The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett

From Tribute to Triumph: A Monday Brew of Heart & Hustle

• Chris Bennett • Episode 122

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Rain on the streets, bagpipes in the air, and a town that shows up anyway—that’s how we start a Monday built on heart and follow‑through. We honor Timber Mesa firefighters Brennan Kulikowski and Damon Thompson with details on how to support their families, then widen the lens to the flooding in Globe and the passing of President Russell M. Nelson, whose century of service touched millions. The thread through it all is simple and strong: care for people, and turn care into action.

JD Pepper, our Fire Marshal, jumps in with the kind of practical safety you can use tonight. If you’re firing up a wood stove, get the chimney swept, replace those smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector batteries, and book a fuel mitigation inspection if insurance asks. One chimney fire already this week is your nudge to move from intention to checklist. We keep the community drumbeat going with a dedication—Brantley Gilbert’s “Gone But Not Forgotten”—because music helps us hold the names we won’t forget.

We pivot to local highs with a fast lap around Friday night football—Show low’s blowout win, Snowflake’s statement game, and a playful race against “Great Dane” that set the tone for a winning night. The Phoenix Mercury punch a ticket to the finals, proving momentum isn’t just for high school fields. Motivational Monday brings quotes that actually fit the day’s mood: William James on acting like your choices matter; Whitman on facing the sun. And yes, they matter when you’re swapping batteries or clicking a donation link.

Then our favorite redneck, Paul from Beaumont, rolls back on the line—training a new coworker, squeezing in a drug test, and sharing a weight‑loss update with trademark honesty and humor. We close with National Coffee Day trivia where Paul sweeps the board, reminding us that community is also about small joys and shared laughter. From solemn tributes to practical safety, from sports joy to personal progress, this one flows like a strong cup: warm, steady, and exactly what a Monday needs.

If this resonated, tap follow, share it with a friend who could use a lift, and drop your favorite quote—or your coffee order—in a review. Your voice helps more neighbors find the show.

SPEAKER_01:

From the Horn Auto Center Studios, Chris Bennett and the Morning Brew. Alright, it is now time for the news. Normally, this is uh Janine's forte. I'd be reaching out to her to give us the news from the weekend, but she is not in, so I am going to have to uh give you the news. It's not my strong suit, so uh bear with me. Here we go. Um, over the weekend on Friday and Saturday, the Whitemound community honored two of our own heroes, Timber Mesa firefighters, Brennan Kolikowski and Damon Thompson. And uh it was just uh it was uh very moving, very beautiful. On Friday and Saturday, they had the processions. Friday it was raining, everyone was still out lining the streets to pay tribute to our heroes. Uh, and same thing on Saturday, everyone lined the streets to pay tribute. And it was followed by pack services at the Sholo High School Auditorium, and uh bagpipes and drums set a solemn tone while neighbors gathered to uh remember their service and courage. And our thoughts and prayers go out to the Timber Mesa Fire Department and to uh Brennan and Damon's families. If you'd like to help the families, donations can still be made at azf.org. And 100% of that goes directly to the families and funeral costs you have till uh Saturday to uh get those donations in. And then in Globe, um our neighbors just uh uh I think it's south of us, uh, but uh very close to us, about 90 minutes away. Uh heavy rain caused devastating flooding there in Globe, and uh at least three people were confirmed dead and several missing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families as well, and to all our neighbors in Globe that were affected by this flooding. And uh one final piece of news. Um, my wife let me know about this uh yesterday. Uh in worldwide faith news, we have President Russell M. Nelson, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, passed away yesterday at the age of 101. He served as uh church president since 2018 and was deeply respected by millions of members around the globe. Our condolences go out to his family and the LDS community worldwide. And that was news with Chris. Uh Janine will be back tomorrow and she'll take over the news because gosh, that news is hard stuff. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this? Hey, good morning, Chris. It's JD. JD Pepper, our fire marshal with the Timber Mesa Fire Department. We love you, buddy. Our hearts have been heavy, and uh uh I've been thinking about you and the Timber Mesa uh Fire Department all weekend with the processions and everything.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, sir. Thank you, Matt. Thank you very much for that. Um, yeah, our hearts are heavy as well. Um, but we've you know we've got we've got uh a duty to the community now, and uh so we're we're back in the saddle and uh we'll get back to work and honor we'll honor Brenna and Damon uh as as we go forward and never forget them. So, anyways, uh so fire marshal minute this morning. Good morning, guys. White mountain community in the region. Uh again, reiterate thank you guys so much for your support. We love you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Uh, from the Timber Mesa family. Hey, it's getting colder, 45 degrees in my house this morning. Uh, so I know we're all gonna be looking at uh you know using our wood burning stoves. Couple things, all right? Get that chimney cleaned out. Uh we've already we already had one chimney fire this week. Like somebody wanted to start early, get a little warm. I don't know what you know, celebrate or something, I don't know, but but uh we had a chimney fire in a house, right? So get that thing swept out. That creosote builds up over time and it creates fuel inside your your flu or your uh your your pipes that you know that take the smoke out. So that fuel when it hits a certain temperature is going to light up and then it's gonna cause a fire inside your chimney and it can spread to your attic, the the structural members of your attic, and so on and so forth. So let's let's get those get those things swept at least once a year, okay? I I can't reiterate that enough. And we have local companies and uh that that will come out and do that. Smoke alarms, let's get those batteries put in. If you need help, you need batteries put in, uh give me a call, we'll get you scheduled, we'll get the guys out, and we'll put new batteries in. Also, carbon monoxide detectors. Check those carbon monoxide detectors, change those batteries and get them get them tuned up. Fire prevention week uh starts Sunday, October 5th through Saturday, October 11th this year. Uh, if you have any questions on fire prevention, we're gonna talk about this stuff here in the near future. If you got any questions, please give me a call. If you need uh fuel mitigation inspections for your property for insurance or whatever, also give me a call. We'll get those handled.

SPEAKER_01:

That was JD Pepper, our fire marshal with the Timber Mesa Fire Department with his fire marshal minute. Take his advice and let's do our part uh uh to keep you guys safe and bored, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, sir. Keeps in the stations.

SPEAKER_01:

Keep them in the stations. Uh is but what uh what song would you like to play today there, JD?

SPEAKER_00:

You know what, bud? Uh you know, usually we we play the fun song uh you know by uh George Strait, the fireman. It's kind of kind of my song. I love it. But today, uh, can we play Gone But Not Forgotten by Brantley Gilbert?

SPEAKER_01:

You got it. You got it, JD. We love you. We love the Timber Mesa Fire Department and all our firefighters and first responders. Uh JD, we'll talk to you soon, best friend.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, bud. You guys all have a wonderful and safe day.

SPEAKER_03:

It's the sports minute with Chris Bennett. Football, basketball, baseball. I'm manly. And now, Chris Bennett.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, well, well, what's happening in El Wild, El Mundo of Sports? First, we don't even need to talk about our diamondbacks because they were eliminated from the playoffs. It was a fun season. They did well, but uh they're not moving forward, so we won't cover that. Uh, but we will talk about some of the great high school football action that took place this Friday here on the mountain. Uh, we had the Solo Cougars have their homecoming game hosting Apache Junction. I raced their speedster number seven wide receiver, defensive back Dane Ruzma, also known as Great Dane. We had a hundred-yard dash where I had a 40-yard head start, and it was a photo finish, but we didn't have a photo at the end of it. So we decided to do a final rematch. It was a 40-yard dash. I had a 15-yard head start, and again, it was a photo finish. But Dane Ruzma pulled it out and uh carried that momentum into their game. He had a touchdown as uh the Solo Cougars took care of business for homecoming 57-0 against Apache Junction. They're sitting at 5-1 for the season. The Snowflake Lobos, which was the iTalk Sports game of the week. You could catch it on iTalk1067.com, uh, went to Tempe to take on the undefeated Marcos Denisa. Most teams, uh both teams were 4-0, and Snowflake is looking good. Took care of business 49-18. Round Valley won their game against Paysen. Mogeon won their game against El Capitan. St. John's won their game on Thursday against Globe, uh, 41-0. And uh, let's see, our Phoenix Mercury won their series against the Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals. They're going to the finals, beating the Lynx 86 to 81. Holy moly, crazy about my Mercury. I'm Chris Bennett, and that was my spools minute. We're gonna get motivated here in a little bit, but first, here's Jordan Davis, bar none. It is now time to get motivated with it on this motivational Monday. Normally, Janine's on the line with me to judge these uh motivational quotes and to pick the best one for the week. So I am going to have to do it all by myself this morning. Uh you let me know what your favorite uh uh quote is for the uh the day. We have our first quote is uh CS Lewis, you are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. That's a good one. Uh Chris Grosser says opportunities don't happen, you create them. I love that one. Uh George Adair said everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear. Oh my goodness. Uh act as if uh ask, act as if what you do makes a difference. It does, William Janes. Uh James Jerry Dunn said, Don't limit your challenges, challenge your limits. Dang. And Walt Whitman said, keep your face always towards the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you. Man, those are some good quotes today. I think uh, oh, what is my favorite one? I think uh William James, act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. Those are your motivational quotes for the week. I hope they got you motivated and revved up for a great week. Woo! That's Bob Vlog! Yay, yay! Holy moly, it's everyone's favorite redneck from Beaumont, Texas. It's Paul from Beaumont. He has been out. He's been training uh a new hire at work, RD. So he's been having to set a good example and he can't have fun with us as much. And also just went to driving school uh to get your what, your class what? A.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, just a buff up.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, a class A. Hunk, hunk, and uh it was two weeks of uh schooling. How did it all go? Give us a review. That was good. It was good. Good, good. And so now uh you're back. Are you back uh on your own or are you still sharing a truck with the new guy, R D?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, me and RD are on our way to go get a uh new a new drug test. Yeah, we're in we're in my truck right now heading that way.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh heck, a little random uh drug test on a Monday morning? Yeah. Oh, heck yeah, sweet. And uh you two are going together. Are you gonna go in the room and uh go in the cup at the same time? Oh. You sick or not what I thought you were. Oh, R D, did you hear that? Oh, nice. Well, um, do you have time to uh play a game or give us a little weight loss update before uh you go to your drug test? Yeah, sure. All right, we'll be right back with Paul from Beaumont coming up next. We are back with Paul from Beaumont also. We have his coworker driving him uh driving Miss Paul or driving Mr. Paul R D. Paul, it's been a while since we've had you on. We've been following your weight loss journey once you started taking the shot. Tell us where you at now.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm at 254 now. 254. Yeah, look, shut up, because I'm a lean mean radio DJing machine.

SPEAKER_01:

And what was your starting weight? 5277. 277 down to 254. I'm not good at math, but I think that is a lot. 33 pounds in how long? 30? Oh. No, is that right? If you're too well, I'm back to 65. Oh, 23. 23 pounds. Yeah, 20. That's why I'm a radio DJ. I'm not good. Yeah. Uh, so have you noticed any uh differences? Have you noticed any side effects from the shot? Uh other than just looking better. Tell us uh about the results.

SPEAKER_02:

I am just just looking better than ever. You know, my arms kind of thinning out a little bit, getting more, getting more meaty. You know what I'm saying? It's all good.

SPEAKER_01:

Is Rhonda getting jealous of the weight loss? Because my wife, uh, whenever I would start losing weight or looking too good, she's like, hold on, you need to slow down a little bit.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh she is. She ain't told nothing to me. She ain't said nothing to me yet.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay. So so you might just still have a little bit more to go, according to her. Yeah, maybe.

unknown:

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01:

It is now time for Are You Smarter Than a Redneck? Before uh Paul goes uh and takes his uh uh drug test or urine test. Uh we're gonna play a little Are You Smarter Than a Redneck? It's been a while, Paul, and it's National Coffee Day. We're doing coffee trivia. If you know the answer, say your name. That's your buzzer. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_02:

Let's do this.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, here we go. Uh, first question What U.S. state grows the most coffee beans? Is it California, Florida, Hawaii, or Texas? Paul, go ahead. Hawaii? Yep, it is Hawaii. There you go. There you go. Uh, next question. What is red eye coffee? Is it coffee with tomato juice, coffee with a shot of espresso, coffee after an all-nighter or coffee served on an airplane? Paul Paul with espresso? Holy moly! Are you a coffee drinker? Yeah. Yeah. What uh do you like the foo foo coffee drinks or do you just like a black?

SPEAKER_02:

No, bro. I'll give me I'll give me and Rhonda's uh uh vanilla latte. Uh iced vanilla latte.

SPEAKER_01:

You you get a nice iced vanilla latte, maybe some sprinkles, and then you have a nice soak in the bath. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Well my soaked. Did you uh bubble RD?

SPEAKER_01:

Is that weird that uh Paul likes to take baths?

SPEAKER_02:

RD gone. RD go, RD gone.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, gosh dang it. All right, last question. Uh, how many cups of coffee does the average American drink per day? Is it one, two, five, or ten? Paul. Paul. Two. It is two. Dude, you swept me, man. Congratulations. You had a little break and you came back stronger than after uh ever after your time at school. You are smarter than a very handsome radio DJ. Paul, thanks for having fun with us today and uh have fun uh taking your test this morning.

SPEAKER_02:

Will do, buddy. Y'all be safe, and we'll talk to y'all soon. All right, bye, buddy. Bye.

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