Welcome to Part Two of our conversation with Oscar Marti, a Cuban-American who immigrated to the US at the age of 7 during Operation Pedro Pan in 1961. He is now a Broker-Owner at Concierge Realty Associates in St. Petersburg.  HIs story of what happened between those two events is the subject of this two-part show.   This week's Tequila: Don Julio Rosado Reposado   Join the conversation at https://talkstacticsandtequila.com/ or at our Facebook page.

Oscar Marti is a Cuban-American who immigrated to the US at the age of 7 during Operation Pedro Pan in 1961. He is now a Broker-Owner at Concierge Realty Associates in St. Petersburg.  HIs story of what happened between those two events is the subject of this two-part show.   This week's Tequila: Don Julio Rosado Reposado

Marques Ogden is a former American football player. He was drafted in the 6th round of the 2003 NFL Draft.  He played with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans. He is a graduate of Howard University. He is now an inspirational keynote speaker, author and podcaster.  He and his two daughters live in their new home in  North Carolina.   https://www.marquesogden.com/   Tequila: Herradura Reposado

Luke Mitchem is American singer/songwriter whose music taps into the flowing musical rivers of folk, blues, and ballads. His music is heartfelt, poetic, and exemplifies the ups and downs of life. Luke’s journey with creating music began nearly 15 years ago, when he decided to pick up the guitar and learn a few chords. Influenced by not only current and past musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Smith, Jim Croce and Josh Ritter, among several others, Luke’s music incorporates poetic and thoughtful lyrics.   Luke has shared the stage with his fellow peers, including David Dondero, Damien Jurado, The White Buffalo, Bobby Long, and Joshua James, who also produced Luke’s last two albums, including Luke’s sixth solo album, Which Wolf Will You Feed?.    Luke is currently working on his seventh studio album, titled All Those Mourning Hymns, as well as a film adaptation of his song and short story titled The Saints of Vernon County.    Luke will be returning to the performance stage in the fall of 2023 at the infamous Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia, where Luke’s performing career began.   lukemitchem.com lukemitchem.bandcamp.com https://www.instagram.com/lukemitchem/ https://www.facebook.com/lukemitchemmusic/    TEQUILA: Cazadores Blanco

John Kreng was born in Washington DC, the son of the Cambodian Ambassador to the U.S. He is of Chinese and Thai descent. He started practicing martial arts at the age of 12.  John trained with several world champions and even competed on the national level until he incurred an injury.  This injury pushed him to pursue his other passion, comedy, which he honed at the Comedy Cafe in DC.  He then moved out to LA to further his career and performed at the Comedy Store for over 10 years.  Once he burned out on comedy he became a stunt coordinator, fight choreographer and stuntman. He’s also written for martial arts magazines, produced video games and authored books.    https://www.martialartsentertainment.com/fight-choreography-the-art-of-non-verbal-dialogue/ https://www.martialartsentertainment.com/john-kreng/   Tequila: Fiesta Cancun Tequila Anejo

Greg Somers of Seminole, Florida, is a retired law enforcement officer, who served more than 33 years in the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC. He commanded the  MPD's Joint Terrorism Task Force, and was also attached to the FBI and NCRS. He also served in many other task forces including the Violent Crimes and Gang Task Force and Vice. 

Tequila: Padre Azul Premium Tequila Reposado

Andy Shannon is a father of two children (a son 22 and daughter, 18), and he is a native Floridian who grew up in St. Pete Beach and now lives in St. Petersburg.  He was educated in the Diocese of St. Petersburg himself and is a career educator who is in his 33rd year in Education, with 28 of those in Catholic Education.    Andy has served as a Principal, Assistant Principal, Teacher and Coach and is currently the Director of Campus Ministry at Clearwater Central Catholic High School in the Diocese of St. Petersburg. He has a B.A. and an M.A. from the University of Notre Dame.   Tequila: Tequila Mi Familia

Jon Halapio played offensive line at the University of Florida, where was the Team Captain for two years.  He was drafted in the 6th round of the NFL draft. He was an Offensive Lineman in the NFL for 8 years.  He is currently the Offensive Line Coach at Northside Christian School in St. Petersburg, FL.  He and his wife have three beautiful children.

Tequila: https://milagrotequila.com/shop

 

 

Mary and Doug Meador have been married for 48 years.  They have 2 children, and 6 grandchildren.  They live in Kansas.  They love to garden, spend time with their family, go to church and have coffee together.  They are a wonderful example of marital love. 

Tequila: Hornitos Reposado

This week, Monica and Oscar chat with Chef Ralph Macrina. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from the village of Cantanzaro in Calabria, and from Naples, Italy in the 1930’s. They settled in Brockton, Mass and The Bronx, New York, where he was born. Their names can be found on the Immigrant Wall of Honor on Ellis Island.

Chef Ralph earned his degree from the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas where he now serves on the Hospitality Education Advisory Committee. 

He joined ARAMARK in 2004 leading the culinary efforts at Flour Corp, GE, and Furman University. He currently serves as Executive Chef at Bob Jones University. 

Married to his wife Michelle, they have a daughter who is a PR professional in Philadelphia and a son who recently returned home after serving 4 deployments aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in Japan.

This week's Tequila is Don Julio Anejo

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