Vince Turner on retirement, community involvement, and the next chapter in Fairhope

Life and Legacy: Vince Turner's Transformative Journey

In this episode of the Inspiring Good Podcast, hosts Marshall King and Kevin Dearie sit down with Vince Turner, a communications expert from Goshen, Indiana, known for his prolific career in broadcasting, sports writing, and community service. Vince shares his journey from being a foster kid at Indiana State University to becoming a celebrated broadcaster, journalist, and dedicated community volunteer. The conversation touches on his impactful roles at the Boys and Girls Club, his broadcasting accolades, and his significant contributions to the nonprofit sector, particularly at Bashor Children's Home. Vince reflects on the unique and supportive nature of the Elkhart County community, the influential figures that shaped his path, and his upcoming move to Fairhope, Alabama. The episode concludes with a heartfelt thanks and an expression of hope rooted in faith and the community's resilience.

00:00 Introduction to the Inspiring Good Podcast
00:26 Meet Vince Turner: A Community Icon
02:30 A Journey in Journalism and Broadcasting
05:33 Memorable Interviews and Broadcasting Highlights
08:13 Choosing Elkhart County: A Personal Decision
16:36 Transition to Nonprofit Work
23:22 Banking and Beyond
29:25 Final Reflections and Farewell

This show is a production of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. It is powered by equipment from Sweetwater and recorded in The Riverbend building in Elkhart's River District. Editing is done by the award-winning communication students at Goshen College, home of one of the best college radio stations in the nation. Listen to Globe Radio at 91.1 FM. Learn more about the Community Foundation of Elkhart County at inspiringgood.org You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Music is provided by Sensational Sounds. Thanks for listening. We hope you are inspired and inspire good and your community.

Transcript

Vince Turner E30
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[00:00:00] 

Marshall King: Welcome to the Inspiring Good Podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Community Foundation of Elkhart County, which serves a vibrant community in northern Indiana, known for its generosity and strong network of nonprofit organizations. I'm Marshall King, who's hosting this podcast with Kevin Dearie, a former nonprofit, CEO, who now coaches others.

Today our guest is Vince Turner, who is a well-known communications expert and community guy in Goshen, Indiana. He's known for his decades long career as a broadcaster, sports writer, and community volunteer, among other things. Vince, we're delighted to have you here today. 

Vince Turner: Well, I'm delighted by the invitation.

Thank you very much. 

Kevin Deary: Vince, as we were preparing for this, I was remembering back to when we first met, which I think was in South Bend in an elevator, and we were coming from or going up to. The restaurant up there. Mm-hmm. Whatever it was. And, and we [00:01:00] started having a conversation and I said, you have an amazing voice.

And you said, well thank you. That's 'cause I have a face for radio or something. And I go, and then we agreed to get a cup of coffee and that was 1994. 

Vince Turner: And began not only a friendship, but began for me a great legacy of service, uh, through to the Boys and Girls Club. You know, we got this, uh, funny talking guy from South Boston.

Uh, and what are the odds that two Red Sox fans, we get trapped in the same elevator on the way to see Rick Patino. And it just went on from there. And because of that chance meeting, I got to dive headfirst into the Boys and Girls Club among my many endeavors. And I've always been delighted by that.

You know, we 

Kevin Deary: have served together on, I don't even know how many places. Mm-hmm. We have, we've through Boys and Girls Clubs, we travel all over the United States at conferences. And you and I have presented at the national level, the Midwest level, the [00:02:00] state level. Uh, you are often. Thought of, and actually you're in the Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame down in Indianapolis as one of the.

Best board members ever in for boys and girls cubs, which is quite an honor and I was proud to put you in for that. And it's funny what an extra a hundred dollars will do 

Vince Turner: just to make sure that you got in. I built a legacy on doing what I was told when I was told how I was told. So it was good. 

Kevin Deary: I thought that was for Mrs.

Turner. Well, anyway, I can't thank you enough for everything you did, and I do want to explore that part. 

I guess the first thing I want to do is you've had so many multiple careers that you were. You excelled in. You were excellent in, so let's start, let's talk first about being a journalist and then moving into sports broadcasting and some of the, how did you get started in that?

Vince Turner: I owe I went to Indiana State University. I was, uh, I was a foster kid. And so I went to Indiana State University primarily because at that time you could baille hay for a summer and pay tuition. [00:03:00] It was where a lot of first generation college students went. But I was still, and because I was a foster kid, way back in, in the ancient days, they used to have what they called the parents' confidential statement instead of fafsa.

Well, I had no parent, confidential or otherwise to be able to fill that out. So I got little or no financial aid and had to go to work. I went. Primarily to prepare to study law, but the part-time job I found down there because I had to work, was at the radio station in Terre Haute and the bug bit, and I succumbed.

And ended up pursuing a career in broadcasting. Instead, went to Indiana State for a year. Uh, came and interned at a radio station in Fort Wayne. They walked at the end of my internship in the summer and said, Hey, would you like to stay? And I did. And my career took off from there. I owe a great deal to the Dilly family and [00:04:00] to Federated Media at that time, the Camana Group, I started WMEE in Fort Wayne when it was the big 1380.

Came to work at the Elkhart Truth, went to WTRC, and, and my brand was built with all of those things. 

Kevin Deary: And then talk a little bit about the transition or maybe the inclusion mm-hmm. Of becoming a, a beat writer for the Elker truth. 

Vince Turner: Well, and that was, that was almost a quid pro quo. I was in radio news in Fort Wayne left WMEE.

Went to a startup station, WXKE in Fort Wayne. That did not work out very well. So I was just kind of dabbling in both doing some freelance broadcasting and do a little bit of writing when I had the opportunity to come back. You know, one great thing, and this is why I owe John Dilly and the Dilly family so much is they.

Invited me back into the family even after I'd left. When I left WMEE. And I told them at the time I really wanted to go back into broadcasting. And John said [00:05:00] that if I came and paid my dues at the Elkhart truth, that when Jack Lori left W-T-R-C-I would be the heir apparent. And five years later he was true to his word.

And I went on to 13 years doing play by play and had and loved every minute up it until it was time to go. 

Kevin Deary: We still run into people when I'm with you. That. Ask you not only about, Hey, do you remember my son? Do you remember my daughter? Do you remember that game? And you just have a memory of individuals names and you made everyone feel special.

Uh, what was your best interview as a sports broadcaster? 

Vince Turner: At my best interview as a sportscaster was John Wooden. Always had a a, a soft spot in my heart. I lived for a while in Los Angeles, uh, up until my teenage years. Um, so I learned to love the Wizard of Westwood, and then because of my association with basketball, especially college and high school, I started doing a series at WTRC called Hoosier [00:06:00] Memories.

And actually, coach scared the water out of me because I'd called UCLA and asked. For a number to be able to get ahold of him. And I didn't realize it at the time, but coach answers his own phone or at that time answered his own phone. I called expecting a ter a, a secretary. He goes, hello, coach Wooden.

And I almost hung up. Because I was so taken aback. I haven't saved an awful lot of interview tapes from back in those days, but I still have about two hours worth of tape talking about coach or talking with Coach Wooden about Indiana High School basketball. And I think because I didn't wanna talk UCLA or the dynasty or whatever, I wanted to talk about him as a player and as a coach here in Indiana, that ignited his fire as well.

And we are just. Two guys who were walking through history with that. That's probably my all time favorite interview, but really close is an interview that wasn't [00:07:00] sports. I did an interview when I was still writing at the Elkhart Truth with Casey Kasem, who was my broadcast hero, the American Top 40. And I was able to do an interview with him for a little magazine.

The Truth did at that time called The Entertainer, and that's still one of my very special memories. 

Kevin Deary: Casey K. Anybody who's our age or around our age. We all grew up listening to Casey. Casey, yeah. Well, the 

Vince Turner: young kids can catch on on iHeartRadio. There's classic American Top 40, and that's on my alexa all the time around our house. 

Kevin Deary: Oh, I don't blame you. Your broadcasting career also brought you to a high acclaim where you are in the Indiana Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame. 

Vince Turner: I'm very humbled by. Thats I was honored. That's huge. As a matter of fact, this past summer It is, but I will be very honest about something.

Probably the highlight of my career is related to the Hall of Fame, but not with me as an inductee. I had the great honor of doing the induction speech for both Bill Back and for [00:08:00] Chuck Freebie. Two great friends, and two great colleagues to be asked to do the induction speech for each of them going into the hall.

I, I would trade my own plaque for them. 

Marshall King: Vince because of your broadcasting career and how good you were, you could have left, like you could have worked somewhere else. You could have worked in a bigger market and you didn't, you chose not to. You stayed here. Why? And what is it about the people of Elkhart County and you've met?

As many as anybody given all the, all the broadcasting mm-hmm. And writing work you did at the Truth? We both did. That's, I mean, I worked for the Dilly family as well. That's where our paths first crossed. But you've met as anybody, you've met as many Elkhart County folks as anybody. What have they taught you and why did you stay here?

Vince Turner: I stayed for family. Pat and I have a blended family. My bride Pat and I have a blended family. [00:09:00] The best opportunity that I had to leave we were in the final three for an NBA job, but we had only been married for a year and we had teenagers. And they did not want to go. And we just felt like for family's sake that's what we needed to do.

We needed to stay. But the other part of that, and you alluded to this, Marshall, there is just something special about Elkhart County and I don't mean to be wearing the cheerleaders skirt or do the promotional thing or whatever. There is something special here. And there was even something special about the job I was.

Chatting with a good friend Don Fisher, who is still doing IU football and basketball, probably as good a college announcer as I think I've ever heard. And he was interviewing for a potential major league baseball job. And I made kind of the flippant comment like, oh good, I'd love to do IU basketball.

And Don turned to me and was as serious as you could [00:10:00] possibly be and say, why in the world would you ever leave the job you have? He said, you have the. Best radio sports job in the state, and he went through what I should have known. He said, you've got Notre Dame, you've got the best in high school.

Basketball and football. And at that time in 1988, Sean Kemp was playing at Concord and Rick Meyer was playing at Goshen in basketball and football. He said, you work for great people who appreciate what you do. If you want college sports, you can drive to iu, you can drive to Purdue or drive to Notre Dame.

Or if you want professional sports, you're two hours outta Chicago. He said, if you, if I left or didn't leave and you left Elkhart County, you'd be an idiot. Turns out he was right for the sports reason alone. But then as Marshall brought up. These are special people here and part of our move, pat and I getting ready to do the move part of our move has, is difficult because we're leaving some very special people with deep roots [00:11:00] and there's no place else like Elkhart County.

And I will be singing that song when we are in Farhod. 

Marshall King: Dear listener, you just heard the news flash. If you didn't know already, uh, Vince and Pat Turner are leaving our community. They're moving to Fairhope, Alabama here before the end of 2025, and that's part of the reason we invited Vince on today.

I mean, not only is Vince a dear friend of both Kevin and I but. But Vince has done the nonprofit thing, done the broadcasting thing, done the newspaper thing. He served the community in so many ways. If you've gone to a fundraiser in Elkhart County over the last 20 years, chances are you've seen Vince as the mc on a given night.

Um, he's, he's el he's humble about that, but he is also elevated the way people feel when they're at a fundraiser in ways that have benefited charities in the amount of money they were able to raise. That's part of the reason we have Vince here. Kevin, I'm, if I keep talking, I'm gonna start crying, so you ask a question.

Vince Turner: Well, let me, let me [00:12:00] piggyback on that, Marshall, and thank you for the compliment where this all began. With, uh, in addition to the late George Thomas, who had me come out and do Big three Day at Alcona, told me I was doing it, didn't ask me if I wanted to do it, and those you talk about pressure was taking the place of a guy named Dewey Welsh, who was the host for that and was beloved.

And George just made the decision, Hey, it's Vince's turn, Dewey go to the sidelines. That was pressure. But the other thing was where all of this really got started from the nonprofit end. You were in the kitchen. The very first. Fundraising auction type thing that I hosted was the Leukemia Society auction at LU Cases downtown.

And it was, it, the LU cases had a very close personal relationship with the Leukemia Foundation. I was asked to be the auctioneer and we had, we packed a bunch of people in that place. They raised a ton of money and I had as [00:13:00] much fun. 20, 25 years later. I had as much fun doing that as I've done any nonprofit event and you were back slinging spaghetti.

I don't know if you remember that or not, but that's how we got started. And God bless Dick Lacher. He probably bought more guitars than any man outside of Jim Irsay. 

Kevin Deary: So you're moving? 

Vince Turner: Yes. We have a, a, a daughter, Andrea, and son-in-law Heath, and two grandchildren who live in, who have lived in Fairhope, Alabama for the last six or seven years.

And we've fallen in love with the community. I it's time for me to kind of. Can retreat in the shadows a little bit, and I've tried to do that over the last two or three years, accepted fewer speaking engagements and, and mc assignments and so on, and just kind of completing that now by, by making the move.

Kevin, I want to be the old guy in a ball cap sitting in the bleachers watching practice. Watching my [00:14:00] grandson wear the Fairhope High School uniform and just play a little bit of football. And, uh, we've gone through all the emotions. Pat and I both gone through all the emotions, all these people that we've had a chance to serve with and be a part of.

And so we've had days where it's like, ah, we doing the right thing. But we just, for this time of our life, um, we really feel it's, it's time to make the move. 

Kevin Deary: So speaking of Mrs. Turner mm-hmm. Mrs. Turner was a 30 year teacher. Mm-hmm. In the Goshen School systems. She was my children's teacher. I don't think there was a kinder, more loving, compassionate teacher than Mrs.

Turner. 

Vince Turner: Who else would be willing to take Vince Turner on as a full-time house guest? And we don't have enough time to, you have to be pretty special to do that, to 

Kevin Deary: explore that. But she is a unique and special. She's the ying 

Vince Turner: to your yang. I'm the noisy one. She's the quiet one. I have the mouth, [00:15:00] she has the heart.

And together we make a pretty good team. Yeah, Goshen's actually losing 

Kevin Deary: two incredible people. That's well said. But we as a community owe you guys. You owe us nothing. You have given 

Vince Turner: it 

Kevin Deary: all. 

Vince Turner: Yeah. But you know, I had two really strong role models in Elkhart County who, I'll argue that a little bit because we have received far more than we've ever given, and those two guys were, one was Jerry Trolls who I actually called dad while we were riding around at a golf cart at Ben.

Playing every Saturday morning. And Jerry Trolls used to have a saying that public service was the rent you pay for living in a community like this. And the other was a very quiet guy who you talk about Ying and yang. This was like the garden of good and evil. I shared teaching duties in a Sunday school class at Trinity United Methodist Church with Craig Fulmer.

We're talking about a guy who might be as [00:16:00] close in his walk with God as anybody I've ever known. And then you got Vince. So the kids got to see a little bit of both. But Craig's mentorship and his selfless service. Maybe the most unselfish, successful man I've ever known and what Craig gave to this community between Jerry and Craig, and there are many others, but those two in particular, um, those were the targets that I was trying to hit in my service.

Kevin Deary: Yeah, I think you did that quite well. So let's turn the page now into chapter two. Mm-hmm. You decide to leave broadcasting. Mm-hmm. 

Journalism and you go to work for Basher Children's Home. Tell me about that. 

Vince Turner: The year before and some folks might remember, my wife was stricken with a, a syndrome called Guion Bere.

When we were vacationing, oddly enough in Gulf Shores, Alabama, 10, 10, 15 minutes from Fairhope. So after my bride said, I'll never come back to this place again, we're gonna be living there. But and the [00:17:00] community was so amazing. Reaching out to us and lifting us up and coming alongside our family, that when I went back and there was nothing at all wrong with the radio station or what I was doing or whatever, but there was just kind of a hole, there was an emptiness and I just felt like.

I needed to pay it forward and the best opportunity came along. I was serving on the board at Basher Children's Home. At that time, I was working with a man named Earl Augh. On the board we were searching for a development director, and Earl stopped in the middle of us examining some resumes and said, I know it would be perfect for this job.

And like a guppy I bit. And he pointed at me and said, you, and the more we talked, the more that sounded like. Hmm. And so then that after a year at Basher, I got to meet another tremendous influence on my life. With all due respect to the guy doing this interview, the most impactful nonprofit leader I've ever been around was Don Phillips.[00:18:00] 

And being able to learn under Don Phillips for 10 years and the beauty of being at Bacher, and you probably got a little bit of this when you were at the Boys and Girls Club, but the beauty for me at being at Bacher was my mission and my job were one and the same for about 10 years, and that was very, very fulfilling.

Kevin Deary: And Don was an incredible CEO for sure. Mm-hmm. Taught a lot of, a lot of us. 

Vince Turner: I had, you figure the two biggest influences, nonprofit world. I had this guy from the south side of Boston down around the docks, and then I got the not so quiet guy from New York who I worked for nine years in Don Phillips.

So that was a lot of fun. 

Marshall King: Did you just say, Kevin? It was quiet. 

Vince Turner: I'm sorry, I misspoke. Can we edit that out? Well, 

Marshall King: no, we, we aren't gonna edit that out because part of the way that I know both of you is you don't have to tell the stories. Let's not tell all the stories. But you guys traveled an awful lot together.

Mm-hmm. Because of your [00:19:00] role on the board, Vince, and your role as a CEO, Kevin, and both of you leading this organization and representing this organization out beyond the. The Elkhart County lines and you've experienced, the cap, the US capitol to mm-hmm. Lots of other places.

And sometimes they hand you a plaque and sometimes they just want to hear how you're doing the Elkhart County magic. 

Vince Turner: And it's, uh, it. It was a wonderful partnership. I mean, you talk about Ying and Yang with Pat and I, it was Ying and yang. For you and me, I loved running up the capital steps.

I just about lost you on the capital steps. So, you know, that's, we have that. But I. Something special about the National Organization for Boys and Girls Club and for our influence and our ability to be able to project what Elkhart County does and how Elkhart County does it was very rewarding from that respect as well.

Yeah, and I, I, again, I thought we made a pretty good partnership. 

Kevin Deary: I think in many of often we were their conscious. Mm-hmm. [00:20:00] We would remind them of their values. Right. That we were more than 

Vince Turner: what you, they saw, and all we did there was carry it from here. Mm-hmm. From what the, as you refer to the godfathers from what they taught us and we took those values, put 'em in a bucket and brought 'em to Washington or San Antonio or San Francisco, or wherever it was we have happened to be.

Kevin Deary: Yeah. Often I think how fortunate we were to be around a generation above us, older than us who. Really believe and live and do business on a handshake. Mm-hmm. And they mean it. Mm-hmm. Uh, that was coming from New England. That's not really how it worked out there. Yeah. And, uh, so I was, I learned so much from these godfathers around us, and then all of a sudden we became godfathers.

When did that 

Vince Turner: happen? I'm not sure. But it's a, I wouldn't say it's a burdensome role. It's a, it's a pleasurable role, but there's a lot of responsibility that comes to it. I remember how closely I watched people like. Craig Fulmer and Jerry Trolls, and I'm very mindful [00:21:00] now that there are people who are watching me, and so I'm trying to conduct myself in the same way that Jerry and Craig and others have conducted themselves.

Kevin Deary: You know, often I'm asked about the genesis of Boys and Girls Goods in Elkhart County. Mm-hmm. And how we ended up with Goshen App, email Real Cart, and I can't do that without mentioning your name. Could you give us a brief, quick. Roadmap of how all that happened. 

Vince Turner: Yeah. You are Elmer Gantry. I remember the phone call saying, Hey, um, I'm having uh, coffee with John Shirk, who was pastor at Crystal Valley Missionary Church at the particular time.

Can you come up and have coffee with me? So I go to Middlebury and the next thing I know. I am on a fundraising committee, an exploratory committee to bring a Boys and Girls Club to Middlebury. I'm not very bright. So fast forward two or three years later and I didn't pick up on it. I get a call, Hey, I'm having coffee with Mark Mao, would you like to come?

And I'm like, yeah, I know Mark. He's a great guy. I'll go have [00:22:00] coffee. And the next thing you know, I'm on the Blue Ribbon Committee for bringing the Boys and Girls Club to Elkhart. So the best part about that, Kevin. In addition to our partnership, the best part about that was what we were able to deliver, but for boys and girls and I believe that, I think the community foundation has been very, very good at kind of eliminating barriers, boundaries, borders, et cetera, that exist in Elkhart County sometimes.

And you know, I used to joke that. Political and financial decisions are made in this county based on who won the 1954 sectional and who got cheated when at Northside Gym. And those were very deeper, you know, Middlebury didn't wanna do what Napanee was doing, which didn't wanna do what Bristol was doing.

And oh my goodness, Elkhart was the, and the community Foundation has taken up that ball and been able to. Allow people to keep their autonomy in each of [00:23:00] these different communities, but yet at the same time bring everybody for the common good. And I think a great deal of that started with the work that you did at the Boys and Girls Club.

Kevin Deary: Thank you. 

We had a great team. Pull this off. So chapter three. Mm-hmm. East Side. I'm gonna be a banker. So tell us about that journey. 

Vince Turner: So, I'm working at Basher Children's Home. We're, we're raising the money. It threw a capital campaign to build the community center, the school and two guys from Muncie come up, Dave Heater and Pat Botts, and they want to have lunch.

And I assumed that they were talking about the building. 'cause our, the bachelor's footprint goes all the way down to Indianapolis. And Muncie, of course fits into that geography. And about 10 minutes into the conversation, Dave Heater looks at me and says, have you ever thought about banking?

And I went, no. And six weeks later I was signing a letter of intent. But what intrigued me about it was Mutual Bank at that time [00:24:00] was going to establish its first presence in Elkhart County. And it appealed to that swashbuckling adventurous side of me that, Hey, let's try something new. And the but the clincher and it kind of fits the fabric that we're talking about here.

The clincher was. They looked at me and said, we want you to show us how we can be a part of this community, especially the service end of it. And because the bank at that time was committed to being part of the service and nonprofit world here in Elkhart County, it was attractive for me. 

Kevin Deary: So I was wondering, after you left banking.

What was your next step? 

Vince Turner: Well, the next step was retirement. I was at Mutual Bank Northwest bought us out. Um, I knew at that time I was on the executive team. I knew they weren't keeping most of the executive team, and so, I just tried to be as helpful as I [00:25:00] could. I had seven puppies who were with me at seven different branches in three different counties, and I wanted to make sure they were going to be okay through the transition.

Well, in the middle of trying to do that coaching, COVID hit. And so I had to do all this coaching without being able to go into the building and that, I guess it got more stressful than I realized at the time because my bride walked into my home office and she said, I want you to think about something you can't answer for 24 hours.

Both of you guys know how difficult that was. I can't go 24 seconds without an answer. She said, I don't want you to answer for 24 hours, but would you take a year off? The more I thought about it, and then when I was allowed to answer, I said, okay, now that was a little easier if easy is the right word, because we were in the middle of COVID.

You couldn't go anywhere and do anything anyway. So staying at home for three months, it wasn't that difficult, and I made it about a year [00:26:00] when Nick Kiefer at the Chamber called and said, Hey, we're thinking about starting a podcast program. And would you be willing to be a part of that? Well, I was already volunteering for Sound of the Economy and I was volunteering for teaching a leadership class.

So we just kinda rolled that into a part-time job. And I've been with the Chamber now for four and a half years, 

Kevin Deary: and throughout all these chapters, every time we turn a page 

You were doing. Community events many times on weekends and at nights. And you dabbled with, not dabbled. You did a fa fabulous job with executive coaching, consulting with nonprofits, leading strategic plans, helping people get on the same page, and organizations and churches all.

On your time in and very often on your dime. Uh, as well as public speaking and preaching on Sundays. I can see why Mrs. Turner would say, would you take a year off? 

Vince Turner: [00:27:00] Yeah. You know, there's a, a line in a song by one of my very favorite performers, Harry Chapin. WOLD. The line goes, I've been making extra money doing high school sock hops.

I'm the big time guest mc. And, uh, I didn't make any money doing high school sock hops, but I got to be the mc at a lot of different events and that was very, very special. Two that come to mind. I got to do the. Kind of the celebration ceremony when Dr. Swartzendruber was named one of the most, 100 most influential people by Time Magazine.

And I got to mc that over at Goshen College and through Goshen Hospital. And then tragically, but it was still a great honor. I was asked to officiate at Doc Abel's. Funeral and Doc Abel was a very, very close friend of the Turner's for a long period of time. And to be asked to do that was a tremendous honor.

So again, at the risk of sounding repetitive, but it's never stopped me before. So, I've always [00:28:00] received much more than I gave always. I think every great person I know would say the same thing. Yeah. Paul McCartney. Yep. The love you make is equal to the love you take.

Kevin Deary: In my life, the three most impactful, kindest, best leaders I ever met in, in no order.

But Dr. Don Minner who hired me into Boys and Girls Club and became like a father to me who passed away in 2020. And I think you would agree he was, he was amazing. Incredible. Very selfless. Another one would be Irv Polk. Mm-hmm. A lot of people don't remember Irv Polk, but he, he started Lifeline and he was, he was a pied piper.

For at risk kids, and you and I both grew up at risk kids and knew how to 

Vince Turner: carry the velvet hammer. He could hit you hard without you knowing you just got hit. 

Kevin Deary: Yeah. And, and he was an amazing, he's the only person I knew who I would write a thank you note to him and he would write me a thank you note to my thank you note.[00:29:00] 

Incredible guy, and And the next one would be you. That's a great compliment, Kevin. Thank you. You three are the greatest human beings. I have ever had the privilege of working and calling friends, and I just wanted to let you know that give Pat a call 'cause she'd probably debate you, but yeah. I have one last question.

Yeah. If I call you for a cup of coffee in Fairhope would you come? You bet. 

Marshall King: Vince you've been behind a mic an awful lot in your life. Mm-hmm. This is one of the last times you're gonna be behind a mic in Elkhart County. 

Vince Turner: It might be the last time I'm behind a mic period.

Marshall King: Yeah.

What do you say to all the people who have listened to you for decades? 

Vince Turner: Thank you. I mean, just thank you. Laughingly, I tell people that. I used to enjoy it when I was walking down the aisle of a grocery store and someone said, Hey, you used to do my games. Got a little shaky When people would come by adult age and say, Hey, my dad says you [00:30:00] used to do his games.

I'm getting out before somebody. Adult age walks in and says, Hey, my grandfather says you used to do those games. But the number one thing is just thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank, I mean, I use 1988 as the example. I got to be a sportscaster. When Rick Meyer was playing football at Goshen, Sean Kemp was playing basketball at Concord.

Notre Dame won the 1988 National College Championship at football, and Lindsay Benko was swimming on her way to a gold medal in the next couple of years. How in the world can you live a better life than that?

Marshall King: Vince, we always end with a question. What gives you hope? 

Vince Turner: First of all I have great hope in my faith. I'm a strong follower of Jesus Christ. And then the hope of this community is amazing. I mean, in the building we're sitting in right now, guys, think about this. I mean, the building you walk into every [00:31:00] day.

Think of what this looked like 10 years ago. I mean, how can you not have hope when you see that, I mean, this neighborhood a mixture of offices and development and business in an area that 10 or maybe 20 years ago, people had just completely discarded and, uh, not, you mentioned sermons, Kevin.

So I'll just use a piece of one of my favorite subjects for sermons. You know, there's so many areas of this community where we've wanted to give up. Then all of a sudden, you know, like the phoenix rising from the ashes. And there's a story in Joseph where his brothers are standing before him and they're trembling because they know what they did when they threw Joseph in the pit and they're worried that Joseph might recognize that.

And Joseph calmed him down by saying that what you intended for evil, God turned into good. You know, inspiring. Good. Is the phrase [00:32:00] that's all over this building. And what gives me hope guys, is the work you're doing here at the Community Foundation and the partners who have come alongside you. And that inspiring good proves that we can indeed turn what others intend for the trash heap into a gym.

Marshall King: This show is a production of the Community Foundation of Elkhart County. It is powered by equipment from Sweetwater and recorded at the Community Foundation's offices in Elkhart River District. Editing is done by the award-winning communication students at Goshen College home of one of the best college radio stations in the nation.

Listen to Globe Radio at 91.1. FM music is provided by sensational sounds. Learn more about the community foundation of Elkhart county@inspiringgood.org. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We hope you're inspired and inspire good in your [00:33:00] community.