Dave's Open Mic: Ep. 7 - Ron's Run for the Roses 2026

I got involved because lived in West
Hartford for.

Yes, we moved up there in 2004.

Left in 2020. Oh, wow.

That's where I started.

My production company,
Direct Line Media in West Hartford.

That's how I got hooked up with Barb.

I forget exactly how we met, I think.

Believe it or not, I, I'm, I'm
I'm sure I was introduced by Tony,

which I'm sure you know Tony. Of course.

It's not surprising. Yeah. So I think he.

And it's funny, so I, I see

because I go to the West Hartford
Chamber events announced at the event

and he always reminds me it's like, hey,
Dave, you know, bronze runs coming up.

I was like, thanks, Tony.

So yeah, so. Tony's
the quintessential salesman.

He's he's awesome.
He will. He's always selling. Yeah.

You can't tell him. Maybe you tell him.
Maybe you might as well have told him.

Yes. Yeah. No. You're right.
I might be interested in that.

I think I could work. Yeah.
And then. Yeah.

Then he follows up right away. So. Yeah,
I think he connected me with Barber.

And then I've done
some other work for her. And.

And when my wife passed, she,
she was like, thank you.

Ovarian cancer and 2023.

Jesus Christ.

So she was one of the first people
I called and I just cried on the phone.

Yeah. So, Barbara, you know,

yeah, that was hard.

Is that what moved you out of West
Hartford or.

No, we were already
living in the shoreline.

Okay, yeah, we moved in 2020,
and then we moved with our kids left.

Youngest is now 25. Wow.

So he moved out of the house
after high school, so we're like,

you know, maybe another year later.

We left and went to went back
because we've been to the shoreline.

So we rented a little cottage,
which I'm still in thinking like,

well, we'll buy in a year.
And then the rising market.

Yeah. Nothing ever stopped. Yeah.

And then I was supposed to be,
like, this wonderful time.

But those three years,

she got removed the following month,
right before Thanksgiving.

She got in a car accident.
She's a massage therapist.

So broke her a right wrist, like,
fractured it, like bone sticking out.

So that was a year.

And then maybe six months
after that, or a year after that,

she got diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

And then she battled
that for a little bit.

Yeah, she got diagnosed and know when
October passed in that following August.

Yeah.

So it was quick. But sorry. You hear that?

Thank you, thank you.

Yeah. So Barbara was.

Yeah. She was.

Just such a kind of soul.

She sees it all.

She knows a lot and she cares.

And like,

the difference is she doesn't like there's
no facade of the character with Barb.

It's like she genuinely cares. Yeah.
She does.

She'll give you that attention.

And it's not just like, oh,
I'm going to reply to this text

and then engage in
whatever else I'm doing.

Like she'll. Know
she stops everything. And genuine.

Yeah, she's very genuine.

And what she does with this event

every year is grown and grown and grown
and right.

She's so gracious.

I mean, I saw her, I guess it was raining
and the tents weren't set up.

And so there's a little bit of like,
oh my God, what's going to happen?

I'm like, yeah. It's gonna be fine.
And it is, it's it's great.

Oh, it's yeah.

The micro factors of everything.
The event.

Yeah.

Last year I think it was last
year or the year before, we

it was, it was a rainy, it was a cloudy
ish day, whatever.

And it might have even been raining.

And I was sitting at the table next
to her son Mike, and Barb's walking by

and she's like, you know, bidding up
things that didn't get it.

Yeah.

And so Mike's like, my mom's on
one of these, like, tangents of like,

you know, raising money, but
she's bidding on stuff just to like that.

Hadn't been bidding on yet.

Thank you. And.

And so he's like,
we got to start bidding on stuff.

Otherwise my mom's gonna get stuck
with, like, a trunk full of crap

she doesn't need. Right?

So, you know, but that's Barb.

She's like, oh, no one.

And it's not for the foundation because
she can just give it directly another way.

But it's like for the people
who make the donations they want, right?

You know, hey, people bid on your stuff.

So like going back to them again
the next year.

You know, she just like,
wants to have that involved, you know.

And so she's so like Mike was like
you got to start bidding on this stuff.

Otherwise mom's going to be
yeah. You know.

I love it
locking into much crap that we don't need.

Like right. Stuff
that's just the necessary.

Yeah, yeah. She always smiling.

Just always gracious.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah I was amazing.

So she's great the whole event.

I mean, just starting in her backyard,
you know when, when we were running it

and it was just.

It was like a party.
It was just like, here's a cool idea.

Let's see if we can have, you know,
a few hundred, couple hundred people over.

And, you know, we were doing some gambling
and which was fun.

And that was like the first and only year

we were able to do it, I guess,
because I guess it's like a 501 C3.

You can't.

You can't probably.
Yeah. There was some like., You know.

Yeah, yeah.

But it was great.
It was a. Huge fundraiser.

How soon after Ron's passing
was the first part.

Was it like a media?

I think Ron passed in oh three.

So probably six years. Okay. Was it.

Was it just she ever envisioned

that it would be a major fundraiser
for this organization?

I, I doubt it.

I don't think that was ever.

Heard kind of to do and Ron. Yeah,
I think.

I think with family and friends
kind. Of thing I think so.

I don't know
if I've ever directly asked her.

I think she'd probably be as surprised
as anybody that this is,

you know, what it's turned into.

From what? What it was.

Yeah.

You know, I think, you know, knowing
how many people she and Ron knew,

you know,
I think that first year, you know,

was kind of expected, like,
oh, we'll have it'll be great.

We'll raise some money,
we'll make some donations.

It'll be a good reason
to get together. Sure.

But to see where it is
now, I don't I can't I doubt Barb

ever envisioned it
being a, you know, 400 person affair.

Incredible.

And then to see after that first year
how many people said, wait,

I think we could do this,
and I think we could do that,

and I think we can just keep building

on this idea
of a Kentucky Derby celebration

that raises money for family
struggling with pancreatic cancer.

Yeah, right.

You know, it was amazing how many people,
even in those first couple of years,

we would do some fundraisers at the
The Arts Tree in Hartford.

And just any little bit

we could do to raise a little bit of money
for the Ron Fully Foundation.

So the foundation was first and then
and then the Ron's Run for the roses?

I don't think so.

I think Ron's Run for the roses started
technically before the foundation started.

Okay. Because I remember I was. On
maybe he was the instigator too.

I think so
like yeah, got the interest in there.

Yeah.

So I think it was and again
the the vision of having the foundation

very well could have overlapped
and been the predecessor for it.

And then it was just easier

to have a backyard party
versus getting the official 5013.

But because I was on the one of the event
planning committees years ago,

and I remember get it
when we got the 5013, we were planning

one of either the second or third event
that they were doing at Folly Farm.

Okay.

And the idea there was like,

you know, we're on a residential street
in West Hartford and, you know, West

Hartford, you know, do you know, it's
not you know, you can't stick 150 cars

on a residential street without, you know,

Johnny Law making their way up to be like,
what's going on?

Right, right.

So we're like, we have to probably
get ourselves to a, a bigger area.

And then Folly Farm, you know,
kind of was a nice natural transition

because it was,
you know, a farm, those horses.

And it had that,
you know, that idea and under great.

Whether it's, it's a phenomenal location.

It was great.

It was it was bigger,
it was more expansive.

But you, you fretted the weather.

Yeah. Going into that.

So was it was her backyard folly farm
and then here.

Farmington. Okay. Yeah.

I think Folly Farm was how many.

Years from was a lot of years.

And the tent
just kept getting bigger and bigger.

And then they would piece together 2 or 3.

Times, we'd run out of booze
and people were like, you know,

bringing coolers in the second year
because you're sitting there like just.

Rowing so fast.

And the passion that Barb always had
for the foundation, you know.

And a lot. Of it couldn't fit.

A lot of it's for kids, you know, like,
Mike's got such a strong friend base here

still in West Hartford
and like, surrounding areas that,

you know, it's just, you know,
as much as you're supporting Barbara,

Ron or pancreatic cancer,
you're supporting your friends.

Yeah. You know, and you know, I love Mike.

And, you know, if he was like,
hey, can you help my mom out?

Yeah, of course.

Like, I know he's out west and,
you know, can you, you know,

can you come to the event?
Can you spread the word?

Can you tell a bunch of people
and what went from being, you know, what

what might have been like a private party
at Foley's house to,

you know, maybe a higher end, costly
party is now,

you know, I'd say half the people here
now are,

you know, friends of mine who, you know,
it's just it's what they do on the derby.

It's like.

It's just it's a perfect event
that just kind of coincides with,

you know, raising money
and raising awareness because it's

what else are you going to do?

You know, we'd be sitting at home
watching, you know, or doing something.

Yeah. So might as well be,
you know, having fun here.

See some friends, family, something to
drink, eat and watch the Kentucky Derby.

That's it.

Why not?

Right.

Maybe,
you know, bring some stuff home that you

sit on wherever.

That's it.

The kids did ask, what are you going
to bring home this year?

Maybe a couple little trinkets.

We. Used to get the before we had kids
we'd bid on, like, all the dog stuff.

Oh. It's like one year
I walked out here with, like,

probably like, $500 worth of shit
that I didn't need.

You know what?

If it's like a big basket of,
like, dog toys?

Mike on. Look at this.

What are we going to do with this stuff?
Right.

All the auction stuff
aside, it's hard to think of a charity

where you can sit there in the audience
and know that every penny

you are donating goes directly to families
struggling with pancreatic cancer.

Right now, the stories,
the speakers that they have here

are just moving, you know?

Yeah. The Ron's Rescue. Like no other.

That's the part that, you know,
you can come and do this

and you pay your money for your tickets
and you drink

and you walk through and you say hello.

But when you listen to, like,
the stories of the Ron's Rescue people

and how the money that goes directly
to Ron's rescue impacts

individuals, families, whomever, it's just

it's like, you know, everyone's
got a little bit of money they can give.

And it's like,
you know, yeah, my couple hundred dollars.

Like it's not going to make or break,
but if everyone gives it a little bit,

it's like, those are like, we're not,
you know, that the foundation itself

isn't necessarily saying,

hey, we're trying to fund this
multi-million dollar research project.

So it the, the barrier of entry
or like making a difference is so hard.

Right.

That's you know,

the Ron's rescue is really like that's
the part of this whole thing that I love

the most is giving money that's going
directly to people where it's like,

hey, we can go on a vacation
before things get really grim.

So I was going to ask,

so what that they could that money's
for the families to use anyway.

They see it can be. It can.

Be, yeah, it can be for like rent.

You know, a lot of it is, you know, just,
you know, you're out of work, right.

You're going through treatments.

So some of it is like financial need,
financial assistance.

Some of it is, you know,

like make a wish type stuff where,
you know, there's because you had your.

Friend, one of the very first years where
Ron's rescue was part of the foundation.

A friend of mine,
her mother was diagnosed

with pancreatic cancer and her dream
was always to take her girls to Disney.

Yeah, so she took her two girls to Disney,

even though she was fighting for her life
and got to have that experience.

All because of
the Ron Foley Foundation. And

I know that my friend still carries
that memory with her.

And so many people do when they see
the picture on the screen every year.

Yeah, but that was a while ago,
and so many families have been touched

since then.

I mean, families have spoken about
just being able

to cover the bills or get some groceries
or some extra takeout.

Because it's very tight already.

And then, yeah,

it's fitting too,
because I, I, I was talking to Mark

Foley for you
and he was saying after Ron surgery

where the doctor came out and said, I'm
sorry, he's really nothing we could do.

Ron says,
well, we're going on a bunch of vacations.

That's what they did.

They travel in on a vacation, one,
you know, all sorts of places.

Yeah.

Because that's so it's very fitting that,
yeah, that money can be used.

And that's.

Yeah.

Ron's rescue is the piece that, you know,
it means the most I'd say to me

is part of that
because it's you're giving money

to people that need it
and it's going directly to them.

And, you know, I see it as the treasurer,
we write checks and sign checks

to, you know, this money is going
to these people and it's,

you know, they need it,
you know, whether it's to pay rent,

pay mortgage, pay,
you know, medical bills or to just use it.

You know, time with your family.
Yeah. This is important.

And, you know, obviously with the survival
rates are so grim.

Right.

You know, it just, you know,
while you're healthy and able,

you know, if there's any amount of money
that allows you to kind of check

a box or just make life easy for you.

And again, it's I think the person who's
diagnosed and I have no concept of this,

like there's a level of acceptance
they have.

But I think like I look at it like if
something were like that happening to me,

it's like you want to do whatever you can
for your kids and your family

while you're still, like vertical and
while you're still able to, like, do that.

And if it means like, you know,
we were always planning to go to Disney

or go do something, but, you know,
there's just not enough money in the bank.

Like that's what the Ron's Rescues for.

It's like just it's not for maybe
making that person's life better.

It's maybe just making the family
of that person's life a little bit better.

Yeah. It's hard.

I mean, and sometimes
some people better than others.

Sometimes, you know,

it takes a loss to realize like that
family is you really need to spend time

with family because who knows
what's around the corner.

I think that's very important lesson.

And it's nice that that Ron's
rescue is able to, you know,

bring families together like that
and let them spend some time together.

Yeah. Yeah, sure. That's super great.
You guys do that.

I love it, love it.

So but this place that we're at,
the Farmington Polo Club is very special.

It's very special to us.

We were married here.

Yes, almost 15 years ago.

Hard to believe it, but my grandmother.

Yeah,

it was

actually after Hurricane and Farmington.

The Farmington River had flooded

and this whole beautiful property
was under mud.

Okay.

So what you're looking at this green grass
and everything was just covered

about ten, 13 days before our wedding.

Oh my God. Like a week?

Yeah. Wow.

But we were able to
still have our wedding.

The Farmington club was amazing,

and they planted some fresh flowers,
whatever they could find in September.

But it was extra special to us
because my grandmother had been diagnosed

with pancreatic cancer
just about a year before our wedding, and

although she was a little bit
older at the time, she had just turned 80.

When she got diagnosed, it was.

I didn't know much about it back
then, but.

I'm gonna I'm gonna pause
you just for a second.

I think if you can move
a little bit closer.

Oh, sure.

That would help out Kyle,
because it's the band is.

Yeah, sure.

Is that better this year? Sorry, sorry.

Yeah. No problem.

So this venue is just extra special to us.

Because my grandmother had been diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer about a year

before our wedding, and she wasn't sure
if she would make it to our wedding.

Because you read stories and the internet
wasn't what it is now back then.

But still, you read these stories

and you talk to people, especially people
we knew through runs. Ron.

And when my grandmother said

she had pancreatic cancer, we thought,
oh no, what does this mean?

You knew? Yeah.

What does this mean for the next
few weeks, let alone a few months year?

Plus, we.

Were in there for a.

While,
but she she was so strong and so brave

and she made it through,
my bridal shower.

She lived in Texas, but she got delayed on
the flight and missed the bridal shower.

So we were like, oh, come on,
somebody, you know, we need a break.

But she was able
to come and celebrate with us.

And she had such a great time
at this venue.

And Barbara was able
to meet my grandmother.

Barbara's at the wedding.

And even though
it was almost 15 years ago,

we knew how powerful
the foundation would be because of Barbara

and because of the people

that surround her and love her
and her cause and her passion.

And she thanked my grandmother
for being so strong and for being here

and supporting the Ron Foley Foundation
little cards we had on the table.

But it's just an incredible

foundation and means so much to so many.

I love it, yeah,
I think just Barbara is a just a spear

doesn't die and she's always gracious and
and I'm happy that you have the time here

with your grandmother.

She was able to be here and celebrate
with you guys, but I don't know.

Sorry, but that's very distracting.

I don't know if that means it's
time to go inside or I don't happen.

It's time for you to drink
some of that beer.

That's not getting any colder.

I can't show you that.

I feel bad you're sitting there.
That was all good.

I'll. I'll.

Nothing like a lukewarm beer, you know?

That's fine.

But listen,
thank you so much for stopping by.

Brendan and Kristin.

Caitlin. Caitlin.
Darn it. That's okay. Caitlin.

Leave that in.

That'd be good.

Yeah,
yeah. Yeah, we'll leave that on. Yeah.

Why not? Anyway,
thank you so much for coming.

Wonderful. Wonderful
time, all. Of you, for sharing.

Your story.

That's, you know, also like,
you know, again, it's

at the end of the day, cancer
blows, right?

You know, it's it's
all regardless of what kind you get.

And it gets lost when you, you know,
a line, you know, hit your wagon to one.

Yeah. But it doesn't matter.

They all suck and you know, and it's.

It's awful.
One shouldn't supersede the other.

And you know, everything should be
you know, looked at and it's it's

you know, I thank you
for letting us know about it sucks.

You're welcome.
And thank you for being here.

And thank you for everything you guys do
to support Ron Foley and Ron's rescue.

Thank you.

Thank you. That's awesome. Thank you.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

Go, go bring some stuff home.

That's right. Win some shit.

You know some shit. I like it.

When. Some shit.

If you need any foods, we'll send the.

Yeah, people down for you.
Appreciate that. Yeah.

Thank you so much. All right.

All right.

We'll see you.

We'll keep listening to the podcast to.

That south of LA.

It's in between LA and San Diego.

Oh, okay. Yeah. And the beach? Okay. Yeah.

That's nice.
You're on the beach. Yeah. Beautiful.

I mean.

Not close.

Yeah. How would you move out there?

2004.

Oh, okay.

At work or just time to.

For work? Yeah.
I was living in Boston. Okay.

My daughter was one,
and my wife's from Buffalo,

and.

I was like, I got promoted.

She said, where?

And it said Orange County.

And she's like, where's that? It's like,
I don't know.

So we looked at a map of California,
and then there was the beach.

And I had been there.

My girlfriend was from there in college.

And it was it's incredible.

Yeah.

And if you like the outdoors
and there's a lot of mountain

biking, surfing,
you know, everything involved the ocean.

But 70% legroom is dedicated open space.

Mountain biking. Beautiful.

Yeah, it's really cool.

That's awesome. Yeah.

It's so beautiful. Yeah.

So are you gonna stay out there?

Like, is that your your dig in California?

I mean, I just the East coast.
I miss the East coast.

I don't miss this. What? This weather.

This weather we've been having cold
and wet and gross.

Yeah. I miss my family.

That's one,
you know, like the extended family.

My my brother's here.
My sister's here. My.

You know, Barbara's here.

How many brothers and sisters you have?

I have, so Mike's my little brother.

Kate's my little sister
and have no other older brother.

Brant. Okay. Was in Tennessee.

Okay.

But, yeah, I mean,
but it's like my jobs out there.

I work market hours,
so I'm done with my job at 2:00.

Okay.

But you're up early.

No. I'm not.

I'm up early
to you. Yoga in the work out. But.

Right, right.

People don't get to work till eight, but
they leave at once, so it's a good racket.

That's a nice life. It is a good. I'm
going to move out there. Yeah.

Almost did. Back in. I don't know. Was it?

I think it was late 90s. Yeah. We

we were going to move to San Diego.

Yeah.

And I was working at TV at the time, and,
and so we just,

we bought a little place
in Clinton, Connecticut.

Yeah I know.

Yeah, we're there and we're hanging out.

And I was like,
you know, we kind of wanted to change.

And kids were young.

I think we only had two at the time.
We have three now.

And I started reaching out,
sending out resumes.

And there was a lot of interest.
But they're like, you don't live here.

I was like, no, we're moving.
I want to like.

He's like, no, we can't take that chance.

And I'm like, so we sort of like,

you know,
and and I guess it's good that we stayed.

I mean, because it's not soon after

I think they had like mudslides
and all sorts of stuff happened. And.

Yeah, but the housing market
went through the roof.

Not long after we, we decided not to go.

Here or in. San Diego. San Diego.

Well, I know all over, but yeah, San Diego
especially just.

Yeah.

Crazy San Diego school
because it's got like LA stocks

in the order of like great things
LA terrible.

Orange County is great.

San Diego it's it's
if you want more of a beach vibe.

San Diego's a better spot.

You get down there off into San Diego.

It's my sales terrace, right?

Yeah, I'm
there twice a week. It's awesome. Yeah.

All right. And it's good surfing.
Good people.

That you serve to.

Yep. Skateboarder. Surfer.

What else?

What's going on here?

Yeah. What do you go to ski? Utah. Okay.

California. Okay. So we.

I got 27 days in this year.

That's pretty good. Yeah.

I've been skeet since I was a teenager.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, those, those three things
in their skin in California too.

Yeah.

But, yeah,
San Diego is one of some of the best.

Whether it's the same thing, it's
like you can do if you like the outdoors.

It's a great place to be.

Yeah.

You know, if you don't like the outdoors,
the taxes are terrible.

The politics are terrible.

It's taxes and politics.

Yeah.

You know, but if you can deal with that,
then it's a great place.

To like the outdoors.

Yeah, I'm itching for this warm weather.

It's like you get teased and then you got
to go back inside, turn the heat back on.

Yeah, yeah.

You know.

And then, you know, you have.

There's no bugs.

That's another thing.

It's like people to understand

the fact that there's like
in the summertime, there's no bugs.

You know, it's kind of a big deal.

Like no, no, no, it's yours
because there's no bugs.

So last year
you know by the ticks out here.

I'm disease and ticks all which
more than just Connecticut now I think.

But last year I know of years
I didn't have any ticks.

I was I always check
but I had I've had three ticks on this.

I found three ticks so far this year.
I'm like, what's happening with The Tick?

I think it's I don't know, I have
no I could speculate, but I have no idea.

Yeah. I just because you would think
they wouldn't come out.

So later with this ridiculous winter
we had of all the snow.

But so yeah.

So yeah, the bugs no bugs is a good thing.

Everybody's I gotta take an Ireland.

Actually when I was ten.

Yeah.

Because old line. Yeah, I forgot the.

Lyme disease.

I had Lyme disease
while back. It's not fun.

I know
some people got really messed up from it.

I was lucky
I kind of had a suspicion early on

and got diagnosed
and antibiotics really quickly.

But if you don't catch it quick, it can
kind of mess you up mentally a little bit.

So what happens when. You get it?

I think it's like a mental thing.

Can I don't know if it's

like deadly or anything like that.

I don't think you die from lenses.

Maybe I'm not an expert,
but I know it can mess with your brain,

so maybe you think a little bit slower,
like you just you cognitively decline

a little bit
if it's left untreated for a little while.

Guy used to work with his son. Got.

Didn't get diagnosed for a long time.

And he's fine,
but he is not quite the same.

I mean, maybe if you just met him
you would never know.

But being,
you know, as father or whatever,

he notices a little bit of a difference,
but he's fine.

So I know a couple of other people
that that have had it.

They're okay.

But it's a yeah, it's
I don't I don't really know.

That's all I know about it.

Yeah. I'm not an expert by any means.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But tell me a little bit
about your dad, Ron.

That's why we're all here today.

Hanging out so well.

I think
a good way to describe him is from.

There's a couple. He's multidimensional.

So he always had an incredible work ethic.

Like, ever since I remembered, he,

you know, parents got divorced
when I was young.

It's married to my mom.

Met her in college, and I'm.

I'm sorry to interrupt you.

Can you move a little bit
closer to the microphone?

Just worried about the band
back there. Yeah.

Appreciate that. Okay.

Yeah.

Just might want to check
the framing on that camera.

But when he.

He was working at travelers,
and I'm pretty sure

he was working
at the gas station at night.

So he had a full time job during the day,
a part time job at night.

And he loved pumping gas, you know,
and then on the weekends,

he was always working,

like working in the yard, you know,
planting flowers, building stuff.

And he would he would leave the house

and, super

early in the morning,
get home late at night, take

we would take vacations
in Lake Winnipesaukee,

and he would drive from Lake Winnipesaukee

back to Hartford.

You commute on the same day
because you couldn't.

Miss work.

Is that drive?

It's got. To be three,
3.5 hours each way at least.

And we do that every day.

Yeah, yeah.

On vacation.

Wow. And,

you know, he took
he took a little bit of time off,

but he took one week off of vacation,
worked super hard, and,

and then that's why he retired young.

But he'd been working
ever since he was a kid.

Yeah.

So that's one facet of my dad,
and I think, like,

maybe I got that work ethic.

My little brother was diagnosed
with failure

to thrive
because he didn't work that hard at first.

But now he's got that
same work ethic. Good.

And Kate did as well.

So we all kind of got that.
So that's one aspect.

But the other aspect is
he was like a big kid.

You know he's always playing sport guns.

Yeah yeah yeah.

He my brother's best friend
Chris Marchand.

He would do the sea bass
because he bought a boat when he retired

and we'd go fishing and
and the and the boat there was a bait.

Well, and it was filled with seabass
because you're trying to catch other fish.

And he would put Mike, Mike's best friend
Chris Marchand,

head in the beat in the bait.

Well, he gave him a sea bass
swirly and stuff like that.

He was always the guy, like,
throwing the football.

But, you know, he
he only did that when he retired.

He just worked at his ass off for so long,
so that when he retired, he

just, he would in the on the weekends,
he would kind of let loose a little bit.

So that was all by design.
I mean, he joined work.

I mean you would have to, to work
that much.

But it's also like he wanted to get out
early and enjoy the rest of his life.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, yeah, never get out early, but
I mean, he would he would get out early.

Out early as far as working. Yeah.

They retired when.

I mean I'm 56.

I think he retired at 55
I can't imagine I can't imagine retiring.

I mean, I'm thinking like maybe
it was like 60.

No man. 62.

He was young and he was done.

And we bought this place
in Stonington, Connecticut.

Or we my dad did. Yeah.

And he got into boating and so
and then he was a lot of fun.

He had a big family reunions.
You love family?

Yeah.

He was he was just a all around, like a.

Just a fun, fun guy

to have around when he was
when he was working, it was serious shit.

Yeah, but when he wasn't working,
he let go a little bit.

That's good. Yeah.
So he didn't bring work home with him?

If it was, he was.

If he was relaxing, it would be
he would be 100%.

In matter of fact, I'd be like,
I can't believe this guy runs travelers,

you know? Yeah.

Because he just he didn't act like it
when he when he signed off.

And, you know,

I kind of the same way, like, people
are surprised that I have a job, you.

Know. When I'm. Out for work.

I love it. Yeah, yeah. Work hard, play
hard. Right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

That's good. That's a good definition.

That's good attitude.

So how long was he retired
before he was stricken?

Yeah, I guess if that's the right word.

I think he

two years after he retired,
he had like a some type of, like,

some type of, like, neck cancer or throat

cancer or something,
but it was superficial.

And then,

and I think, I think what happened

was he got jaundiced
and no one knew it was wrong with him.

And that was only,
I think, three years after it retired.

I mean, it was it was fast.

It was fast.

And I was in California, you know,
everyone was back East.

And my sister, I think, was in law school.

My brother was in between.

Well, he didn't really work for a while.

Older
brother worked for my dad in Tennessee

and then they tried to give.

So he got diagnosed.

And then Barbara was obviously trying
to figure out what to do,

and she came up with,
hey, let's try to give him

the Whipple procedure,

which is where they take a little bit
pancreas, a little of your liver.

It's something else down at UPenn.

And then so we were staying at my uncle
Jack and Kate's house,

and and all of us were down there,
and the doctors said if we spend.

That was his last hope.

You know,

if you get this procedure that's
you can cure your at least keep it at bay.

So the doctor said,
if we get if we're in there

for a long time in surgery
for a long time, that's a good, good sign.

If we're if we're not bad sign
because if we open them up and be like,

oh, we can't do it. Yeah.

So they open them up
and they were there for a long time.

We were all very hopeful.

And then the guy came out and he just
he's like, we couldn't do anything.

So. But my

dad, in true fashion,
as soon as he heard that, you know,

we all came in the room
and and he knew it was bad news

and he, he said, ain't no moss
going to go under these feet, you know?

And so he's all fired up.

So we took so many like last vacations.

You know,

the first one we took a helicopter ride
the Grand Canyon, which I wanted to do.

We went to Vegas.

He gave me my younger brother
like just thousands of dollars.

And he's like, he's like,
have you guys losing money?

Just come back to me
and I'll give you more.

That was fun.

We rented, like,
the penthouse suite at the Bellagio.

We went to, we we did a lot of things.

So he was true to that.

Just fun loving spirit.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And, you know,
and that's the cool thing about it is,

I mean,
I wasn't my I don't know how my dad felt,

but he lived a, he had a lot of fun for,
for quite some time after.

I know my stepmom and my sister
and my brother were involved my diet.

So I think he had a pretty good diet
and he just wanted to live life for,

for a while.

And so we did a lot of last vacations.

Yeah. That's cool.

That's really cool idea
that time with him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's making it.

Now, we were chatting before here
and unfortunately one of your very good

friends has been diagnosed with cancer.

So freaking awful.

Do you know anything about the research
they're doing?

And, do you know,
can you tell me a little bit

about what the wrongfully Foundation
is doing to hopefully help people?

Yeah. You know. So two things.

Yeah. Two things.

So number one, my best friend from college
and you know, he's know my dad

I mean, I graduated college 30.

God, I can't believe it.

33 years ago.

Maybe you did.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm right there.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm like, really? And.

And Pete spent my best friend for that
long, and I talked to him.

Every day.

We ski together, you know, we
we married sisters, actually.

Wow. And divorced sisters.

But.

So he's known

my dad, and, you know,
he's been on the boat and. Wow.

And so I was just skiing with Pete,
and then,

this is 85 days ago,
and I was in the hospital for my broken

jaw, and he was in the hospital
because he couldn't.

His stomach was hurting, and,
Yeah, he was just diagnosed.

It was 80.

It's been 86 days since I broke my job.

And he's now in hospice and and I and.

Yeah, me too.

And, you know,
I get emotional about it a lot of times.

And but the problem is you can't die.

Like there's no early signs, you know,
there's there's he couldn't tell.

I mean, he's, he's he said he had no idea
anything was wrong with him.

We were skiing.

I mean, again, 85 days ago, he was the one
saying, hey, let's take another run.

I was like, dude, I can't do it. Like.

And I was, I'm fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So that's how quickly it hits.

And I think one of the main things
that we try to do here

is a try to fund research,
because no one wants to deal with it,

because it's such a fatal disease.

And the survival rates are terrible.

Yeah.

So I think it's one of the most worst
survival rates I guess is.

Is most invasive.

I mean I'm witnessing it firsthand.

Mean like again,
I see my buddy 85 days ago.

He was fine in every single day
it's infections and its.

Three months.

Yeah.

And it's invasive and it's pervasive
and it's it's awful.

And there's no I mean part of it I think
is try to figure out like early detection.

Yeah.

If they can do it because I think it's
just a lot of it's just too late.

But that's the thing right.

You really
there's there's no symptoms. Yeah. No.

And by the time you know
it's usually too late.

Yeah. Because skin cancer
I mean I'm 100% Irish.

I go to the doctor every three months
and she can look at my skin and.

Okay, well, we'll get rid of this for
that.

My was a giveaway. At all.

And she's like she's.

Like, as long as you keep going
coming to the dermatologist,

you're never going to die of cancer.

Yeah, but you don't have that same luxury
or pancreatic cancer.

Is there any like, tests you can
you can have?

I'm not sure other.

I think they're working on something.

You know, it's funny, Barbara
mentioned this, this particular drug

that just there's a company that has a

it's I don't think it's

really testing, but I think it's more of a
there's no antidote for it.

But it's we're working
on some type of cure, but it's brand new.

I just don't know the name of it
off the top of my head

because it just happened.

It happened like two weeks ago.

But yeah.

So I think what they're trying to do here
is a trying to figure out

ways that they can finance doctors
to do a lot of research,

because all comes down to research.

I think AI is going to be pretty
interesting to figure out how to do that.

I know they're Crispr.

The Crispr technologies are working
with sequencing

different RNAs and mRNA sequences.

The other part is to like fortunately,
my friend has a job

and he's been able to save money.

But, you know, cancer will bankrupt you.

And I mean, he's spending so much money,
so much time to get his treatment.

But most people aren't
that fortunate. Yeah.

And so another thing,

what I donate to every single year
is Ron's rescue, which it gives people.

I mean, some people are a paycheck away
from being homeless.

Yeah.

And when you get cancer, it's even worse.

And so part of the foundation to
is to get people

the opportunity to apply for these grants
so that they can, at least

in for their loved ones, not worry about
where the next paycheck is coming from.

That's good. Yeah, that's really good.

Listen,
I want to thank you for spending some time

with me and talking about your dad
and some skiing in San Diego.

Yeah.

I wish you the very best
and very sorry for your father

as well as your friend Pete. Yeah.

So my my best to them
and to you and your family.

Thanks.
So thanks so much for for being on.

Thanks. Appreciate it. Yep.

So this is the first time we spoke though.

Besides back in 2020.

Yeah.

Yeah, man. I can't thank you enough, Dave.

Like,
you changed and catapulted our nonprofit

and you volunteered your time.

It truly means the world.
You're a good friend, dude, and.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

You know, I got a couple.

Cheers. Cheers to Dave.

Here's the day.
Kyle stole my beer, man. Damn it!

Right over here.

Oh, it's right here. No! He didn't.

Salute Luke.

Yeah, you had me on behind the brand
over there by New Park Brewery.

And then on the way out,
I said, hey, can I ask the questions?

And I've been asking questions
for 167 podcasts, man.

So thank you. Yeah.

Yeah. He's rapping.

Look at this guy. Look at Dave.
He never looked better.

Yeah, it. Looks better
every time I see me. Looks better.

Yeah. Thanks.

Thanks. How you doing, Tony?

We're doing good. Thank you.

Yeah, yeah.

So to tap on to what our friend Eric said,

you're not just a good friend of Feeny, a
good friend of the Ryan Foley Foundation.

And Eric and I talked about it
a little earlier today, and we just

we thrilled he's here for his first one
with his wife, Nicole.

And he's going to be blown away
because he doesn't even know how big this

gets.

And high energy
doing good work for the community,

which like friends of Feeney.

So we have a common bond here.

We see a need.

We can't do it all,
but we try to expose the opportunity

and bring more friends in.

And that's what today's a culmination of.

I personally pitched this all year
round right at chamber meetings.

And you're.

Very good friends.

When I'm in the neighborhood,
you know, kind of the community

ambassador for the Foley Foundation,
and I'm out there pitching it.

We see some pain, we see need.

We see some suffering in the community
best we can.

We try to fill that gap. Right.

And there's always more,
you know, more that needs to be done.

But that's where the common theme is
where we are today.

I think it's a very common theme,
especially between Ron's Rescue,

which I learned a little bit
more about today from from Brendan

and his wife, and about what,
you know, how they just give money

sort of with no strings attached.

And they can do that for paying rent
or going on vacation.

I so that's, you know,

nothing is more important
than spending time with your family,

you know, the ones you love.

And I think to be able to do
and that's that you do the same thing

with the money you give to people
that are suffering tragedy and loss.

It's it's to use as as you seem
as deem necessary for your family.

So I think that's so to your point,
people are going through

some tough times, right?
And they need a little diversion.

Sometimes it's to pay bills,
sometimes it's we've given some run rescue

to a woman that was in the battle
that took her kids to Disney World.

That was her.

It was almost like a Make-A-Wish
Foundation. Yeah.

And we helped make that possible.

And the family's never forgotten it.

Yeah. Right about the.

Yeah,
the family will never forget that. Yeah.

No. Feels good to help friends,
but sometimes we help complete strangers.

And that, like, also means the world
that we're helping provide a service.

Like, you know, going to Disney,

that is a lasting memory
that that family will live forever.

So to that point, that woman is passed on,

but her kids will always remember
that last special vacation they had.

And we played a small part in that. Right.

And you can't put a monetary value on it,
meaning not the amount we gave her.

But what's that memory worth
for the rest of the lives of these kids?

It's priceless. Right?

So that's what we're trying to do.

Yeah, I love it.

And just the way this event has grown
throughout the years.

And Barbara herself
is just an amazing individual.

She's just kind and, you know,
was there for her when you need to talk.

I mean, I, you know, spoke with her
a few years ago and I needed to and, and,

you know, just an amazing person.

So and you guys are here
I mean Feeney Feeney.

Came and I was here.

Come on. Here we go.

So that brings up a great point.
You know what?

We're both nonprofits in the same space,
right?

We're not competitors.

We're out doing good.

And and candidly,
the best news for me would be someone

who's battling this disease
that benefits from what we can do.

And we're friends of Feeney can do.

So yeah, that's the bottom line.

At some point
you'll get help from one of us, right?

If not both. Yeah.

Hopefully never. Right.
Do we hope you don't need us.

But if you need us, we're here.

And that's why we push hard.

Yeah.

Some days I know people think we push
maybe a little too hard.

Gotta push. But, you gotta have a plan.

You gotta have a reason to do it.

And people get on board.

I can't eat like Eric.
Today's the first time

some of these people have been here.

They're already pretty.

I'll let you decide,
because you're the first time here.

I think they're pretty blown away.

What they've seen so far, so good.
What have you seen so far? Wow.

I'm connected with a friend, Ben,
from the National Guard.

I haven't seen in years.

I've seen. What a
what it then have to say.

I was like.

Feeney, I'm
so proud of what you're doing now

because you were such a knucklehead
in the Army National Guard.

And then Ronnie Newton and Ted
and Ryan Young is about to give a speech.

And Nick, his partner,
they're just friends everywhere.

It's just be more.

I can't be more Brendon, more amazing
human being, good person.

He's on the staff. And he's on.
The board. On the board.

I mean, excuse me.

No. It's great.

And Tony.

Tony is who I want to be when I grew up.

He's a true mentor.

And just he's a hard.

He cares.

So she does.

Volunteer of the year from the chamber
a couple of years ago.

I want to give you that shout out.

He's at a lot of different events
and, you know, he puts other people first.

So good job.

Thank you Tony
I want to make sure that gets out there.

And Dave for us
and we hear we hear Joe Fury Jerry.

Yeah.
Yelling on the mic about the weather.

Yeah yeah I showed up.

I shout out to Dave, you know, Dave and I
go to a lot of chamber meetings together.

And a few months back I said, Dave,
I want to run something by you.

You've done podcasts for us before.

Is that something you might be interested?

It was absolutely, you know, let me know.

And then I talked to Barbara
and yeah, here we are.

Is the third. Is the. Third year
I'm doing this.

And I love coming up here.

I meet somebody new every year
and learning a little bit more

and just getting the word out that,
you know, when you're you're suffering

and there's you feel
there's no place to turn.

You got a couple go to organizations
to turn to to help you out a little bit.

Yeah. And get some things done
that need to be done.

So yeah, kudos to Ron Foley to to Feeney.

Thanks so much for everything you guys do.

Thank you for the support man.
Appreciate it.

Thank you Dave.

And thank you.

Direct Line Media
for everything truly means the world.

Shout out to this guy over here too.

Behind the scenes I see Kyle's back Kyle.

Behind the scenes.

Yeah. We couldn't do it.

You know, it takes a village
and all the pieces have to come together.

Yeah, Eric and I kind of the front men,
you know,

we're out there pitching what we're doing,
but we got

we got an army behind us,
and without that, it's not happening.

Yeah.

And go back and watch episode 123
We Hot Wings with Avi

Rappaport Smith, Chris
Conway, in collaboration with Ron Foley.

Barber gets on the mic
and we raise money for Ron Foliage.

And they're going to do it again
this year.

And then Barb
will be coming on the podcast.

Feeney talks to friends coming soon.

Truly means the world.
You guys are great.

And then, I mean, you don't have to move
the whole mountain, people.

Just move it rock by rock.

So little by little, a little bit.

Love that. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. Make a difference. Yeah, yeah.

If everybody if everybody just stepped up
to do a little.

Yeah.

Be amazing.
Yeah. Anything you. Can do. Right.

So whether people obviously money counts
but it's not just donations.

It's time.

Talent. Right.

So treasure is one of the teas.

You got to take your time.
You got to give you time.

And everybody has different
skill sets. Right.

And none of us could be successful
with all the pieces we have together.

So I think I'm speaking for Eric,
but we want to encourage everybody

outside of their busy schedules,

make some time for for nonprofit,
and if it's not ours, we get it.

But pick pick a nonprofit
that's important to them.

And I tell people, go deep.

You know,
get on the board, get on the committee,

do some fundraising, make a difference.

If everybody moves the rock, as Eric
said, we're going to move the mountain

one one brick at a time.

I like that it's true.

Anything you can do deeper,
you can go the better.

But just do a little bit and move that.

Start with a pebble,
walk up to a rock to a boulder. Yep.

That's it.

I'm gonna let you guys go. All right.
Thank you man.

Joe's over there
Yelling Joe. Joe screaming.

He wants us up there.

You got to go.

You got to get out of here.
All right. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Dave.

Thank you. You're welcome.
Thank you guys. Thank you.

Great to see you, Dave. My guy. Thank you.