- Will you consider this, healthy children in mind, body, and spirit, will certainly make for a better world.

Central Illinois is fortunate to have many folks who promote the best for kids, and I'm fortunate to have two wonderful women with me to fill us in on all of that.

Stay right here.

(gentle music) Kid's minds are like sponges, they soak up everything, so what better time to help them learn healthy lifestyles and lessons, than when they're kids.

Hult Center for Healthy Living and PBS Kids lead the pack here, and Patti Bash is here to tell us Hult and how it came to be.

And of course, our President and CEO at PBS here locally, WTVP, Lesley Matuszak is here to tell us how things are working together here.

Welcome ladies.

- Why thank you, it's good to be here.

- So Patti, we'll start with you, all right, Hult Center for Healthy Living came in to be when in Peoria?

- We opened our doors and had our first classes in October of 1990.

We worked on the concept though for several years before that.

We lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they had a health education center there which I helped start.

So when we moved to Peoria and found the same caring, kind of people, they cared about their families and cared about health.

It seemed like a real logical thing to try to have a health education center here.

And this whole community banded together and we raised the necessary money and started having classes.

I think they are still seeing about 20,000 students every year now and the classes started from preschool, they used to go through adults, but now it's basically focused on preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school.

- All right, and, well Lesley, you were in in the ground floor as well with Hult, so tell us about that.

- So, what Patti didn't tell you is she truly, with her husband, Steve, Dr. Steve Bash, and Marvin Hult, they are the reason we have the health education center here.

So, Patti made it happen, and my husband, Mark Matuszak, Mark worked for Marv Hult, in fact, he bought the business from Marv.

He said to me, guess what you're gonna do?

And I said, no, I'm the mom, I'm the housewife.

But he got me started, I met Patti, I literally fell in love with Patti and Steve and all the folks that were involved.

And Sally Snyder was involved.

And we did a kickoff for the health education center.

And so, we became fast friends and based on this business connection, and then what happened is, we found that this, there was some transitions and the Lobster Boil was kinda up for grabs.

Well, I said, I'm grabbing it.

So that's how WTVP and PBS got involved.

And it's Patti, because Patti's involved, who wouldn't want to be involved?

- What a nice thing to say.

- And I believe this is gonna be, I think we were trying to, I was counting on my fingers and my toes, I think it's the 23rd Lobster Boil.

Now, the beauty of it is is that we will share profit, I can say we because I'm on the committee and have been since forever, we will share the profits that we make from Butter Me Up on the Riverfront.

So, how did you guys?

- So, I heard that it was kind of up for grabs, Patti was traveling, I called Patti and said, guess what we're gonna do, and she said great, I'm all for it.

So, we decided let's do it.

So, we're moving it from the Hult Center, we're taking the-- - Parking lot.

- The parking lot, and we're putting it on the side street here at WTVP.

That street is shared by a private business and WTVP, so we're pitching a tent, Dickson's is back again, so we just have a new location but we have the same wonderful food, the same volunteers, and some new fun things that'll take place.

And yes, Butter 'Em Up on the Riverfront.

- I think it's gonna be so much fun.

Do you know how this came about, Chrissy?

- You were, well, Hult, it was privately funded.

- Well, Bradley students, they pick different areas in this one class and they, I think there were five of them, they picked the Hult Center, and they were supposed to come up with innovative ways to help the social service agencies.

And they proposed this Lobster Boil and at that time, Don Johnson, asked me what I thought, he had me sit down in his office and I said it sounds like a fabulous idea and let's do it.

And it's been such a success, it raises a lot of money, but mainly people have so much fun and then they learn about Hult and now WTVP and it's great.

- Well, it's interesting that they came up with the idea, 'cause college students and lobster doesn't seem like, well, I wonder what little bird kinda stuck in there.

- Well, it was Bradley, so you know, good students, good university.

So the fun thing about this is with not only with Patti but folks at the Hult Center and you Chris and the other volunteers, it was a nice transition to do it here at WTVP PBS because children's programming is one of our main goals and objectives with public television.

- Absolutely, PBS Kids.

- Yes.

- So explain that, the money will be going towards that programming to make sure that we are funded.

- Yes, yes.

So, WTVP PBS, of course, is donor-supported.

There's a little misconception about all this money rolling in from the government.

Okay government, if you're listening, roll it in, 'cause I don't have it.

So what's wonderful is people will, I think it's what, 100 bucks for a lobster dinner.

We split the proceeds and we have some sponsorship opportunities for people that wanna be a dinner sponsor or a door prize sponsor.

In fact, we'd love to have door prizes from all our businesses in the community.

And again, we're gonna split it 50/50 and we're not worried about who does the work and who doesn't, we all know how much we work on Lobster Boil, and it is a full dinner, it's amazing, and the programming for it with kids programming, it just fits hand in hand.

So you can come, you can have a great meal, you can have good fellowship, and you're supporting two really good organizations that are all about kids and education.

- And we have a silent auction, which is always so much fun.

People really enjoy the silent auction and that raises a considerable amount, but you're right, Lesley, most of the money I think comes in with the sponsorships.

But it is a funny thing, it starts early, it's done, and people just they talk about it.

In fact, I cannot tell you how many times over the last year, people have said it's the most fun event that they go to in Peoria.

- It really is.

- I'm so glad we're doing it together.

- Oh, I'm excited.

And the part that Chris forgot to say is she's Chairman of the Decoration's Committee again, so there's our life saver right there.

- Life saver, being the key word, yes.

It really is, it is I will say it's a lot of work, but it is a lot of fun.

And fun returns too.

Now, so the silent auction, we better say when it is, it's October 7th.

- Oh yeah, October 7th.

Put it on your calendars.

- Exactly.

So, $100 per person, which is a full lobster meal which is filling, so you get the lobster, shrimp cocktail, corn, there's sausage, onion.

- Potatoes.

- Potato.

- Beverages.

- But we have appetizers and desserts as well.

- Yep, and that's by OSF, Golda DeWalt is going to be providing those and she is fabulous.

So, we'll have wonderful appetizers and then it'll be followed by dessert, which OSF is sponsoring also.

So, it's gonna be a, nobody's gonna go away hungry.

- Exactly.

So then, we'll get back to the education of kids, now, Hult Center, obviously, Hult Center for Healthy Living, it says it all right there.

But PBS Kids is for mind and body as well.

- Mind, body, and soul.

And the cool thing about this is we also have a channel that most people know about, remote channel, so that's a 24/7 learning channel and that is amazing.

In fact, we started it before the pandemic, so it came at just the right time.

It's very popular, it's filled with educational opportunities for all age levels.

And the cool thing about it is the folks that work on that here at the station have programmed it so it's age appropriate at certain times throughout the day.

And that again is our 5th channel.

- So, that's so mornings are for toddlers, preschoolers, and then you increase age as the day goes on so when kids are coming home from school.

- The thing that's really cool about this is you as a parent, if your child gets up early and turns on the TV, 'cause you know with PBS, you just turn it on, you don't have to have cable, you don't have to have fancy equipment, just turn on the television, there it is.

So, the cool thing about it is, the fact that you don't have to worry about what your child is watching.

And then also, one of our channels is a 24/7 kids channel, and again, that's age appropriate, and again, you don't have to worry about what's being spoonfed to your kids.

It's safe, it's educational, it has a lot of research and backing to it, so it's appropriate.

And it's fun.

- And we know that kids know how to get ahold of that controller, that remote, they know how to work it better than I do, for my smart TV, stupid operator.

- Ask a kid.

- Yes, exactly.

It's too bad they don't have cellphones so I can call them sometimes and say hey, talk me through this.

Well, so the Lobster Boil now, again, has been for, this'll be the 23rd we think.

- We think.

The reason I'm hesitating a bit is because we've had a couple of them that were.

- Canceled because of the pandemic.

- Yes, we had some canceled, and then we just had some that were remote, and people have just been wonderful and they still donate because it's such a great cause.

What was a great causes and now it's a great cause between our two.

- Well, and it's introducing it to a completely different audience again, with WTVP.

- So, and the fun thing about it, it's a casual night, anything goes, and it's safe.

We have plenty of parking and we won't have to brave the elements.

We're in the largest television studio south of Chicago so if we have weather, we're safe.

The silent auctions and those are going to be really really fun, and because so many, the folks behind the community, in the community, have gotten behind this and said okay, we're donating so everybody has a chance to come home with something really nice.

And those raffle tickets, those are kinda fun.

- Yes, they are.

And we are gonna have a treasure chest and so people will be able to buy tickets and then open the treasure chest, and Jones Brothers Jewelers is donating a lovely piece of jewelry.

- Great.

So, you two working together, you just knew somehow that it was going to work.

(laughing) - There's a lot of chemistry and then throw in some of our volunteers, you know why we do it, okay, it's fun, and we want everybody to come and have a good time.

- And Lesley is so creative and as you know, I'm not creative, I'm a good organizer but not creative.

We're a good team.

No, we're a good team.

- So when we have the whole staff here at WTVP that's getting behind this as well, and we have so many good folks within the community that are underwriting pieces of this, so that ticket, that whole ticket is 100% deductible, and we all know we can use those deductions.

- Right now, absolutely.

So what do you think will be the most challenging to make this switch?

I mean, some people are so focused that it's always been at Hult before, do you anticipate any kinda challenge?

- You know, Christine, I actually don't, because with the publicity that WTVP can give us and Peori Magazine, and getting the word out, we're gonna send out a save-the-date within the next couple weeks.

I think since that was so well attended and we always sold out, so I don't anticipate us having any problem.

And the meal is always so fantastic that, and $100 is really a good bargain.

- It's a good bargain.

- A lot of food.

- And especially for the lobster, for all that you get from Dicksons.

So if there's a challenge, I would say it's get your reservations in early.

The Lobster Boil is up on the WTVP website as well as Lobster Boil has, you can find it easily.

And we're taking reservations and we don't want anybody to miss out, but we're limited so again, people should-- - What are we limited to?

What's the number?

- We're limited from what Dickson can probably prepare and that's usually 350.

- And you've goosed them quite a few times to raise that number, haven't you?

And Jason Livingston, who you've worked with for years and years and years.

- Yes has been fabulous to work with and they give us everything at their cost.

And that's a reason we've been able to I think raise as much money because we keep our costs low and we have a lot of wonderful volunteers, and we raise a lot of money in sponsorships.

- We do.

And it's fun.

- It is fun.

- It's more fun than anything.

- Well, and like you said, it's casual, so the theme this year is Butter 'Em Up On The Riverfront.

And so, you can wear jeans, you can wear anything, because you know you're gonna get splashed with melted butter and lobster juice.

- You'll have a bib.

- Okay, but it's a full lobster, so it's lobster cracking, you do the whole thing, it's not just a lobster tail.

- You can pinch.

(laughing) - Okay.

- But the thing is, it's 101 State Street here, we're just right on the water by the Post Office, near Kelhurst, so it's easy to get to, safe parking, big parking lot where everybody can be.

We'll be able to drop folks off that if we have some mobility issues, so it's easy and again, I can't wait to get into that lobster.

(laughing) - Okay, so let's go back to when you two decided to talk about this.

Now, you had spoken with Don Johnson, and that's how you learned that there wasn't going to be a Lobster Boil at Hult this year?

- So, Don took me to lunch, when you go to lunch with Don Johnson, you know something's coming.

And we go to lunch a lot, he is the president and CEO for Goodwill Industries, and we talk about a lot of things and he's very involved with the same things that Patti and I like and love and our charitable causes.

And he said, did you know?

And I kinda thought, oh I'm just doing this, I'm like okay, Don, hurry up, we're done, I gotta call Patti.

- And I think an hour later when we finished our conversation, we were so excited.

- Only an hour, I thought it was two?

- Well, it might've been.

(laughing) - You know we're talkers, so we were talking to people on our way out of the restaurant and then I, so Don and I were like, are you sure?

And I'm like, am I sure, yes, it's Patti Bash.

And Sally Snyder and so many of the other lovely people that are involved and yeah.

So this was always near and dear to my heart because that's how I met Patti and Steve Bash, and again, so many good people, and Pam Maybe was Marv Hult's daughter and I knew Pam and of course Marv was.

- He was a wonderful man.

- Yeah, we lost Marv a few years ago, but his heart, he was the heart of gold.

- Well, he donated the property for Hult or how did that happen?

- No, that actually was on the, Proctor Campus, Proctor Campus, and they gave it to me for $1 for 99 years.

But Marv wanted to have lunch with me one day and said he had almost died a couple of times with different, I think he had a brain aneurysm, if I'm remembering, and he felt that God wanted him to do something productive with his money.

And so, he researched all when I graduated from nursing all about our family and things, took me to lunch, and said I want to be your benefactor, and he was.

And that man had an idea, everyday he would call me, and he had some idea.

He was wonderful, I just loved that gentlemen.

- But Patti made it happen, Sally was our, she was our president during the first one, is that correct?

- I think I was the president for like four years and then when I started teaching, I love to teach.

- So she never was let go from the Hult Center, she was like, I need a break, I have to do this, I have to do that, it's like, nope, you still have to teach, you still have to teach.

Well, not a have to have you always at the head of the board, but yeah.

- Well so many people, their children are going there now, and grandchildren, that they had attended Hult when they were young.

And the programs that Hult offers for those who might not know.

- And a lot of people don't still know about the Hult Center but they start at the preschool level and then a lot of general health classes, like how to brush your teeth, how to make sure you get enough sleep at night, how to eat healthy.

And now they're in a lot more with mental health issues, especially with the adolescents and suicide prevention.

And they've kinda tried to stay up with what the needs were in the community.

They still do their substance abuse education and their family planning, family life education, - Family life, okay.

- So, it's very encompassing, and it's fun to go to the Hult Center, but now they also take a lot of programs into the school.

- Correct.

- The other thing about it is, I think is so cool, it's stayed current with the times.

So, what we used to worry about that we may not have to have as much 100% focus on now, now we're able to direct resources and learning opportunities and again, programs, that are really today's issues that kids and families have to deal with.

- Well, one, I think at the Hult Center, I think substance abuse, I believe that we use Jelly Belly's or something, and we pick some Jelly Belly's out 'cause it's called "Pharm Parties", but not F-A-R-M, P-H-A-R-M. And if you took certain colors of Jelly Belly's, that was a deadly combination.

And so, that was innovative, and that's a way to get through to kids.

Same with PBS programming, it's a way to get messages across to kids.

- And the messages are positive.

They're not negative and we stay within boundaries.

We're not replacing the family, the family still needs to run and support their family and not have directives shoved down their throat.

But we again, this mental health piece is so important.

- It is, and especially after the pandemic.

- Oh yeah.

- So many problems.

- There's so much anxiety and depression in teenagers now.

- Well, a lot of it has to do with social media, don't you think?

- I think you're right.

So the other part about this is for little ones, people talk about little ones weren't able to get out and about, and the cool thing about Hult Center is we'll be able to now, with pandemic kinda we're learning to live with it, and moving forward, this is a great place to socialize and this is a great place to have learned things and to have fun, and it's a chance for kids to catch up that maybe didn't have the socialization when they couldn't go anywhere during the pandemic.

You couldn't take your kids to play groups, you couldn't do anything.

- No, we were all, might as well been in the bathtub.

- And I can't tell you how many people have told me they'll never forget how to brush their teeth because of Mary the Mandible, which the Dental Society gave us, and all the wonderful exhibits that they had.

So, your point is well-taken, they have kept up, I'm no longer there, but I still love it, I still believe in the mission and I always support it.

- And you're Patti Bash and nobody says no to you.

And you're Lesley Matuzsak, nobody says no to you either.

- Nobody says no to me.

(laughing) - So I'm in good company.

That's for sure.

- But we certainly have fun and we know that the folks that come to the Lobster Boil, new folks or folks that have come every year, they're going to have fun too.

And the music's going to be nice, it's under a beautiful tent on the parking lot, so we're not in the grass, which is kinda nice.

It doesn't ruin the shoes.

You're here at WTVP, so we hope everybody will come, and again, those reservations, we're taking them now.

And those that wanna be involved with sponsorships, call me, night or day, we'll put a nice package together for those business and individuals that wanna get their name out there.

And again, it's for a terrific terrific cause, and it really benefits our community.

And when you look at the data, we can look at the data, it's data-driven and it works.

- Okay, so we have silent auction, plenty of food to eat, casual atmosphere, lots of fun, and will you two have fun that evening?

That's always been a question.

- We're already having fun.

Okay, so one of the fun things, I shouldn't probably say this, but one of the fun things, we love Patti, we're gonna have Patti cakes for dessert.

(laughing) It's Butter 'Em Up on the Riverfront, it's gonna be such a bash and Patti cakes.

Patti Bash.

Oh yeah, Golda and I are talking about a lot of things.

- Well, and that would be because, resulting from just recently Jump, and Channel 47, it was all kind of a marriage at the 10 year reunion of Jump and Peoria Magazine, and WTVP.

- So Jump, we were really privileged to be involved with the folks at OSF Healthcare with the Jump Simulaton Center, and they celebrated 10 years and this is really cool.

It wasn't about the 10 years of where we were, but where we're going in healthcare.

And this fits right into the education center, because we're educating kids as well as PBS.

We're educating kids to the future.

So we had such a good time.

And Golda, the food was amazing.

And then.

- I had one person say that's the best food they ever had at a fundraiser.

- I'm glad to hear that because you know we're bringing Cole Houser, Rip from Yellowstone, here on June 23rd, and Golda and her team are also, and some of our better chefs in the area, are doing our food.

So, oh it's gonna be great.

- So, you know what, and you might not be the creative person, you're the numbers, keeping track of everything, but then you have the creative person that really kinda charges everybody up.

- Yep, we're all ready.

- It's such a pleasure to work with you.

- We're having fun.

We go way back so this is just kinda cool.

Oh, and then we had a little fun this winter, we were on a boat ride together, and all we did was figure out Lobster Boil.

- We got a lot done.

- We did.

- But you were supposed to be on that boat ride for something else, I think, but we won't go there.

(laughing) But as long as you could do some brainstorming and get this Lobster Boil.

- We don't want to lose this wonderful event.

People love it, it sells out.

The community loves it, the local businesses love it.

- It's a signature event.

- It's a signature event.

And so now we just added a little piece to it, the WTVP PBS Children's Initiative, so.

- And it's the perfect marriage.

- And I love it that we're splitting the proceeds equally.

I think that's great.

They're both wonderful agencies.

- So we won't mention a goal, just we know that everybody will be satisfied customers, guests and the two organizations.

- Exactly.

- Okay, sounds great.

Well, ladies.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you and we're off and running once again.

So, again, thank you Patti Bash, and Lesley Matuszak, for joining me and for filling you in the Lobster Boil, and the organizations.

Thank you for joining us.

Stay safe and healthy and be well.

(gentle music)