Speaker 1: Good morning, good morning morning, Welcome, welcome, welcome in his
Speaker 1: time now for our community connection right here on K one,
Speaker 1: the one you trust, and we are talking paths to independence,
Speaker 1: and we're talking about taking a dancing path this time around.
Speaker 1: Like in his well we have Robert and Kathy, Kath Caitlyn, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the lovely Mimss Williams, who's coming back for a
Speaker 1: return visit. And I want to thank you all for
Speaker 1: coming in today. Now, this is going to be great.
Speaker 1: It's called Dancing with the Bartlesville Stars. Now, who is
Speaker 1: going to be dancing here? Yeah, we made it unanimous.
Speaker 1: We made it unanimous. This is great. Now, this is
Speaker 1: coming up all in November the ninth, and we're changing
Speaker 1: it up a little bit because we're going into the
Speaker 1: big auditorium this year as opposed to you know, the
Speaker 1: community center or other places. And this is because of
Speaker 1: the demand over the last This is so popular that
Speaker 1: over the last few years we had to put it
Speaker 1: on TV. We just had to because you know, people
Speaker 1: wanted to get in and it's like, you mean, what
Speaker 1: do you mean you don't have a ticket? Well, it's
Speaker 1: that pop and it's that popular. Now past the Independence
Speaker 1: is a wonderful school. It is one of the one
Speaker 1: of the gems in our community where people will actually
Speaker 1: pick up and move from elsewhere to come here to
Speaker 1: make sure that the kids have an opportunity, uh to
Speaker 1: go to school here because it's one of the few
Speaker 1: schools that really makes a difference, make an impact for
Speaker 1: your kids on the autism spectrum. I'm going to ask
Speaker 1: you first of all, what got you interested in all
Speaker 1: of this and everything?
Speaker 2: And yeah, in paths independence. Well, I'm actually a recreational
Speaker 2: therapist and a chill development specialist, and I wanted to
Speaker 2: kind of have a change of career, and so I
Speaker 2: reached out to them and see if they needed any
Speaker 2: assistance as a recreational therapist, and they needed an adaptive
Speaker 2: PE teacher, and so I am now past the independence
Speaker 2: adaptive PE teacher and so I'm able to use my
Speaker 2: skills as a recreational therapist to help get the kids moving,
Speaker 2: get them physically active, because a lot of kids on
Speaker 2: the spectrum, some are very active, some want to move,
Speaker 2: and some just want to sit, and so we really
Speaker 2: try to encourage them to get up and get moving
Speaker 2: just to help fuel their body a little bit better
Speaker 2: instead of just staying stagnant. So being able to use
Speaker 2: my skills as that as a recreational therapist has been
Speaker 2: really unique in getting the kids moving. And I was
Speaker 2: actually reached from out from Jason Hall, I think his
Speaker 2: previous part or had something come up and so he
Speaker 2: reached out and said, hey can you can you do it?
Speaker 3: And I was like, why not?
Speaker 1: Have you rehearsed yet?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 1: We have that going.
Speaker 2: It's it's going knowing it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 4: We have a lot of laughs and it's it's great.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, Robert, I've seen you just about every fundraiser
Speaker 1: there is in town because you're you are very active.
Speaker 1: Your whole family is very active when it comes into
Speaker 1: the helping nature of our community. What drew you to
Speaker 1: Padsey Independent in your interest in dancing with the Bartlefield Stars.
Speaker 5: Well, so I was actually supposed to dance last year
Speaker 5: I think it was last season, and then I had
Speaker 5: an event come up. My one of my best friends
Speaker 5: got married, and so I well, yeah, I had to
Speaker 5: be at that wedding and so but once you agreed
Speaker 5: to do it, they don't forget about it. Teresa Meseri
Speaker 5: hit me up and told me that, you know, she
Speaker 5: would make me the best coconut cream pie known to
Speaker 5: man if you haven't tried her up at cream pie.
Speaker 1: So what you're saying is you can be had.
Speaker 5: I can be Yes, thank you offer me a coconut
Speaker 5: cream pie. You will dance for anything.
Speaker 1: So well, you know something, it's a calorie neutral if
Speaker 1: you get off that dance. How hard your rehearsal.
Speaker 5: Has been, Yeah, they have been good. We've actually been
Speaker 5: rehearsing with someone who graduated from Bartlesville, so it's kind
Speaker 5: of cool to have that connection. And we've made some
Speaker 5: trips to Tulsa Courtney and I on Sundays and so
Speaker 5: we've done some here and so it's been a challenge.
Speaker 5: It's been a workout, but it's all for a good
Speaker 5: cause and no regrets.
Speaker 1: Are you having fun?
Speaker 5: We are having fun. We've got we laugh, We get
Speaker 5: to take all the outtakes, and when you go back
Speaker 5: and watch your recorded video of some of your rehearsals,
Speaker 5: you get a second laugh. So second and third left.
Speaker 1: So Jen, tell us about your participation in this.
Speaker 6: I started assisting helping him out a few years ago.
Speaker 6: In the background, I've coached a few in the past
Speaker 6: and some choreograph and then I judged, so it was
Speaker 6: hard to say no when they asked me to actually
Speaker 6: dance prefer the background. But it's it's only fair that
Speaker 6: I now dance.
Speaker 1: Well, you look pretty happy about it.
Speaker 3: Well, it's been fun. It's fun. You're enjoying it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm happy to do whatever they need me to
Speaker 6: do to help them out.
Speaker 1: Well, well that's great. Now, who's your partner.
Speaker 3: Here, John Valardo?
Speaker 1: Okay, and how long have you guys been working together
Speaker 1: on this.
Speaker 3: We've been working for a while.
Speaker 1: We'll just say a while, a while, let's say a while.
Speaker 6: We are practicing first thing in the morning, so we
Speaker 6: had a practice this morning at seven, so we're trying.
Speaker 3: To hit it before work. So it's it's a lot,
Speaker 3: but we're having fun.
Speaker 1: My goodness, sake said. This takes a little bit of dedication.
Speaker 3: Doesn't It takes a lot of.
Speaker 1: How much different is dancing from what you normally have done?
Speaker 1: As far as being like a rec raistal therapist. I mean,
Speaker 1: you think, you know, you probably move around a lot
Speaker 1: in that, but this is a different muscles, isn't it.
Speaker 2: It is as a recrecial therapist, we're working on just movement, stretching,
Speaker 2: playing with balls, basketball, softball, obstacle courses, general moving around,
Speaker 2: general moving around. And now I'm having to, you know,
Speaker 2: do the macarena without any you know, encouragement from anything.
Speaker 4: And so it's a little hard by everyone I've talked
Speaker 4: to who's participated in this said that, yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: you get a little socre sometimes and you get a
Speaker 4: little worn out, But at the end of it all,
Speaker 4: it's worth that adrenaline rush when you go out there
Speaker 4: and you perform, and then you see how much money
Speaker 4: is raised for Paths to Independence.
Speaker 1: Now you've been with it in a variety of different
Speaker 1: capacities and you've seen this thing really kind of take
Speaker 1: on a life of its own over the years.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, a few years ago, you know, it was at
Speaker 6: the Hilton Garden in outrw that now we were sold
Speaker 6: out before they even put the tickets on sell to
Speaker 6: the public, So that's why they've had to move it.
Speaker 3: It grows every year. It's such a great it's a
Speaker 3: great cause. It's fun.
Speaker 6: It is so much there's so many community members involved,
Speaker 6: I mean, and I mean, we hope we put on
Speaker 6: a good show this year, you will, but also the
Speaker 6: fundraising is probably even more important to us and what
Speaker 6: we can do. And they always have a parent coming
Speaker 6: give a testimonial, and I think that brings us back
Speaker 6: every single year.
Speaker 5: Yes, yeah, And I think just the relationships you forge.
Speaker 5: I mean you get to meet different people, like right,
Speaker 5: I knew Courtney in the community. I knew her personally,
Speaker 5: but not on this level, and so you get very
Speaker 5: in close quarters. So it's it's definitely interesting. And then
Speaker 5: of course our husband Mike gets to give me heck
Speaker 5: all the time about dancing with his wife.
Speaker 1: So it sounds like having fun.
Speaker 5: He is, he's having as much fun as we are.
Speaker 1: And you got into this kind of because out of default,
Speaker 1: right sort of.
Speaker 2: I think Jason knows that I can't say no to
Speaker 2: a lot of things, and so he cornered me and
Speaker 2: he goes, well, it's for the kids.
Speaker 5: And children there you go.
Speaker 2: It was it was an easy answer. I said, absolutely,
Speaker 2: let's do it.
Speaker 4: It'll be fun.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: We were talking about how the school has really taken
Speaker 1: off and how hard the folks inside Pats the Independence
Speaker 1: really work for everything that they can in order to
Speaker 1: provide for the children in their care. And I just
Speaker 1: lived right down the street from pats to the Independence.
Speaker 1: And I will tell you that this spring there was
Speaker 1: like maybe a little hole getting kind of parking lot
Speaker 1: there and I'm like, oh, that's that's interesting. And then
Speaker 1: I saw, you know, a couple of cinder blocks, but
Speaker 1: this could be something. It's like, holy cow, red bricks
Speaker 1: all over the place. It's almost doubled in size. And
Speaker 1: cafeteria going side that we had done a fundraiser a
Speaker 1: couple of them with kowanas, a grilled cheese eating competition
Speaker 1: or judging. The judges got d do those things sit
Speaker 1: like bricks? But boy they're good. And anyway, they said
Speaker 1: that they were doing this for the kitchen the cafeteria area.
Speaker 1: I'm well, okay, well, but I didn't realize that a
Speaker 1: couple of those boom, they got it. And and now
Speaker 1: I understand that with the money raised here that goes
Speaker 1: for the general fund. I believe that so whatever whatever
Speaker 1: needs that they need, it goes to this. So, folks,
Speaker 1: on top of buying your tickets, I want you to
Speaker 1: place your votes for your favorite because that's where the
Speaker 1: real jingle comes in. And it's like it's like Chicago.
Speaker 1: You can vote early and often as long as you
Speaker 1: got the money. Yeah, I'm from the area, so I
Speaker 1: can say that. Not like I'm throwing anybody under the bus,
Speaker 1: but anyway, we can do that, and and also encourage
Speaker 1: your friends to go on the page and vote for
Speaker 1: your favorites as well. Now you can vote for as
Speaker 1: many people as you want, right, that's okay, So they
Speaker 1: vote for you guys there. But it's a coconut cream.
Speaker 1: I'm kidding. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm getting no bribes there.
Speaker 1: But it is going to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: And you got to get your ticket. And like I said,
Speaker 1: there's like two thousand seats there at the Center, and
Speaker 1: every one of them is a good one. Because I've
Speaker 1: sat in most areas there for a variety of different shows.
Speaker 1: This is going to be no different. And this is
Speaker 1: just going to be awesome. Now you've been on.
Speaker 3: The stage, right, No, I've never walked on the stage.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm talking about. We've covered the pit for
Speaker 1: the orchestra to give you more dance room. So this
Speaker 1: is going to be really nice. Put the spotlight on you,
Speaker 1: no pressure, no pressure. Yeah, So what music are you using?
Speaker 1: Can we even tell you?
Speaker 3: Do you want to tell? Yeah?
Speaker 5: I better keep that under wrapped. Okay, Courtney may get me.
Speaker 5: We all kind of keep that under wrapped. We can
Speaker 5: surprise one another.
Speaker 1: So I got you.
Speaker 2: He has no clue.
Speaker 1: He has had no idea, He has no clue. I
Speaker 1: know she can keep a secret. But the big the
Speaker 1: big deal is, let's go to the website here, and
Speaker 1: that is past to independence dot org, pasta independence dot org,
Speaker 1: and it'll have the little thing on the menu where
Speaker 1: you click and it takes you to the contest, takes
Speaker 1: you to the event and on one page you can
Speaker 1: get your tickets and cast your boat. Yes, that's easy.
Speaker 1: I don't know who came up with the navigation on
Speaker 1: that one, but for an old guy like me, thank you.
Speaker 1: One stop shop, One stop shop. I love it. But
Speaker 1: it is going to be great. It's going to be
Speaker 1: November the ninth at the center. Now, how are you
Speaker 1: coaxing your folks to vote for you? Or you just yelling,
Speaker 1: screaming or what do you?
Speaker 6: You're harassing everyone I've ever met. There's lots of emails.
Speaker 6: If you spend more than an hour with me, you
Speaker 6: will get an email requesting, and then a follow up email,
Speaker 6: and then probably if I see you. So, I don't
Speaker 6: know what friends will have after this, but I'm gonna
Speaker 6: It's all for a good cause. That's why I keep
Speaker 6: reminding them that money for me, it's money for PTI
Speaker 6: got it.
Speaker 1: How are you going about Bras?
Speaker 5: So we're doing that. We're actually also going to have
Speaker 5: a fundraiser a Journey to Nutrition, which is a herbal life.
Speaker 5: They do teas and drinks and shakes, and so we're
Speaker 5: gonna host a fundraiser there. So also, like Jen and others,
Speaker 5: we are hitting the streets and turning over every rock
Speaker 5: and asking all of our friends. So again, we may
Speaker 5: none of us may have friends at the end of this,
Speaker 5: but it's all for the right reason, So.
Speaker 3: We'll be friends.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Are you doing the same thing, Haitler? Are you
Speaker 1: doing something a little unique.
Speaker 3: Kind of sort of?
Speaker 2: It's I'm taking the path of I had. I have
Speaker 2: a new job and I'm able to see the children
Speaker 2: and the faculty and staff in action, and it's way
Speaker 2: more than I ever realized. And how amazing these kids
Speaker 2: are and how amazing the staff and faculty are. It's
Speaker 2: so I'm coming from that inside saying, look, this place
Speaker 2: is amazing. Let's let's do what we can for Bartlesville
Speaker 2: and these kids, and let's let's make it great for him.
Speaker 1: In short, she's saying, I know where you work. I
Speaker 1: know I know. I want to thank you all for
Speaker 1: being here with us today.
Speaker 5: Community can thank you for having
Speaker 1: Us, Thanks for listening to one on one with a professional,
Speaker 1: A paid presentation in fourteen hundred K one