Your Weekly Battle Plan on Elevate Springfield

Summary

This episode covers the upcoming March Madness event at Motorheads, a community fundraiser supporting the Elks, and highlights the importance of local partnerships and community engagement in Springfield.  We also explore the fascinating history and current attractions of Motorheads, a unique Springfield landmark. Discover how Ron Metzger transformed an old Stuckey's building into a vibrant hub of culture, history, and community events.

Key topics

• Community fundraising event at Motorheads
• Partnership between Local First Springfield, Motorheads, CILCSA, and the Elks
• Supporting children's health clinics through local events
• Networking and community engagement in Springfield
• History of Motorheads and its origins
• The significance of Route 66 and local signs
• Community events and upcoming attractions

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're gonna bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together we can elevate Springfield. Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X your day, 10x your life, 10x all of it. And that includes Springfield, y'all. You are listening to the Elevate Springfield Podcast. Robert Farrell here, certified 10x coach, speaker, and mentor, here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through. And together, we're going to Elevate Springfield. You are listening to your weekly battle plan here on Elevate Springfield, where every Sunday we're going to give you ways to control time, ways to create time, and some things that we encourage you to add to that battle plan. We're going to get right to it after the break. Looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity? Look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros, delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service, and fair, honest pricing. Every time. Whether it's trimming, removal, or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbor's trust, Sangman Tree Service, or visit them today at SangmanTreeService.com. Sangaman Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust. And we are back here on your weekly battle plan. I am in a place that you haven't seen me yet before. I'm in the motor dome, out at Motorheads, and I'm joined by familiar face, friend of the show, Mr. Michael Thomas from Express and Silsa. Michael, how are you doing today, man?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

I'm doing great, Robert. Isn't this incredible, man?

SPEAKER_03 2:09

This place is awesome. If you haven't been out to Motorheads before, I'd highly recommend it. Come on out. As I said, we're in the motor dome. We're going to be talking about a cool event we have coming up this week for y'all to come out and see. But uh, you've been out here very much, Michael?

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Yeah, you know, I've been out here a couple times. We've been fortunate. Uh, several years back, we had Stephanie Stuckey through Silsa out here. This used to be a Stuckey's vocation, so that was amazing. She brought it, you know, just shared kind of her journey and the family brand. And uh, yeah, this is our third year doing the event. So uh we're excited and happy to be partnering with local FERS this year. And yeah, the Jumbotron's incredible.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

Yeah, Jumbotron's great. And as I'm looking out here off the stage, I see so much history. I see all these cool neons that he's got everywhere. It is just a really cool vibe in this place. But this week we've got our March Madness event collaboration with SILSA, which is the Central Illinois Customer Service Association and local First Springfield. So I'm pumped up about it. Michael's pumped up about it. Michael, tell us a little bit about the event.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Yeah, so um several years back, you know, we uh, like I said, we had Stephanie Stuckey out here and we recognize it's a great space, and motorheads does so much for the community and has really become a destination spot, you know. So we recognized the venue and we thought, how can we continue to have events out here? So this has become an annual event for us. And Ron Metzger, of course, owns the place. And um we wanted to talk about where are the proceeds going to go because we know that's important. And Ron has a great relationship with the Illinois Elks Association, and they offer free clinics to um kids all over the state that are in need and need health services. So uh that's been a great partnership. And yeah, so this is our third year doing this event. We'll have four games on the screen going all day. We'll have food and beverages, of course, are accessible. And the place gets filled up so fast, Robert. And people come and go. It's a$10 entry fee,$30 gets you access to the buffet, and they keep the food coming, and it's hot and fresh. And uh, yeah, it's just an incredible event.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

Yeah, and that buffet is all you can eat, right? All you eat bucks. You can just sit here and watch some ball games and get it.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

We've never cut anyone off, but you know, we might have to cut somebody off.

SPEAKER_03 4:19

Right. Yeah, and like we said, the right behind us, the jumbo trying it is 24 feet. Yeah, I mean, that's huge. Crazy. Great place to watch a basketball game. So when does everything kick off? First game on Thursday, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Yeah, Thursday, March 19th here at Motorheads. Uh the game starts at 11.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

It's 11, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

So um, we'll have the first games on and we'll have more of the that information. Bill from the Elks will be here. You know, people are always asking more about the Elks, and again, we're we're happy to um raise funds for that organization. They do such good help for the children. And um, yeah, yeah, it's um great. You know, in the past we've had companies bring their teams out, you know, Bun and Nudo and Aceign and Ootbox Media and and different organizations express. Um, they'll have six, eight, ten people come and you know, with the wristband, you can come watch a game, watch a little bit of the game, have a drink if you want, leave, come back. Yeah, right. Bring your spouse. And that and that's common. That and that happens a lot throughout the day.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

So yeah, that's a good point. You don't have to get here at 11 o'clock in the morning or lunchtime and then feel like you have to stay the whole time for your wristband. You can leave and come back.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

That's right. Yeah. And we've had it where you know somebody might not be interested in the buffet and they pay the$10 entry fee, and then halfway through the day they upgrade to the buffet. And and we make all of that work and make it real easy. You can get tickets through the website. It's uh C I L C S A.org. Um, we accept cash at the door, and uh it's on your Facebook page, on our Facebook page. So um, yeah, easy to find and it should be a great day.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

No doubt about it. And you mentioned the elks. I mean, this is not a this is not a fundraiser for SILSA and for local first Springfield. All the proceeds are going to the Elks, every bit of it.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

That's right. Yeah. You know, we've been fortunate with the support of our members and guests that come out for this event. We've raised thousands of dollars for the Elks and they do such great work for the kids in need and offer those free clinics all over the state. So you love kids, you love supporting small business. This is the place to be on Thursday, March 19th.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

No doubt about it. Now, I don't know how big of a basketball fan you are, Michael, but you got a team that you're rooting for at the tournament?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

I don't really have a dog in the fight. So uh I'm just more here for the fellowship and the fun and to uh to support the group.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

So hey, I'm in the same boat. I just want to see some good basketball. Come out, have some fun with everybody. This is a great collaborative event between these two organizations. We talk a lot on the show about communities grow together, and this is how we can do that by pooling our resources, pooling our uh reach, and creating a really great event and doing some really good things for the elks.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Yeah, that's right. To that point, you'll see familiar faces as you're coming that day, right? There'll be board members and members from local first, there'll be board members and members from Silsa and uh Bill, as I said, from the Elks. He always loves to hang out and chit-chat with folks and uh you know, share about the Elks. So yeah, it's an awesome event. So whether you're a basketball fan or not, right, you can come out, network, eat some good food, have an adult beverage and uh meet some new people.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Yeah, and if you haven't been out to motorheads yet, enjoy all this really cool stuff that he's got around. I mean, there's so much stuff to see.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

So much stuff to see. And in fact, our buffet is situated, it's placed in the museum. So not just here in the motor dome where you have lots to look at, right? With the neon lights and the signs, but they have a whole museum off the building here, and it's full of fascinating stuff.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Absolutely. So people that listen to the show often hear me talk about local first Springfield a lot, so they know about that, and uh, I'm also part of Silsa as well. Remind everybody uh who Silsa is and what you guys do.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Sure, yeah. And Robert, thank you for being a longstanding member and supporter of the group. You know, we're 10 years old now. We celebrated our 10-year anniversary last year and had a half day conference out at the Crown Plaza, and so we're a group of local business professionals made up of a whole lot of different organizations from small kind of mom and pop organizations all the way to Bun and Horace Man and large corporations here in town. And we have about 250 unique members and we do six or eight events a year, and we bring in national keynote speakers. That's really what we're known for most is bringing in national keynote speakers, and we just really try to add value and raise the bar of customer service in central Illinois. That is our tagline, right? We want to make everyone's place better. We firmly believe that if Springfield becomes better with the people they serve and work with, more people will spend money here, they'll stay longer, they'll do more, they'll tell their friends and family, right? So um we're big proponents of that and just uh being cheerleaders for Springfield and and bringing people together. So, you know, we have different membership levels and things of that nature, and uh just a very active, passionate, committed group that wants to see Springfield thrive.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

Absolutely highly recommend it. Check out silsa.org for more information on that. Uh talking about the keynote speakers, just a few weeks ago you had Cujo. That was pretty sweet. That was a good one.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Cujo, yeah. I tell you what, uh Steve Peralta, who's one of our founding board members, uh, experienced Cujo months previous at a different event in Chicago. He came back raving about Cujo, and we connected and everything just worked out perfectly. And uh yeah, top-notch speaker, presentation. I'm still hearing from people about the content he shared and how it was powerful for them in their time.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

So absolutely. Debrief to win was the title of his presentation. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Yeah, such a professional, such a great guy to work with, you know, and uh from St. Louis, right down the road, and just really brought brought the energy and the information for our members.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

Yeah, such a such a purpose-driven individual, too. I mean, of course, the military is very purpose-driven, but you can tell in him it's it's extra with him, yeah. That purpose-driven life.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Yeah, yeah. It's in his blood.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

Yeah, no doubt about it. So, well, you don't have to be a member to come out to this event on Thursday. You don't have to be a member of local first Springfield. You don't have to be a member of CILSI, you could just be somebody in the public that wants to come out and see some great basketball.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

It happens, right, Robert. As um that day is coming about and this place is filling up, there'll be patrons here eating lunch or or whatever, and they'll, hey, what's going on over there? And we'll tell them. And next thing you know, they're coming over and buying a wristband or calling somebody. And um, so yeah, open to the public. Um, you do not have to be a member. We would love for you to become a member, but you do not have to be a member that's all about supporting the elks and motorheads and bringing people together for some good basketball.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Absolutely. Yeah, membership. You can check out silsa.org or localfirstspringfield.com. But either way, come on out, get a ticket, come on out, support the elks, watch some good basketball, and hang out with some really good folks on Thursday.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Yeah, yeah. You'll you will not regret this event. I'm telling you, the energy, the food, the fellowship, it's uh it's an awesome event.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Come on. Well, Michael, appreciate you spending some time with me, and I'm looking forward to this, man.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, thank you so much for the partnership, and uh, we can't wait.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

No doubt about it. Well, we're gonna let Michael get back to elevating Springfield, but for the rest of y'all, we'll be right back. All right, I'm still hanging out in the Motor Dome at Motorheads. Thanks again to Michael for hanging out with me for a few minutes. Don't forget Thursday, come out and see us at 11 o'clock. Come watch all the ball games, all those basketball games right here in this gorgeous motor dome. You'll notice I got somebody new sitting next to me now, Ron Metzger, owner of Motorheads here. Ron, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Good, man. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Oh, fantastic. Thanks for hosting us on Thursday. It's gonna be a great event.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Oh, I just love this stuff. This is what Motorhead is about.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

You big basketball fan?

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yeah, I I I've got on the bandwagon more and more. I've really got into this college lately.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Awesome. Well, you and I are gonna do an episode, a full episode, and talk about kind of your whole story one of these days. But today, I'd really just like to touch on how did Motorheads come to be, this gorgeous facility you have with all this great stuff. What was the hey, I'm gonna do this moment?

SPEAKER_02 11:56

You know, I've always took my whole life I thought it'd be neat to do something like this. I've been a carpet guy for 45, 50 years, and uh I just thought, what the heck? And the old building was condemned, ready to tear down, but it was an old Stuckies building. Uh-huh. So I just rented for my buddy Doug Canton and I did, well, if I do it, let's just do it. So I just started back in 2016 and took a couple years. In 2018, we opened.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

There you go. So it I think a lot of people know now, but it was used to be a Stuckies, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:24

It used to be original Stuckies back in 1970 when uh 55 commissioned and uh to 55 from 66.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

So that Mr. Stuckey opened it then.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

Okay. So what we see today with the motor dome and the bar area and the restaurant, the whole thing, all this off to the side with the garage doors that go up, was that all part of the original plan or was there more of an add-on type thing?

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Yeah, kind of was, but wasn't you know how one thing leads to another, and then here we are. I did the original Stuckies, and we just opened the bar there, and then we added food later, and next thing you know, we keep going and going and going, and here we are.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

Right, right. And this motor dome is awesome. You got a 24-foot jumbotron behind us, perfect to watch the watch the basketball games on. But when I'm looking around here, I'm seeing all these signs and everything, all the neon, all the cool historic signs from local businesses and otherwise. So have you always been a collector?

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Yeah, my whole life. Motorhead says it all. You know, I'm a motorhead guy and all the signs and the neons, and it's all Route 66. We really specialize in Springfield. And, you know, Ace Signs are big uh help me and him trade back and more me and the boys. Oh, yeah. They, you know, they're just super people with us here, and uh yeah, and it just escalates and we get so many tours from all over the world. It amazes me how many different people we get. So it's a fun deal. Yeah, it's just nonstop.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

It's a huge draw for people all all across the world, really. That Route 66, people that are from Springfield here don't always realize how big of a draw that is for people all over the world to come see.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

Yeah, but really it's kind of amazing when you get a lot of them can't speak English, and one person in the group can speak, and we just have a ball with them. I mean, it's just it's kind of a fun part of the whole place.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Yeah, no doubt about it. So, of all these signs, it's looks like you collect a lot of different things, but do you have a a favorite thing that you like to collect over the years?

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Yeah, you know, they're just that one sign, but I believe it or not, that Abe Lincoln Motel. Oh, yeah. We took it down in 1996, and I moved that dang thing about five different locations. Oh, really? Lean them against the wall, and it's heavier in hell. And I just kept it all and I just love that old dude. And it's a big piece of Springfield history.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

No doubt about it. Yeah, I mean, that's what's great about coming here. I feel like every time I'm here, I see something new. You you always have something new going on, and there's so much here that you didn't see the first time you're here, the second or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth. You got so much great stuff to see.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Hey, we just did a brand new one today. Honestly, Hall's Harley Davidson sold out to uh Champagne Harley Davidson. Yeah. And they took the front of Halls off of the building and and uh they brought it over to me, and me and my buddy Dino just put up over the bar. Brand new edition today. Love it. It was on the front of the building since the day they were opened.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

That's awesome. So you got the museum right next door here attached to the motor dome here. Tell us a little bit about the museum.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Well, believe it or not, that's this whole place is a museum.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

It is.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

That just got labeled the museum. I don't even know how that happened.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

All right.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

But you know, the original Stuckey's building is amazing, you know, and all the stuff. It's 15,000 square feet of museum in all the signs. And we don't have new stuff here. We go for the old. I don't go for reconditioned and repainted. We want to, if I find it, I want to leave it like it was when it was in.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

I love that. I love the look of that. The patina on that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

A lot of your museums are all brand new, restored, everything's perfect, and that's it. Not me.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

Right. Yeah. Right. That's great. What was your most interesting find, do you think? Yeah, I I heard your favorite one. Do you have any interesting? Hey, I found this in a whatever.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Honestly, it's a weird deal. That big Stuckies porcelain billboard, I think it's 12 by 30. Uh-huh. And uh I was in the middle of million things here, and a guy called me and says, I got the Stucci sign laying in my chicken coop out at the farm I took down in 1969. Uh-huh. And it was out here on New Berlin where Stuckies used to be in New Berlin before they moved here in 70. I'm like, Yeah, whatever. And I really never thought much about it. And uh I kept doing a million things, so uh he called me and I didn't do nothing about it. About six months later, he called me again. He said, I really do got a sign you ought to come look at. And I said, Well, so me and my buddy Dino went out there and I'd be going to hell. Line the chicken coop for like 30 years, and that's that billboard out on that. He wanted me to have it, and he dang there gave it to him. It was so cheap. Right. But all they And if you look at the Stucci's website, they still sell candy, and that's on the website.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Oldest sign Stucky uh Stephanie Stuckey scissors she's ever seen. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

That's awesome. Yeah, and she spoke on this stage too.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah, she spoke ago, yeah. And she spoke to come back again on another event.

SPEAKER_03 17:00

So that's awesome. And I've always been a big fan of uh American pickers. I watch that show here and there and I see some of them pulling stuff out of chicken coops or wherever. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Yeah. They they've kind of hurt I used to say they hurt the industry a bit because they televised and everybody started getting bigger money. Right. So the little pickers like us, you know, kind of quit buying the big prices.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

Right, because you have to drove prices way up on everything. It's leveled out.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Now if I ever sold online, I'd be all excited about that. Right. So when you're buying not so much.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

Right. Still buying?

SPEAKER_02 17:31

No, we don't imagine. If it's something cool, absolutely, but we don't look no more.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Yeah. We you know, if I do find something that I can replace something with, I'll do it. But we don't look for too hard, unless it's that one you can't find.

SPEAKER_03 17:45

Okay. Well, you of course have the restaurant and bar and everything where people can come, but what other kind of events do you have that you guys host out here?

SPEAKER_02 17:52

Oh my goodness, we got so much stuff. We've almost overbooked this year. Uh-huh. We got the 100th anniversary, which is November 11th of Route 66th.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

That's gonna be a big one.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

And the city of Springfield and the state's got some big announcements gonna happen here at Motorhead. So that's I'm gonna let them do it. It's really big. It's easy. It's really, really big. And uh, but we got car shows, bike shows, we got events coming through from Route 66 from California, car clubs coming down, and it just don't quit. It's almost overwhelming sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

You love it though, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Yeah, it's part of what we do. It's just it's just what we do.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Right. So amazing facility. We're looking forward to having our event here on Thursday. I'm looking forward to talking to you more about your background. We're gonna do that on another episode. That's gonna be really fun.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

Yeah, you can yeah, I got enough to talk for days.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

Hey, we'll maybe we'll we'll talk for days.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

We can cram it in 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

Well, I'll come out here for an hour and 45 and we'll get as much as we can in. How about that? Perfect. So well, Ron, appreciate you spending a few minutes with me today.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Absolutely. I love it. Thank you very much. Absolutely. Have a good one.

SPEAKER_03 18:57

You too. Well, we're gonna let Ron get back to elevating Springfield, but for the rest of y'all, we'll be right back. Hey, Springfield, when it comes to reliable, high-quality roofing, you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Roofing, your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities, from quick, dependable repairs to full replacement, from residential to commercial, they are your trusted pros. Call them today at 217-993-2748 or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection. Don't wait. A little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts, protect your home, and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing. Well, thank you for joining us today, everybody. Appreciate you making us a part of your day. Hey, don't forget while you're out on social, check ours out. You can check my personal one out at RobertFarrell at everywhere. Check out those Elevate Springfield pages, those big dog business coaching pages as well. Check us out over on YouTube. Give us a subscribe, give us a like or a follow on any of those channels. We would certainly appreciate it. So, hey, take what you learn today. You bring the discipline and follow through and together. That's right, y'all. We're gonna elevate Springfield. Be great.

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