Ashley-Hudson Volunteer Fire Department Captain Peggy Barrand

On this episode of Frontline Voices, we sit down with Peggy Pankop-Barrand to discuss a lifetime of service, sacrifice, and perseverance. Peggy opens up about entering the fire service in the early 2000s during a time when women in the firehouse often had to work twice as hard to prove they belonged. From overcoming doubt and breaking barriers to balancing motherhood, public service, and personal tragedy after being widowed at a young age, her story is one of resilience and determination.
This conversation dives into the realities of small-town emergency services, leadership, grief, family, and what it truly means to keep showing up for your community when life gets difficult. Honest, emotional, and inspiring—this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:04

This is Frontline Voices. Conversations with our local heroes. Here's your host, Matthew Blake. Well, Peggy, thank you for joining us for the podcast today. Taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down and talk about your experiences in the fire service. So, like I said, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

You're very welcome.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

Alright. So we'll dig right into it. People in this community know you through very many different roles. Clerk treasurer, firefighter, deputy coroner, fire captain. Who is Peggy when the uniform's come off?

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Mom.

SPEAKER_05 0:48

Mom. Kind of encompasses all of it.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Pretty much. Pretty much.

SPEAKER_05 0:55

I have to ask you, looking at your life today, what are you most proud of?

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Everything I've accomplished. A lot of things I've accomplished.

SPEAKER_05 1:09

Anything you want to delve into or just keep it kind of a no.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_05 1:16

Okay. Alright. So Ashley is a pretty small town where people know each other deeply. What does that mean to see your neighbors during their best and worst days?

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Knowing that I've helped them. And uh they come back and say, you know, thank you, which is all I ask for is a thank you. I don't ask for much. And um, I keep checking on them no matter what. Even if it's their best or their worst day. I'm always there to double check to make sure they're okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:55

Make sure you have that follow-up with everything. Right on. You entered the fire service in the early 2000s when many departments were over overwhelmingly male. What was that environment like walking into the fire station for the first time?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Scary. Very scary.

SPEAKER_05 2:11

Oh, I bet. I bet.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Um there was one other female that was on the fire department besides me. And uh, very scary. I mean, you it's a doggy dog world out there. It's either just you know, basically, if you can do the job, that's the main thing. If you can do it, if a male can do it, a woman can do it. And I had to prove myself that I could do it.

SPEAKER_05 2:45

Right on. What originally drew you towards the fire service?

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Um, back in oh my gosh. Oh one? No, oh two. No, oh one, oh one. Uh my house got destroyed by a tornado in November. Seeing all the firemen and everything, helping us through everything. Um then later, back in 04. Yeah, back in 04, uh, I had moved to our family farm there in Corona, and um lightning struck our barn and caught it on fire, and I seen how everybody was just working together. I just wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to do something to basically give back to the community, is what I wanted.

SPEAKER_05 3:42

So you got first hand experience of what that all looks like.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:48

Going back to when you first started, did you ever feel that you had to prove yourself more than the men around you? And what kept you from walking away during those hard moments?

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Yeah, there was times. There was a lot of times that um I kept telling myself I could do it. But I had a mentor. It was Ray Castad at the time. Um, he was my mentor. He was the one that, come on, you can do this. And I did it. Even though I was scared because it's like, okay, I don't know if I can do this. Right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 4:22

And give you that little gentle push, that nudge from time to time.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

It wasn't gentle. It was get your hike in here and get it done.

SPEAKER_05 4:29

You just gotta do it.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 4:31

Looking back now, what do you think people misunderstand about women in the fire service during that era?

SPEAKER_02 4:41

I think a lot of it was that the older generation, you know, your wives were supposed to stay home with the children. And it would, they was they were really stuck on that. And um, I think it just opened up. I mean, honestly, I think it opened up to a lot of openings for females to do stuff because of the um, you know, there is a lot of females that can do men's stuff and probably do it better than a man.

SPEAKER_05 5:16

I 100% agree with you. Absolutely, yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

So and I like it to where it's equal. If I can do it, you can do it, and if you can do it, by gosh, I'm gonna try to do it.

SPEAKER_05 5:28

Right. Yes, absolutely. Was there a moment where you finally felt that you were accepted by your peers?

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Yes, and that was in the late 2000s, really late. It took a while, and just because once I got on, there was another female that got on, and then another female that got on. There was like three or four of us, and we stuck together and we conquered.

SPEAKER_05 5:58

Took the steps of progression along the way, absolutely. That's awesome. Um what did earning the rank of captain mean to you personally?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

To me, it's just a title. I still do my job. It didn't really mean anything to me, really. It was an accomplishment that I I pushed for because I had been on for so many years. I was an engineer, um, started out being an engineer, did it for you know quite a few years with Ray, and um then got lieutenant when Junior Schaefer was chief, and then it was just one of my goals. But to me, I do I play all those roles. I I help where I'm needed.

SPEAKER_05 6:55

Yeah, there's no there's no difference in in wearing what what color hat you've got on. You're still going to work.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Right.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

What advice would you give young women entering the fire service today?

SPEAKER_02 7:09

Don't hold yourself back. Don't do it. If you need a little nudge, come and see me.

SPEAKER_05 7:20

You'll light that fire.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

I really want them to accomplish their goals that they want to accomplish. I really want that to be said to the little, you know, these young women that are, you know, oh, I can't do this. Yeah, you can. If I can do it, you can do it.

SPEAKER_05 7:39

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, like like you said, I mean, perseverance is a big thing, but there's nothing that anybody can't do. It doesn't matter what your gender is or anything like that. If you want to do it, you're gonna achieve it.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

So Right.

SPEAKER_05 7:54

Going all the way back to the beginning, do you remember what your very first call was?

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Oh my gosh. Um my very first one was a car wreck. Um just I was scared. Still brand new, still green, wet behind the ears from all the training that I take and that. Um it was hard. It was uh I had a young boy that um was driving and he had his uh friend with him and uh I had to sit there and hold C-spine on the gentleman that was uh deceased. And uh it was a hard one. It was very hard. It was either make it or break it. It took a lot. But knowing that I did everything I possibly could.

SPEAKER_05 9:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

It was it was a hard one.

SPEAKER_05 9:10

You didn't get the old softball pitch call off the rip. You got thrown right in the deep end. Wow. Wow. It's it and and experiencing that on on the first call, that that says a lot about you to be able to stay to stick with it, because that is that is a huge a huge obstacle to overcome, being especially your first one. So tell me, when when the tones drop now, what goes through your head?

SPEAKER_02 9:39

What goes through my head?

SPEAKER_05 9:41

Um what what what are the emotions that hit?

SPEAKER_02 9:44

Um I've calmed down a lot with age. A lot. Uh listening, listening to the the call. I don't get anxious, I don't get where my mind goes 90 miles an hour, and then when I get there, it's like, oh, well, that isn't what I was taught. No, it's just I I stay calm. No matter what I have to do. Is staying calm is the biggest keyword there. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_05 10:19

Well, I've I I've even noticed that on scene that that your presence of of calm generally it affects the patient. You can tell their levels of of calmness comes down. So it's kind of a a balancing act there, and that's that's really important, obviously. So obviously that that first call was was a rough one. What are some of the toughest calls you've experienced emotionally?

SPEAKER_02 10:50

People losing their their livelihood. Losing their home, losing I don't know how to explain it. It's just yeah, I don't know. I just that's the hardest one is everybody losing losing and then having to gain back what they what they've lost.

SPEAKER_05 11:16

Right, yeah. Going through the rebuild.

unknown 11:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:21

What has kept you committed to the fire service after all these years?

SPEAKER_02 11:29

I don't know. I really I can't I don't know. I I really don't know what keeps me here. I really don't. I I love everybody that's here. Um I'm kind of the mama bear here. Absolutely because I'm the oldest. Um I love the younger generation trying to get them to see what I've been through and what I see, and then when we're going on scenes, I help them through the what they've struggled, and I can get them through it.

SPEAKER_05 12:05

You know what to look for when they're navigating their own journey.

SPEAKER_04 12:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:12

And I'm sure that I mean, now it's been such a big part of your life now, it's probably hard to think of life without.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

I don't know what I do without it.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

I really don't know.

SPEAKER_05 12:26

All right, we're gonna step away from the old fire service side and step into your professional role. So you became clerk treasurer after someone served nearly 40 years doing it. What kind of pressures came with that transition?

SPEAKER_02 12:41

At the time I had no idea. And then I was sitting there going, oh my, what did I get myself into? Um their big shoes to fill. They were huge, and they still are today. I'm serving my third term or my third um third year of my first term, and I'm still learning. There's so many things. Um even the clerk that was prior to me, she comes in and helps me. I love her to death. I don't know what I would do without her. Um, she's another mentor. If anybody knew anything about clerks, that would be Karen.

SPEAKER_05 13:27

The one to go to.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Yes, because she she knows her stuff after 40 years and been through a lot.

SPEAKER_05 13:36

She kind of wrote the book on what to do. So and as you said, you had no idea. So those first few months, what did that look like? What were some of those challenges that you weren't expecting that like boom? Now that's my problem.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Oh, uh, that would be um our water tower project uh with Mrs. Smiley. Um the um payouts and that it's like, oh my, I've never done one of these. How do I do it? Um the computer program that we have, Keystone, it keeps changing. Once I get to learn something, well, guess what? They're gonna change it. And uh yeah, it's every day is a challenge. Every day, and now we got the sewer project going on to upgrade our sewer uh department, and that's a challenge. But like I said, it's it's nothing you can learn quickly. It takes years.

SPEAKER_05 14:43

But yeah, like I said, that ball just keeps keeps turning. Yeah. Once one project's done, another one's in the in the fire. Yep. Yep. Most people don't realize how demanding small town government can be. What does the public not see behind the scenes?

SPEAKER_02 15:00

What don't they see? What the job entails. They think I just take water bills. Um I take money for you know ILPs, uh BZA type stuff. Uh it's it's a lot. I mean, I do do the water bills. I calculate them and send them out and that. Um, I do payroll. I do um bank rec every month. I make sure what you know how much we have in each category and everything. Um, making sure the meetings go correctly and what's what needs to be done, how does it get, you know, basically getting it everybody prepared for that meeting. This is what we have to get on the agenda. This is what we have to get done. It's pretty much it's it's hard. It's so hard.

SPEAKER_05 16:01

Yeah, I I can say, I mean, just the few times that I've been able to pop in there and you're you're always busy doing something. There's not uh there's not downtime of just hanging out. So I mean, yeah, it's I I I've seen it personally that it is go, go, go, go, go. Was there ever a moment when you questioned whether you were ready for the position and what motivates you to continue despite the stresses?

SPEAKER_02 16:29

I'm not answering the first one.

SPEAKER_05 16:32

I get it. I get it.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Um that's just being with my family.

SPEAKER_05 16:43

Leave that there.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Yeah, I don't I don't take it home.

SPEAKER_05 16:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

I just I I'd rather leave the stress where it belongs and not try to take it home. But there are times where I do take it home and try to mousta, but I love diamond art, love doing that. Um once in a while I go play bingo.

SPEAKER_05 17:04

Right on.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

But other than that de-stress.

SPEAKER_05 17:11

What goals do you still hope to accomplish in Ashley?

SPEAKER_02 17:17

My goals make things easier for the community. Um, since I've been in office, um you can pay your water bill online now with credit card. You can even call in, pay your water bill online. Um, there's other things I really want to accomplish to make it easier for the community, especially the elderly, because a lot of times they can't get up there right away. I want to try to figure out something else to help them. Um, even the ones that work two, three, four jobs, you know, they don't have time to get their stuff in on time. And if they do, great. But we have three different areas where you can pay your water bill or um building permits and that kind of stuff. But I want to try to make it better. I want to make it easier for this town. That's my goal.

SPEAKER_05 18:14

Right on. That's also I mean, as a community member, that that sounds great for me personally. So amongst your many hats, you also serve as deputy coroner. Which is a role many people don't fully understand. What does the what do the responsibilities truly involve?

SPEAKER_02 18:38

The responsibilities? Being a deputy coroner. Um I serve under Rodney Snyder. Love my boss to death. Um he's another mentor. Uh is helping the family at their worst. I try at that time to get them something to look forward to to answer their questions. And if I can't answer their questions, I will find an answer. And if I can't, this is why. I there's not has not been a case that I have not figured out what the cause is. Except for while I take it back. I've had I've had one that was undetermined in my eight years of being a deputy coroner. There was one that we just it was undetermined. We couldn't figure it out. That's why we have professional doctors, we got professional forensic doctors. Um yeah. It's kind of like that first 48 hours, but it's not. Right.

SPEAKER_05 20:01

Right. And I'm sure like unlike that, the end isn't always sunshine and rainbows.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 20:10

What is emotionally hardest about death investigations?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

The hardest part?

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Try not to look into the person's eyes. That's the hardest part. Because I try not to look at the the deceased's eyes.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Because her eyes tell everything. And it's it to me it's a I don't know what you want to even call it. I I get fixed on it. And if I if I fix on that, then I can't figure out the rest. It's just a place I try not to look at the face first. I look at the torso, the legs, the arms, to kinda leave the the head for the last.

SPEAKER_05 21:07

Well, it makes them them. Yeah. Keep it, yeah. How do you mentally process scenes involving tragedy and grieving families?

SPEAKER_00 21:17

Pray. Pray a lot.

SPEAKER_05 21:25

For yourself, for them, for everybody everybody involved.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 21:34

What have these experiences taught you about life itself?

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Life's too short. Never know. And it it it sucks. Life's too short. Take advantage of what you can.

SPEAKER_05 21:53

Well, and actually that answer actually kind of stems into this next question. Has serving that role changed how you view view? Time, family, and priorities.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Yes. Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 22:08

Yes. This next part is going to be a little more difficult. One of the hardest things a person can endure is losing a spouse, especially young. Can you walk us through what that chapter of life was like for you?

SPEAKER_02 22:35

In 01, like I said, uh I lost my home due to a tornado. And uh shortly after that, uh my husband um was diagnosed with carcinoma and um I can't even remember what the the other type of cancer, but anyways, it was a pretty big mass that was on his aorta to his heart. And uh we found out later that year that he had cancer. Um I've got two boys and a little girl. My little girl was two years old. Uh well, we went to the doctor and he pretty much said, you know, hey, you've got this is your timeline. But if we do X, Y, and Z, could give you more. Well, that timeline was six months. In that six months, I was not only raising my children, I had to quit work, he had to quit work. Uh, he was on disability, I was taking care of him at home. Not only um the surgeries, the chemo, the radiation. I mean, I had to learn a lot very quickly and still take care of the kids. Um my main support to help me through all this was my mom. She took my kids when I needed her. Um just basically uh he lasted a year and six months before he passed. And I was twenty-nine years old when he passed. Uh my youngest was three. Uh I think my other the boys were still young. I mean, all my kids were still young. Um but yeah, that was that was the worst year in six months of my life. And him preparing me to be a good mom, preparing me to do stuff on my own, preparing me how to fight for myself. And I thought he was just pushing me away, and he wasn't, he was actually preparing me.

SPEAKER_03 25:05

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 25:12

Going through that price process. How difficult was it to grieve?

SPEAKER_02 25:18

There was no grief.

SPEAKER_05 25:20

Well, also trying to be strong in front of your children.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

That was the hardest part. Um back then. Uh just I really don't want to say too much, but uh after about four or five months of being hurt, uh lost, not knowing what am I gonna do next? How am I gonna do this? Um something kicked me in the rear end and said, Hey, you have three young children, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself? Yeah, and around about way I was.

SPEAKER_03 26:08

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

But quickly I kicked out of that. And then that's when I drew myself to the fire department because it's like, come on. If I'm gonna have a career, make something of myself, I have to straighten up. Well, I did.

SPEAKER_05 26:28

That's awesome. That's how you were able to turn turn the corner like that, especially in such a short amount of time.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

It was hard, but I did it.

SPEAKER_05 26:41

With with life, there is the peaks and valleys. And I'm curious what helps you keep moving forward during the overwhelming moments of life.

SPEAKER_02 26:59

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 27:01

I just keep showing up.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

Yeah, I just I'm all about helping my community because one day I might need that.

SPEAKER_05 27:17

Absolutely, yes. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

You never know when when that might happen.

SPEAKER_05 27:26

So through your experiences, if there's anyone listening right now who may be navigating loss alone, what would you want them to hear?

SPEAKER_02 27:36

You're not alone. You keeping it inside you and not getting help or talking to somebody. Like I said, I'm here. I will listen. Don't grieve by yourself because it's horrible. It will it will mentally, physically, emotionally, it will destroy you. You have to get help. And there is so many people out there that it doesn't even have to be a you know, a uh mental health person. Um, it could be a pastor, it could be, you know, your minister, you it could be anybody. Right. It doesn't have to be count, you know, counseling through like Northeastern Center or Bowen or anything. Find somebody you trust. That's the biggest thing is trust.

SPEAKER_05 28:43

Right on, yeah. Just having somebody to be able to open up to honestly about is yeah, key. Okay, we're gonna we're gonna get away from the the sadness part. We're gonna go into more current stuff.

unknown 28:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 28:56

So currently, your husband, Chief Dave Barron, is also deeply involved in the fire service. What is that like sharing that life together?

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Horrible.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

At least you're not trying horrible. But we have our days. Um, we try to keep everything here that has to pertain to here and keep our home life at home. It's it's a chore.

SPEAKER_05 29:28

A little bit of a challenge. Yeah. Have there ever been moments where the stresses of public services followed you home? And what does the mutual sport look like between the two of you?

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Yes, we have taken it home. I've got my values, so does he. Sometimes we clash. Sometimes we kind of argue about it at the end. It's like, you know what? We're two separate people.

SPEAKER_05 29:57

Right, yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

But um, hmm. That's all I got to say about that.

SPEAKER_05 30:06

I get it. I get it. I'm sure there have been moments where you felt emotionally exhausted or overwhelmed. What helps you keep get going through on the hard days?

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Cleaning. I am OCD. I am, yeah. Yeah, Dave hates when I get in those little perks because I'll move stuff in my home. And why did you move this? Where did you move it to? Oh yeah. And he knows when I start doing a real deep clean and start moving stuff, and yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:43

Time to back away a little bit, leave some space. Oh, that's funny. What do you hope your children learn from watching you survive difficult seasons?

SPEAKER_02 30:57

I've actually watched my oldest son, he was on the fire department for a short time. Um, my children is my life. I am their life. Um they've learned from me. Um I've learned from them. Just yeah. I my children have succeeded with what I expected of them through everything that I've tried to do to teach them.

SPEAKER_05 31:40

That's awesome. That is awesome. So obviously you're in a leadership position. What's the hardest part of leadership?

SPEAKER_02 31:54

What's the hardest part? Yeah. Meetings. I hate being in front of people. I hate I don't like the spotlight on me. Um, this is out of my comfort zone. Oh, I can tell. I can tell.

SPEAKER_05 32:13

That's why I'm so appreciative that you're here.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

This is out of my comfort zone. Um I'm not one, I don't like I don't like being in the spotlight. But the leadership part of it, knowing that I can do it behind the scenes and people don't see me, is even better.

SPEAKER_05 32:34

Gotcha. So we learned that diamond art is is one is one of the keys here. So what's another way? What's another favorite way for you to decompress from the day?

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Mowing.

SPEAKER_05 32:51

Really?

unknown 32:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 32:52

Cleaning, mowing, and diamond art. Wow. Is it just the the chopping things down? Is it the violent aspect of it that brings you peace? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 33:02

It could be. Tearing down things, uh uprooting my flower garden. Oh yeah. You never know. Never know what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_05 33:14

When you look in the mirror now, what do you see?

SPEAKER_00 33:20

Wrinkles.

SPEAKER_05 33:22

Oh geez.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

You asked.

SPEAKER_05 33:27

Yeah, yeah. I I did. And you're you're honest to the core.

SPEAKER_02 33:31

So war wounds, but they're well-deserved wounds.

SPEAKER_05 33:39

Shows a little bit of the the uh the history there.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Yeah, the determination. There you go.

SPEAKER_05 33:45

Absolutely. So you've carried leadership, tragedy, motherhood, public scrutiny, and service all at once. How do you think those experiences shape the woman you are today?

SPEAKER_02 33:59

It's made me tough.

SPEAKER_05 34:01

Ain't that the truth?

SPEAKER_02 34:05

There are days where it's like I gotta hang my hat up somewhere. Which hat do I hang up?

SPEAKER_05 34:13

Yeah, you got so many, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

Yeah. Um there's a couple of them I don't have I have no timeline. But there's two I have a timeline. And uh fire department's one of them. There's a timeline. I love this job. I would keep doing it in a heartbeat. But my body's telling me, hey, you can't do a lot of this stuff anymore. I can't air pack anymore after having my stroke.

SPEAKER_05 34:46

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Three years ago. Um it's left me not one to do what I want to do. But I know my limitations. Medical, I love it. You give me medical, and I'll do it every day.

SPEAKER_05 35:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

But that's the only thing that's keeping me here is the medical part of it.

SPEAKER_05 35:10

Wow. That's sad. I don't want to think about that. I've I've learned so much from you, uh, especially on the medical side, just the way that you are with patients and the way you interact and stuff like that. And I I think that that alone, just what I've seen, seeing you do your work in field is um amazing. Just the patient care and the way that you take time to to really invest in the patient while you're with them. It just speaks volumes. There's there's a there's a complete difference from obviously there's a difference how people do things, but on scene, just the whole atmosphere changes, just the way that you are, because you are invested in that patient at the time. And and I commend you for that because like I said, it it changes the whole uh the whole way that that scene's gonna end up for the most part. So I commend you for that. So we're starting to get into the tougher questions. And I always bring this up because I when I first when I first started asking it, I thought it was a great tool for self-evaluation. You know, when you're when you're looking at the sunset, you know, what do you see? And then, you know, and I tell everybody this, you know, in the last last year, you know, I found out how incredibly important it was to actually to hear that perspective. So after you've served your community in so many different ways, what do you hope your legacy is? What do you hope that people remember about you?

SPEAKER_02 37:00

I don't know. I really I just I love people. I love them. Um that's a hard one. That is a very hard one. Um for my legacy hopefully I've touched other young generation to do what I've done, what I've experienced at their worst, to help boost them back up and know that they can do this. It's not for everybody. Um it's a hard one.

SPEAKER_05 37:59

It I Self-reflection is hard.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Yeah, yeah, it is. Yes, it is. Um yeah, I I just hopefully what they've learned from me, they'll take it in strides. And keep going. Like I have. That's the main thing. Just keep going. Follow your dreams. And somebody tells you you can't, baloney.

SPEAKER_05 38:27

Prove them wrong. You got it. So for someone listening who's feeling the call to serve, their community, but is afraid to take that first step. What would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Let's go for a walk. Let's let's go check this out.

SPEAKER_05 38:54

Yeah, the the hardest part is get open in the door, right?

SPEAKER_02 38:56

You got it. And having those open arms. And who, you know, who can you trust? That's a big thing in this world. Who can you trust? Who can't you trust? It's huge. But there's go to the older generation. They've got open arms. They will teach you. Maybe the old school stuff, but it's a foot in the door. Learn from them. Ask them questions. Don't hesitate to ask questions. Kind of like when we got you on here.

SPEAKER_05 39:36

Yeah, right. Rough.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

But look where you where you are now.

SPEAKER_03 39:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

You're you're one heck of a the generation from where I'm from and where you're from. I don't know what I'd do without you here.

SPEAKER_04 39:59

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

The strides. And hopefully I've some of my habits or bad habits have not rubbed off on you, but hopefully, you know, I can do it for somebody else.

SPEAKER_05 40:15

Absolutely. Yes. Yes. It's it's yeah, definitely, it's been a and I and I that's one of the things that I I like to lean on on people who've who've been around because their stories are valuable and their experiences are valuable, and I think it's incredibly important to lean on that. Alright. We're getting ready to wrap up. Last question, I ask everybody. If there was one person that you could recommend to sit in that chair, who would it be and why?

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Rodney Snyder. It would be Rodney Snyder. That man is. Oh my gosh. Um he's a heck of a mentor. He's a great boss. He's a great minister. And if you ever get time to meet him, you would probably say the same thing. He's a great big teddy bear. I just I love him to death. And he's one heck of a boss. So Rodney Snyder, definitely.

SPEAKER_05 41:24

Rodney Snyder getting added to the old list. Awesome. Well, Peg, I won't take up any more of your day. I want to thank you for stopping by, sharing some insight on you know some of the challenges that you went through professionally, personally, and how you've overcome adversity and to be where you are today. I really appreciate you, and I really appreciate everything that you've taught me in particular, but all of us here. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 42:02

This is Frontline Voices Conversations with our local heroes.