Let's Talk Vero Beach

Brian 0:10

All right. Well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast. This is part three of our discussion here with Spinga. So, okay, we love this episode because this part here is because, you know, we're still new to the area. We, you know, we've been coming to Vero. I think people are probably listening, like, I know you've been coming to Vero since 2014. But that's when we started coming to Vero. But we moved here at the beginning of 2025. So we're on our second year here. We're still learning more about the area. We love it. We love the community, but we love to hear what our guests love about the community. So tell us, what do you guys love about Vero Beach? Well, what's not love to love about it?

Christi 0:43

You know, um, yeah, it's just a beautiful community, as you know. Um, I've loved on the side of, you know, having done businesses here, they're very strict in the county with businesses and how it's run and when we built our building. It's very strict with how things look. And um, I think, you know, they've kept the community protected in a lot of ways, where they haven't let the high rises come up on the beaches.

Brian 1:09

I love that.

Christi 1:10

And so when you drive over those bridges, I mean, it's just beautiful. I mean, people always say it's the secret little hidden spot in Florida. And I truly believe it is. And, you know, we have great areas like Riverside Park and um, you know, theater coming into our small little community and so many individual little shops and businesses. And um, you know, it just doesn't get better than Vero.

Brad 1:35

I was pondering the question, Brian, that you asked. I, you know, from my perspective with seven children born and raised here, I part of it for me is uh there was a lot of opportunities for them to play sports because I'm a sports guy. I mean, I played college ball, and that's part of who I am in my life. So it was a lot of fun for me to be able to coach for many, many years. And then the five boys play high school football and then some in college. Um, it was a great atmosphere for that. You know, as you know, Viral Beach High School is a fabulous football team has for many, many years. So it was um, it was a joy to be part of that. Now those days are over for me. And so my wife and I are just enjoying Riverside Park and the beaches. We went to the beach just a couple of days ago. Uh, I think that's probably the the number one part of Vero Beach is our beaches are beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And a lot of times we get busy in life and don't go enjoy it. So uh we did that just a couple of days ago and really enjoyed that as well. But, you know, now there's more when I moved here, there wasn't a mall, and even now I use that term loosely. Um but I mean you had to go to Melbourne or down to West Palm to actually get to a real mall when I moved here. So um, you know, it's a lot different than it was when I moved here 35 years ago, but in a good way. You know, all the things that have happened for the most part have been good things. We have real restaurants now and uh theaters and that type of thing. So it makes it more enjoyable. Um, but I love Eural Beach and it's a great place to raise a family.

Brian 3:00

So yeah, I I you know I think that was one of the things that we were surprised when we before we moved here, we learned about the football uh actually through Christian FM. Right. Paul said, Brian, come on out, like why don't you come check out the football team and that? So we showed up, he got us tickets. I gave him a date. I did not realize it was homecoming weekend. Oh boy. So we showed up and I was like, whoa, you know, but you know, we we loved it because that was one of our things. You know, our son was homeschooled and we remembered high school football team football games, but nothing like high school football games are in Vero Beach. I mean, it's just it's Friday night lights.

Christi 3:35

It's like a small town.

Food Options in Vero Beach

Brian 3:37

Very unusual for so cool. Like we loved it. We also learned, too, though, because you know, we were originally from Ohio that we're like, okay, it's halftime, and we're like, we are hot. We're gonna go ahead and call it a game for ourselves today. Right, right. So there's there's some adjustments there, but yeah, and you know, now our son gets to be a part of that, and you know, he he helps out at the football team football games with Christian FM. Uh, and it's cool that he gets to be a part of that because he gets to experience that from you know, he's 21 now, but he's helping doing videos and he gets to see what that's like and he loves it. So there's something cool about that, and so we definitely love that too. And of course, the beaches and yeah, the the restaurants, there's some great restaurants all over the in Bureau Beach. So many different options. We have not been to the theater yet. We've I've been following the theater a lot on Instagram. I'm like, man, we I keep telling Shauna, we need to go to the theater. It looks like amazing. Yeah, it's amazing.

Shawna 4:30

We definitely speaking of restaurants, that is a question I wanted to ask both of you because I assume that at least sometimes you like to, you know, have healthy options when you go out and things like that. Do you have any tips about where to find healthy meals when you go out to eat?

Brad 4:45

Oh, Christy's far more healthy than me, so you should probably defer to her on the right.

Shawna 4:50

I don't know if you're Brad suggestions and Christie's. Yeah, I'm good with both.

Christi 4:55

Yeah, some of my favorite healthy restaurants in Bureau are Chelsea's, La Tabla. Let me think of other ones that I go to. I even like 14th Street Coffee House. They have great little options for a meal for lunch or breakfast.

Shawna 5:09

Oh, really?

Christi 5:09

That are some good healthy choices. I mean Citron Bistro.

Shawna 5:14

Oh, okay. We haven't been there yet. Yes, that's on our list, though. Citron. It's a good one.

Brad 5:19

Palato's is pretty good too, there. Oh, yeah. We've been to Pilato. Yeah, yeah, we love that place. And that's pretty healthy. I was gonna say that's pretty healthy, Brad. Okay.

Brian 5:27

All right. Hold on, I'm writing down notes here. Hold on.

Brad 5:31

Of course, we like the tides, but I think probably Scampy Grill is our favorite. And we like uh Italian grill too. You know, that's a locally owned, I've been here forever. Very consistent product there, fabulous food. I mean, that's that's probably our most favorite restaurant, is Italian grill.

Business Collaborations

Brian 5:45

That's good. Well, now you've given us more to add to our list. So now we have a healthy list and a unhealthy list. Or on it's not on healthy, it's well, these are the things I order. Probably would fall on the unhealthy option, but well, in moderation. Yeah, in moderation. That's right. That's right. Yeah. All right. So one of the things that has really stood out to us and the Vero Beach area is how the businesses really collaborate and work together uh and give back to the community. Is there anything that anything that you guys like any other businesses that you work alongside or collaborate or give back to organizations in the community that you guys would like to let us know about?

Christi 6:24

Um, I mean, we've definitely done some exchanges with businesses in the community helping support each other with us giving gift certificates to them or or them to us. And there's been a a big variety uh, you know, of those through the years um that that we've done that with. Um, we've done a lot of support with CareNet through the years. That's been a kind of a consistent one that we've done. CareNet pregnancy. Okay.

Brian 6:50

Okay.

Christi 6:50

In town here. And um, we do a lot of, you know, supporting with them. Um trying to think, you know, we've supported some of the local high school sports at times.

Brad 7:02

And I will say at any given time, and I can't even remember some of the names of the charities that we work with because we do so many, but at any given time, probably once a quarter, you can come in our lobby, and we're either like we're good right now, we're getting ready to, there's somebody doing a sock drive for homeless people that we're gonna help with that. Christmas time we do the angel tree, Christmas. So probably once a quarter, we try to have something because our members really love that. They love getting involved from that perspective. And so we'll have a charity in the lobby where we're collecting socks or shoes or presents for kids or something of that nature. So we we really enjoy giving back and being part of that. And and our members are amazing. We're usually surprised at how much they support these. Yeah, very generous, very generous.

Shawna 7:45

Yeah, we hear that a lot about people in Vero, the community. That's very giving community. Very, yeah, we've noticed that too.

How Do You Like to Recharge

Brian 7:51

And it's just like you get you know, that's what I think is great about you know, organ, you know, businesses like yourself is like you're not only creating a space for them to to uh help benefit themselves, you're also giving them the opportunity to help others too. And that that that means a lot. And I think that's what continues to make Vero Vero. Yeah, I would agree for sure. Definitely love that.

Shawna 8:11

So when you're not in the studio, what are some ways that you recharge?

Brad 8:15

Is there a time that we're not in the studio? Is there a time? Kidding, I'm kidding, of course.

Christi 8:20

Well, I've got two little grandchildren here in town, and they are like my highlight. So anytime I get to spend time with them, I feel very joyful, very recharged.

unknown 8:32

Yeah.

Christi 8:32

So they're they're probably my my number one. But I do try to do some little health care too, like massage, yeah, absolutely cures, things like that too.

Shawna 8:41

Brad, what about you? Do you have any grandchildren yet?

Brad 8:44

I have one. Unfortunately, he little Leo is in Alexandria, Virginia. So I did get to see him at Thanksgiving. Um, but he's the only one so far. I'm sure there's more to come, but I certainly miss him, and I'm a little bit envious of Christy most of the time when she comes in with her little grandchildren, but they're they're beautiful. But um well, my wife and I, Heidi, we enjoy, like I said, playing golf, um, spending time together. We're real involved in our church, you know, as you guys know. Um spent a lot of time do doing that as well, and just really enjoying each other. And my wife is a nurse, so her hours are a little bit crazy sometimes. So we try to get in a date here and there when we can. But that's that's and I still have um five of my children still live in town. So I uh we'll get together with them, play golf with some of the boys, see the girls. I mean, just just depends on the evening, but um that's that's what I like to do in my spare time.

Shawna 9:39

Uh so someday you're probably gonna have a whole flock of grandchildren and that's the goal.

Brad 9:46

I hope that's so good. We want to get them married maybe first and so settled a little bit. So well, okay.

Brian 9:53

Well, you guys, this has been great. Like we really thanks for taking the time to join us on the podcast, letting us get to know you more and letting the community get to know more about you and Spanga here. So as we get ready to wrap up, I I would love, I know we're gonna sign up for a class. We're gonna definitely gonna check that out. We might do a Vero B's drop-in when we do it. I think so, yeah. Uh, so we'll see. That might be a lot of huffing and heavy breathing. We'll see how that works.

SPENGA's Future Impact

Shawna 10:15

But uh we won't record that part.

Brian 10:18

Yeah. We'll have to talk about the process of what it's gonna be. But we we want to thank you guys all for tuning in and listening. As we get ready to wrap up, I'm gonna ask you one more question. Um, when you imagine the future of Spanga and Vero Beach, what kind of impact do you hope it has on the community overall?

Christi 10:35

Well, I just hope that we continue to meet new members in our community and that they get to get a sense and be a part of what we have here. Um, I just really feel like we have a community within that really reaches out and supports each other. You know, we've had some of our members that have gone through tragedies and different incidences, and members will ask, you know, if we can make contact with them because they're care about them and want to know what's happening and let them know that they're supported. And um, you know, so I just hope we can continue to really, you know, grow that and connect with more people.

Brian 11:15

I love that.

Outro

Brad 11:16

That's so special. I think from my perspective, I, you know, I I look around Vero and I see a lot of businesses that are great businesses that are run very well. And I would like to think that just that spirit of excellence that we try to exhibit here and walk in, that's we are just part of the community and that we're one of the businesses that stands out as a business that's run in an excellent way, and everything has a very high standard. So that's what we hold our ourselves to. So I think going forward, that's what we want to be known for is just our our excellence.

Brian 11:48

Wow. Well, well, we could see it when we walked in the door. So I think you guys are definitely nailing that. And that's the great thing is the reviews speak that, and that's that's uh just a confirmation that you guys are doing it. So keep it up, keep doing it a great job, what you guys are doing.

Brad 12:03

We appreciate you guys. Thanks for having us on.

Brian 12:06

And I I really love what you said there, Christy. I wrote that down to kind of just kind of process for myself. Yeah, it's like if people are looking for if they're curious about the Vero Beach community, like it's here, but then you have a community within the community. And that's that's powerful. It's like while you really want to find a place that you belong, uh, that's cool. It's a good place to start. So thank you guys both. Thank you. Thank you. Well, you guys, thank you for tuning in to the Vero Beach podcast. Make sure you share the podcast with your local friends here uh that might be looking for a gym. This is a great place to check out.

Shawna 12:38

And with that, thanks for listening, neighbor.