Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host Jeff Williams. In the studio with Jane Mosey Nicoletta, Ben Simpson, did I say that right?
Ben Simpson:
Yes.
Jeff Williams:
Holy smokes, yay, woo!
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yeah, you're on a roll! (laughter)
Jeff Williams: And Julie Butler, who is Ben's mom.
Julie Butler:
Hello.
Jeff Williams:
She's off in the corner right now. Well, she’s being a little shy. Lincoln Land Down Syndrome Society, 20th annual golf outing. Yeah, well, thanks for coming to the studio, everybody. So yeah, tell us a little bit about this.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Well, the Lincoln Land Down Syndrome Society is a parent support group that was put together 30 years ago. Essentially designed so that parents could share information with each other and be supportive of each other and help out as our kids grew and developed, reach different milestones and hurdles in their development. We have evolved over time so that we're starting to do more programming and offering scholarships for our loved ones so that they can do some of these activities that are enriching and helping them to have more normal lives.
Jeff Williams:
Sure, oh yeah, definitely.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
So, for example, my daughter Camilla, who lives with Down syndrome… she uses her scholarship money to do an adaptive dance program, which is really nice. her attention span isn't exactly up to where a typical kid's would be. So, it's really nice that they just kind of take their time and if they take it slowly and repeat the moves enough so that she's able to do it and do it effectively and really enjoy herself doing that.
Jeff Williams:
Love it. So where does that happen?
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
That's at Tracy and Heather's Dance Synergy, which is on Stevenson.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, I love it, love it, right on. Very cool.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
But there's a number of different programs. I know that Dana's Dance Revolution, that she's got an adaptive program as well. So, it's something that's catching on, which is really lovely.
Jeff Williams:
Like through the Springfield area then?
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yeah, so it accommodates not just people with Down syndrome, but also all different issues and challenges. So, it really kind of accommodates people where they are.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. So as far as the golf outing, how did that kind of come about?
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Well, we wanted to be able to create a revenue stream to be able to support the scholarship program. And we have an annual, the Buddy Walk or the Friendship Walk is what we're calling it this year. But that really kind of funds our month-to-month programs. But we wanted something that would really fund the scholarship program. So about 20 years ago, a group of the guys got together and thought, “hey, let's do a charity golf outing”. And it turned out to be such a success that it's been something that we do year to year. And that's really what feeds and permits us to do these kinds of scholarships without restrictions for our loved ones.
Jeff Williams:
Right, on. Love it. Well, Ben, are you going to get in on this golf outing thing, do you think?
Ben Simpson:
Yes.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, are you now? Okay.
Ben Simpson:
Yeah.
Jeff Williams:
Are you going to, do you like to golf a lot?
Ben Simpson:
I do like to golf! I haven't been golfing forever since we started this event and now we are having this on May 22nd. And we have a lot of people that are good things like fun results, donations. Yeah, but it's going to be a good day!
Jeff Williams:
I love it. I love it. Yeah. I have only, I haven't golfed many times other than playing Putt-Putt, you know, so I'm, I've been out on, I've done nine holes once and I've done 18 holes. So, Ben, I've, you probably would me. Okay. So, let's be honest about it.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
He's actually going to be one of my celebrity golfers. So, he'll be on course that day there. We've got Ben and Jonathan and and maybe one or two other people, Ryan Sattler usually does it with us. So what they do is they're on the property and the golfers, if they feel like they want to have an extra go at something, I'll have one of my celebrity golfers come in and either do a drive for them or a putt for them to help them help the team win.
Jeff Williams:
You got to help that team win.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
So, for a small donation, we'll get them an expert.
Jeff Williams:
So then if people wanted to find out more about this, then online or how do they go about?
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
There's a link on the Lincoln Land Down Syndrome Society website and that address is www..lldss.org. And one of the very first things that you'll see right now on the splash page is a link to the golf outing information. And there's a link there that will allow people to register for the event, either as an individual or as a team of four. We also have a number of different sponsorship levels for the businesses and for people that are interested in supporting the organization but don't necessarily golf or are not particularly interested in golfing. There's lots of ways that people can get involved and help us support this program.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. And this will be out at Edgewood Golf Club, is that correct?
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
It is (at) Edgewood Golf Club down in Auburn. It's a lovely golf course. It has beautiful trees and water effects and things like that. So, it's a really lovely afternoon. Most years we've got, we usually have really excellent weather because it's on the 22nd, which is that Friday of Memorial Day weekend. It's a wonderful way to be able to kick off the holiday weekend by giving back to a great organization and having a great day on the links.
Jeff Williams:
Right. Oh, I love it, love it. So, then it looks like the registration, you can register in advance.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yes, we prefer that people register in advance.
Jeff Williams:
As compared to walking up, so everybody out there, remember to register in advance. You know that walk up (registration), if you have too many people walking up at the same time, it can be overwhelming. So, register in advance.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yeah, we like to have that because we include with the golfing, there's a lunch and dinner involved. And also we prepare a little goodie bag that each golfer gets to have. have and take home. So having people register in advance allows us to plan accordingly and make sure we've got a lot of goodies for everybody.
Jeff Williams:
Love it, love it. Can you tell us about how the scholarship fund kind got going? I'm not sure if you know the history of that or how.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
No, I don't really know that much about the history is like, but I do know that it's used for such a wide range of things. I know that there's a wonderful learning program offered down in St. Louis and a bunch of our members have taken advantage of the scholarship money to be able to take their kids down to that program once a month.
Jeff Williams:
Once a month, wow, that's awesome.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yeah, and it focuses on early-stage math and reading and the program is now expanded to include social type things and pre-vocational type preparation as well, like how to be a good employee, how to write a resume, those sorts of things. Everything from the little guys learning how to read and do their math all the way up to the teenagers that are now going into high school and wanting to get a part-time job.
Jeff Williams:
Right on.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
So those, I know that some people have used it for an equine program.
Jeff Williams:
Equine.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
So, horseback riding.
Jeff Williams:
Oh yeah, okay, that's okay. Yeah, okay, nice.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Okay, for like a refuge ranch or something like that. All different things, but those are things that wouldn't necessarily, the family wouldn't necessarily afford to be able to do that without a little bit of help from the scholarship. Another thing that we've started just recently is doing scholarship for like a material thing. So One of our members, for example, wanted to get an adaptive, it's not really a stroller, but it's a device that permitted them to do hiking with their loved one. She didn't have the stamina to hike with the family long distance like they wanted to do, but she was really eager to participate with the family. So this device allows them to accommodate her and take her on hikes with them so that she can hike as much as she needs to… but then be able to have a little bit of assistance. And I'm not exactly sure if it's something that she can sit in that then allows them to carry, that helps.
Jeff Williams:
That's great.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
So that's more of a material thing that would be like a one-time thing that they could apply for and then they'd have to wait a couple of years before they could do something.
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, now Ben, I'm going to ask you, okay, so this is going to be which way do you want to go here? Horseback riding or the trail, walking on the trail? Which way do you, what do you like?
Ben Simpson:
Actually, I used to do horseback riding.
Jeff Williams:
Really.
Ben Simpson:
I do that. A friend of mine, C.S.C. Manoni.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Ben Simpson:
And we do take some trail rides… over there.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, so a little of both. You get on the horse and trail riding. I see. Okay.
Ben Simpson:
Yep. I have been doing it for quite a while and also, I got to do some riding a horse into the show at the fairgrounds.
Jeff Williams:
Wow! Okay!
Ben Simpson:
And now the horse's name is Hot Shot because he's one of my favorite horses to ride with. But I think he's a little crazy a little bit, but I had to turn him so hard, so I had to keep him going.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, Hot Shot's a little crazy, Gets a little wound up?
Ben Simpson:
Well, it's because I have But I have been working out a lot because I have big biceps.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. Ben's starting to show off here! (laughter) He's got the horseback riding thing down. He's showing off his guns (biceps) here, man. Oh, man!
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Well, you should have Ben talk a little bit about what he does with Be Humble Gym.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, Be Humble Gym, yeah.
Ben Simpson:
Tell us about that. I've worked there since. I think it has been a while since I used to work there for the job.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
So, this last five years or so, hasn't it?
Ben Simpson:
I remember, five years since the COVID hit. Wow, yeah, nice. Yeah, and Jordan and his wife, Leslie, and they offered me to work with them. So, I do training and I do a podcast for Bahamas Gym.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, really? Okay, nice.
Ben Simpson:
And we do like training with these individuals, it's like athletes and they want to compete in Special Olympics. So, it's all year round. It's because this gym is totally like really good for these athletes to train their and then becoming their personal journal and becoming a coach. So, I'm only in the coach of the Special Olympics production team, and now there's two big guys, they got gold, and now we're going to summer games in June.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, really? I love it. That's super cool. Right on.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Special Olympics, going to see these people compete, either a regional event like Ben was talking about that his athletes have gone to recently, or going up to Bloomington for state, it is really awe-inspiring to see these people because.
Ben Simpson:
Yeah.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
There's nothing halfway about the participation of these people. They're good at their sports. They know what they're doing.
Ben Simpson:
Yeah.
Jeff Williams:
Love it. Love it.
Ben Simpson:
Yeah. And then like at some in the summer games, because we have a victory dance and on Friday night, you can go on the field, you can meet the officers. (You can meet) the athletes from across the state you can talk to. And also, you can do a podcast with them.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, that's great. So you You're used to doing a podcast, being in front of a microphone then.
Ben Simpson:
Well, actually, I have my own podcast at home, but I used to talk about like, how's my day going? And I used to talk to people online and trying to reach more followers out there. So they have really good amount of people. So yeah.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Have you ever included in your podcast the healthy cooking that you've been doing lately?
Ben Simpson:
I have been, yes. I have been, I've been talking about some healthy cooking and last Wednesday I made a coleslaw with rice noodles.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, nice.
Ben Simpson:
So, I have been doing that. So I don't post everything on Facebook, but I just need to drop it down a little bit. So, I don't have to like, Post this, post that, post this.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, you don't have to post everything. No, just something. I don't.
Ben Simpson:
Yeah. So like, I've seen a lot of people like some comments, love, likes, but like people would love it. But it’s like, Ben, you're doing an excellent job on your cooking and you're doing like, you're being told, you're being like, be amazing that people will love you so much because they will talk about your inspiring people to communicate with me so I can communicate with them. But it's a little harder on Facebook and it's a little harder on that going there like, hey, how you doing? I'm doing pretty good. How about yourselves?
Jeff Williams:
Right. Yeah. Hey, sometimes communicating on Facebook, I have to just step back from it sometimes. You know what I mean? It's like you don't want to have it overwhelm you. I mean, just want to have a little fun with it, so. Yeah. Going on. Well, once again, we're in the studio with Jane, Mosey, Nicoletta. Ben Simpson and Julie Butler, and they're all with the Lincoln Land Down Syndrome Society and talking about the 20th annual golf outing that's happening on Friday, May 22nd. So yeah, once again, Jane, did you want to talk about that a little bit for anybody who's tuning in right now; or just give a recap?
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Oh, yeah, it's going to be held, as you said, on the 22nd, which is the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. It's going to be a golf scramble, so we're welcome expert golfers all the way down to amateur golfers that just want to come out and have a good time. It's a really great cause to be supporting, and it's a really fun day to be able to meet our people and see what we're all about and have some golf.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. Love it. Well, once again, Jane, Ben, Julie, thanks a ton for stopping in.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yeah, thanks. Thank you.
Ben Simpson:
And I get to be on the committee. So, me and Jane are both co-chairs.
Jeff Williams:
Co-chairs.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Yeah, he's helping me. I love it.
Jeff Williams:
Love it.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
He's my PR man.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. PR man. Okay, you got to be on it. Yeah. All right. Thanks a lot, everybody.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Thank you.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, yeah, no, thanks a lot. Definitely.
Jane Mosey Nicoletta:
Nosey Mosey. (laughter)
Jeff Williams:
Community Voices is events you might have missed and conversations with neighbors, artists, and area businesspeople. Suggest a guest or comment at communityvoices@nprillinois.org. Get to know your neighbors with Community Voices at noon and 10 P.m. and on demand at nprillinois.org. Community Voices is a production of NPR Illinois.
The Lincoln Land Down Syndrome Society has its 20th Annual Gold Outing Fundraiser for a Great Cause
