Well, good morning and welcome to around the house.
I am Scott Brockamp.
Founder and co-owner of his security and technology and your host this morning.
Well, if you're took a step outside,
fall actually finally made it
a couple of weeks late, but it showed up dramatic fashion.
It's kind of funny.
I was sitting in an airport in Washington, D.C.
yesterday afternoon and it was nice and balmy, 80 degrees in Washington, D.C.
and I was checking out the weather and I'm like, yeah, it's raining.
And I scrolled to the next page and said the high today is going to be 64.
And I thought, wow, fall is finally made it here in East Tennessee.
So grab your sweatshirt, grab your cup of coffee, get your easy chair ready.
And well.
Enjoy this morning and hopefully we'll have some good information for you to,
to be able to take a bite out of today.
Of course, today we don't have football.
I mean, there is football, but let's face it, there's really not football
because the Vols are not playing.
We do have a bye week this week, but the lady fall softball team is in action
today, get out to Sherry Parker Lee and enjoy a little fall ball games today
or at noon against Carson Newman Newman and at five against Georgia State.
A mission is free by the way, just get down to Sherry Parker Lee and go check it out.
If you're into bluegrass and American music, head over to the Marble Springs,
the home of governor John severe for their Appalachian music fest.
It's free and runs from 11 to seven today.
Or if you have a kid who's into dinosaurs, check out Jurassic quest.
Today, the Knoxville convention center, it is open from nine a.m.
to eight p.m. also today going on in Turkey Creek is W.A.T.E.
is the women's spectacular.
We will actually have a pretty awesome setup out there going.
You can hang out in the beer tent and check it out.
We've got about roughly a hundred exhibitors out there in a parking lot.
You can't miss this right out in front of Belks.
If you want to find out more about what's going on around town in Knoxville
today, just go to visit Knoxville dot com.
That's visit Knoxville dot com.
Well, there's a little something else happening around town.
Kicking off this weekend.
You can tour 33 showcase homes in the greater Knoxville area
and the price range from anywhere from three hundred thousand to two million
dollars. The Bray to homes is kicking off.
Started yesterday as the perfect starting point for you.
If you're looking to build or buy a new home here to tell us about the
home building association, we have a special guest here to tell us more
is the co-chair of this year's parade from Ferguson Plumbing Supply
is Lisa Smith and Becky Snyder.
Good morning, ladies. Good morning.
How are y'all today? Great.
Right. So what what year is this for the parade?
It's the 42nd 42nd.
That's a lot. That's a lot.
It's a lot of years.
The home builders association been here, you know.
I'm not sure.
I mean, by the pictures on the wall in the office.
I mean, it feels like a hundred.
There's some old guys up there.
Yeah, it's it's it's probably I would say 50 or more years.
I know that my house was a parade house in 1979.
I bought it.
And that's one of the things that the previous owners told me is that it was
the parade house in 19.
It was a parade house in my neighborhood in 1979.
Wow. So that is it's a different.
Do you have shag carpet?
Well, I did.
Had carpet in the bathroom.
But you know, since bathrooms and kitchens are kind of my thing,
we did a total gut job on all that.
But it was pretty much like it was in 1979 when we bought it.
Wow.
I OK, I've got to try to get those thoughts out of my head.
I just saw recently that the the the Brady Bunch house actually.
I don't remember the full details,
but somebody purchased it and bought it and they are going to leave it
as it is and maintain the nostalgia of the Brady Bunch house.
Is they should? Yes.
I mean, you can't buy that house and then get it.
Don't worry. It'll be back in style at some point.
You know, everything comes around again.
The color just came out with all those blue and pink bathroom fixtures again
as a nostalgia kind of thing.
Some don't need to bring carpet back in the bathroom.
No, no, no more carpet in the bathroom.
No. Yes.
Some things need to just stay dead.
I'm just saying.
So all right.
As as I customarily do here on this show, I digress.
I digress simply and easily.
But let's face it, that's what makes it fun, right?
Hey, if you're listening this morning and you want to know a little bit more
about the parade, give us a call.
Shoot us a text 865-656-8255.
So we have 33 homes this year.
Yes.
And the 42nd anniversary of the parade.
Wouldn't it have been cool if you had 42 homes for the 42nd anniversary?
That would be great.
I mean, you know.
We didn't even think of that.
Geez.
Maybe you can be on the parade committee with us.
I'm on a sabbatical.
But we are.
There's no virtual houses this year.
OK, that's awesome.
Because of COVID, I think the past couple of years we've had a couple of virtual.
But now, like, they're all open.
So you can walk in and to every single one of them.
Yes.
And there are so far I've been to several and there's no carpet in the bathrooms.
No carpet.
I will almost.
No, I just will.
I will guarantee you, you will not find any of these homes that have carpet in the bathroom.
Nope.
You just won't.
Maybe a closet, maybe an offshoot of the bathroom.
But you're not going to find carpet in the bathroom.
You will see some amazing bathrooms, though.
There are some really very cool things.
Well, I mean, of course, we would expect to see nothing less than cool things in the parade.
So how far and how outreaching is, well, the Home Builders Association and the parade this year?
Well, the Home Builders Association covers 17 counties.
So we represent Wow, Knox County, Jefferson County,
Sevier County, Blount County, Roan County, Loudoun County, just everyone around us.
And the parade touches seven of those counties.
So we've got a couple in Jefferson,
Hamlin County, the Morristown tablet area, Sevier County, Loudoun,
Loudoun, Roan, Knox County.
So we are very, it's spread out.
But it allows people in the greater Knoxville area to go to houses in the areas
that they're interested in, homes in, and see, you know, get ideas.
I like to go and I mean, myself, I like to go and get ideas.
Even though I'm in houses five days a week, I, you know, go on to the parade
and look at houses for ideas.
And then it also allows you to see what's being built in your area.
So if you want to build a new home with one of our builders,
and some of the parade homes are for sale, some of them are not
like model homes or personal homes, some of them are for sale.
So you could purchase a home or purchase a home just like it.
You could say, I want this home built on a different lot.
Well, and it's a perfect opportunity that if you're thinking about building,
now is an opportunity that you can actually go look at some of the work
that the builders in our area put out and produce.
And so it's a great opportunity because even though, you know, building is building,
but everybody has their own flair.
You know, everybody has their own little style and their own little
special characteristics that they put into their building projects.
And so this is an opportunity for everybody to just kind of go check that out.
See what builders maybe you like.
You like their style. You like what they're doing.
I'm sure you're going to have the opportunity.
You'll probably run into a few few builders along the way.
And you can now kind of start piecing together.
Hey, I think I want to talk to this builder.
I think I want to talk to this builder.
And like you said, Lisa, you have that opportunity to look at different areas.
It's one of the things that I think is neat about the parade is as if you're
thinking that maybe you want to live on this part of town, you can now go in.
You can see what that area is like
and get an idea, get a feel for that subdivision, that neighborhood.
And really, because let's face it,
a home has always been a huge investment.
But even more so nowadays with interest rates the way that they are,
it is even more of an investment that we need to think about.
And more and more people are researching more and more about what they do
and the decisions they make.
So this is a great opportunity to to research those those things.
And well, we're not going to talk about it in this segment,
but we're going to talk about in a future segment about all the cool things
that you can start looking at to start thinking about what do you want to put in
your home, right?
You may be looking to do a remodel soon and you're going to see some cool fixtures,
a lot of amazing decorating.
You're going to see pretty much the top of the line of everything that, well,
is here to offer in our area and throughout the country in a new construction.
And it's pretty awesome.
It's pretty awesome.
What I like about this year's parade is we have some builders that build in
different areas of Knoxville and they've tried to spread their houses out in
those different areas, but you can go to their house and they'll be able to tell
you what areas of Knoxville that you want to live in and see if they have a subdivision there.
Right. There you go.
All right. Well, we are going to take a short break.
But when we come back, we're going to continue to talk about the 42nd
anniversary of the parade homes that kicked off yesterday, sponsored by ORNL,
Federal Credit Union and Tindles.
Be sure to give us a call.
Shoot us a text if you have questions at 865-656-8255.
We will be right back here on Around the House with Scott Brockamp on News Talk 987 WOKI.
See that that whistle just it just reminds me like.
Working with my dad, slinging the hammer.
You know, we didn't have nail guns back then.
I'm old.
We had to use a hammer and nails.
Just don't hit your thumb too many times.
And if you do use the other hand.
So my dad always said, God gave you two for a reason.
Right. Yeah.
That way you can smack one and keep on working.
At any rate.
Hey, welcome back here to Around the House with Scott Brockamp.
And I am speaking with Lisa Smith and Becky Snyder from the Home Builders
Association of Greater Knoxville.
And we were talking all things parade.
If you want to go in, make your route for this weekend.
Go to the Parade of Homes, Knoxville dot com, the Parade of Homes, Knoxville dot com.
You can get a map.
You can see where all the homes are located.
You can look inside all of the homes,
all the details about the homes, price range and more.
And well, so there you go.
When you do that, make your list.
Go check out some homes.
You also can get parade booklets.
We have books that have all of the pictures of the houses and the house plans.
And they're in all of the parade homes Monday through Friday.
You can pick them up at our sponsors, who we greatly appreciate.
Oh, are now and tendils.
They have books at their locations as well.
So I like to keep the book and turn the pages down when I've seen the house or
I know it's yeah, make notes on the pages of what I liked about each house.
And there's a virtual copy of the magazine on the website.
Yes. So if you are digital, you can still have the magazine online.
You know, the best of both worlds.
Yes, make it easy.
So how many builders are participating this year in the parade?
I think there's 12, 12 builders
and, like we said, 33 houses spread out and you can
again and you can see that list that's in that magazine or online
as to what builder is with what house, that price range, that location.
We have it broken down for you.
And all the builders are licensed and insured and they're all members of the
Home Builders Association of Greater Knoxville.
So you can trust that these are people building quality homes
that are crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's and, you know,
building you a good quality home.
Yeah. And, you know, again, one of the neat things about the parade is
you have you have members that maybe have worked for companies and now have gone out
on their own, I'm sure you have a variety of ranges for these home builders who,
again, you know, we see a lot of generational
relationships in home building, right?
I mean, I'm one of them.
Becky's one. Yeah.
Dad was a builder.
See. And then you all you kind of find your own paths and some take on the family
business, some take on their own, their own avenues in the business.
And so it's great to see that.
Right. And so you'll have the opportunity.
You will see homes that are from maybe one of those one of those children that
have stepped out on their own to create their own business.
And you're going to see some that have been in well, business generationally for years.
Yes. And it's really kind of cool because you get a little bit of history.
It's a little nostalgic in a way.
Right.
So it's just an amazing opportunity, again, just to be able to see what's going on.
One of the things that I like about the parade is I like to see what's new.
Yeah. Yes, absolutely.
Now, a lot of new this year.
Not a big what's new in fixtures.
But but that's hot.
Right.
That's that's one of the things people want to do.
They want to come in.
What are the new fixtures?
What's the new lighting fixtures, the new plumbing fixtures?
You know, I'm a I'm a tech guy.
Right. So I want to see what's what's new in technology.
What's what are people putting in the homes?
I recently just got back from D.C.
from a conference and learned that, well, our home builders are still not following
the data and they still don't really support the technology that people are
looking for to put into their homes, which has been one of my sounding
boards for many, many years.
But unfortunately, you know, we're as we see some of those numbers trend
and change, you know, some of that stuff will be a little different.
But again.
Builders are they're wanting to put in
the items that you want in your home.
So what are some of those hot items?
I mean, I'm personally seeing and this is displayed in a couple of houses,
the digital valving for showers and it has two things.
One, they're very cool and techie.
You can turn your shower on from your phone to heat it up in the morning.
You don't have to stand there and wait.
You can turn it on from your bed, give it a minute.
And then go in there and your showers are nice and steamy.
You can turn it on from a different dial in your bathroom in a different area.
Like just walking in the door, you hit a button and it turns on your favorite thing.
You can each have like, say you have a rain head and a wall head and you have some body sprays.
You can have user one starts out with the rain head and then the body sprays come on
and then the wall head comes on and you can have your personalized shower to bidet seats.
When I started in plumbing, a bidet was not often used.
We had tons of people who would walk into the showroom and have ideas about what they
were because they're very European.
You're up there everywhere.
But now we have bidet seats that just go on a regular toilet, which is fabulous for
people who like that different cleanliness.
During Covid, we sold out because it eliminates your need for toilet paper.
So toilet paper was an issue in Covid.
We started selling a lot of bidet seats.
But also a lot of these things are good for people who are aging in place that can't
turn knobs because of arthritis or different reasons.
And so the technology helps them.
You know, it's when I have a customer who is building a home that's aging in place,
I often say, you know, you might want to think about a bidet seat.
It increases the amount of time that you can be independent.
So these technologies aren't just for the young techie generation.
They really have a place in helping people be independent longer.
And that's what I love about it.
But then there are also those people who just don't want all that techie stuff.
And they're like, no, give me the regular stuff.
I don't even want to think about it.
So I think that is part of it because we
have our aging population buying homes right now.
And maybe they're not so into the techie stuff.
So that may be one reason it hasn't taken off.
We've got to wait for these younger techie
people to grow into having that kind of house.
Well, you know, some of technology is great until it doesn't work.
That's true. You know, and that's the thing.
And that's where we have these conversations all the time.
By having a local builder, by having a local contact, by having a local
relationships, let's face it, something's going to break.
I don't care if it's mechanical, if it's technology, whatever it is, can break.
And you need to be able to have somebody there to take care of that.
You know, and that's and again,
and that's one of the things that we see also through the parade is these are
these are members of our not only our local homebuilder association,
but members of our community.
And, you know, these are folks that have been here for years.
These are the folks that are boots on the ground that are doing the things to help
fight for the regulations for the consumer and in making sure that we're
we're here and going to be here for the long haul.
And to me, I think that's a very important thing, right?
We've all heard stories and seen stories where there may be some,
well, I call it what it is, a fly by night contractor that maybe goes outside
of their license requirements and then you you end up dealing with it.
My brother dealt with it where he lives in Illinois.
They had a builder.
They built a house and and everything went to pot.
The builder ended up leaving town and he was my brother was left holding the bag.
You know, and so having those horror stories, don't you know?
But that's why, again, things like the parade and the Homebuilders
Association are so important. Yeah.
I know a lot of times, you know, especially now, look, we have an influx of people
and, you know, we've got it.
It comes down to opinions and politics, right?
We've got some people that I don't want to see the land go away.
And then we've got all these people that are moving here and we're supporting all
these big companies coming and making their their companies here.
Right. I mean, it's one of the things I've screamed about.
We're going to we want Amazon here.
We want Smith and Wesson. We want we want Malibu boats.
We want all these places. We want all these people to be here.
We love it that they call us their home.
But then we want to say, well, but we don't want your people here, right?
Because we don't want you to build because you're taking up our green space.
And so there's there's that that give and take.
Right. And so unfortunately,
Homebuilders Association gets a lot of bad rap because of things like that,
because we're building, but the need is necessary.
The need is there.
And we also do a lot of we try to do a lot of communication with the cities,
with the counties that we are representing, representing.
So we can.
Try to build those needs, right?
You know, I know right now that the city is
I don't want to screw it up pushing middle housing.
Is that is that they're calling it?
And we had a great conversation at the mayor's office and
how we can help with that and how they can help us with, you know,
building for the people that are coming in and and all of those things.
But
to go back, I think something that Lisa was saying about the parade.
One thing for me and I am I am a digital person, like I like to get on Pinterest
and Instagram and see all the new things, but I also go every year to then
at the Builder Show because I like to touch and see all the new things that are
coming out, which I love about the parade.
It's like you can see those things online.
You can see those things in the showroom,
but to actually go to the house and see how they work and operate.
And I think it's really cool just to see it, touch it, feel it.
All that cool stuff in the parade.
But I mean, and if that's not your thing,
you know, I mean, because those are in your higher end homes.
Right. But like we have a lot of parade
houses that are your starter home type to check out.
Our price range is this year three hundred and seven thousand to two million.
So there is a wide variety of prices in there that people can look at.
I mean, a lot of people are looking for a new home and they may be in that three
hundred, four hundred, five hundred thousand dollar price range.
But then, you know, your more expensive
homes generally will have a lot more of those specialty items.
Sure. But how fun is it just to tour two
million dollar home? Oh, yeah.
Like you don't have to be in the market for that house to go check it out.
Well, let's face it nowadays,
two million dollar home just not what it used to be.
So
well, we are going to take a short break.
If you've got questions,
comments, anything that you want to talk to us about regarding the parade of homes,
give us a call, shoot us a text eight, six, five, six, five, six, eight, two, five, five.
We will be right back here on Around the House on Newstalk.
Ninety eight, seven WOKI.
I do like this music.
I mean, I
not smile when you hear it.
It was my requirement. It had to stay right.
Had to stay.
I was so that all day long Saturday is filled with Daddy Whistle on that tune.
Yeah.
Well, welcome back to Around the House.
You know exactly where you're at when you hear that intro.
Right.
I am speaking with Lisa Smith and Becky Snyder.
They are members of the Home Builders Association.
Lisa is the co-chair of the parade of homes.
And Becky, well, I'm not sure what your role is for the parade of homes this year,
but I'm the other co-chair.
The other co-chair, co-chair, co-chair and co-chair.
All right. So we tackled it on together.
Well, that's awesome.
Well, you know, we didn't really talk about this at all when we started.
So, Lisa, tell us who you work for and what do you do and why is the parade so
important to you and the Home Builders Association?
OK, I am an outside builder sales for Ferguson Enterprises and I sell plumbing,
lighting and appliances to builders in the Knoxville area.
I mean, I go to Von Orr, Rockwood, Kingsport.
I go to Gatlinburg.
I go to Norris.
I go up to Hamblin County sometimes.
I'm just like all over the area.
And I go and I do walkthroughs and homes and things like that.
And then we have a whole another group of people in our showroom in Knoxville that
take care of people walking in and making selections of the things they need.
And then I go out and make sure that what they need, you know, is going to work one
sometimes and sometimes I go, you know, and do walkthroughs with them,
help them place where their lighting is going to be, help them lay out their showers.
I go with the end and kind of check and make sure that all the electrical and
water and everything is in place for their appliances in the right place,
because it's very hard because you walk into a house and when they do the
electrical rough in, there's just framing.
There's no cabinets.
They're drawn on the floor sometimes.
Sometimes they're not.
Sometimes they're just going by plan and
getting those things in the exact right spot, because some of them you can have
them within six inches and some of them you can have within two inches.
And so sometimes I go out.
We also have a install manager that goes out and does that, too.
I don't do it as much as I used to since we've gotten this new install manager that
helps with that, but, yeah, I just I am the boots on the ground for our company
and builders that if they need something really quickly, they call me up.
I run and get it for them.
So I love my job.
I've been in the building industry.
I started working for my dad when I was 15.
So I've been in it for like 41 years.
Well, so I I really enjoy it, and I'm also the associate vice president at the Home
Builders Association, so I'm going to I really enjoy working with builders.
I used to work for builders other than my father, and I was involved in the Home
Builders Association with them, and I just saw what a very, you know,
great organization it is.
And one of our little catchphrases is we all build.
So it takes the associates like me and the builders and associates like you,
you know, with the technology and the security and structure wiring to build a
home, we all build together.
So that was something that I got out of the National Home Builders Meeting this
year that it took.
It takes a village to build a home and, you know, housing equals jobs.
The home building, you know, it creates a lot of jobs in our area.
It sure does.
All right, Becky.
OK, I'm Becky Snyder, and I'm a general contractor.
What we're talking about earlier, second generation.
My dad's also a general contractor, master electrician.
And I've always been a part of construction my entire life because I grew up around it.
But probably about, I don't know, maybe 15 years ago or so in my well, no longer.
So I don't know.
Can't do math right now.
But in my 20s, I decided I was going
that that's what I wanted to do and be a part of was the family business.
And so
I officially people ask me all the time, how long have you been involved?
I was like, well, on the payroll or off the payroll?
Because there's a difference, because there's pictures of me,
eight years old and a little nail apron cleaning up job sites and and doing things.
But I've always enjoyed it.
And so together with my family, we own a construction company.
We're based out of Sevier County.
So we do a lot in Sevier County and a little bit here in Knox County.
And we do mainly residential houses, a lot of investment properties, like up
in the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge area, and then your remodels and things like that.
And what is the name of your of your guys' business?
So it used to be Ken Loomis Construction.
And now that Kenny is retiring and I'm taking over, I dropped his name.
And so you're out of here.
And so it's now Loomis Construction.
And so but our website is still Ken Loomis Construction
and our Facebook.
I think I actually changed our Facebook because that was easier to do
is Loomis Construction.
Yeah. And I bet you're dead and didn't even notice you changed Facebook.
Did he?
No, not at all.
Well, but yeah, and I do.
I love construction. I love the industry.
Like Lisa was saying, you know, with the we all build, I tell clients all the time,
like you've got ten thousand hands touching your home, you know, and you've
got a lot of, you know, you look, you see the finished product,
but there's a lot behind those finishes that people have worked hard.
You know, in doing.
There's there is it definitely takes a lot of moving, moving pieces and a lot of
working hands to build a house.
So so the Parade of Homes kicked off yesterday.
So let's cover these dates.
You can go again.
You can go to the Parade of Homes, Knoxville dot com.
And you can find all of the homes, the dates, the times.
So it's going to run for the next three
week weekends and it it goes on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
So this weekend, Friday, yesterday, today and tomorrow from 12 to five.
So 12 to five each day that the parade is open next weekend, the 13th through the 15th
and then the 20th through the 22nd will be the wrap up again.
The hours for the parade are 12 to five each one of those days.
So make make you a little plan.
Go out there and check it out.
And it's totally free and it's totally free.
Totally. That's right.
Like you're saying, even you're not looking for a house.
I think it's fun just to go.
And maybe it's just my nerdiness because I love again, homes and construction.
So I'd love to see what other people are doing.
But if you're doing a remodel, even if you're not looking for a new home or
whatever, a lot of these builders do remodels.
So you can find a builder to help you with that.
Or if you just want ideas, if you're going to, you know,
like if it's going to be a DIY project for you and you want to get ideas of what
fixtures are going in houses and and things like that, I think it's cool.
I was surprised the three that I've been to so far all had designers
that were decorate had decorated the homes.
And there is some beautiful furnishings.
There's some beautiful wallpaper.
Wallpaper is back.
I know I love wallpaper.
And there are just some beautiful, beautiful artwork.
And you can get the cards of these designers.
Some of them have their own stores.
You can go and buy from them.
And so that's what I like, too, about these houses that I've toured so far is
they're decorated so you also can get decorating ideas.
One of my favorite shows on HGTV is No Demo Reno.
And that's what they do is they don't move walls or anything.
They just put in like what the latest design style is.
You can see that there.
Yeah. Unusual paint colors,
wallpapers, beautiful countertops.
There is one of the houses I went to.
It's one of the I think there were only three houses in Knoxville that have this
brand new court site, and this is a beautiful countertop.
So it's just really I mean, you just can see all different.
And they were all different.
Every house I've been to so far, completely different.
One is kind of a transitional look.
One's pretty traditional.
And the other one's like this Mediterranean.
And so it's so many different styles.
Well, and it's you know, it's really cool because I mean, let's face it.
This is the builder does have to pay to participate.
Right. This is not like the builder just,
hey, I got a house. I'm just going to enter the parade.
Right. There's a lot that goes into this.
So when you're going into a parade home, this is kind of like your this is their
this is their best shot. Right.
This is when that builder they're putting on display all of our
amazing qualities that we have, the finishes, trim work,
neat little things that separate them and make them a little different.
And so when you go into a parade house,
you know, most of the time they have all of the top of the line and all of the
best of the best, because this is that builder's opportunity for you walking
through the show at this weekend and through the next couple of weekends
for them to really be able to grab your attention, to really set themselves apart
from other builders and other things that you see.
I mean, sure, let's face it, there's neighborhoods that have open houses
and open models that are going on every single day.
Right. And you maybe you've been out there, maybe you've looked at some of those.
But this is an opportunity to really go in and see.
Some of the best of the best, it just is really is.
I mean, we'll call it what it is, some of the best of the best.
And and I know from living in a parade house as well is that, you know,
it afforded me the ability to probably have a few extra finishes or a few extra
things that I probably wouldn't have had otherwise,
because folks like Lisa, you know,
some of the things that Ferguson has to offer.
Now they have an opportunity to showcase some of their new products,
maybe the new finish that's coming out or whatever.
So I can't agree with you on the wallpaper thing.
I just wish that's one of those things.
It should died with Shag Carpenter.
Yes, it's a lot different than it used to be.
Yeah, although I did see some grass
and some of the clothes out there, which is very 70s, but I love that 70s vibe.
I'm not mad about it either.
No, I'm not.
Yeah, it is what it is.
I will say that, too, a lot of the houses are
they have people there to greet you.
Sometimes it's the builders.
Sometimes it's the realtor that represents the builder.
But there are also like mortgage people
that are out in some of the houses that can talk to you.
And I was talking to a mortgage person recently about the higher interest rates.
And she said, well, you know, the old saying
you marry the house, you date the interest rate.
So eventually they will go back down.
Everybody will calm down.
Everything will go back down and then you refinance.
So, you know, don't I'm not ever condoning overpurchasing.
But, you know, that is, you know, don't be too scared.
You scared of the real.
I mean, my first rate on my first house was 14 percent back in the 90s.
And it was well, gosh, I guess that was late 80s.
That would have been 80s.
But yeah, late 80s.
But then, you know, I've had them in every different interest rate.
Sure. You know, so it changes.
It's not a constant.
So I thought that was a really good way of saying it.
Marry the house, date your interest rate.
Yeah, you'll be able to refinance that thing when rates change and, you know,
things stabilize or get to more when you want.
I mean, let's face it. I mean, look.
Three percent, two point nine, stuff like that's unheard of anyways.
Right. That's ridiculous.
So it was definitely was it's not sustainable.
OK, it's just not sustainable.
So let's just face it, in reality, we'll you know, we're going to be in a normal
range for mortgage rates. So, all right, we are going to take a quick break
and we're going to come back.
We will wrap up talking about the parade
of homes going on here in Greater Knoxville, presented by the Home Builders
Association of Greater Knoxville. So if you've got comments, questions,
give us a call, shoot us a text eight, six, five, six, five, six, eight, two, five, five.
We'll be back right here all around the house with Scott Brockamp on Newsdog.
Ninety eight, seven WOKI.
Welcome back to Around the House with Scott Brockamp.
I am, of course, Scott Brockamp.
And I am in studio this morning with Lisa Smith and Becky Snyder from the Home
Builders Association of Greater Knoxville.
If you were listening in the last segment, we heard a little bit about, well,
kind of what these ladies do and how they got to be a part of this
this association.
And
I already know how you ended up being co-chairs of the event.
So, you know, I don't have to ask that question.
It's the it's the 80-20 rule.
All right. Twenty percent of the people do 80 percent of the work.
So thank you for that.
If you're a member of the Home Builders
Association and you're listening and you're not on a committee, why not?
Yes. Right.
Come on. We've got plenty to get involved in.
We have so much to do.
We actually, Becky and I came back very excited about a new thing.
We are starting a professional women in building chapter here in Knoxville.
So if you're a woman out there and you work in the building industry and you are
not part of the Home Builders Association, contact the Home Builders Association.
Join up, because in this coming year, we are going to have a committee just for you.
We are going to meet together and talk about the
the interesting thing of being a woman in our industry.
Predominantly man's world.
Yeah, it's a great industry and it's great for women.
And I would say to any young girls out there, if you're interested in building,
there are a million different ways that you can be a part.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
For sure. Go check out the little book, The House That She Built.
Yeah, it's a good little book
promoted by the National Association of Home Builders.
So it's a cute little book.
I have it up in my office and I try to read it to my boys, but they don't let me.
Well, you know, she knows all about the house she built, the houses that she builds.
You know all about that.
As a dad of two beautiful young girls, you know, that's one of the things.
And if you're listening, if you've listened to the show, you know that I am
very much so behind empowering and inspiring young women to be all that they
can be and and do the best that they can and well, grab your own equality.
Right.
I mean,
you just you just got to go make it and you can.
And that's what I tell my girls.
You can, you know,
just anyway, I'm going to stop there before I digress because we'll talk another hour
about that. All right.
So the parade of homes go to the parade of homes, Knoxville dot com.
You can see the list of all the homes that are on display this weekend and the next
two weekends, the parade of homes is open on Friday,
Saturday and Sunday this weekend, next weekend and the following weekend
from 12 noon until five p.m. each one of those days.
And could you, you know, see what's going on?
You know, we touched on it and we have talked about it.
I know many people that go and look forward to the parade of homes every year,
a because they want to go and look in some of these fancy homes and, you know,
the the way the other people live type of mentality and idea.
Right. Which is cool.
But also it helps you in making decisions or getting an outlook for projects around
your own home. And and I think from the folks that I have talked to over the years
in our involvement in the parade is that it's one of the most one of the biggest
things that people enjoy about the parade is they go through and they see things
and they're like, we can do that at our house.
We can do it. We can have that.
Right. And so, you know, you'll
you'll get to see some of our stuff in some of these parade homes as well.
But kind of like Lisa and, you know, a lot of our stuff, it's it's just there.
Right. It's just there.
Well, I will say this doesn't happen a lot.
But if people do go to the parade, a really good tip that I have for them is
that if you see something that you want, a light fixture, a plumbing fixture,
an appliance, you know, a certain kind of granite, a certain kind of wallpaper,
take a picture. Yes.
It's very hard to describe those things.
But if you take a picture of it and you walk into our showroom of something that
we sell, we'll be able to find that for you and you can have it in your home.
And it likely comes in a different color.
Lots of gold out there this year.
It is absolutely beautiful and very rich.
It's not for everybody.
They may make it in black.
They may make it in silver.
You never know.
But take a picture of the things that you like.
And also, you know, visit our sponsors, ORNL and Tindles.
They help us out so much.
So, you know, go by there and grab a book.
Yeah. Big thank you out to them.
Well, in, you know, Google has this thing called Google Lens, right?
You can take a picture of just about anything and Google AI run it through its
database and it will find you a match.
So a lot of times you can actually not only get the product, but
you'll find out who makes the product and et cetera.
So but definitely take a picture.
Take a picture.
Number one, take a picture.
Take notes. Take a picture.
But you know what?
While you're out there walking through these homes, just say say a mighty thank
you because the folks that are putting together these homes, putting together
the parade of homes of Knoxville, it takes a lot of work.
It takes a lot of work.
So if you just.
Tooling about and meet some of those amazing contractors on site,
just know that when they're building a house, it's more than just building a house.
It's it's sweat equity, right?
There. Yes.
I mean, even though they're building a house for somebody else, it's still it's a
piece of them and a part of them.
And I think you can I can say we get a little attached.
Yeah, we are.
Elders, thank you for participating every year.
We appreciate you.
All right.
Well, we are going to take a short break.
Thank you, ladies, so much for joining me here this morning.
Thank you for having us.
My my guess for the second hour is Mr.
Girish Desai and we're going to be talking well, all things pink, even though
I'm not running as a real man where pink this year, Girish is.
And let's face it, it's a very important topic.
So make sure you student tune in with us
here on the second hour on Around the House with Scott Brockamp on News Talk WOKI.
Well, good morning and welcome back to Around the House with Scott Brockamp.
I am Scott Brockamp, founder and co-owner of his security and technology.
And if you were joining us in the first hour, I was speaking with Lisa Smith and
Becky Snyder, both members of the Home Builders Association of Greater Knoxville.
And we were talking about the parade of homes that kicks off this weekend.
You can go to the Parade of Homes Knoxville dot com and you can find a list
of all the locations of the homes that are being on display for the next three
weekends that show runs from 12 to five each day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
for this weekend and the next two weekends.
So thank you very much to them for being here.
The parade is one of those things that I always look forward to.
But one of the things that we didn't get to in the first hour,
well, it's the topic of the day.
I don't know if you all enjoyed as much as I do, but we come up with some crazy ones.
You know, it's almost impossible to keep up with all of the special topics for the
the national day of or the month of, you know, we have Breast Cancer Awareness
Month, Oktoberfest, National Pizza Month, Pet Wellness Month, Dental Hygiene Month,
National Apple Month, and the list goes on and on and on.
Once one website lists over 80 things to celebrate in October.
So if I didn't mention your favorite, well, I'm sorry.
It's because there's an endless supply of them.
But some of them are kind of crazy, kind of weird.
Maybe not, maybe not to you.
But this month.
Is Pickled Peppers Month, Pickled Peppers Month.
I'm not really a pepper guy.
I don't really like eating peppers.
I don't like them in pretty much anyway.
But I know some folks that love them in tons of different ways.
But Pickled is definitely not one that I am fond of.
My next guest, though, he probably has a little bit of experience
with some peppers, pickled and whatnot. Mr.
Girish Desai,
General Manager of El Chico's Restaurant, but better known for his efforts for
raising money for the American Cancer Society.
My good friend for Real Men Wear Pink of Knoxville.
Good morning. Good morning.
Thank you for having me.
So what's your favorite pickled pepper?
So last night I actually had shrimp nachos.
And of course we had the fried jalapeno.
Open it up.
Lime juice, a little salt and pepper.
It'll kick you.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Gee, you always have some amazing,
amazing food that you like to put out on social media.
Many, many of the items that you obviously prepare at the restaurant over there.
So I appreciate that because a lot of times it's late at night when I'm finally
looking at things like Facebook and my phone.
And then as I'm looking and I'm going, now's not the time to get hungry, Scott.
But anyway, it happens.
Hey, if you're looking for some things to do around town this weekend, by the way,
our awesome, amazing football team is taking a break this weekend.
They have a bye week.
But Lady Vols softball is in action today.
That's obviously one of my favorites.
So get down to Sherry Parker Lee and enjoy a little bit of fall ball.
Games are today at noon.
We play against Carson Newman and then at five against Georgia State.
Admission is free for fall ball games.
So go check them out.
If you're into bluegrass or Americana music, head over to Marble Springs,
the home of Governor John Sevier for the Appalachian Music Fest.
It's free and it runs from 11 to seven today.
Maybe you have a kid who's into dinosaurs.
Go check out Jurassic Quest today at the Knoxville Convention Center.
It is open from nine a.m. to eight p.m. today.
Also, the W.A.T. is sponsoring the Women's Spectacular.
And it is in the parking lot in front of Belks out in Turkey Creek.
And we've got about 100 plus exhibitors out there.
Come check it out today.
That show runs from nine a.m. this morning until six p.m. this afternoon.
Should be a beautiful day.
You'll find the his security and technology lounge area attached right next
to their very own beer garden that is happening today.
If you want to find tickets or find out about other events happening down,
go to visit Knoxville dot com.
That's visit Knoxville dot com.
So I mentioned my my good buddy Girish, you know, my brother from another mother.
We can call him whatever I just call him G, by the way.
So if you if you see him run around town, call him G, call him Girish.
I don't he don't care what you call him.
Just open up your pocketbook and donate to American Cancer Society.
Exactly. Exactly.
So how what do you this is what your eighth year, seventh year?
I think we're running nine, nine or ten years now that we started.
And you had a couple, but hey, we're good.
Yeah, you you are one of the original.
Well, let's just face it, you were the original.
Yeah.
And and are still there.
And sorry, I'm not I'm not out there loud and proud this year.
Just got a lot going on.
It takes a lot of work.
It does. And you'll be back.
I'm pretty sure.
So if you're listening and, you know, you just go give go give Girish some money.
Go. I mean, you're not giving it to you.
You're giving to American Cancer Society.
Exactly. So it's for breast cancer, of course.
But cancer itself is not just breast cancer.
It's not. No, it.
You know, this is this is a very.
Very passionate cause for you.
Yeah.
Tell us about that.
So.
When when I was approached, actually by Miss Carla Keeps.
She nominated me, and of course, I said, yes, I didn't know what I was walking into.
But
it's actually mainly for my mom because she passed away from breast cancer
in nineteen eighty five.
She lasted almost a year from the surgery to chemo, recovered there for a little bit.
And then a few months later, it came back.
And of course, they didn't have
medication at the time for the treatment.
They had radiation, chemo.
So that was actually hard on her or hard on anybody going through cancer.
Yeah. So she had passed away at the end of eighty five.
And then I've got a sister that is dealing with ovarian cancer.
It's different, but it's still cancer started in 2017, and she's still
continuing to get treatment.
Yeah, it.
As as I've always said,
cancer touches everybody.
Yeah, I don't care who you are.
You're not immune to it.
We
we lost a very near and dear friend this year to cancer.
And she was my kid's pediatrician,
but she knew how important it was.
She was always a
a huge supporter for my campaigns and for the cause.
And and it's just
you know, even with all the advancements that we have in modern medicine,
let's face it, the improvements of the technology to be able to diagnose,
to be able to treat and to fight cancer.
I mean, it is it is improved leaps and bounds.
But it's still devastating.
Yeah. So research has advanced since 1989 and have improved for breast cancer
survivor rate by 41 percent. Yeah.
And you know what?
That's all due to folks like my buddy,
Girish, who go out there and scream it from the rooftops as as many of us have
about how important it is to be able to donate and have that money for research.
You know, one of the obviously October is known for breast cancer awareness.
And there are a lot of causes and a lot of places that are raising money at this
point in time for breast cancer awareness.
One of the big things that always got my attention with doing real men were paying
through the American Cancer Society is that that money that we're raising stays
local, it helps to those individuals here locally.
But it's also going to help fund research
for all cancers and not just breast cancer.
Yeah. And to me, that's huge.
Right. That's a it's a very important component.
So, listen, we are going to take a short break.
But when we come back, we're going to hear more about Girish's story as to why this
is so important to him, why he has such a passion for this cause.
And well, quite frankly, how you can help
him and support him and share the word about
helping the American Cancer Society through women were paint.
If you have questions, you can give us a call.
Shoot us a text 865-656-8255.
We'll be right back here on Around the House with Scott Brockamp on News Talk.
Ninety seven WOKI.
Welcome back to Around the House.
I am Scott Brockamp.
And here with me this morning is grist decide.
You may know him from El Chico's.
By the way, if you need a good plate of some Tex-Mex, that's the place to go.
Fresh Tex-Mex.
I'm sorry. Fresh Tex-Mex.
No microwaves.
It's always good.
It's always good to get you a refreshing beverage to go along with it.
Go over there and watch you some college football today.
Hey, you know, I'm just saying you can't ever.
I mean, you can't beat just having good food.
That's just all there is to it.
I guess apparently I like to eat.
Maybe I'm hungry.
Did you bring breakfast today?
I actually did not.
Come on, man.
She had Cheerios this morning.
OK, and a cup of coffee.
Oh, my goodness.
All right.
Well, if you were listening
for our previous segment, we are talking about something very, very serious.
We're talking about cancer.
Many of you know that I myself
sat in a similar seat with Girish as a real man, where Pink supporter and
fundraiser for the American Cancer Society through the month of October.
Actually, you know, a couple of months.
We got a few months involved in there.
It's you know, when when you're passionate about something like Girish and myself are.
It it it's very consuming.
It takes a lot of work.
It takes a lot of people.
It takes a lot of support.
So I know even for myself, man, my supporters from my previous
campaigns have been, I mean, just huge.
They continue to sound the sounding boards and spread the word.
So.
What are you guys doing at the restaurant in regards to your campaign?
So for startups, every Monday and Tuesday,
we're doing so for every Monday, every Monday,
Tuesday for the month of September and October,
when you purchase a case, so bowl, so Casablanca or a chili can case.
So top shelf side bowl cup, you pay for it.
But then we take that money and completely 100 percent donated back to
American cancer from our end.
So you're giving by purchasing on Monday,
Tuesdays, and we automatically give that 100 percent back.
And let's let's not overlook the fact you get some yummy queso.
Yes. Yep.
Sorry.
Little bit of jalapeno bite in it, but it's good.
Can't can't overlook that.
So what else are you guys doing?
So we do have raffle tickets that we're selling prizes with.
We just posted something, I think, last night or yesterday afternoon.
I saw that.
We've got a Ogle cooler, a Bushlight cooler.
The Ogle cooler is orange.
It's got the ball network on it.
So the laws I'm telling you, people are
offering me bribes to get that cooler.
We've got a Craftman toolbox, huge, pretty big size,
a grill that we're giving away, cornhole board, dark, dark machine.
There's quite a few.
There's a MasterChef
air dryer.
And all these values on the big, big items are a little 300 plus.
Right.
And so for a twenty dollar raffle ticket, you got a chance to win something big.
Yep.
And then you've got your ten dollar raffle
tickets for the cornhole boards and the smaller items.
I got you.
So how do we how do we get tickets?
G, you come by the restaurant, purchase the tickets under HCS and put your name
on it, put your phone number on it, and we'll draw the tickets on October 31st.
OK, if we don't get to 31st, it will be November 1st for sure.
Gotcha.
Gotcha. You ought to have, you know, you ought to just have a do it on the 31st
and have you a huge party Halloween party.
Do it for the drawing and everything.
True, true.
And, you know, special donation to get in.
Yeah. All right.
To be a part of.
See, there you go.
I'm going to help you raise some more money.
Please do. Please.
And not just you, everybody else.
We do have T-shirts, too, that we've printed
this past year for American cancer and all the people that have sponsored and
helped give us five hundred dollars or more for donations.
They're on the back of the T-shirts.
So thank you to all our sponsors.
Awesome.
Our biggest sponsor was it's everybody that has donated, of course.
But the biggest one was NBC suites or a spa and then El Chico's.
There you go.
And you have to every year.
I do. Every year I donate to your campaign.
You know, I'm just going to tell you.
And I think that's one of the things that I probably miss the most.
Not being a candidate for real men this year is is the camaraderie.
Yeah, you know,
it's ever since you and I met, we we we hit it off without a doubt.
And, you know, whenever you would have events, we would my wife and I would come
and sometimes bring the family and whatnot.
But
it is always to me, it's always important to support those campaigns.
I mean, I donate to my campaign, right?
And I knew I was we were donating.
So, you know, spread it around, spread around.
And we always donated yours.
In fact, when Mr.
Yarbrough himself, when he used to when he was helping a couple of years.
They did some crazy things here on the radio station to help him.
And and we we may have thrown out a couple of challenges, thrown down the gauntlet
at a time or two, but.
You know,
we have a lot of fun doing this and there's no doubt, but I don't want to overlook
the seriousness as to why we do this.
OK, and to me, that's another important part about how you and I have always
raised money for American Cancer Society because we in.
My father just went through throat cancer
last year at an employee, just went through lung cancer last year,
lost a great friend just a month ago.
And a lot of times all they really wanted was somebody just to be normal,
just be normal with them and laugh and have fun because their life was consumed
with their battle and I get it, I get it.
And if you're listening today and maybe you're in the middle of your battle.
Just know that there are people out there fighting for you.
There are people who are taking up for the cause.
But.
Just enjoy, enjoy life, get a moment of laughter, step outside, enjoy this
beautiful sunshine that we have, enjoy this fall morning that we have.
And.
We can never can ever overlook laughter in our lives.
True.
So I was fortunate enough to go to Scotland this past couple of months ago.
It was my sister that's dealing with cancer from 2017, still continuing.
She was fortunate enough to able to have her son's wedding in Yorkshire.
And we saw her energy level so high, so positive.
But inside, she's dealing with cancer.
Right. And we know.
Doctors research, everyone's trying everything they can.
But the only way that this can happen is people giving.
Yeah. And if they give, it'll help everyone that is involved in research.
It'll help everyone that is dealing with cancer to give them a ride to their event
or ride to the hospital, a hotel stay medication.
So all the money that we do raise in Knoxville, it stays here and it stays
for the families that are dealing with cancer locally.
Yeah.
And that's one of the things that I learned
when I first became a part of Real Men Wear Pink is just the impact locally
that the American Cancer Society has.
In fact, you know, there are some folks dealing with breast cancer,
some ladies dealing with breast cancer that maybe we're utilizing some other
resources from other other groups that help women in need during these times.
And it doesn't matter.
Right. So I had no idea.
We have UT Cancer Research Facility.
People come from all over the state and from out of state.
They come here for treatment.
They come here for diagnosis.
And a lot of these folks, when they come here, they don't have the means to stay
here for it. Right.
And so the dollars that you're raising that I have raised in the past,
those dollars are going to help pay for a hotel room to help pay for
transportation to get from the hotel to the hospital.
They are trying.
They are helping with subsidizing for food
cost and all the costs associated with treatment.
I mean, let's just think about this a minute.
You're sitting in a doctor's office.
And you got that diagnosis.
It comes out with that horrible C word.
And you're dealing with that and you start your course, you start your
treatments.
You're dealing with the effects that your body is is dealing with.
You know, you're essentially taking in poison to get rid of a poison.
True.
And.
Your family is dealing everything, all this around you.
And now you've got to think about making a reservation at a hotel to go get chemo
or radiation or how am I going to get from the hotel to the hospital?
That's the last thing you need to be worried about.
And these are the things I mean, to me, that's one of the things
that I think is so important and so vital about what you're doing through
American Cancer Society, Real Men Wear Paint, because this is how these items
are funded.
So when you give to Girish's campaign this year, know that your money is just not
going to some corporate headquarter.
It's actually going into the resources to help the folks that are locally here
in Knoxville in the greater area.
And to me, that is huge.
And that does include, like if you.
Chattanooga, Johnson City.
So when we say surrounding area, you've got your small towns around Knoxville.
But then you do have people that do come in from John City, Chattanooga, right?
Even Nashville.
Yeah, you got it.
Well, we are going to take a short break.
When we come back, we're going to have Girish just he's going to he's going to
tell us how you can help and and well continue to tell us why it's so important.
So stay tuned here with us on Around the House with Scott Brockamp on News Talk
98 7 WOKI.
Welcome back to Around the House with Scott Brockamp.
I am Scott Brockamp and sitting here in the studio with me this morning is my good
buddy, Girish Desai.
G is as he always does this time of year is, well, he's asking for your help.
He is a fun, a real man where pink of Knoxville fundraiser and fundraising is
well on its way this year.
Gee, how is how's fundraising going this year?
So so far we're we've got about five thousand plus dollars raised.
We are goal is twenty five thousand.
We just recently did a tailgate party over off Popular and Cumberland Avenue
with the Big Orange Brew Crew, and we were able to raise about seventeen
hundred dollars just in Margarita sales.
And when we say Margarita sales, we're
asking for donations for the Margaritas and they were twelve dollars.
And all that money goes back to American cancer.
That's awesome.
What else?
So what else you've got coming up?
So this Saturday will be set up for a
fajita bar that we're asking for a fifteen dollar donation for the fajita bar.
And then we'll have Margaritas again for the Top Shelf Margaritas, a donation of
twelve dollars per Margarita and we'll have a live band out there.
Of course, Go Vols.
I'm a true LSU fan, by the way, though.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't you talk like that in here.
I had to throw that in there.
Once you talk like that in here.
So we've got some Aggie friends coming over to come and enjoy the game.
And hopefully that LSU will top them.
I like you. I mean, go the balls.
We're watching it, boy. We're watching it.
So tailgate, Texas A&M, fajita bar, Margaritas, live music.
And well, let's face it, you can enjoy all those good things and help save a life.
Correct. Right.
Yes. Let's get real.
Because that's what this is.
Right. So you don't have to just donate just to get a drink or to get food.
You can just donate whatever amount.
And there was very, very generous people last week when we had the tailgate,
that they were given donations out of the pocket, not even worrying about food
or a drink or just even hanging out.
They were just walking by and they said they wanted to donate.
Well, in in, by the way, if you would like to donate, if you go to the around
the house with Scott Brockamp Facebook page, you will find a link to Girish's
campaign on our website, on our Facebook page, as well as I am continuing to share it.
You can find Girish or you can just do a simple search for Girish here in Facebook
and you will find his Real Men Wear Pink Facebook page as well.
Stop in the restaurant, go to El Chico's
or you know what?
You can do it the hard way and you can search Real Men Wear Pink of Knoxville
and go to the ACS landing page and you will find Girish as well right there so
that you can make your donations and help save a life.
Because that's really what it's all about.
Help save a life.
So don't forget, we've been doing this
for a while and it's for a local cause for our town for Knoxville.
Yeah, that's right.
That's that gets overlooked a lot.
It definitely gets overlooked a lot.
So you have been doing this a long time, Girish.
And so let's talk about that.
What?
I mean, Knoxville has this is I believe this is the ninth year, eighth or ninth
year, ninth year that Knoxville has had this campaign available to them.
It started nine years ago.
You have been with it since conception.
And well,
Knoxville, we've done pretty good.
We've done pretty good in Knoxville.
Our best year was last year.
I believe it was. Yeah, that was our best year.
Yeah, every year it's gotten better.
But last year was our biggest.
I don't even remember the total from last year.
One sixty five, one hundred and sixty five thousand dollars.
Yeah, I think out of eight men raised
that much. Yeah.
You were one of the biggest contributor out of out of me and you.
We raised we raised over one hundred thousand.
Yeah.
So what did you do last year?
Thirty thirty about thirty thousand.
Yeah. So,
you know, last year was my biggest year ever.
Of course, you know, I set my sights high last year.
First year, I know I didn't make my goal,
but I set my goal for one hundred thousand last year.
So I think I had mine at fifty.
So I did not reach either.
I went ridiculous last year.
But but thank you to the many in the generosity of the hearts of the people here.
You know, we I was eighty.
I don't know.
Somewhere right over eighty thousand dollars last year.
Yeah, which I mean, it's just insane.
And you know, it's funny because the for I made it in the top ten.
One of my first years ever in the top ten.
And I made it was like forty seven thousand.
Yeah.
And last year and I've squeaked in at like number ten.
And last year I raised over eighty thousand dollars for American Cancer
Society and I barely hung in there at number ten, which is great.
So a lot of people, a lot of states that are involved in real men were pink.
It's not just Tennessee.
All the states around the around the country is
involved in raising money.
Yeah, and it is it's it is a national
campaign put on by the American Cancer Society and the goal this year for the
entire campaign of Real Men Wear Pink is eleven million dollars.
And I'm grateful to say we were able to hit that goal last year.
Not sure how things will go this year.
We're we're still doing pretty good right now.
The the top man in real men this year is out of Atlanta at and he is sitting at
one hundred and thirty two thousand dollars.
Wow. So, you know, here's here's one of the things that I learned right about
Real Men Wear Pink is that there are a lot of these guys are from major,
huge corporations and they have they're using those big corporate dollars.
And you get here in Knoxville and we've got little old people like me and you.
Right.
And and here's what's so amazing is that we competed on that level.
Yeah. And we're we don't have any of these big corporate dollar donors.
Every one of these big corporations that I went to locally around here that was,
well, we donate with American Cancer Society directly.
We do.
I'm like, listen, so you're telling me you're stroking a check to ACS.
Yeah. Yeah. How much?
Well, I don't know.
So listen, if you're if you're a business out there, if you're a corporation out
there and this is a passionate cause to you, this is a great opportunity.
Get you a real man.
Get behind a real man.
That's what I tried to do.
Right.
Create fundraisers.
You know, you got companies like Clayton Homes.
Clayton does their own thing, apparently.
You know, and if if you're if you're part of the the top management team at Clayton
Homes and you're listening this morning, hey, get involved locally.
I know you're a global company, but you're local.
Right. You can give to Gersh Dessai at
El Chico's for Real Men Web Pink. That's right.
And help me meet my goal.
And at the same time, you're making the same exact donation.
Right. And so and that's one of the things.
So maybe you're a business owner.
Maybe you're thinking, you know what?
I need to help out.
I need to find a way to give.
You can give through a real men's campaign.
And you're that donation is still going to American Cancer Society.
It's all this.
You're just saying that you're going that it is in support of that individual.
And I'm just going to tell you.
The real men campaigns around here
over the last nine years have brought more awareness and so much more awareness
to the needs for the American Cancer Society than a lot of the programs.
The majority of folks around here, yeah, they have a actual employee who is
who helps these areas, but the majority of what they do is through volunteers.
And that's us.
And the people that work for us.
You know, you much like we did at his security and technology,
we turn it into a company ordeal, and I know that you do the same at El Chico.
Every year you go in there, the place is decorated and your employees are
wearing pink shirts and and your employees are talking about your campaign.
Yes. So what we ask our guests, if they would, if they would like to round off,
if they would like to donate directly,
there's a QR code in the restaurant that they can go to.
And it would directly go to my page and then automatically just donate
whatever amount big or small.
Every little bit helps.
I mean, every little bit helps, no matter what you can give.
If you can just give it just it's so important.
Even.
There's people in my life who.
They've given a very moderate level until.
Cancer affected their lives, right?
And then they really learn and understand how important it is.
That you have folks like us out there raising money.
So if you're listening this morning, just know that, well, quite frankly,
Girish decide is out there planning and preparing.
To help your loved one when that news comes.
And I hate to say it that way, but one in three people will have cancer.
That's true. That's very true.
Even your small pets.
Yes, we had an experience last year that we had to put our nine year old German
shepherd down due to bone cancer in his back leg and there was nothing they could
do for it.
You can give them all the medication,
but there was just nothing they could do for it.
So three months later, we had to put him down.
And that was a hard battle.
Yeah, I know it was.
I know how I know how important your pups are to you.
And yeah.
All right, we are going to take a short break.
And when we come back, we are going to make sure that you know about all
the important ways that you can get involved to help.
Help not just Girish decide this year,
but help those in the following years help us support this campaign, help us to
support our local area through real men wear pink for the American Cancer Society.
We'll be right back here on Around the House on News Talk 98 7 WOK.
Yeah, welcome back to Around the House.
I am Scott Brockamp
of his security and technology and we are well,
you know what this has got to do with technology.
We are talking with Girish Desai.
He is the operator partner for El Chico's.
You can find them over on merchants over in North Knoxville.
Great place to go if you want fresh Tex-Mex, no microwaves ever.
Go see my buddy Girish Desai.
Go get you some queso and know that when you spring for queso on Monday and
Tuesdays, that money goes to American Cancer Society.
Well, and when I said this, we talk about technology here.
You know, that's one of the things technology has a lot to do with fighting
cancer, with the research that is being done.
It is so imperative that we support our
organizations and foundations that are out there helping us
fight these different causes in different scenarios.
You know, one of the things that we can be proud about today is that more than
3.8 million breast cancer survivors.
Are alive and well, and that's through research.
That's through treatments.
That's through the many, many things that are.
Just a few dollars accumulate up to to help.
I used to tell people always it doesn't really matter how many dollars you just
give whatever dollars you can, and I'll put those together with other dollars and
we'll get the biggest donation that we can come up with.
So, Girish, thank you so much for what you do.
I know that this cause is very passionate for you with the loss of your mother
back in 85, I believe that was.
Yeah.
And I know that's why that this is so
important to you to not just raise a lot of money, but to make sure that people are
aware of the many things that you can do to help along the way.
Right.
We have to we got to make sure that we keep talking about this because listen,
no, no, your body, you know what you know, your body better than anybody.
And when things are off, you know it.
And you've got to get checked out.
You got to get checked out.
You got to get checked out, Girish.
I know that there's a lot going on this year for your campaign.
And again, I just thank you so much for
your continual support for American Cancer Society.
So what are some of what are some ways and what are some things?
I know we briefly talked about it, but you're going to have a huge tailgate
party next weekend for the Texas A&M game.
Where's what? What? What spot are you going to be at?
So we're going to be on the
it's off Cumberland Avenue and popular.
It's a bridge that goes over from the World's Fair Park over to
the parking garage or parking lot going towards the stadium.
So we're right down the corner of Cumberland
and Poplar Avenue and the church is on the hill right behind us.
Yeah. So you'll see our tents out there.
There'll be about eight or ten tents lined up, a live band that will be set up.
And there will be set up in the middle walkway that people go by to get to the stadium.
So you'll definitely see us
bring cash, bring Venmo to donate, and that will automatically all go to American Cancer.
Twelve dollars for Margarita's, fifteen dollars for lunch for a fajita bar.
We'll be prepping early that morning at eight o'clock, getting everything ready,
and we'll have everything set up by eleven o'clock and we should be all good to go.
Celebrate until kickoff time.
And then we have another event on October
18th with Jared that works for WVLT.
He'll be doing a live celebrity bartender.
Who is at El Chico?
That's going to be at El Chico.
He'll be there for about probably three hours and
seeing if he can play bartender.
He tried last year. He did pretty good.
Yeah.
So we'll see what drinks he can make up this year.
So so I mean, does he have a good bar back behind him?
Because, I mean, let's face it, I've I've been to your place many times
and it gets a little hectic in there.
It does. It does.
Last night we were pretty busy with with a good bar crowd with no game on.
Everyone shows up to eat and drink.
Well, make sure you go out there and make Jared work extra hard.
He will be he'll be cleaning glasses, too.
So he's going to have to serve and do dishes.
Yeah.
I like it, but can he reach the top shelf?
That's what I want to know.
He probably can.
I think he can.
He's got the height.
So anyway, just just to make sure that he is helping us out,
but he's helping himself out, too, because he's one of the real men weeping.
But don't forget, donate to Gersh, the size link, not to other links.
Try it.
There is all going to one cause only one man that you need to know for real men
in wear pink of Knoxville this year, that is this year.
And that is Girish this.
I that is Gersh Desai.
All right, G, we got just another minute here.
I want to give a big shout out to some of the people that have really helped us
donate and keep things going on for nine years.
Home Depot, Lowe's,
Lipman Brothers, DMV distributing, Eagle distributing, Cherokee,
Toyota of Knoxville, Mercedes Benz of Knoxville and Beaty Chevrolet.
Yeah, so all you other dealers out there, you need to step up your game and donate.
That's right.
Mr. Rusty Wallace.
There's there is there are countless Harper dealership.
Come on, guys.
I've reached out to you.
Come on.
That's right. That's right.
It is it is all going for a good cause.
Hey, listen, all seriousness.
Let's face it.
Cancer has affected many and many lives,
and this is your opportunity in your way to be able to help.
If you've missed part of today's show and you want to listen again,
there's a link on my website, go to his security dot com and click on the ATH
radio tab or you can find this where you listen to your favorite podcast.
Just search for around the house with Scott Brockamp.
I want to thank my guests this morning,
Lisa Smith with Ferguson Plumbing Supply, Becky Snyder from Lewis Construction,
from the HBA, talking about the parade of homes and my good buddy,
Girish Desai, ambassador with Real Men Wear Pink in Knoxville.
Have a top of your guest you'd like to hear on the show.
Send us an email at the house at his security dot com.
Around the House is produced by News Talk
98.7 with guest coordination services from Be Media Savvy.
Enjoy fall break next week, and I hope that you have some quality time
around the house today. Thank you all.