#4517 t’s Michael Goc Somewhere

Summary

TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live Episode #4517: "t’s Michael Goc Somewhere" Release Date: July 24, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode #4517 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live, hosts Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh take listeners on an engaging journey through their recent adventures in Friendship, Wisconsin. This episode combines humorous anecdotes, meaningful interactions, and a deep dive into the local history, all while promoting their ongoing TBTL a Thon fundraising initiative.

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Caller Interaction and File Management Challenges

The episode kicks off with an interaction with their first caller, Dale Denton, discussing themes of new beginnings and overcoming losses. However, Luke encounters a technical hiccup related to missing audio files, leading to a candid conversation about their meticulous file management system.

Luke Burbank [04:06]: "I was kind of freaking out about it."

Andrew Walsh [05:17]: "Is there a problem with my systems? Because as the listeners know you are very, very careful sort of data management person."

This segment highlights the hosts' dedication to maintaining high-quality content and the humor they infuse into unexpected challenges.

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Appearance on Wisconsin 106 Radio

Luke and Andrew recount their exciting experience being featured on Bob in the Morning on Wisconsin 106, Central Wisconsin's leading music station. They describe the lively interaction with host Bob and the unexpected duration of their segment.

Michael Gock [16:35]: "I was pleasantly shocked at how long Bob kept us on."

Andrew Walsh [17:04]: "A whole 3/4 hours with him."

Their appearance not only boosted their show's visibility but also deepened their connection with the local community.

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Engagement with the Historical Society and Guest Speaker Michael Gock

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to their collaboration with Michael Gock, president of the Adams County Historical Society. Michael shares fascinating insights into the history of Friendship, Wisconsin, including its founding, the influence of Eastern European immigrants, and notable historical artifacts.

Michael Gock [33:03]: "What's so special about Friendship, Wisconsin? It has one of the most intriguing small-town histories in the region."

Andrew Walsh [39:23]: "The Homestead Act didn't come along until after they settled, so they bought inexpensive land from the federal government."

This conversation not only educates listeners about the town's rich heritage but also underscores the importance of preserving local history.

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Listener Engagement and TBTL a Thon Fundraising

Throughout the episode, Luke and Andrew emphasize their listener-supported model, expressing gratitude for the ongoing donations that sustain TBTL. They share heartwarming interactions from their recent Zoom call with listeners, showcasing the strong community bond.

John Sklaroff [18:39]: "My wife doesn't listen to TBTL, but I mentioned to her that we were gonna be on the radio show. She immediately texted that I did great."

Andrew Walsh [23:19]: "It was an awesome person who was trying to get on today... It was a great honor."

These moments highlight the diverse and supportive listener base that TBTL enjoys.

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Special Announcements and Blurs Days

The hosts introduce the concept of "Blurs Days," a playful segment where they send personalized greetings to listeners celebrating birthdays or special occasions. This interactive feature fosters a sense of community and personal connection with their audience.

Luke Burbank [75:10]: "Happy 20th Blursday to our middle hell spawn."

Michael Gock [83:02]: "We have a lot of blurs days to have an actual look at this list."

These lighthearted interactions add a unique and personable touch to the show, making listeners feel valued and included.

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Concluding Remarks and Future Plans

As the episode wraps up, Luke and Andrew express their excitement for upcoming events and reflect on the successful week of programming. They reiterate the importance of listener support and invite more donations to continue producing quality content.

Andrew Walsh [83:56]: "If you have been thinking about supporting the show at any level that feels right to you, go to tbt.net and do that right now."

Michael Gock [84:10]: "Please remember, no mountain too tall."

Their heartfelt gratitude and forward-looking statements leave listeners feeling appreciated and eager to support future episodes.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Luke Burbank [05:55]: "If somebody comes in here and absconds with our files, I don't have any files anymore."

• Michael Gock [16:35]: "I was pleasantly shocked at how long Bob kept us on."

• Andrew Walsh [39:27]: "Everyone's story is worth telling and remembering."

• Mariah Spicer [67:50]: "People in Wisconsin have taken to using the term sconies."

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Key Takeaways

• Community and Friendship: The episode emphasizes the strong bonds between the hosts, listeners, and the local community in Friendship, Wisconsin.

• Preservation of History: Through their collaboration with the Adams County Historical Society, listeners gain a deeper appreciation for local history and its significance.

• Interactive and Supportive Listener Base: TBTL thrives on active engagement and support from its diverse audience, fostering a vibrant and dedicated community.

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Conclusion

Episode #4517 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live masterfully blends humor, personal stories, and educational content, all while celebrating the essence of friendship. Luke and Andrew's genuine interactions, coupled with insightful discussions with guest Michael Gock, make this episode a standout installment that both long-time listeners and newcomers will find captivating and enriching.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Hello, you're listening to pprpp. I am Dale Denton. The topic of the day, new beginnings. Getting over losses. Friends. Life. We have our first caller. Yes. Ring, ring, ring.

[Andrew Walsh]

How's it going?

[Luke Burbank]

Dale Denton. Yeah. You're my hero. You're my hero.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yay.

[Luke Burbank]

You are good, man. Seriously.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thanks, man.

[Luke Burbank]

I gotta admit. Yeah, it sounds really good. It sounds real, dude. Not bad, huh? If I close my eyes, it does sound like this. Yeah, that's. That's the radio. This is the radio. That's a dj.

[Michael Gock]

Better. Like, if you're on it, I would listen to it.

[Luke Burbank]

Thanks, man. Pop off. Seriously, I know this sounds weird, but can we be best friends? Tbtl.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, well, look, if you don't believe in. In your product, okay, you gotta. You gotta substitute something you do believe.

[Michael Gock]

Okay?

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. For instance, when I'm out there and I'm pitching the Pearl Cream, that keeps.

[Michael Gock]

You looking young, right? Right. I've seen that. Do you know what I'm thinking? You're not thinking about the Pearl Cream.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, sir, I am not.

[Michael Gock]

What are you thinking about?

[Andrew Walsh]

America. Everything she stands for.

[Mariah Spicer]

If we wanted to, we could have our own business.

[Michael Gock]

No, I agree.

[Andrew Walsh]

If we really wanted to, we could.

[Luke Burbank]

It's just that.

[Mariah Spicer]

Do we want to do that?

[Luke Burbank]

Do we want to have a website and a blog and be like, this.

[Michael Gock]

Is what we did today? No, it's too much work.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

And too expensive.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, what happened?

[Andrew Walsh]

Have a good show, dummies.

[Mariah Spicer]

What you do is so important.

[Michael Gock]

Well, all right, Aly. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Thursday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[John Sklaroff]

We're getting medium play on three independent.

[Andrew Walsh]

Radio stations in Central Europe.

[Michael Gock]

My name is Luke Burbank. I am your host. Guess where you just got into Cool Guy Zone. Coming to you once again from beautiful downtown Friendship, Wisconsin, where we have arrived at day four, day four of the TBT Elephon. Thank you for being a 10. That's right. We're here in friendship, talking about friendship and I have to say, experiencing it on an almost molecular level. We have made so many friends here in Friendship, Wisconsin, including our appearance this morning on Wisconsin 106, Central Wisconsin's leading music station, talking to our new friend Bob in the morning there. It's just been an absolutely wonderful time so far. And also we've been raising some money for TBTL to boot. This is the one time out of the year where we get together to remind you that this thing is 100% listener supported. Can only happen because of the support and generosity of the tens of listeners. And thank you to everybody who's been doing that so far and to those of you who will be taking part in that activity as the week goes on. This is episode 4517 in a collector series.

[Luke Burbank]

Let the fun begin.

[Michael Gock]

Another thing that we like to try to do on this special week is take your phone calls. 206414 tbtl 206414, 8285 Ahoy. Ahoy. We're also going to learn a little bit of the history of Adams county and this place. Talking to our friend Michael, the president here of the Adams County Historical Society which is where we've been broadcasting from specifically all week.

[Andrew Walsh]

The past is history. The future is a mystery.

[Michael Gock]

Also it's a Thursday, AKA a blursday. And just because we're in special programming this week does not mean that we would forget about our friends and listeners who are having a birthday this week. It's my birthday today, so we'll celebrate that with all of you and we'll celebrate this guy, longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ship. This guy is a four and a half foot tall pile of awesomeness. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning my friend.

[Luke Burbank]

Good morning Luke. I'm glad to be here again with you. I know I've been acting like a freak all morning. I apologize for that. I'm just really disappointed comboulated today and so I want to, I'm doing this on purpose. I'm level setting the listeners expectations for my performance today.

[Michael Gock]

Well, I don't want to get too specific.

[Luke Burbank]

You can get specific.

[Michael Gock]

But Andrew could not locate two files at about, I don't know, you know, we're, we're starting the broadcast at 12:00pm Central Time here in Wisconsin. And at about 11:49, Andrew could not locate a couple of audio files very.

[Luke Burbank]

I just want to say very important audio files that I will need later on. They're not even for today but there are very important audio files that I'm going to need in a few weeks. And I was kind of freaking out about it.

[Michael Gock]

And I believe that you did have backup recordings. You had those files on a device. But what I think was troubling for you was the question of like are my systems working? Is there a problem with my systems? Because as the listeners know you are very, very careful sort of data management person. You love your files, your organization and if you can't find a couple of files that should be Right where you left them. It calls the entire system into question.

[Luke Burbank]

That is really true. And also, again, I think we've talked about this a lot yesterday on the show. I'm a belt and suspenders fella. And so whenever we record anything, I'm recording it directly into my computer, but then I record it as a backup onto my little Zoom recorder. And right before the show, even though I don't need these files for today's. Realizing that I didn't have two copies of these very important files that I could not find the ones that were supposed to be living on my computer, I said, we might have to start late today because I'm going to transfer the ones from my backup onto my computer so that I, once again, have two copies.

[Michael Gock]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, I wasn't transferring it so much. Copying it, that's how. And I realized this is not exactly a healthy mind. There's one thing about being, like, careful and cautious, but I was going to be so distracted, right. Thinking there's only one copy of these files. And what if somebody comes in here? I mean, I don't think this would happen in friendship, but what if somebody were to come in here?

[Michael Gock]

Maybe in Adams.

[Luke Burbank]

In the.

[Michael Gock]

Definitely not in friendship.

[Luke Burbank]

No. Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

This is in the Dells, probably.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, my gosh. They abscond in the middle of the recording. Just barge in here and abscond with. Grab your Zoom recorder. Then I don't have any files anymore, so I forced you guys to wait for me a little bit. Sorry. We're up and running a little bit later than usual, listeners. That was because I needed to know that I have two copies of these important files, and I do.

[Michael Gock]

Now, what a heist that would be.

[Luke Burbank]

If somebody just decided to come in here.

[Michael Gock]

Don Cheadle.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. George Clooney. I love this. Somebody unfolds themselves from underneath a little cart that was pushed through the hallway of the hotel.

[Michael Gock]

Snatch your Zoom recorder and make off with our files. You know what, Andrew? You are like. You are like the. You're like the shepherd in the Bible.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh.

[Michael Gock]

And his flock. If one. If one sheep from his flock goes missing, he will search for that sheep until it is back reunited with the flock. Those audio files were a little sheep, and you, as the shepherd, didn't know where they were. And it was of vital importance that you get them back before you could move forward. I also would like to say to the listeners, you're welcome. Oh, it's Thursday. Meaning this is the first time all week that we've gotten into file management. Talk yeah, we've been trying to present.

[Luke Burbank]

For finally getting to it.

[Michael Gock]

No, you're welcome. That we were able to delay it for this long.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, come on.

[Michael Gock]

You're welcome that we have.

[Luke Burbank]

You want to hear about my system?

[Michael Gock]

We have been bursting with so much content here in Friendship, Wisconsin, that we have not had time to get bogged down in such things as file management.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't like the terminology. It bogged down.

[Michael Gock]

You're right.

[Luke Burbank]

That's bogged down. We're just gliding. We're gliding through the conversation of filemana. Do you want to hear about my tree, my folder tree, and where I save things and what the system is?

[Michael Gock]

Right after I introduce the third amigo in this whole thing, our friend and TBTL employee numero uno, John Sklaroff, who is right over there with the headphones.

[Luke Burbank]

On, just looking good.

[Michael Gock]

Absolutely. You got to hear the sound check today and everything. How are you feeling, my friend?

[John Sklaroff]

Actually, terrible, because in this moment, I just had an awful realization because I was boasting to you, Luke, this morning how I like to model myself after Andrew with my file magic. And I found a photo of you and your mom that was adorable that I was gonna include in the email that went out from you and your mom this morning for fundraising. And it's just. Just in this moment, talking about the file management and how I boasted about.

[Michael Gock]

You forgot to put it in there.

[John Sklaroff]

I to put the photo. I'm gonna share it.

[Michael Gock]

Listen, everyone, if you got the email today, the tbtl, A thon email from me and my actual mother, Susie B. Who wrote this, delete it immediately.

[John Sklaroff]

No, don't delete it.

[Michael Gock]

We're going to send out.

[John Sklaroff]

No, no, I'll just post it like social media.

[Michael Gock]

Open it immediately. But as you read it and as your heart is warmed because of the love between me and my mother, it.

[Luke Burbank]

Is a very, very sweet dose that makes 100% and I really appreciate it.

[Michael Gock]

Imagine. And if you're thinking, gosh, I should donate to this show, Luke's mom donates, I should donate, just know that whatever amount you're going to do, kick it up by $5, imagining there was a cute photo in the email, because that's what that was. That was going to tug on the heartstrings and the purse strings.

[John Sklaroff]

I really blew it. I'm sorry. This whole fundraiser could put.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, you know, you see what happened here? John started his story by saying he looks. I mean, I don't know if you put it this way, but what I heard is you look up to Me in a lot of ways in my final management.

[Michael Gock]

The fact that the mosquitoes don't bite you. Yeah, that's right. Honestly, we're all envious of that jealousy. And so when I call poison.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

And even the mosquitoes sense it.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, mosquitoes don't like Jim Bean.

[Luke Burbank]

That is true. Actually, let's. Yeah, let's get off this file management topic. But I'm sorry that as your role model, John, I'm sorry that I faltered, which then led you to fault.

[Michael Gock]

Listen, here's the thing. We had. We had a hectic morning. Okay. In fairness, it started at about, you know, 8:00am or so as we were sort of collecting up in the common area at our Airbnb, starting to sort of, you know, figure out, you know, what the morning was going to look like. We knew we were going to be featured on Wisconsin 106 and our new best friend, Bob in the Morning. But there was a little bit of confusion on our part about if we needed to be at the radio station at 8:30 or at 9. This was all around the question of like, were we going to go on air and try to answer the question to ponder, or were you gonna show up after it had been answered? It was a bit unclear. So we had decided as a group that it was probably nine, that was the time we were going to show up. And at about, I'd say, 8:15, of course. We're listening to Wisconsin 106. Bob says the guys from TBT are going to be here at 8:30.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, can I.

[Michael Gock]

Actually now our Airbnb is about 20 minutes away from the radio station.

[Luke Burbank]

Sorry to back up a little bit.

[Michael Gock]

Here, but also more file management.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. One of the reasons I'm discombobulated today, just generally speaking, is because I stayed up way too late last night and I drank way too many of those beers. What are those beers that you bought me, John?

[John Sklaroff]

They're New Glarus.

[Luke Burbank]

Is the brewery New Glarus?

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, it's my favorite beer. It's. They brew and only distribute in the state of Wisconsin.

[Luke Burbank]

It's really good. Whatever. And I got the. Whatever. The light was totally naked. Oh, totally naked, it's called. Anyway, it was. I had. Wait, I'm not gonna lie. And again, maybe I'm just level setting again. But I stayed up. You guys went to bed at some.

[Michael Gock]

Time A little before midnight was when we went down.

[Luke Burbank]

See, I didn't realize it was that early. And then I know I stayed up at least an hour and a half after that because at some Point. I decided to re listen to yesterday's entire episode of tbtl. So I.

[Michael Gock]

A little quality control.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. And we had to get up a little bit earlier than usual to be on the radio today. But I'm staying up later and later, apparently during this adventure. And so last night, I'm guessing you could check, I guess probably around 1am or something. I texted both of you guys secure that it wouldn't wake you. I think most people are okay getting texts at night because I'm re listening to the. To the show yesterday and I'm like, oh, Bob said to get there between 8:30 and 9. We went to bed. Or you guys went to bed thinking we got to get up early so that we're there like 8:15 or 8:30. Then I'm relistening to the show where he invited us on, and I'm like, oh, okay. Oh, we have a little bit of extra time. Maybe that was the drunk brain telling me I could get a little extra sleep. Right. I'm like, oh, 8:39. We can just leave the house at 8:30. So I texted you guys that. And I assume you woke up to that new plan.

[Michael Gock]

Yes, I did. And I was down for that plan until we heard Bob promoting us on his morning show in 15 minutes when we were gonna need to hit a wormhole on the way there to somehow get there at the exact appointed time. So we jumped in the rental car, we raced there. John Sklaroff, who's been sort of the team driver on this trip.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, appreciate it.

[Michael Gock]

Very, very efficient. I saw you when we. As we were pulling into Adams on Main Street, I saw there's two lanes. There was a car that was ahead of us. You got in the right lane. Like, listen, we cannot be slowed down.

[Luke Burbank]

By people that are on it.

[Michael Gock]

I passed from the right Thursday morning drive. No, Jon was like on the case. And then we got there like the Duke boys. We rolled up right as I forget the exact song that was playing. But anyway, there was. Oh, it was Stevie Ray Vaughan.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, you were really into that.

[Michael Gock]

Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

[Luke Burbank]

Boy, again. We have been friends and co workers for a long time now, and you still surprise me.

[Michael Gock]

That's what you said. The show's so interesting.

[Luke Burbank]

This is my favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan song. I'm like, I couldn't name one.

[Michael Gock]

So we, we. We roll up as the final notes of Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan are playing. And then we walk up to the radio station, enter through the front door that is unlocked and walk into the studio and just sit down with our pal Bob and then we're off to the races. Being featured on actual live over the air terrestrial radio morning show. Which was so fun, so cool. Were either of you. You did. Neither of you seemed at all nervous, which kind of makes sense. But also I would have been unsurprised really for any of us. Because it's not every day that we're sitting in a regular radio studio like that. I didn't. I didn't think that we came off as actually as nervous as we might have.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I was a rolling.08.

[Michael Gock]

That helped.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know if that was.

[Michael Gock]

That probably took the edge off for you. You were still in a little bit.

[Luke Burbank]

I was. My brain was so foggy. I was actually really kind of disappointed in myself. I had a really nice night last night. Honestly, what I did while I was drinking. I almost said while I was drinking totally naked. What are these beers again?

[John Sklaroff]

The brewery is New Glarus is a. Totally naked is the name of the beer.

[Luke Burbank]

But if I say I'm drinking totally naked, that has a different kind of shape.

[Michael Gock]

Just say New Glarus.

[John Sklaroff]

You could say I'm drinking totally naked while Totally naked.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, okay. That's what I was doing. No, but I had a really compliment.

[Michael Gock]

You guys know you get totally naked because you are totally naked. Anyway, keep going.

[Luke Burbank]

I love hanging out with you guys, but I also love my Andy times. Right. So after you guys go to bed, I went outside. For some reason, mosquitoes weren't biting me. I sat down in a chaise lounge. I watched the lake just like do its lake things.

[Michael Gock]

Can I just mention that, like you're doing the only rational thing really that anybody could do if they had the magical ability as you have to not get bitten by the mosquitoes. Yeah, because we. This Airbnb is. Well, I'll be honest, it's a little funky. I figured out that I am definitely in the kids room. Why? Because there is a baby monitor in there.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, good.

[Michael Gock]

And a Spider man poster.

[Luke Burbank]

How would you feel jealous of this spider? How did you not see the Spider man poster?

[Michael Gock]

It was just right there.

[Andrew Walsh]

There.

[Michael Gock]

You know, it's surrounded by things like life just feels better at the lake and other such pillows. But no, like we're in a really cool little spot. It's very, very beautiful. And you know me and I like my staring. There's nothing I would like to do more than to go sit out on the little deck and just stare at this lake. And I can't because the Bugs are so, so kind of pervasive and intense. I could like, slather my entire body down in some, like some kind of a chemical that would make Rachel Carson cry, but I don't really want to do that, so I'm just staying inside. But you somehow are unaffected by these bugs, and so I don't. If I were in your situation, I would also be sitting outside looking at the lake, enjoying it. So you were just doing the normal, reasonable thing.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm definitely enjoying it, but it does. I'm starting to get insulted too, like, well, what's wrong with me? Bugs. But it is strange. I was able to sit out there for about an hour, hour and a half, just sit and sit, stare and listen to my own voice on the podcast yesterday. So it was really good. But yeah, when we went in to bring it back to this radio station and our star appearance on it today, I will say that I was very, very foggy and kind of disappointed in myself for having this really special opportunity and being so foggy. But you said, well, you covered it well.

[John Sklaroff]

You did great budding.

[Michael Gock]

And John, you did a really nice job. Like I thought I was also, I was. Is pleasantly shocked a term. I was pleasantly shocked at how long Bob kept us on.

[Luke Burbank]

Bob, I know, as our friend Phyllis Fletcher said, we swept 3/4 hours with him.

[Michael Gock]

That's right. I figured we'd pop on, he'd say, hey, there's some guys in town with this podcast. And now the Eagles.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, exactly.

[Michael Gock]

We're talking to three guys. One of them brought the rock and roll edge to the Eagles. Speaking of which, here's a song by the Eagles. I thought it'd be a five minute hit if that.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, me too.

[Michael Gock]

And I was really enjoying getting to talk to him and kind of tell TBTL's story. But of course, this is where you, Andrew, are very hard on yourself. And you're saying to yourself, well, I, you know, you don't necessarily love how you came off or something. Which again, is totally not real, not realistic and not reality. Where my brain goes in those situations is some guy who's in his truck somewhere in the area who was looking to tune in to hear some Tom Petty. And now he's hearing me talk about, wait, wait, don't tell me. And I'm like, okay, let's just get off the air now. Let's get back to enough talk. Let's get back to the rock. Let's give these. I'm sort of like, even though we should try to stay on as long as we can to promote our show and to promote the THON and everything. Which, again, Bob was, like, so sweet. Kept saying to folks like, go ahead and, you know, go to tbt.net to support TBTL. I mean, what a mensch. But I was just thinking, like, are we boring the living tweedle out of the listeners of this radio station who just want to hear some music on their way to work?

[Luke Burbank]

And Bob was so sweet. He was like, encouraging people to, like people who don't know who we are, who have no idea and don't want to know who we are.

[Michael Gock]

They want to know less about who we are.

[Luke Burbank]

He's telling people to go to our website and donate to our show just.

[John Sklaroff]

For being a friendship.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. Not even just to get new listeners, but just to help support this TBTL a thon.

[John Sklaroff]

Can I make you guys feel a little better? So I'm looking at this on the YouTube comments and everyone, of course, these are our listeners, but they're saying how great it was, the people that tuned in. And I mentioned this to you guys off air. My wife doesn't listen to tbtl, but I mentioned to her that we were gonna be on the radio show. And immediately afterwards she texted like, you guys did great. And I was surprised she tuned in.

[Michael Gock]

But, like, so this is. Yeah, this is, I guess, kind of informative for you, John. Yeah. In order to get Jess to listen to whatever we're doing, we need to figure out how to get back on terrestrial radio.

[John Sklaroff]

We just need to become mainstays on Bob's show.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I guess. So what. What is the different. What is the. What differentiates that? Is it because she was excited because it is over the air? Is she just like a hardcore broadcast?

[John Sklaroff]

I texted her and was like, hey, we're doing a special thing, you know.

[Michael Gock]

And so it was also really fun. A shout out to all of the tension who jumped on. And also to Bill in. To. Bill's not in Toronto anymore. No, Kingston.

[Luke Burbank]

Kingston. Good call.

[Michael Gock]

Our friend, formerly Bill in Toronto, now Bill in Kingston for throwing the link up on the Facebook page. There were a ton of tens that were streaming it and it was really fun to see that. And I would just say, you know, if you enjoyed that show, if you're enjoying Bob in the Morning, stick with it. Right? Like, that's a. That's a fun listen.

[Luke Burbank]

It really is. Like, I'm a legitimate fan of it. I just, you know, a few things here. First of all, I don't want to skip over the part that you told in the story, Luke I just want to dwell on it for one more second. I don't think ever in my life have I turned on the radio and heard over the broadcast that I'm running late to be at the radio station. Like, that was a hell of a feeling. And I did not realize how much love Bob was going to be giving us on the air. Before we even got there, he was hearing us, him promote our segment. I thought, like you. I thought we would just sort of sneak in and say a quick little hello and then he would, like you say, play that mud crutch. But no, he was like, seemed really psyched. And so, like, we're driving and of course, we entered the contest again. The. The.

[Michael Gock]

I think you had the best answer, Andrew.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right. So what was the question again?

[Michael Gock]

The question was 37% of people say they will not return to a restaurant because of this.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right. And a lot of the answers were, you know, well, there's a hair in your food or bad coffee or dirty. Bad.

[Michael Gock]

I said, I think. I actually think I answered it correctly. I think I said, no paper towels.

[Luke Burbank]

But you didn't submit it.

[Michael Gock]

I didn't submit it, but I'm just. Actually, this is the. I'm realizing this in the moment. I think I actually guessed the correct answer. Or did I say no toilet paper?

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe you said no. I don't remember.

[Michael Gock]

I just like, shouted it out into the void as we were still at the Airbnb.

[Luke Burbank]

Bob does not check the void. You have to email.

[Michael Gock]

He did say that he doesn't have time to check the void. And also he doesn't want to stare into it because if he does it for too long, it'll stare back.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right.

[Michael Gock]

But. But Andrew, as we're in the car now and we're still listening to the radio station, by the way, there's a kid fully dabbing on Main street in Friendship, Wisconsin, and you absolutely love to see it as we're in. Now we're in the rental car and we're racing to the radio station, and we're listening to the radio station on the real radio in the rental car, which also just like, for some reason it makes me giddy. And then Bob is reading the wrong answers and he says, and from Andrew, people don't go back to the restaurant because they don't play Wisconsin 106.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, you like that.

[Michael Gock]

And I didn't know. I didn't know that.

[Luke Burbank]

Totally pandering. But I don't care.

[Michael Gock]

I was like, that's a And I stopped like you were talking.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I did. I talked over my own shout out.

[Michael Gock]

And I said, that was a funny answer. And you said, what was it? And I told you. You're like, oh, that was me.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that was me. That was me. And so I did. I did not win. So again, three time loser here joining you today. But a winner got tomorrow many ways, I want to say also like, so we're getting out of the car and we're just walking up to the radio station as we've described. I mean, one of the things that is so charming about this radio station, aside from its own independence, which is really cool, is that it sits right on Main street in Adams with the studio is right in the front room with a big glass window so that Bob or the other DJs can stare out onto Main Street. And I thought, I don't know if you guys saw this, but there was just a woman, we don't know her, looking like maybe she was walking to work or something. And as she walks by, you can hear the radio too. And Bob is talking and she walks by and gets a big smile and waves through the window. And I just had this moment. I don't know if it's accurate or not, but I'm like, this woman probably walks this way every morning and waves at Bob. And I'm just like, that is the life. That is the radio life, the dream.

[Michael Gock]

Absolutely. So anyway, thanks to Bob over at Wisconsin106 and to the listeners of that station who tolerated us and to the tens who really showed up and showed out and we're emailing him about mugs wanting to get Wisconsin 106 mugs. Speaking of the TBTL listeners showing up and showing out, remember when we had a really fun zoom with them last night?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, we did.

[Michael Gock]

It feels like a lifetime ago. It feels like many a new Glarus ago.

[Luke Burbank]

I was gonna say it feels like.

[Michael Gock]

A 12 pack ago, but it was absolutely such a fun night and such a fun chance to get to talk to people and see cool stuff. That's music adjacent. So it was American tens got music stuff.

[Luke Burbank]

America's tens got music stuff.

[Michael Gock]

And it was folks, you know, because this is the thon theme years banding together, you know, we feel like we got to really look out for each other and stick together during these incredibly fractious and scary times. The thank you gifts are all kind of music related or music adjacent. And so the zoom was folks just showing us either maybe a concert T shirt or tickets that they. There was one Listener who had like this really elaborate kind of scrapbook of all the concerts that she had been to. We got to see what Andrew's mixtape work looked like when he was in like college, which by the way, like honestly, high level, A plus, A plus. Incredible. Andrew made a mixtape for his friend Jessica that was like the, the COVID of it was like a crossword puzzle kind of thing in the, in the cassette.

[Luke Burbank]

I think I cut a crossword puzzle out of a magazine and then made that the COVID of the tape. And I think I wrote the name of. I don't know what it was called, but I wrote the name of the tape in the crossword.

[John Sklaroff]

Just so creative and cool.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you.

[Michael Gock]

Absolutely. And like just getting to, you know, again, interact with folks who are probably not going to be making it out to the, you know, kind of get together we're having tomorrow afternoon down there at, at the lake. So it was just fun to get to check in with folks and thank you to everybody who participated and it was fun to get to see our friend Simeon in Indianapolis. In Indianapolis. With banjo that his grandfather never played. It was his grandfather's banjo that his grandfather was terrible at playing. Which was one of my favorite stories I've heard in the longest time. So anyway, thanks to everybody who, who were part of that last night. There was something, Andrew, that you were inadvertently a part of or unknowingly a part of yesterday, A little experiment that I've been running.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, okay.

[Michael Gock]

About to the question of am I Wisconsin old? I think of myself as Washington middle age. But of course, when we were at the grocery store our first night here, the, the checker, the kid that was checking out me and my groceries, he asked if I wanted the senior discount, which kind of took my breath away. And so I was wondering if maybe there's something about me here in the state of Wisconsin where I appear older or maybe it's just because I am older. So yesterday we were at the cafe a family affair which is just like one door over. It's where we've been eating multiple meals. Shout out to Jackie over there.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right, Jackie.

[Michael Gock]

No fan of pioneer days.

[Luke Burbank]

Sounds somewhat arduous.

[Michael Gock]

Jackie's teacher. Okay, if you've been following along this week, it gets a little complicated but, but stay with us. Remember that we had Harriet from the newspaper here on I think it was Tuesday maybe. Yes, Harriet was of course before she was a high flying journalist was a teacher in a two room schoolhouse. And then later in like they upgraded to a three room schoolhouse and said that she had taught a lot of the kids in the town. And so when we were having our lunch and our server was this awesome person named Jackie, one of you asked Jackie if she had Harriet as a teacher, and she sure did.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

It was amazing.

[Luke Burbank]

And then she started saying how. And I was a little confused as to how that kind of became a story about.

[Michael Gock]

I wonder if it was Harriet's idea to do this Pioneer Days thing.

[Luke Burbank]

Pioneer Days. And I guess, like, the kids had to, like, make their own clothes that were, like, you know, they did not.

[Michael Gock]

Have to make their own clothes.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. She said that the girls had to sew their own. Their own skirts. Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

And they were limited what they could eat because that'd be, like, only stuff available.

[Luke Burbank]

And they had to carry their lunches in. Literally. A bucket with a string. Yeah, definitely that way, for two days, they did this. These kids lived that way.

[Michael Gock]

That sounds awesome. I would pay extra for that if I saw it advertised on Instagram. You could absolutely see me telling you one day on the show that my new thing is I'm living like a Pioneer.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

2026.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm on the Pioneer diet.

[Michael Gock]

So Jackie was no fan of Pioneer Days. I think she was a fan of Harriet's. But anyway, one of our other visits to the restaurant, we were ordering breakfast yesterday, you and I, Andrew, and the server came over and she asked you what you wanted, and you ordered it. And then she turned to me and said, what would you like? And I said, I'll do the Senior Discount or I'll do the Senior Special.

[Luke Burbank]

And she just started writing it.

[Michael Gock]

She started writing down the Senior Special. I said, I'll have the Senior Special. And what I expected her to do was faint, was drop her little pad.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, darling. Call you darling.

[Michael Gock]

Maybe right before she fainted.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Right.

[Michael Gock]

Because of the pure shock of a obviously virile, vigorous, and vital man such as myself. Even joking about getting the Senior Special.

[Luke Burbank]

I will say this, and this is not. This isn't a critique. It's just a note. You didn't let it sit too long. Well, I guess you didn't want to, like, mislead her for.

[Michael Gock]

I didn't want her. I didn't want to waste too much of her time.

[Luke Burbank]

But you just saw that she didn't even. She didn't bland. She didn't.

[Michael Gock]

Just started writing down that.

[Luke Burbank]

You said, no, no, no, I'm just joking.

[Michael Gock]

I didn't say I was joking.

[Luke Burbank]

You just said, no, no, actually, I'll have the eggs.

[Michael Gock]

I pretended to change my mind.

[John Sklaroff]

Can I ask because I opted out of this meal so I missed this whole experience.

[Michael Gock]

Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

Did she later reference anything about it was just like there and gone?

[Michael Gock]

She would have. Here's what I gathered from this. She would have absolutely without a doubt brought me the Senior special and. And would not have batted an eye.

[John Sklaroff]

What if you asked for a kid's special? Like a kids?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that wouldn't work.

[Michael Gock]

I think that would have probably caused her to faint.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. What was.

[Michael Gock]

Just as she's getting up from her initial fainting now, she refains what was.

[Luke Burbank]

On the senior special. Why? Did you want it?

[Michael Gock]

No, it was like it was, you know, a pile of bacon and sausage.

[John Sklaroff]

Sign me up.

[Michael Gock]

You know what I mean? It's a bunch of stuff I generally don't eat. So I didn't want the Senior special, but I wanted to see what the reaction would be. And the reaction was absolutely, sir.

[Luke Burbank]

You know, I'm looking at the menu online here now and it says that the senior special is for seniors in high school, actually. So actually maybe you should be taking this as a compliment.

[Michael Gock]

Rock and roll.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

How do you do, fellow?

[Luke Burbank]

You. Exactly.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. I would like to mention I did have the skateboard with me and the backwards hat and the shirt that said music. Rock, A rock band.

[Luke Burbank]

I love the idea of somebody trying to sound young and saying rock and roll.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah, absolutely. No, but like, I don't know is. I mean, maybe it would be easier than I would have thought to just start to sort of like identify as a person who's Maybe north of 65 now. Maybe if I was going through this, you know, the town that I live in and asking for the senior special at the diner, they also would just give it to me without batting an eye. Maybe they don't really care if they give you the senior Special, but I just, I wanted her to laugh or be shocked and she was neither.

[Luke Burbank]

But that's okay. There's nothing wrong with being a senior either, though. Of course.

[Michael Gock]

There is absolutely nothing wrong. I'm just a little bit, you know, I'm a decade. I'm a decade shy of that sort of stuff. And it is, you know, for me, an adjustment process to a realize that I am getting relatively close to that and that people are trying to see me that way.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

Because like you mentioned earlier, the recurrence of this now being a thing happening here in friendship, it's not like if that was the one thing, it didn't.

[Michael Gock]

Ever happen to me outside the state of Wisconsin.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were fishing for this one so are you going to continue this? Are you going to kind of just seeing if anybody blanches when you mention senior specials and whatnot?

[Michael Gock]

Yes, I'm with.

[Luke Burbank]

Could you get me the senior special? Obviously, I couldn't order it for myself because they would faint. But it sounds good, and it sounds like stuff I would eat, so maybe next time I could get, like, you can order it and we'll swap.

[Michael Gock]

Are you saying you would have liked it more than the marinara omelette that you got?

[Luke Burbank]

That. I don't want to besmirch any business around here, but I will say that you wouldn't dare.

[Michael Gock]

That's not where we came here.

[Luke Burbank]

An Italian sausage omelette. And I think that I thought it was. I thought the sausage inside was going to be Italian sausage, but I guess it was an Italian omelet with sausage. And so it had, I guess, marinara sauce covering it, which isn't usually how I would usually eat my eggs. And so that was a surprise. I did kind of scrape most of it off.

[Michael Gock]

We need to get eyes. I'm Googling Italian sausage omelette to see if the kind of default setting is for it to have a sauce on it. And I'm seeing it in a few places.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah.

[Michael Gock]

I'm seeing. It may just be a thing that comes kind of sauced.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

Exact saying that it wasn't on that. You didn't remember noting that on the menu.

[Luke Burbank]

I feel like I would have sauce that. But I don't know. We got a lot going on. I'm not. I'm not sure. Maybe it said. I. I do feel like. I think I said this to him. Like, if you're gonna put marinara sauce on an omelet, you need to kind of put that in the description on the menu. So that's why I feel like I must have just. My brain must have just not registered it or something. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Michael Gock]

Absolutely.

[Luke Burbank]

And it was a good omelette. I just didn't want the marinara sauce.

[Michael Gock]

It is also a restaurant. I think this might have been referenced on the Zoom last night where they tried to sell. They tried to upsell John to some moonshine yesterday at about what was the hour of the day?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I don't know. They just knew I had that look about me.

[Michael Gock]

Yes. They were like, this is.

[John Sklaroff]

After this meal there.

[Michael Gock]

This guy is getting dangerously low on new glarus.

[Luke Burbank]

The mosquitoes are starting to bite him.

[Michael Gock]

Exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

He needs more poison in his pores up there. Yeah, exactly. Have you had the Italian omelette, Michael?

[Michael Gock]

Hold on. I've got a sound effect I've got to activate first here. We've got a top story coming in hot here. And not just hello and welcome to top story. Not just a top story, but this is friendship in the news.

[Luke Burbank]

News, news, news.

[Michael Gock]

How did I make the. The worst audio drop? Somehow even worse.

[Luke Burbank]

By not just computer, just kind of.

[Michael Gock]

No, I had the volume down on our friendship in the news sound effect.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Michael Gock]

This gets almost like the Darth Vader is going to come try to. Darth Vader's about to strangle somebody from 30 paces.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Michael Gock]

All week we've been talking about friendship in the news, whether it's the. The town of friendship or people who are in friendships. And we're very excited to talk to one of our new friends here at TBTL land, Michael Gock, who is the president here of the Adams County Historical Society. Also a journalist, an author, and to me, most interestingly, log cabin builder. A log cabin that you are still living in with your wife?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

How long ago did you build it?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, we, it's. We're still working on it.

[Michael Gock]

But after how many years?

[Andrew Walsh]

You started in 1971.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Michael Gock]

And you were a back to the lander.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, back in the day. Yes, yes. Before we get into, into my story though, I wanted to point out to Andrew.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, please.

[Andrew Walsh]

That here he is in Wisconsin.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

And why he didn't order a brat omelette.

[Luke Burbank]

Do they have it there? Do you eat at the Family Affair?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. I'll bet they do.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, look, I'll tell you what. I love brats.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is, you know, that's our state sausage and you're ordering an Italian.

[Luke Burbank]

So to answer my question, you have not had the Italian omelette.

[Andrew Walsh]

I should have gone to Chicago.

[Michael Gock]

Well, listen, fair enough, Michael, because I know you're relatively new to listening, I have to fill you in on some of Andrew's biographical details. Yes, he consumes more sausage per week than just about anybody, you know, anybody in North America. It's a big part of his personality. So the irony that we've come here to the land of the brat and he's not eating the brats is actually pretty, pretty rich.

[Luke Burbank]

There's more shame. This is a true story, Michael. I recently was prescribed an at home heart monitor from my doctor. And that is directly related, I'm sure, to the sausage that I ate.

[Michael Gock]

Yes, he's from Ohio. His chuchas were from the old country. There was a lot of. A lot of Sausage eating. A lot of Polish sausage consumption going on in his childhood and he's carried that over into adulthood.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's another thing, of course, because we do have a relatively new Polish community here in Adams County. And if you drive up the road from where you're staying, there is a Polish restaurant in Delhi.

[Michael Gock]

We were on the phone with them the other day.

[Andrew Walsh]

Polish sausage.

[Luke Burbank]

I know. That actually sounds good. What do you guys think? Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Gock]

Maybe tonight we get some pierogis there at the. At the lodge.

[Luke Burbank]

Great.

[Andrew Walsh]

Kielbasa and kapuska is what you should ask.

[Michael Gock]

So. So, Michael, you're originally from Illinois?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I am.

[Michael Gock]

You came out here, you said you.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm not familiar. I'm from the south side of Chicago.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because there's a lot of people from Illinois here, but they're not the same.

[Michael Gock]

I see. I appreciate this. I'm with you. Like, you know, I'm from Seattle and people will say if I'm out in the world, they'll be like, I'm from Seattle. I'll go, oh, wow, where? And then they'll name a place that's pretty far away from Seattle. Now listen, I don't begrudge them that because if you are from Andrew, when the first time Andrew ever heard his father lie.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, because we were in a tiny little town called Valley City, Ohio, which was like an hour outside of Cleveland. But I was a little kid and we're on vacation somewhere, I think Florida. And I heard my dad was like meeting some other fella his age and the guy said, where are you from? And my dad's like, Cleveland. And I later on, I Seriously, I. Because my lying was a verboten in my house. And I remember kind of having a concerned conversation with my dad later. I'm like, dad, why did you lie to him? We're from Valley City. And he had explained to me this exact concept that people don't. What Valley City is. You say Cleveland.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, no, that's true.

[Michael Gock]

But you're not. You're. You're. You want it to be known that you are south side Chicago. So then it seems like to come all the way out here to like Adams county and then build a log cabin with no power. And, and, and like, kind of. That seems like an extreme shift in lifestyle for you and your wife.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, actually I did it alone to begin with.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, and so you actually convinced someone to marry you how?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

Without. Without electricity?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

Well, I mean, that's impressive.

[Andrew Walsh]

I convinced her to come to a two room log cabin without electricity. Without running water that, well, it would run if she could pump and. And would heat. And she said, oh, yeah, why not? This was a young woman who was thinking about going to med school and because she was working in a hospital in Chicago. And it was just my appeal.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

She's listening. I hope was overwhelming.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. Well, we've been experiencing it this week because you have been our connection to the Historical Society. You and I were emailing initially about this, and you took this idea before the board of the Historical Society. And I'm going to be honest with you, we were turned down by my little league that I used to play in as a kid to sponsor a team because they listened to the show.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh.

[Michael Gock]

So we were slightly sweating that maybe that you. If you were going to play it the show for the board, you might grab the wrong episode and they might turn us down, too. So we are very appreciative.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I didn't. Oh, I didn't do that.

[Michael Gock]

Smart. You didn't play. How did you describe it to the board?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I said it's. It's. It's a podcast. And, you know, most of us are of that generation where, you know, podcast. We don't. We don't pay too much attention to them. So I explain what that is.

[Michael Gock]

First of all, it's like a radio show no one listens to.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there you go.

[Luke Burbank]

It's like a radio show you can skip.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I said the premises of the show is based on the friendship between two guys, and they travel around the country talking about, you know, wherever, whatever they want to talk about, obviously.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Clearly it's not necessarily tied to the place you're in. And. And I said they wanted. Since friendship was important to the show, they wanted to do a show in Friendship. And they looked up places named Friendship around the country and ended up here because this is Friendship, Wisconsin. We're the friendliest friendship. And that did. That was all I needed. They said, all right, we'll welcome these guys.

[Michael Gock]

Great sales pitch. Thank you. I mean, really and truly, thank you for advocating for us. And we really have hit upon, you know, not that it has to be a competition, but. But what has to be the best of the four places in America that are named Friendship. Our show, I feel, is even though we're from the west coast, we're sort of culturally Midwest, we've got. One of our, you know, co founders is in St Paul. We've got a lot of listeners in the Twin Cities. We got a lot of listeners in Wisconsin. It's Just a folksy kind of thing that we do. So when we were looking at the different places that have a friendship, we thought, the Wisconsin one is going to be probably good. And, boy, has it ever delivered. I mean, what an amazing town and an amazing bunch of people. Can we start with asking who named this place Friendship? How did this place get started?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's named by people who came from Friendship, New York.

[Michael Gock]

And so they were totally out of ideas.

[Luke Burbank]

That was it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Well, that wasn't unusual as Americans came west. I mean, we also have a Rome town in the north, and we have a Preston in the east and a big flats that's also named after towns in western New York. I don't know. It seemed in the 1850s, nobody wanted to live in New York. They got on. They got on the Missouri Canal, the Great Lakes.

[Michael Gock]

We've got a New Yorker over there.

[Andrew Walsh]

And here they were. Well, he doesn't live there anymore either.

[Luke Burbank]

Touche.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

So anyway, they got on the boats and landed in Milwaukee and got in an ox cart and. And settled on new land. That's what they wanted to do.

[Michael Gock]

What were they coming out here for? They wanted cheaper land. They wanted more freedom. What were they seeking?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, they were seeking, first of all, inexpensive land. The land had just been taken away from the Menominee in 1848.

[Michael Gock]

It's inexpensive because it's stolen from some head.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. And you could buy it. You could buy land from the federal government in those days for a dollar and a quarter an acre. So 100 bucks would buy you 80 acres, which is a good sized farm for those days. And that was it, really. And the Homestead act didn't come along until afterwards. So we don't have really much Homestead act land in. In the county. But they came earlier and they bought it. A dollar and a quarter an acre if you could get to the land office in Stevens Point before anybody else did.

[Michael Gock]

Really? You mean just because it was first come, first serve? Basically, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right after the surveyors came through, your land was marked. I sometimes amazed at how they could actually do this because the surveyors were not, you know, they didn't mark every little plot of land. Yeah, but you say, I want that, and you'd go to the land. I'd say, I want that. And one of the things that happened, of course, was those people that they called in those days, they were speculators.

[Michael Gock]

Right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Speculate. You know, one of them for friendship was a guy named Burbank.

[Michael Gock]

Huh? My great uncle.

[Andrew Walsh]

Your cousin. Yeah. Willard.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

He actually came Here. And he bought the water power site.

[Michael Gock]

Ah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because that was good. If you had that water power, you knew a village was going to grow around it. Yeah, that's a common story throughout the United States. But he, he, you know, he built the mill, hired somebody to run the mill and flipped it and moved back to New York.

[Michael Gock]

Well, this is how I know I'm not related to him because nobody in my family has ever been good at business. Well, that would be, that would be a one off.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, well, who knows? We don't know the, you know, what the buy and sell was.

[Michael Gock]

But so, so then you were telling me something yesterday about what they call here the turnaround, which was like, you know, friendship was, was a place where people were moving, like you said, to get affordable land. And to end they couldn't really grow anything because it was all sand. So they had to learn how to grow crops in the sand and stuff. And then you have a part sort of population drain because you have the, the Industrial Revolution. All the jobs are in the cities and factories and stuff. But then Social Security comes along.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's a number of things that happen after World War II that America becomes suburbia. And so what we have become is just an extended suburbia. People bought first of all, second homes right after you talk about Social Security. They, that really was the first generation that was eligible for Social Security. This is the World War I generation. People born around 1900, 1910. Well, they could now retire comfortably. Oh, and they also had Medicare.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, what a novel idea.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And so many, many, many people came here, built small houses that were weekend places, then turned them into year round residences when they retired.

[Michael Gock]

So the population exploded.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exploded? Well, in, in 1960 there was about 7,000 people in Adams county and now we're up to 21,000.

[Michael Gock]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's a lot of years have passed since then, but those are full time residents. But on summer weekends like today, you know, starting tomorrow, the population will double at least.

[Michael Gock]

Now I have a question that you might be the perfect person to answer. Each day at 12, as we have just been about to turn our microphones on and start the show, some crazy whistle blows from across the street.

[Andrew Walsh]

Siren.

[Michael Gock]

What is the purpose of that?

[Andrew Walsh]

To test the siren in case we have a tornado? In case every day, yes.

[Michael Gock]

They Lew it at 1201 today. Whoever's in charge of it was slacking.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

What happens if a tornado comes at 1201? Everybody will, just.

[Andrew Walsh]

Everybody will. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Actually you're in the wrong place. For years I had A. I had an office building, little house about a block away from here. So I was in more in the residential area. And every day at 12 o' clock when the, when the siren went off, all the dogs barked. Oh, you can't, you can't hear them here.

[Michael Gock]

But if you run that every day.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, we are ready. We are prepared.

[Luke Burbank]

I love it.

[Michael Gock]

Is this, are we in tornado country? Have tornadoes ever moved through here?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not, not as, not as much say as Iowa or Illinois, but yeah, that's possible. We have big winds, knock down the trees.

[Michael Gock]

So you've written books about Adams county, which is the county we're in. You had a business where you were sort of historian for hire. What is, is there anything that's particular note about this place? I mean, you know, everyone in America's got a story, but you've become very, very focused on the history of this area. What about it is interesting to you?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's for me when I came here I was just looking as a place to actually I wanted to leave where I was and this was the middle, this was the middle of nowhere. And actually really in those days it really was the middle of nowhere. I mean there was, I. There was. I lived on a sand road in those days and so. But the things have improved and gotten crowded. We have neighbors.

[Michael Gock]

It used to just be you and the mosquitoes and.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And then Barbara came along. That she was a comfort.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah, I bet, I bet.

[Luke Burbank]

Did you stay when you were, when you were building your house, where did you stay?

[Andrew Walsh]

I had a big old old fashioned canvas tent.

[Michael Gock]

Really? Yeah, the kind that we had that as a family growing up. And if it was raining and you touched the inside of it, the water would come through.

[Luke Burbank]

That's what I remember being a kid there. They always warned you about don't touch.

[Michael Gock]

The inside of the tent.

[Luke Burbank]

So it's a real thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, it's a real thing. I learned not to do that very quick. Quickly.

[Michael Gock]

Really?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it was big enough for one, you know, one guy. What the heck, it was 10 by 12 or something.

[Michael Gock]

That's in the Wisconsin winter and summer.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I stayed in. See, that's how I ended up meeting my wife. Because after Thanksgiving I would then go back to Chicago because I needed a job, I needed some money.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so, and so I had a job down there for till spring. And on one of those times I happened to meet Barbara and, and regaled her with how wonderful life would be living by then I was out of the tent. It actually was the first year I was out of the tent, I'd actually finished the house so that. And there she was. I could take her up and show her this cabin.

[Michael Gock]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

So. So you. You came here because you kind of wanted to get away from city life and all that stuff.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was reliving Henry Thoreau.

[Michael Gock]

Yes. But then at some point you became very fascinated with the area and with sort of like, you know, preserving the history of this place. And I'm just curious, like, what is it about this place that is special to you or interesting or of note for our listeners who, you know, may never come through Adams County?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the thing about it is, first of all, there is the landscape which I fell in love with. You know, we're pretty flat and it is the sand and the wetlands and the. Some people call it scrubby woods, but I love Jack Pine forest. It is that. And then when you come here, like you ask me, well, why did you come here? I find myself in looking at the history of the place, always asking, well, why did they come here? And going back to the. To the 1850s. And then you come a little later where you have immigrants from more From Eastern Europe.

[Michael Gock]

Europe. The Bohemians.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, the Bohemians in particular, but Poles as well.

[Michael Gock]

I have to say Germans. My most recent ex wife and I have to be specific because there are multiple. Was bohemian by extraction. And I thought that she was making that up. I didn't know that was a thing until I was upstairs here at the museum.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

And there's like a traditional garb of somebody who was bohemian who was here. I literally thought that she had just misheard something.

[Luke Burbank]

Did you think it was more of a like, for real, like a lifestyle?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, it's the Czech Republic now, but it was the Kingdom of Bohemia in those days.

[Michael Gock]

So those were some of the early folks here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, later on and they settle again on this poor land. And sometimes it's a sad story that they tried to make a go of it and couldn't and had to leave. And by. Actually by the 1920s, so much of the land was abandoned that it fell to. Are the. The largest landowners in the. In the county up until fairly recently were the paper companies because they would. They grew trees on it and then turned the trees into paper. Then the paper Wisconsin paper industry really went bust. So that's no longer the case. But that's that story in many ways repeatedly of people living on infertile ground. And however some of them stay, many of them stay and it's their story is how they made a living here, what they did, the specialty crops that they had to grow, the community that they established involving all those one room country schools, the churches, the community organizations like the Western Bohemian Federation. The Bohemian hall is still standing down on the, it's on the road towards the, towards the high school. And that was a place that was a meeting hall and a dance hall. And up until the 1970s, if you wanted to get married, that was a hall you could use.

[Michael Gock]

Now, you don't strike me as an overly corny or sentimental guy, so I don't know if you're gonna, if this question is even worth asking, but do you feel that it has an impact on a town to name the town Friendship in how the people relate to each other? Like we are feeling it, but also we're just visiting and we're kind of a novelty, I think, think everyone has been so friendly to us. I'm wondering, do you think there's an actual like sort of trickle down effect of living in a place called Friendship?

[Andrew Walsh]

I, I actually, I like to think that. I like to think that. But you have to remember here that, you know, friendship is a very small part of, of our county.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah, you warned me of that.

[Andrew Walsh]

So, you know, and you have the boundaries, you know, the 650 people or so. But of course there are people who live on the edge, just over the property, you know, just over the municipality, simple border. So the community is actually larger. And I do think, yes, that, that it's, it's almost like a reactive thing when someone is nice to someone. Let's say, well, we're in friendship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don't know what they say when they're not nice.

[Michael Gock]

When they go over like Adams.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, then they say, you're from Adams.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah, right, right, right.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

You brought a, some kind of like a. Looks like a. I don't know. Yeah, this looks like something that might be, be like, you know, from a very early civilization. Well, what is this stone that you brought up?

[Andrew Walsh]

We are in historical society and our, you know, mission is to, is to collect and preserve and share the history of our county. And it begins with items like this. This is, this. There's a great story with this about this. Someone brought it in about a year ago. As people do, they bring, bring.

[Michael Gock]

And let me explain for people that are listening to this on the podcast.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a stone tool.

[Michael Gock]

It's a, it's a gray kind of stone tool that almost looks like one of those Easter island heads.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

But very, very Small. You could hold it in one hand.

[Andrew Walsh]

You could. You could. You would have. You would put a handle on it.

[Michael Gock]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tie a handle on it.

[Michael Gock]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And as you can imagine, you had to be. Had some heft to yourself to swing this. Anyway, the story is that there's a fellow owned some acreage down near Rattlesnake Bluff. Down.

[Michael Gock]

That's one of the last places I would move.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, exactly. I'll stay in friendship. Not Rattlesnake.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a great place to hike.

[Michael Gock]

I'm eyeing a place in Black Widow crawling up your pants. Wisconsin.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right. There you go. And so anyway, he had. Well, there's the bluff, but there's also marsh around it.

[Michael Gock]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it was. It was common back in. This would be the 1950s, early 60s. It was still common in those days, if you wanted to clear land, move stumps out or even create a little pond on a wetland, you use dynamite. Oh, that was. That was. Again, wasn't unusual that you could actually. You could go buy dynamite at the local hardware store.

[Michael Gock]

Really?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah. It was just again, because. Particularly in northern Wisconsin, but even here you. If you had stump land, you wanted to clear it. That was one way to do it.

[Michael Gock]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Anyway, there was a man who owned the land down. Down near Rattlesnake Bluff was. Was wanted to dig a dig. Wanted to ignite detonation, a wildlife pond. And so he packed it some dynamite in the ground and went off and this appeared. Now, I don't know, it would have been a half lot of dynamite.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah, maybe too much dynamite, but it just appeared and.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it stayed in the family for years. Probably on the mantle someplace or some shelf back there. And then dad died and the daughter said, well, what's this stuff anymore? We'll give it to the historical society.

[Michael Gock]

What is it?

[Andrew Walsh]

Which is pretty common. So anyway, we took a picture of it and sent it to the. And sent it to state archaeologist who said that, yes, this is a stone tool that is anywhere she couldn't be, she said, without actually seeing it and handling it, she couldn't be more precise. But she said it's somewhere between 9,000 and a thousand years old.

[Michael Gock]

Holy moly. And so this would have been like. Oh, yeah, definitely the Menominee.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, before them, the predecessor. Predecessors of.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

Do you have a sense of it was a tool? Do you have a sense of what it was used for?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I, you know, it's. If it really is as old as.

[Michael Gock]

Is it possible Jesus used it?

[Andrew Walsh]

No. Well, it's older than Jesus.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And he, you know, he wasn't a violent guy.

[Michael Gock]

No, no, it could.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it could have been used as a weapon. Although again, you'd have to. Or it could have been used. I love to tell. I love like to think of this that, you know, back in just after the glaciers here and we're on the glacial divide right here, not far away. You know, mastodons, mammoths roamed these really Territory. Yeah. So I like to think that. That an ancient hunter killed one and this is how they smashed into the bones because, you know, mammoth bones are pretty big, pretty tough.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And this is the sort of thing you would use to crush something, wouldn't you?

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. This is incredible. So maybe 10,000 years old, maybe 9,000 years old.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's what she said.

[Michael Gock]

And maybe maybe older, but I mean, almost as old as tbtl.

[Luke Burbank]

It looks like the kind of thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

That they qualifies for the senior discount.

[Michael Gock]

That's what I the.

[Luke Burbank]

It looks like the type of thing where if like you had a roommate who had like a much better kind of bedroom, bathroom situation in the air.

[Michael Gock]

You were relegated to the lousy part of the.

[Luke Burbank]

And you really wanted that bedroom.

[Michael Gock]

You might sleep with that under your pillow.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

But you have to look at. Look at how this was made with stone tools.

[Michael Gock]

Amazing.

[Andrew Walsh]

And this is hard granite. This is not easy to work. And look at the beautiful job.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. The precision of it, how round it is.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then you had to have again to attach it to anything, you had to have a hefty forked branch and then you tied it with animal sinew. And think of what you had to know the skill to be able to do that so it didn't fall apart the first time you raised it and hit it and dropped on your head. So that's the kind of stuff we have. And we have numerous, numerous art away of articles like this. But you know, we have all this history here in our area and we have stuff. People bring us stuff. It's great.

[Michael Gock]

I like you've spent so much of your life and your time dedicated to documenting this place and to history and thinking about history. This is also seems like kind of a dumb question, but why do you think history matters?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, well, now, good, you'll get that. You'll get the pulpit lecture now we've.

[Michael Gock]

Got some birthdays we've got to celebrate too.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Are we running out of time anyway? Well, first of all, it's small d. Democratic that, that this story, our story is worth telling and collecting and preserving. Everyone's story is you don't have to be a radio personality. You don't have to be like Bob.

[Michael Gock]

In the morning on Wisconsin Western.

[Andrew Walsh]

You don't have to be the breakfast with Bob the start running back back for the Packers. And you could just be an ordinary everyday person who gets through life and whose story is worth remembering.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And what we do as a historical society is, you know, we're here in the present and obviously we're working with materials from the past. Then what we're doing with that is that we're sending a message to the future. We're saying that this is something that we in 2025 value and maybe we hope it'll be around another 10,000 years and someone will say, wow, they saved that. They preserved that. That was valuable.

[Michael Gock]

It says something about us that we have an interest in the past. Like it says something about, interesting about us at this point.

[Andrew Walsh]

We have an interest in the future because really that's why we're doing this. That's why any historian does his or her work. Because. Because you're not really doing it for all the people who are gone. You're doing it well, first of all to educate the people of today. But then tomorrow, it's always the message down, down that matters.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. How do people, if they're coming through this area, how do they visit? How do they get ahold of you all? Like, how do they help support this place?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that is one difficulty that is happening in our community and rural communities in general. We're aging out. We have a problem that we're an all volunteer organization and we need more volunteers. And I just to give you, we have nine people on our board of directors. We're an active group. We have to be six of us for sure, maybe seven are older than 75 years old. So we are looking, you know, someone like you, hey, walks you, we want to throw in someone your age comes through the door. We want to throw a net over, over you and say, and say stay, stay and help us.

[Michael Gock]

Especially you're making me feel young again, which I appreciate. You know, I'm having a tough week especially thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. Things are, you know, actually since technology has changed as, you know, change so much, we would like to be able to use this and we can, you know, we're up to date. We have a video that you didn't watch. We have a 20 minute, we have a 20 minute history video.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And that's a step forward from just reading, from reading a book. And we'd love to have an up to date website and be able to communicate with people and share our message in that way, but we just don't have people.

[Michael Gock]

Well, I will say that having been upstairs and checked out all the stuff up there as well, this place is so fascinating. And I mean, other than the name being friendship, there's no reason why I should be now as weirdly invested in a city in Wisconsin town in Wisconsin than I now am. But if any of our listeners are passing through, definitely look this place up. Also, Michael, we wanted to say thank you to the Society for having us here this week by presenting you all with a little check that is really not from us. It's from our listeners and donors because we don't really have any money that has not been donated to us from them. So. Yeah, so. So we wanted to just say thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Great.

[Michael Gock]

Thank you. We tried to get an oversized check, but they don't make those big ones. Yeah, yeah. And also those are absolute hassle to get into. Put into the atm, so we'll just put. But we just wanted to say thank you so much to you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Great.

[Michael Gock]

Thank you. And to Pat and Jerry and Marilyn and everybody else here who has been, you know, just so nice in hosting us and making us feel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Would I. Is it. Is it g. If I tell how mentioned the.

[Michael Gock]

Why don't we. Why don't we. We'll just, we'll just say it's a lot.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a lot. Actually. It is a lot. We do get. We do get. Get donations this large, but many, many of our donations are smaller than this. So.

[Michael Gock]

Well, we, we. This has been the. This has just been, I mean, really probably the most fun and informative week of doing the TBT a thon that we've gotten to do. And it wouldn't have happened without you all here at the Historical Society and you specifically, Michael, for hooking it all up. So thank you so much.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait a minute now. We're not done yet. I'm not done. You know, I.

[Michael Gock]

Wait a.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, Bob set the bar yesterday through the show.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, no, wait. And what is going on here?

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, I brought plastic bags for you.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, beautiful. I, you know, I always need a new plastic bag. What do you have in these bags?

[Andrew Walsh]

I have first of all, here, it's in an envelope. We have a. A souvenir collection. These are collectors. The collector's edition of postcards scenes from Adams.

[Michael Gock]

Oh my God.

[Andrew Walsh]

Particularly from Friendship.

[Michael Gock]

Nice. Nice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, we have that.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, these are.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe we'll be in the Next edition.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, there you go. You can, you can, you can share those. And then we have what I. What I'm wearing.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, nice.

[Andrew Walsh]

We have from you the.

[Michael Gock]

Some T shirts.

[Andrew Walsh]

T shirts.

[Michael Gock]

Thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

The Y Club. Okay, now the Y Club was. Is. Well, it's. There's still. It's now called into the Pines. Was located on, on 13 and 21. Near your billboard.

[Michael Gock]

Ah, yes. Okay, thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

So anyway, it was in the 1950s, 60s, huh. You were an adult. It wasn't a place for kids. This was the place to go on Friday nights in, in Adams County. You got in your, you know, your Chevy Impala that you bought at the Chevy dealer or your Ford Fairlane and you went. That you bought in friendship, by the way. Oh, in friendship, by the way. And you drove up there for Friday night. Maybe a fish fry or surf and turf.

[Michael Gock]

The Y Club.

[Andrew Walsh]

The Y Club Club. You would have a bar, food and cocktails. And you would have a Brandy Alexander. Oh, no, Brandy Old Fashioned. I'm sorry. It's particularly if you're from Wisconsin. It's. It's Brandy, it's not whiskey.

[Luke Burbank]

I gotta. I did get a note from a listener who lives in Wisconsin. She said you have to have the old fashions. And I didn't realize that that was a regional thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And it's a Brandy Old Fashioned if you're from Wisconsin. And so we have all of that. You take that with you. And the final thing, you know, again, since. Since this is a We Are historical society.

[Michael Gock]

Okay. Let me help.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it's within our power.

[Michael Gock]

Oh my goodness.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh my goodness gracious.

[Andrew Walsh]

Within our power to designate historic sites.

[Luke Burbank]

This is banana.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so we, we ordain and designate the tbl, your billboard site, as an official county historic site in perpetuity from the estate.

[Michael Gock]

So even in about a month when we're no longer paying our lease on it and they take. Take it down, it will still be an important historical site here. This is an incredible thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

80 AB. Oh, yeah.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, now I was wondering, is the billboard supposed to be upside down?

[Andrew Walsh]

If we get a tornado.

[Michael Gock]

Is this like people fly the American flag upside down to signal distress? Yes, we're flying the TBT billboard upside down to signal distress. This is so great, Michael. Thank you so much. I love this. This, like, this is absolutely one of a kind.

[Andrew Walsh]

And we have 80 of these throughout the county. But yes, you're joining the ranks of the Leola Ditch and, And Dead Horse Creek.

[Luke Burbank]

Wow.

[Michael Gock]

And.

[Andrew Walsh]

And the tiny long gone community of Mars.

[Michael Gock]

You're all Mars. Wisconsin.

[Andrew Walsh]

All historic sites.

[Michael Gock]

And. And now. And now the TVTL billboard location will be one of them.

[Luke Burbank]

That's amazing.

[Michael Gock]

That is such an honor.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank.

[Michael Gock]

You. This is. We'll scan this and we'll get it up on the website and then we'll fight over who gets. I have our. The Little League. Because we did end up finding a little League team that would sponsor us or that would allow us to sponsor them. And I have that at my house. So maybe this can go in your studio, Andrew. We'll figure it out. But this is a great honor, Michael. Thank you again.

[Luke Burbank]

Amazing.

[Michael Gock]

We really appreciate you.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you, Michael.

[Michael Gock]

That's Michael Gock, the president of the Adams County Historical Society. Our wonderful hosts for the week.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Pretty amazing. Listeners are definitely digging that on the YouTube channel.

[Michael Gock]

Should we let this caller on the air who's been waiting for roughly 100 years?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Let's see here. Who do we have on the line?

[Michael Gock]

I can't find my phone call.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you want me to do the imitation of it?

[Michael Gock]

Sure.

[Luke Burbank]

Ahoy hoy.

[Michael Gock]

Pretty good. Hi, you're on TB Chillathon. Who's this?

[Mariah Spicer]

Well, hi, guys. It's Mariah.

[Luke Burbank]

Mariah.

[Michael Gock]

Mariah from Chicago?

[Mariah Spicer]

Yes. Mariah Spicer. Well, actually from Spring Green, Wisconsin. Wait, I spend my summers here in Spring Green, Wisconsin? Yes, that's correct. And so I will see you tomorrow along with my sister Leah, who is actually a full time resident of Spring Green.

[Michael Gock]

How far is Spring Green from where we're at?

[Mariah Spicer]

I looked it up. I think it's like 52 miles, but like an hour and a half drive.

[Michael Gock]

Okay, but that's not bad.

[Mariah Spicer]

I mean, so we're really excited.

[Michael Gock]

I mean, were you when. When you figured out or heard that we were going to be coming to Wisconsin, a place you would already be spending part of your summer. Were you like, oh, wow, that's really fortuitous.

[Mariah Spicer]

I think it was a little more than oh, wow. It was like, are you kidding me? I was blown away. Well, first I was just excited about the billboard. I was like, xingway. I was like, we gotta go on a field trip. I'm gonna imagine my delight. Imagine my surprise. And I was like, they're gonna be this. This is great.

[Michael Gock]

And that was before you knew that the billboard was a historically preserved site of note here in Adams county, one of only 80 such places.

[Andrew Walsh]

What a guy.

[Mariah Spicer]

Michael was awesome. I love Bob yesterday. I think you're getting a taste of Wisconsin. But hey, I have to say something. So my sister Leah, she was the one actually trying to get on today. And she sent me a list of several things. She wanted to talk to you guys. So should I add her into the call, or should I just try to go through these?

[Michael Gock]

I've tried to add her into the call. Can you do that? Can you, like, merge the call?

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. Wow.

[Mariah Spicer]

I think so.

[Michael Gock]

I think so. If.

[Mariah Spicer]

If, you know, if you lose me, then, you know, I. I don't know what to say, but I'm gonna. I'm gonna try to add her. You know, this isn't very easy to do.

[Michael Gock]

No, I know. I don't. I think I've successfully merged a call maybe once in my life.

[Luke Burbank]

And it was on accident.

[Michael Gock]

Yes, exactly. Now, where's Leia at? That she. Is she. Are you guys all staying out at the same place?

[Mariah Spicer]

Are we there together?

[Michael Gock]

Hello? Leia, Wait a minute.

[Luke Burbank]

Uh. Oh.

[Michael Gock]

Uh. Oh.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a pretty bad connection, unfortunately.

[Michael Gock]

Mariah, we hear you.

[Mariah Spicer]

You're gonna have to get out of the basement.

[Luke Burbank]

God, if I had a nickel.

[Michael Gock]

Mariah, you sound very clear. Leia sounds a little bit less clear.

[Mariah Spicer]

She's in the basement. How's this sounding?

[Michael Gock]

So much better. Hi, Leah. Welcome to the show.

[Mariah Spicer]

Oh, my God, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you, guys.

[Luke Burbank]

This is great.

[Michael Gock]

The Spicer Sisters right here on tbtl. Okay, Leah, Mariah said that you had given her a number of topics that you were wanting to sort of bring up with us. So I guess I would just say let's do this.

[Mariah Spicer]

Okay. Okay. The first one is. And I don't know if we have established this yet, but Wisconsin. Do we have a name for the listeners who come from Wisconsin?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, can we. Wiscontens. No.

[John Sklaroff]

I think I've seen wiscon tends.

[Michael Gock]

Wiscontends is sort of, like, almost there, you know, but it's not quite there.

[John Sklaroff]

Something with scones.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, do you.

[Michael Gock]

Do you have a thought?

[Mariah Spicer]

Leia, he's got a suggestion. This is what I'm proposing is. Oftentimes I feel like the younger generation has really embraced as what we use.

[Luke Burbank]

We're losing you again.

[Michael Gock]

You go back in the basement, Move.

[Luke Burbank]

To where you were a second ago.

[Michael Gock]

I. What I took from that. Now you sound. What I took from that was. You're saying the younger generation. Yes. Of people in Wisconsin have taken to using the term sconies.

[Mariah Spicer]

Yes, we've really embraced that. It feels very, like, native to us. And So I think Scon 10 is a great option for us.

[Michael Gock]

Bart.

[Luke Burbank]

Scontin.

[Michael Gock]

Scontan. I can. I can get down.

[Luke Burbank]

I'll co Sign that.

[Michael Gock]

Sure. Do we take. Should we take a vote at the picnic tomorrow?

[Mariah Spicer]

Yes, absolutely.

[Michael Gock]

I feel like tomorrow will be the largest concentration of Scontens, so she needs.

[Mariah Spicer]

To move through them.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Michael Gock]

Okay.

[Mariah Spicer]

The other thing that I wanted to bring up with you guys is it sounds like you guys have been hitting your local water.

[Michael Gock]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Somewhere.

[Mariah Spicer]

And that sounds great, but I don't know if you guys know, but when you're in Wisconsin and you order an Old Fashioned.

[Michael Gock]

We just found this.

[Mariah Spicer]

What they make for you. Okay. You already know this?

[Michael Gock]

No, no, we just found it out. From Michael. Yeah.

[Mariah Spicer]

Just now.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Mariah Spicer]

On the live show.

[Michael Gock]

Does it have brandy? Does it have Brandy?

[Luke Burbank]

Brandy thing.

[Mariah Spicer]

Yeah. So you're gonna have basically Corbel and. And Sprite. Like, it has an orange and it has a cherry in it, but it's brandy. So when you order. What about the Old Fashioned press? Leia. You got to get into. Okay. So then there's like, sweet. That would be like with like sprite or 7up or something.

[John Sklaroff]

Like a smash or something.

[Mariah Spicer]

Sometimes people.

[John Sklaroff]

What don't they call that like a. Oh, no.

[Mariah Spicer]

Then you.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[Mariah Spicer]

And then you can get it sour. That's with like a grapefruit soda.

[Michael Gock]

Okay.

[Mariah Spicer]

Words.

[Michael Gock]

Okay.

[Mariah Spicer]

And then press, press. Okay. Which is half soda water, half whatever. The other thing is. So you can get a press sour or you can get a pressed sweet, but this is just something that, like, blew my mind. Like a Brandy. Old Fashioned.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. Right. So this is. And there's a bunch of different ways to order, and that's all a Wisconsin thing that's pretty much localized to this state.

[Mariah Spicer]

As far as I know. It's basically a Wisconsin thing. So, like, I think so.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Mariah Spicer]

I lived away for like 10 years and I left like, before I started going to the bars in Wisconsin, and so then I came back.

[Michael Gock]

14 is a drinking age here, right? Yeah, exactly.

[Mariah Spicer]

Okay. And then one other thing. I don't know if this exists everywhere, but most of these, like, local small town bars that you go into, they have something which is called Shake of the Day.

[Michael Gock]

Shake of the Day.

[Mariah Spicer]

And it's like a. Yeah, it's a dice. It's not ice cream. Okay. And you gotta. Usually you gotta play a dollar to. It's a dollar to play.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, sure.

[Mariah Spicer]

So you get the bartender a dollar. They put that in a jar.

[Michael Gock]

Yes.

[Mariah Spicer]

And then they give you five dice.

[Michael Gock]

Yes.

[Mariah Spicer]

And you get one shake per day. Slam. And you slam it down on the bar. Okay.

[Michael Gock]

Yes, we have. Absolutely. Leia, Mariah. We've experienced this at. It's five o' clock somewhere. We experienced it at the. Where else? The slip in.

[Luke Burbank]

Did they do it at the slip in yesterday?

[Michael Gock]

I think they were doing it at the slip in yesterday. We've been seeing this in various places. We've been. I sort of had a sense of what it might be, but I didn't know really what the rules were or how it exactly worked. We had a version of this at the tattletale that I used to go to in LA playing dice. I'd play in with Patty Parker. But what are the rules?

[Luke Burbank]

Can I just jump in, though, and say one thing that you've told me makes me feel better about something? Because when we're at the five o' clock somewhere, they were playing the dice game, which I love. I love, you know, at the bar dice game. But I thought they were being kind of obnoxious. All. They were slamming it down so hard. And I thought it was, you know, like sometimes like our friend Cassie accuses people of sneezing too loud just for attention. I thought it was just sort of a. Like a. Sort of an attention grab or sort of obnoxious in a certain way. But no, this is part of the culture. If you're playing, you're supposed to slam it down as hard as possible.

[Mariah Spicer]

Yeah, you gotta slam. It's something about luck when you slam it down. Everybody does it. You know, if you don't, you look like an outsider.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, no, you gotta slam it. Gotta slam it.

[Mariah Spicer]

Quiet roll.

[Michael Gock]

No, no, no, no, no. A meek. A meek shy roll. Which is probably what I would do.

[Luke Burbank]

Know that I would have done that. I would have taken the dice carefully out and set them down.

[Michael Gock]

Now, can I ask, what are the. What's the goal? Is it to get all sixes? How do you win?

[Mariah Spicer]

It depends on the bar that you're at. They'll have different house rules and you should ask what they are before you play. But usually it's to get all. I think it's five days. Usually it's all five the same.

[Michael Gock]

Okay, and is it sometimes. And you get to pick up. So do you get to slam and then pick up and then slam again?

[Mariah Spicer]

Yeah, same thing.

[Michael Gock]

Okay, well, listen, you two. First of all, I'm so excited to see both of you tomorrow at the event. This is making me even more excited for it. I think probably we've reached the end of the life cycle of your phone. It's becoming increasingly difficult to hear you, so we'll probably say goodbye for now. But we will see you in a mirror. I mean, I want to say it's.

[John Sklaroff]

Like, what, 28 hours?

[Michael Gock]

If that. We'll see you in 28 hours. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

And bring your list with you.

[Michael Gock]

We are so looking forward to seeing you.

[Mariah Spicer]

And Leah was wondering if it was a potluck and if she could bring a classic TBTL dish, the chon vittori prisine fish.

[Michael Gock]

Oh, my gosh. I mean, legally, I can't stop you.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a public park.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. You're allowed to do whatever you want. We are going to provide. We're going to provide food and drinks for folks, as in, you know, like soda pop and stuff like that. So. So we're not trying to turn it into a potluck, but if you want to get creative and bring something that's part of TBT lore, you're certainly welcome to do that.

[Luke Burbank]

Absolutely.

[Mariah Spicer]

All right, well, we'll see you all tomorrow. It's been a great week of programming, guys.

[Michael Gock]

All right. Thank you.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you, Spicer sisters, both of you.

[Michael Gock]

Love them.

[Luke Burbank]

That's great. That's absolutely great. Now, Luke, my question for you is, are you ready for a blursday?

[Michael Gock]

There's a right way to rock and.

[Luke Burbank]

A wrong way to roll. You can just listen to your song.

[Michael Gock]

Just remember that life is number one.

[Luke Burbank]

You can be having so much fun. Just remember that life is much fun. You can be nothing but one. We have a lot of blurs.

[Michael Gock]

I know, right? A lot of blur Thursdays for us to have an actual look at this list. A passel of blurs days. Do we want to go back to the old school of do we want to bounce back and forth?

[Luke Burbank]

Can you read from where you are? Your eyes are so good.

[Michael Gock]

Well, here's the thing. If they were. If they were closer, if your computer screen were closer to me, I couldn't read it, but I'm actually at the. Oh, really?

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I thought you were going to say bring it closer to you. Okay, well, let's get get through these.

[Michael Gock]

All right.

[Luke Burbank]

I see our follow up interview is here. We're going to be Harriet Further, who's on the move later. Yes.

[Michael Gock]

Who wants to do a. For everybody in this town is just slowly finding out what a truly interesting story TBTL is.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

And finally we're being appreciated.

[Luke Burbank]

No, they keep on digging. They're like, there's got to be a story here somewhere. We're just not saying it. But let's get to these blurs days first. Maya says happy blurs day to my friend Lisa in Bend, Oregon. It's been nine years since she casually mentioned that she listened to a niche podcast called tbtl and we've been co listeners ever since. I love the idea of co listeners like Mariah and Leah, right? I'm great.

[Michael Gock]

Leia.

[Luke Burbank]

Leah. Sorry about that. I knew as soon as I started that sentence, I'm like, oh, I'm grateful for her friendship and great taste in audio entertainment. Hope to see you back in Seattle soon.

[Michael Gock]

Angela from Ohio says, we'd like to wish the very happiest 17th birthday to our 5 Pemberley. Whether you are working, Pemberley sounds like a drink that you could order here in Wisconsin after you've maybe you've had enough old fashions. Yes, I want a half Pemberley smashed. Whether you're working on your schoolwork or saving lives as a lifeguard, you always do your best. Keep up the great work. Love, mom and dad.

[Luke Burbank]

Happy Thursday, Pemberley.

[Michael Gock]

Work on that. Rear passive and rear active saves Pemberley. Those come in handy.

[Luke Burbank]

I was gonna say that too. Kathy and Olympia says Happy Blurs day to Cecilia in Atlanta.

[Michael Gock]

Hey, we talked to Cecelia on the Zoom last night.

[Luke Burbank]

That's right, from your book buddies, of course. Cecilia is the organizer of the TBTL Book club. So this is from your book buddies, Christine in Santa Fe and Kathy in Olympia. We're so glad TBTL and our love of reading brought us together.

[Michael Gock]

Get ready for some Suzy Bee in your life. All right, Cecilia. I just realized it sounds familiar. It's because this is the person we were just referencing. Says Happy birthday to my 11, Ryan and to me. It's a classic self blursing going on here. The tbtlethon is a perfect birthday week celebration and what y' all do is so important. Loved seeing all the tens and biz boys on the Zoom last night. Love the Slack Channel, the Stens page, and of course the book club. FYI, the next book. Oh, this is big y'.

[Andrew Walsh]

All.

[Michael Gock]

You're hearing what the next. See how quickly I slip into y' all talk. Cause Cecilia's doing it. The next book club book is all the colors of the dark and we'd love to see more tens. You don't even have to finish the book or have finished the book. In true TBTL fashion, there are a lot of tangents. Nice.

[Luke Burbank]

Happy Blurs day, Cecilia and Ryan. Thanks for doing that for real. Adam says Happy 20th Blursday to our middle hell spawn.

[Michael Gock]

Wow.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean five.

[Michael Gock]

Wow.

[Luke Burbank]

Is this a happy birthday?

[Michael Gock]

I love this though. I think it's time we have some straight talk for these children.

[Luke Burbank]

Start Getting real. Yeah, Seriously, when the blursdays stop being polite and start getting real. Happy 20th Blursday to our middle hell spawn. I mean, five. We're so proud of the amazing adult that you're becoming. And you must know that we love you because we came home from our road trip to see you on your birthday rather than going to Friendship, Wisconsin and hanging out with Luke and Andrew, who would at least pretend to be nice to me and not roll their eyes until I left. Oh, Adam, it seems like your feelings are a little bit bruised, but you're very.

[Michael Gock]

I know that feeling, Adam.

[Luke Burbank]

To wish a happy blursday to your.

[Michael Gock]

Five and it's not too late.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

To head for you could make for friendship, Wisconsin and be here by nightfall. Brad says, I'd like to wish a 44th Happy Blurs Day to my lovely wife and 10, Whitney from San Marcos, California. We've listened to TBTL now for over 10 years when she introduced me to it. And in that time. In that time. Excuse me. I get emotional thinking about them. I know in San Marcos, listening to the show in that time, we've quoted drops from the show in our daily conversations, much to the scrin of our two lovely girls. This really is shaping up to be a very. It's like a. It's a pitched battle between the parents and their children, much to the chagrin of our two lovely girls. Happy birthday to an amazing wife and mother from Brad.

[Luke Burbank]

Nice. Cute. Brandon says, my wife Ariel has been a TBTL listener since the beginning. We were right by where your billboard went up. Nice. Just a couple of days beforehand. So close. Her birthday is coming up this Sunday, so I wanted to say happy birthday, Ariel and Brandon and. Oh, I'm sorry. From Brandon and Charlie.

[Michael Gock]

Are you kidding me right now? Cassandra is saying happy blurs day to Sarah in Portland. It feels like forever since we met in Seattle for the 4,000th episode. Feels like forever since we did that episode.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's three years ago now.

[Michael Gock]

I'd love to come down to visit, but who knows if I'd end up in Portland or El Salvador. Time to come back to Canada and sip tea like the queen, I guess. Whatever you're doing for your special day this year, I hope it's filled with peace and love and good vibes and hope for kinder days. Big hugs and lots of love from your emotional support Canadian.

[Luke Burbank]

I could use an emotional support.

[Michael Gock]

I'm taking applications.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, Kristen says I want to wish Taylor.

[Michael Gock]

Christina.

[Luke Burbank]

Pardon me.

[Michael Gock]

Christina.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. No, I'm gonna do Kristen first.

[Michael Gock]

All Right.

[Luke Burbank]

Says, I want to do it your way. Taylor in the ECOP neighborhood of Kansas City. The happiest blurs day. I see. These are. These are our Kansas City tens, Taylor and Kristen. I'm so glad I slid into your DMS after seeing you wearing a Royals jersey in your 10 of the week photo. Now we're IRL friends, and you're dating my actual brother.

[Michael Gock]

And you don't.

[Luke Burbank]

And you don't believe in a God. Life is weird, but I'm endlessly thankful you came into mine. I love these guys. Happy blursday, Taylor.

[Michael Gock]

Absolutely adorable. Christina says, we want to wish a happy zeroeth blurthday to Ernest.

[Luke Burbank]

Ernest, congrats.

[Michael Gock]

The importance of being this baby cannot be overstated. Earnest arrived on July 17, but missed that week's blursday segment. We are so in love with you, our darling little boy from proud mom and dad, Christina and Alex.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, congrats, guys.

[Michael Gock]

Great name, too.

[Luke Burbank]

I love it. I really love it.

[Michael Gock]

I can't wait till they send them to camp.

[Luke Burbank]

David says, I'm proud to say that. Oh, this is David from the Smittens. I'm proud to say that I just turned 50 years old. I'm not one of those gals who's afraid to hide her age, unlike some of those other gals. And I like to kick, stretch and kick. I'm 50.

[Michael Gock]

Sally O'. Malley. Happy birthday, David. Elise says, hey, guys. I thought I'd celebrate my 70th birthday by finally sending in a blurs message thanking y' all for fixing the loneliness in this Seattle transplant's heart. Florida is a wonderful place to live, but there's just not nothing like a word from home. Best wishes and a happy heart on her blursday.

[Luke Burbank]

Nice.

[Michael Gock]

Happy Blurs Day. Happy 70th. And we're so glad that you finally reached out and hope everything is going well in Florida and that lots of friends will be made. Made in the near future. If it's not working out in Florida, I'd say come to Friendship, Wisconsin.

[Luke Burbank]

We have to.

[Michael Gock]

We're beating the friends off with a stick here. People are hoisting themselves at us, trying to be our friends.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. And we're not even likable.

[Michael Gock]

All right.

[Luke Burbank]

That is gonna do it for the blurs days today.

[Michael Gock]

What a patch.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Michael Gock]

Yeah. It's just been such a great week of community and new friends and old friends and people having blurs days and talking to the Spicer sisters and learning about the history of Adams County. It's been great. Again, if you have had a chance to support the show this week. Thank you very much. It's the only way that we can keep doing this. If maybe you haven't and you've been on the fence, I don't, I don't know what more we can do at this point. Like, there are some thons where it's like, I understand if people don't donate. Like, I'm like, I get it. This is not one of them. This has been. I mean, we were just sitting around in the Airbnb last night, night, cavelling about how, how much fun we're having and how kind of just almost, I hesitate to use the word, how blessed this thon has been so far. So if you have been thinking about supporting the show at any level that feels right to you, go to tbt.net and do that right now. We got a whole list of all the cool thank you gifts and all of those things. So thanks again.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Michael Gock]

All right, that's going to do it for today's episode. But guess what? We have one final show from here in Friendship, Wisconsin coming your way tomorrow. So please do join us for that. In the meantime, have a great Thursday. Take care of yourselves. Go Mariners. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Luke Burbank]

And good luck to the Mariners and us and all. Honestly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did we just become best friends?

[Luke Burbank]

Power out.