We've had some cool guests over the years...this one is FOR SURE the Grooviest. Musician/Rock Star, Willie Wisely and Misha from Open Arms MN discuss the First Annual "Show of Thanks," scheduled for Sunday, November 19 at the Granada Theater in Uptown Minneapolis
We've had some cool guests over the years...this one is FOR SURE the Grooviest. Musician/Rock Star, Willie Wisely and Misha from Open Arms MN discuss the First Annual "Show of Thanks," scheduled for Sunday, November 19 at the Granada Theater in Uptown Minneapolis
welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where we hope to inject the world with a dose of the Minnesota Nice that it desperately needs. We're in a new space tonight. What a space it is, Johnny Boy. It's very cozy. We've got a fire roaring right next to us. It's an electric fire, which is hard to put out. Yeah, but you get that vibe. It's the right vibe. Dim lights. It's very, very, uh, I think, um, It's groovy. It's very groovy. We should be smoking cigars or something down here with the leather chairs. It's nice. It is. It's very nice, and speaking of groovy. We got about the G Griest guy I think I've ever met No question. I have to. Before I have a quick story about Willie wisely. Willie is here and Willie has a son. Is he still playing baseball? Yeah. Avidly. So, um, I was MCing an event for the Maude Midi RBI club. Of course.'cause you know, that's what I, that's what you do. I'd love to hear myself talk and I look out in the crowd and everybody pretty much looks like me. And then I see this groovy guy with this great hair and I'm like, who the hell is that guy? And he's got a real hot wife. And I'll probably, I probably will edit that out. I won't edit it. No, you keep that in there. Yeah. Oh yeah. Keep it in. It makes me look good. But yes, but Willie, uh, Willie has a daughter that, Ottomedi High School. She's a sailor. She sails. Christopher Cross would love her. Like Bob from, uh, WhatAboutBob. I sail, I'm sailing. And, uh, Willie is here to, uh, to tell us about a charity that is near and dear to his heart. Willie Wisely, welcome. Oh, thank you guys for having me. I've been listening to Kindness Chronicles for so long. It's, it's magical to be here. You're the one. Fantastic. Yeah, we got, we got one. And he's here. We trapped him. Listener. Uh, you're, you go great with dishes. Yeah. Oh, good. Perfect. And I heard a little chuckle in the background. Is that a friend of yours that we should be meeting? Oh, I so dearly, uh, yeah. Misha, who is from Open Arms of Minnesota. The concert that we're throwing that we're going to talk about today, it's called Show of Thanks. And Misha is here from Open Arms. And the show is to benefit Open Arms of Minnesota, who feeds our critically ill neighbors, um, in, in, Just with very special food and, and service. And I'll let Misha talk more of that. She's the events manager, um, at Open Arms, so I'm, I'm excited to have her here with by my side. Terrific. So first I must ask Willie, how did you discover Open? You know what? Let's start with Misha. Yeah. What's Isha? Why, why don't you tell us about open Arms? What's, uh, what are y'all doing over there? Oh, it's a big job and a really cool one as well. So, Open Arms in Minnesota, we've been around since 1986. Uh, we're not new to a lot of people, but it's amazing that some people still haven't heard about this incredible thing that we do. So, I'll kind of give you the quicker version. Um, but we were born out of the AIDS crisis in 1986. Our founder, Bill Rowe, uh, had a lot of friends and people in the community that were being really affected by it. And of course, food. It's such an integral part of what we do and need every single day. And so he started feeding people literally out of his own kitchen. And this continued on, it grew, it blossomed, it continued on for about 20 years. And as that sort of really important mission of feeding really nutritious, medically tailored food to these people, um, it just kept growing. And now we actually have eight different critical illnesses that we cover. Open Arms has five different urban farms. We farm as organically as possible. We have a team of registered dieticians that works with our chefs, our kitchens, our farm ingredients, and we create medically tailored meals for our critically ill clients. So if you can imagine, when you're hungry, you're just hungry, right? But when you're sick, you need good food and our whole, like, it's not even a motto. It's just what we live. Food is medicine. I love that. So. 4, 700 volunteers helped run our organization last year. That is the equivalent. If you can imagine a 32 full time employees. It's a lot of FTEs going on there. mean, seriously, we served 1. 5 million meals last year alone, and we're growing exponentially every year. So. Really being a kindred spirit in that sort of idea about food being medicine and making a return to nutrition, sort of being a core component of our life. We combined, we conjoined, we go way, way, way back, like decades. And the universe, as she does, just kind of came together and here we all are throwing a really cool concert for a really great reason. That is very cool. I, um, am a, uh, a student of the AIDS crisis from the, the early 80s and, when you heard about all the grassroots organizations that popped out as a result of this, and just how the community came together to support, people in San Francisco and the Gay Men's Health Crisis, which is an organization in New York City, um, It's awesome to hear that there was somebody here in Minneapolis that was doing something to, to, to provide the medicine, the food that's medicine and, uh, very cool, cool origins and what a meaningful thing. And Willie, how did you discover? Open Arms of Minnesota. Well, I was, um, uh, just, yeah, I guess, last Valentine's Day, I just had a really great show at, uh, the Granada Well, aren't they all great shows? Let's Well, I had a nice little Exceptionally great. Steve, you know how it goes. Sometimes people show up, sometimes they don't. So that you gotta work, work for the people working the door. And um, and I had a really nice turnout at the Granada Theater, and people, my crowd wants to eat while they watch music and stuff, and I thought, well this is really a success, and it was really a pleasant time, and, and I felt I was super on my game on that stage, and I just thought, how can I make this bigger, better? And not just about me. You know, proof I'm growing older and wiser, right? No kidding. Yeah, and, and I thought, I'm looking for a charity. And, um, and so I called my friend, um, Darren Ennis, who's a big event promoter around town. And I said, Darren, come on, you must have worked with some, some great charities. I should have called you, John. Um, uh, you know, you must have been watching the phone and it just never ran. And, uh, Darren, uh, you know, and they said, well, what, what do you care about? And I said, well, I really care about like food as medicine, food as, you know, and he stopped me. He's like, are you kidding me? Yeah. Like my, yeah, my wife and I are big on, on. This food is medicine. I return to real. Our food is so corrupted, you know Mm hmm. When does pizza fit into the planet as medicine? I'm just curious I was gonna hold off on this. But as I look around the room And I'm sure you've never heard that joke before but it's just if he's heard the kindness Chronicles He's heard the kindness food Chronicles. We love our food. I'm sorry But pizza can be medicine, right? It's probably corrupted medicine. Absolutely. Hey, seriously, it's not what the food is. I think you can eat butter. I think you can eat sugar. I think you can do it. You gotta eat things that aren't processed, that are made in a way that people care, whether it's locally sourced or just, you know, it's tough. We face this industrial food crisis. And the nutritional value of what we... Our Fed is going down, down, down. And when I heard about OA, Open Arms, and went to their website, I realized, God, they are part of what I feel is the part of the solution to our health crisis. Absolutely. So, um, I got really excited, so I called up, uh, I called up and Amisha... Practically answers the phone and I say, Hi, I'm Willie Wisely and I wanted to do a charity event. And Misha's like, Willie, it's Misha. You know, and she and I haven't been in the same room together for 25 years. And so it was just, you know, all the stars come together. Yeah, like she said, we promoted shows and managed Greasy Meal together back a hundred years ago. So, yeah. So you reconnected. We, we did do the, that one festival, Lake of the Isles, we did run into each other that one night, a few years back, but prior to that, it had been some decades, for sure. True. Yeah, I remember Greasy Meal, that was a fun band. Big deal. Didn't Peter have that guy, um, the lead singer on his show? Yes, he's terrific. All the time. Yep. Oh, he's great, he's got that really cool voice. Yeah, Julius. Julius Collins. That's right, that's right. They were, the Greasy Meal. That event, it became a happening in town that they took over the caboose every Sunday night, or is it was an amazing The whole there was a culture that kicked in there when they did it They took it over and it was really really a cool thing before we talk that's gone away more about open arms Can we just acknowledge that this is a special evening for you Steve Brown? Oh, it's really special for your wheelhouse When you said Willie Wells Willie wisely, I thought wait a second How do you know Willie Wisely? And then, and then my world, you know, caving in or, you know, exploding because... Willie lives in Mata Midi. And, and John, this is, we're saying... Willie lives in Delwood. Delwood, sorry. Prestigious Delwoodese. I never would have thought you and John, uh, Schweitz in the same orbit. So it's, it's... Well, that's kind of what John made, you know, that was John's point too when he was... Emceeing the banquet, you know, yeah, the parents, you know, baseball parents all kind of look the same and we've got a rock star. I love it Well, I don't know if you guys really understand Willie is a he's a Amazing talent I in this town. So he's been doing it for a long time I saw Willie Weiss a trio back in 89 or something like that. Oh, wow Something like that Um, and then he said so many I was scanning through your CDs and albums today and online and I, I know this one album very well. The she album. Yeah, it's an amazing October records. It's, it's kind of I told you earlier, John, I think it's probably one of the most well crafted Minneapolis pop albums I've ever heard, and I, and it's because... That's saying something. It's because of the writing, and on the album, which I never heard before, I listened today, you have all the demos on the deluxe version, which shows the bare bones of the song, and it's all still there, I just think what you guys did, you added color to it. There's an energy to the album that's unprecedented. I just, I really love it. And I'm glad I'm so glad I get to actually tell you that because I've listened to it over the years all the time. It's great. That, that means a lot. And, and it's important to give credit to producer John Fields, who's a platinum level producer who is a. Lives in the Twin Cities. Yeah, he's not only a dear friend, but he's like actually a major national cat Yes, he is with and easily one of the biggest music talents that we can know I agree The guy can pick up anything and play it's a lot of producers can go and smoke grass and tell the artist like how cool That is or how cool it isn't you know be the vibe check producer Yeah, but John can actually play all this shit, and if you're not playing it right He'll play it for you. You know, and John, John Fields, we worked with him too, uh, different periods, John Fields and Ken Chastain. I saw both those guys this summer playing with different bands. I saw Tina and the B Sides at First Ave and I saw the Honey Dogs and John was playing with them and Ken plays, played with them as well as Semisonic, anyway, um, but they're, just because you're associated so closely with those guys, they obviously know how to, you obviously know how to find good people and work with good people. So your band. Whoever's playing these albums is amazing players, too. So it's good stuff. Really, really good stuff. Yeah, it's John and Ken and, and just constantly throughout my career. Yeah. All eight or nine studio albums. Yeah. John's been involved. But it, but it, it all comes down to the songs. If you have good songs, you can make amazing things happen. So that's a credit to what you're doing and what you've been doing for a long time. And it's so cool to, to actually, uh, to sit with you. So thank you. Thank you. Let's hammer home the date and, and the event multiple times starting right now. Yeah. Troy, do you want to go over this? Sunday, November 19th at the Granada Theatre. Yeah. And how many seats in the Granada Theatre? Well, we want it to be comfortable dining. Uh, so it's only 166. Oh, really? We might blow it open, uh, wider, but I want people to be comfy and, and, uh, and, and have a great meal. So, Willie and Misha, I want you guys, we have a 500 seat jewel box theatre in Bloomington called the, uh, Masonic Heritage Center, the Ives Auditorium. I've been told that acoustically it is as fine of a venue as you're gonna find in the city. I've been in there. It is a beautiful room. I've never heard anything in there, but it's a really great setup. And, you know, if you guys are interested in doing a show there at any time, I'd be happy to host it. It's a great spot. Well, I just found out why we called this the first annual show of thanks, because there needs to be a second annual go. Absolutely. So are we going to talk about the wild at all tonight? Or is this going to talk about the show? We're going to talk about Willie's rock and roll. We're going to hold off on the hockey talk till next time. OK, OK. So back to Misha. Yeah, Misha, tell us about the economics of open arms of Minnesota. I mean, when you're. Obviously, volunteers are critical to the success of the organization. But in addition to that, I would imagine money helps. Yeah, of course it does. Money is imperative to what we're doing here. We can't feed people, we can't staff people, we can't keep lights on. And of course we are a true nonprofit at Open Arms. So, um, we are funded by some government monies, um, a lot of individual donors and longtime supporters of the organization, as well as, you know, corporate groups and whatnot. These people are not only financial supporters of ours, but they end up volunteering as well. There's tons of volunteer opportunities with Open Arms, and it really is. Just as important to the organization, our volunteers as the money piece. So, there's lots of different ways you can get involved with Open Arms and give, give of your time. Um, you can find all of that information at our website at openarmsmn. org. Really easy sign up process, donate process. But we love it, Open Arms, too. to engage our base with some fun activities, too. So, not only are we doing things like this cool show with Willie coming up, but we have a drag happy hour coming up at the Minneapolis location. We've got these really great pop up dinners that we do in our locations where our chefs get to show off a little bit. You get to come experience a really beautiful five course meal, um, and support in that way too. So, we love to do fun things, but we, we really love the mission most, of course. If, if, if I can just give a word about volunteering for Open Arms, um, because after Misha and I agreed, yeah, let's do a show, let's do a show! Um, I said, I will, I would need to know this first hand, and so I went and did some deliveries. with Misha and it was a super moving experience and it was at once so joyous because Wow, the you know, like I'm helping something that is really beautiful You know And this is easy for me and and just dropping find the address drop it off and give it to really happy grateful people you know right to their door a week's worth of food of frozen food that is It's organic, locally sourced, blah, blah, blah, ready to serve, heat up and serve, right? Heat up and serve. Yeah. Wow. And the people who are answering the door were alternately, um, in, in different, uh, phases of, of illness really. And some of them. Uh, just simply couldn't cook because of what they were obviously up against when they came to the door like there's no way that person can operate in a kitchen and, uh, but they could make it to the door then, but then there was other people in, you know, high rise and public housing I went to and, and the door cracked open and there's a whole family in there and there's caregivers and there's medical gear going up the walls. There's no place to move the whole plate. The whole room is a hospital. Their whole house is a hospital for this person and the person laying in the bed. I couldn't see him, but with just a big resounding voice, he was like, thank you so much. You know, like this happens every week, but he was grateful. Like, um, just these people are in, in need and, and the, the condition of the ill person in the home. What in that case was It consumed their entire life and I'm dropping off enough food for not only the family, but the caregivers, which I just love that was one of the things that I read on the, as I was perusing the website that, you know, not only are you nourishing the people that are dealing with some ailment, but the people that are their caregivers, which I mean, huge, just so cool. Yeah. I mean, such a thoughtful, I have a couple of questions for Misha regarding, you mentioned that there are eight, Maladies, I don't know what the term is for it, but there are eight things that you guys support. Could you just rattle those off alphabetically possibly? Funny. I might not even actually hit eight, although I'm sure going to try as many as you can. I'll just sort of go top down. So, um, cancer, HIV, AIDS, COPD, renal kidney failure, ALS, MS. We did, during COVID, cover some COVID situations. That's not something we've moved away from now. Thankfully, it's not, um, as necessary, uh, presently for us. And, and so on and so forth. I mean, it, it is definitely critical illness. It's very easy, our process. We put you in with one of our client services people. They kind of go on and vet with their, the medical teams or doctors that the client needs our services. And within a couple, two, three weeks, we're delivering food. We also, this is really notable and important, we ship. We deliver that same food service to people in Ely, in Rochester. Yeah. We, we, you know, we pack, ice pack boxes and we ship once a week. Um, I think we're, we're up to like a 200 count right now of different clients we serve in our shipping program as well. I love everything about that. Absolutely, absolutely. And this is sort of just the thing, and it, I love it when it's so organic like this. Just sort of like, even like, you know, the phone message coming through and it coming down to me, because of course I'm the one that would handle something like Willie's concert, and I'm like, Oh, I know Willie wisely. And this connective tissue, these sort of, uh, like Willie and I say, there's this, this, this thing that's been happening since we connected again for this show in particular, and then in perpetuity. So I love everything about that. Not only open arms, but. Organizations like ours, these important, um, charities and non profits out there, we're doing this good work, and we need all of the people involved to make it happen. So it doesn't happen without... a single component. So, love it. And Open Arms provides the meals for Meals on Wheels, too, right? We do, yeah. We actually, um, make about 75 percent of the meals for Meals on Wheels, and kind of interesting about that, um, and I won't speak too much to it because I'm, I'm not As aware of some of the history and how we got there as um, some others maybe in our organization that are longer in the tooth with open arms, but you know, we kind of took meals on wheels from being sort of like an airline meals kind of contract where they, they at least got food. To now we are providing this nutritious, healthy food. So that's a big deal. Yeah, we got Meals on Wheels on site everyday picking up for their clients too. Is it, you might have said this already, is this 100 percent volunteer or do you have staff? Oh, there's lots of staff. Okay, so I would imagine you'd have to because you're, the volume that you're working with. But you, you guys love having volunteers helping out, right? That's kind of how it. I mean, you've got dietitians, you've got, like, directors of food, I mean, it looks like you have executive chef level people that are working for the organization that are creating these... Yeah, people in funny hats. Well, we have funny hats. You know, they don't wear funny hats. They wear, like, the cool chef coat. Um, but yeah, our kitchens are state of the art. We actually went from what was, um, originally and for many years, our Minneapolis location on 25th and Bloomington Avenue to, um, opening a second location now in St. Paul. So it allowed us to, uh, so we're, um, we're right off 52, right off. 52, kind of across the freeway from CHS right by the St. Paul Airport. You can't miss the building, uh, open eyes right there, loud and proud. So it allowed us to expand our service area, our delivery area. We also send our food out to different satellite locations, churches, et cetera, so that we can further. Um, get those, those meals delivered out and sort of like a cool thing as I was thinking about our kitchens and the meals themselves and really mentioning they are frozen. We have some really cool freezers in our facilities that allow us to take that meal when we prepare it and it goes into our blast freezers and that brings that meal down to frozen really in no time flat. So it maintains as much nutritional content as possible. Not like a tombstone pizza, KG. No. Sorry, buddy. Unfortunately, no. Yeah, you stay on that feed so we might be feeding you some day. Oh, whoa. That's a shot. Throw some green beans in there while you're at it. I do love a good green bean. Or two. Especially when they're... It's saturated with butter. I need a lot of butter on my green beans. So Misha, just curiously, is HIV AIDS still, prevalent, is that the right word? An epidemic? Is it still an epidemic? Or hasn't it almost become a little bit like diabetes, you know, it's treatable now and people seem to be living with it much longer. Living with it is a good way to say it. Uh, it is still the number three category of illness and client that we serve. Oh, really? Okay. So it's still, oh, most certainly. It's, it's still there, of course. It still exists. Drugs and treatments have come a long way. So, as you said, living with that, um, most certainly is something that people are able to do. Where in 86, at our inception, that was just a complete death sentence. Yeah. So... So yeah, uh, and just, you know, federally, lots of funding is being cut because of that same reason that it's not what it was all those years ago. And so what we're doing with open arms is even more important now because a lot of the services and, um, you know, sources of security and help, um, are kind of going away. So, let's talk to Willie about the show he has planned. I hope you've got a plan in place. Yeah, let's, let's hear about got some, uh, you've got some big stars, uh, appearing with you. Why don't you tell us about what you got planned for the, uh, The evening of the 19th. Fantastic. Yes. Um, I have a, what I call a stellar band that I play with all the time, and that involves local guitar Hero Steve Brans and a a, a bass player. Uh, she's Barbara b Briad. Uh. is known, uh, to play with Turn, Turn, Turn, the Adam Levy group. Um, Reese Kling is the drummer on this show and he plays with the Orange Goodness, which is exactly that. And Nelson Devereux, one of the most talented reed players I've ever, ever worked with. Um, he, uh, I, uh, yeah, just an incredible talent. So that's my core. band that I always play with. Um, and then what we've done to make the show really special is we've added Davina Lozier and her group is called Davina and the Vagabonds and she literally tours all around the world. She's local, yokel as it gets, but she is a world class talent. Um, the way she sings, in fact, I just came from her house. We were practicing and, um, Uh, she's just a magnificent, a jazz revival, uh, sort of style. Yeah, yeah. Sounds, wow. But she's actually cranking out some new music that has an Amy Winehouse vibe now, more of a rhythm and blues era stuff. And, and her husband is an incredible horn player. And then... Uh, also, and both of them will be, uh, having guest appearances, uh, and, and having their own little mini sets inside the evening. And then, also, uh, Tommy Barbarella, who, as we, we were talking about Greasy Meal, he was one of the founding members of Greasy Meal, that whole... two, three years of glory at the caboose every single weekend, a thousand people in the caboose. And what an incredible scene and band that was. And he at the time was fresh off of being in Prince's new power generation. I think he played with Prince for 10. You don't just play with Prince. I was going to say, that's a big deal. Yeah. You live Prince and he needs to live you and you need to be. On call. Beyond. On call always, yeah. On call always, and your talent set needs to be beyond. And that's Tommy. Tommy is an amazing player, I can attest to that. So, it's gonna be a stellar evening across the board, and, and um, That's all I gotta say. How much do tickets run? They are, uh, let's see. Right now advanced tickets are$30 for general admission. And wait, I was gonna say that seems like a hell of a deal. Yeah, it's meal too. It's low and then 40 and 50 for VIP tickets. Okay. And VIP tickets right now are supported by a free classic vinyl reissue and a gift bag. Um, for and, and. preferred seating. Um, so you can go do an affordable ticket or you can get a full kind of VIP treatment and bring home some vintage vinyl reissues from our sponsor. Put me down for four of those VIPs because that's how I roll. That's who you are, John. That's just kind of how, you know, it just feels right. I love it. And there's only, I want to tell everyone, VIP tickets are limited and we've only got 50 pieces of vinyl. So it's better to buy tickets now than later. I'm going online as soon as we're done. Let's go, people. Let's get this thing sold out. And they are. They're the ones that are moving fastest right now, because, of course, everybody wants a great seat, and the vinyl's going to be a surprise for a lot of people coming in here, but, uh, yeah. And I assume you'll be taking donations that night, people that just want to raise their hand and say, I'm in. Absolutely. Yeah, we'll, we'll be in the lobby on my open arms. My open arms colleagues will be there in the lobby, making it very easy for you to understand, uh, opportunities to engage with us in volunteer ways and, um, most certainly onsite donations. And, um, actually when you go in and buy your tickets, there is a separate button where you can donate as well, if you want to do that while you're just kind of purchasing the tickets. So, yeah. And where is this theater? It's Minneapolis. Where in Minneapolis? I'm not very cultured. It's not in Monterey Dijon. Your house belies that. It's so beautiful here. We need to pull over your electric fireplace and then we can call it a fireside concert. Exactly. Well played. The uh, the Granada Theater is for years when we were of of age. It was the Suburban World Theater at 30. That doesn't help. Lake Street and 31st at Uptown. It's kind of Uptown area. Oh, I know where that is, yeah. Yeah, not the Uptown Theater but the old Suburban World. Oh, yeah. It had the, it still has the lights, star lights on the ceiling and clouds are projected. Yeah, neat. It was a, it was a great venue. Silent movie theater from built in the 20s and, uh, the Suburban World was a, uh, uh, name given to it. It was built as the Granada Theater, so it's back to its original. Back to its, its, its roots. I'm still... Like which Seinfeld episode? Oh, no. Do you remember where they went back to the original theater? With the, with the hot dog. Yeah, with the hot dog and button coming off. Jeffy Har Harwood was going to be giving a... Jerry's, Jerry's got the glasses on on that one. Yes! Yes, the gum! We always have to have a Seinfeld reference. Okay, we have to have a Seinfeld reference in every single show. And there it is. So my son lived on Lagoon, not far from that theater. Um, and decided to move when his car was broken in two, three times a week. So he just decided to leave the doors unlocked and they still broke into the car. No kidding. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'll show you how the steering. I spent a lot of time in there because the lagoon theater and the Uptown theater were two of my go tos for good indie movies. Just spectacular. Yeah, right just awesome I always saw the the Coen brothers movies there first Blair Witch Project at the Uptown. I waited in line. So I literally Like, two hours, and I thought it was real, like, I didn't understand. There was police in there, it was a big deal. It was insane, I sat in the balcony, you couldn't move. I went to the same, I was there, same weekend. Oh, it was awesome. How was the popcorn? Real butter at those theaters. That's why you cannot, I'm not kidding you, you can't get better popcorn than they had at those theaters. Anywhere in this town. Now, KG and I, you and I have experienced movies together. And do you want to tell them my trick when it comes to popcorn? Well, John doesn't like the fake butter, which is great. Because, like open arms, he wants the good stuff. Yeah, the real stuff. He wants the organic. So he brought, I'll never forget this, we went to a movie not far from here. And I look over and he has one of those athletic water bottles and it was filled with hot, warm butter that he put onto the popcorn. It was genius! You guys are hardcore. Oh, we're hardcore, alright. Love. And probably hard arteries, too. We're soft in the middle and we're hardcore. Soft in the middle. What a perfect timing for a concert like this, too. Thanksgiving era. This is great. I love it. Smart planning, you guys. Oh, yeah, I did, yeah, I wanted to do it in the, uh, Uh, the bill. Yeah. The season of giving, you know, the season of thanks. And, and I thought show of, I want it to be a show of thanks. So it has a ring to it, I guess. It's wonderful. But it also, like so many other people own various holidays in town, you know, like the, the new standards just kind of own Christmas, you know, and, um, Here you go. Here you go. I'm not going to go up against that. Yeah, but you're getting a jump on them, you know, it's the annual, we'll make it a, you know, every year. Absolutely. Yep. Well, this has been First annual. First annual, which suggests there will be and better. It's gonna be And the show that we have lined up sounds unbelievably cool. Yeah, I'm afraid that you don't have enough seats in that theater for the number of people that, uh, that will be interested in attending. Leave them wanting more. Yeah, I, I, we might have underestimated, yeah, uh, small thinking is something I do very well. Okay, very, very nice. So, Steve came bearing gifts. What do you got there, Steve? Well, I'm, I'm sorry, Misha, I didn't know we'd have you on the phone, but as a tradition, we don't really have any official... Kindness Chronicles swag, not yet. Anyway, no, but I brought these for for Willie's are kind bars This is for you and if this isn't your thing it's not organic enough it is it's pretty good kids would have it too So those are for you. Willie. Thank you for joining us here. And also for john and kevin. I brought A bag 100 grand bars. Yes, which is not nutritious, but this is in they are delicious reference to our Our past holiday, uh, Halloween, uh, show, we, I brought some of these guys for you to share. That is super fun. I couldn't get the big bars. I couldn't find them. Those are perfect. I got a bag. Well, and I'm seeing Willie next week, so don't count me out. Yeah, save some of those for her. Yeah, save those. But this is a fun note. We're going to be at Invictus Brewing. So, Willie, we've got some amazing sponsors and, uh, sponsors in Concord Records. Which, of course, we know. Willie is one of the... The big guys over there, and then Invictus Brewing, our beloved, uh, partner and supporter, always at Open Arms. So we're going to be serving up some cool signature stuff at the bar. And where's Invictus Brewing? They're in Blaine. Blaine? Yep. Oh, yeah. And, yeah, they're out in Blaine. Oh, I've been by. I was just out in Blaine for a fantasy hockey draft. Well, yeah, we were at the Superlink at the, uh, a different facility, but we went by Invictus. Yeah, I've been out there. Now, is there a website that, that folks can, uh, matriculate towards to get, uh, locked into this, uh, great event and make some donations? Absolutely, yeah. You can always go to openarmsmn. org, go under News and Events, you'll see, uh, you'll see the Show a Thanks poster there with Willie. Um, you can also go on the Eventbrite website. And search show of thanks and it's going to pop right up for you. Show of thanks. So cool guys. Thank you for being a part of our, uh, our podcast. I'm really excited to see how this all plays out. I think this is just step one. This is going to be an annual visit. We're going to pump this thing up and, uh, and keep the relationship going. It's fabulous. Oh, KG, that means a lot to me. Thank you. Boom. Oh, we're doing knuckles. Oh, we're doing knuckles. Spotify tonight. It's going to be a thing. You know what? He's decided. I'm letting my hair go. I'm, I mean, come on. John, I tell you what, pack a lunch if you want to look that good. I know. Alright, and with that, off we go. Thanks guys. Thank you.