Sending Ben...

July 27, 2005 - Treuthardt Farm

Following a Wednesday morning at the fair, and having observed Ben's seeming affinity for barnyard animals, Dan and Shary decided to send Ben down to the family farm of Rob and Heidi Treuthardt for a little bit of character-building manual labor. They figured Ben should have the opportunity to get up close and personal with a dairy cow or two. They had no idea how true that would turn out to be...
	The Treuthardt farm, just South of Monroe, is a dairy farm that has been in operation for years.
Rob showed Ben and Dusty the dairy barn and quickly fell into his roll as taskmaster for the morning. His first assignment: shovelling poop. Ben's face began to turn green.
	Ben gave it his "college try," which wasn't much, as he's only sixteen years old. Nonetheless, he scraped the walkway down between the cow stalls - more or less - clean, and stood ready for his assignment.
Dusty, dressed for the occasion, decided to be a good sport and volunteered to muck a few stalls himself...above and beyond the line of duty as far as Producers go...
	Ben was first introduced to #24 - "Bessie" - and Rob gave both guys a chance to milk their first cow. Again, the "college try" didn't go far, as the most either of them got was a dribble. As they learned, it's tough milking when the cows have already been milked once in the morning...
...Oh yeah. Ben got really personal with Bessie. Typical farm chores occasionally include "examining" the cows before artificially inseminating them. Mayhem was the operative word in the studio as Dan and Shary listened to Ben's extremely vocal reaction to his experience.

Video Clips Coming Soon!

July 20, 2005 - Green County Fair

Fair week in Monroe! As it does every year, the town came alive with music, revving engines, bleating livestock...and wandering radio personalities. If you weren't approached by at least one news reporter for your opinion on the heat's effect on Fair Week, you weren't at the fair very much. Dan and Shary really had no other choice but to Send Ben to the Green County Fair...
	Ben was already on the scene to help Gary Guralski and his grandfather Dale set up the Big Easy 93.7 Big Top Tent. It was a rainy morning, the the weather gave a brief respite at nine to allow Ben, drenched to the bone, to meet with his producer Dusty and become the roving radio hounds Laurel and Hardy. Equipped with a bundle of unlimited ride wristbands, the two set out to take in the fair as it came to life on its first morning of the week.
Ben stopped by the 4-H showroom and conducted a quick interview with Riley, an assistant to the 4-H open class flower judge.
As Ben was conducting the interview, our first winners of the morning came running up, calling Ben and Dusty by their codenames for the morning. Jamie, Carla, and their Mom were excited to win a pair of unlimited ride wristbands.
	Ben's next assignment for the morning was to find a suitable young lady, and then guess her age and weight. Young devil that he is, Ben naturally sought out fifteen-year-olds Alisha and Tabitha. He then passed the honor of the actual weight-guessing to Dusty, who guessed comfortably "not in the ballpark." Alisha and Tabitha didn't care, however... they got unlimited ride wristbands.
"No, ask someone my age!" Shary said, to which Ben smoothly replied, "I don't see anyone twenty-five around..." Ben and Dusty made their way to the livestock barns, where Ben guessed Julie's weight... After Ben's guess, Julie declared, "Wow! I love you!"
	A quick tour of the livestock barns, and Ben decided it was time to harass the barnyard animals. This turkey had a lot to say on the air, and nearly got a piece of Ben's finger...

July 13, 2005 - "Rambo's Funeral"

Last week, Dan and Shary sent Ben on a very sentimental errand. (Supposedly) mourning the loss of his pet squirrel, Rambo, Ben set out to honor the memory of his furry companion. Ben's mission: convince as many innocent bystanders as possible to participate in a burial ceremony for the dearly departed rodent...
	Oh, but little did they know... There was no tragic traffic accident, there was no pet squirrel, and there was no Rambo. Carrying an empty "casket," Ben was on a mission of deception.
Ben wandered the square in search of a shoulder to cry on, but most people he bumped into weren't buying it.
	In his grief, Ben wandered into Baumgartners looking for Chris, one of the new owners, to either help him put Rambo to rest, or else drown his sorrows. Unfortunately, Chris was tied up with running the bar. He sent Ben on his way with a few condolences "for the road..."
Ben finally found a few volunteers to help him mourn: the ladies from Green County Title and Abstract and the court house office. They came out, Kleenexes and flowers in hand, and said a few words. One was even kind enough to hum Taps over the air in memory of the beloved woodland creature. Pictured: Linda, Sandy, and Tracy.
	Tracy, Haley, Linda, and Tara (with Sandy in the background) all gather to say their final farewell to Rambo. It was at that point that Ben announced that Rambo would have wanted an open casket funeral. Not knowing what to expect, the ladies tried to shy away... but the trap was sprung. Ben explained the joke, distributed gift certificates to Happy Joe's, and everyone walked away feeling strangely liberated.

Of course, seeing the story in pictures doesn't begin to convey it... Watch the Burying Rambo Movie for the whole story.

June 29, 2005 - Swiss Colony CMC Building

The last week in June, Ben was sent to the Swiss Colony's CMC building in Monroe, where, among other things, company employees store and test toys to decide whether or not to carry them in one of the company's many catalogues. Ben was given the rare opportunity to spend an hour as an official "toy-tester..." He also got to sample a well-known Swiss Colony delicacy.

Ambitious from the get-go, Ben decided to first test a controversial remote-controlled, battery powered skateboard. As Merchandiser Chris Vestin explained, not all products make it into the catalogues. Without bruising too much, Ben found out why...

Deciding that he was safer in a "testing-management" position, Ben watches as station photographer Dusty Weis, along to document Ben's trip, gives the remote controlled skateboard another go. Dusty, a student at the UW Madison, was disappointed that the board wouldn't be carried in the Swiss Colony's catalogue. He had planned to order at least one.

Ben and Dusty tested out several other remote controlled toys, along with a miniature, battery-powered scooter. Then it was back to the cooler confines of the CMC building to test-taste a well-known Swiss Colony treat: Petit-Fours! Despite having lived in Monroe all his life, Ben admitted to never having tasted Petit-Fours until that day. However, as is evident in the picture, he seemed to enjoy them...

Ben poses once more with his hosts...from left to right, Public Relations guide Deb Weis, Merchandiser Chris Vestin, and Merchandising Assistant Rhonda Schwarze. Thanks again to everybody at the Swiss Colony for a good time, and tune in next Wednesday morning to find out where Ben will be sent.