142. The Fun of Festivals with Kyle Durham

Our guest on today's episode is Kyle Durham. Kyle actually reached out to me totally cold, which was— again, I love it when this happens— through our website. And this was back in, well, earlier in the late spring, I would say, when he reached out to me. And he and his community of Norburn, Missouri had just entered the contest. So Senex, which is a CHS brand, They have this annual contest called Hometown Throwdown where they are looking to award the top small town festival of the year. The grand prize winner, they get $100,000. So Kyle, at the time he reached out to me, they had applied. They were one of the top 3 finalists. So that was when he first reached out to me. And then it, you know, it was like summer happened and we just were having a hard time getting our schedules to align. And then the cool thing is we waited long enough. So that we actually got to bring them on. Not only were they the grand prize winner, but their festival had just occurred. So that is who Kyle is. And you're gonna— I just, I want you to hear about him and like his approach to the festival and all the different things that they had to be a part of it, how they get volunteers, all of those things. It's always so, so cool. And I think too, I, I hope that as you're listening to this and you're, you're listening for takeaways for yourself, I think sometimes too it's the audacity to go for the big things. We've applied for some of these national grants for some of our projects here in my little town, and alas, we have not been awarded these things. But it's really cool to hear of somebody in a tiny town that has. So I think it's important. It gives us all that bit of hope and just a reminder to go for it. So without further ado, enjoy this episode with Kyle Durham. Well, good morning, Kyle. Welcome to the show.

Good to be with you, Rebecca.

So I always love it when I get messages like the one I got from you. And you had reached out prior to knowing if your festival was the winner. So now that we know you were, not only were you the winner, but the festival just happened last week. So why don't you maybe start there, start telling us about the contest that you were a part of, and then we'll get into the festival itself.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, the Norburn Soybean Festival was up for a big award this year. Cenex Gas Stations had put together a contest known as the Hometown Throwdown, and they were looking for the best hometown festival in the United States. And out of 500 entries, the Norburn Soybean Festival came out tops.

That's okay. So can we just pause there for a second? That's when you sent this to me and I went out and looked and I did vote, by the way, I voted for your festival.

Much appreciated.

Yeah, for sure. It was just really cool. I think at the time there were only 3, right? There were 3 finalists. I think, right, when you sent it to me. What I think is really cool about it, first of all, I love the name of this contest, you know, Hometown Throwdown. It's just really, really cool. And again, I think so many of our listeners can really appreciate what a key or every single, like, an annual event like this in a community like yours. I mean, I think we all can relate to what that feels like. And I just think it's really, it's actually super cool and really special that you guys won, like you said, out of 500 entries. So congratulations to you and your town. Can't wait to hear about the festival itself. It's awesome. It's just really cool.

Yeah. Well, thank you. You know, it all started because we had one festival fan in particular that had seen an advertisement in a CHS magazine and brought it to a couple of us on the committee and said, you know, would this be something you guys are interested in? And needless to say, with a $100,000 grand prize on the line and up for grabs, we were very interested.

Okay, so let's talk about the festival itself because I'm curious, you know, like if you had to submit a plan for what you're going to do with that money or just— so I'm super curious. Again, just big kudos, huge congratulations. That's such— I mean, any small town, all the small towns listening to this, they're going to be like, $100,000? Like, that's phenomenal.

Super stuff. Yeah, yeah. And I, you know, I can't say enough good about Cenex and the work they do locally in communities. I think that's really where they shine, you know, especially with this competition. And as we've discussed here in Norburn, you know, this is a once in a generation opportunity to invest in the future of the festival.

For sure. Okay, so how about we start with Norburn? Tell me a bit about the town. How many people are in your community?

Yeah, so Norburn is, is a farming community of about 700 people. We sit right along the Missouri River, east of Kansas City, about an hour's drive. So needless to say, everybody kind of knows everybody around here. And what we pride ourselves on and what the festival I really think is a reflection of is community ties. And the fact that folks, even if they, you know, move away and move on to bigger cities or something like that, This is still that touchpoint, that connection that they have to where they grew up, and they do come back to make it an annual event.

That's awesome. So what is the origin of the Soybean Festival and what happens? It's a multi-day event. So tell us a bit about what actually happens at the Norburn Soybean Festival.

Yeah. So back in 1982 was the first Soybean Festival as we know it. We'd had other country fairs and that sort of stuff. Previous to that. But a group of individuals with our Norburn Lions Club came up with the idea of a way to not only build those community ties and forge those stronger bonds within the town and the greater area, but to also celebrate agriculture because it is the number one industry here in the local area and in the state of Missouri as well. So for 40-plus years now, we've gotten together not only to celebrate soybeans, but the farmers that grow them and the lives that are touched by agricultural economy.

Yeah, fantastic. So what are some of the things that a person could expect at the festival?

Our festival is 2.5 days. It kicks off on Thursday afternoon. Then that evening we have our opening ceremonies, and that's really kind of a time to come together as a community and celebrate those that have gone above and beyond over the past year. That's when we have the coronation of King Soybean.

Yes, I was hoping there was a King Soybean. I was going to ask.

There is indeed a King Soybean.

That's fantastic.

And you're visiting with a former King Soybean, actually.

I am really feeling quite privileged, and our listeners should be as well. Is there a crown? Do you actually get a crown? Do you get a scepter? I mean, what happens here, Kyle?

There's a crown and a cape. We don't have a scepter.

Maybe next year.

In years past, and it's a tradition that's kind of gone by the wayside just because of how hot it gets here in August sometimes, there is an 8-foot-tall burlap soybean pod. And the tradition historically was King Soybean would be revealed during the parade on Saturday and he would emerge from the giant soybean pod and be crowned at that time.

I love it. That's wonderful. So just because I feel like we should give a shout out to this year's— who was this year's I mean, our listeners, we won't know who this person is, but I want to give this person due credit. Who was this year's King Soybean?

Yeah, absolutely. We were proud to crown Daniel Carpenter as our 2024 King Soybean. Daniel's been on our planning committee for several years now and is a farmer and a seed dealer here in the area and really couldn't have picked a nicer guy.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Okay, so that's Thursday night. You have the fest— is your parade— you said your parade is on Saturday?

The parade's on Saturday.

Yes. Okay, what happens then? What else happens on the night of opening ceremonies? What else do you do?

So we kind of, we kind of term that as locals night, you know, with a lot of our festival goers coming from out of town. Thursday night really focuses in on, on the folks that are here, here local or might be staying with family over the weekend or something like that. And so there's a beer garden and karaoke and a washers tournament that raises money for a local charity. And just a lot of great events, but it's kind of low-key just because we, we really want to kind of foster those, those reconnections and giving people an opportunity to visit without the music blaring in the background.

Right, right. That's awesome. Then what happens on Friday?

So Friday we gear toward kids and families, and so that's when we have all of our traditional games that our volunteer fire department put on. So we have things like a soy coin hunt where kids gather around, if you can imagine those plastic kiddie pools, we fill them with soybeans and then throw a bunch of gold dollars and half dollars and quarters and all kinds of change. And they have to go sifting through the soybeans to find their cash prizes. That is by far the biggest of the, of the kids events as far as turnout. I mean, they just love that. And then we also have a fruit and veggie derby where kids build cars out of nothing but fruits and vegetables. The only allowance for non-fruit or vegetable is the axles through the wheels, so that's usually like a dowel rod or a toothpick or something like that. And then, then they take down a Pinewood Derby track, you know, and race. But a lot of other traditional events like watermelon eating, uh, pedal tractor pull is a big one as well. And then, and water balloons are always a big hit, you know, in the afternoon when it starts to warm up. But in addition to that, the festival brings in giant inflatables like bounce houses and obstacle courses and jousting and that sort of stuff, axe throwing, laser tag, mini golf. And what's really neat about those is with the connections that we've built with our sponsors, all of those types of activities are absolutely free to families and kids that come out and enjoy the festival.

So one, one question I wanted to ask, with a town of 700 people, How big of a draw around Norburn are you, are you pulling in for this event?

You know, we'll draw crowds regularly. Those without a family connection anyway will travel in from as far away as Kansas City, which is, you know, 50 or 60 miles away. We do have a, I have a pretty good draw. We're looking to continue to build on that, obviously, as we kind of crow about being named the best festival. But as far as folks that have grown up here in Norburn and come back for the festival, they come all the way from New England and Washington State and just all over the country.

Is that a weekend that you do school reunions? Class reunions?

There are a lot of class reunions that meet during that time too. It's just a natural fit.

Yeah, for sure. Okay, and then what about— so we get to Friday evening, do you do a street dance or like a big band, or do you bring some sort of music or entertainment in?

Absolutely. You know, throughout the weekend, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we'll have anywhere from 8 to 10 different musical acts going on. Some during the day, most of them at night. The beer garden operates Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and that's kind of the big draw in the evening crowds. So this year we had Dueling Pianos come in and then some other larger acts, you know, they're kind of local, regional that draw, draw some of their own fans in as well to introduce new people to the festival.

Right. Then Saturday, parade in the morning. Is your parade in the morning?

No, our parade's in the afternoon.

Okay.

Uh, we will—

I bet it does get hot then.

Yeah, it is a little warm sometimes. But Saturday kicks off with a 5K race, which always has a really great turnout. Throughout Friday and Saturday both, we've got an open-air market and vendors that line the streets, a lot of food trucks on hand. The Lions Club has their food shack. As well, and just a whole lot of different free street entertainment sorts of things. So magicians and clowns and Casey Slugger and Truman the Tiger, who are our local mascots around this area, you know, just trying to provide as many new and different and exciting entertainment opportunities to families. And like I mentioned before, you know, our emphasis is, is making sure that it's one, affordable, And that too, it's something that folks want to come out and see.

Right. So where else and how else are soybeans celebrated? Is there educational opportunities? I'm just— this— I'm actually quite curious about it because we were— I'm in North Dakota. We grow a lot of soybeans. It's one of our— it's a common crop in our state. And I'm just wondering again how, you know, what that tie is, because clearly it's called the Soybean Festival. So what else? What other ways do soybeans make an appearance?

Right. The namesake anyway for the Soybean Festival came from the city seal here, which you might be able to see on my shirt. Norburn is the self-proclaimed soybean capital of the world. I like it, self-proclaimed.

You haven't actually like, that hasn't been coined anywhere outside of that.

We haven't trademarked it yet.

Yeah, no, I like it. I like it. You get to say what you wanna be, Kyle, so.

Yeah. And the, you know, the history behind that was, was at the time that they came up with this designation, Norburn actually grew more soybeans per capita than anywhere else in the world. So I mean, it's a legit title.

Right, right. Yeah, that's impressive.

Like I said, you know, we've got things like the soy coin hunt and the coronation of King Soybean. But one of our great sponsors has been the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, which is the checkoff board here in the state. They come in, they cook up soy donuts for us.

Cool. I was gonna ask if you made interesting foods with soybeans, because I think that's an interesting opportunity and something people— yeah, again, it's not every day that you eat one. Yeah.

And then we bring in MU University Extension, has a booth in our community center, and they'll do cooking demonstrations with soy. So they did some barbecue roasted soy nuts, I think, this year. Also provided those, you know, free of charge for anybody that wanted to come out and try them. And like I said, you know, we do kind of key in on soy. We have like the State Extension agronomist and stuff come through and, and really give people an opportunity to kind of learn about soybeans that aren't familiar with it.

Sure.

And then we also have an Ag in the Classroom program put on by our County Farm Bureau that focuses in on that kind of 4 to 10-year-old range. And, and they'll have a milking cow demonstration, or they might have, uh, grain bin safety or, or different programs like that.

Cool. Very cool. Okay, so then what else on Saturday?

So Saturday, like I said, you know, it's, it's just kind of, it's all over the place. It's all your, all your festival favorites, a lot of the street entertainment and the, the food and the vendors and all that sort of stuff. And then we do have the parade then at 4 o'clock, which is always a hit. You know, a year like this where it's an election year, you get a lot more entries obviously than a non-election year. But then we kind of wrap up with bands in the evening. We've got a— the Lions Club does a pork chop dinner on Saturday night. They do a big fish fry on Friday night. And then we have our locally famous homegrown hometown Ha Ha Show, which closes out the night then on Saturday night.

And please explain. Tell me more.

So the Ha Ha Show, which I've actually been involved with for several years now, is kind of a showcase of local talent loosely based off of old Hee Haw episodes. So we tell a lot of corny jokes. You know, we have some singers that come in and do a fantastic job trying to get kids involved as much as we can, you know, because they always like to perform. So skits, jokes, singing, the whole nine yards. And that's put on by one of our local philanthropic groups. And they use that money then for scholarships in the area.

That's really cool. I love that. It's, it reminds me when I was a kid, I remember our local community did a take on Hee Haw. Like, so I love that you're— I was hoping that's what you were going to say, Kyle. I wasn't sure, but I remember that so fondly. That's really, really cool. And that's special and fun and a cool way to involve a lot of ages and a lot of ranges of talent. It's— that's really neat.

I love that. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay, so tell me a bit more about this contest. So what did you have to share with them? What did the application process look like? And then like what are honestly the plans for the prize money? Because that is an incredible amount of money. Now, I want to just say one of the things I'll ask, of course, and you don't have to share what it costs to put this, this festival on, but I know based on being a part of our summer celebrations, like all the stuff that you just named, there is significant price tag attached to those things. And you've already alluded to sponsors and the fact that you want to get it all done for free. You, you really are getting a huge amount of support. Financial support to make that possible. So I'll get into those details. I have questions about how you're organized, how you run it, all those things, because that's what people— people that want to do these kinds of things in their town, they don't start out like this necessarily, right? They start out at a smaller scale and they grow over time. But I think people are always curious how, especially a town of 700 people, that's not a very big community, Kyle. So I'll ask all of that, but I'm curious about the contest, you know, what you had to do to apply, what you're going to do with the cash prize. All of that? Because it's—

yeah, so I mentioned, you know, we— it all started with one guy bringing us an ad in a magazine asking if we'd be interested in it. And we said, sure, you know, let's go for it. In fact, our king soybean Daniel Carpenter was the one that received the ad first from this gentleman and shared it with me. And I said, you know, let's go for it. Let's, let's take the leap. Let's go all in. And so they had an application process whereby you could send in a photo or a video or just a text entry describing your event and kind of when it's held and a few background details. And I'm not the sort to kind of put forth just the minimum on something like this. So we decided to go ahead and we put together a video and everything. And mind you, this is like 2 days before the deadline. So I love it. And I don't have any video production background or anything like that. I'm doing it here on my iPad. And then filmed a bit outside in, in a spot where we've got a really neat kind of backdrop behind us that has the city seal and all. And, uh, really just kind of introduced the town and the community and what makes it so special and threw in photos taken during the festival and that sort of stuff. Went on the website to upload it, and because we decided that we didn't want to share this right away, right? It's one of those things where it's a little scary to kind of put yourself out there and then you know, nothing comes of it, right? So we were just going to go directly through their website, but it turns out that our video project was way too big to be uploaded through the website. So they're like, well, I guess we're going to have to kind of tell people what's going on now. And so we posted it on our Facebook page, which it's still up there if anybody's interested.

Well, I was going to say, we'll make sure that we pull the link down and actually link right to it in the show notes so people can watch it. Yeah, I think there's, there's things that all of our communities can learn from this, Kyle. I mean, I, and I don't want to interrupt your train of thought, but I just want to say like these national things happen, right? And it always feels like a total shot in the dark. Like who knows if we'll get it? But the truth is you are as likely to get it as to not get it and you went for it and you got it. And I just think more of us need to be willing to put ourselves out there. So I think it'll be really fun to link to the video. I'm excited to watch it.

Yeah, yeah, we're pretty proud of it. And like I said, you know, you should be. It's really our view of it going in was, you know, it's the people that make the community, and that's what really makes the whole thing run, whether it's the folks that come out to the festival, whether it's the folks that plan the festival, whether it's the ones that sponsor the festival.

I mean, it really is a team effort, all hands on deck kind of thing, isn't it?

Yeah, it is. So, so from that point then, we submitted the video It was kind of a waiting game because the process they were going through was from all the entries they received, they were going to narrow it down with a panel of judges to the top 3. And that was kind of where I'd reached out to you because once those 3 finalists were named, then we had about a month in which those 3 needed to generate as many votes as possible from their festival and fair fans and supporters. And then on May 15th, we found out the big news that we had in fact activated all of our fans and gotten enough votes.

How many votes did you get?

Well, they won't tell us exactly.

Oh, shoot. I was hoping they would because again, it'd be really cool given 700 people live in your town, right?

We've been trying to find out. I think one of the first responses I got was, well, legal won't let us tell you, you know? But just in conversations and stuff, you know, I think we were probably somewhere around 2,000, 2,500, maybe something like that. So it really was a tremendous turnout. And, you know, have no idea where the other two ranked in comparison at all. But another couple of great festivals, you know, the Hayward, Wisconsin Muskie Fest and the Roseau, Minnesota Fall Festival were the other two finalists.

And yeah, those are both close enough to my neck of the woods, like closer than you, right? Yeah, we could— I could maybe go check them out. But again, I just think it's, it's super cool. And I actually really love the way they did that they chose the finalists and then it was really about public vote because it really does force you to get the word out. And if people really love your festival, then they'll vote for you. Yeah, I just think that's super cool. So when did you get the notice that you were awarded the grand prize?

So May 15th was when CineX officially announced it. I got a call actually a couple days in advance, kind of as a warning. I was literally out on the tractor planting soybeans at the time.

How appropriate.

And got the call, you know, but through the process and you asked this question too, and this is kind of my segue, you know, the folks had asked us, you know, what sorts of things do you think you might use the prize money for and how could this be of a benefit to the festival? And these were discussions that came about even before the finalists were named.

Sure.

And so we, we shared with them Where we felt that it would be most impactful is going to be in things like accessibility and weather mitigation. And I'll kind of expand on both of those. We have a large gathering area within the downtown area of our town, affectionately known as the Soybean Patch, that's owned by the Lions Club. And that's where they have their cook shack and that's where the outdoor beer garden and all of that is housed. And so it's got just kind of a chat rock base floor through it. And we really wanted to kind of hone in on that because as we have an aging population, obviously we've got more people with, with canes or with walkers or with wheelchairs or something like that. But we've also got a lot of kids too, and we've got baby strollers that are not easy to push through, through chat rock. And so that's kind of been one of the ideas early on that we've kind of held on to that's gotten a lot of support. We did go ahead even before this festival and allocate some money to upgrade some tables and some seating and that sort of stuff, which was received really well. And so between that and finding ways to mitigate and offset the hot August nights here in Missouri, those are kind of— with a once in a generation type of infusement like this, we thought that that was going to be the best investment probably going forward. Obviously we're gonna bring in more entertainment and more activities and that sort of stuff as well. But our goal ultimately is, is how do we build permanence and build for the future of the festival?

Yeah, I love that. It's basically infrastructure. It is hard to allocate funds towards infrastructure that feels like it serves like a 3-day festival, you know, out of the, out of the entirety of a year. I can absolutely appreciate that. So what is the makeup of your planning committee? How many people are involved? You know, is it all volunteers? Is this a, is this a 501? How are you organized? I'm just curious.

Yeah. So the festival committee is kind of organized underneath of our Norburn Lions Club. They're our underwriting sponsor. They're a 501, I believe. And so, so all the folks on the festival planning committee then are volunteers. We don't have any sort of paid positions or anything. Though I think my wife sometimes thinks I need compensated, but—

Kyle, I just want to say that there, you know, for every big successful thing like what we're talking about, there is always, you know, at least one, but oftentimes more, just truly tireless, devoted, committed humans. Clearly that's you in this situation, and our communities wouldn't be what they are without you. It's just facts.

So, well, I, I appreciate that, Rebecca. You know, during the festival, you know, I have a lot of people come up to me just because I'm kind of the face of the festival because of all the work we do, uh, on a, on a fairly weekly basis anyway, of doing Facebook Live videos, keeping everybody in touch with the festival. I certainly appreciate your comments, but there's a, there's a whole team, you know, that puts blood, sweat, and tears into this thing. When I moved back to the area back in 2003, I became involved with the festival not long thereafter. And I can remember in those days, you know, if you had 6 people sitting around a small table there at City Hall, like, that was a good meeting. Like, that was, you know, everybody showed up. And through the years now, we did have our town's 150th celebration in 2018 that brought a lot of people in. People who have stayed and continued to contribute. And now if you've got 12 or 15 at a bigger table in a different location, now you're looking around and wondering where everybody is.

So really, you know, that's, that's really something. I— what, what— seriously, I have— this is a genuine question because crazy enough, like, the timing of this is really, is really appropriate. In just a couple of weeks, our state has a summit for community development called the Main Street Summit. And I will be doing a live podcast episode from the stage at the summit. And we're talking about engaging the next generation of civic leaders, kind of getting, getting beyond this idea of the same 10 people, like in small towns that people call it the STP, the same 10 people. So to hear that at a time where I continue to hear that people can't seem to get volunteers and people are worried about civic apathy and people are worried about a lack of civic engagement. What do you attribute to this increase of participation and contribution from people? What, if anything, are you doing to encourage people to come to the table?

Yeah, you know, I think we were a little outside the norm in that we did have such a big thing coming up, right? We had this 150th anniversary coming up. And at that time, I had a couple of individuals who had not previously been involved just came up to me and said, hey, you know, this is something special, how can, how can we, we do this? And so that's when we had to really take a look and, and kind of revamp the whole model and, and really put forth more effort into soliciting sponsors, just because, you know, from a human capital point, we just didn't have a lot of volunteers. And so if you want to continue to bring in and build events and activities, you got to hire it in and you've got to hire somebody to, to staff that sort of stuff, right? You know, I think you need that catalyst of some kind, like whatever that special event is or something like that. And you need to get out of your comfort zone and take that risk, like that first year really blowing things up and making it a big deal. I think, you know, it's a leap of faith. For one, to really kind of put it out there and, and hope that you generate excitement. So, you know, through the process, we've always tried to involve the community now in, in what we're doing as we're going through the planning process, as we're, as we're gauging feedback, you know, on the back end of things. So I'd mentioned, you know, we do the, the weekly Festival Fridays, and so that's just an opportunity for, for me, the loudmouth of the festival, to get out there and just kind of shout from the rooftops, you know, what's going on, what we've got planned, and to build excitement that way. And then on the back end of the festival, we're putting out a festival survey now where anybody can go on and they can give us their feedback, kind of rate the events that we had, throw out ideas, you know, things they'd like to see. And I think all of that community-focused energy and really Honestly, soliciting and listening to the input that's coming in has helped us continue to build. Obviously, it builds a rapport within the community. People start talking about the festival more than just July through August. We're talking about it year-round now.

Do you seriously do Festival Fridays every Friday all year round?

I just did one this morning. I mean, we're a week past the last festival and we're already running Festival Fridays, talking about Festival 25.

Do you typically do that though, like every single Friday?

Uh, it's not every Friday, but probably 40 out of the 52 Fridays, I imagine.

Oh, see, okay, that's incredible, and bravo, like kudos to you, because it, it really is. I think, I think this is a huge part of it. It's that continual engagement, because, because the truth is, a festival of this size, like listening to all the stuff that you guys have planned, it's quite impressive. Again, I'm in a town of 1,800 people and our annual celebration's awesome. We don't pack that much into 2.5 days. We don't, we don't. So the only way you can pull off the scope and the range of stuff that you're talking about is truly to be ensuring that people are thinking about it all the time. It can't just be the planning committee and you can't just think about it for the 3 months leading up to it. Like there's way too much to take on. So I think that is a huge testament to your commitment to it and understanding too that people want to help. That's why I was so excited to tackle this topic at this summit in a couple of weeks, because I don't think it's that nobody cares. I don't think the reason we're not getting people to get involved is because people actually don't care. I, I just think we might need to approach the way we're engaging them differently and think about it differently. And you're literally tapping into the human need to get involved and the human need to know. What's going on? So awesome. That's so awesome.

I love it. Yeah.

Yeah.

A lot of times, you know, it's, it's just the reason folks tell me they haven't been involved in the past is just simply no one's asked. Yeah.

Right.

And I think, I think we as organizers sometimes think, well, you know, we're going to be asking them to do a lot. You know, I serve on boards where the running joke is, well, it's only 3 meetings a year, right? And then once you get into it, like it's there's something like every month, a lot of folks are more than open and really open to kind of a micro ask. If you want to come on and be part of the 12 months planning and leading up to this, that is fantastic. We will welcome you with open arms and you don't have to even raise your hand. We'll give you a job. Yeah, right. But there's a whole nother fleet of volunteers in the community that only make, you know, maybe a 3-hour commitment during the festival. And that's great. I'm not downplaying that at all.

But right.

But it's that It's where they're at, it's what they're able to contribute. And a lot of them really appreciate, you know, just being asked.

Yeah, I love that. These are such important reminders for all of us because that's just it. I think we just forget. I think we assume that if people wanted to help, they'd raise their hand. Some people do, and a lot of people will never raise their hand, but that doesn't mean they don't want to help. We have to be the ones to go out and and encourage that. And I think micro asks are a really beautiful thing to consider too, because if people feel like it's going to be like you said, if we say it's only a few meetings a year and then it turns into meeting every week and it feels like a lifetime appointment, that's not something that people can get their minds around. So I appreciate that.

That's awesome. No, and like you mentioned, you know, continuing to be out front and open and honest with, with how the festivals progressing throughout the year, you do put a face to the festival. It's not just a faceless committee somewhere. I have people reach out to me all the time whenever I may have a specific ask during a Festival Friday that, hey, we're thinking about bringing this in, but we need volunteers in order to help staff it. Like, who's willing to help? And you'll get, you know, 1 or 2 people to kind of chip in and say, yeah, I think I could do that that weekend.

Yeah. How big— do you have a committee, though, that's fairly enduring? And if so, how big is that group of people?

Yeah, so the festival committee as it is now, the ones that are there more or less for the full 12 months, is we're probably 20 to 25, I would imagine.

That's a huge group of people.

And that's in addition then to the folks that are members of Lions Club because kind of the delineation in there is Lions Club has their soybean patch cook shack and beer garden. And that's their big fundraiser for the year for all the projects that they do in the community. And then the, the festival committee then is kind of tasked with everything outside of the soybean patch, right? All the other activities and organizing those. So there are members of both the planning committee and the Lions Club, but largely, you know, those are two separate bodies full of volunteers that are each kind of trying to tap into our own spheres of influence to get folks signed up to, to work a shift at the cook shack or work a shift at the beer truck or maybe help put on an event or something like that.

Do you know with this last one that you just held roughly how many volunteers you had throughout the entirety of the weekend?

Oh gosh, probably I'd say 40 to 50, probably by the time you count everybody that's That's work. Cook Shack and the Beer Garden obviously are the big ones outside of event planning and that sort of stuff. But yeah, I mean, it's, you know, you sit back and think, you know, it's a, it's a pretty significant proportion of like the total number of people here in the community that are going to be out and enjoying the festival anyway. And like I said, you know, I think the value is in like not giving them an opportunity to enjoy the festival too and not just not just make it a drudgery and have to work. But I don't think people mind throwing in a shift here or there, you know, just to help out.

Well, Kyle, it has been a real pleasure to visit with you. Congratulations on, on just really nailing something that is a— it's a key part of a lot of our lives. I think in small communities, a lot of us have a kind of a core thing that happens in our town. And you've really given a few, to me, just really timely and important reminders to all of us that might either might be in, in the process of planning it, might be on the committee for it, maybe wanna start something. It's always so much fun to get connected to somebody like you that's making their town so great. And you put Norburn, Missouri into the national spotlight with this contest. So huge congratulations to you. It was really, really fun to hear all about. Your town.

Well, thanks, Rebecca. You know, we're, we're a small town, but we're doing big things here in Norburn, and it's a testament to the people here and those that have come before us, obviously. And we're doing it all for those yet to come.

Yeah, for sure. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Rebecca.