Noelle Brown joins Fuzz Martin to discuss the exciting and festive events happening in Downtown West Bend, particularly during the holiday season. As the executive director of the Downtown West Bend Association, Noelle highlights the importance of supporting local businesses through various events, including the Downtown Polar Express, which offers winter-themed cocktails while benefiting the Full Shelf Food Pantry. She also shares details about the upcoming Winter Warmup event, featuring stunning ice sculptures and activities designed to draw the community out during the cold winter months. Noelle emphasizes the community's charm during the holidays, with beautifully decorated areas that evoke the spirit of a Hallmark Christmas movie. Listeners will gain insights into how they can participate in these events and support local initiatives while enjoying the vibrant downtown atmosphere.

Links referenced in this episode:

• downtownwestbend.com
• fuzzmartin.com

Hey, what's happening?

2

I'm Fuzz Martin, and this is Fifteen

Minutes with Fuzz, a show about the

3

things happening in our community.

4

That are good.

5

Each week I feature a local organization

or event that is doing something

6

positive in Washington County, Wisconsin.

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And if you ever have an idea for a

guest for the show that fits those

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criteria, don't hesitate to reach out.

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You can email me fuzz at fuzzmartin.

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com.

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That is fuzz at fuzzmartin.

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com.

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And by the way, FuzzMartin.

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com is where you can find all of the

episodes of this show, along with links

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to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

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Though the show is on pretty much any

platform you would ever like to listen on.

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And, if you're listening on the day

that this episode was released, it is

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exactly one week until Christmas Eve.

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Noelle Braun of the Downtown West Bend

Association is joining me this week

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to talk all about the festive winter

happenings in Downtown West Bend.

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Not just this week.

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Christmas happenings.

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We're going to talk about things

happening after the holidays as well,

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and how you can have a great time

even during the coldest winter months.

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And with that, here are 15 minutes

on Downtown West Bend events with

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Noelle Braun on 15 Minutes with Fuzz.

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Noelle, as the executive director of

the Downtown West Bend Association, can

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you give us a quick overview of what

the Downtown West Bend Association does

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to support So, we're going to go ahead

and enhance the downtown community.

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Noelle Braun: Absolutely.

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So, the Downtown West Bend Association,

it's been around for decades and it's

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really become known as an organization,

we're a non profit now, an organization

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that creates some really wonderful

events that bring visitors near

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and far to our beautiful downtown.

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And, Everything that we do, we want to

do it in mind with the local businesses,

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too, because we know when we have

like a thriving downtown community

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that contributes to the economy, the

well being of our wonderful city.

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So we do plan some really great

events that, are for everyone.

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They're very family friendly

events, and just highlight

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what's great about West Bend.

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Fuzz Martin: Sure, and it's, it's the

big ones that everyone knows too, right?

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The, Farmers Market, the Music on Main,

those kind of things, and then a whole

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bunch of other like, one day events.

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Noelle Braun: Absolutely, absolutely.

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It's, it is never a dull moment.

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There is always something going on.

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something happening.

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Yes, we have some really big

events throughout the year.

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But we also again support

the small businesses and like

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different shopping events.

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But the ones you mentioned for sure, the

farmer's market, music on main, those

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are the top two that people think of,

when they think of downtown West Bend.

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Fuzz Martin: Perfect.

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So can you, speaking of downtown, as

we will do often on this episode, how

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It's obviously, it's very charming,

during the holiday season especially,

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you know, they've got the tree and

all of the decorations and such.

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Can you paint a picture for

our listeners of what makes

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downtown great this time of year?

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Noelle Braun: Absolutely.

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The beautiful lights, the

beautiful tree at Old Settlers

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Park, that is such an attraction.

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It reminds a lot of people

of being transported into

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a Hallmark Christmas movie.

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You know, you're walking through

and, it's a gorgeous glittering tree.

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And we love that it's right in

our downtown, in our community.

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I enjoy being so close

to it every day to see.

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It makes everything feel

so festive down there.

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Fuzz Martin: It definitely does

feel like a Hallmark Christmas movie

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or Christmas card scene as well.

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You know, this holiday season, every

holiday season, is such an important

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time for businesses where a lot of

them Make their year, they're able

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to, become, you know, profitable at

this time and really pay that off.

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So how does the Downtown West

Bend Association, help that and

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encourage residents and visitors

to shop, dine, visit downtown?

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Noelle Braun: Absolutely.

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We work very closely with a lot

of the shops throughout the year.

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And you're right, this is a crucial time

of year for these small business owners.

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We have so many storefronts that are

full, that are vibrant, Small shops

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with such a variety too, that's what

I really love about them as well, is

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that people can walk from shop to shop

and see different things in each one.

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We've been helping the small shops

promote the holidays and the holiday

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shopping season, whether that was

through their holiday open houses back

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in November, Small Business Saturday.

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There's something that we do.

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I've learned about called Pink

Friday, which is always the

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Friday before Thanksgiving.

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That's more for like

boutiques, um, promoting that.

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Then getting into December, we, um,

did our second annual Midnight on Main

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on December 6th, which was really fun.

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And just encouraging people

to, dress up in their Christmas

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pajamas if they'd like to do that.

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Add to the festival.

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West Bend, Kewaskum, Slinger, West

Bend, Kewaskum, Slinger, West Bend,

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Kewaskum, Slinger, West One of them

thought, hey, how about we do like a late

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night shopping, like shops open until

8pm on Thursdays until Christmas, like

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the first three Thursdays of December.

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And so we ended up calling it

Merry and Bright Shopping Nights.

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And so each night too has

a little different theme.

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So this is the first year.

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So we're, you know, getting the word out.

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We had like free Christmas gift wrapping,

yesterday and then coming up like December

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19th, Santa's going to be downtown in

our office for kids to take pictures

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with while people are out shopping too.

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Fuzz Martin: And your office is in

the, is it the Centrum Building?

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It is in the Centrum Building,

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Noelle Braun: 120 North Main

Street, Suite 120, facing right

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out there in the Main Street.

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Our neighbors across the

street are the Bend Theater.

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Fuzz Martin: And

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Noelle Braun: who's ourself?

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Yeah, we're right in the thick of it.

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Fuzz Martin: Very easy to find.

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Yes.

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And so Santa will be there

on Thursday the 19th.

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This comes out on Tuesday the 17th.

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So, you know, if you're listening today

or tomorrow or even Thursday morning, make

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sure you get there on Thursday the 19th.

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And if you're listening after that.

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You missed out, but it was great,

and everybody had a great time.

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Noelle Braun: Next year

will be even bigger.

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Yes, exactly,

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Fuzz Martin: exactly.

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Let's talk about some of the holiday

season events that you have going on.

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So, there's the Downtown Polar

Express, which sounds like a

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fun time for adults, right?

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So, can you tell us about the

Polar Express, what that is, what

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businesses are participating?

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You don't have to, obviously, Remember

them all, and, and who it benefits.

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Noelle Braun: Absolutely.

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There's a lot of businesses participating.

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We love that.

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We love the collaboration downtown.

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So, I believe this is the third year

that the Downtown West Bend Association

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is doing the Downtown Polar Express.

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Definitely more geared for adults.

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Instead, the Downtown Polar

Express is like a winter cocktail.

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Fundraiser, that the, there are 16

local bars and restaurants downtown

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that are participating this year.

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Each of them comes up with their

own version of a Polar Express.

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Like a fun wintry themed cocktail.

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And, In years past, it was only

about a month that we would do this.

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We are extending it this year.

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So it started on December 1st.

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We're having that train just chug

along all the way into the new year

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and we're going to be ending it,

the weekend of winter warmup, which

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I know we'll be talking about soon,

but the last day will be Sunday.

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January 19th.

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So there's a lot of opportunities.

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So at all these different

bars and restaurants, again,

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they have these cocktails.

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Two dollars from each of the cocktails

will be going towards the Full Shelf

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Food Pantry, which is the largest food

pantry in Washington County, serving

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a lot of families and individuals.

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So it's just a fun way to give

back and Make an impact, too.

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I know the food pantry, I'm sure,

gets inundated around the holidays.

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So we're hoping like, okay, a little

after the holidays, that donation

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can be really impactful for getting

a variety of food over there.

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So yes, we have All of the bars

and restaurants listed on our

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website, so downtownwestbend.

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com, there's a tab called events, you

just click on it, see all of our events at

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the bottom, it's in chronological order.

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You can click on Downtown Polar

Express and check them all out.

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We're also featuring specific bars

and restaurants, social media on

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our Facebook page, periodically

and highlighting their drinks too.

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Fuzz Martin: Excellent.

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And speaking of your website, it's

great when you click on events

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because, you know, you It's a

very long menu that you have.

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It is.

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Noelle Braun: It's been growing in the

short time that I've been downtown.

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Yes, yes, it

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Fuzz Martin: has.

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One of those events, other events on

there is Chocolate Around the Bend.

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Actually, let me skip forward

because I skipped the big one.

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One of those events on there is the

West Bend Winter Warm Up, which is

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Coming up, of course, and as we're

recording this, I think it's like

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negative three degrees outside.

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Hopefully it's warmer when

you're listening, but what's

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the story behind winter warm up?

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What can people expect there?

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Anything new this year?

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And, and really, how does it

encourage people to come downtown?

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Noelle Braun: Yeah, so Winter

Warm Up has been going on downtown

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West Bend since, I believe, 2019.

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So it just continues to gain

in popularity, more and more

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people wanting to come downtown

for that fun winter weekend.

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So this coming year, it'll be

January 17th, 18th, and 19th.

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And it is our, a fun event where The

biggest highlight is the ice sculptures.

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So we have such a variety of

businesses that partner and say, Hey,

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I want to sponsor an ice sculpture.

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They get some recognition.

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They also add to the beauty of the event.

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We have an ice sculpture artist

that has so many different

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sculptures to choose from.

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So they're going to be

lined on Main Street.

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Summon 6th Avenue and then the

Riverwalk too, highlighting

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their beautiful Riverwalk.

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So they'll be delivered that Friday

and then a lot of activities, the first

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day on Friday, January 17th, we'll

have some more evening activities.

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There's always going to be fire pits

at Old Settlers Park, being tended.

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This year we are going to add, some

marshmallows, like every day, actually.

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So if people want to roast a marshmallow,

they can do that around the fire pits.

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Old Settlers Park is also

where we have the ice sculpture

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demonstration, like the live demo.

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So Max from Art Below Zero will

be there on Saturday, January

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18th at Old Settlers Park at 11 a.

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m.

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And we'll be carving

something really beautiful.

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We think Delta Defense, they are

the the top, called the iceberg

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sponsor this year, but yeah,

they're helping with the ice demo.

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We have so many wonderful sponsors

though that are going to be recognized

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throughout the event and before.

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Then we are going to also

be selling hot cocoa.

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That's a little new this year.

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There's gonna be warming stations up and

down Main Street that whole weekend, but

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we decided we're gonna have an area near

Old Settlers Park where people can stop,

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get some hot cocoa, some hot apple cider.

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walk around and look at all the beauty.

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So on that Saturday from between 10 a.

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m.

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to 4 p.

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m.

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is when a lot of the activities

are going to be going on.

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The Bend Theater is going to

be doing some free showings of

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Ice Age, the first one at 11 a.

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m.

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and 1 p.

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m.

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on that Saturday.

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And then that Saturday evening,

there's going to be the Luminary

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Walk at Lac Lawrann Conservancy.

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That's really beautiful.

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If people haven't done

that, I recommend it.

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Even if you aren't a wintry, wintry

person, like I For sure, winter is

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beautiful, but it is my least favorite

season, but I am, I'm out there.

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And if you bundle up enough, if you wear

enough layers, like you can handle it.

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And the luminary walk is really

beautiful, especially when

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there is snow on the ground.

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So we'll see what January brings us.

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But they light up the path, of

course, with those lanterns,

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those illuminated lanterns.

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And so that's open to

the public, that's free.

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And then the next day on Sunday,

January 19th, we are going

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to have the sled dogs return.

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So those are always a great hit.

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They, it's through a nonprofit

called H2M2 and they rescue huskies

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and malamutes and they also do

adoptions and they're out there.

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They got these cute

little stuffed animals.

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They got, dogs, super friendly dogs for

like photo ops and pet them a little bit.

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The Bend Theater will be doing Ice Age

2, The Meltdown, free showings on Sunday.

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11 a.

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m.

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and 1 p.

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m.

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And yeah, it's just a really

fun event to bring people out,

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especially, you know, it is winter.

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It's, it's good to have those activities

to, to draw people out of their homes.

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Fuzz Martin: Yes, absolutely.

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And the Huskies bring us back every year.

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I mean, we come every year

because we, I love the sculptures.

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Our kids love the sculptures,

you know, those kind of things.

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But.

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The Huskies are the big hit, in

our family, so we, we always come

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on, on Sunday when they're there.

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Also, it's always a tradition here at Epic

Creative where we have a committee that

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picks the, four different, or four or five

different sculptures that we, because that

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list that you talked about is super long.

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It was like 400 different things.

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It was

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Noelle Braun: over 400 sculptures

that you can choose from.

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Fuzz Martin: And so we, we narrow

it down to like four or five.

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And then we let the employees vote on 'em.

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And I forget what we voted or what we

ended up with this year, but, uh, I

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Noelle Braun: should have

come prepared with that.

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Yeah, I, uh, I remember

what you did last year.

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You did a T-Rex last year?

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Yeah, we

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Fuzz Martin: did a T-Rex.

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We've done a unicorn in the past.

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Yeah.

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Uh, let's see, winter warmup,

uh, see if it comes up.

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Definitely think about the

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Noelle Braun: creative for

your continued support.

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Yes.

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Fuzz Martin: So this year we, uh.

285

We had the Cladagh Ring, the, the Lab, a

Dragon, a Honeybee, or Rosie the Riveter.

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And I think Rosie the

Riveter is the winner.

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Yes.

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Noelle Braun: Right when you said

it, I'm like, that's the one.

289

I'm excited to see what

that one looks like.

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Yeah, me too.

291

Yeah.

292

Yeah.

293

It's always awesome, like, just

seeing, you see the name, and then that

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weekend you actually, you know, you

see it come to life in ice form, and

295

you're like, oh, that's really great.

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Fuzz Martin: Exactly.

297

And Dragon was second place, so that was,

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Noelle Braun: Next

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Fuzz Martin: time.

300

That was, yes, but it wasn't even close.

301

So, Rosie won.

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Yes.

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Let's talk about

Chocolate Around the Bend.

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That's coming up in February.

305

What can you share about

Chocolate Around the Bend?

306

How does it bring life to downtown

during like the dead of winter?

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Noelle Braun: Right.

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So, it is a great event.

309

It's been going on for some

310

bring some changes to the event.

311

In the past, it has been a

free event, which it's always

312

great when things are free.

313

I get that for sure.

314

But this is also hand in hand meant

to bring people downtown to just enjoy

315

something to do in the dead of winter.

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But we're also focusing

a lot on our shops.

317

Bringing some people into those

shops, seeing what they have to offer.

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Mm-hmm . Hopefully, you know, they

get some sales through this too,

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and supporting our local economy.

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So what we have determined, after

speaking with the shops is we are

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going to elevate this experience.

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So it's still gonna be a

shopping event, still gonna be,

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anyone is welcome to come out.

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It's gonna actually be a little

different timing this year.

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Okay.

326

It's gonna start on a Friday evening.

327

or Friday, like afternoon into

the evening, like from 2 to 8 p.

328

m.

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on Friday, February 7th.

330

And then Saturday, February

8th, it'll be from 10 a.

331

m.

332

to 4 p.

333

m.

334

So people can do both days.

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They could do one day.

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You know, our goal is we would

love for people to come and do

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both days and experience it.

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Turn it into a date night or a

date weekend if they wanted to.

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But we are ticketing the event this year.

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So, elevating the experience., similar to

some of the other events we've done too

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for the shopping events, but, it's also

going to bring in some higher quality

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chocolates too, which we're excited

about., We've been working closely with

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Candy Man on Main, they're so great.

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And so at the 20 ticket, there's

going to be between 17 to 20 stops.

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We're determining right now, just

finalizing the list of all the

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shops that are going to participate.

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But at each of those stops, if you

get your 20 ticket, you're going to

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get a box, like a chocolate box, and

the Candyman is sponsoring those.

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And then people are going to be able,

of course, to walk around each of the

350

locations, get, you know, their locations

checked off, and they'll get a unique

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gourmet high end piece of chocolate that

they can eat right away, or it's a lot

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of chocolate, so you can like put them in

the box and save them for a little later,

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gift it to someone if you wanted to.

354

So really looking forward to that.

355

We're going to be talking to the bars

and restaurants, of course, see if

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any of them last year, this past year,

they had like 10 of them, or it's like,

357

yeah, I'll do a chocolate themed drink.

358

Oh, yeah.

359

dessert and appetizer,

something like that.

360

Sure.

361

That people can go and, you

know, take advantage of that.

362

And on the Saturday, there is going to

be like a pop up, like, vendor market

363

in 6 Ave Bar and Grills event space.

364

Okay.

365

We did that for a couple years now.

366

Some of them are like chocolate

vendors and, you know, or just

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a variety of great, things.

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Small businesses or makers, you know, just

for something else, you know, for people

369

to do during Chocolate Around the Bend.

370

Yeah, but we're really

looking forward to it.

371

And then if people do visit all of

the locations, they can return, their

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punch card and then they'll be in the,

the drawing then to win a great prize.

373

So tickets are available right now.

374

We did just recently create the

Facebook event, and then we're

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gonna be updating our website.

376

And you can get tickets soon

with all of the details as well.

377

Okay.

378

Where people can just click

on it and get their tickets.

379

Fuzz Martin: On DowntownWestBend.

380

com?

381

DowntownWestBendAssociation?

382

Actually,

383

Noelle Braun: it's just DowntownWestBend.

384

com.

385

Fuzz Martin: DowntownWestBend.

386

com.

387

Perfect.

388

And then, yeah, so that'll be up

soon for people to get tickets.

389

Noelle Braun: Absolutely.

390

By the time people are

listening to this, for sure.

391

Yep, the link will be out there.

392

Fuzz Martin: And speaking of all that,

it obviously takes a lot of effort

393

to make all of these things happen.

394

And, Everything that you've said to me,

you're doing this without notes, which

395

is mind blowing to me, remembering dates

and all the different places and things.

396

But there's a lot of details

that you put into it.

397

What goes into getting

all these events together?

398

How do you do it?

399

Noelle Braun: Oh, wow, yes.

400

We are a small but mighty team.

401

We do have committees, you know, we,

we meet regularly with the shops.

402

bars and restaurants to get

things on people's radar.

403

Sending out the calendars, like

here's all the events coming up.

404

We have our 2025 pretty much planned out.

405

Yes, it is right up there.

406

The calendar is in my head.

407

But it is a lot.

408

It's a lot of follow up, right?

409

It's, but ensuring, you know, that we

have a high quality, Quality event that

410

we want as many collaborators as possible,

to make it a great experience for those

411

that are visiting and participating.

412

So yes, it's just, yep.

413

Emails, text messages, phone calls,

mm-hmm . Just, again, the follow ups and

414

the communication is so key when you're

putting events like this together, to

415

make sure that it's just a seamless

event that people who come just.

416

We don't want them to realize all the

work that goes into it on the back end.

417

Awesome.

418

Fuzz Martin: Well, you do a great

job and you and the team do it.

419

Is there any opportunity

for people to help out?

420

Is there, are there volunteer

opportunities or anything like

421

that with downtown West Bend?

422

Noelle Braun: Absolutely.

423

Thank you.

424

Right now on the top of

my mind is winter warmup.

425

Okay.

426

So we do have, we go through signup.

427

link and we just posted it on

recently on our Facebook page.

428

about our need for volunteers.

429

And here's the link to do it.

430

And we just updated on the website.

431

So the variety of opportunities are,

tending the fire and like handing out the,

432

the marshmallows for roasting, handing

out the brochures because we're creating

433

the map and the brochures that people

are going to use as they're wanting to

434

see like which sculptures are where.

435

We, now that we're going to be doing

some, more hot cocoa and hot apple cider

436

sales, we do need some volunteers that

are going to be, helping to do that.

437

So mixing up the.

438

The drinks, serving them, our goal

is we, we have a connection with

439

someone that may have a heated

trailer, to be able to sell the hot

440

cocoa because I know it's a cold day.

441

I really get that.

442

All of our volunteers will get

free hot cocoa and apple cider

443

and hand warmers and all of that.

444

I mean, we will see what the weather

brings, but we're, we're prepared.

445

So that's a big volunteer need right now.

446

And there's always volunteer needs

that come up throughout the year, but

447

that's the main one I want to focus on.

448

All right,

449

Fuzz Martin: perfect.

450

And again, people can find all this

information on downtownwestbend.

451

com, if you want to volunteer.

452

You could be a fire tender,

which is the coolest volunteer

453

title that you can get, by far.

454

So, uh, well, thank you

so much for coming in.

455

Obviously, the holidays, great time

in downtown West Bend and the Downtown

456

West Bend Association is, contributes

highly to making that happen.

457

So thanks for all you do,

and thanks for coming in.

458

Noelle Braun: Thank you so much.

459

Fuzz Martin: Well, thank you again to

Noelle Braun of the Downtown West Bend

460

Association for joining me on this week's

episode of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

461

Again, you can email

me fuzz at fuzzmartin.

462

com if you ever have an idea

for a guest for this show.

463

That email again, it's real easy.

464

Fuzz at fuzzmartin.

465

com.

466

New episodes coming on Tuesdays,

but we're going to take a little

467

break for the holidays, though.

468

I might have a little

present for you next week.

469

If I can make it happen, we'll see

again, you can find all the episodes

470

of the show on Apple podcasts, Spotify.

471

You too.

472

I hope, I hope I showed up in

some of your Spotify Wrapped.

473

Uh, that would be really nice.

474

Uh, as well as at fuzzmartin.

475

com, you can listen there as well.

476

Have the merriest of Christmases.

477

And thank you so much for listening

to Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.