Larry Jewell

Okay. 3, 2, 1. As promised, we have a very special guest this afternoon. Ronald McDonald. The Ronald McDonald. Right. Of course, there's only one. You're much taller than person. Well, in person than on tv. Well, you know, we are bigger than life in person there on tv. We do look a little bit smaller. Now you're in St. George to celebrate an anniversary, right? I believe it's the 14th, the year that the McDonald's has been here in St. George. But we did have another special thing we were invited to come down and see and participate in. You have a program here in Utah, or in St. George, Utah, called Safety Town. And we were invited to come and work with the kids during their graduation. And I did a safety show for them, and we kind of recapped the things that they had learned here in town. Oh, that's super. You enjoy working with kids on Booth. We love working with the kids. Now you do special shows wherever you go, right? You bet. We have a number of things that we do for various communities. We have Besides the Ronald McDonald House program, and I believe they've got one in Utah that'll be opening soon in Salt Lake City. But we do have them all around the country, and it's like a home away from home for families that really cannot afford to stay in hotels and do not have families where the children need to be when they're in the various hospitals. And there is a children's hospital in Salt Lake City, and that's the reason that they're building one there. Now, as we talk about the Ronald McDonald House, this is for really some kids in medical crisis, isn't it? Oh, definitely. Yeah. There are children that need to go back for treatments and are critically ill, and they are in the hospitals, and it's a place where the families can gather. It's like a home away from home. They have cooking facilities, their own bedroom and whatnot. And the children can come and be with their family in between treatments if it's a case where they need to stay by the hospital for any period of time. How did the Ronald McDonald House begin? What led to it? Oh, it's a long history behind it. It was more of a community service idea that someone had years ago, and it's just something that just blossomed. And it's really a blessing in the eyes of a lot of parents, children now, for you, Ronald McDonald, oh, my goodness. For me to have a home in various states and all around the country where I can come and it's got my name on it. I can go visit with the families there. The joy that it brings me personally is just. I just don't have words for it. You do a lot of shows at the McDonald Houses? Well, we do some small shows. It's not a very large show. We do what we call an on lot show at the various stores around the country, Involves magic and music and audience participation. And then we usually try to stick around and visit with the kids. And besides that, we have some school shows, a safety show that is very similar to what they've done here at Safetytown in St. George. And we have a fitness program that I do where we'll go into the schools and teach the kids about the basics of being physically fit. And then a brand new show has been developed by the McDonald's corporation called Booking it with Ronald McDonald. Booking It, Booking It. It's kind of a reading incentive where the kids come in and we talk to them about libraries and the importance of it and where they can come and learn anything they want to learn. They can be anybody, they really want to be, but it all starts from reading and it teaches them all the basics. Now, tomorrow, the show in St. George that's open to the public will be when and where. Well, I believe we're slated to be there at 11:30. We're doing our on lot show. It's a magic show. We're going to have a little bit of music involved. We're going to have balloons for the kids, and we're just inviting the family to come on down and have a good time. Since we were here for Safety town, we decided to stay for another day and celebrate our birthday here in St. George. Super. Now, this is at the St. George McDonald's. It's right at the St. George McDonald's and it's on St. George Boulevard. I'm not sure it's a convenient place. You can miss it. Just follow the crowds tomorrow for you as Ronald McDonald. How do you get into this line of work? You're just born into this, I tell you. Ronald's been forever. And how did you develop the skills? Do you enjoy working with kids? Oh, sure. You have to have a love for children and adults. I mean, we're talking children of all ages. The parents enjoy the shows just as much as the kids, if not more. A lot of times I've had parents come up and say, you know, we used the kid to come and see the show as an excuse. Go ahead. What's been the most unusual experience you've had giving the shows? The most unusual experience in giving a show My goodness, there's so many. It would be hard to pick one choice thing. But as far as experiences in general, as far as being Ronald McDonald, I think the thing again about the MacDonald house and visiting with the children, and we're the second most recognized individual in the world, really. Okay, we're gonna have a guessing game here. Who do you think the first is? Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali. He's a little first down the list. I bet you the k tell you his name is Santa Claus and I'll play second fiddle to Santa Claus anytime. But to be able to walk into a hospital or to see a kid on the street that they know you by first name, you're on a first name basis with everybody. Ronnie, baby. Yeah, we hear that. Hey, Ron. It's nice to have a president by the same first name. Yeah, it's kind of. Kind of. It was interesting. I don't know what we do about that. As you come to St. George, your travel schedule must be horrendous. It is. We travel in various regions. I just recently returned from Hamburger University back in Chicago. We were out there looking over the new show that the folks have written for us and looking over the scripts and the music. And Ronald is going to start singing. You see, you hear me sing on tv, but now you're gonna start hearing me sing live. Super. Yeah. So we just recently came back from Chicago and now we're in the Utah area. We did a show in Salt Lake and now we're down here in St. George. And we're slated to be in Wyoming, I think, for. For the 4th of July. Super lot of celebrating going there is once again tomorrow morning at 11:30, 11:30 at McDonald's. And you'll be there to hand out balloons and all. Oh, we'll stay afterwards and visit with all the kids and the parents that want to come down. Take some to bring those cameras. Great, great. Ronald McDonald, thank you for being with us. Keep up the good work. Thank you.