a board, we have accountants that look at all our money so you can feel safe about investing with us because it's going to these charities.

Speaker C:

Another one's called all abilities athletics and they provide first class athletics to kids that may not have the opportunity to play a sport because of some disability or mainly autism.

Speaker C:

And it's pre K through high school.

Speaker C:

That's a local thing.

Speaker C:

It gives these kids confidence and gives them some friends in sports.

Speaker C:

It's really a cool organization that's all Abilities Casa or casa.

Speaker C:

How do you guys say that?

Speaker C:

Casa.

Speaker C:

Casa Midwest.

Speaker C:

Everybody knows casa.

Speaker C:

The court appointed special advocates.

Speaker C:

Extremely important.

Speaker C:

So when we're on a stage, we talk about all the good stuff, but we also say, hey, if you want to give, this is a good place to give.

Speaker C:

Kid needs some needs an advocate.

Speaker C:

Then there's of course the Duane Haddocks foundation.

Speaker C:

He was one of our cousins that passed away.

Speaker C:

He was an athletic director, he was a coach, he was a teacher.

Speaker C:

Just a great guy.

Speaker C:

And so his foundation helps a kid get an education at St. Francis Board, which stands for Washington's investment in great schools.

Speaker C:

Sometimes a district just can't get the money or they won't give the money.

Speaker C:

And so we provide finances for them so they can get the state of the art of equipment, really give a good education for the kids.

Speaker A:

It's their foundation for the school district.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yep.

Speaker C:

Two more.

Speaker C:

One classroom that's dedicated to creating inclusive education opportunities for children with special needs and their peers.

Speaker C:

And they're in the St. Louis area.

Speaker C:

I just think it's really important that they feel wanted and needed in their classroom.

Speaker C:

And the one that all our charities are important, but this one really tugs at my heart.

Speaker C:

I've dealt with the covering house for a number of years.

Speaker C:

Breaks my heart.

Speaker C:

But they restore the lives of youth that have been sexually trafficked and they restore their youth.

Speaker C:

They give their childhood back.

Speaker C:

Missouri, I think, ranks number four in the nation in sex trafficking.

Speaker C:

It's pretty sad, but we're really glad we can help Them, So we help them financially.

Speaker C:

And then I'm with another group that helps them in kind by moving furniture for them, cleaning, painting, whatever we can do for them.

Speaker C:

So those are our seven charities, and we're pretty darn excited about all of them.

Speaker A:

And I'll list those on the podcast page, folks, so you can check that out when we post that because all of those are worth looking at individually and collectively.

Speaker A:

If you have some extra time.

Speaker A:

Maybe you can't give extra funds to help support an organization like that or help support oxfest in a donation.

Speaker A:

You can volunteer because that time is as valuable as a financial contribution and many times it could be even more valuable.

Speaker C:

I was just going to say that.

Speaker C:

You must have read my mind, Arnold, that I think it's more valuable in many cases.

Speaker C:

People are not afraid to give away their money.

Speaker C:

And we really appreciate that.

Speaker C:

Giving time is another thing, and we could really use people to serve it.

Speaker C:

Really, I'm telling you, if when you serve it just.

Speaker C:

I said it earlier, it just opens up your viewpoint of the world.

Speaker C:

It's up in our city with the tornado victims and handing out hot food.

Speaker C:

Okay, so that's great.

Speaker C:

But when you talk to folks and learn about them, it's just so important.

Speaker B:

It's a whole different thing, isn't it?

Speaker C:

Totally different.

Speaker C:

You don't feel.

Speaker C:

You do feel sorry.

Speaker C:

There's some empathy there.

Speaker C:

But you also look at them as a person and it's.

Speaker B:

You see their struggles and what they're going through and how they just.

Speaker B:

Their day to day, what they have to go through every day, every day.

Speaker C:

And the fact that's their community.

Speaker C:

We want this community.

Speaker C:

It was my grandmother's house, it's my mom's house, it's my house.

Speaker C:

I want to stay here.

Speaker C:

And people, I think, lose sight of that, how important it is for community.

Speaker C:

Little soapbox there.

Speaker A:

No, I agree with that.

Speaker A:

Because I think getting a perspective on where people are is like, hey, if this was my child in this situation, or this was me in my situation, or this is my parents in this situation, what would I want other people in other organizations to do?

Speaker A:

That's what you need to do.

Speaker A:

That's how you need to keep a perspective on being real.

Speaker A:

And you can watch it on television, but it's nothing like seeing it with your two eyes and hearing it with your two ears and interacting, like you just said, with individuals who are going through those things.

Speaker A:

That's huge.

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah, very huge.

Speaker B:

There's a lot of housing that is transferred from generation to generation in the northern part of our community here.

Speaker B:

And I think that's important.

Speaker B:

That's really important.

Speaker B:

It gives them an opportunity to own a home and to stay where their roots are.

Speaker B:

I often wanted to keep my parents house.

Speaker B:

We move on with it.

Speaker B:

But in north county they do that and I think it's fantastic.

Speaker B:

That's their neighborhood, that's where they grew up.

Speaker C:

We're a little off subject here, but I think it's important to talk about because it is St. Louis and we all support St. Louis.

Speaker C:

It's a wonderful city.

Speaker C:

A lot of people say, why didn't you just get insurance?

Speaker C:

Guess what?

Speaker C:

You can't get insurance.

Speaker B:

No, you can't.

Speaker C:

There's an organization up there called the Hub.

Speaker C:

They had to go to California to find insurance.

Speaker C:

And it's a beautiful building that people just.

Speaker C:

The carriers don't want to.

Speaker C:

Don't want to.

Speaker B:

It's a challenge.

Speaker C:

I don't mean to get political.

Speaker C:

No, I don't think that's political.

Speaker C:

I think that's just the truth.

Speaker B:

It's a challenge.

Speaker B:

When I was mayor, one of my mayor stories, after I came out of office, I went up to North County, North St. Louis, and we worked.

Speaker B:

I worked with other mayors to help them.

Speaker B:

And what I found was a lot of the homes were worth, I'm just going to throw a figure out here, $20,000.

Speaker B:

And the repairs that home needed was $20,000.

Speaker B:

So it's impossible to repair some of these homes up there too.

Speaker B:

And then that even makes it harder for it to be insured as well.

Speaker B:

So there's a lot of just the value of the property up there that's.

Speaker A:

Going on up there and even the deeds because we had the legal services of eastern Missouri and talk about how they're trying to sort through making sure individuals have a deed to that particular piece of property.

Speaker B:

Sometimes it's not passed on to the next generation.

Speaker B:

That is an issue.

Speaker A:

Or there's multiple people on the de and trying to track them all down, etc.

Speaker B:

Like that.

Speaker A:

This is good stuff.

Speaker A:

We're going to come back after a break and we're going to talk a little bit more in some different ways about the Oxfest.

Speaker A:

This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Louis in Tune.

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We're jamming rock and roll.

Speaker A:

Welcome back to St. Louis in Tune.

Speaker A:

This is Arnold Strickel with Mark Langston.

Speaker A:

In studio is Ken Boland.

Speaker A:

He's the emcee for the ninth annual, maybe eighth annual because of COVID oxfest.

Speaker A:

And folks, you're wondering what the oxfest is.

Speaker A:

Rewind and check this out when the podcast page comes out.

Speaker A:

The Oxfest is a music festival that is in Washington, Missouri and it is being held September 20th.

Speaker A:

That's a Saturday at the Washington Fairgrounds.

Speaker A:

Gates open at:

Speaker A:

You can go to Eventbrite and get some tickets for that particular festival.

Speaker A:

There's going to be 10 bands.

Speaker A:

Is that right?

Speaker C:

Nine.

Speaker A:

Nine bands.

Speaker C:

It's just you guys are coming out.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I was gonna say Band Fest.

Speaker A:

Yeah, big Band Fest.

Speaker A:

There's and one of the great things it is strictly volunteers run this whole thing and the proceeds go to variety of well deserved groups that help kids in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Speaker B:

And what's the Oxfest website?

Speaker B:

What?

Speaker A:

Very good, Mark.

Speaker B:

Another way to get tickets.

Speaker A:

Oxfest music festival.org Oxfest music festival.org there's.

Speaker B:

Going to be a live album coming out I guess on the oxfest.

Speaker C:

Wouldn't that be Something.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Live at oxfest.

Speaker C:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C:

Live at Leeds.

Speaker C:

We'd be right up there with the who.

Speaker C:

I mean, yeah, that'd be great.

Speaker C:

That would be something.

Speaker A:

I'm going to include all of those.

Speaker B:

Kidding.

Speaker A:

But that they sponsor on the website.

Speaker A:

I'm going to include the way to get tickets on the podcast page.

Speaker A:

So watch for that.

Speaker A:

You can check that out@stluntune.com on Facebook, Instagram, or X.

Speaker A:

So, Ken, what do you do for a living?

Speaker A:

Now I know you were the guys like you.

Speaker A:

You were the class president.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker C:

How'd you get that?

Speaker A:

And you were involved in, let's see, football, basketball, and baseball when you were in high school.

Speaker A:

We're all the kind of the same age.

Speaker B:

A big show off, guys.

Speaker A:

You know, I do my homework.

Speaker A:

I was like, who's this?

Speaker A:

Ken Boland.

Speaker B:

Look at that.

Speaker A:

I even saw some pictures of you.

Speaker C:

Pictures?

Speaker B:

Yeah, in the post office.

Speaker A:

The FBI's most wanted.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Let me turn sideways.

Speaker B:

Milk cartons.

Speaker A:

So what do you do for a living?

Speaker A:

And I know you got involved because your cousins were these.

Speaker A:

These guys who.

Speaker C:

I'm retired, past three years.

Speaker C:

Do work part time for my church, the Crossing, and I do outreach stuff.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

So I get to work with Oasis International and task team activities for special kids and Circle of Concern.

Speaker C:

Lots of different nonprofits.

Speaker C:

So just like I said, it's opened up my world.

Speaker C:

I thought a lot about myself when I was younger, as we all do.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

And your perspective just changes when you serve.

Speaker C:

This is just a natural thing for me.

Speaker C:

They asked me to do it.

Speaker C:

And I love being up there clowning around, introducing the bands with a class clown.

Speaker B:

So that's fits.

Speaker A:

Speaking in front of a lot of people as a student body president, I.

Speaker C:

Think Jim Rankin was the class clown.

Speaker C:

Thank you, Jim.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker B:

Just clarify.

Speaker C:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C:

We all had fun in high school, I think, for the most part.

Speaker B:

As long as you don't need bail money, that's the main thing.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

AAA and all that bail money stuff, it's all good, right?

Speaker C:

Yeah, but, yeah.

Speaker C:

So the festival's gonna be great.

Speaker C:

We, I should say just bring a comfortable chair.

Speaker C:

We take credit cards out there.

Speaker C:

We'll take cash.

Speaker A:

Venmo Cash app, all those kinds of deals.

Speaker C:

I have Venmo.

Speaker C:

I don't know, if not Cash app.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

I want to look at that.

Speaker A:

Zell.

Speaker C:

Zell.

Speaker C:

We'll do Zell.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker A:

That's important because a lot of people don't care cash anymore.

Speaker B:

I don't.

Speaker A:

Yeah, I don't either.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah, we don't need cash, but if you have it, we'll take it.

Speaker C:

Sounds.

Speaker B:

Yeah, scary.

Speaker C:

Take my cash.

Speaker A:

I don't know.

Speaker C:

We do have security out there that nothing's ever happened out there.

Speaker C:

We have security.

Speaker C:

We have first aid tent.

Speaker C:

We've got.

Speaker C:

We got the hospital ready to roll in case something would occur.

Speaker C:

Nothing has.

Speaker C:

Knock on wood.

Speaker C:

And so it's.

Speaker C:

It is a professional festival that you can come out, feel comfortable, feel like, hey, I'm listening to this good music.

Speaker C:

It's for a great cause.

Speaker C:

I would love to see people from the St. Louis County.

Speaker C:

We do have some St. Louis City.

Speaker C:

Just come on out, enjoy yourself.

Speaker B:

What are the hours of The Oxfest?

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

11:30, gates open.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker C:

First band comes on at noon.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker C:

ast band will play till, like:

Speaker C:

Depends on how much they smokes.

Speaker B:

That's a long.

Speaker C:

It's all day long.

Speaker C:

The good news, you can come and go if you want.

Speaker C:

If you want to come in, listen to Mark close or any of the other bands, come in early.

Speaker C:

If you want to leave for a little bit, we'll let you come back in.

Speaker B:

And the food.

Speaker B:

So I want to have dinner there for sure, but yeah.

Speaker C:

Oh, definitely.

Speaker B:

What kind of food are we talking about at the Oxfest?

Speaker C:

Oh, we have hamburgers, cheeseburgers, brats, hot dogs, brisket.

Speaker B:

A brisket I want to try.

Speaker C:

Oh, we got pizza.

Speaker C:

Moe's Pizza.

Speaker C:

So you can buy a whole pizza or a piece of pizza.

Speaker C:

There's kettle corn, there's snow cones for the kids.

Speaker C:

All that good stuff.

Speaker C:

Yeah, so, yeah, a lot of good things.

Speaker C:

A lot of variety for people and a reasonable price.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Balanced meal out there at the Oxford.

Speaker C:

Yes, yes.

Speaker C:

There is beer?

Speaker C:

Is that what you're asking?

Speaker C:

Yeah, there's beer, and then there's some mixed drinks.

Speaker A:

Adult beverages.

Speaker C:

Adult beverages.

Speaker A:

So people should bring, like, a lawn chair or a blanket or.

Speaker C:

Okay, absolutely.

Speaker C:

Lawn chair, blanket.

Speaker C:

You go between stages very easily.

Speaker C:

You can get.

Speaker C:

Like we were talking about earlier, you can get close to the stage.

Speaker C:

These bands love it when you get close and you dance and do whatever you want?

Speaker C:

Not anything you want, but.

Speaker A:

Yeah, within reason.

Speaker C:

Within reason.

Speaker B:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker B:

Family friend.

Speaker C:

Yeah, family friendly.

Speaker A:

Do the bands.

Speaker A:

Will they have a table set up for CDs or stuff like that or.

Speaker C:

Some of the bands do.

Speaker C:

Not all of them, but.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah, they'll have their merch there and.

Speaker C:

Okay, we'll have our merch.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

Hats and shirts.

Speaker A:

Like you.

Speaker A:

You're wearing.

Speaker C:

Yeah, yeah, like I'm wearing.

Speaker C:

Okay, cool.

Speaker C:

All that stuff.

Speaker A:

Cool.

Speaker C:

So it's, like I said, it's professional.

Speaker C:

It's well done.

Speaker A:

And were you involved since day one?

Speaker A:

Since oxfest one?

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Kevin Walde, one of the founders and one of the guys, I think he was drinking scotch around that fire, called me and said, hey, what are you doing, like, right now?

Speaker C:

Hey, we need you out here.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker C:

And they talked me into it, and it was an easy sell.

Speaker B:

Do they have a fire?

Speaker B:

Do they have a bonfire or anything out here at this festival?

Speaker C:

No, no, they don't allow fires.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

I didn't know if they did.

Speaker C:

If it's warm, though, we have a big misting fan.

Speaker C:

The opposite of a fire, but that's close enough.

Speaker C:

Yeah, close enough.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker B:

I wasn't sure if they had still.

Speaker B:

If you guys still did the fire thing.

Speaker C:

Oh, we still do that, but not at.

Speaker B:

Not at the Ox Fest.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker B:

That's good.

Speaker C:

So, yeah, it's.

Speaker C:

It's cool.

Speaker C:

And like I said, the million dollar stage, so it's a legitimate festival, something that everyone.

Speaker B:

And it's.

Speaker C:

I haven't heard anybody say, gosh, I wish I wouldn't have gone.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

It's getting bigger every year, too.

Speaker C:

It is, it is.

Speaker B:

Which is great.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Talk about how you've seen the numbers of people who have attended.

Speaker A:

Are we talking how many thousands of people are we talking?

Speaker C:

That's a great question.

Speaker C:

The first year we did it, we thought, oh, man, if we get 2, 300 people, that'd be great.

Speaker C:

So we end up with 600.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker B:

First year.

Speaker C:

Yeah, first year.

Speaker C:

year before COVID and we had:

Speaker C:

We thought, oh, we're growing.

Speaker C:

year, I think we were around:

Speaker C:

15.

Speaker C:

1600.

Speaker B:

That's nice.

Speaker C:

The numbers are great because, one, because it helps finance our charities.

Speaker C:

But the other part about it is they get to learn about our charities.

Speaker C:

They get to learn about CASA and the need for advocates.

Speaker C:

They get to learn about the problems with sex trafficking.

Speaker C:

They get to learn about all these different charities that we have, and we think that's just as important.

Speaker A:

Now you'll talk about that.

Speaker A:

Will they have a booth set up so people can get information from them, or.

Speaker C:

We do have some that leave information that don't necessarily have a booth.

Speaker C:

Some of the organizations walk around and talk about it.

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker C:

Sometimes a little uncomfortable at a music festival when you talk about sex trafficking, but we still do it.

Speaker A:

Absolutely.

Speaker A:

Because it's the benefit of.

Speaker A:

You're benefiting that organization who's helping individuals who are involved in that.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

We've had several shows on that.

Speaker A:

That is a.

Speaker A:

An important thing to get rid of.

Speaker A:

Get rid of.

Speaker A:

And like you said, it's very prevalent in our area.

Speaker A:

Is there anything we haven't talked about?

Speaker A:

Oxfest:

Speaker C:

Boy, let me think about that for.

Speaker B:

Come, come bring your family, friends.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

Just come try it.

Speaker C:

Someone told me says you, you can't do anything unless you take a step.

Speaker C:

So take a step.

Speaker C:

Come on out.

Speaker C:

Enjoy it.

Speaker C:

If you're there for four hours, four hours of music for 30 bucks.

Speaker C:

34 bucks a deal.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

If you want to come out all day, please do.

Speaker C:

We will.

Speaker C:

We will accommodate you the best we can.

Speaker C:

Come on out.

Speaker C:

Bring a chair, comfortable chair.

Speaker C:

Bring your friends out.

Speaker C:

And that's the other part about it, is the community that you create out there, too.

Speaker C:

If you bring 10 friends, you're out there shooting a breeze.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker C:

Just meeting people, collaborating with yourselves, talking about the charities, getting yourself a nice cold beer.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker A:

You can go to the side and play Frisbee, too.

Speaker B:

It's a good time to go to.

Speaker C:

The side, pray Frisbee.

Speaker C:

You can play bags out there.

Speaker C:

You can walk around and just enjoy yourself.

Speaker C:

It's really a wonderful event.

Speaker A:

I notice.

Speaker A:

I'm going to read this one.

Speaker A:

Only dogs classified as service animals are permitted into the festival.

Speaker C:

Okay.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

That's an important thing.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

No coolers or.

Speaker C:

Because we're going to provide all that.

Speaker C:

Because it is.

Speaker C:

It is a fundraiser.

Speaker C:

So fun.

Speaker C:

Razor.

Speaker B:

Oh, wow.

Speaker B:

He's.

Speaker A:

He fits right in here, doesn't he?

Speaker B:

You're really.

Speaker A:

Would you want to stay around so you can hear the rest of what we do?

Speaker A:

Because you could probably contribute.

Speaker C:

Only if I can get hair like.

Speaker B:

Mark jealous or something.

Speaker B:

I know.

Speaker B:

I'm not.

Speaker C:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

I'm not on the oxfest music festival.org ox fest, oxfest music festival.org so, Ken, thanks for coming in today, man.

Speaker C:

Thanks a million for having us.

Speaker C:

We really do appreciate it.

Speaker A:

Yeah, we appreciate what you guys are doing.

Speaker A:

And it's a great.

Speaker A:

It's a great venue, but it's a great festival.

Speaker A:

And the.

Speaker A:

The people who benefit we may not even see and.

Speaker A:

But know that it's going to great causes.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker C:

100.

Speaker B:

I think it's amazing.

Speaker B:

Thank you.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

That's our pistachio gallery.

Speaker B:

That's what I say.

Speaker A:

Mark, you have some days of the day.

Speaker B:

Oh, okay.

Speaker B:

Yeah, boy, he's throwing me.

Speaker B:

Us.

Speaker B:

All right, let's see.

Speaker B:

We have National Dog Day.

Speaker B:

Speaking of dogs.

Speaker B:

Oh, I don't Know if we talked about dogs, but it's National Dog Day.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker B:

National Cherry Popsicle Day.

Speaker B:

Do you like cherry popsicles?

Speaker A:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker B:

Let's see.

Speaker C:

Cherry red.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

National Spark the World Day.

Speaker B:

Don't know what that means, but I'm sure Women's Equality Day.

Speaker B:

Like that.

Speaker B:

Here's my favorite.

Speaker B:

This is my favorite.

Speaker B:

This is my.

Speaker B:

I just want to go on record.

Speaker B:

This is my favorite National Toilet Paper Day.

Speaker C:

Oh, crap.

Speaker C:

You can say that already.

Speaker B:

I know it's National Toilet Paper Day.

Speaker B:

I don't know.

Speaker B:

My computer's not working real well here.

Speaker C:

Mr. Whipple, is he coming?

Speaker B:

Oh, that's right.

Speaker B:

Mr. Whipple who?

Speaker B:

I forgot all about Mr. Whiffle.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Let's see.

Speaker B:

I don't think National Day of Repentance every day.

Speaker B:

Ask my wife.

Speaker B:

She'll tell you.

Speaker B:

I need to repent every day, too.

Speaker B:

Yep.

Speaker B:

And I think that's.

Speaker B:

That's really about all I've got for today.

Speaker B:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Day.

Speaker B:

I don't know what that means.

Speaker C:

What?

Speaker B:

Do you know anything about Harry Potter?

Speaker A:

Yeah, he's got hair.

Speaker B:

Aha.

Speaker C:

He's a Potter.

Speaker B:

And there's National Drive In Movie Day.

Speaker A:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker C:

Those are the days.

Speaker C:

Yes.

Speaker A:

There's very few of those left.

Speaker B:

There's one over in Belleville.

Speaker B:

I've gone to Fun.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

Very few left.

Speaker B:

That's what I got for.

Speaker B:

Yep, that's what I got there.

Speaker B:

Thank you very much.

Speaker A:

Okay, but let's see.

Speaker A:

I'm supposed to be doing mental floss here.

Speaker A:

I lost my brains there for a second.

Speaker A:

I'm gathering them back in.

Speaker A:

Okay, so here we go.

Speaker A:

airports for flight delays in:

Speaker A:

Okay.

Speaker A:

And because a lot of times, either there's too many flights, I noticed this about the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which used to be the Lambert St. Louis International Airport, but they flipped Lambert and St. Louis around.

Speaker A:

Is that.

Speaker A:

It seems like all the flights leave at the same time.

Speaker A:

Now, why is that?

Speaker A:

Is there rationale for that?

Speaker A:

Why don't they stagger them a little bit so they're not, like, lined up on the tarmac?

Speaker B:

It's a challenge for the pilots.

Speaker C:

We even stagger our bands.

Speaker B:

So.

Speaker A:

Yeah, you can't have the bands all play at the same time.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

What the heck is that?

Speaker B:

Who's doing that?

Speaker B:

I know.

Speaker A:

Yeah.

Speaker A:

So the airport with the most flight delays is Dallas Fort Worth International, which is the hub now for American Airlines, which moved from St. Louis when it was here, and before that it was TWA 25.42% of all flights are pushed back this year so far.

Speaker A:

Severe thunderstorm seems to be the leading cause.

Speaker A:

Denver International Airport trails behind, clocking in 23.86% of flights delayed.

Speaker A:

874 flights in and out of that hub didn't take off or land on time on July 24th alone.

Speaker A:

Or with thunderstorms also being the main reason for the delays.

Speaker A:

That's exactly right.

Speaker A:

In third place is Ronald Reagan Washington national at 23.29%.

Speaker A:

The airport's known for being overburdened as its main Runway sees over 800 takeoffs and landings a day.

Speaker A:

That's more than any other Runway in the country.

Speaker A:

Now, I try to avoid Chicago o' Hare Airport at any time of the year, especially in the winter, because it's always some snowstorm or always some delay.

Speaker A:

And I've spent three nights there sleeping, and it's just horrible.

Speaker B:

Three nights at the airport?

Speaker A:

Yes, on three different occasions.

Speaker B:

Oh, okay.

Speaker A:

Yeah, like in the wintertime, if you want to go somewhere, go south first.

Speaker A:

Generally, you're okay.

Speaker A:

Don't go north, go south.

Speaker C:

I thought Newark would be on there.

Speaker A:

Yes.

Speaker A:

Let's see.

Speaker A:

Miami International is fourth.

Speaker A:

Atlanta, or if you're in Webster Groves, Atalanta, Georgia is fifth.

Speaker B:

What is wrong with him?

Speaker A:

He knows what I'm talking about.

Speaker A:

Fort Lauderdale is sixth.

Speaker A:

Fort Lauderdale, wow.

Speaker A:

Seventh, Baltimore Washington International.

Speaker A:

Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Speaker A:

Eighth.

Speaker A:

George Washington.

Speaker A:

George Bush Intercontinental in Houston.

Speaker A:

Ninth, Orlando and tenth is Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Speaker A:

Charlotte airport's not bad.

Speaker B:

I had no idea about all this.

Speaker A:

It scares me.

Speaker C:

Yeah, like I said, I'm surprised about Newark.

Speaker C:

I've slept on that floor a few times.

Speaker C:

Oh, it's hard as all floors.

Speaker A:

Well, maybe they sold the airport several times and so they're just changing the names to protect the innocent.

Speaker B:

Wow, this is a tough room here.

Speaker A:

I do have some funnies here, Mark.

Speaker B:

All right.

Speaker A:

Police car loses its wheels to a thief.

Speaker A:

The police are working tirelessly to nab the suspect.

Speaker A:

I was going to start a taxi service for seniors.

Speaker A:

I was going to call it Oldsmobile.

Speaker B:

It's very bad stuff.

Speaker A:

I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes.

Speaker A:

She gave me a hug.

Speaker B:

Ken is running out the door.

Speaker A:

A few years ago, I invented beach footwear for people with one leg.

Speaker A:

It was a flop.

Speaker B:

Get that horse out of here.

Speaker C:

I'm gonna have to start writing these down.

Speaker A:

You know, everyone asks a hundred year old man for his health secrets.

Speaker A:

The old man said, I'll tell you a secret.

Speaker A:

I've been married for 75 years and promised my wife when we got married that when two people quarrel, the loser has to walk 5 km.

Speaker A:

I've been walking 5 km every day for 75 years.

Speaker A:

But how come your wife's very healthy as well?

Speaker A:

The old man answered.

Speaker A:

I'll tell you another secret.

Speaker A:

She's been following me to make sure I finish the 5km.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker A:

Mom was freaking out that we ate all the apples.

Speaker A:

I just bought them yesterday.

Speaker A:

She said.

Speaker A:

It's not like they grow on trees.

Speaker A:

Dad piped in.

Speaker A:

All of us kids are laughing and is having a private talk with mom right now.

Speaker A:

All right, mom, and let's see one more here.

Speaker B:

One more.

Speaker B:

Only one more, folks.

Speaker A:

You know, there was a very famous song and I can it was back in the 70s, early 70s.

Speaker A:

I remember ice skating at the Clayton ice rink.

Speaker A:

This is the song they would be playing.

Speaker A:

Knights in white satin, Knights in white satin.

Speaker A:

I never did find out what the knights in white sat in.

Speaker B:

Wow.

Speaker A:

That's all for this show, folks.

Speaker A:

Thanks for listening.

Speaker A:

If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional shows@stlintune.com consider leaving a review on our website, Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or your preferred podcast platform.

Speaker A:

Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and continue to grow.

Speaker A:

Want to thank Bob Berthicel for our theme music, our sponsor, Better Eat Mortgage, our guest Ken Bolen, the emcee for oxfest, and co host Mark Langston.

Speaker A:

And we thank you folks for being a part of our community of curious minds.

Speaker A:

St. Louis in tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network.

Speaker A:

Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy, and let your light shine.

Speaker A:

For St. Louis in tune, I'm Arnold Stricker.

Speaker B:

Sam.