Shownotes
Welcome to a very special milestone on the Tri State Time Machine! In this celebratory 100th episode, I take us on a heartfelt journey through the origins, evolution, and future dreams of the podcast dedicated to the rich memories and lively stories of the Tri State area: West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
I reflects on starting the show with her beloved co-host W.G., cherishing the laughter, dynamic moments, and unforgettable tributes shared along the way. From humble beginnings and quirky childhood memories at Safety Town, to wild rides at Dreamland Pool and overcoming fears at Heritage Farm’s zipline, this episode digs into the heart and humor that built the show's community.
Whether you’re a long-time listener or new to the Time Machine, I reminisce about W.G.’s impact, the guests who shaped each episode, and the listeners who have made this podcast a true community project. Looking ahead, I promise even more local stories, fresh segments, and dream guests—reminding us that the journey of preserving Tri State memories is far from over. Happy 100th to the listeners, the guests, the memories, and Tri State Time Machine itself—here’s to keeping these stories alive, together!
If you have a memory you would want me to talk more about, just send me an email at TSTM@mail.com. Or post a comment on the Tri-State Machine FB Group page.
Welcome to the Tri-State Time Machine.
I'm your host Vanessa Hankins. This is a podcast where my guests and I share our memories and present day stories of the Tri-State Area. That's West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
Nothing too serious, no political views, and no ulterior motives.
We're just here to share our fun stories about this great area.
Whether you're a past resident or a current Tri-State resident, I think you're going to have fun with us.
So join in, press play on your podcast player, and welcome to the Tri-State Time Machine!
https://ts-time-machine.captivate.fm/episode/happy-100-episodes-thank-you
Copyright 2025 Vanessa Hankins
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
Transcripts
This is the Tri State Time Machine. Each week, your host, Vanessa Hankins and her guests share memories and stories about the past, present, and the future of the Tri State area. That's West Virginia, Kentucky and the Ohio areas. If you used to live here or you currently live here, you're going to catch yourself saying out loud. Wow, I remember that.
:
Now, Here's Vanessa.
Vanessa Hankins [:Hey, guys, it's Vanessa. And this is a Tri State Time machine. And today this is.
Vanessa Hankins [:It's a big day.
Vanessa Hankins [:It's a huge day. Actually, it's our hundredth episode. So insert all of the heart emoji eyes here and insert all of the clapping noises and all of the celebration noises because it's literally our hundredth episode. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe it. I tell you guys this all the time. Every time you guys log in and listen to me, another week, another episode, I can hardly believe it. And here we are at 100.
Vanessa Hankins [:I just need to tell you guys how thankful I am. I tell you all the time, but I want to continue to make sure that, you know, thank you. I know that WG is looking down and he thanks you as well. And we are always say we. I never mean to say we. It just always comes out because this still feels like it's mine. And wgs, it doesn't seem like it's just mine. It's.
Vanessa Hankins [:It's an interesting dynamic. Honestly, being by yourself in the podcast studio, you. You're essentially talking to yourself. Although I know all of you are going to eventually listen in the moment of recording, I'm talking to myself. So it's always interesting to see how these turn out. When all is said and done. Let me, I guess, start at the beginning. We're going to talk about the story of the podcast, how it started, where it's been, where it's heading.
Vanessa Hankins [:And yeah, now a lot of you know that I started this show with wg. He was not only just my co host, but truly my partner in crime on this ride. WG has since passed and I can't even begin to tell you how much I miss his presence, his humor, and the energy that he brought to this time machine today. This recording, this episode is just as much about honoring him as it is about celebrating the show that we built together. The very first spark of this podcast was the episode welcome to the Huntington Tri State Time Machine. And WG had a guest on. I believe. I can't recall who it was, but it was shorter on the shorter end episode.
Vanessa Hankins [:But it's what kicked off the time machine. And it's funny to look at the numbers because it got like, five downloads. We. We've come a long way. We've come a really long way. I can't remember the last time I seen 5 on our downloads, usually we jump right into the 30s on release days, and it happens in moments. And for that, I'm truly amazed and happy. Thankful.
Vanessa Hankins [:There's so many emotions, honestly, that come up when I think about the downloads we get now as opposed to what we had then. But I want to share how WG kind of came up with the idea of the podcast. It was all him, not me. During COVID he really wanted to. He was a social butterfly. He wanted to communicate with his friends, and he wanted them to participate. He wanted them to be an active participant in his communication. And whether they liked it or not, that is how this podcast was born.
Vanessa Hankins [:He approached his boss and said, hey, what if I do this podcast and realty exchange sponsor us? And they made it happen. And I'm forever grateful that they did because it landed us where we are now. There's a lot in between, but. But, yeah, let's talk about the early days of when I came along, because I didn't come along until 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Hold on, 9. I'm turning pages. You guys can probably hear 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 are 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38. That was the 38th episode.
Vanessa Hankins [:38th was the 38th episode. And we said, let's head to Safety Town, and in comes myself and Hank Dial, and we had the best time sitting down with WG that day. I don't think that I have laughed so hard since that day. We just had so much fun. Anyone that remembers our dynamic will know that all we did was cut up. All we did was joke around and just let go and let the nonsense flow. I can't believe I was that many episodes in. That's so crazy.
Vanessa Hankins [:We'll have to have another. Another episode. When I hit my actual hundredth episode. It won't be a special, but we'll have to do it early on. I remember, like, when we would release, we would get excited because people shared it on social media. We weren't even worried about how many people were downloading it. We just loved that people were sharing it on social media. And I kinda.
Vanessa Hankins [:I'm laughing now. But it's kind of. It's kind of sad looking back, because we didn't even realize what we were chasing after. We just knew that we wanted our people in our inner circles to follow us and listen to the podcast. And for us, that was enough. So what it has become, it's amazing. It's truly amazing. So let's go back to that Safety Town episode and let's hear a really good moment from them.
W.G. [:We're going to touch on kind of everything that Safety Town kind of covers a little bit later. But what I remember. And Hank, I don't know, you might remember because I've. I have a couple old photos of them. There used to be like a homemade jail and a homemade bank. And it just said bank or it just said city hall.
Hank guest [:Very generic.
W.G. [:Yeah. Now what? So what buildings are on the track now? Because y' all probably have like corporate sponsors and. Or do you not?
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah, yeah, we do. We have. Well, not necessarily corporate like me, mom and pops, local people. We try to get people in the vicinity, but we're welcome to anybody. We like money. We're a non profit, you know, But.
W.G. [:Okay. And the stores and whatnot. Yeah. This isn't. I know. Everyone knows. I'm an idiot. You can't actually walk into them, can you? They're not that big.
Vanessa Hankins [:Are police and fire are big enough? Well, all the buildings are big enough to go in.
Vanessa Hankins [:But our police and fire, the goal.
Vanessa Hankins [:Is to have them interactive to where the kids can go in and experience. I know in our fire building, we.
Vanessa Hankins [:Have already have a pole.
W.G. [:What? Wait, hold on. Did you just say your fire department has a pole? Did you just say that? Vanessa, for the love of God, you're not training future fire. Oh, no, we. Let's put a Dalmatian in there or something.
Vanessa Hankins [:Should we. Can we.
W.G. [:Yeah.
Hank guest [:So I think we can get a Dalmatian.
W.G. [:And it doesn't even have to be real, but there are two.
Vanessa Hankins [:I'm a big fan of pups. I know you are. So.
Hank guest [:Yeah, absolutely. Maybe we can talk to Courtney and work out something with them.
Vanessa Hankins [:We can work out something with animal shelter.
Hank guest [:I will tell you, for our childhood and our youth, those were storage buildings.
W.G. [:We really.
Hank guest [:Cars in there. That's where the cars went after the kids left. We always have them out before they.
W.G. [:Show up and then spot. Okay.
Hank guest [:But then the doors would open up and you would slide the cars in there.
Vanessa Hankins [:There.
Hank guest [:And we would do maintenance and have spare batteries. And that's the mystery behind the facade.
W.G. [:Okay. Back then. Yeah.
Vanessa Hankins [:Because.
W.G. [:Yeah. I would just. Vanessa, you guys never wondered why the fire department building was so popular? And you're like, why do these kids want dollar bills?
Vanessa Hankins [:It had to be in those retirees hanging out down there.
W.G. [:I know. Yeah. All right, let me. Let me pull us out of this rabbit hole real quick. Okay. Do you have. Do you have any funny stories of it? And not. I don't want anyone to be injured or anything, but I would think you put.
W.G. [:I mean, what. What age is it?
Vanessa Hankins [:First grade, second grade, second graders, seven and nine years old.
W.G. [:Okay. So second graders. There has to be anything that you can kind of have a little bit of fun with. As far as people hitting. I mean, like, running over, hitting a fence or so.
Vanessa Hankins [:Kids go in that far right corner. I don't know why. It's only like a. I mean, it's a very small turn right there in that corner. But they always go over the hill there and go into the little ditch line. It's like every class, there's at least two every time.
Vanessa Hankins [:And I think it's that they're saying hey to their friends because there's a.
Vanessa Hankins [:Straight stretch there where you don't really.
Vanessa Hankins [:See anybody else, and then you come into that curve. So they all. It always happens.
Hank guest [:It's like the old dog leg at first street. Remember when you watch.
Vanessa Hankins [:Always happens.
W.G. [:They wave at each other, and all of a sudden they're like, help me. I guess you have to go turn the car off and pull them out.
Vanessa Hankins [:So you don't have to turn it off. You just have to say, you know, let go of your gas, because if not, you're gonna run over me. And that happens a lot too, because they're. They're can controlled, so gas and brake is on the steering wheel.
W.G. [:I feel like I'm gonna go to hell for laughing at all these things. This is. But I'm just picturing you guys must. You obviously know what you're doing, because I'm picturing just like a whole parking lot of monkeys and in cars.
Vanessa Hankins [:You know, it's really funny because when I first started was l. Literally a week before the pandemic hit and the school shut down.
W.G. [:That's correct.
Vanessa Hankins [:So the group that I had when I first started and was learning, fantastic. The kids we have now, since we've opened, they didn't have formal schooling. This is like their first real school year.
W.G. [:Oh.
Vanessa Hankins [:So a lot of, like, the social.
Vanessa Hankins [:Emotional that they missed in the beginning, they're not only coming in with that dynamic, but also, like, they've not had Super. A lot of interaction with other kids, period. So they're coming in, excited to be on their first field trip. A lot of my kids this year, year, this is their first field trip ever was the trip to Safety Town.
W.G. [:And they're so. And they're driving.
Vanessa Hankins [:And they're driving cars. So I mean, it's been. They've been surprising, but they've also been very comical. I think, like my favorite story, and I think this is a safe one to share. We had a little girl this year. She was a Cabell county kid and she was just a go getter. Like, she was curly headed. She's got the bows, the ribbons, the perfect traffic outfit.
Vanessa Hankins [:Like she's planned for this day. Like mom and dad have planned her. They know about mom and dad. She told me all about mom and dad coming.
Hank guest [:Yes, it was.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yes. Like, she is ready. She introduces herself, tells me who she is, what her mom went, what she drove when she came, what her dad drove. Grandma done showed her pictures of it, you know, the whole nine. So the officer comes in and he wasn't there, able to like, get the.
Vanessa Hankins [:Kids off the bus.
Vanessa Hankins [:Like they. Because they had had a call. So they come after. And he comes in and I was like, boys and girls, you know, we have a. We have a visitor. And direct their attention to the back of the room. And she's the first one to raise her hand. She's ready to go.
Vanessa Hankins [:And of course he calls on her.
Vanessa Hankins [:Because she's very cheerful. And she's like, well, this is who I am. And does the whole introduction again. She's ready to go. And she's like, my mom drove this. And she's like, well, okay, I'm done. And he was like, so you didn't have a question? She's like, well, I do have one. And he says, okay, what is it? And she says, do policemen marry bakers? He was like, I think they can marry, like, whoever they want, you know.
Vanessa Hankins [:And she was like, oh, good, because.
Vanessa Hankins [:I want to be a baker. And then. And then.
W.G. [:And she said, where's the building with the pole?
Vanessa Hankins [:She's adorable. She's adorable. So then when the fire department came, she did the whole spill to one of the firemen. And I'm just like, oh, my goodness. And the policeman, like, he didn't know what to do. Like, he's just like blushing.
Hank guest [:She's coming for your job, right?
Vanessa Hankins [:Yes, she's definitely coming for your job.
W.G. [:Oh, my God. That is.
Vanessa Hankins [:That's.
W.G. [:That's. That's better than.
Vanessa Hankins [:And she brought Me cookies too. She actually is like baking at home. Like, she brought me cookies. It was fantastic.
Hank guest [:The future of America is bright.
W.G. [:That is awesome. Oh, my God.
Vanessa Hankins [:It was so wholesome though, because she's like, not date, are we? Can you marry a baker? Yeah. Can you marry him? Because that's what I'm going to be.
Vanessa Hankins [:When I grow, right?
Vanessa Hankins [:And I'm going to marry, you know, a Huntington hero. I'm going to marry a policeman or a fireman. I'm doing that.
W.G. [:That's fantastic. That's a better story than I was hoping.
Vanessa Hankins [:Wow, what a memory. It almost brings tears to my eyes, honestly. God, I miss him. I miss him so much. He was so fun. Such is life, though. Let's talk a little bit more about the journey to get where we are today. You know, we had some incredible conversations over the various episodes that we did.
Vanessa Hankins [:I think my most fun episode to record besides the let's go to Safety Town. Was Club Pompeo real? Because he really tricked me on that one. He really pulled the wool over my eyes for sure. That one was a fun one. So go back and listen to it if you haven't. And then I think my next was A Day in the Life at Gina's because I had such a really good time with my brother in law and WG and we laughed so much. But I think my funnest one to record because of the experience that we had. And I got to experience that with WG and looking back now, I'm forever grateful.
Vanessa Hankins [:I am terrified of heights. Like that is a very big thing for me. It's a point of no return. Honestly. I come unglued. I am a hot mess. But we went to Heritage Farm and we did the zipline and we met with staff there and they assured us that we were going to be safe and make it to the bottom in one piece. And believe me, I asked them many, many, many, many times.
Vanessa Hankins [:So let's listen to a little pinch from that episode.
[:Don Gibson was a stock boy at Wagner Brothers the Hardware.
W.G. [:Oh yeah, I remember that place.
Vanessa Hankins [:It looks like all these people had like their day jobs.
Vanessa Hankins [:Well, and then we're like coming here.
[:He told me he dad had came out there and bought a basketball backboard from Wagner Brothers. And Don went out to the storage thing and was loading it up in dad's dad's truck. And dad said, hey, do you know anybody who can install this? And by the way, it was my 10 year old birthday present.
W.G. [:Oh, nice.
[:The second floor of the dairy barn was a Basketball court.
W.G. [:Oh, wow.
Vanessa Hankins [:Anyway, that's cool.
[:And so you were 10 years old.
W.G. [:And you had your own indoor basketball.
[:Court in the barn. It was awesome. And then they discovered why were we.
W.G. [:Not friends growing up?
[:Well, but. But then they discovered due to my vertical challenge that.
Vanessa Hankins [:That really not going to be a ball player.
[:So they went ahead and just turned.
W.G. [:So, yeah, the inspiration for white men can't jump, ladies and gentlemen.
[:So I was not legendary. Relevant to the. In the dairy barn, but oh, legendary.
Vanessa Hankins [:Show.
[:Wg. It's a great time.
Vanessa Hankins [:Usually it's me that's way behind.
W.G. [:Audie is here all week, ladies and gentlemen. Don't forget, don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses.
Vanessa Hankins [:I just wish everyone could see your.
Vanessa Hankins [:Face when it dawned on you. That's what's great is the expression.
W.G. [:All right, well, let's talk about some of the newer stuff because we ziplined today.
Vanessa Hankins [:Can you believe it? Like, I'm alive.
W.G. [:Yeah.
Vanessa Hankins [:Crazy.
W.G. [:But wasn't it fun? This was your first time.
Vanessa Hankins [:Oh, my God, it was so fun.
W.G. [:I mean, I'd done it a few times before, but yeah, and a great setup. And if you, if you've never ziplined before, it's. It's as safe as can be. And you know, they've got a great crew up there that, I mean, I was gonna say you couldn't fall if you tried.
Vanessa Hankins [:I mean, I don't know how old.
Vanessa Hankins [:They are, but I'm gonna call them.
Vanessa Hankins [:Kids because they feel like kids to me.
Vanessa Hankins [:But all of, all of them up there were so kind to me and talked me through it and I just.
Vanessa Hankins [:It was, it was, it was kind.
Vanessa Hankins [:Of beautiful, honestly, because I was just like, oh my gosh, I'm here in.
Vanessa Hankins [:Like the scariest moment of my life.
W.G. [:Yeah.
Vanessa Hankins [:And they were so nice.
W.G. [:That's how old? 3 years, 4 years? How long has it been?
[:It went in in 2021.
W.G. [:Okay. And what. And then there's.
[:What's that big Talitha Coom.
Vanessa Hankins [:Talitha Coon. Okay.
Vanessa Hankins [:We could not understand when they were.
[:Talitha coom is a four story challenge course and has over 30 some different challenges. And it's completes with the mountaintop drop, which is a 40 foot vertical free fall.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah, that's what the girl was telling me about. She's like, yeah, it's so fun. I'm like, yeah, right?
W.G. [:Yeah. No way. Fun for somebody else, not for me.
Vanessa Hankins [:All right. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. You record these episodes and you send them into the editing company and you know, Circle 270 Media does amazing work with them, but you forget how truly mesmerizing these moments are until you rehear them. And you know, you've. You've lost someone like we lost wg. You don't. You don't really realize you were making a memory until it's hitting you right in the face, you know? So there's a few episodes that we did with some friends of WG's and previous guests and stuff like that.
Vanessa Hankins [:Those episodes were hard.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah, that's it.
Vanessa Hankins [:They were hard. They were very, very difficult. They were beautiful in their own way, and it was a beautiful tribute to wg, but was hard. I think we did. We did eight episodes to pay tribute to wg, because one episode was not enough. I still don't know that 8 was enough. I don't know that there'll come a day that I'm ever not recording and have him my thoughts and wish he was still here with me. But such is life again, like I said, and this is where we are.
Vanessa Hankins [:But I remember going into the studio and recording. It's time to start again. And I had had so much going on. I had lost my mom. I had lost wg. I felt like I had lost all control of everything in my life. And I don't want to get emotional, but the fact that you guys stuck with me and supported me and.
Vanessa Hankins [:Just.
Vanessa Hankins [:Listened in to what I had to say when I didn't even know what it was I wanted to say, I mean, means the world to me. You guys will never know what you got me through. Grieving's hard. There's no other way to put it. Grieving is hard, and there's no experience that is the same as someone else's experience. Grieving teaches us things about ourselves that sometimes we don't want to learn, or sometimes we needed to learn, and we're thankful for it. But in my grieving journey, I've had a lot of things pretty much smack me right in the face, out of the blue from missing WG and missing my mom. And not that the two are equal in any way.
Vanessa Hankins [:I mean, my mom is my mom, and WG was a really good friend. But having lost both of them so close together, it really kind of jumbled in my mind. So my grief journey is very jumbled, but I wouldn't change it. I don't think, looking back, it has made me and this podcast who we are today. It gave me the drive to want to go forward and show WG what this podcast had the potential of. And he knew it had potential. He just wasn't sure. Love is heart.
Vanessa Hankins [:He wasn't very tech savv. Never even listened to podcasts, but yet he wanted to start a podcast. Like, what. What the. What does that even. I'll never understand. I'll never understand. But since then, we've.
Vanessa Hankins [:We've had some incredible conversations with so many people. We had the wonderful mayor on Patrick Farrell. I mean, he taught the. He gave us some stories. I mean, wow. The man flew his jet over Huntington to impress his mama. What a.
Vanessa Hankins [:Like what?
Vanessa Hankins [:It's crazy.
Vanessa Hankins [:It's crazy.
Vanessa Hankins [:And then, you know, we had Dan on, and Dan was fantastic. I mean, I. I'll never top that one. I don't think Dan has such a story to tell, and I would love to have him on again in the future. So, Dan Ferguson, if you're listening, please come back on. We would love to hear more from you. Alison White from sip, she was fantastic. She came in, she rocked the show.
Vanessa Hankins [:She spoke so elegantly, and she just taught me a lot about the world of wine, because, I mean, like I tell you guys, and like, I told her, I was completely clueless to the. To the world of wine. And I love going to SIP now, and I love trying new things, and I love trying a wine when she suggests it. So we also had Mr. Brock Thompson on. We talked about food, music, and folklore. We talked about Huntington Parks and Rec with Lauren Patrick. We did a special love episode in February.
Vanessa Hankins [:That one was really fun. Dating in the Tri State. We had a blast with that one. And of course, you know, we had our spooky ghosts and ghouls galore last year, and we're doing those again this year, so that's really fun. But, yeah, we've done a lot. We've covered many things with Alligator Jackson. We've covered video rental stores. We've covered cafeterias, rock music, Heritage Farm, WMUL FM radio, Buddy's Barbecue.
Vanessa Hankins [:Oh, my gosh, that was such a fun episode. My daughter got to take place or take part in that one, and. And Lauren Schulz got to make us some special sauces to try, and she made Carly a special little setup of her own, and she got to try some things. So that one was really fun, I think. Another one that I want to throw back to and I want to hear a little bit about because I know that it'll get you guys laughing is the episode Riding the Train to Dreamland pool. So let's check out a snippet from that one real quick.
W.G. [:The show continues to build you make.
Vanessa Hankins [:Me nervous with that little laugh there.
W.G. [:Well, we're getting more and more feedback from people I don't know.
Vanessa Hankins [:Oh, yeah.
W.G. [:One listener sent in a message to one of the social media platforms and said, if I have to hear this guy say he's from Houston one more time, I'm gonna jump out of a window.
Vanessa Hankins [:She didn't enjoy the stories as much as I did, apparently.
W.G. [:I guess I didn't realize every show it someh comes out so well.
Vanessa Hankins [:But it was a big part of your life.
W.G. [:And so, anyway, so I was in Houston.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah.
W.G. [:Sorry, whoever you are, I have no idea who you are.
Vanessa Hankins [:Hate that for you.
W.G. [:Yeah, exactly. But. And so here's. Here's my. My dreamland experience. And then I want to get to yours because this has. This is going to be. This is going to be different.
W.G. [:And I also have told Good God on so many episodes. Yes. I used to work at Stuart's original hot dogs still. I went to.
Vanessa Hankins [:Still a favorite around here.
W.G. [:Went to University of Houston. And the deal was my mom was like, okay, I'll take care of tuition. Dad was like, I'll take care of room and board, but you got to get a 2.5 or the deal is off.
Vanessa Hankins [:Deals off. Yeah.
W.G. [:So my freshman year, I got a 1.1. So at the end of year one, they were like, no, this is non negotiable. This is. Come on back to their guns. And I was like, damn it.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah.
W.G. [:So I come back to Huntington for a summer and go to John Mant and say, hey, John, tell you what, could I possibly get that old job back? He's like, well, I'll tell you, this is. It's interesting timing because we just got hired to. To be the. To do the concession stand at Dreamland.
Vanessa Hankins [:Ah.
W.G. [:And I was like, well, I'm not gonna make any tips or anything.
Vanessa Hankins [:Like, you're not understanding why I'm coming to you. I've been cut off.
W.G. [:Yeah. I was like, I don't know about that. He's like, well, I just. I need a team that I can trust and all that. Well, oh, I'll go down there until you find whoever you want. I don't know if I need.
Vanessa Hankins [:I need to make money, though.
W.G. [:Yeah. I'm like, you know, I'd like to make something. So I went down to Dreamland pool to work at the concession stand. This is like opening day or something. And I was.
Vanessa Hankins [:Oh. And it's crazy.
W.G. [:I was down there for, I think, one day, and I would have been 18 or 19 I guess. And I hope this doesn't come off creepy, but, I mean, I was 18 or 19, and they're girls in bikinis all over the place, everywhere. And so I told John, I was like, I'll take one for the team if you need me to stay down here.
Vanessa Hankins [:It's a lot.
Vanessa Hankins [:I. I think, you know, my experience.
Vanessa Hankins [:Needs to be there.
W.G. [:Yeah. I was like, I guess if you trust me. Okay. And I don't know, there were like six or seven of us down there, and we were all like 18 or 19, but.
Vanessa Hankins [:Yeah.
W.G. [:And I can't remember what that girl's name was. It was the. The quote, unquote manager of the concession. She was as sweet as can be. And there was another girl, Beth. Beth still lives here. Hi, Beth, if you're listening. And.
W.G. [:But so that entire summer, I was at Dreamland and in the concession stand. Now, what I found out about Dreamland, and I guess this might be true of all. Of all pools, is adults don't come to the concession stand. They send the kids.
Vanessa Hankins [:They send the kids.
Vanessa Hankins [:Part of the joys of having children.
W.G. [:Kids would come up with, like, $10 grasped in their hand.
Vanessa Hankins [:Oh, yeah, don't lose it, because I'm not giving you more.
W.G. [:Yeah. And they, like, look up, looking up at me, and they're like, can I get a frozen Snickers? And I'm like, okay, $9. And they're like, really?
Vanessa Hankins [:Your humor was not related.
Hank guest [:Yeah.
W.G. [:They were like, okay.
Vanessa Hankins [:And, oh, yeah. They're just so trusting.
W.G. [:And I never. I never. I never took it. I don't want to go to hell or anything. But I was like. Or, you know, they're like, can I get an ice cream sandwich? Yep. Here's the only thing. I only got one left.
W.G. [:If you. If I give you this ice cream sandwich, and I'll tell them where you got it. And the kids and these, like, seven year olds are looking at me going, they have no.
Vanessa Hankins [:Okay.
W.G. [:I was like, all right, so this is just between you and I, right? And they're like, yeah, okay.
Vanessa Hankins [:I feel like you traumatized children. There's. There's somebody that's gonna listen to this.
Vanessa Hankins [:And be like, oh, my God, I remember him.
W.G. [:Yeah. And the girl who was in charge would come over and go, wg, you gotta stop screwing with these kids.
Hank guest [:They don't know if you're kidding.
Vanessa Hankins [:What else are you gonna do when you're 18 and stuck in this summer job, though?
W.G. [:And I was like, look, I'm not taking their money. I'm just messing with them, I'm giving them the correct change and everything. I'm not taking anything.
Vanessa Hankins [:I'm not trying to have dad come up here and kick my ass.
Vanessa Hankins [:The podcast has grown into something bigger than I ever expected. I actually went into a clothing store a while back, and the girl was like, hey, you're that. You're the girl with the podcast. And I couldn't believe it. Like, usually I get noticed because I'm the lady who does Safety Town, and that's cool. And I get excited about that. That's always fun. But I never got recognized as the girl with the podcast, so I thought that was really, really cool.
Vanessa Hankins [:It's kind of serendipitous of the world, really, when someone recognizes you in general. But, like, to be noted for the podcast, it just. It had me on cloud nine. It really did. I sneak and find moments as often as I can to tell people about WG and tell them about the podcast and tell them about the dream that he had and what it's grown into. And I don't know that I'm ever going to quit doing that. I feel like it's just who I am as a person. But I just.
Vanessa Hankins [:You had to be there, and a lot of you were, and I'm thankful for that. So things that I've learned as a host and a storyteller, I've learned that not every co host, or not co host, every guest is going to be the ideal guest. It may be a great idea in theory, but once they get in here and they see the mics, some of them freeze up and some of them don't do that good. And some of those shows never make it to light. And that's just what it is. That's just how it goes. And so I've learned that. I've learned to try to bring comfort to our guests.
Vanessa Hankins [:The studio itself has changed a lot in navigating how to make our guests as comfortable as possible. As a storyteller, I've really worked on my voice. I can use the classroom to practice it a lot, so that's nice. But it does take work. It leaves you feeling crazy most days because you sit in this room and you talk to yourself and you record and you're like, okay, it's been 30 minutes. Okay, it's been 40 minutes. Okay, it's been 50 minutes. This is good enough.
Vanessa Hankins [:And you hit stop and you take off the headphones and you take a sigh of relief that, okay, I did another episode. But then that's when the anxiety and the Stress starts. Did I do enough? How many words did I fumble over? Did I leave people hanging? Was that a full thought or was it just a half assed sentence that my brain threw out there and then didn't finish the thought? Because that happens a lot. So I always worry if I'm being authentic enough. I always feel like I am. But at the same time, I do hold back a lot of the ways that I do and say things. A lot of that has to do with my wordy dird language. I am doing better at that.
Vanessa Hankins [:So you guys can be proud of me. This show has helped me say a lot less wordy dirds and that's what we call them in my family, wordy dirds instead of dirty words. You guys get it? Anyways, we have our community of listeners that we all get together on Facebook in our group. Trust us, fans of tri statetimemachine.com or it's not a dot com, it's on Facebook. But anyways, you guys get the picture. But I have grown to love that community. At first I was like, no, this is just gonna be another place for me to talk to myself. But it's turned into a community that embraces me and I embrace them.
Vanessa Hankins [:And there's nothing I love more than getting a new friend request and someone sending a message and being like, hey, I listen to the podcast. I'm a big fan. Love it. Love this, you know, love that. Whatever. Whatever it may be. And then of course, I go right into the story of WG and how it started and how this wasn't technically mine, but I inherited it. And, you know, where we are now.
W.G. [:But.
Vanessa Hankins [:I'll tell you again, guys, like, I just, I'm always mind blown that people listen in, that people like it. It's just, it's very exciting. It's very exciting. And I'm gonna say it probably 50 more times. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So where do we go from here? I'm really excited about the last guest that we had on. He was phenomenal. He kind of reinvigorated the joy for me in this.
Vanessa Hankins [:There's been a lot of changes in my life recently and with those changes being made, I. I'm a more positive person and it's spilling over into this work. So I think the things that I'm excited about most is the guest. I think that the guest list at on the Time Machine is just going to exceed whatever expectation that I have for myself. Because now it's not just me reaching out to people. It's people reaching out to me, wanting to be on. And it's got to the point where I had to make a form like for people to fill out and kind of be able to narrow those down before we even have a conversation with the person. You know, we've got a lot of local stories.
Vanessa Hankins [:I really want to do one on the peanut shop. I have one set up for the Tri State area. Like in general of how the Tri State was formed. There's so many. I have so many ideas. So maybe we'll have a live show, maybe we won't. I don't know. It was in the talk, but I.
Vanessa Hankins [:I don't know. I think probably my, my favorite thing that I'm looking forward to is just bringing more to you guys. I would like to maybe up my posting or maybe keep it at a steady bi weekly because I really like them bi weekly. It isn't overbearing for you, the listener, or for me, the host, but I do want to widen our horizon as to what we have on the time machine, so that's a plus. I do want to reflect on what makes Huntington, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, the Tri State area, unique in the podcast. It's unique because In, God, what, 15, 20 minutes you can be in all. You could have crossed the state line and been in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. You don't have that in a lot of places.
Vanessa Hankins [:So it's very, very unique. And each of those areas are unique in their own way. You know, you go across the bridge into Chesapeake and it's a family vibe. You know, you get into Proctorville, it's also a family vibe. You've got the Chesapeake Panthers, you've got the Fairland Dragons, and I'm a Chesapeake girl, so that's where I graduated high school. So it's a different vibe over there than what we have of the hustle and bustle in Huntington. But it's nice to have the slowdown. And then you get over into Kentucky and it's like a triple slowdown.
Vanessa Hankins [:There's not a whole lot of hustle and bustle. People aren't really in a hurry to get anywhere. At least that's how it seems to me. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know, but I don't know. Anyways, I want to continue local stories that we've highlighted and things that really matter to you guys, the listeners. So as long as you keep letting me know what matters to you and what you want to hear about, I. I don't think that we're going anywhere I do want to try some fun segment ideas.
Vanessa Hankins [:So I'm Thinking like top 10 moments Countdown behind the Mic Confessions. Maybe a Where are they now for past guests, I don't know. We'll see. Looking ahead, dream guests who I would love to have on the show. I would love to have the president of Marshall University on the show. I've said that a million times. It is so hard to work that out because he is such a busy man. But my oh my, what he brings to the table.
Vanessa Hankins [:That man is single handedly changing the dynamics in Huntington, West Virginia. He is bringing people together in ways that were unimaginable before. He is. There's not enough great things for me to say about him. He's just doing phenomenal things for Marshall and for Huntington and I'm so thankful for it. So anyways, so let's talk about We've had episodes that took us all the way back to Huntington's boomtown days. We've shared memories of summer nights at Cannon Park. We've swapped stories about places that don't even exist anymore except in our hearts.
Vanessa Hankins [:Remember the episode where we dove into the history of the Memorial Arch? Or the one where we got everybody talking about their favorite old school restaurants? That one was really fun. Those episodes brought out so many memories from our listeners and that's what I want to continue. And you know, the guests we had musicians like Corduroy Brown, Brown Ben Jam. We had, we already talked about her, but we had Allison from SIP downtown and we had collectors, historians, neighbors who just have incredible stories to be told. And every single one of them brought a different piece of the Tri state puzzle. And along the way I wasn't alone doing it. Jason came on board and having him as a co host has been one of the best parts of this journey. He has great humor, curiosity, and deep love for the community.
Vanessa Hankins [:And it just clicked, honestly, when we started bouncing off each other. I really thought this was it, that I had found the right person to fill WG's shoes. But unfortunately that didn't work out. No one is to blame for that. The magic wasn't there like I wanted it to be. And I think it's because I'm chasing a WG and I don't know that I'm ever going to find that again. I hope that I do for the listener's sake and for the sake of my sanity. Because who likes sitting in a room talking to themselves? Not me.
Vanessa Hankins [:So it always feels nice to have someone to talk to. And I know that we keep talking about it. But, you know, though he's no longer with us, a big part of WG's voice is part of the foundation of this podcast. You know, we carry with him in every story that we tell. He got the ball rolling on this thing, so. And of course, none of this would mean anything without you, our listeners. You've sent in your own stories, you've corrected us when we miss details, you've shared episodes with friends, and honestly, you made this a community project rather than just a podcast. You are the heartbeat of Tri State Time Machine.
Vanessa Hankins [:You really are. And I hope that you all know that, that every time you listen, you are the heart of this time machine. And without you, we are nothing. God, I'm just so thankful. It's so hard to move on when, like, I just. I can't find the words to tell you guys how thankful I am, other than just saying I'm incredibly thankful. So what's next? The Tri State's not out of stories. We're not even close.
Vanessa Hankins [:We've got more history to dig up, more voices to highlight, and more memories to share. The past hundred episodes were just a warm up. The next 100, that's where it gets really exciting. So, you know, let's. Let's do this. Let's. Let's keep doing this together. Let's keep talking about where we've been, where we are and where we're going, and let's keep these memories alive together.
Vanessa Hankins [:Guys, like, I'm. I mean, really, I. I can't tell you enough how thankful I am. Thank you guys for riding along with us on this journey. Just means so much. I. I don't want to get too far into it because then I'll start crying. And God knows that's never fun, especially when you're recording.
Vanessa Hankins [:But, you know, it feels like we're really in this together. And I just want to make sure that I tell you guys how incredibly thankful that I am that we've made it to 100. I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that this time machine is yours. So stick around. The journey's far from over, guys. So happy 100th episode to you. Happy 100th episode to me. And we'll see you guys on the flip side.
Vanessa Hankins [:Okay, we are out of here.
Announcer [:Thanks for listening to the Tri State Time Machine. If you have a memory you want Vanessa to talk more about, just send her an email@tstmail.com or post a comment on the Tri State Time Machine Facebook page. Did you like the episode? Be sure to share it with friends and family. It's the only way we can continue this fun work that we do. You can find a link in the show notes that you can use to share it.
