Nestled in the heart of Washington, Missouri, Oxfest has become a staple of the local music scene. We’re joined by Ken Boland, emcee of the event, and he takes us on a journey through the festival's inception. Picture this: a few friends reminiscing about their late brothers, the discussion turns serious, and before you know it, a music festival is born! Fast forward nine years, and the Oxfest Music Festival has transformed from a modest gathering to an exciting full-day festival featuring 14 amazing bands.

From rock to bluesy tunes to country beats that’ll have you two-stepping, this festival is about more than just music; it’s about supporting local charities that focus on helping kids in need. We discuss the various organizations that benefit from the festival, how they work to uplift the community, and why your attendance matters. Ken’s enthusiasm for the festival is contagious, making it clear that this is not just another summer concert venue—it’s a heartfelt mission to create a positive impact for kids through music and camaraderie.

[00:00] Campfire Festival Idea

[01:10] Show Banter Begins

[02:08] Sponsor And Jazz Hands

[03:15] Meet Ken Bolen

[03:32] Why It’s Called Oxfest

[05:34] Festival Growth And Stages

[06:50] Tickets Parking And What To Bring

[08:45] Pro Production And Giving Back

[10:24] Seven Charities Supported

[15:22] Mission And Volunteers

[18:55] Main Stage Lineup

[22:54] Blues Stage Highlights

[26:14] Country Stage Acts

[29:13] Next Up Kids And Food

[29:45] Mortgage Sponsor Break

[30:32] Dred Scott Stamp Petition

[31:46] OxFest Details Recap

[32:25] Kid Zone and Youth Bands

[34:09] Food Drinks and Sponsors

[37:09] Safety and Special Guest Sarah Kraffty

[39:32] Visit Washington Missouri

[40:32] Tickets Donations and Thanks

[43:36] Welcome Corps PSA

[44:25] Banana Split Day Editorial

[45:59] National Days

[49:30] Humor and Final Signoff

Takeaways:

• The Oxfest Music Festival is a heartfelt tribute to lost loved ones, aiming to raise funds for local charities that support children and families.
• This year, the festival will feature 14 diverse bands across multiple stages, including rock, blues, country, and more, making it a must-attend event.
• If you're looking for a family-friendly festival, Oxfest has a Kid Zone with activities like face painting and a petting zoo, so bring the whole crew!
• The festival not only highlights great music but also emphasizes community engagement, showcasing local organizations that support underprivileged children.
• Mark your calendars for September 19th at the Washington Fairgrounds, where gates open at 11:30 AM—don't forget your chairs and good vibes!
• Oxfest is not just about the music; it's about creating a supportive environment for kids and families, with all proceeds going to local charities.

• OxFest Music Festival
• OxFest - Facebook

This is Season 9! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com

#oxfest #oxfestmusicfestival #washingtonmo #sarahkraffty #washingtonfairgrounds #thecoveringhouse #allabilitiesathletics #duanehaddoxmemorialscholarship #casaofmideastmissouri #wingseducationalfoundation #wholekidsoutreach #oneclassroom

What do you do if you're sitting around a campfire in the wee hours of the morning and you get to a barbecue and you go, I want to remember somebody who's very important to me. Let's start a music festival. We're going to talk about the oxfest in its ninth year on St. Luis and tunes.

Foreign.

Welcome to St. Louis in Tune.

And thank you for joining us for fresh perspectives on issues and events with experts, community leaders, and everyday people who make a difference in shaping our society and world. I'm Arnold Stricker along with co host Mark Langston. Hey, needed to get those. The Pistachio Gallery. Applauding. Oh, I announced your name.

You're probably right. Let's see. Okay. Yeah. So my name backwards. What is yours? Mine's Knots Canal Cram.

I've stopped trying to figure mine out.

Did you. You got to write it out.

I did that one time. It's like I just. I got enough trouble saying my name correctly.

Is there a. Yeah. It's great to be with you.

It's great to be with me, too.

No taking in nourishment.

Oh, here we go. It's gonna be one of those shows.

No modesty in Arnold. He's got.

Except I'm follically challenged.

Yes. I love that. Yes. We're talking about that, folks. Off mic if that's what something.

I refuse to wear a toupee.

Oh, that's.

I know very smart people in local TV news on Channel 5 that wear toupee.

You can tell some.

I'm not going to tell you who it is.

You can tell some of them.

I've told you too much already. Yes, you can.

Some of them is bad rug man.

I know. Why do you even. I don't.

You didn't go to hunt. Hans.

Fine on this thing, Hans.

Is it a squirrel or is it a rug?

It's a bird bag.

It's your hair on head. Okay, good.

All right. We're glad that you joined us today, folks. Want to thank our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage, for their support of the show.

You can listen to previous [email protected] where you can follow us and leave a review. Our thought to ponder today.

We got lots of those.

It's a good one. Anyone who's just driven 90 yards against huge men trying to kill them has earned the right to do jazz hands.

Anyone who's just driven 90 yards against huge men trying to kill them on the field, folks, has earned the right to do jazz hands. You see some of these celebrations you know, in the end zone.

Yeah.

Some of them mostly are dancing. Some of them are. They lay down. They're, like, taking pictures, man. Just do the jazz hands. Or better yet, just say, okay, I scored.

Give the ball to the referee and go back to the huddle.

Wave to the crowd.

Yeah, wave to the crowd.

Take your Sharpie and sign the.

Sign the ball. Throw it out. If they throw the ball into the stands, it's, like, fine.

Yes. And in soccer, the fans throw it back. Wow. I never.

They poke it with a stick first. Depends on how good the team is.

I know, I know.

I thought that was you by Spalding.

And that commercial. That commercial was given by our guest today, Ken Boland, who's the MC of the Oxfest. Hey, we need that applause now, Mark. There we go, Ken.

Welcome back to St. Louis in Tune.

Thanks. Thanks. Good to be here, Arnold.

Yeah.

Tell the folks again the origin of the name Oxfest, because it's not Steer Fest or Cow Fest or she Fest.

Food Fest. Yeah. It's important to tell the story because it's about my cousins.

Absolutely.

And so they had a couple charities that they worked with. Dwayne was a coach, a mentor, a father, a great husband. He's just a wonderful guy.

He was at St. Francis Borgia.

Very good.

Yes.

You have done your homework.

Thank you.

Way to go, Arnold. And so he's just not a pretty face, folks.

That's for sure.

And then Doug had a. An organization that he supported called Whole Kids Outreach. And so we thought we'd go ahead and honor these guys.

We had a campfire and a barbecue and stuff like that. And I think it was the second or third one. There's bourbon and things going around a campfire like you do.

And the surviving brother, David, goes, we ought to have. Do something to raise some money for these charities that they supported. We go, that's a great idea.

And my buddy Kevin Walde, who's the president of oxfest, says, maybe we ought to do a little music. And David goes, that's a great idea. Let's do that. And so we all walk away thinking, yeah, this will never happen.

David calls the next day and says, hey, I rented the park.

What?

Yeah, I rented the park. You did? For the music. We're gonna have a band. He goes, no, we got five we're gonna have five bands and it's just.

Not a regular park. It's the Washington.

Yeah, the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds where the Town and country fair is, which is a big deal in Washington.

Oh, it's huge.

It's the number one thing. We think we might be number two now. We hope that we're. We're trying to be. We're not gonna be the biggest thing in the world, but we want to be.

Keep it continuing to grow. So yeah, we had five bands and about 500 people, something like that. So we're in our ninth year. We're looking to draw about 2,000 people this year.

And how many bands are going to be there?

We've expanded again. So last year we had the blues stage and it was such a big hit. People loved the blue stage. We had Jeremiah Johnson and some really good acts.

People are going, you really need country out here. And we're like, okay, so we're not afraid to be afraid, apparently. And we have a third stage now. Yes, country bands. So we got 14 bands this year.

I know.

Only service animals. Okay. It's family friendly. But there's got the main stage. You have the oxfest blues stage. We'll talk about this. You got the country music stage.

You might have another stage next year.

Let's see how this year goes. Because we're all volunteers. You got to get people to actually work this thing. Really.

I know. In their spare time.

In their spare time. That's right.

Let's go into all the aspects of the festival. Because when you go to a festival, okay, the first thing is I got to get tickets. Which you can get tickets on Eventbrite or you can go to.

You can go to oxfest. It's O X F E S T Music Festival with one. No, no s.org and that will take you to Eventbrite. A couple banks in town. Franklin county bank of Washington.

Washington is if you're some south cities worship.

Yeah. Or from anywhere beyond this studio. Washington.

And that's right.

You can get them there as well. And they're a whopping $30.

Wow.

I know. For an all day festival.

Oh yeah.

Okay. So where am I going to park? So I'm coming in from out of town.

Yeah.

I want to go through everything here. Where do I park? Is parking free?

As a matter of Fact, it is. The actual address is 201 Grand Avenue, so you can put that in your GPS. It's hard to get lost in Washington, but you could.

But we're at the fairgrounds where the town and country fair is, which is a big deal like we were talking about earlier. And it's free. Parking will actually direct you to. To park, so plenty of parking.

And do I need to bring lawn chairs? Like blankets? What do I need to bring?

Yeah, bring a smile.

Okay.

Just come happy. Because it's a family event.

Kid friendly, folks. Kid friendly.

Kid friendly. Yeah. Bring a chair.

Okay.

Definitely bring a chair. Coolers and food. We provide all that for you.

So don't bring that stuff from home.

No, please don't. Because we're trying to support these seven organizations. And here's the thing.

A lot of times people don't buy their tickets early because they're thinking, oh, it's an outdoor festival. Every one of our stages are covered, number one.

Okay.

And the blue stage and the country stage actually cover the people as well. Oh. So if you're a little warm or something, you want to go and get underneath to get out of the sun, you can do that.

We have big tents out there as well.

Okay.

Don't worry about the weather, folks. Just come on out. It's a good point. Fabulous stages are. Let me tell you about the. One of the stage. Film. One of the stages. A million dollar stage.

Wow.

It is a really, wow, professionally done festival. And this one stage is just beautiful.

So is that there all the time?

Yeah, that stage is permanent.

Now, you mentioned something off the air before we started. This isn't just. This isn't just like some podunk music festival. No, the sound people.

Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for bringing that up. So last year we had this sound producing company out of, I think Omaha or somewhere. Really professional.

And as we're going along, we're about into our fourth band on the main stage. And one of the producing music producer guy goes, hey, come here. He says, you guys really mean this? I said, what do you mean what?

He goes, you really mean this? That you are an organization that's throwing a great festival, wonderful music, greatly produced, and you're giving the money away? I said, yeah.

He goes, we go to a lot of places where people are not doing that as well as you are. So. Yeah, we have no employees. We cover our Expenses. And the rest of it goes to our seven organizations that we support. All kid related. Arnold.

We, we like to call it a mutual fund of kid organizations that we support.

Let's talk about some of those groups.

Yeah.

Because I think it's important that people who are listening understand what you just said is a really important concept that a lot of 501 C3s don't implement. All the money goes to the organizations that you support. No money is paying somebody's salary.

Yeah, I pay my way into the festival. I'm the main aim. Say this shirt. I'm wearing, this hat. I brought it. I pay for all that. We don't line anybody's pockets. Even if it's a shirt or a hat.

We're like, yeah, I mean, you got to pay for that. Okay. So some of the organizations that we support, All Abilities Athletics is a local WASHMO place.

And their missions provide first class athletics for kids that may not be able to enjoy that because of their disability. And that ranges from pre K up through high school. So they build confidence and some skills and things like that. So most of the kids are autistic.

So really a cool organization. You want me to just go on down the line?

Absolutely.

All right. Yeah.

Wings, which is Washington's investment in great schools, sometimes the school cannot provide or won't provide certain supplies that a teacher may need. And so we help them with that and they give grants to their teachers so they can get the materials they need. Really do a good job teaching them.

The third of seven organizations is St. Francis Borgia. As we mentioned earlier, Dwayne had Doc H A D D O X. That's how we got ox best.

Because we used to call Doug and Dwayne ox because they were football players and they were rather.

They're big.

They were big.

Okay.

Yeah. I should have followed Doug's blocking a lot better than I did when I was a kid.

Yeah.

Really, the things you learn. But anyway, Dwayne was a. He was a coach and a mentor teacher. He's the athletic director there. He really supported Borgia.

So we provide a scholarship to a kid that may not be able to afford that type of education. Here's one that Doug really liked. And I think I told this story before and I told Sister Ann I'd never tell this story on stage again.

But I'm not on stage. Right.

You're not on stage.

Yep. So Sister Ann Francione is executive director for a place called Whole Kids Outreach down in Ellington, Missouri.

The average income for a family of four down there, 15,500 bucks.

So they serve 11 counties, they're in southeast Missouri, and they provide like in home nursing and other programs for pregnant women and their families. Doug was a big supporter of those. So here's the deal. All right, Doug, so you're supporting this place. There must be a chick involved.

And he goes, oh, yeah, her name's Ann. Wow, that's great. So poor Ann must not have liked Doug so much. Or Doug did something to her because she became a nun.

Sister, if you're listening to this, we love you. We really appreciate what you're doing. Another organization that we, that we support is called One Classroom.

And they're dedicated to inclusive educational opportunities. Again, those kids with special needs, that's in the St. Louis archdiocese. So very happy about that. CASA, which is children. What does that stand for?

CASA. Help me out here. It's child advocate special. Something.

You're doing fine.

I should know this. Yeah, Child advocate special. Anyway, they have child advocates and Glenda Vollmer is the leader of casa and.

They court appointed special advocate.

There it is. Court appointed special advocate.

I looked it up.

Wow, you're fast. That is really.

I appreciate that. So you know, children that have been abused or neglected, they help them get through the court system.

Now the thing with them is you don't have to be a child advocate. They're looking for any type of volunteers. There's lots and lots to do for, for casa. Let's see, who have I not covered? I have not covered.

Maybe the two of the most important ones that are. I'm sorry, one most important ones in my mind is the covering house. And that was started by Ed Lehman.

And what the covering house does is it restores the childhood of mostly adolescent kids that have been sex trafficked. It's a sad situation. Missouri's number four in the nation. St. Louis, I think is number eight in the nation for trafficking.

And it doesn't mean that they just get grabbed and taken away.

Most of it's like, sadly, fathers or boyfriends of these, these victims, and they'll put something on Facebook and they'll say, hey, we're gonna have a party. Why don't you come on over? Oh, great. Thinks it's an 18 year old, has her friend, all her friends, and next thing you know, they have a party.

They drug them and they film them and blackmail them. We're a big supporter of the covering house. We think their mission is really huge. So I think that's. I think I've covered them.

These folks, if you didn't hear something of value in what Ken was talking about, then you need to go back and push, rewind and listen again. Because all of those things can. Any. Any one of those individually is well worth supporting.

There's some that probably pull on people's heartstrings a little bit more than others because maybe of their background or the knowledge that they have of situations that are going on with maybe people in their family or their neighborhood or their community.

But I want to commend you, and I guess there's a board that kind of oversees the oxfest of all the things you guys are doing to keep the focus on that. Because sometimes when groups.

And I guess I'm editorializing, Mark, is when groups, they go down the road and they've been doing this for a long time, it kind of becomes regular and. Oh, yeah. And they lose sight of the mission. You guys have really kind of laser focused in, and you're spot on point.

Thanks. Thanks. We. We try to keep the mission in mind all the time. You get stressed out. You're thinking, what's about this? What about this decision?

What about this decision? So we always go back to our mission. What's our mission? And it's.

It's supporting the development of strong, healthy families and their educational endeavors of deserving students. That's our actual mission statement. So we have a statement.

Say that again.

It's supporting the development of strong, healthy, happy families and the educational endeavors of deserving students.

Now, can you think, Mark, of any other thing that would be like that of a music festival?

No.

Wow.

No. And I think it's great. You guys have been going for nine years.

Yeah.

And it doesn't look that you're ever going to end, which is great. I can't imagine the volunteers that it takes. And are you bringing up folks that'll take your place when you.

Good point.

When you move on. Not that you're gonna move on anytime soon.

You never know.

I have so many questions about it, but the. The volunteers to put this event on must be crazy.

It's. Yeah, it's a task. And we shake our heads sometimes going,.

What are we doing?

Are we doing this again?

Why are we adding another stage?

Yeah, why are we. And it's. You just keep going back to the mission.

And the people in the greater Washington area, Franklin County, St. Louis county area, Warren County, Gasconade County.

I know people from St. Louis county that have come. Yeah, they talk. I've talked to people that are heading that way. Yeah.

Yeah.

We'd love to have more and more People from St. Louis, St. Louis county come out because the deal with it is, yeah, we are laser focused on our mission. There are volunteers that are just unbelievable how they show up all the time.

They're.

They know what our mission is. They. They know we're doing this for kids.

And the thing is, you can come to the festival at noon and listen to the Mighty Pines, which is unbelievable band, by the way, leading off this thing. You can come to the festival at noon if you want to leave at 3 o', clock, go somewhere for a while, come back, please do re entry.

Is easy to do.

Easy to do. We'll just give you a band or mark your hand or whatever we do at the gate and come and go.

As you please because the last band plays at 8pm and that's Anthology tribute to the Allman Brothers Band.

Love it.

This is Arnold Strick with Mark Langston of St. Louis in tune as Mark is getting a jolly back there about the Allman Brothers Band. Let's go through the lineup here because let's talk about the main stage, the blues stage, and then the Mark's favorite, the country music stage.

That's your favorite? Really? Country music?

It's an acquired taste actually. But yeah, it's. For me, it's American music. It's just something. I don't know. I love rock and roll. Don't get me wrong.

I was weaned on rock and roll and I do love jazz. I've been to East St. Louis with a couple of friends that know the landscape of where the jazz clubs are. Nothing like. There's nothing like it.

If you can go over there with someone that knows their way around, the jazz in this area is great. So I'm not. I don't doubt that jazz is going over very well there because this town really loves jazz.

The bluesy is kind of a jazzy type thing. And one of the main guests we have on the main stage is actually a country singer. But then we have the country stage and it's no joke either.

I mean, no, we don't bring out some band we found in a basement, that's for sure. Unless they're really good.

They have to be good to be on the Oxfest festivals.

And they call violins a fiddle, which is,.

You know, we had the steel drivers one year.

The year before COVID are those steel guitars.

What's the guys?

Another great instrument to play.

The one guy that played the fiddle didn't read a word of music. He couldn't read music to save his Life. He just played. He's a great Cardinal fan, by the way. But anyway, Steel Drivers were really cool, but.

So here we are on the main stage. We're starting off with the Mighty Pines and they're a really interesting group, an acoustic quartet group.

They've just came out with a new album and it's called Good Luck. Nice to meet you. So it's kind of give you an idea of what kind of band they are. They are. They are a fun group.

That group alone could be the headliner, but they happen to have a gig later that night, so we have to have them early.

Yeah.

Molly Lovett. You probably had never heard of Molly Lovett. No, she's from Nashville, She's a country singer. She's touring Europe currently.

And Molly was at the Del Mar hall about four or five months ago and just released a new album. So she's. She'll be on the main stage. You'll. You should see them, Mark. I think she's fabulous. Then the Third State.

The third band is called the Sapping Tones. They're all from the Sappingtone area.

Is.

I'm saying that right? Sappington and Crestwood area. And they do local 70s and 80s and 90s. My brother in law happens to be the drummer. Really solid band.

Yeah, they've played there. I think this is their third time. Very interesting music. Great stuff. Now we get into. You could flip a coin who's going to be at the main band here.

So Jimmy Griffin. Jimmy Griffin with the name El Monstero, Celebration Day and Hard Promises.

Wow.

That's the band he's bringing his Hard Promises. Tom Petty tribute band. And he's there. Close your eyes and you think you're listening to Tom Petty. Tom's dead now, but Jimmy is not.

That'll break your heart. For those of you that don't know Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Had explained it. Shouldn't have said it then if you have to explain it.

The final band coming on at 8 o', clock, go for a couple hours is the Anthology. Danny Liston, the old Mama's Pride guy. Tribute to the Allman Brothers. And.

And I didn't know this, but he's actually has some ties, real ties to Greg Allman.

Wow.

So there's a deep connection there and you can really feel that in his music. I saw him.

Great band.

It's a wonderful band. So that's the main stage.

Okay.

You want to talk about the blues stage? Sure.

And a question that I was thinking about, say I wanted to. I didn't have to stay at one stage all the time. I could go from the main stage now I want to go over to the.

The blues stage and I can go over the country stage. You can kind of do that.

Oh, yeah. We try to stagger the bands a little bit, like a half an hour. So if a band ends, you can go to another stage if you want.

Or if they're halfway through and you, hey, I really want to hear Jeremiah Johnson. I'll go over there. If I really want to hear Adam Knight, I'll go to the country stage. Yeah, you can. You can roam all you want.

Okay.

And we service all those stages with another mc. And so you hear about our charities, hear about our organizations, because we don't want it just to be here.

Make sure everybody is educated about all of our organizations at each of those stages. That's just really important to us. The money's great and that's the whole idea of the festival.

But educating people on what's going on in the world is just as important.

It is, it is.

So, yeah, you can go to each of those stages at any particular time.

Okay, let's talk about the. What do we got here? The blue stage.

Oh, yeah. So we started off with a local band, Bag lunch blues. They're just great guys.

They play every year because they're part of the Washington blues society. And they're just. They're wonderful. They're just great guys. They love to have fun. And they've been playing since they were in diapers, I think.

Wow, they're really good. Then a band called Mo Berry, M O E Berry. They rock it really hard. They're a fun country band as well.

Jeremiah Johnson, who in the St. Louis area has not heard the international artist, One of the best blues players in area, Jeremiah. And that guy is. The thing about him is that he's really humble.

He was up for a blues music award nominee, so no joke there. Then comes Amanda Fish. Amanda Fish from Nashville. She just cut another album as well. Number six on the blues chart. Number four on iTunes. Blues chart.

240 Plus Spotify streams. 40,000 Spotify streams. Sorry, not 240.

These aren't some garage band kind of deals.

Nope.

No, no. These are really professional.

This is really music festival groups.

Yeah. And they give us a little Break. Because they know what we're all about. So we're happy about that. We don't twist anybody's arms.

But most of the time, they'll hear about what we're doing, Right? They'll say, yeah, we'll cut our fee a little bit. Great. Thank you. Appreciate it. And the last band, Soul Cracker, we laugh about that.

I think it's a funny name. But Tony Campanella is a part of that group. And I don't know if you're familiar with Tony, but Tony is probably.

Jeremiah Johnson would say he's the best blues guitarist in the St. Louis area. He's totally into it. So that's the blues stage.

Wow.

Okay.

I know. Thank you.

Then we have the country stage.

That golf clap is really perfect timing after the.

Oh, yeah.

BMW Classic. The country stage. There's a band called Riverbend. Southern rock country band.

Another one of these local bands that are just really having a lot of fun people. Will people enjoy them. It's a good one to start off with. The next one is from New Jersey.

Wow.

I know.

I don't know.

I don't know how they're going to perform out there.

Washington.

Yeah, From Joy.

They're just trying to get out of town.

Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Joyce. Here we go.

Called Runaway Train. That's another thing.

Yeah, that's probably okay. Let's hear it, guys. Okay.

That's perfect. But they're a country band. They play all your favorite country hits. They're really a fabulous band. Joyce.

Sorry, Tracy. There it is. Okay.

There goes the Amtrak, folks. Just in time. Here's one. Mark, you need to come see Adam Knight out of Austin, Texas. Country guy.

Oh, a lot of good bands out of Austin.

This guy is DZ Top, I think.

Was out of Austin, actually.

Really?

Yeah, I believe they are.

I went.

I saw them.

That seems to be a hotbed for me.

It is. It is a hotbed.

And you being a music director and.

All would know that, I think. Yeah.

And we got a doctorate over here.

Oh, yeah. Doctor. Yeah.

In something.

Dr. Stricker.

What was it?

Education.

Education, yeah.

But adult education, actually.

Oh, wow. I don't know about that.

We could use some of that here, Mark. So he's got a new song called A Little Bit of Heaven. And apparently it has just blown through the charts. So.

Really, another band that has their own music has cut an album. I feel like I'm repeating myself here. But these bands are the real thing.

And what's great about this is sometimes these bands are on their way up. And when you see them and then in a couple years they're like, you're seeing them on the CMA or you're seeing them on television or.

And you're like, I remember when I saw them at the Oxfest, they were just on their way up.

That is so true, Arnold.

Yeah, that, that easily could be many of these bands and. Yeah, and that was a dream of ours. Can we find some talent that's on its way up?

Because when they're already up there, they're like way too expensive. The last band, and this might be one of those that it's on the way up. It's a local guy from Sullivan, Missouri. His name is Justin Bizzle.

B I Z Z L E. He's touring the Midwest right now. He did a little video. It's pretty funny. He goes, oh man, this, this music thing, it's so glamorous, isn't it? We just had to fix the rv.

This thing went wrong. This thing went wrong. We drove all morning. We got there just in time for our gig. It's just a wonderful thing being a musician.

I know it's really a traveling musician,.

But he was talking about his blessings and another just really an up and comer. I think you'll, I think you'll enjoy him too.

We're going to take a little break here because we need to make some time to talk about what are the things available for kids. Also, there's a food creator who is so well known nationally, she's going to be there.

We need to give her some time that Ken's going to talk about her. So don't go away. This is Arnold Strick with Mark Langston of St. Luis and June. We'll be right back.

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The decision declared that Dred Scott could not be free because he was not a citizen.

The Dred Scott Heritage foundation is requesting a commemorative stamp to be issued from the US Postal Service to recognize and remember the heritage of this amendment by issuing a stamp with the likeness of the man Dred Scott. But we need your support and the support of thousands of people who would like to see this happen.

To achieve this goal, we ask you to download, sign and share the one page petition with others. To find the petition, please go to dredscottlibs.org and click on the Dred Scott petition drive on the right side of the page.

On behalf of the Dred Scott Heritage foundation, this has been Arnold Stricker of St. Louis. In June, We are talking to Ken Bol and he is the fabulous MC for the Oxfest Music Festival at the Washington fairgrounds in Washington, Missouri.

It's festival. Singular.

Singular festival.

Very good.

No s. the end of the festival.

And before the break, we were going to talk about what parents can expect. I got four, five kids in the neighborhood they want to come to. What are they going to do? They're not necessarily involved with the music. Do you.

What do you have Ken for them?

Is it the same price for the kids? 30 Bucks a kid?

I don't know if it's. If you're 12 or under, it's free.

Okay.

Yeah. So another reason to bring your kids.

It's funny you talk about the kids because we were talking about having young bands and the board might kick me in the shark right in the shorts.

If I, when I say this, that shark song.

We were talking about having a. A little fest. Not a festival, but a competition of young bands like in, in the winter or something. And the winner to lead off at Oxfest.

Oh, that's cool. Oh, that's a great idea.

I know.

We got to find the young bands. Sweet Ruckus is a young band in Washington.

They play Sweet Ruckus.

They played War Pigs.

What?

They were at our festival. Can you believe that? War Pigs. Anyway, so the Kid zone. Yeah, bring them on out. We do have a Kid zone.

It's free.

Okay.

It runs from two to six or seven, something like that. We've got a petting zoo this year.

Okay.

We've got a bounce house. We've got face painting. What else we have? Oh, we got this great big. This guy does his great big giant bubbles and the kids just go nuts. Yeah.

Bubbles flying through the air, popping in their face.

More fun to do the kids stuff then.

Balloon art, too.

Yeah, we got some creative balloon art, but yeah, it's all free. It's expanded this year because we would love to see the parents stick around as long as they possibly can handle their kids.

And refreshment wise, what are we kind of talking brats, Dogs, burgers, soda. Are there alcoholic beverages or. No, just asking all these questions for.

People to call them adults beverages.

Adult beverages, yes. There you go.

They just happen to have alcohol.

That's right.

This is an adult lemonade.

Can I mention any sponsors?

Oh, sure.

Oh, yeah, Gray Eagle is a sponsor.

Okay.

And right there in good old Fenton. But so they help us out with all a lot of the alcoholic beverages. They give us a variety of Anhyzer products. Okay.

Hopefully some Goose island and a little bit different variety other than just Ultra. Although Ultra people love Ultra. They're so a lot of adult beverages. Pepsi of New Haven, they. So we have lots of Pepsi products.

Coastal Wine and spirits. They help us with some wine and spirits. Believe it or not. How that kind of plays right into their name. Yeah, not those kind of spirits.

That'd be pretty cool, though.

And food wise, food.

Yeah. We have ice cream out there. We have snow cones. We have pizza, burgers, cheeseburgers, brats. But the number one seller is brisket.

Now I've got a hard headed. I shouldn't say hard headed. I should say very determined friend named Keith Piontik. He happens to be Polish and he loves his heritage.

Makes this brisket, Arnold.

Wow.

And you got to come out and have it because it is.

He's got to be making a lot of brisket.

I was just thinking the same thing.

Pounds and pounds. This brisket. It sells out pretty early.

Okay.

But he makes, I don't know, how many pounds? Let's just say £60,000. I don't know what it is. I don't know how many pounds. A lot of pounds.

Yeah.

And it just makes it just perfectly because he's very particular about his brisket.

Sure.

And then put a little blues hog barbecue sauce on that watering.

Cut it out. I know my mouth, kid. Just cut it out.

It's our most expensive sandwich, but the one that's sells out the quickest because brisket's not cheap, but it's gosh, really good. Then we have kettle corn and ellis, all that kind of stuff. Okay, yeah, lots of stuff.

How about. What are those things? They would. They're like dough and this circles around. Yeah, no, you know I'm talking about.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

What do they call it?

I can't remember.

Yeah, my mind is buffering.

Yep.

Funnel cake.

Funnel cake. No, no funnel.

Good.

They're not healthy.

Thank goodness. It's not healthy food for the kids.

We also have these towards the end of the night after the kids zone is closed because we have all abilities athletics pretty much volunteers and does the kids zone. They're pretty worn out after, you know, four or five hours, six hours of this.

We have these little light up tubes and the kids love these light up tubes. At 8 o' clock you just see these tubes all over the place.

The airplane is trying to land, people.

Are going in, convulsions and things like that.

But it's okay. The parents confiscate them.

You know we have first aid out there. Okay, Mercy Medical, we'll be there, don't worry. We got guys on 91 1.

Okay.

Yeah, I'm sure there's. You have the local EMS out there in case things happen and facilities for bee stings or somebody trips and falls or whatever. It's going to happen.

Yeah, it's. And it does. It will. Somebody will get a beast.

Yeah, we have a medical staff out there and we have security that guard the perimeter and things like that. We haven't had any problems to date. So yeah, we got security. We have the medical staff there. Yeah, there you go. We're ready.

Now I'm going to let you announce the name of the viral food creator and cookbook author who's going to be there and she's going to be actually signing copies of her cookbook also.

Yeah, yeah. This girl is a local Washington person that's just blown up the Internets.

Her name is Sarah with it's S A R A H, crafty, K R A F F T Y And like I said, she's a viral and I don't know what that means, viral food creator. But she's a food creator and a cookbook authority. She's got a community of more than two and a half million followers now.

Can you believe that? That's crazy. Isn't that nuts? Yeah, that's more people in St. Louis.

She's a. Yeah, she's just a really, a friendly person. You never know that she's this famous.

But she's known for her food content and her engaging food content, creative recipes, taking something out of the refrigerator and making it look gourmet. She's just really something. So she's joining us. She's a special guest this year, trying to give a little variety talks fest.

So she'll be there signing her cookbooks, talking to people.

What time does she start, Ken?

I think she's there from beginning to end.

Wow.

So I'm not 100. Sure. Yeah, she's. She's committed to it.

And you could tell by some of our ticket sales from out of states, different states, like, oh, wow, what's this person from New Jersey, this person from Texas, this person from Oklahoma, What. They're all of a sudden. When they saw her name. I don't know if There must be a connection there.

Yeah.

So people are coming from all over to this festival.

So if you can't come from the St. Louis metropolitan area, but you got people from Joisie and Texas coming up, there's something wrong.

And the thing is, this community is really warm. It's a cool community.

If you want to take some time out like we were talking about earlier, and going down to the riverfront and seeing what's going on down there, they're building these beautiful places, like 6, 700 thousand dollar condos down townhouses down the riverfront. There's just a lot going on in Washington.

Check. Yeah, check the Amtrak because you could actually take the train down to Washington.

Yeah, I used to go down to Washington and I like to sit on the bench on the riverbank and just watch the river go by. It was very relaxing to me.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Very clean.

It's a great area.

It really is. And there's hotels, motels all around. There's a new one downtown. I think it's called Sirens. That's really a cool little boutique hotel.

People could walk down to the riverfront from there and take a short ride to the. To our festival. A lot of fun.

Very good.

A lot going on.

Yes, it is and folks, get more information. You go to ox. Excuse me, I need to go back here.

And if for some reason you can't come, but there was something in this talk that we just had that sparks you, that you feel like, I need to help some kids. You just don't know who this is. Like we said, a mutual fund. It spreads along a lot of kids centered organizations.

You can donate and we, we'd love to have you donate. We know everybody is asking you to donate for several things. If you. If it's in your heart to do so, do it. If it's not in your heart, don't.

Okay. Ken, thanks for coming in today, talking about this.

You guys are a lot of fun. I really appreciate you having me.

Thank you.

I. Look, you got 400 episodes probably under your belt.

Getting there, Almost. This is 394.

Really?

Yes.

So I was close.

Yeah.

But I was over. Do I lose? No, no.

Good.

So it's humbling being here. Thanks so much for having me.

We enjoyed having you here.

We sure did.

Come back.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Come back. I want to. Yeah. The 10th. Is the 10th anniversary. You already planning that one?

Yeah.

I bet that's a big one.

It's really going to be something to think, Mark, that we've been here 10, 11, we had that little virus thing going year, but to think this, this is our ninth and we're going to have our tenth. It's just mind blowing to a lot of us because we're like, look what's happened here.

Yeah. What happened? How did we get here? Yeah, I think it's great.

Yeah.

We're very humble and we understand that this doesn't happen without great sponsors, without all the volunteers with guys like you that allow us to do this, to spread the word. We're very proud about that.

So we want to help you with the 10th.

Yep. Yeah.

Come on.

Absolutely.

Yeah. Absolutely. No question about it.

No question about it.

Yeah. None whatsoever.

We're going to take a brief break and we'll be right back with a couple other important things that you need to be aware of. This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston of St. Louis and Tune. As Strange as it May Sound, at Better Rate Mortgage.

We love talking to people about mortgages. Everyone in St. Louis promises a better mortgage rate. But what you really need to turn that perfect house into your dream home is a better mortgage.

At Better Rate Mortgage, we open the door to so much more. So where are you in the home buying process? Researching, maybe wondering how much you can afford? House hunting?

Get a pre approval from Better Rate Mortgage. Ready to buy. Our team is ready to make your mortgage process fast and easy.

Whether you're purchasing your first home or taking cash out to make your dream home even dreamier. Our door is open. Come on in and get started. Today we'll show you how.

The welcome Corps is a new service opportunity for Americans inspired to welcome those seeking freedom and safety and in turn help strengthen their own communities. Welcome Corps is a public private partnership that is inspired by what Americans represent to so many around the world. A beacon of hope and refuge.

Mark, do you have some kind of interesting things you want to tell us?

Yes, and I want to do a little editorial as well.

Editorialized.

So today is National Banana Split Day. Yeah. How can you even editorialize over a banana split? But we went over the weekend to see banana ball. The Savannah Bananas sold out.

Sold out is right.

Yeah.

The Cardinals haven't been able to sell out yet. I think maybe opening day they sold out. But no, they haven't sold out.

Entertainment.

It was.

And that's what I want to say because I was listening to some other radio station because I don't know why I only listened to our radio station, but they had sports on. And they had some sports guy on there telling us how much he hated the Savannah Bananas because it's not real baseball. It's not. And you know what?

It's fun. That's all. It's like you said, it's entertainment. This is not a major league baseball game.

This is a bunch of folks that came together to have fun on a baseball diamond. And it is a lot of fun. This is our second year. We've gone and enjoyed it thoroughly. So, yeah, to that guy that has.

That's just Sour Puss, that sourpuss guy that's on that other radio station, well known radio station. I know. It's like, cut it out. Quit with that kind of talk. I don't know what. We don't need that kind of talk. We got enough of that talk.

Absolutely.

Let's see. It is. What else is going on today? It's Kiss and Makeup Day. Okay.

For some people, that's every day.

National Heroes Day. And Ken and his bunch are heroes. Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. Ken and his bunch are definitely. Yeah. National Park Service, Founders Day.

Who comes up with. I don't. It's great. National Secondhand Wardrobe Day. Have you ever. Why are you looking at me like that, Arnold? Have you.

Is it how he's dressed?

I love kids. Yes, it is how he's dressed. Have you ever gone and shopped secondhand?

Yes.

Seems to be a big. I have a son who's in his early 20s, and him and his girlfriend, they go to and look and get stuff all the time.

New work pants. Good place.

Yeah. And I'm like, really?

Yeah. Some people do that. That's where they shop because of their budgets. There's nothing wrong with that because you can get some really nice clothes.

Absolutely. Goodwill.

Yeah.

Yes.

Unbelievable.

And I know. And who's. Yeah. Some of the stuff is barely worn. It's been sitting in somebody's closet forever. Coming up is National Dog Day.

Okay.

I know you have a dog.

Every day is National Dog Day for me.

Yeah. Pick it up, put it in a bag, swing it.

I do. I play. It's. It's, you know, cornball. I. I play the bag with the trash can.

You don't fake pickup, do you?

No,.

I've caught people doing that.

Oh, it's terrible.

And I go, hey, aren't you gonna leave that there?

One guy's walking away. I got a bag for you, if you want.

I know, right? But I do hate it, though, because I've seen people put it in a bag, tie it up, and then they swing it and they go down.

Well, if the millage of the bag is thick enough, that's okay.

Okay. International Lottery Day. I haven't won yet. I don't know when I know.

Somebody won that billion dollars.

Wow. In Illinois.

Really?

Not too far from here.

Oh, wow.

Look for the donate button.

Yeah.

Yes. Oxfest donations are Needed. National Lemon juice Day. National Beach Day is coming up. Left handers day. Anybody? Left hand here?

No.

My daughter, see there? And I think she's fake poop pickup, too. I hate to admit that She's a.

Fake poop picker up.

Not anymore, but she was when she was younger. Sorry, Lara.

Fake poop pick her up.

Sounds like a club.

Three people. Boring.

That's not poop in the bag. Okay? International Beer Day. We're all. Are we all about that now? Come on, everybody. Yes, I know. Beer's good for breakfast. And National Relaxation Day.

Oh, that's every day.

Oh, yeah. There's more Cycle to work day. You've done that before.

Yeah, I have ridden your bike here before.

I've seen that. And national take your cat to the vet day.

Oh, gosh.

Come on.

Really?

Really? Yeah. Cats don't need to go to the vet, do they?

For shots in the annual. If you're really leaving them anywhere, they have to have certain shots.

Okay.

And we had to have ours put down, remember? A couple weeks ago.

Stop it. I know. It's so sweet. So sad.

Cat's name.

What's that?

What was your cat's name?

Vinnie.

Vinny.

He's from Joisie.

They didn't mess with Vinny.

The rabbits did. That's for sure.

Yeah.

I got a note from a lady. She said, my husband asked me why I whisper in the house. She said she was afraid that Google was listening. He laughed, Alexa laughed, Siri laughed.

And the refrigerator laughed. The husband went to the doctor and he said to the wife, the nerve of that doctor, saying I'm so old that he's referring me to an archaeologist.

The wife goes, audiologist. Dear audiologist, you can't hear my wife. A married couple who never fought, not even once in 25 years of marriage.

Friend of the couple asked, how is that even possible? The husband replied, we went to a ranch for our honeymoon. While horse riding, my wife's horse jumped and my wife fell off.

She got up and patted the horse and said, this is your first time. After a while, it happened again and she said, this is your second time. And when it happened the third time, she pulled out a gun and shot the horse.

I shouted at her and said, are you crazy? You killed the horse. She gave me a look and said, this is your first time.

Wow, Arnold.

I got one here.

Horses in loose in the hospital.

These are things that. The things that tell the truth. Small children, drunk people, and yoga pants.

There are some people that should not wear yoga pants.

Oh, my.

Gosh I'm just telling you right now. Do you hear a Greek head?

You know, at this point in history in our country, it's healthier to eat biscuits and gravy than lettuce.

It's a sad state of affairs.

A strange new trend at the office. People putting names on food in the company fridge. Today I had a tuna salad named Linda.

Take a bow.

I. When I. Here's. Let's see. When I read this one, I was just like. I started laughing really hard. Seriously. But not this one. I'll save it. There's.

Here's one My ex girlfriend just told me she wants us to get back together again. Man, I am sure lucky. First I win the lottery and now this. Yeah, so here's the one.

There's more.

Yeah, I'm going to end with this one. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to read this one, but I'm going to go ahead anyway.

Three women, two young executives and one senior lady were relaxing together in a spa sauna, wrapped only in towels. Suddenly, a loud electronic beep went off. The first young woman pressed two fingers against her forearm and the beeping silenced.

Seeing the confused looks from the other two, she smiled smugly. That was my paper. I have a futuristic microchip embedded right underneath the skin of my arm.

A few minutes later, a phone ringtone echoed throughout the room. The second young woman lifted her open palm directly to her ear, spoke for a moment and lowered her hand. That was my mobile phone, she bragged.

I've got an advanced wireless chip implanted in my hand. Feeling hopelessly outdated and low tech, the elderly woman decided she wasn't going to be outdone by these tech savvy youngsters.

She excused herself, stepped out of the sauna and headed to the restroom. Moments later, she strolled back into the steam room with a long string of toilet paper dangling straight out of the back end.

The two younger women stared at her in utter belief. Their jaws dropped. The older woman looked over her shoulders and smirked and said, would you look at that. I'm getting a fax.

Oh my. Oh my God.

Wow. I rolled when I read that.

Oh, that's really bad. Look at them all that. The horse is back. Okay, thanks, Arnold. A whole bunch for that. Okay. Oh, man. Who reloads the paper in that fax machine?

Much information,.

Onion skin.

Oh no.

Oh.

That's all for this hour, folks. Thanks for listening.

Thank you.

If I can get through this, it'll be a miracle. If you've enjoyed this episode, you can listen to additional [email protected] where you can leave a review.

FCC's on the phone for you right now.

And follow us. I want to thank Bob Bertha Self for our theme music. I have to take my glasses off so I can read this.

Our sponsor, Better Rate Mortgage, our guest, Ken Boland, and thanks to co host Mark Langston. Folks, we thank you for being a part of our community of Curious Minds.

St. Louis and Tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the US Radio Network. Remember to keep seeking, keep learning, walk worthy, and let your light shine. For St. Louis in Tune, I'm Arnold Stripper.

Sam.