Welcome to the hometown hero outdoors podcast . Here is your host , Chris Tatro .
Speaker 2Hello everyone , welcome back to the hometown hero outdoors podcast . I am very excited today to have three of some of my favorite people here at the podcast . They've all been on our podcast before and several individuals got to meet them at our last year's Winter Banquet here in Minnesota . Today we have Liz Collin with Alpha News joining us . We have Melissa Bachman with Winchester Deadly Passion and Aaron Slater , owner of Relentless Defender . So I greatly thank all of you for rescheduling . I had a mishap about a month ago with some medical stuff and had to reschedule everyone , and I know everyone has an incredibly busy schedule , and so I thank you all for being able to get all onto the podcast once more and rescheduling everything . So thank you very much . Thanks for being here . I just want to kind of go around the horn and see everyone's doing . I just knew if you will start , liz .
Speaker 3Well , chris , first of all , glad you're okay . Thank you for having me back . You know , never know how you guys are . You like to face whatever's in front of you and sometimes insects can take you down . My friends . So glad you're all right . But yeah , it's been a busy summer and certainly still appreciate you asking me to be a part months ago of the banquet . It was really incredible and excited to come back on and talk about it .
Speaker 2Great Thank you . Yeah , no , I appreciate you coming back and I know you've been busy . Got a lot going on there . I think you're filming a documentary right now .
Speaker 3Yeah , actually we're in the process of doing all that , based on the book I put out in October called they're Lying . This is called the Fall of Minneapolis . It's people who've come forward to share their story after what happened in May of 2020 . And we're putting that together and we'll release it for free in October . So we'll keep you posted on that .
Speaker 2Yeah , please do . I know a lot of people like to follow you and follow your story and I don't know . That's awesome . Thanks for being here . I really appreciate it . Melissa , congratulations on the order .
Speaker 4Thank you very much and again , I'm glad you're okay . Yes , the last time you guys saw me I was about eight months pregnant , eight and a half months pregnant , had a little girl . She's been absolutely wonderful , hasn't really slowed her family down at all . She gets to travel all over , go to baseball games , go on hunting trips , go turkey hunting . She's been all over the place and she's just a wonderful little girl and I had a great time out at the event that you guys had . The banquet was phenomenal and appreciate you having me there and appreciate you having me on the podcast again as well .
Speaker 2Absolutely . Yeah , this is your third time back too , so that's pretty cool . And , yeah , you did a great job at the banquet Both of you , liz and Melissa . We had a lot of compliments and I know people really enjoyed having conversations with you and getting to know you a bit better , and a lot of good feedback on that . I appreciate it . Hey , slater , I haven't seen you since police week . How you been .
Speaker 5I've been doing great . I can't spend nothing but travel , travel , travel . So since your banquet I've been all over the place . But yeah , police week was great and glad to get to see you there and ultimately , I have a small little break in between travel . I leave again Thursday and go to more conferences .
Speaker 2Is that what you're doing mostly ? Conference around the place .
Speaker 5Yeah , well between conferences and my son competing in Taekwondo all over the nation really Well that's cool . It is . That's really cool .
Speaker 2That's awesome . Yeah , thanks for coming to the podcast today and I know you got a lot going on and you said you're on the road quite a bit , so I really appreciate it . I did have another question for you about the banquets later . So this year you actually was your first time attending and I know that we've worked together for many years here with you doing our apparel , amongst other things , and networking , and we finally got you to come up and be able to participate and see everything that we do and everything that we showcase . Do you want to talk about what you experienced and what the travel was like and just being at the banquet in general ?
Speaker 5Yeah , let me kind of set the tone . First , I get invited to non-profit banquets and fundraisers all the time , everywhere and honestly , and there's no way that we can get vested into each and every single non-profit that comes to us , even the ones that we have relationships with that we do apparel for . I still got to be , honestly , a little bit picky and choosy about what it is , because there's just not enough time in the day , not enough time in the week or month or year . And then , on top of it , I think everybody on this podcast and everybody that listens knows that not every non-profit is equal . They're not always equal . They just their mission may be intended to be great , but it's not run necessarily in the best ways . And we've come across it many , many times .
Speaker 5And you and I and hometown heroes , every Lester Fennner , had a relationship for quite a while now . You kept inviting , kept inviting , kept inviting . And it was one of those things where I was like man , minnesota , that's just far from Houston , texas , it is , it is . And so it was one of those deals where I said you know what , let me find out what they're about . And I got the opportunity to come up there and I can honestly tell you that I didn't have and I'm just being upfront , I didn't have extremely high expectations about what the bank was going to be about , what the mission was going to be about . I knew all about it , of course , but to actually experience it , I gained an entirely new perspective of what hometown hero outdoors does , and I will forever , as much as I possibly can , forever , be re-going to that banquet . From this point forward , I can tell you that that's awesome .
Speaker 2No , I appreciate it . Yeah , it was awesome to get you up there and see you and then be able to meet a lot of our volunteers too I know they hear me talk about you all the time and I got to come visit with you down at your headquarters there . Man , it's probably been two years almost now , so then , to actually be able to shake your hand and get to know you . And then you also sit on the National Law Enforcement Memorial Association Board , so you have a pretty big role there and we had a lot of law enforcement there and they got to meet you as well , and I appreciate you coming up . And there was one thing you did too in the banquet that I thought was pretty cool was we were doing our live auction and you walked up to me and you actually had donated some custom apparel shirts that people could bid on . How many shirts did you donate ? Was it like two sets of 150 shirts ? Is that what right ?
Speaker 5It was two sets of 100 shirts . But honestly , it's one of those things where you're sitting there and you're like you know what ? I'm attending this thing , but now I want to have a vested interest in it and I want to be a part of it , and I can tell you that if you haven't experienced that type of fundraiser , it's not the fundraiser that catches your emotion , it's the actual results of the fundraiser that catches your emotion . And you guys did that very , very well , better than a lot of nonprofits do , but more so , your follow through is extraordinary , to show what you're doing with the money , what it is that , what lives are being affected with it , and that type of stuff is what really , in my opinion , matters when it comes down to a fundraiser .
Speaker 2I appreciate that . We worked really hard to try to have the transparency and show people where their money is going , and I think that's one of the main reasons we have people come back to helping us and supporting us . When it comes to financials , but also donating trips and adventures and stuff like that , it's just it's the transparency and being able to show everyone exactly what we've been up to and how we're doing it . So , no , I appreciate it . So Melissa was our guest keynote speaker of the evening and did a phenomenal job . You were on the stage for what ? 10 , 15 minutes ?
Speaker 4Yeah , I believe . So . You know , for me , I love going to events , but my favorite part is meeting all the people there . I really believe you guys have some of the most wonderful people you could ever find , and being able to not only get up on stage and do a keynote speech , but to be able to meet each person individually , to meet the volunteers , to go do the events . To me , that's what it's all about , and I really really enjoyed it and think you just have a wonderful group of people there from start to finish .
Speaker 2Thank you , yeah , and I'd be remiss to leave out that you actually when attended the VIP event with Silence for Central at Best Defense Army and Range I know Slater got to go there as well . Liz , you had another speaking obligation but I know these two went , so talk about that and how it went . And I know you have a really good relationship with Silence for Central .
Speaker 4Yeah , it was just a fun place to go and to meet up with everybody a very relaxed environment , beautiful shooting range , they had a separate area where they had food , you could shoot , you could mingle , and I just think it's so nice for people to be able to take a little downtime , ask questions , tell you their story , learn more about them , and I think that you really get to know people a lot better and then the next day when they see you speak or they come and talk to you again , you really feel like you have a connection and you've met them several times now . So I think that's really important and for me , I absolutely love it . I'm a people person and enjoy meeting all these different people all around the country ?
Speaker 2Yeah
, totally . And then you had a pretty good presentation about just your life and your family life . Could you just give the listeners a little sneak peek of what that looked like ?
Speaker 4Yeah , what I try to do is try to bring unity into any type of event that I'm going to , whether it's the outdoors , just getting people out together and I think family structures are really important and spending that time together . And in some families maybe not everybody hunts or not everybody shoots , but it's really good to show some of those benefits beyond filling your freezer , what hunting can do for a family or what hunting can do for a community or for a person . So that's a lot of what I talk about and how we can kind of support each other . And you know , some of the best medicine is getting outdoors and experiencing some sunshine and doing that with loved ones . So that's really the message I try to send is to get families together , to get friends out there together to do that , to enjoy nature and to reap the benefits of hunting as well .
Speaker 2No , totally no , it was well received . I know a lot of individuals came up to me afterwards and thought it was fantastic . And then I also really enjoyed getting to talk to you one-on-one . How interactive you are . You know , and I'll say it , since day one , when I got to meet you out at Su Falls , when I asked you who your agent was and you handed me a card and said it's me , just call me Like . It just resonated through everything from day one all the way through today . Just your personal , the personability . Is that the right word ? Yeah , right , no , liz , you correct me . You're the reporter .
Speaker 3You got it , yeah , okay .
Speaker 2Just being able to be approachable and have conversations with you and being able to relate , and that people really enjoyed that . So I appreciate you doing that , being approachable . So thank you and Liz , what were your thoughts ? I know that you were only introduced to us , you know , a few months prior to us hosting the banquet , and then we had a couple of meetings and we know that you're well versed with what happens in the law enforcement world . You know not only through your career but also your husbands , and you got to come in to kind of see what we do . So what were your thoughts ?
Speaker 3Yeah , you know , going into it , I knew I knew of you guys just a bit and I was , you know , not really sure what to expect . I'm like this is a cool group . They get together and hunt and fish . I can get behind that . But I was blown away really at the whole evening . The testimonials were just so powerful to hear everyone's story and everyone there really did have a story . I too thought Melissa is just so personable . She was super fun to get to know and hear about her family and story as well . But I mean the Eric Mattson trailer unveiling was completely incredible . So to witness that and just I don't want to give too much away , but you know he was awarded something there , you know , at the banquet , everything that you know he was .
Speaker 2Oh , you can talk about it . Everyone knows that you were on the hunting trip .
Speaker 3Yeah , just in case , you know people weren't aware but it was . I don't think there was , you know , not a dry eye in the house at all . So and you know it's , it's , it seems to be you know this profession continues to be under attack . You know , when it comes to law enforcement I mean just on Friday with the tragic passing of officer Walene , who is a Minnesota native , in Fargo , north Dakota , you know , just done the job for three months but you know , to come together and you know be reminded that people do care about law and order and about really honoring our heroes , because in my opinion that's that's , that's who they are . So you know , it kind of restores your , your faith in , in humanity a bit .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's been a rough few months , you know , across the country for law enforcement in general , but Minnesota and Wisconsin , north Dakota in the most recent months . You know we had two officers killed over in Wisconsin not too long ago and then a deputy in Wisconsin as well , deputy Owens up in northwest Minnesota and the three A officers just shot in Fargo . It's been been a rough run and it's unfortunate . But for those of you that don't know too , at the banquet you know we do a person of the year annually and this year we actually awarded it to one of our veterans , brent Fowler . He was actually the recipient of a moose hunt that we went in on Maine and if you have not watched this story , I implore you to head over to our YouTube and watch that .
Speaker 2It's about 15 to 20 minutes long but you really dig into his life and and all of the healing and the trauma he's been through .
Speaker 2From that , the healing that has gone through because of the trauma and it's . It's very moving to kind of hear his message about who he is , what he's been through and the things that have helped him , and then also encouraging others to be able to go outside , into the outdoors and take that step , even if they don't think they deserve it . That's a , that's a little bit of a stigma that a lot of us go through , and either of these professions law enforcement , military , firefighter , ems is we always don't think that we're deserving of it and somebody else is always worse . In reality , a lot of us , or a lot of people , do deserve it and we just got to take that first step and then it gives us the ability to help people further as well
. You know , and I know , slater , with your law enforcement career , would you be able to talk about some of these mental health hurdles that people have seen in the law enforcement world ?
Speaker 5Yeah , the impact . I just put our class on this week about mental health and stress management . I started in 97 . I was police officer , started in 97 and when I started we didn't talk about mental health . We never talked about mental health . We never talked about , you know , the things that that that were going through .
Speaker 5And one of the things that that has changed , I think , over the years is it's it's not taboo to talk about it anymore .
Speaker 5In fact , it's encouraged to talk about it , and I think that's a very , very important aspect that we need to embrace . The and especially now , more so , another ever we've talked about officers that have been killed in line of duty , but we're we're having a huge , huge , huge epidemic of officers committing suicide and , unfortunately , a lot of that should be minimized and can be minimized , in my opinion , based on the ability to get therapy and based on building a counseling , and I think we need to do a better job of looking at that and really just attacking that problem head-on the . There's a lot of other great nonprofits out there in the world that do just that and I work with many of them and they're very sincere and they're very passionate about what they do , but I think , more so than anything , we do need to work on the , on making sure that every single officer knows that there is a place they can turn to , to reduce really the probability and possibility of the increased suicide amount .
Speaker 2Yeah , and that's the focus of what we do . Everything that we surround ourselves by with HHO is to help with mental health and reduce that and give people an outlet . I know everyone hears me talk about assist training in every podcast , but I'll keep talking about it , just so people know might be a new listener , you might be a long-time listener , but our field staff are being trained and applied suicide intervention skills training , which allows for them to be able to have resources and the ability to talk to people and when they're in a time of crisis . So if you're having a dark day , the relationships and bonds that they build in the outdoors with us , they can call us and reach out to us if they're having a hard time . The biggest thing that we're trying to develop after this is follow-up resources after that , which is something that we're working on . That's actually part of the conversation we had with today with Mike the cop and call for backup and other nonprofits that are like that , but you know another and let me add this , chris , yeah , I think what .
Speaker 5Why your organization is so unique is because getting somebody outside of their comfort zone and get outside of their world , to get them into the wilderness and get them into or out of it and into something else , that is completely away from everything and one of the things that I truly enjoy about wilderness . I was born in Missoula , montana , so to me that's God's country . It's totally . You can't get any any more closer to God than when you look at that . You sit there and say you know what . This is real , this is what . If you , if you're not , believe it , there's something bigger than us , then go to Montana , okay , and you will understand how sincere and how big the world really is and it can't be anything but God .
Speaker 5So when you do that with with an organization like yours , I think it it separates them from all of the , the issues , the drama , all these things that's going on with them , and something about being away from your phone , something about being in the wilderness , something about just being a part of that is probably , in many ways , and being with peers Many ways can be bigger and better therapy than doctors and couch to sit on and tell your problems . That is what's different about yours , and I think that it's super powerful to understand that . These are what the veterans are needing . This is what the police officers are needing . It gets them in an environment that they can share and not withhold and just be open about it , and to me , that's one of the hardest things to get a police officer or a veteran to be able to do is just break down that wall , and I think by doing that absolutely it does it very , very , very well .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's getting them off the couch .
Speaker 2And the outdoors , you know the outdoors is the conduit , the vehicle that gets that relationship built for opening up and you know there's definitely a place for professional mental health and you know , seeing people at that point if it's something that's beyond our capability , totally needs it , you know .
Speaker 2But the being able to establish and build that relationship for that follow-up definitely , and that's you hit a spot in the head . I think that's exactly everything we're trying to do . You know , just get people to break down those barriers , those walls , and be comfortable and be around like-minded people and say it's okay to talk about the things that I've been through or they've been through and I share a lot of my own experiences right out of the gate and people are like , oh , you're talking about that . Absolutely you know it's okay to talk about it . You know it's okay , you know it's just , but it is rewarding , you know , over time , to be able to see people see that and then also turn around and use it themselves with others and when we see them on maybe multiple outdoor trips that we do .
Speaker 1We'll return to the podcast in just a moment , but first hometown hero outdoors would like to thank the following companies that support HHO and our mission relentless defender apparel and gear , silencer , central suppressors , best defense armory and range in Forest Lake , minnesota , and Tito's handmade vodka . We thank them for their support . Now back to our podcast .
Speaker 2You know one statistics that just came out recently that was kind of shocking to me and unfortunate at the same time , as the military puts out there numbers per quarter when it comes to suicides in the armed services and it is up in the first quarter this year from the previous year , which is terrible .
Speaker 2So in the first quarter of 2023 , there were 94 soldiers in the active duty component that committed suicide , 18 in the reserves in 23 the National Guard , and it's that's just one quarter .
Speaker 2If you think about that in equivalence , that's that's an entire military company to some extent that was lost due to suicide in the first quarter . You know , and it's tough just because you know we're we're out there trying to do the things we do , and it's just something that you feel like you can never help enough , no matter what you do , and which is difficult , but at the same time , you do get to see the success stories from some people and turning around and helping out others and very unfortunate deal .
But , melissa , I wanted to talk to you a little bit about you know , I know we've talked about outdoor stuff a lot , you know , and being able to do things with kids and introducing children to the outdoors and stuff , but is there anything that you'd like to relate with ? You know , maybe personal health on your end or somebody that that you have affected in a positive mental way when it comes to the outdoors ?
Speaker 4well , I think one thing that's important is we talk about , you know , getting out like with your group , where you get together with like-minded individuals . But I think it's bigger than that and , like we were talking , it's not only just that instance , it's learning to get back in the groove of that . Right , if you sit in a tree , stand from dark to dark all day and you have no cell service , you have nothing to do but reflect on things and think things through , and I think that's really important and I think it's really helpful . And we live in a day and age where cell phones are constantly there . People are constantly in contact with whatever it may be for your work , your family , your job . But hunting or even fishing gives you that opportunity to kind of set all that aside . You have nothing to think about or worry about , except for potentially a deer coming through or , you know , casting your line or tying on hooks or whatever it may be .
Speaker 4What's nice is getting people back into the outdoors and knowing that you know they just need some time to themselves sometimes and time to refresh , and I've seen that with people I've taken . I've done some wounded veteran type shows where we took them all spoon bill fishing , for example , and that was a wonderful trip . But what that sometimes can do is get them back hunting . Now they're turkey hunting again . They follow up , you know , years later and I still get in contact with them , see how their families are doing . You're building those relationships but you're almost reteaching people to take that time to themselves , to get outdoors to soak up that sunshine . And I think that self-reflection is really important for anyone you know , whether you have mental health issues or not .
Speaker 2It's a great way to kind of help combat some of it or prevent it , to yes , yeah , no , it's sitting out in the dark or not in the dark , but we've got some to come up . You know it's probably one of the most therapeutic things . Sitting in a tree stand is , waiting and just hearing the birds and the woods and everything wake up is probably one of the most therapeutic things that I have and that I can recall in my life . That just hits the reset button for me . But yeah , totally agree , liz , I was gonna ask you so I know you're nice , you're close with law enforcement , obviously with your husband and all the reporting and stuff . You know what are some of the mental health implications and issues you've seen throughout your reporting ?
Speaker 3Oh gosh , it's a totally different world now , as far as you know . I guess I'll just talk about even this documentary in and of itself . I think there were 16 interviews in total and some of these , you know , police officers were trapped in the third precinct , you know , before they went ahead and surrendered it during the riots in 2020 . And other cops , you know they gave , you know , 10 , 20 , 30 , years to the city of Minneapolis . I'm just talking about specifically . But I think this story , you know , a lot of people can relate across the country .
Speaker 3But , you know , to see what's happened in some of these cities is heartbreaking . These are people who signed , you know , signed up to protect and serve and you know , not many people are going to do that . Give their life , you know , lay their life on the line , you know , over and over again . But just to see how politics , sadly , has played such a role and pushed them out of this career that many of them live for , it's very emotional . I caught myself actually crying several times and I try not to do that in interviews , but you can , you know , certainly feel just how sick and sad they are by what's been allowed to happen .
Speaker 3I'll just say on a personal level with when it comes to the outdoors , and I grew up in a family of fishermen and I would always fish and never did the hunting trips with my dad . But my son now , I'm watching him , he's now 10 , but I'll say that , and I'm very anti-cell phone in my house , I'll be honest , anthony , I always tell him he's going to be 30 by the time I let him get a cell phone . But you know , a lot of his friends are at that age now where they are connected , you know , and I'm proud of him because he actually sees it in his own friends just being out to go out and fish and have conversations . My dad , you know , takes him fishing a lot , especially during the summer and such , and they solve all the world's problems out on a boat together . But I think it's really , you know , as Melissa talks about too , just a way to form relationships and have memories for a lifetime that really , you know , you can't put a price on such a thing .
Speaker 2I totally agree . I know it's awesome what the fishing with your son too , though I mean . That's a huge thing , you know , getting them hooked young . My 12-year-old boy Abel and my daughter Breckin , who's eight , really into fishing right now too , so I think we're sitting in the same boat , so maybe we need to figure out a day and get everyone to go fishing together , since we don't live too far apart .
Speaker 3I love that . And do they have phones ? If they do , don't tell my kid if they do .
Speaker 2That's it . We'll just hide that and I'll tell my kids to keep it quiet . There's just one of them that does , and I wish he didn't have one , but it's the way the world sometimes I know , yeah , we'll get hooked up and go fishing on the St Croix River one of these days . My neighbor's got a boat here that he's going to let me use , so we should figure that out .
Speaker 3That'd be great .
Speaker 2Yeah , totally . But yeah , so today's podcast wasn't intended to be incredibly long , you know , I just wanted to touch base with everyone , check in and say hello and say thank you for your time and your efforts for coming to the banquet , supporting us and making the night enjoyable , getting to be personal with other individuals that were there and spreading the word , and then also for the discussions that happened after the banquet and maybe who you've spoken with about HHO after the fact . But I'm going to wrap it up at this point . Does anyone have any final comments or anything that I have to say ? All right , well , thank you all very much . I appreciate you .
We're going to let everyone know that if you're feeling that you're having some dark times and there is something that you need to discuss , feel free to reach out to HHO . We can always get you in touch with one of our field staff or someone who's a certified and assist , and there's also the National Suicide Prevention line that is 988 . It's called 988 . You can get in touch with someone that can help you . But other than that , we will see you next time on the Hometown Hero Outdoors podcast .
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to the Hometown Hero Outdoors podcast . For more information , visit our website at hometownherooutdoorsorg .