1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,800 We'll get started. Welcome everyone too. 2 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:03,560 Bye and welcome. I'm your host, Mike Nelson from 3 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,280 5 Towers Media, joined by a group today. 4 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,720 So a little bit of a different format than what we've been 5 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:11,600 doing. And we're going to be talking 6 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,200 about the auto show that is put on each year by Cornell's Auto 7 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:20,040 Parts and as well as Folds of Honor and who is the recipient 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:25,640 of the proceeds from that event. And got some an interesting 9 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,680 story to tell, sounds like. So I'm, I'm really excited to 10 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,960 hear the details. So why don't we go around if you 11 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,360 want to, just go ahead and introduce yourself 1st and we'll 12 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:35,800 start there. Yeah, my name is Ron Pastino. 13 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,000 I did 30 years government service, six years in U.S. 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,800 Army and 24 in New York's State Police, eighteen of which in 15 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,120 Special operations, and I live in Delmar, NY. 16 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,320 Casey Cornell right here from Greenfield owner Cornell's Auto 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,400 Parts. Mike Colvett, general manager of 18 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,120 Reynolds Auto Parts, right here in Greenfield Center. 19 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,880 Sean Wilcoxon. I am here, I guess, for three 20 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,599 different ways. I am operations director at 21 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:08,640 Performance, industrial owner at Tennis Tavern, and Folds of 22 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,800 Honor board member. Very nice. 23 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,720 So you know, I think maybe let's start with just talking about 24 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,240 the auto show. Obviously this is how many years 25 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,600 have you guys been doing it now? This is our 4th, 1:00 fourth 26 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,840 year. So give us kind of the rundown 27 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,360 on the auto show itself, like what it is, what it does, why 28 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,560 you do it. Well, we do it all for charity. 29 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:36,120 You know, we were doing small things for like Franklin 30 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,720 Community Center. The first one started out as and 31 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,200 then it kind of just grew each year and wanted to take a 32 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,720 different charity to get back locally. 33 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:47,880 But it kind of just started as like a get together. 34 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,040 Like when we first started it, we didn't know if it was just 35 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:51,440 going to be the employee showing up. 36 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,160 I mean, I think we ran out of food. 37 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,640 Like we're just like, Oh well, if the employees bring the car, 38 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:57,960 we'll at least have 2030 cars and we can just all hang out 39 00:01:57,960 --> 00:01:59,040 like company. Gathering. 40 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,440 And then it literally blew up the first year. 41 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,040 So second year we started planning a little bit earlier. 42 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,440 Second year was triple the size of the first year. 43 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,200 So and then. Last year we raised a lot of 44 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,760 money for the Cult of Honor, but we had rain. 45 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,760 So I said let's, let's run it back. 46 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,320 I think we can double what we raised last year, which is 47 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,720 $10,500. Let's, let's try it. 48 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,560 Hopefully, fingers crossed, nice sunny weather and we get the 49 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,720 cars and people who show up. And as far as I was thinking 50 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,680 about this on the way down here, as far as the fundraising aspect 51 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,640 of what you guys do, how are you raising funds? 52 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:41,880 Is it just your sponsorship? Do people donate day up? 53 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,320 How does that work? It's multiple. 54 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:49,800 So a lot of it comes from sponsorships and then you know, 55 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,600 we charge for registration cars, all that goes to it, food, all 56 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,360 the food goes towards it. T-shirts, we sell T-shirts 5050, 57 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,440 which the last few years people have been giving back their 58 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,360 5050, they've won, they've given the whole thing. 59 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:07,480 So it comes from all different, all different aspects of it, so. 60 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,120 Very nice. Sponsorships have come out early 61 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,480 this year. We they've already been 62 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,400 producing very well. We've got sponsors all the way 63 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,920 up in northern New Hampshire, friends of ours from up there, 64 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:21,320 sponsors of car show from their campground. 65 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,800 So it's pretty cool. Yeah. 66 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,440 And and who are some of the the folks that are sponsoring so 67 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,600 far? We have. 68 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,840 Clearstream Campground, of course, Penny's Performance 69 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:34,840 Industrial, they always help show out for us. 70 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:41,360 We have Lee and Nissan Saratoga Camelot came on board, donated 71 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:46,440 the lanyards novice is going to donate all the T-shirts out of 72 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:52,760 his clothing. Mariah Jones with the Shannon 73 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,240 Goodson team realtor, she came on board. 74 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:56,760 Party Air Construction came on board. 75 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,240 So we're we're definitely starting pretty, pretty heavy. 76 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:01,480 Nice. Nice. 77 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:03,120 And is there a cut off for sponsors? 78 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,120 Like you have to have everybody in by a certain day? 79 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,640 I like to have everybody in by March 31st. 80 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,520 That way I can get a banner made with all the logos on it, stuff 81 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,800 like that. So gives me that month of 82 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:15,240 getting everything organized, yeah. 83 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:16,880 For the car show. And and we. 84 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:18,720 We we can take people's money today off you'll. 85 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:22,680 Somehow figure out a way to take their money. 86 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,440 They might not make the band. Yeah, they might not be on the 87 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,640 T-shirt. That's amazing. 88 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,280 And what are the details for the car show too? 89 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:36,280 Just so we get that out there before I forget. 90 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,360 So trigger. Space second from 9:00 to 3:00 91 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,000 if there is rain in the forecast, May 3rd is the rain 92 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:50,080 date right here, 62 S Greenfield Rd., Greenfield Center and yeah 93 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,320 from 93. Hopefully we'll get some good 94 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:53,680 weather. We got good weather wrong right 95 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:55,240 now. I'm really excited about that. 96 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,480 It's supposed to be 60° today. Yeah, even. 97 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,480 More even warmer tomorrow. Oh, yeah, yeah, need it, need 98 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,280 it. I've got snow banks at my house. 99 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:04,720 They're like 10 feet tall right now. 100 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,320 I'm discouraged by the warm weather I was going. 101 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,080 To. Say you must have winter 102 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:15,280 hobbies. Snowmobile season ended for 103 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,400 many, many. Groups today. 104 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:19,640 My winter hobby is climbing through snow banks to. 105 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,400 Feed pigs so. That's. 106 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:27,520 Not not, not very exciting for me, but so so why don't we kind 107 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,000 of get your story a little bit about your involvement with 108 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,760 Folds of Honor? Absolutely. 109 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,760 And maybe just kind of talk about what they do. 110 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,800 And you know, I know that I, I believe anyway, Folds of Honor 111 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,120 has been and no small part to what you guys been doing with 112 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,320 Performance Industrial has been doing one of their events that 113 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:44,600 it's really. Becoming. 114 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,800 More and more well known and in this area specifically, I mean, 115 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,560 because until you guys started doing events for Folds of Honor, 116 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,400 I had personally had not heard of them. 117 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:56,280 But since then, obviously. We hear about them all the. 118 00:05:56,280 --> 00:06:00,800 Time so love to hear about more about Folds of Honor and honey, 119 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,680 your your partner story. Absolutely. 120 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:09,720 Again, my name is Ron Pastino and my kids are participants in 121 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,000 the Folds of Honor program. My daughter is still currently 122 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,960 in her master's and they're still helping her out with the, 123 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:19,160 you know, being a participant in the scholarships. 124 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,280 Gentlemen, thank you. Thank you for what you do 125 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,000 because my children reap the benefits of it due to my 126 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:26,520 disability. Well, thank you. 127 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,160 We. Appreciate you know your 128 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:29,320 commitment sets to comfort herself. 129 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,600 Honored, humbled and honored give you the short version in 130 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,560 light of, you know, the time frame we have here for this 131 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,680 podcast. Basically, I was in special 132 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,040 operations for the state of New York and when the second plane 133 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,720 hit at the World Trade Center, our team deployed. 134 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,680 We were split up in in two groups. 135 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,520 One group flew down and the other group drove down. 136 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,840 I drove down, pretty eerie thing to drive across the George 137 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:01,960 Washington Bridge and there was absolutely no vehicles and to 138 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,280 see a huge smoke plume to the South just felt like I was in a 139 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:10,120 movie scene. Just eerie, surreal. 140 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,720 Get down there and we started what we felt was going to be 141 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,880 rescue efforts and we worked diligently to to try to rescue 142 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:20,520 people. Unfortunately, that did not 143 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,040 happen. Jet fighters flying all over, a 144 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,440 lot of commotion and, and all that. 145 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:32,360 Our team ended up spending 7 1/2 months there on the pile to do 146 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:38,840 recovery efforts and sensitive security assignments for things 147 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,720 I can't really get into, but, you know, to protect the, the 148 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:47,920 scene and, and some other things that were going on about a year 149 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,160 after we started seeing health effects among first responders 150 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,720 and, you know, and, and the civilian populace that live down 151 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,800 there, frankly, which they get forgotten about as well. 152 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,960 I've had some lingering skin effects and and just kind of, 153 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:11,640 you know, shrugged it off had started to get about 6 sinus 154 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,120 infections a year, which I never would get them. 155 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,800 So it really affected my system, my nasal passages and just 156 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,600 really the chemicals that you were exposed to down there 157 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,040 horrendously. Pretty pretty much the worst 158 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,320 chemical environmental that you would ever want to put a human 159 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:33,960 being in. Go through several years. 160 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:40,159 I started to lose colleagues to the cancers of the 9/11 and at 161 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:48,520 year 15 after 911 which was 2016, I started to have some 162 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,680 breathing issues and I thought I was just just had a bad day went 163 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:57,320 on a three mile run and I felt it was felt really hard and I 164 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,040 was at the professionally athlete level to be on my team 165 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,160 and a three mile run was nothing to to a guy like me at that 166 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,480 point and I just shrugged it off. 167 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,120 The following day I tried to run another 3 miles at the city 168 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,520 Albany loop down where my office was and just felt I'll went to 169 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:19,360 see my personal doctor did a myriad of just general deep dive 170 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:24,040 tests. He felt it was my heart and the 171 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,760 the CAT scan came back that my heart was great. 172 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,040 But on the periphery lungs of the the CAT scan, there was lung 173 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:36,840 nodules and it it really made me take a step back like hey, I've 174 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:38,560 never smoked and the epitome of health. 175 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,360 I knew immediately by losing a bunch of colleagues already that 176 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:49,760 it was from 9/11. Ended up down in New York City, 177 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:54,480 found the top pulmonologist down there, put me through another 178 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,480 CAT scan and the PET scan. And bottom line is, is he said 179 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,440 we got to get you in the surgery like yesterday because you, you 180 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,640 definitely got a lung disease, but you know, you probably have 181 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,280 lymphoma cancer. Cause all my lymph nodes were 182 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,480 popping up hot on the, on the PET scan. 183 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:18,840 So within a week I was back down there at a surgery, surgery #1 184 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:24,120 they took a bunch of tissue samples and they validated my 185 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,840 lung disease from 911, couldn't rule out cancer. 186 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:33,160 So they had to go in through it, a more invasive surgery a few 187 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:37,440 weeks later to where they took a quarter of my right lung out and 188 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,760 all my lymph nodes because they were popping on pop for cancer. 189 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:46,800 Ultimately they ruled it out. They said I was the the the 190 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:51,680 worst inflammation case they've ever seen in history at that 191 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:58,560 hospital for my lungs. So at that point, major 192 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:06,280 surgeries back-to-back within a month and a disease, I had to 193 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,680 make a decision. Do I stay in the state police, 194 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,240 which they would have took care of me, or do I retire and see 195 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,160 what retirement's about? Because I had enough time to 196 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,520 retire and I heard it was, I heard retirement was pretty 197 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,000 good, but I had to be straight up. 198 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,280 I was not ready to retire. You know, I was 45 years old, 199 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,640 living the dream at the tip of the tip of the spear, saving 200 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:34,720 lives daily with my team. And I still enjoyed my job and 201 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,800 giving back and helping others. So but my doctors kept telling 202 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:41,600 me, we don't know how long you're going to live. 203 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:47,440 And with me analyzing all the colleagues that I already lost, 204 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,360 I had to make a decision to, you know, to do what's best for #1 205 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,880 the agency. Because I, I can't be in command 206 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:58,960 of a scene and make a bad decision because I'm not 207 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,240 breathing right and I'm not thinking straight. 208 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:08,520 So I, I decided to retire and then it was a tough, very, 209 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:13,160 really, really tough transition. When you're used to doing what I 210 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,040 did, it really becomes your identity. 211 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:21,600 I mean, and you get used to the adrenaline and, and the go go, 212 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,600 go part of it. And to go to a screeching halt, 213 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,040 it's like a light switch that goes off. 214 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,200 So basically I went through two years of darkness. 215 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,840 Basically the transition. Although I was employed, A buddy 216 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,280 of mine from the FBI got me a job as a government contractor. 217 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,000 I ran an international law enforcement program. 218 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,440 Really great job. That's a retirement. 219 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:46,640 Job. Yeah, that's. 220 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:48,520 What I was going? To do when I. 221 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,520 Retired. So, but all the while it wasn't 222 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,720 what I used to do, you know, although I was still helping out 223 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,160 others that were, you know, supporting special operations 224 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:06,880 out worldwide. Me not being being able to enter 225 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,720 a room and take a bad guy down anymore. 226 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:15,440 It was hard adjustment. So I finally, you know, had to 227 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:20,480 figure out like what what can I do to better myself with my 228 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,360 health? Had to turn this around because 229 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,800 all the doctors can provide me in the traditional medical 230 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:31,360 system was an inhaler and, you know, a steroidal pill and that 231 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,200 was it for like that's it. We just don't know. 232 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,000 So I started to do some investigation online. 233 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,440 I've always been epitome to health and always in the 234 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:47,640 supplements and holistic stuff like meditation and, you know, 235 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:53,040 granola type stuff. And, but I also, you know, 236 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,560 needed, I always thought like, what about these charities? 237 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,480 They're, they're out there advertising like I, I, I'm the 238 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,920 perfect example of case. So I started to look up health 239 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,800 and Wellness charities to kind of get me the best doctors I 240 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:10,840 need for my personal condition. And ultimately I, I found a 241 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,120 couple who campaign was the first one. 242 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:17,720 They took me under their wings and got me to some of the best 243 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:23,440 doctors on the planet and help me out with my PTSD brain 244 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,840 treatments and, you know, help give me the doctors to kind of 245 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,440 balance out and create homeostasis in my body to create 246 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:36,800 a healing process. Additionally, while this is 247 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:42,320 happening again, I, I lost a lot of salary when, you know, I, I 248 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,800 was made pretty good money in state police. 249 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:47,920 At my level, when you retire, it's not the same amount of 250 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:53,520 money and you know, it, It just was very difficult at the time. 251 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:59,320 And I started looking up as my, my twins were about to go to 252 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,600 college, looking up scholar scholarship for my kids. 253 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:09,840 And I, I came across Folds of Honor and I reached out and, 254 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:15,040 and, you know, the New York branch took me under the wings 255 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,200 and my kids under the wings applied and we got them through 256 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,640 four years of college. And my, my daughter's still in 257 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,960 her master's. So, you know, they, they've been 258 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,320 very helpful to take that the financial burden off, off #1 my 259 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,840 kids and then myself, because I feel an obligation to take care 260 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:38,720 of them as well. So for, for me to, you know, 261 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,880 help out Folds of Honor to help the others, like heck yeah, you 262 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,720 know, tell my story to, to to, you know, get some more funding 263 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:51,640 to help the kids of the disabled and and fallen military and war 264 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,400 first responder any day, all day. 265 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:57,800 Absolutely. So yeah, that that's basically 266 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,200 it. You know, I, I, I pretty much 267 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:02,760 did every treatment on the planet. 268 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,720 And the last big one was stem cells, Nesicon of stem cells, 269 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,960 which come from umbilical cords and medical waste basically, you 270 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,800 know, they, they throw that stuff out after their birth to a 271 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,400 guy like me, that's gold. Those cells are processed and 272 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,120 ultimately I end up having 7 treatments and in about two 273 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:31,400 years and pretty much reverse my my lung disease or you know. 274 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:34,840 Yeah. Well, that was going to be my 275 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,680 question is, do you still have ongoing battles as far as your 276 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:40,880 health goes outside of like normal ageing? 277 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,960 I'm not like I used to be. I am pretty much optimized the 278 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,280 best I can be for the condition. You know, I've been through. 279 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,240 It also affects your brain. I told you I you know, I had 280 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,920 some brain stuff go on when you're exposed to those 281 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,520 chemicals. But also beyond the World Trade 282 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:05,200 Center, you know, 18 years on call, losing 4 teammates, 283 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,000 shootings and stuff like that, that you're around and part of 284 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:14,119 effects, you know, you end up getting PTSD. 285 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:18,400 So I, I still am in prevention mode of that stuff. 286 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:24,839 I have everything under control. And that is a result of the, the 287 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:28,160 holistic means and, and treatments. 288 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:29,320 You know, the hippies were right. 289 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,400 They were freaking right. You know, these guys were right. 290 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:36,280 Yeah. So yeah. 291 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:42,520 Hey, look for, for anybody you disabled vets and 1st responders 292 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,480 out there, it's about prevention. 293 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:46,920 It's about getting, getting control of what your condition 294 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,040 is. And then it's about prevention. 295 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:55,720 So I, I take a myriad of supplements daily and, you know, 296 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,640 do do certain workouts and meditations and, and go to 297 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:04,480 certain doctors to prevent this from flaring back up and, you 298 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:09,600 know, to prolong my life. Now I made a pact and, you know, 299 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,800 I tell my kids this, I'm going to be the first 911 disabled 300 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,960 responder to live the 100 to prove that you can overcome the 301 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,760 adversity and, and still win this. 302 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:20,920 And I'm not going to let the terrorists kill me. 303 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,080 And I'll leave it at this, the World Trade Center 911 this year 304 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,560 will be the 25th year. It is the longest acting killing 305 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:36,320 terrorist event in history. It is still killing to this day. 306 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,400 Somebody, you know, like there was a colleague last week from 307 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,720 the state police that died. So just imagine all the NYPD, 308 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,400 the FDMY, the civilian populace that we've found, the kids, kids 309 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,680 have died from diseases. So just keep that, you know, in 310 00:18:55,680 --> 00:19:01,040 the back of your head of the amount of people that died on 311 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,680 the day, that's for 25 years, the amount of people that died 312 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:11,600 after has now passed, the amount of people that died the day of. 313 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:20,440 So I love help, helping and guiding 9/11 responders that 314 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,240 have sicknesses. I get calls from all over the 315 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:25,080 country now and around the world. 316 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,320 A lot of the burn pits, military burn pit people, same thing 317 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,400 you're supposed to. All those chemicals and stuff, 318 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,480 they're having the same disease. So I guide them through a 319 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,680 toolbox approach. You know, not one treatment is 320 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,360 going to be, you know, work. You know, you got to have a 321 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,840 culmination of your, your screwdriver, your, your hammer, 322 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,160 your wrench, and using that collectively to, to create the 323 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,640 healing process of your body. So that's, that's what my 324 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,760 winning recipe is. And I, I kind of pass that on to 325 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:02,600 the saving folks to kind of guide them to get them to the 326 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:04,920 right holistic doctors around the world. 327 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:12,040 So I just want to take a step back and just say thank you 328 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:17,480 again for not only fighting for us, but now fighting for us and 329 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,720 fighting for those who continue to fight for us. 330 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:24,360 Ron just explained what Folds of Honor did. 331 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:26,320 But I'm going to take a step back and start with what Folds 332 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,360 of Honor is. And, you know, maybe tell the 333 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:31,360 story so that they can understand. 334 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:34,160 But Folds of Honor will start a national organization. 335 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,800 And if you haven't heard of it, go online. 336 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:40,120 You know, see the video about it. 337 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:44,640 But it was about somebody was on a plane. 338 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:49,080 And why can't Doctor Dan Rooney? Dan Rooney, what kind of Dan 339 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,800 Rooney is on a plane? Plane landed and fallen soldier 340 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,880 had to be let off the plane 1st. And in the moment, he wrote a 341 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:58,840 book about it. And it's just so touching that, 342 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,320 you know, that moment of the fallen soldiers, some of the 343 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,680 guys fighting for us to have the freedoms that we have, It just, 344 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,760 it did something to him and he started in Folds of Honor, 345 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,960 started from it. And then what he talked about 346 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,800 was it's, you know, that person is gone, but their family still 347 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,400 has to go on. Their wife still has to go on, 348 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,760 their mother, brother, sisters, they still have to go on. 349 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:22,320 He wanted to make sure that the legacy of that person that died 350 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,640 for us or is permanently disabled for us goes on and that 351 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:27,840 we support them. So Folds of Honor is a national 352 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,280 organization. New York State has a chapter. 353 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,120 Now. I wasn't on the original 354 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,160 chapter. Tommy O'Connor, our board 355 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,920 president, got involved with it. I got to chance to cater. 356 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,000 I was in food service, got a chance to cater the first 357 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,560 concert at local school in Loudonville and I heard a story 358 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,720 from a Gold Star mother and never looked back. 359 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,280 I said how do I get involved? How do I help? 360 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:55,960 So we raise funds to give scholarships to military and 1st 361 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,360 responders that are either permanently disabled or pay the 362 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:00,000 ultimate sacrifice and die for us. 363 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,960 So your children have had a chance to receive scholarships 364 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,840 every year that they've gone to school because of your battle 365 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,200 and because of your fight and because we continue to do for us 366 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,000 today. And so the fact that we're 367 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,520 sitting here in small town in upstate New York with a private 368 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,240 business owner that's willing to say that, you know, because of 369 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:22,480 his business, because of that support, you know, last year you 370 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,880 sent two people to college for a year, like over over two people 371 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,240 because you, you raised the money of two scholarships. 372 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,960 And now this year wanting to double that's 4 scholarships, 373 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,760 small town upstate New York, that's amazing. 374 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:35,520 Just, I mean, it's, it's amazing. 375 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,520 It's honestly amazing. The fact that you get back the 376 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,360 fact that you're going to be here speaking on that day to 377 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,400 connect with others. So that who knows who's going to 378 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,120 be in that crowd that day? Like what if it's a somebody 379 00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,400 that's battling this, that might have a chance to connect with 380 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,360 Ron because he's here to give him back to raise money for 381 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,000 this. And so it's, it makes me 382 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,200 emotional to hear about it, to talk about it. 383 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,320 But I, I believe in the world that we live in today, the 384 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,440 battle that's going on right now, you know, there's nothing 385 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,600 more important to them. Remember that people are out 386 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,400 there fighting for our freedoms, fighting for that time that we 387 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,520 had and giving back. And so thank you very much and 388 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,160 Folds of Honor, thank you very much. 389 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,600 Because like anything, we're competitive people too and we 390 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,600 want to fulfill every single scholarship request in New York 391 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,560 because of 911, because of the fact that we live in New York 392 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:26,600 State and it's our responsibility to fill New York 393 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,040 State first. We at times don't fulfill a New 394 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,360 York State every year and the amount had that are applied for, 395 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,240 we don't have the funds to fulfill them every year. 396 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,760 More and more every year with 9/11 continuing to happen in 397 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,640 first responders. Being such a large group on top 398 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,520 of military, our goal is to fulfill every one of those 399 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,760 applications and it's with all this help that we are going to, 400 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:50,600 you know, drive our goal to get there. 401 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:54,920 So so how can they apply for this? 402 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,800 Hold on honor.org. Hold on honor.org. 403 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,320 I would say two things go on apply, But you know, they can 404 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:04,720 contact you. They can contact you, they can 405 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,280 contact Ron, they can contact me. 406 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,560 We're out there. We're on social media, our 407 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,080 names, our phone numbers. It's always when you apply. 408 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,160 I tell everybody, contact one of us, let us say national word. 409 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,320 This is somebody we know. They're from our backyard. 410 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,400 If you're not from our backyard, you're from downstate or 411 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,920 whatever, somehow you see this, contact one of us because we 412 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:24,640 want to hear from you. We want to hear your story. 413 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,400 We want to, we want to fight on behalf of you to get that 414 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:29,520 scholarship. No one doesn't deserve it. 415 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,320 But the sad fact is, is that we don't have enough to give to 416 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,080 every single one, right? So there's not a single not 417 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,520 deserving person, but National has to make the the hard choice. 418 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,160 And now I will say that National doesn't just say if it wasn't 419 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:43,360 raised in New York, you can't get it. 420 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,080 National will do everything they can to take funds from wherever 421 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,520 they can to try to fulfill everyone National. 422 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:51,720 So it's not like if we don't raise it here, there's no 423 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,200 chance. But reach out to us with holds 424 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,360 of honor to hope. Amazing. 425 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,720 I didn't realize. I shouldn't say I didn't 426 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,960 realize, it didn't occur to me or I hadn't thought about the 427 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,960 fact that 911 is still ongoing, right? 428 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,840 Like people are still. Suffering, but like I mean we 429 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,760 talk about it, we hear about it. You know, every year we, I want 430 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,520 to say celebrate, but we recognize the anniversary of it. 431 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,680 But you know, you don't think about all the people that are 432 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:24,120 still dealing with it. It's a heavy price attack. 433 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,120 It's. The real deal, Yeah. 434 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,800 And it's it's truly affecting families still. 435 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,800 I lost a close buddy of mine 8 months ago to cancer. 436 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,800 Yeah, local up here actually, Trooper. 437 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:44,280 Yeah, so, and in regards to filling out that application for 438 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,600 Folds of Honor, it's pretty simple actually online. 439 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,160 Yeah. So anybody out there, real 440 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,480 simple process, go online and then contact, you know the New 441 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,800 York representatives, they get national board. 442 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,280 And holds of Honor New York has a specific spot on the website, 443 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,800 the national website and all of our name, all the board members 444 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:05,800 names. And I have to say the board 445 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,920 members are all on page. They're all from, you know, here 446 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,960 to Albany local people. We have a group of people that 447 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:16,960 we love and have a lot of fun, you know, having these events 448 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:18,960 and celebrating those that fought for us. 449 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,160 And that's, you know, an opportunity of like that 450 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,400 hardship to hear, you know, we always want to be, you know, 451 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,600 connected to say you got to hear that story because of the why, 452 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:29,880 you know, what's the why behind it. 453 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,800 But once we, you know, we make sure people know the why, We 454 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:34,920 also like to bring the joy in laughter and fun. 455 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,280 You know, I'm sure there's going to be lots of laughter, lots of 456 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,800 smiles here at the car show. I mean, I don't know people from 457 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,400 Greenfield. They're known to bust, you know, 458 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:44,920 bust some chops, you know, tell some good stories, you know, 459 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:46,600 cook some good food. Like you're going to, you're 460 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,880 going to have some laughter here and you know, when it's all 461 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,480 about remembering that the reason why we're doing this so 462 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,600 that we have the opportunity to bring cars here to walk around 463 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,400 and look, you know, is because of the freedoms that are fought 464 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,840 for and, and the, the price that's paid. 465 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,840 And it's, you know, it's just so important to never forget that 466 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,720 freedom is not free. Freedom is fought for and paid 467 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,120 for by people like Rob. Absolutely. 468 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,360 Well, on behalf of our listeners and viewers, thank you for your 469 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:16,240 service. Absolutely. 470 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,720 And sacrifice, you know, and your family for that matter, and 471 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,000 everyone that serves. Thanks Cornell's for putting on 472 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,000 the The car show here May. 2nd May 2nd. 473 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,240 One more time. Rain date May 3rd. 474 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:31,400 Yeah. And thanks to Performance 475 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,720 Industrial and Tenny's Tavern as well for all the work that you 476 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,320 guys are doing as well helping promote this time and the other. 477 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:38,480 Work that you do, I mean you guys. 478 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:42,000 Do a ton, all of you guys do a ton of stuff in the community to 479 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,680 help uplift our community and and help those that serve us so. 480 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,240 It's our pleasure, it's our pleasure to be a part of it. 481 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:49,880 And thanks everybody for listening. 482 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,680 Of course, you can find this episode another episodes of 483 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,280 Buying local dot US, as well as listen to the podcast on 484 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,400 Spotify, Apple Rumble and YouTube. 485 00:27:58,680 --> 00:27:59,240 Thanks everybody.