The Community, Connections & Commerce Podcast, presented by OUE & St. Clairsville Chamber - Community, Connections, & Commerce Season 2, Episode 1 - Intro

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

Welcome back to Community and Connections. They say all good things come to an end. Well, we must not be that good because we're back for season two. I think that's what I said the first time for full transparency. I'm your host, Drake Watson. For the sake of transparency, we have already recorded this for season two. We're redoing it because we've had some shuffling around. I guess we have the luxury of halfway knowing what has already happened in season two.

Our other co-host for season two is Belmont County, recorder Jason Garsick. Jason, we're so glad to have you on. Hey, Drake. Good to have you. Yes. Great to be here. The conversations we've had so far with some of our guests have been just nothing short of incredible. Jason provides great insight and a lot of great questions. As well as you might be a little more familiar with Sam from the radio. Sam, give us a little introduction on yourself. You've appeared on season one a couple times and now you're going to play a heightened role in this next season. Yeah, I had to add some estrogen to these conversations

so can't just be a boy's room no if you don't recognize my voice I am the co-host of the morning show on news radio 1170 WWVA so I do that every morning Monday through Friday

and what else about me I'm a huge football fan I'm on a high state girl and I'm a Cleveland Browns fan that makes two of us everything you just said we have something in common there, Drake. So, yeah, I mean, that kind of wraps it up for me. I mean, I'm not that, I'm not that exciting. But I have opinions and I'm not afraid to share that. That is right.

So I'm here for the female point of view. How about that? Well, and we're looking to get some opinions from a lot of the guests that were coming on, that we're having on. A lot of these guests have strong opinions, likewise with us, about the Ohio Valley and what's attractive about it. A lot of them do business here and own businesses here. They have family here and kind of their whole lives are here. And that's no different than the three of us. And that's why I think it's a cool thing for us to kind of come together with a lot of people that are impactful in the area, you know, in all different walks of life and bring awareness to the Ohio Valley and the things that are going on and really the community aspect.

I mean, there's, you know, the connections that we have and then the connections with the guests between them and the people of the area. And, of course, that all fosters community. Well, and Drake, you are in your early 20s, correct? That is correct. I am in my 40s, mid sort of early 40s. We'll just leave it at that. And Jason, you are...

31. Okay, so we've got a good... Nice spectrum. Yeah. And I was born and raised in the Ohio Valley, and I went to Buckeye local, now live in the St. Clairisville area. Drake, you? From New Athens and then moved to St. Clairisville and proudly went to Harrison Central. And now, of course, I'm at OUE in my, going to be in my third year by the time all of this comes out.

And Jason, are you originally from? Outside. I grew up outside of Maynard on a farm out there. But I went to St. Clairisville and then went to OUE for my undergrad. and now just I've stayed in the area. Love this place. Maynard, Adina, New Athens, all kind of Ohio Valley deep cuts.

Scotch Ridge is what we're talking. Nobody even knows where that's at. Oh, I know where that's that. It used to be big baseball in those towns. Well, and that's the thing that's interesting. I think we're going to have a really good perspective on, like I said, we have a broad range of ages demographics. And then also, we're all three born and raised here.

So it's not just talking about the community. We're part of our community. And we love our community. That's why we've stayed here. So I think we bring that to the table, too, in this conversation. And one other thing, we record right here in Wheeling, and Wheeling is kind of a breeding ground for so much community, so many things that foster that sense of community that I think we all look for every day in the area. And a lot of people, I think, can benefit from. And it's one of those things I know, you know, I can't necessarily speak for the two of you, but I know for me, community is one of the,

the most important things that you can have in your in your local area because there's nothing like you know bringing a bunch of people together and you know it's one of the reasons I and I just love there's nothing better than especially in this area a high school football game on a Friday night because in a lot of cases now our goal is to kind of bring awareness to other things outside of that but in a lot of cases a lot of people you know that's their biggest sense of community all year because you get a thousand or so people in the same set stands for the same cause, you know, maybe on two different sides of the field, but you've got concession stand and marching, I mean, there's just nothing better than that atmosphere and

bringing all those people together. And it really opens up, I think, a door for a lot of people to talk to one another, which is very important and kind of behind the connections part of what we do. And when you have people coming together, talking to each other, you know, all that does is breed more community, and that's great. I'll tell you, I don't know a whole lot about sports, but I've been to a few local football games. I'm going to tell you the energy is riveting. There's nothing that quite matches it.

Well, that's one of the things I do in the fall is broadcast play-by-play for Harrison Central, and then this past summer I was doing the Ohio Valley Ironman, and that's one of the things that you love to, you know, I feel incredibly honored to kind of through the TV screen you know, bring that and communicate that energy that's in the building to people in their living rooms at home. But that's not the only place that you can get that kind of energy in the valley. We talk to, you know, a guy from Wheeling Park, and some of the things that they have going on there just to get into what we've talked about so far, what's to come.

You've got, I think he talked about Java jams on Monday. They have their music, their live music on Friday evenings at the park, amongst many other things. And they're Friday festivals that kind of one. Yeah. Yeah. I've been to that and the amount of people, it's almost a, it's just a sea of people and they're all there for, you know, somewhat the same reason, but at the same time in this really cool way, they're all there for different reasons, which I think is neat. You also can go to the river. Heritage Port has a really great scene throughout the week during the summer.

Always something going on down there. Yeah, no doubt about it. And we've also had great conversations with people who have attempted to make. make an impact in people's lives in the community in more of an indirect way. They're more so, I guess, a vehicle to provide something for people to do as opposed to being the direct cause, I guess, of adding things to do, if that made any sense. But we did speak to, that one kind of went off the rails. We did speak to Mani Matt Sackas of the Ohio Valley Ironman. And unfortunately, their season ended up concluding early in 2025, but I mean, his vision for what he wanted to do

with that organization and how community-oriented it was. I mean, I always said, you know, live on TV, this is just as much about the community and what's happening, you know, off the field as it is on the field. And it was pretty darn good on the field as well. Well, and I think one thing to keep in mind with this podcast, especially for the younger folks, younger folks, the students at Ohio University Eastern, which, of course, were tying it all together through the school. When we talk connections, I've been in media for 25 years now. I mean, I literally left the hilltop and came to work here. I've been with these radio stations my entire career.

And first of all, the landscape of media has changed drastically. it's amazing what has happened in the past two decades with media but one thing that I have learned probably over the last five to seven years probably more than that actually you know time flies as you age but I digress is connections is a very broad term but when it comes to the business world and employment those connections you can't put a price tag on whether it is joining something called BNI, which is a business networking group, to joining and being an active member of the chamber, or Jason, you and I have in common being a member of the Sinclairisville Rotary Club. Now, that is about service above self, and that is not, quote, unquote, business driven.

It is not to build a book of business or anything like that. But what you develop with an organization like Rotary or like the Chamber is you've build these connections and these relationships where you trust people on a human level first and then from there when there's a tie into business you're kind of top of mind because they know who you are as a person and they trust you and they see that you know you have a volunteer spirit if you're part of rotary and from there and you're a part of your community and that's again going back to the title of this podcast community and connections there right there are two elements that, you know, again, for any young person listening who is going to be starting

their professional career, I can't reiterate enough. Being a part of your community, giving back, it will pay off tenfold. And you won't even realize it is paying off, but it is. So there's my two cents. Well, we talk about community. And I think sometimes, I'm sorry, connections. And you look at it sometimes as a spectrum. There's the extreme on one side where you're shaking hands, and you're looking for the right hands to shake, and you're looking for the right numbers to put in your cell phone, and you're really trying to build up those things that could help you later on,

those things that could help you professionally or in a business environment. And then there's the opposite side of the spectrum, where it's very loose and free, and you're kind of just meeting people to meet people, and that's where some of those events, like we talked about here in Wheeling, can really play a big part.

You know, just meeting people that are at, And even with what we've done in season one, I can't tell you how many times in just conversation in everyday life, you know, something will come up. And I'll be able to draw on the fact that we've spoken to that leader or that owner or whatever. And I, therefore, am able to promote whatever they were doing to foster community and connections in the valley. Well, and it's so reassuring that when you come across something that you have a question about or you, you know, you You need guidance in a particular arena. And you may know the bare bones,

but you don't live and work in that day every day. So it's not your world of information. When you have that network of people that you've met throughout the community, you have a trusted person to turn to. And that is, that's a nice balance to your life, that you're not just randomly Googling somebody and saying,

I need this or, you know, looking for a plumber, just as an example. And you get this random person, well, then they scam you. You know, so to have that community around you

of folks that you trust is a huge, you know, a huge thing. And then, you know, you make relationships where it could lead to a job or it could lead to this

or somebody sparks an idea in you and you go, oh, that's a great thing to bring to Wheeling or that's a great contact to bring to St. Clairsville or Adina or wherever, you know, if you don't have the conversations, then that's when things get stagnant and nothing happens. And unfortunately, you know, we've kind of seen that, but we're slowly beginning to dig out of that way of thinking here in the Ohio Valley. That negative dark cloud seems to be dissipating you know no in addition to that I think one of the things to consider and especially for

our listeners is getting involved with these organizations meeting and making these connections can provide especially young people invaluable experience and I think that's kind of one of the directions that I went I had a few very strong mentors in my life growing up and you know they oriented me toward the volunteerism route you know thinking in those terms helping other people getting involved and I found looking back that you know the more you got involved in these organizations the more you found that there was a need in something there was some kind of a void to fill there and you gained invaluable experience and that experience not only is beneficial within that realm but it carries over you know and then you're able to say yeah no I did this

in this organization and it gave me invaluable experience perhaps in a job interview leading into your career, senior and your education, whatever that may be. So I think that's another powerful tool to get involved with is not only, I mean, you're helping a lot of people, but you're also getting a lot of out of it as well. It makes you a more well-rounded person. No doubt about it. Well, you talk about getting involved and, you know, especially with regard to young people in speaking as a young person myself you know i can kind of see the the attitude of a lot of people

around my age is how kind of difficult that can seem whether it's getting involved for reasons you know very important to community or their future career or business uh endeavors or whatever all the way to just getting involved with things that are more you know less serious when it comes to you know coming to different events or whatever i think a lot of of people are kind of confused as to how to get involved. You two are not old, we'll add that, but you're older than me. We'll take it. That works. And I think one of the things that having a spectrum of ages as co-hosts, you two especially could add kind of that insight as to, you know, here's the first step a young person should take when it comes to this. You know,

here's here's where to go here's what to do yeah here's whose hand to shake you know here's kind of the the nuts and bolts of connections if you will yeah well and i and i think the young person i kind of stumbled into it i can't really say that i've done the hard work of like do it uh making connections you know i've kind of uh you know been fortunate with a lot of opportunities but for many folks my age you know that they're going into the into things blind and they don't know you know they don't have some of the experience to say um you know they've done this in the past when they walk into a job interview or you know maybe there's a multitude of things that they could be worried about well one thing that i mean i remember this back in the day um you know

you always hear as a younger person just graduating college or high school or or whatever endeavor you're going into because you know there's there's so many different routes um well you don't have enough experience and that was always so frustrating for a lot of people that i knew now they they took me here i don't know why but they took a chance on me with the experience or not but um well you just want to say i'm not going to have any experience until somebody takes a chance on me so it's this it's this kind of evil of I understand I don't have experience but I I'm never going to that's the age old conundrum like you need experience to work but you need work to you have experience

the other thing though is they you have to be willing to to listen to and learn take your face out of your phone put down the social media like that's one of the biggest things that I have experienced here is the younger people um They don't know how to communicate. Like I said, put the phone down. Well, I tweeted this person, really? Go and have a conversation. You know, you have to speak to people.

When it comes down to it, this goes back to the conversation about connections. You connect with people face to face. A friend on Facebook is not a friend. It's a number. Our listeners will hear, many Matt Sackas, talk about this almost in the exact same way. he hears people you know all the time talk about how they've got 200 friends this and you know 800 followers that and he's like how many of them first of all do you even have their cell numbers and from that group of people how many of them if you were really you know whether you're in a time of need or you really just wanted to talk to

somebody how many of them could you just call and have a conversation with you might not have seen him for a year but you pick up the phone and you know you just resume right where you left off right um it's a real good point And I think one of the things that is just incredibly interesting to me is this idea of a third place, home being one, work being two, or school. But where do people go outside of that? What do people do outside of that? And I think there are many things that go into it, a lot of which I won't get into because much more research is required. But that's why I think it's so important personally for community. That's one of the reasons community is, you know, holds a lot of value in my eyes

because that's how you develop people being able to talk to one another and be in the same place for, you know, maybe the exact same, maybe similar, maybe slightly different reasons. You know, going to going to Wheeling Park just to enjoy some music on a Friday night, well, everybody else is there to enjoy the music. too. There's, I don't know, maybe hundreds, if not a thousand people to walk up and talk to if you find somebody similar to your own age. I think what's important is the more things like that you have, the more opportunities you have for somebody to put the phone down and start talking to people because at the end of the day, I mean, even if it's something as simple as you're both there wherever it may be whether it's a friday night football game or a or if you're a little bit older and you just happen to be at one of the many bars and shady side like you're all kind of

there for similar reasons there's one thing right there to talk about and there's one reason to go up to somebody and start a conversation um you know if you don't know what to say and maybe you're at uh of course this is probably um done and over with by now but You know, you're listening to music at Wheeling Park. Well, talk about the music that's being played. And now I'm just saying the same thing in different ways. But I think the point is clear that there are many ways to start talking to people. And once you start talking to people, whether it's something that could develop into something professionally or not, one, you gain the experience of talking to people, which I think is incredibly important.

And two, the least you could gain out of it is another friend. And, you know, who couldn't use those? yeah you can't just have you can't just wake up go to work come home wake up go to work come home sure i mean you have to and you said this is what third third place what did you say it was called third place yeah okay i wish i could remember the the author from i think the mid 20th century that coined that phrase oh have you heard that before jason all the young and's teaching us something i think it's you look at a lot of foreign places and we go but we can go back to uh we We could go into a lot of things that it's best for me not to.

But just look at kind of the way our society is designed and compare that to a lot of foreign countries, mainly more dense European countries. When you have a town center, you know, a plaza or a piazza or something, and first of all, housing is so much more dense. You also don't have the zoning laws that separate where people live versus where people work. and that allows people to, first of all, walkability is through the roof. You go to, I mean, you can experience it here in the United States. You go to D.C., you go to New York. People kind of tell you, be prepared for all the walking you're going to do. It's even more when you go to places like Europe, I'm sorry.

And I've never been. That's just, you know, what I've heard. That makes sense with all the, you know, with how dense everything is. But you could go to, you can wake up, go to work, and then from work or your house, you could walk to the local bakery. You could walk to the local coffee shop. And you don't have anything else to do. So you go to the plaza and you kind of sit down, you walk around, you talk to people.

Maybe you stop in another shop for something else. But you have this environment where there's just a lot of people and they're just there to be there. And they start talking to each other. And you could just, you know, just talking about it, I could feel the community emanating from the imagination. But I think things like that, that's why I look for things like that in the valley. That's why places like Wheeling are incredible. and especially with what they've done to kind of revamp

at least the main street so far it's incredible I think it also when you're talking about Europe I think it also dates it goes back to the fact that a lot of these cities were formed

in a completely different point in time where they were so centralized number one for safety and security purposes so that's their only way of living To me, living in New York City or Washington, D.C., sounds like hell on earth to me. Yeah, I'm not interested in it. In any way, shape, or form, do I want to be sharing a wall with other people?

Like, I don't want to be living on top of one another. I have been to New York City three times. You couldn't pay me to go back now. I like the world community. I like small town USA. I like knowing my friends and neighbors. I like feeling safe in my community. I think that's what we want the balance to be is you have urban, I'm sorry, you have rural communities and, you know, if you can even call it that rural could mean one house on a township road with a field next to it.

But at the same time, you have many places to go to, you know, let's say, you know, a small town like you said, that small town is great. It would be even better if that small town had something that everybody kind of went to and, you know, formed community around. And that's one of the things that we look to highlight in the valley and whether you're living. Because I completely agree. I don't know that I could do that either. I make too much noise with the guitar at night. But, well, I think a great example of what you just pointed out if you have not been there is community coffee and tea in Bel Air. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, I've been there. That's a coffee shop. Yes. Yes. It's a perfect example. I mean, let's, you know, we can't sugarcoat it. Belair is a struggling small town. unfortunately they you know have their their issues with a lot of different subjects and we're not

going to get into that but you know with i think community coffee and tea open maybe two years ago now maybe three and um i don't know their entire background but it was a couple that started it and um they've made it almost like this comfortable living room yes and there's games and there's books and there's you know they have great sandwiches at lunchtime they have fantastic breakfast. And it's something that that small community has not had since its heyday probably would be my guess. You know what else is important about it? It's walking distance from everything. Both high schools. Well, now one. Yeah. And also it's part of that. I forget what it's called. I think it's Belmont Street. There's a couple spots on there. I haven't been to any other than

that coffee shop that you talk about. Also, if you do go there for the listeners, if you go there and you get cutest couple of the day. You get a free cookie. I did know that. I may or may not know from experience. But Leonardo's coffee house is another great example up in Steubenville on Fourth Street. Fourth Street in Stubenville is great. And that's the thing, though, when things like that open, like Leonardo's, like community coffee and tea, like community and coffee, they'll say that is their goal. That is the name of their business is community. So if we want things like that to stick around and be successful, we as the local community have to support them also. You know, usually a lot of the times there's a big like blitz of excitement when something new

opens and everybody goes and they go. And they're like, oh yeah, it's a great experience. And they never go back. Yeah. And then they close and people will say, oh, well. That sucks. Yeah. Why did they close? Same thing about like sports teams and different things that come to the valley and they'll say oh yeah that didn't last we knew it wouldn't last and then there's that negative attitude that comes out i'm not surprised i knew it wasn't last and then you ask him and say when was the last time you bought a ticket sure oh well i saw the score on facebook does that count right and it's like that's what a lot of the talking's done yeah again if you want things to stick around and be successful you have to support you can't just sit back an armchair quarterback and

judge and complain when something isn't successful or closes because if you're not supporting them other people aren't either and that's when we end up with doors being closed yeah there's an economic factor to all this as well and i'll be you know i don't like to you know but i don't think they'll care um walmart croaker star but like big they can they can lose your they can they can afford for you to not go there absolutely but these small local places i'll tell you the we spoke to uh his name escapes me i can usually think of it but across the street newbridge cafe um chris is his first name yeah pastor christ yes um i mean i was over there this morning i go over there almost every time i'm in wheeling um it's great i go down to mug shots

it like those are the places that kind of make that local community and the local scene really thrive and those are the things as you said that uh ought to be cherished and uh and patronized that's one of my favorite things at christmas like i I make it a point to shop local and shop small. And I try to do it throughout the year also. But really at the holiday season, I really kind of focus on that kind of stuff. Again, because if we want these stores to stay open

and we want these connections to grow and our community to grow, you know, we have to be advocates for them. And I just, and you find unique stuff. Listen, you mentioned the big boxes, the Walmarts of the world, and you're right. you know you you don't go there it's not going to affect them in any way shape or form but when you go to somewhere else like a community coffee you go to jacob and sons

you go to a melting pot that's on main street in st clairesville your $50 purchase there $25 is probably a $10,000 purchase at a store like Walmart that's how important it is to them so you know again the community that's part of of being a part of the community and part of what we're trying to do and educate and inform our listeners about what we do have here in the valley because we all tend to live in our own little bubble of comfort of where you go to eat where you go to shop it's your own little world that you create for yourself I think with this podcast one of the things I think it's it's great is we're exposing folks to other bubbles yeah you know Eberts is a great example.

You know, somebody who lives in Steubenville may not be familiar with Eberts. Yeah. But they've got to go to, you know, they've got to go to Powhatan to see their, you know, distant aunts and uncle. So maybe stop at St. Clairzville on the way there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, kind of making that up.

We've got amazing hidden gems in this valley. We really do. No doubt about it. And something else to keep in mind is when you patronize these local businesses, you form connections, or at least you have a better chance of doing so. Yeah. You're not going to necessarily do that at the big box stores. I still need to get the guy's name, but I see the same, you know,

the same guy makes my coffee almost, you know, five times out of six when I go to Newbridge. Right. So it's about time. I ask him how he's doing once in a while. I'm pretty sure he made my egg and cheese bagel last week. If he's out there and he knows who he is, we love him. He does great work. Great stuff over there.

Which, by the way, they've got ice cream now. Yeah, I saw that. I don't know that I'm in any need of ice cream. But I'm always in need of ice cream. Nobody needs ice cream. It's, I mean, come on now. Yeah. Well, Sam, Jason, and myself obviously and clearly love community and feel strongly about connections.

And obviously, those, the namesake for the show, community and connections. We hope you're as thrilled for season two as we are. Again, we've got a lot of exciting conversations lined up. um we we spoke with uh the folks from everts farm and you talked about kind of breaking out of your comfort zone you know i might i might have planted a seed in grandma's backyard once and then it got mowed over the next week and that's about as far as my farming experience goes so talking to them really kind of opened it up and you know i probably won't get into farming but if i know or if i need fresh produce i know where to go uh and i know what's important to them and i know

that although them and myself and many other people have many different aspirations and interests and things like that, we all are kind of driven by the same thing. Both of those are community and connections. So for Sam and Jason, I'm Drake Watson. We are your co-hosts for season two of community and connections. We hope you enjoy listening. You can reach us by email with suggestions or any kind of feedback at OUE Podcast at Ohio.edu. Once again, that is OUEEPodcast at ohio.edu. Thank you for listening. Stay tuned and we hope you have a great day.