Interview with Kiley Zankowsi
Justin Brady: I’m Justin Brady. And of course, you know, this is recorded in Iowa. I, why do I even have to remind everybody of that? But Iowans, you know, and I’ll say even our friends to the north up in, Minnesota We’re all a little weird We get frozen brain around the winter time and some of us actually like it which is kind of we’re just Iowa Midwest masochists, I guess but what better way to celebrate winter than going outdoors and doing a bunch of fun wintery [00:01:00] stuff And so you’re probably wondering, yeah, cool, where do I do that?
Justin Brady: Well Northwestern Iowa at the, uh, University of Okoboji, this is, uh, University of Okoboji Winter Games. Is that right? Kylie?
Kiley Zankowsi: That is correct. It’s very much correct. And believe it or not, it’s not a real university, which makes it even more fun. I was going to ask
Justin Brady: about that. Okay. So we’re joined with Kylie Zankowski, the director of marketing and events for the Okoboji Winter.
Justin Brady: Well, the University of Okoboji Winter Games, and we’re going to be talking about what’s going on in Northwestern Iowa today. But before we do that, everyone, this is your reminder, tell one person today to subscribe to the show. That’s believe it or not, the fastest way the show grows is when people tell other people to do it.
Justin Brady: Simple. We don’t do fancy ads. We don’t do fancy marketing campaigns. This is where our growth comes from. A friend says, Hey, this shows really cool. You should listen to it. Just go do that today. Would you appreciate that? It’s on Apple, Spotify, all the players. So, [00:02:00] um, Kylie, let’s start here. You kind of indicated already that it’s not a real university.
Justin Brady: So what is the university? Of Okoboji winter games. What is this thing? When did it start and why?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah. So this year we celebrate our 44th year for winter games. So really, really fun to look back at the history all the way back in 1981. Winter games started as truly a way to escape cabin fever. So like you said, us here in Iowa were a little crazy.
Kiley Zankowsi: We live in the cold, especially up here in northwest Iowa. We live in the freezing wind and we all were sick of being stuck inside. And so they were like, hey, let’s have some fun. So it started with just a few events. 1 of which was a broomball tournament. And that was on the frozen ponds at the fish hatchery.
Kiley Zankowsi: They had just a handful of other events, like a Snow Queen competition, a dance. And every single year after that, it just grew and went gangbusters and became an [00:03:00] event that invited people to our area. We’re very much a destination area, tourism area. So we rely on the summer months and we just wanted to show people that we’re a great place to live, work and play all year round.
Kiley Zankowsi: And what better way to do that than on the frozen waters of The lakes in our area and in the snow and just being those crazy Iowans. You said we
Justin Brady: are. I mean, it does make sense because people think of Iowa and they’re like, ah, the winters though. And so, you know, how, what better way to highlight your state and your area by actually embracing winter?
Justin Brady: Because a lot of people forget winter is not just about snow, ice, sit inside and eat, you know, drink hot chocolate and watch movies by the fire. Although, like, I really enjoy that, but when winter comes and ice and snow come, that opens up some new possibilities that people in the South can’t do. Right?
Justin Brady: Snowmobiling, snowmen, all that kind of fun stuff. So, um, so basically though, the overall idea. Is essentially what it sounds like economic [00:04:00] development and making sure people in the region have something fun to do.
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, 100%. Every year we work on adding different events that can attract different crowds.
Kiley Zankowsi: So we’ve got things for families to enjoy. You know, there’s the party scene that people love. It’s a great excuse to invite people to our area or just get away for a weekend. Escape the woes of the winter. We all kind of get those winter blues and just have a ton of fun with your friends and family.
Kiley Zankowsi: Like you said, there’s people that come from all around the country and truly all around the world now that want to see snow for the first time or experience winter games. And it’s been really cool to see our little neck of the world of the state have a global impact. That’s kind of, I never thought about snow being a tourism drop because you do see like, you know, around this time people are watching home alone.
Justin Brady: They’re watching Christmas movies with snow in them. And you know, people like essentially south of Missouri and the southern Missouri gets a little bit of snow, but they don’t really see the billowing big snow [00:05:00] drifts and stuff that we know pretty well here in the Midwest. So um, before the economic impact then, like how many people are coming to this thing
Kiley Zankowsi: about we estimate 30 to 40, 000 people come every single year.
Kiley Zankowsi: Um, and if we get that 1, 000, 000 snow like you’re talking about, it can be even more than that. So truly for a lot of local businesses, it’s bigger than the 4th of July for them. So it’s a huge impact for our local economy. It’s a great shot in the arm and it’s, uh, I mean it brings people from all over the place and every single year we add more and more and it seems like it just keeps growing and.
Kiley Zankowsi: Every day, it’s a four day festival. So it’s always the last weekend in January, Thursday through Sunday. So people are coming, you know, for not just one night, but four nights in the middle of January, the end of January, and it’s supporting our local businesses. It’s getting people back to our area. It’s getting our, you know, people that live here excited.
Kiley Zankowsi: And it’s just kind of a great way to break up the off season. So, so it’s [00:06:00] fun.
Justin Brady: 30 to 40, 000 people in that region is tight. So I’m assuming that all your hotels book out.
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, they, they really do. Or all of people’s summer cabins, they open back up, you know, they get all the space heaters out that they need, but people come from all over the place and it’s fun to see the area.
Kiley Zankowsi: Come back to life again. A lot of the restaurants that close that are seasonal open back. Oh, no way. That’s cool. And it’s just a ton of fun. It brings the area back to life in a very quiet time. So are a lot
Justin Brady: of people doing like Verbo and Airbnb and putting their cabins on those things?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yes. Airbnb and VRBOs are huge around here.
Kiley Zankowsi: They’ve gone gangbusters the last couple years. So that’s a great way for people to stay and stay in groups too, which has just encouraged people to invite even more groups as well. And again, it’s great for our local economy. Hotel motel tax has a huge impact in the community of where you stay. And so every single dollar helps with.
Kiley Zankowsi: Uh, more resources, more [00:07:00] bike trails, just all sorts of things that we can have in our community.
Justin Brady: So you guys, obviously it’s tomorrow. Today’s Wednesday. Uh, for those that listen to the podcast a little later It’s probably still because it’s a few day event, right? It’s like two three day
Kiley Zankowsi: event, correct?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, so we kick off on thursday night and then we go all the way until sunday afternoon, right? So it’s four days
Justin Brady: Yep, so people listening 24 even 48 hours after this uploads. It’s you can still go probably right?
Kiley Zankowsi: Right. Pack your car head on over. We don’t discriminate. If you come late, there’s stuff for you to do.
Kiley Zankowsi: Um, but no, it’s a ton of fun. There truly is something for everybody to enjoy. And we want people to come and see the area for a lot of people. We hear all the time, like it’s their first time seeing the Iowa Great Lakes and then they come back in the summer and see it in a completely different way.
Justin Brady: So, uh, how many towns are basically in, well, first of all, how many lakes are in the Iowa Great Lakes?
Justin Brady: And about how many towns participate in this then?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah. So it’s really a county wide event. So, uh, we’re the Iowa Great Lakes area chamber and we [00:08:00] very specifically service Dickinson County. Uh, so you can get, uh, events of unique if you drove through our county. For the most part, you probably wouldn’t even know you left from one town to another run together.
Kiley Zankowsi: So Milford, um, West Okoboji, Okoboji, Arnold’s Park, Spirit Lake, they all have events going on and you can get there by road by ice. You know, there’s places all over that you can do activities all across the area. Um, so there’s all those different towns that get involved, and it’s done on the chain of lakes and around the chain of lakes.
Kiley Zankowsi: So, um, for the most part on Big Spirit Lake, a lot of ice fishermen are out there and then East and West Lake are the main lakes that activities are on.
Justin Brady: People that cross through Iowa on 35 and 80 either don’t know or easily forget that because I’m in Des Moines, I easily forget just all the hills and topography and lakes and the natural [00:09:00] beauty up in northwestern Iowa.
Justin Brady: I forget I’ve and I’ve been through there and it’s absolutely gorgeous, but I often forget that we have this little gem. In our own state, I think when people think about Iowa being flat, all they know is 35 and 80 and there’s a reason people built 35 and I would imagine I’m not an expert, but I would assume there’s a reason people built 35 and 80 where they did because those were the flattest areas.
Justin Brady: So, um, there’s a, there’s a lot to go in here. But, um, I want to ask kind of about, go back to economic impact a little bit. You mentioned hotels were full. You mentioned the verbose and the Airbnbs, the restaurants open back up. Do people stick around a little bit after and before, or are they hitting like these restaurants and entertainment venues during the games as well?
Justin Brady: Like is it almost like out of a little Christmas card, everyone bustling around the. The town?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, no, it is. Everyone is all hands on deck. You know, we are an office of three in our office running this size of an event. So it takes all of the business community [00:10:00] stepping up and helping run events. We’ve got an army of volunteers that are really helping with things.
Kiley Zankowsi: So as much as it’s fun for locals, a lot of the times the locals are working and people are coming to the area to enjoy. Um, which we’re all having fun too, but it’s just been fun to see the community come together and help grow every single year. You know, yesterday we called all these different businesses about different ice updates and things, and it’s just cool to see everybody come together and work together to welcome just a mass amount of people for a very short period of time.
Kiley Zankowsi: Uh, but it’s grown. It really has. It used to be where people would come, you know, maybe Friday night into Saturday and leave on Sunday, or maybe they come on Saturday and they leave on Sunday. But as events keep getting added, um, like 1 that’s become huge over the last couple of years is the bogey kite festival.
Kiley Zankowsi: We have people coming from all over the world to fly their kites. And then we have people coming from all over the country just to see the kites. It’s like a [00:11:00] once in a lifetime opportunity and it runs from Thursday to Sunday. And it’s drawn people in for days at a time and had just a massive impact on the event, on families, on.
Kiley Zankowsi: You know, just the memories that are made for people year after year. Is the goal
Justin Brady: to just continually expand this thing until eventually it just takes up the entire like month of February and January? Or is there some cap somewhere?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, I’m, I’m um, not sure if we have like a specific goal in mind. Of course, we want to keep reaching people that haven’t been.
Kiley Zankowsi: There’s always room for growth. I think eventually it could be a multiple weekend event. I think some people would like to see that. I don’t, I don’t know if or when we’ll get to that point, but it’s just amazing that every single year we have people come that have either never seen our area, never heard of our area or, you know, never been to the state of Iowa alone.
Kiley Zankowsi: And it’s fun for us to open their eyes to, like you said, the [00:12:00] beauty of Northwest Iowa and Iowa. We’re more than just a flat flyover state. We’ve got so much to offer for people. Yeah. And
Justin Brady: so the bogey kite thing, is that new this year? Cause there’s a lot of stuff actually. Yeah.
Kiley Zankowsi: We just printed our schedules yesterday and it’s six pages, single lined of events.
Kiley Zankowsi: There’s over a hundred events for people. So. Um, the truly there’s something for everybody, but the Boji kite festival this year, I believe is the fourth or fifth year. So it’s fairly new and like that and like the festival in itself, it’s grown so much every single year. So it started with two local guys, Steve booty and Jim who song, and it just kind of was an idea we tossed around, uh, there, the color of the wind kite festival and clear lake has been happening for a while.
Kiley Zankowsi: And it’s. Usually right after winter games weekend, like a week or 2 after and it’s been a huge destination event for them and I, some people get confused. So I want to [00:13:00] explain that. These are not kites that you grew up flying in your backyard. These are kites that are 30 to 100 to 150 feet long and they’re all different shapes.
Kiley Zankowsi: They’re the brightest colors. You can see them from a mile away. And they’re flying in the sky.
Justin Brady: So you said how many feet? I didn’t write that down fast enough.
Kiley Zankowsi: So they have some that are like 30 feet. We had a hundred foot whale the other year. So all different sizes, all different characters. We had Gumby one year, we’ve got a muskie, we’ve got whales, dragons, all sorts of different characters.
Justin Brady: Almost a cross between like a hot air balloon and a kite. Yeah,
Kiley Zankowsi: in a way, in a way it’s, it’s amazing. You’ll have to go to our website. Or our Facebook page and see some pictures, we’ll be doing live videos as well. But truly it’s something where whether you’re five or 95, we have people that every single year look forward to seeing these kites.
Kiley Zankowsi: But if
Justin Brady: you’re 96, don’t even, don’t even come if you’re 96, it’s not for you. I’m just kidding. I get it. [00:14:00]
Kiley Zankowsi: Well, we have shuttle services. We’ll get you right down to the kites and you’ll have the time of your life. So there’s a lot
Justin Brady: of, there’s a lot of activities I want to talk about, some of which I’m not familiar, and some of which are kind of hot, actually, kind of hot right now, um, kind of like Derek Zoolander, who’s, no, no, no, it’s, what is it?
Justin Brady: It’s, ah, what’s the reference? Uh, it’s not Derek Zoolander, it’s the other guy that’s really hot right now, Hansel, it’s Hansel that’s hot right now. Anyway, that’s it. Total, total sidetracking. Um, perfect, I, I think the weather at least, cause you know, obviously an event like this, it’s more, maybe made more fun with the weather, and I know you guys don’t cancel for any reason, but is this kind of the, not to use the, I mean, is it kind of the perfect storm, because you have a lot of the snow, you have a lot of the ice, but the weather’s not going to be that below zero, like, bone chilling.
Justin Brady: Uh, like windchill. So is that kind of work
Kiley Zankowsi: in your favor? Yeah, sometimes it comes out as a blessing and a curse. It kind of depends on who you ask. Uh, you know, the snowmobilers are of course [00:15:00] disappointed. We’re not going to have mounds and mounds of snow. Unfortunately, it’s already starting to melt. But the people that are walking around and doing the activities sure love that they don’t have to be absolutely bundled up.
Kiley Zankowsi: Last year was so cold. I think everyone’s ready for a warmer year this year. Um, and it gets more people to do things like the polar plunge and the outdoor activities and just hanging out outside and enjoying the great outdoors. Um, but otherwise. Yeah, it just it just kind of depends. Unfortunately, we’ve had some very variable ice conditions this year.
Kiley Zankowsi: Uh, so we’ve had to keep a really close eye on that. It’s been a very weird winter up here. Well, so for the most part, we’re pretty set. Well,
Justin Brady: the blizzard, though, like it looks like the highs are only getting up to about 32 34 up in northwestern Iowa. So are you actually looking at that much melt by snowmobilers, right?
Justin Brady: Yeah,
Kiley Zankowsi: I wish we got nailed as hard as you guys did down in Des Moines. Uh, we got a decent [00:16:00] amount of snow, but those northwest Iowa winds dang sure are rough. Uh, they blew a lot of our snow around, so we have really low snow spots and, uh, are seeing grass in a lot of areas. already. Oh, wow. So we kind of got dodged by what you guys got nailed with.
Kiley Zankowsi: Uh, it was very, very cold, which was good. It was also a blessing. We didn’t get dumped on for snow for people who don’t know how ice is made. Once it snows on top of the ice, it insulates it and it makes it a lot harder for the ice to grow. So for us to have those very negative temps and not have mounds of snow on top was truly a blessing.
Kiley Zankowsi: It helped us grow ice in the areas where our events are. Uh, so you know where the polar plunge is on Sunday measured about 14 inches thick. So we’re sitting great for those events.
Justin Brady: Wow. That’s that’s extremely thick. Um, yeah. Wow. I didn’t know. I guess I never thought about growing ice and like that.
Justin Brady: That’s a concern. And there’s like, uh, I don’t know. Yeah, I’ve never thought about growing ice. That’s like, what is so I think people are [00:17:00] familiar with the polar plunge. But now, uh, there’s like a lot of science. And that’s, I don’t know, you, you, I don’t know if you’ve been following this, but for those who haven’t been following this, there’s a ton of science on like cold plunging.
Justin Brady: Now I actually do this, by the way, a few times a week, I dip into a 45 degree water for five minutes, a couple of times a week. So there’s actually, are you expecting to see an even bigger crowd for the polar plunge this year? Because it’s like really hot in the news.
Kiley Zankowsi: I didn’t think about that. I think, uh, you’re very right.
Kiley Zankowsi: The temps in our lake are about 34, 35 degrees right now. Last I saw online, so a little colder than what you’re used to for your plunge and people used to always call them crazy. But now that you say that, maybe they’re not the crazy one.
Justin Brady: Yeah, because I know like Huberman lab is like a really, really popular podcast.
Justin Brady: And I think dr boys, Susan Somberg also talks about like the [00:18:00] science of hot and cold therapy. And I think in the, in your polar plunge, if it’s traditional people jump in and get right back out. But still just that little bit of exposure and this isn’t obviously a science show, at least not today, but just that little bit of exposure.
Justin Brady: Uh, I think boosts natural levels of epinephrine and endorphins and it has like an overall positive effect on your health, which is interesting. So I’m really curious if you see like a bigger crowd this year than normal. And normally, normally I’ve seen the photos like you have a pretty big crowd for this.
Justin Brady: Um, it raises money in some capacity, this polar plunge. Can you talk about that a
Kiley Zankowsi: little bit? Yeah, so a huge shout out to our Arnolds Park Okoboji Fire and Rescue. Without them, the event wouldn’t even be possible. So they actually drilled the hole there under the water the entire time. They have, it’s kind of a training in a way for a lot of them.
Kiley Zankowsi: To test out, you know, their underwater features and things like that. So they’re under the ice the entire time for the plunge. They’re on top of the ice the [00:19:00] entire time for the plunge. They’re there in case anything happens as well. Um, but they line up. We typically have. 150 people do the plunge when it’s nicer will be 200 to 250 that want to do the plunge and thousands that stand and watch.
Kiley Zankowsi: So it’s again, another tradition thing. We have people that have been doing the plunge for 17 years now. And it’s fun to hear their stories. Um, we had a family, I want to say it was three years back now that was from Mexico that had connections to the area somehow, and they had never seen snow before.
Kiley Zankowsi: They had never seen a frozen lake before, and they came and they did the polar plunge that you again see seven year olds all the way to 77 year olds. And it’s a huge memory maker for people.
Justin Brady: Yeah, that’s, that’s really cool. I remember it’s, it’s almost like this whole, um, couple week or a couple week, couple day event kind of reminds me of like winter camp when I was a kid, but for adults and kids, that’s kind of what reminds me of actually [00:20:00] our camp director would do a polar plunge.
Justin Brady: And so I was like at the time, like, there’s no way that’s even humanly possible, but it’s like the key everybody, if you’re going to do it for extended periods of time is well, if you’re doing extended periods of time supervision always, but yeah. Uh, is controlling the breathing. That’s the key if you’re going to soak there for about five minutes.
Justin Brady: But I did see the photos and yeah, like to your point, the um, Arnold’s Park Okoboji Fire and Rescue Department are literally in the water. They are in the water the whole time. In case, you know, just making sure it’s a safe environment. Like, cause, and they have these like crazy looking suits on that I’m assuming insulate them from the cold temperatures, right?
Justin Brady: And they have like ropes tied to themselves and all this stuff. So you guys, it seems like you’ve gone above and beyond is in the safety department.
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah. So that’s all of their equipment that they’re actually testing that they use for emergencies. So, like, if something happened on the ice and they had to use their airboat, they would use their [00:21:00] wetsuits and things like that.
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah. And that’s exactly what they’re wearing for the polar plunge. So that’s kind of what we’re talking about with training. It’s, it’s great for people to get those hours in the suit underwater. Um, and it’s a great thing for us to raise money because each plunger pays 25 and then proceeds from the event are given right back to the fire and rescue.
Kiley Zankowsi: So, yeah, they’re, they’re brave individuals. They’re a ton of fun. They have fun with it too. And people wear costumes, people are crazy and they get a good laugh out of it as well.
Justin Brady: Yeah. Because to your point, it literally would not be possible without them because the, you know, in a natural. Since the danger there is, I mean, slip and fall, maybe, I mean, you have that runner on there, but the, you know, the danger is someone just gets a little crazy, goes into the water and doesn’t and like goes where there’s no hole cut in the ice, right?
Justin Brady: So you obviously have all that secured, which is really, really cool. But you know, in a closed environment, if you’re going to do this in your house and like a plunge or at a gym, um, I’ve been told it’s, it’s pretty safe up to just don’t go over 15 [00:22:00] minutes, but it’s extremely safe for almost anybody. Yeah.
Justin Brady: Um, obviously consult your physician or doctor. Everyone has unique issues. This is, you know, this is not the point of the show to give you medical advice, but all that to say that it’s not really the crazy people doing this anymore. It looks like there might actually be an overall health benefit. So there are a lot of crazy events you have.
Justin Brady: I don’t know what your favorite is. I obviously, I have a lot of questions about the event, but is there a new one or a favorite that you’re really excited about?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, I mean, it’s one of the events. That’s a ton of fun, especially for us. Locals is the kickoff event at parks Marina and that is tomorrow Thursday night and it’s the battle of the bartenders.
Kiley Zankowsi: So all the local restaurants and bars get together. They’re given a list of ingredients and they have to make a drink concoction. And they put little samples out. You can try the samples and then you tip for their charity. And the winning charities of choice win all the tip money to go to that specific charity.
Kiley Zankowsi: So it’s a great way for us locals to get [00:23:00] out maybe before a ton of people come or before we have to work during the weekend, see each other, listen to live music and, and give back to the community. So that’s a really cool thing with a lot of these. Excuse me. A lot of these events at Winter Games is a lot of them are centered around giving proceeds back.
Kiley Zankowsi: So our beanbag tournament, the money goes back to the Kiwanis Club who helps children and families in need in our community. Um, the smooshing tournament gives money to Hope Rolls. Um, the dog show gives money to the Humane Society. So we see a huge community impact, not only economically from people staying and dining and.
Kiley Zankowsi: Filling up with gas and buying groceries, but we see it also because the registration money that’s coming in goes right back into our community for different charities, nonprofits, things like that. Yeah, very
Justin Brady: cool. It kind of reminds me the bartender thing almost reminds me of a bartender version of like Iron Chef, where there’s like a mystery ingredient.
Justin Brady: You have to like scramble and [00:24:00] make something that’s super fun. Uh, you mentioned, I have to, I have to ask, I don’t know what this is. What the heck is smooshing?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yes. Yeah. So there’s definitely some unique events at Winter Games. One of them is a newer one. It’s called smooshing and that is at, um, Okoboji Boatworks.
Kiley Zankowsi: And it’s on the ice. Basically, it’s you and two other people. So teams of three that have their feet tied to two skis or two, two by fours. And you have to race down and back against another team. So you’re almost ice. I guess skiing together tandemly, and it’s hilarious. People fall over. They’re laughing the entire time.
Kiley Zankowsi: Um, and it’s just kind of a wild experience to watch and be a part of
Justin Brady: almost like a super powered or scaled up like bag race or like tie your ankles together kind of thing because you have to probably be coordinated. To do it. Uh, it’s definitely
Kiley Zankowsi: [00:25:00] communication. Um, but when you’re laughing the whole time it, they’re struggling and it’s, it’s a ton of fun.
Kiley Zankowsi: Some people are really good at it and really fast and other people are just there for a good time. And it’s, it’s a fun
Justin Brady: one to watch. You mentioned, um, a lot of like competitive kind of fun, competitive stuff. Do you guys do like trophies and stuff? Or is it basically just everyone’s competing for community respect and that way they can kind of strut around the town?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, there are trophies for pretty much every single event. Nice. We’ve got broomball, they have the massive trophies, flag football, snow softball, our chili cook off, they even get trophies, battle of the bartender gets trophies, chocolate classic gets trophies. Even the cribbage tournament, they walk away with trophy cribbage boards.
Kiley Zankowsi: Um, truly there’s so many different competitions, uh, whether you compete as an individual or in a large team. And a lot of times they win trophies and sometimes they even win cash prizes. So it’s fun to try those things out.
Justin Brady: All right, hold up. So you [00:26:00] mentioned something that a lot of ears just like went off, which is chocolate classic.
Justin Brady: What is chocolate classic?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, so we talked about the battle of the bartenders. We’ve got a chili cook off on Friday. And then on Saturday, the sweetest event of winter games happens. And that is the chocolate classic and Galleria. And it’s a ton of fun. It’s only 2 hours long from 1 to 3 at the fairgrounds and spirit lake.
Kiley Zankowsi: And people, again, like service groups or small businesses, bakeries, they make bite sized versions of their top recipe sweet treat that they want to compete with. And then people can come and they buy 1 tickets and they exchange those with the booth. For their sweet treats. So we’ve got to go boxes. You can buy 20, 30, 40 worth of tickets and get that many back in sweet treats.
Kiley Zankowsi: You can eat them there. You can leave with them, whatever you want to do. But there’s a huge array of different sweet treats that you can try and you can load your box up. And then the money goes back to the booth as well. So again, a [00:27:00] great fundraiser for communities, businesses, and a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth over winter games weekend, plus it’s indoors.
Kiley Zankowsi: So if you don’t like the cold, it’s family friendly, it’s warm. And it’s taste delicious.
Justin Brady: I mean, there’s a lot of stuff. Axe throwing, human foosball. You mentioned some of these. Broom ball, human dog sled, mega pong. I don’t even know. There’s like limited time to go into all this. Snow softball, stump tournament, ice oval races, keg toss.
Justin Brady: That one’s self explanatory. And flag football. So, of course, quite a bit going on. Before, before I let you go, before I let you go. What now? Let’s go back a little bit. Why, why do we, what’s the story here? Because we call it as, you know, you pointed this out at the beginning. Why University of Okoboji? Uh, well, what’s the, what’s the story behind this?
Kiley Zankowsi: Yeah, so a lot of things around here are based around the University of Okoboji. So the Richter family, there’s some brothers in Milford that [00:28:00] started the three sons, and it was called, they have a shirtline. That’s the University of Okoboji. It’s this fictitious university. They have an entire clothing line based on it.
Kiley Zankowsi: So, you know, you can go get a shirt that says you got your, um, degree in aerospace engineering at university. I mean, there’s so many things. It’s a ton of fun. If you’ve ever watched the show, blue mountain state, they referenced that they played football against university of Okoboji on the show in a couple kids movies, there’s a cartoon with the kid wearing an university of Okoboji shirt.
Kiley Zankowsi: So it’s. It’s hilarious to see the tie everywhere and people are always confused. They’ll see someone in a shirt and they’ll be like, but where’s campus? I can’t find it. Nice. So we, yeah, we reference a lot of our events, like the homecoming races, uh, different things like that throughout the year as different university events.
Kiley Zankowsi: Um, and it’s just a ton of fun. You know, the three sons is the official [00:29:00] bookstore and, uh, we just kind of play off of it. It’s, it’s. It’s been a ton of fun to see the reach and where the shirts are seen and
Justin Brady: kind of like it’s kind of like a precursor of Reagan shirts almost up there in northwestern Iowa.
Justin Brady: Sorry, Mike Draper and everybody in Des Moines University of Okoboji beat you. Uh, Kylie Zankowski, director of marketing and events at the University of Okoboji Winter Games. If people are really interested in this and they want to go, what’s the website? How do they get tickets?
Kiley Zankowsi: So you can head to U of O wintergames.
Kiley Zankowsi: com or you can find us on Instagram or Facebook for live updates, but we always invite you guys to come check it out. You can see the full schedule of events, apparel, register, all the things you need to find one stop shop at U of O wintergames.
Justin Brady: com. And we will make sure to put all that on iowapodcast.
Justin Brady: com just to make sure if you’re driving or anything and you didn’t write all that down, we’ll put it all at iowapodcast. [00:30:00] com. It’ll be really easy. Top of the page. You’ll find it. Kylie Zankowski, director of marketing and events at the university. It’s just, it’s so funny. You know, university of Okoboji winter games.
Justin Brady: I can barely say it without laughing. Thank you so much for coming on the Iowa podcast. Thanks
Kiley Zankowsi: for having me. You’ll have to come and get a degree from the U of O, and we’d love to have you sometime. . Thanks
Justin Brady: again. And to my fellow Iowans, Iowa, expats and Iowans at heart. Thanks for listening and subscribing to the Iowa Podcast.[00:31:00]