Month: December 2023

Blog by:  Chris Louzader

A lot of people ask me what it’s like to be a Christmas baby.  Several tell me I have a chip on my shoulder about being a Christmas baby.  It’s really a pretty cool day to have been born!  It’s a very unique topic of conversation when I have to give my birthdate to someone.  It’s already an exciting time of year with lots of celebrating, bustling and parties … it’s sort of magical.  People also ask if I receive just one gift for both occasions.  That does happen a lot, but how can I complain.  When I was little, it was sort of tough to have birthday parties around Christmas time, but my Mom always made it happen!  I get a lot of “ohhhhh, I forgot your birthday with the bustle of the Holidays!”  If I had $1 for every time I hear that, I’d be very wealthy!  BUT, my family is wonderful at making sure I’m celebrated.  We usually do a movie night on Christmas night in the Alamo Drafthouse Party Room … eat the eats, have fun, watch a flick and there is always a special birthday treat just for me.  Birthdays should be celebrated AND having a Christmas one is pretty darn cool!

Kevin and Chris …

Ahh, the holiday treat. There’s no shortage of them this time of year. At home, at work, everywhere you go someone is offering a treat Might as well go ahead and indulge. This is our top 5 holiday treats list according to YOU the listeners.

1. Peanut Butter Balls
2. Fudge
3. Peanut clusters
4. Peppermint Bark
5. Frosted Sugar Cookies

Do you agree? Well, whatever your favorite treat is, we hope you get lots of it!

Blog by: Chris Louzader

WONKA is a prequel film that give us a look into the chocolatier’s origins before he became the Wonka we’ve come to know over the years. I don’t take lightly tampering with the 1971 classic. This musical stars Timothee Chalamet as Wonka with dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.

I was SO surprised how much I loved WONKA! It’s a fun, easy, sweet (no pun intended) movie that is quite fabulous! This is the most excellent choice for the entire family. You’ll leave the theatre satisfied.

I’d see it if I was you and chocolate will be a must have

..Kevin Howard…

I always love seeing Santa. He’s always jolly and in a great mood, unless he’s Billy Bob Thornton in the movie Bad Santa…which leads me to something we talked about on the show this week. Chris, Don and I picked out favorite Santas in a movie for our Top 3 Picks segment. I don’t know what she was smoking, but Chris went with Billy Bob in Bad Santa. Don chose Tim Allen in The Santa Claus and I went with Ed Asner in the movie Elf.

Listeners sided with Don on this one. In a landslide, Tim Allen was the big winner. No surprise really, Tim Allen was pretty great in that movie. Some other actors that came up were Edmund Gwenn in the original Miracle on 34th Street and Kurt Russell in The Christmas Chronicles. Who’s your favorite?

Blog by: Chris Louzader & Kevin Howard

The snacks, the white elephant gifts and oh those sweaters … it’s the Zimmer Office Christmas Gathering!  In a time when many companies don’t offer a ton of fun or have a favorable culture, or many offices are still work from home it was a fun day with co-worker friends.   We laughed, we ate, we playfully “stole” gifts from each other.  It’s nice to work hard and it’s even nicer to play hard.  Something as simple as who is getting all the scratchers…to who will wind up with the most giant popcorn ever seen…it’s fun to just sit down and chill and have some casual conversations.  A workplace with a positive company culture definitely makes a difference.  Does your office have a party?  What do you do?  Let us know! 

Blog: Chris Louzader

About 5 years ago while when I was at my previous job, production manager at Opfer Communicaitons we were having an eclipse party in the back parking lot.  We heard horrific cries from the motor of our production vehicle.  Out came this 6 week old version of this incredible sweet kitty.  After looking for his parents … We quickly named him Eclipse in honor of the day.  The joy he bring the building with his adorable “isms!”  The love of a cat is unique … sometimes a cat is really into you and other times you can just hear your cat say “… oh, are you going to put that food down and walk away – LOL!  His face is everything.  Luckily, I still visit Eclipse monthly and he’s excited to see me, for about 12 minutes – LOL!

Do you have a cat?  How did they come into your life? 

Kevin Howard…

When my wife, Kelly, said we should get a hot tub I was against it. I didn’t think we’d use it and I didn’t want to mess with maintenance of the chemicals and keeping it clean and all that. As usual, if mama’s not happy nobody’s happy. So guess what? We got a hot tub… and it was a great decision!

It’s the perfect time of year for a hot tub too. Nice and cool outside and 104 degrees in the tub. The inflatable tubs are sturdy and super easy to set up and there are many benefits that go along with it too. It’s a great way to de-stress and relax. We sleep better afterwards. It’s a pain reliever for my old man joints and they say it lowers blood pressure too. Who can argue with all that? As usual, Kelly was right. If you need anything, I’ll be in the hot tub.

Blog by: Kevin Howard & Chris Louzader

WOW … to be a part of the 98.7 The Dove, Price Cutter Holiday Food Drive for Ozarks Food Harvest was incredible. With your support, according to Ozarks Food Harvest, we will help provide 8,000 meals to those in need this Holiday season. Special thanks to Price Cutter on East Battlefield for being a great host. Hats off to Ozark Food Harvest who fights the GOOD fight every day/year round to help families in the Ozarks have something most of take for granted – FOOD! Most of all the we can ALWAYS count on The 98.7 The Dove listeners to come out in full force to make a change.

You can still help, let’s pay it forward. It will change how you feel! Donate HERE!

Blog by: Chris Louzader

I’m a “neat nick” organizational freak.  Don Louzader, on the other hand loves to keep “stuff” and a lot of it.  I call him a hoarding pack ratter LOL.  There are his collectibles, which I understand … but, then there are totes and totes and more totes full of printed statistics (like sports stuff you can find on the internet now.). He also has VHS tapes galore.  How is he going to watch these now?  Oh, did I mention all the storage totes look pretty much the same and they are NOT labeled?  

How do we co-exist?  I mentioned one day to Don that the garage wasn’t going to get any larger and BOTH our cars will always fit in the garage, if you catch my drift .  So, Don got himself a 10X20 storage unit just down the street.  If you have a pack-ratting hoarder in your life, a storage unit might just be the answer.  OR, let me know what has worked for you?  We always love hearing from you!

Kevin Howard….

Getting your first job is exciting. My daughter’s working her first job making Blizzards at the DQ. She’s the Blizzard queen down there! We are proud of her for her blizzard making ability… and for saving some money. She likes money. Who doesn’t?

My first job was at the Bonanza Steak House. Washing dishes, bussing tables and eventually, cooking up those delicious cheap steaks. Not only was I making $2.90 cents an hour but I also got a steak and potato every shift. That’s when I learned what a fringe benefit was. I explained fringe benefits to my daughter and explained a discount on Blizzards would be a perfect benefit to share with her old man. What do you think? Send us a message and tell us about your first job.