Out And About With Jamie Grout

Thanks to The Grinnell Chamber Of Commerce website I have more details on all the big events coming up for the next several days in Grinnell. The biggest events this weekend inclued the HUGE car show that is coming up this Saturday in downtown Grinnell. I attended my first last year and I was amazed by the number of classic cruzers that lined the streets in downtown Grinnell. Chack it out, bring the whole family and your camera. Also on Saturday is "pickle fest." It will be "Dill-Lightful" fun. Listen for me details. Also, the Farmers Market this Thursday and Saturday. This Saturday's location will be at different place due to the car show. But there will still be plenty of produce and fresh baked goods availabe for purchase. Lots and lots of things going on in Grinnell for the next several dys in Grinnell.

Many times when I go into a podcast interview I know very little about the subject I will be talking about. That's not all bad as I am also interviewing from the standpoint of the listener. However, the topic I am dealing with today is a topic I know quite a bit about because it's very personal to me. It's Parkinsons Disease. My Sister Deb passed away last November from a form of Parkinson's Disease. During the 6 years she fought the disease I learned much about the disease and the various forms it takes on. In this podcast I speak with folks who are with the Newton area Parkinson's Disease Support Group. They share their stories of how the loved ones in their lives are dealing with this disease and what treatments they are getting to keep the disease at bay. They also talk about their support group and where they meet on a monthly basis. Since this is a "best of" podcast they mention an annual meeting in June so please don't pay any attention to that as the annual conference has passed. However all the other information in this podcast is still very relative. If you or somone you know is dealing with Parkinson's Disease in some way please listen to the podcast and don't be afraid to reach out to this support group. They are here to help.

Today my tour of clothing closets and food pantrys in Jasper and Poweshiek Counties continues with Pay It Forward in Lynnville. I had a great conversation with a couple of ladies who run the organization. In this podcast you will find out what church they are affilated with, what their mission is, how they got started, what their hours are, what kinds of clothes are needed, how you can help and how you can contact them.

I'm on a run of doing podcasts of food pantrys and clothing closets these days. I've been aware of them through Captain's Tim and Peggy of The Salvation Army in Newton. But Angie and Neva of Hands That Help out of Brooklyn turned me on to a couple more in Gilman and Lynnville and the Lynnville location told me about he one in Prairie City; I will be recording the podcast of the Lynnville clothing closet later Thursday and I will try to get to the one in Prairie City either today or next week sometime, But today the focus is on the one in Gilman, The Treasure Chest Food Pantry run by Treasured by God Ministries. It's amazing the number of peple they serve espically with their food pantry. If you, or someone you know are in need of help due to food insecurity, contact these people, they are to help.

In my 300th podcast I preview this year's Iowa State Fair which begins this Thursday. I speak with Marketing Director Mindy Willimamson about all the changes and improvements they've made at the fair for this year. I think you'll enjoy this podcast about all the work that goes on at the fairgrounds behind the scenes throughout the year on making improvements at the fairgrounds on making the fair bigger and better than ever.

Childrens charities have always been special to me. That includes Make A Wish Iowa. In this best of podcast I speak with Nichole of Make A Wish about the purpose of the program. She shares some of the success stories of Make A Wish and how they have been life changing, She talks about how Make A Wish is funded and their plans for the future. It's a great non-profit and if you have the time and resourses it deserves your support. Enjoy this best of podcast with Nichole of Make A Wish Iowa.

One of the things I LOVE about Iowa are the small town celebrations we have. For example Mount Pleasent has The Old Threashers Celebration, Adel has Sweet Corn Days and my old stomping grounds of Cedar Falls has Sturges Falls. For many years Monroe has had Old Settlers Days. I can remember years ago when Walt Keith and Paul Dennison would broadcast live reports from Old Settlers on KCOB radio. It's a big celebration of the towns heritage. This is a special Thursday night/Friday morning podcast sponsored my buddy Lynn Donahue at Jersey Freeze in Monore. Lynn has been a sponsor and supporter of my podcast from the very start and he is a supporter of many things going on in Jasper County including at his home location of Monroe, He owns and operates Jersey freeze in Monoe. When your in Monroe make it at point to either stop in to Jersey Freeze or use their convient drive through window and order one of their tasty ice cream treats. Jersey Freeze is sure to please!

Hands That Help is a new Non Profit organization that helps to provide clothing for folks who are in need. They are having a big fund raiser this Sunday at The Eagles Club in Grinnell. In this podcast I speak with Neva who is on the board of Hands That Help. She tells me about their mission, how folks can get the clothes they need the challenges of their organization and their big fund raiser coming up this Sunday and what will be going on at that event.

The Mesquaki Settlement Powwow has been going on for a many years and the celebration of the Mesquaki culture is coming up this weekend, With that in mind I had a great conversation with Vern Jefferson who has been a member of the Mesquaki tribe his entire life and will be one of the emcees for the powwow this weekend. In the podcast he talks about the how the powwow got started, why they have the powwow, the various dances they have and other triditions dealing with the powwow this weekend that will be at Mesquaki but at a different location behind the casino this year,

The proposed franchise fee for the city of Newton has become a highly emotional issue for many in Newton. This is understandibly so in that property taxes are already high and now the city wants to tack on what is conisdered another tax to the citizens that many feel is unfair. However the city counters that by saying that because their hands are tied because of the state legislature they are going to have to find other sources for revenue otherwise they are going to have to cut city services if more funding isn't available. The 3rd reading of the proposed franchise fee is coming up at Monday's Newton City Council meeting and the City Council chambers once again will no doubt have overflow crowds of folks venting their frustrations. Because of this I brought two people together on both sides of the issue to discuss the franchise fees. Mayor Randy Ervin who is a proponent of the fees and Mary Watters who is against the fees. At my suggestion Mary asked for questions on Facebook to ask the Mayor for this podcast. Normally my podcast will go no longer than 30 minutes but the entire length of the interview went just over 50 minutes. We not only discussed the franchise fees but also got into the lawsuits the city has had to deal with and the AU chemical plant which at one point had thought to be a sure thing but now seems to be somewhat in jepordy. The Mayor also teases us with some good news coming for the Newton City Council meeting for Monday night in this podcast. Normally I would also have a video attached to my podcast but because of the length of the podcast I skipped the video this time.

In this podcast I had a nice conversation with Derice Aragon who is The Program Manager for The Empowerment Command Center (ECC) in Grinnell. This is an organization that mainly tries to help the homeless but can help anyone going through a crisis situation. It's located next to the Medicap Pharmacy in Grinnell. In the podcast you will hear Derice talk about all the services they offer. It's a sattlite location for the main organization located in Des Moines. I think the Empowerment Center deserves out total support for folks who are in desperate need of help. The good news that that in this podcast you will hear Derice tell of some success stories of how The Empowerment Command Center has had many success stories.

WHO Radio is and always has been involved in the Iowa State Fair. And, one of the neat things about being The Morning Show Producer at WHO Radio is that every morning I get to hear about all the preperation going on at the fair when Morning Host Jeff Angelo talks with State Fair Marketing Director Mindy Williamson about preperations for the fair. On this podcast I speak with Mindy about all the preperations for this years fair. I know the fair isn't until August but they already have lots of exciting plans for this years fair which runs August 13th through August 23rd. By the way, when you're at the fair make sure you stop by the WHO Crystal Studios. You may see me and you might end up with some WHO swag and make sure you watch some of our live radio shows that we have going on at the fair at The Crystal Studios.