Business Innovators Radio - From Weather Forecasts to Community Impact: Bill Dante’s Inspiring Journey

Episode Date: May 17, 2024

In this inaugural episode of the Alamo City Innovators Podcast, co-hosts Marco Salinas and Francisco Bermudez Jr. sit down with the dynamic Bill Dante, a man whose multifaceted career has left an indelible mark on San Antonio and beyond. From his early days as a meteorologist to his current role as the chairman of the board for the Texas Rangers, Bill has a wealth of experiences to share.Listeners will be enthralled by Bill’s journey from forecasting weather to transforming San Antonio’s radio landscape. He recounts his instrumental role in founding KTFM and revamping Kono into the number one station in the market. His career evolution didn’t stop there; he made significant strides in digital publishing with the Texan magazine amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that Texas’ rich history and culture continued to reach a broad audience.Bill’s community involvement is equally inspiring. Hear how his leadership in the Texas Rangers led him to emcee their prestigious gala and support historical preservation initiatives, including the upcoming public gala at the Bevy Hotel in Boerne. The event promises star-studded performances by Michael Martin Murphy and includes enticing auction items like historic firearms and exclusive trips. And it’s all for a cause, supporting a 501c3 nonprofit.Beyond his professional achievements, Bill opens up about his personal life, sharing touching moments like adopting a PTSD-trained dog from Lackland Air Force Base and his son’s thriving animation career in Tokyo. His dedication to philanthropy shines through as he discusses organizing community events, particularly those aimed at helping children.The episode also delves into fascinating discussions about the changing weather patterns, their impact on the air conditioning industry, and the anticipated influx of visitors for the upcoming solar eclipse. Bill’s extensive knowledge and passionate storytelling provide a wealth of information and inspiration for listeners.Don’t miss this episode filled with historical insights, community involvement, and actionable advice on living your dream and helping others. Tune in for an engaging conversation that showcases the essence of leadership, resilience, and giving back to the community.**Links Mentioned:**– [Texas Ranger Heritage Center]– [Texan Magazine]About The Show Sponsor:The Agents Lounge Podcast is proudly sponsored by Airtegrity Comfort Solutions, your trusted HVAC experts in San Antonio, TX. With a commitment to exceptional service and top-notch comfort, Airtegrity is dedicated to keeping your home or business cool in the scorching Texas heat.Visit their website at https://airtegritycs.com to discover the range of services they offer. From professional air conditioning installations to reliable repairs and maintenance, Airtegrity has you covered. Their team of skilled technicians is equipped with the knowledge and expertise to handle all your HVAC needs efficiently and effectively.Whether you’re looking for a new system installation, need repairs, or want to schedule routine maintenance to ensure your HVAC system is running smoothly, Airtegrity Comfort Solutions is just a phone call away. Reach out to them at 210-446-0105, and their friendly staff will be ready to assist you.Experience the comfort and peace of mind that comes with Airtegrity’s exceptional HVAC solutions. Trust their reliable service and enjoy the benefits of a well-functioning heating and cooling system. Visit their website or call them today to schedule your next HVAC service. Airtegrity Comfort Solutions, your go-to HVAC experts in San Antonio, TX.Alamo City Innovatorshttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/alamo-city-innovators/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/from-weather-forecasts-to-community-impact-bill-dantes-inspiring-journey

Today's episode of the Alamo City Innovators podcast is sponsored by Air Tegrity Comfort Solutions for all your commercial cooling and heating needs. Welcome to the Alamo City Innovators podcast, where we shine a spotlight on the movers and shakers of San Antonio's vibrant community. Join us as we explore the stories behind the success of business professionals, non-profit champions, influential political figures and media personalities who are making a difference in and around the Alamo City. And now your host, Marco Salinas and Francisco Bermudez Jr. And welcome to the inaugural episode of the Alamo City Innovators podcast. Joining us today on our kickoff episode is none other than Mr. Bill Dante. Bill Dante, the meteorologist on Channel 4 here in San Antonio.

Did you do that? I did 25 years on between Channel 12 for two years and then one up in Dallas for a year, but then back to Channel 4 because I like, I really like San Antonio. And it was a great opportunity in Dallas because it's the eighth market in media. Wow. This is the 30th. So once you go to an eighth, you can work number nine. But I came back to San Antonio and been here ever since.

Yeah, that's fantastic. And by the way, let me officially say, Bill, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for being here today, my friend. Yeah, this is cool. This is exciting. Before we pressed record, we were having some great conversations. You're involved in quite a few different things. You've got, can you give us a short list of your most notable things that you've been doing for the last, let's say, maybe.

Maybe let's say the last decade or so. At least. Yeah. This is your post- meteorologist's career, right? It is. Well, people always say, you used to be a meteorologist, and I said, well, that's like being a dentist. Once you're a dentist, you're just not pulling teeth anymore. So I'm not, I do do whether sometimes a city will call me if they want to know what's going on as far as like last year, the 110 degrees we had, which is unheard of. The year before where we had 100, which was unbelievable for six months. The AC guy enjoyed it. Of course, I was going to say, well, AC guys. For different reasons.

They made lots of money. That's right. And the thing with the weather like that, because there was a time when if we hit 100 degrees in August for two days, if it was 102 or 103, it was like, oh, my gosh. But to hit 100 from May all the way through, and then I had talked to the city and I said, Our weather is changing, where we've had ice storms and snowstorms.

And the other day, when we were, what was the 75, it was snowing in the panhandle. Yeah. So things have changed in its reality. And this year, we're going to be going over 100. I hate to say that, again. Yeah. I don't know if it's going to be 110. That was just unbelievable last year.

So, again, air conditioning guys, they love this, you know. Yeah, they were doing this here. Yeah. We liked it the first week. And after a while, it's missable. Yeah, yeah. After a while, it's no fun anymore. Well, his team has to be up in the attic.

You know what I mean? No, I know. And there's 130 and 140. Right, right. But to go back to your question, so during, actually, when I came to San Antonio right out of the Air Force, I was in the Air Force about three and a half years and got into radio and television and the Air Force, became meteorologist. But I actually came to San Antonio to, um, to start.

start KTF. Did you really? I was in Austin, which was one of my first jobs, and went to work at a radio station that was the first FM rocker, if you can imagine, in Austin. So I was hired as an announcer before they signed on the air. And the station actually became number one, of course, in a year. And then two years later, I had a call from the owner of KTSA saying, because I was in charge of the announcers and the music.

And it was a station K-R-M-H, we called it Karma. Oh, nice. Somebody recently in Bandera of all places said, you're not Bill Dante from Karma. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, you know, I am. So I came here, brought some of those announcers with me, and we started a KTFM when it was an album rock thing.

And then I went to Kono and switched conos over to oldies. explaining to the owner, FM's going to be eating your lunch, you need a Tecono and move it to old, and it's number one now in the market. Yeah. And so how that all came about real quickly was Channel 12 called me and said, are you a meteorologist? And I said, yeah. They said, would you like to try for the weekends? And so I auditioned, but they said, well, the only bad news is that you can't be on radio.

We can't have our meteorologist being a DJ. But I did become a member of the, or was inducted. into the San Antonio, Texas Radio Hall of Fame. A lot of my good friends, Rudy Rocha and all these guys that work with me, and they're all in there. You don't know that when you're doing that radio back then, that you got, we knew we were good, but not good enough where everybody's going to be in the Radio Hall of Fame. No kidding. So I wind up doing the weather.

But what I did is I was only doing it on the weekends. Okay. So then Kiss Radio said, what do you do during the week? I said, right now, nothing. They said, how would you like to be in sales? So I make a long story short, I went from Kiss to 96 Rock sales manager, but always doing the weather. Okay. Back to KTSA and KTFM as their national sales manager.

And then finally with Channel 4 became their sales manager and national, but still was doing the weather very involved since 1980 with Ray Fayo, raising money. I think it's really important to give back, especially if you're a personality in the market where you can really influence and help. It's all about the kids is something that I use as a slogan, everything. It's about the kids, the scholarships. And, you know, I won't go into my background, but I was raised in a pretty rough neighborhood up until the day I turned 18. I was, you know, told to go, I need to join the service and get out of that neighborhood. it was not going to be good. Sure.

And so I can relate to San Antonio as far as helping the kids. And it's been really rewarding to the Children's Miracle Network for like 12 years, did a lot of the telethons. Yeah, I think I remember that. Yeah. With Ray Fayo and helping there and been prime minister numerous times. And then I had a phone call from a woman, Lee Spencer White. She is the president of the direct descendants of the defenders of the Alamo.

And she said that Texas Rangers wanted to talk to you. Well, I knew I didn't have any outstanding tickets. I knew it wasn't a warrant. Right, a quick warrant look up here. Let's see. Yeah. So it had to be good news. They wanted me to emcee their gala, which they were having at the Hyatt.

So I said, sure. although I did say that a lot of the gala's that we would do with Rafael would not be, there would be more, not the hotel things, because hotels are in business to make money, not to work with non-profit organizations. Sure. So we, I emceed that and why not becoming co-chair of that particular board. It was good. And then they've had every year since, which has been seven years, helping with

And before you know it, I was on the board. And then three years ago was become chairman of the board. And then just reelected last month. I'm chairman of the board of the Texas Rangers, which is coming a long way from the streets of the East Coast. Not too shabby. But again, it's about giving back. In Fredericksburg, the Texas Rangers have a heritage center. And these are former, not former.

They're retired, but a lot of names that you know. sure who are very very well-known famous legends sure sure and so they have 12 acres in Fredericksburg next to Fort Martin Scott which was one of the first forts back in the 1840s so they were building a phase one is done yeah we just had a celebrate Texas where they actually brought in Comanches from Oklahoma open to the public for free and Walmart and Lowe's we get them involved yeah you know because I actually It came from the sales site so I know how to get them involved. Yeah, right.

No kidding. Great skill. And so they're looking at doing a phase two, but COVID hit. Yeah. And when COVID hit, that put the brakes on for a lot of people and a lot of businesses. As a matter of fact, we had a business, had a magazine, had a business Dante Clare Media, and we had a magazine called Destination San Antonio. And that was in every hotel room and exclusive to the Alamo.

And who would have thought? Yeah. That you were going to go out of business because all the hotel shut down. Correct. So we had, we started another magazine called Texan. Okay. Magazine. And we started with the app and went backwards, an app to the website.

Usually you start with the print work your work. Right, yeah. We went backwards because nobody hotels, even today, won't allow any paper in the their rooms for the most part because everybody's still paranoid about the COVID thing. Oh, man. I know. So that magazine, Texan, if you go to Texanmag.com, takes you to the website and then takes you to the free app or whatever.

And we're doing good. We're about, have about 50,000 readers between primarily San Antonio Hill Country, but now Austin, Houston, because you can go to the app. You can. And it's a very lifestyle. My wife, Lisa, is the editor. Very cool. And I write some articles, but like, and Albert Flores has written some articles, and we've all.

Another familiar name. But then she says, you know, your articles are great, but your grammar is not good. That's not the word she used. Could use a little AI. Yeah. But coming from radio and television, I wouldn't expect my grammar to be. Same thing with Albert. Albert.

She said, he writes great articles, but his grammar, because in other words, she has to rewrite. Yeah. I can't put that in print. Sure. We're talking. Absolutely. So are there any, do you do any history stuff at that in your magazine? You cover any history?

We do. We do just pure lifestyle. No. We do articles. We've done obviously Texas Rangers articles. Yeah. We've done. Such a rich history here in this state.

A lot. A lot. A lot to cover. A lot to cover. Yeah. I mean, tremendous amount. Matter of fact, we're currently working with the state where they have a different little trips that you can go on so you you can drive yourself but they have they they title them it

could be historical yeah it could be hypothetically Texas rangers or it could be a food yeah in other words they have options for you that the state has there's so much to do and see just in texas sure I mean if you go from amarillo to to the valley I mean hypothetically right but if you picked picked a specific, like blue bonnets. If you just want to go see wildflowers right now, there's a trail that you can go, or the history trail, or some of the wagon trains. And like with the Rangers, there's the forts,

and there's so much history there. And it's more than just because the Texas Rangers just celebrated, I learned a lot, celebrated their 200th anniversary. So it's 1823 to, last year and how they came about was Austin, the real Austin, needed some kind of a security. So at the first there were 10 Rangers, but they were named Rangers because it'd be like, you're going to go to the North Range for one week and people would volunteer.

So you became a Ranger. Sure. And that's how that, then it developed where they actually started hiring people. but the primary problem back then was the, because it was Tejas. Yeah. And Tejas was part of Mexico. Yeah.

And the people living here, whether you were Anglo or whether you had to swear allegiance. So you became also a Tejas, a Hano. Right. And that's, I won't go through that whole thing. Sure. But you reminded me of my elementary school field trips when I hear some of those, that terminology. You know, we'd go do the Alamo tour. and the Institute of Texan cultures.

And, you know, I didn't appreciate it then. As an adult, I'm obsessed with that stuff. Well, you know, and just like the Rangers or the Alamo history, but the Rangers, some of the first Rangers, half of them were Tihano. Sure. Of course they were. And the biggest problem was the Comanche's.

Right. And they were from up north and they would come down and all they did was basically steel, rob. They weren't farmers. Right. And that's what they did, even from the other tribes. Apaches and all. Nobody liked the Comanche's because that's what they did.

That's very true. And so they needed some sort of, when you're sitting out there on a farm with you, your wife and the kids, and you open your door and you're looking, you know. Yeah. There is no telephones. Right, right. But anyway, the history is great. Yeah, absolutely.

So I'm a big history buff, so I can relate. Likewise, yeah. I think it's amazing. So now you're trying to keep the story alive, right? Like, that way people won't forget about it. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, it's important.

It's the history. Right. Yeah. I happen to be a big fan of the Pacific War Museum there in Fredericks. The Nimitz. Yeah, exactly. I try to go take my kids there and introduce them to all those things, a picture of us standing next to the big bomb there, you know.

and but you know there's so much rich rich history there you were mentioning that you guys are working on something with the with a museum for the Texas Rangers there and a potential conference center right is what you guys looking at it they're there uh what happened is they were going to put in a 30,000 square foot children's museum well COVID hit so after COVID the interest rates went up so even though you could have this much money ready to go they were getting ready it changed yeah changed now they have a phase one One, you can bring the kids by. There's a lot to walk around and see in history and some great bronze statues and just a lot of things.

But what they'd like to do, if possible, would be great is to have, there is no conference center per se in Fredericksburg with all the tourism. And Fredericksburg is not that far. It's from downtown. It's an hour, but it depends where you live. It's basically a 45-minute drive. And then Kerrville is another. But the hill country in San Antonio, I mean, in Texas is the hill country. I mean, it's so fabulous.

And even the north side of San Antonio. And, of course, you have the eclipse coming up. What are your plans for that? Not to leave the house. You stay in home? We live out. But you're in the direct path? Well, not that, well, actually, the direct path is in the current magazine of Texan.

I wrote an article of why is this so. special as it was the title. Yeah. And we had a partial in October. That's right. Okay. So this is a full... I had my glasses today.

This is a full solar eclipse. Now, a full solar eclipse happens every 18 months somewhere in the world. Really? But the next one's going to be in Australia or the last one was in Africa. So, but the next one in Texas will be in 44. But the last time it was this path, which is coming off the Pacific, if you can picture, Matalan, Del Rio, Uvaldi, and then it moves up for the total eclipse, which is about four and a half minutes, the total blacking.

That's going to go over, Curville, where they're expecting 500,000 people. It's going to be a nightmare, Fredericksburg. And then it keeps going up and actually then goes up and down. Canada, the thing with it is that that particular path, the last time it went like that, was in 1397. Wow. A hundred years before Columbus, geez. Hit the beaches of the Caribbean.

That's right. Of the Caribbean, yeah, that's right. You know, so I give you an idea how long ago and why is this so important. I know that the Rangers, for example, have on their Heritage Center 200 parking spaces, So they're charging like $100 for the day, which is cheap compared to what we're hearing. Yeah, right. All the hotel rooms are booked everywhere. But I even heard that they're going to be closing one lane of 10 and one lane of 281 because of emergency vehicles they've got to.

I mean, it's going to be with that many people. And they're also saying that if you're living on northwest San Antonio, then all the way out, to go shopping next week. Yeah. And buy enough water, this, that toilet paper, the same thing you would if it was going to be, you know, a freeze. Sure. Because of all the people coming to the area within RVs. So the Rangers, for example, we have 30 cars that are coming from California.

And these are people that are really into it. But if you pictured just Houston, Galveston, and all these towns that are not going to see it that are going to come up from the northern. What this thing does, it's where it goes over the totality over Curville. Picture 60 miles on either side. So like if you go to Out I-10 to Leon Springs, you probably could watch it for two and a half minutes of the total. But you still have an hour before and an hour after. And one of the things I brought up the other day was a lot of these people are coming from Boston and all these different places.

and they're going to want to watch this for two hours. Midday, San Antonio, two hours outside in the sun. Yeah. And they're not from here. And we were talking about it. And I mentioned it to Texas Ranger Davis, who's the president of the Heritage Center. And I said, you know, you might want to get some, with all these people, may want to have some suntan lotion or block.

Yeah. Because it's going to be, it's a simple. thing like that. Right. After two, I can't, I couldn't be outside for two hours like that.

Sure. Sure. Yeah. 100%. But that's what's going on with that. Yeah. So it sounds like

once a meteorologist, always a meteorologist, right? You always kind of have your eye and your ears. Especially, you know, you know, if you recognize and your percentage

was high of being right versus being wrong, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So that you, when the city calls you and says, okay, tell us what's going on. Like in our magazine,

Texan in the in December I said we talked about the cover for January February I had a a cowboy on a horse in snow and they're going but you got to I said because we're going to have some snow in January and we did you know on the freeze that hit but knowing what's happening with the weather or having your finger on it because it affects us so much with especially with not so much the COVID thing but But there was just before COVID to give you a feel, San Antonio over it received 32 million visitors a year. Now, some were tourists, business, stuff like that.

But that's a lot of people in the area. And 80% of that 32 million were from Texas. How about that? Wow. Those are facts from the Convention of Visitors Bureau. Interesting. Yeah. Sort of a version of a staycation in a sense, right?

At least within the state. No, within the state. Like, we like, we, of course, San Antonio and we like the area, but if we're going to go to the coast, we like Galveston. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We actually did his article in Galveston in the magazine, The History of, and different other places also. Right. But for the drive, and it's really, it's very clean, it's very nice. There was a time when it wasn't, matter of fact, I even said that in the article.

Never went there, never wanted to, heard the water was dirty. I actually said that in the article. I said, so we went and we were stunned on how pristine. Matter of a matter of like, we sent pictures on Facebook and people were, where are you guys in the Bahamas? Where are you? Where in Galvest and they're going, wow. That's interesting.

That is very interesting. I mean, I have a question. I mean, you've done a lot in your career. What does it take to be successful or were you always this successful? What are some of the things that you felt that prepared you for? Success tips. You know, I just think that, you know, live your dream. Do it. And don't think that you can't do it because you can do it. You just need to do it. You know, the other thing is that the nice thing is that there's always people that will, if they see that you have that drive and you want to, no matter what you want to do, I don't care. My dad was an electrician. I don't care if you want to be an electrician or whatever. be the best you can.

Yeah. And then people will help you. People will open doors. And I used to always say when somebody would ask me for something or to help being in radio or this or that or advice. I say, if I could, I'm going to open, I can open the door. I can get your foot in the door. But you got to get the rest of the body in. And you, it's up to you to stay there.

So if somebody opens the door, don't forget them. But then as you go along, then you do the same. You open the door and help other people. And that goes back to just helping being involved in the community. Giving back, giving back. No matter how, to give back is very rewarding, you know, no matter what. Like we were talking about downtown. We went to the spaghetti dinner not that long ago over at.

You talking about the church-related one? Yeah, the Christopher Columbus. Yeah, and that was fun. And it was a matter of, it was a Sunday. And I said, well, let's go do that. You know, and it was like 15. But the fact that you were still giving back. Yeah, that's right.

Matter of fact, we got married in that particular church. Oh, is that the one? Oh, very cool. Well, Archbishop Flores. And he said, you sure you don't want to do San Fernando? Of course, I was doing the weather at the time. Yeah. And I said, no, I really, I really liked that church.

And so we got married there, right? Yeah. Which was fun. And he was great. I mean, he's one of my favorite people. Priceless memories, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, going back to your point about his question

and what your dad did, right? So it was your dad's a tradesman, an electrician. His dad was electrician. And then that era, though, they were like, son, go to college, get your education. Now we're seeing a resurgence of the trades again, you know? That's the interesting thing. It is.

Well, with my, with me, it was out of high school and, I mean, it sounds like, and I got the words I got were, okay, join a job or join the service because we didn't have the money for me to go to college. So I joined, like literally the day I turned 18, I joined the Air Force. Somebody said, why Air Force? Blue was my favorite color. There you go. It's nicer than green, that's for sure.

Yeah. But the thing is that, but in the service, which is an opportunity, that some things are, it's a door. And that turned into one thing where it's, I got sent to San Antonio, went through Lackland, got put into the air police of all things. But, you know, and which was fine, because when I was younger,

somebody said, what do you want to be in? And I thought, well, I'd like to be a police officer. I'd like to be a state police or like the DPS. Yeah, there you go. When you're a kid, you know, that's your hero in the neighborhood. So, and now you're full circle. And wind up getting into radio and television in Germany with Armed Forces Radio and Television. And it was one of those doers.

Yeah. And so, and I even worked at the Canadian Air Force Base over there, had my own show, but I was 19. And then it was a choice of crossroads. Do you stay in the service or do you want to get out? And so I made that choice and got out and got in the radio on the radio. So I came back to San Antonio because I really liked it here. Yeah. So, and that's where I am.

It just kept snowballing. Yeah. It does. And, you know, met Lisa, my wife here, our son, who's actually, won't go into that, but he majored in animation and wind up going to UIW in animation. He took some Japanese there because he was always into this. Japanese, you know, the anime. And presently the last two years, he's doing animation.

He's in Tokyo. Working for one of the largest companies, working on the Lord of the Rings. Yeah. I mean, you know, who would have known? That is incredible. That is fantastic. Bill Dante, a really interesting story. Real honor to have you here visiting with us today.

grew up watching you. I grew up watching you. I was going to say, no. I was kidding. And myself, I hope to go visit your Texas Ranger efforts and things that you're doing, because I love Fredericksburg, first of all. But it sounds like you're doing some really cool stuff. It's right on the east side of town, 290, but like if you're going to Lugganbach or Johnson City.

It's right across from the Walmart. You can't miss it. But a lot of things, if you go to the Nimitz and you make a right. to me. Yeah. But it's, people are so great and the Rangers, the Rangers are the Rangers, they're very humble. But at the same time, I wouldn't want one on my heels. That's right. Looking for me. No, no, no.

Exactly right. Yeah. Well, we will make sure that we put a link to your news, your magazine. Texan Mag. Texan Mag. We'll put a link to the Texas Ranger, I guess, is there, is that a non-profit? version of that or what's the website for the they have the the former texas ranger heritage center you can okay that's how you can they have a great website okay so the nice thing is is that they always have events going on for the public and and they're primarily free can't beat it you know it especially it cost you for a hot dog but even then we had uh hb the the event we did at

Christmas. When we first got involved, there was like 50 kids and one little tree. We actually went to Lowe's and went to Walmart because coming from the sales side and talked them out of 12-foot trees. We have now 12, 12-foot trees and now 500 kids. And we got all the hot dogs and buns donated at Christmas. Yeah. Yeah, but see, it's the kids again. Right. It all goes back to the next generation and the next generation. What can you do today for the next generation? That's right. Did you have anything you want to leave off with? No? It's like a free weather forecast. Yeah. What's the weather forecast going to be? You know, here it is a crazy weather. I mean, it was 42 this morning. Yeah. And, uh, I wondered. I could,

we can talk all day. The Air Force thing, picture when you join the Air Force, you're a peon. I mean, you're the lowest thing in the earth. Sure. Yeah. That's how it works. I had the privilege of three years ago being the honorary commander of Blackland Air Force Base, which is pretty funny. When you're stinting, looking in the mirror, you go, okay, I was on the peon.

That's right. Now I'm the honorary. We got to fly with the C-5 and things like that. But just six months ago, we've always had Rottweilers. and the last one that we had got the dysplasia. So I always tried to, so I went online and I said, what's one of the most intelligent dogs? And we love Rottweilers.

They're really family. And it said the Belgian Malinwa. And I didn't even know what that was. So I looked it up and it says there's no off button. And Navy SEALs are the ones you just see strapped to them when they're jumping out of the planes, all this stuff. So I looked it up and said, and how much are those? And then they said, well, a lot of people get them and can't handle them because they're so high energy.

They're only 80, like 70 pounds, but they look like a small German shepherd, but they're actually part wolf from Belgium. Make a long story, sherry. I went and looked to, they said, well, if you qualify, you can adopt one from Lackland. Did not know that Lackland trains all the dogs that go to every Marine Air Force Navy, everything. they're come out of Lackland. I didn't know that. And you can adopt if you qualify. So I filled out all the paperwork.

They called me the next day and said, Mr. Dante, when you want to come over and look at some dogs, I'm going to surprise my wife when I said, we're over to Lackland. So we did, we've had him, we did pick one. Yeah. He was three years old. It was two and a half.

He was Navy SEALs. Wow. But at that point, they get the PTSD because he was special school for minds, sure. Munitions and his name's Creed. So we adopted him and that's been an experience because he was never in a home or really had that type of atmosphere.

It was to relax, right? Yeah. So, but what I'm saying is that to me that's another way of giving back. We were able to adopt him and really, and it's, it's been an interesting seven months, but the next, and he's really come a long way. So I just wanted to bring that up in case someone was thinking about adopting. Yeah, no, that's great. I'll definitely look into that. Yeah, no, that's great. I was going to ask you, Mr. Andrew Limon told me to question you online. How was your experience with Andy and with Betto? Oh, no, it was great. Being a weather person,

what happened was our heat went out in December, maybe January. January, but the emergency, I forget what that's called. The hit strip. What is that emergency setting, though, that? It's the electrical heaters. Oh, okay. Well, but ours was a thermostat that was in the hallway and didn't notice, didn't have one that alerted you.

Maybe if you don't get one that will do your Wi-Fi or something, not because we didn't. And so therefore, I notice it was a little chillier, but we always keep our winter temperature is about 64. You know, the house is insulated. And in the summer, we have it up about 76, 77. But we knew something was wrong. And by the time we noticed, we realized it, they come out and said, you've been running on your emergency heat pump.

Let me tell you the difference between a $200 electric bill and a $500 electric bill. You feel it. You feel it. And we were shocked. But they came out. out and in one day, I didn't know this. And we were talking earlier. They said, you don't have any free on. I said, well, in other words, there was a leak in the unit outside. I said, well, what's it got to do with the heat? That's cold. They said, no, and I didn't know this, that the frion has to do

with the heat and the cold. Yeah. So in the summer, it sends cold air to the inside of the house, and it has a reversing valve that switches, and it sends cold air to the outside in the winter and hot air from to the free on what so when they said you don't have free on i said well don't worry about that we'll get it yeah they said no no no that's the problem wow so they within 24 hours found the leak with the good news it was outside on a copper pipe fixed it done gone heat normal invoice back down in the words out of my mouth the next bill was 200 again yeah and which you can you can deal with that versus what we got hit with because we would have got hit again. But they were great.

As a matter of fact, when they asked me to be on the podcast, I said, absolutely. I'd be happy to come and visit. That's great. Yeah. It's been a real honor having you, Bill. We really appreciate your time. And we congratulate all your achievements and all your efforts, especially with everything you're doing in the community.

Like you said, that's huge. Something that's coming up and Rangers have a gala every year. Okay. It is open to the public, and it's a lot less than a lot of the gala. Let me put it that way. So I know what they can run 300, 350 a person. So we're out of my league. But the gala that we're going to be doing is in end of September,

and it's going to be in Bernie. There's a hotel called the Bevy Hotel. So we'll be advertising and also who we have playing is Michael Martin Murphy. Remember Wildfire? Michael's somebody that I've known from radio days for a long time, so he's going to come in and play. It's going to be really good. But the whole object, again, it's a 501C3,

so you can write it off for your taxes. And then the other thing, but the auction items that the Texas Rangers come up with unbelievable. If you're into everything from trips to historic firearms. Yeah. I'll make my mouth water here. Yeah, and then the same thing being involved with a lot of the Alamo, the Rangers were involved back then too.

Yeah. So we won't, we'll save that for the next time. Yeah, that'll be part two. Okay, good. Yeah, excellent. All right, you got anything else? All right, well, that does it, guys, for another episode, or I should say our first ever episode of the Alamo City Innovators podcast.

We will catch you here next time. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Alamo City. The City Innovators podcast, sponsored by Aertegrity Comfort Solutions. We hope you enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable insights shared today. If you liked what you heard, don't forget to hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode. Your support means the world to us. And if you have a moment, we'd love to hear from you.

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