Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming. For those that don't know me, my name is Ryan Christensen. I'm the president and head distiller of Caledonia Spirits. Before we jump into the dirt, I am going to give a few thank yous because this project has been massive for our small company and it's nothing short of a miracle to even be here in this field today. So first off, it starts with the team at Caledonia Spirits. The amount of work, the camaraderie, the creativity, everything that my team has done to make this possible. A few quick introductions. Minty Conan, this is my business partner and CFO. To her right is Todd Hardy. He's the founder of Caledonia Spirits. Besides Todd is Chris Ealy, production manager at Caledonia Spirits. Next to Chris is Rob. It's very warm. Rob Higgins from Negli & Chase and Tim Duff from Wayman-Lampere Architects. So thank you to the entire Caledonia team. Thank you to the entire building design team. Thank you to the Wolf Engineering. Thank you to Engineering Services of Vermont, Wayman-Lampere, Negli & Chase. This has been one of the biggest projects, biggest teams that I've ever worked on and I can't believe that we're finally here now. Thank you to our new neighbors on Berry Street and River Street and anybody that heard that weight drop the last few weeks, did anybody hear that? Thank you. Sorry about that. Just so that we're clear, distillation is very quiet compared to dynamic compaction. Thank you to our lenders. Mascoma Savings has been an incredible partner to us. Elden Duby, I think I saw you here. Elden, thank you very much. Just to elaborate a little bit, Elden is one of those bankers who looks at your balance sheet but after he looks you in the eye and really gauge you as an entrepreneur and engages your team and that goes a long way with us. In addition, thank you to NCIC for the support on this financing and also Granite State Capital. The governors here, Governor Phil Scott, the governor, we have congressional delegation here. We do not have Bernie himself or Senator Leahy or Peter Welch, but they have sent representation and it's very appreciated that they're here. So thank you. Now, a huge thank you and there's actually a couple of exclamation points here on the piece of paper to the city of Montpelier. We first got involved in this site and with the city quite some time ago. This has been a big project that's taken a lot of turns and we're finally moving forward and we couldn't be more excited, but the support of city management, Bill Frazier, Sue Allen, the entire city of Montpelier, City Council has been so supportive of this project. It's been wonderful. Tom McCartle and Public Works, those guys have worked so hard on our behalf that we are very, very appreciative of that. Mayor Watson is right here. Former Mayor John Holler, also a huge supporter of this project and a really great guy and somebody who's been very helpful to us. And then one last person from Montpelier, and I know I'm skipping a whole ton of people that have been very helpful, but this project would not have even been an idea or a vision, if not for Jesse Baker, who is no longer in Montpelier. She's now in Manuski, but if anybody said the pleasure of meeting Jesse Baker, I know that she's doing heroic things right now and we're forever thankful for her. There are many folks to thank, obviously, but we also need a huge thank you for the greatest town in the world, which is Hardwick, Vermont. If not for Hardwick, I don't think Caledonia's spirits would be in business. The spirits business is incredibly competitive and it takes a community to rally around a company to find its way through that. The Hardwick community, Greensboro, Craftsbury, all of northern Vermont said, this is a team, this is a product, we believe in these guys and they gave us a jump start. And we have now grown to capacity in Hardwick and we need more space. So Hardwick is by all means a town that helped us get here. Now, we felt we were out of space about three years ago. It felt like we were bursting at the seams in Hardwick. We have developed a wonderful skill in doing more in a small space and that is a skill that I hope that we will not forget and I think we'll utilize that skill here because even this space, which looks very large as we start to dig in the dirt, there's not as much from here as we thought. We are already looking at our business has grown since construction design began. So we're glad that we had that skill. We are in a very competitive business in the spirits landscape. There are major billion-dollar companies out there that we go to bat with every single day. They are buying up shelf space. They have flawless marketing. They have all of the shiny objects. Yet somehow this little Caledonia spirits in Bar Hill Gin continue to grow and I have a couple of theories as to why that might be. First off, we distill every single bottle that goes to market. That may not sound crazy. That may sound crazy to you, but when we go to market with every bottle, we know who made it. It's artistillers. It's our team. It's Scott. It's Andrew. It's Craig. It's the whole team of Caledonia spirits. That's not normal in this industry. There are a lot of brands out there that are buying products and selling products and slapping a label on it and there's all sorts of marketing that goes along with it. We produce everything and it's a harder path. But to steal a quote from our founder Todd Hardy, that's what makes the gin taste better. Rather than heat the honey that we make our products with, if we were to heat the honey, it would go through the pumps easier. It would go through the filters easier. Everything would work a lot better, but it actually wouldn't taste that good. You would not taste and smell the aroma of the wildflowers that the bees are feeding on. You would not taste and smell the apple blossoms that the bees are feeding on. Again, that's what makes the gin taste better. Rather than ship commodity grains from the Midwest here to Vermont, we buy certified organic grains from Todd Hardy's farm in Greensboro. Todd nurtures the land. He takes care of the land. And we know that Todd's farm is allowing the land to rest and he's not polluting the rivers. So we feel good about the grains that we're buying and that also makes the gin taste better. Rather than depend on market pricing to figure out what we're going to pay our farmers, we have conversations with our farmers. When we meet with a farmer and we talk about a contract, first we need to figure out what their business model can support. Because what we want is the best quality raw materials, not the best pricing. And it starts with quality raw materials. Again, that also makes the gin taste better. Rather than paying employees minimum wage, we started a livable wage. That also makes the gin taste better. We started this business on a 15 gallon direct fire still. Anybody doesn't know what that means. That means there was a fire underneath a still, which is producing 160 proof ethanol. That's not wise and we probably won't ever do that again. And probably I definitely mean definitely. But that's what we had. That's what we started with and we had to build a brand. So we ran that still about once a week to begin with. That produced just a few cases per distillation and we brought it to Vermont. We then went to Massachusetts. And eventually we were running that still three times per day every single day. We were starting very early in the morning and ending fairly late in the evening. Meanwhile, Todd was driving what we call mom's red car, which was packed to the gills with Bar Hill gin. And he was driving that all over the nation.  And then we'd take it for a quick spin around the parking lot to make sure the wheels weren't actually rubbing because it was carrying so much gin. But Todd would drive that right down to the city. We'd drop it off from the distributor. The distributor instantly wanted more and we would just have to run that still over and over and over. And for the record mom's red car was also known as the mother ship. So today we have larger stills. We have a larger team. We have larger ambitions and we're looking at this this globe and it's actually getting a little bit smaller as we start to figure out how the spirit world works. We couldn't be more thankful of the support. We couldn't believe that 200 people RSVP to see us put a shovel into the dirt. We are very excited when we open this distillery but we haven't even built the building yet and we already feel the support. Thank you all for being a part of this story. This is undoubtedly a new chapter for Caledonia spirits. And we very much look forward to it. So thank you all. Now I'm going to hand this off to the governor. So governor, take it away. Thank you very much. And Ryan, I'm not sure that everyone's here to watch us shovel dirt or to listen to us speak. They may be here for another reason. They may be here to do with a cocktail party. I think that's what the invitation said. So good afternoon to everyone. Thank you for including me in today's celebration. I recently started what I call the capital for a day where along with my cabinet, I'm spending a day in each county. We started in Rutland County, brought the entire cabinet. They are all my commissioners and secretaries and then went from there to Caledonia and we've done Franklin County and Windsor County as well. And I did this because of what I experienced with my everyday jobs tour when I was lieutenant governor. Working a day in someone else's shoes is really important.  And so we decided to do this. And by the way, as lieutenant governor, I worked in the distillery for a day. So if I'm not successful in the next couple of elections, I may come over and see you. But this new capital for a day initiative is another opportunity for me and my cabinet to roll up our sleeves and walk in someone else's shoes. We've done again all these trips and we've met with constituents, lawmakers, businesses, local partners and state employees as well. And the goal really is to provide direct access to the administration to make us better prepared to address the regional challenges and statewide challenges that we see and know that we have to get beyond in order for there to be economic growth. So that day we spent in Caledonia County. We started off the day at Caledonia Spirits in Hardwick. We had our cabinet meeting right there in the facility. We had a lot of ideas after that day and a half at your facility. That was a joke, by the way. We didn't really spend the day and a half there. But they educated us as to what your product was, vision and industry. And I learned from one thing that bird oaks do have a use. Maybe we'll see something in the future with that. But I always wondered what they were good for. While I was there, I got to view the blueprints for this new building. And as someone who spent 30 years in my life in construction, it was exciting for me to see and for me to be here as part of this groundbreaking. It seems everywhere I look in Vermont. We see more breweries, distilleries, vineyards, and they're growing by leaps and bounds. And over the last 14 years, Vermont has seen a number of these distilleries grow from a mere three to now we have 28 in the state. That's an 833% increase. This is a sector that is helping put us on the map, increasing our tourism draw, and leading to more economic activity in our communities for related businesses like barrel builders, local farms, where we get our wheat, and where we get our honey, as well as hotels and restaurants as well. And as a state, we have to continue to support entrepreneurs like Ryan, who have invested in the natural resources that we have and the working landscapes because they create good paying jobs and rewarding jobs as well. This is really an example of what we can do when we work together. We pull together in the same direction. Ryan and his team have already achieved so much, including international recognition, the year at the Hong Kong International Spirit Competition, as well as, that's a great, they deserve a round of applause for that, as well as the vodka distillery of the year at the Berlin International Spirit Competition among various other gold medals over the years. So, Ryan, I just want to thank you for making Vermont your home and to choose to invest and expand here. And I look forward to toasting this completion of this incredible project. So thank you very much for inviting me as well. All right, so I am undoubtedly a better distiller than I am an NC, but I'm doing my best here. But next up, we have the mayor, Anne Watson. Hello, everyone, welcome. Thanks for coming out for this great occasion today. I am so excited to be welcoming, not just you, but Caledonia Spirits, two Montpelier on behalf of the city. We are so grateful to have you. Thank you so much for spending so much time to get to this point. I also want to thank the city staff who spent a lot of time. And Ryan already mentioned this, but Bill of Frazier, Tom McCartle, Sue Allen, Jesse Baker, who spent so many hours to make this happen, to get to this point, to get to today. It's just so very exciting for us. I also want to thank the neighbors as well for their accommodation in this space. This is going to be a great addition to our community. And I just want to also recognize, I don't know if you know this, Ryan, but I live right there. I'm one of those neighbors on Berry Street. So I feel like I should be bringing you, like, a banana bread right now. Because I anticipate that we are going to be neighbors for a long time. So welcome all. Thank you. And I just want to also mention what this means for the city of Montpelier. We are so excited to be bringing these 40 jobs or more. Is it 40? I think it's... Okay, last time we checked, it's 40. 40 jobs to Montpelier. And to be bringing a value-added agricultural business to the ecosystem of businesses in Montpelier. We're excited to be growing our business community here in Montpelier. And we know that beyond a great distillery, this is going to be a great destination for people to come to in central Vermont. So thank you all for being here. I don't want to get in the way of the rest of the cocktail party. So thank you, and yeah. Let's have a drink.


Good day, fellow investors. What stocks to buy in 2018? What stocks to buy now? Before answering that question, there is something more important to be answered and that's how are you building your portfolio over time? I'm currently busy building my model portfolio for my research platform and I want to share you some insights that I'm using to build a portfolio, a strong, well-balanced portfolio at this moment in time. What we have to check is what we know, what we don't know, and then what's the best strategy in relation to the possibilities of what can happen in the investment world so that we don't lose our shirt, but we end up ahead whatever happens. Let's see. So what we know, the general market is very risky because the price earnings ratio of the S&P 500 is 24.8. This means as risk is a function of price that if the price earnings ratio returns to the historical mean of 15, there is a potential drop of 700 to 1000 points of the S&P 500, which is an important risk when thinking about building portfolios. However, you don't have to invest in the S&P 500. There are always opportunities if you have a broad global perspective and are willing to do the research. For example, emerging markets were very, very good in 2017. I was bullish on Brazil commodities like copper, zinc, and nickel that did pretty well over 2017. However, since the peak in January, those are significantly down and in a downtrend as interest rates rise, which create trouble for emerging markets. This means that there will be other opportunities in emerging markets. So that's also a way you can look. Okay, what's cheap now and where should I invest? But that's a little bit more volatility and you have to see about your portfolio exposure. Now, what we don't know. We don't know for how long will interest rates go up. We don't know whether there will be a recession this year, next year, or there won't be a recession for the next five to seven years. Everything is possible and nobody never knows and can predict those things. Nobody. So also we have to invest keeping that in mind and allocating the portfolio exposure to the proper risk-reward allocation. So what to do? I'm looking at special situations, broadly diversified all-weather portfolio, including dollar cost averaging for now. For those that are not dollar cost averaging anymore, which are those that are a little bit older, I'll give something at the end. So my model portfolio will select a broad array of stocks across various sectors. There will be growth. I'm currently looking at solar. There will be emerging markets. I have looked something in China. There will be more China. There will be gold. There will be commodities and all those things, let's say 20 positions, that will be rebalanced according to what happens in the world. If developed markets, there will be also developed markets get cheaper, then the weight will be shifted towards that. If emerging markets are cheaper, then I shift towards that a little bit. Constant rebalancing because nobody can really know what can happen. If there is something really cheap like emerging markets were a year, two years ago, then you're a little bit overweight that. If there is something really expensive, then you're a little bit less overweight that. At the current moment, something interesting, for example, is the solar sector. Huge growth ahead. The technology has become cheaper. So you might watch my video tomorrow about the solar sector, if you're more interested, but something like that. And then you test research, research, stock by stock, stock by stock, intrinsic value, where do you find the bargain, margin of safety, which then leads you to a well-structured, long-term portfolio. And the nice thing is, especially if you're younger, if you can add each month, if you can add money each month, thus dollar cost average, then if stocks drop, you're even happier because you can buy more. However, if stocks go up and down, you can never know, and that's why you have to be prepared for everything. The strategy implies this. The diversification will come from underpriced good businesses, developed emerging markets, we're looking at the return on investment capital, emerging markets, population growth, there's good trends, development, hedges, gold, real assets, commodities, depending on the arising opportunities, under pressure sector or countries where there is value, so temporarily under pressure, secular growth trends and technological developments because the world is changing fast and of course always a margin of safety where it can be applied. So the point is to always think, okay, where can I find value, but also how much risk should I take? Without taking risk, the return will be low, but at some point, if you don't see risk as volatility, but you see risk as a potential to lose your principal, which is very low with some stocks, even if those are cheap, then it's a different story. And if you accept volatility, okay, I will buy more if the stock drops by 50%, I will see that as a blessing, then investing is made easy. So my job now is to dig into different sectors, countries, compare as many stocks as I can, find interesting values, what they are doing, what's going on in the trends and try to find the best positions for a strong long-term portfolio, stocks to watch about 40, 40, 50 stocks that I will be carefully watching in order to find the 20 best and in order to find the best investments in that month, $4 cost averaging strategy. So that's what I'm doing now. I'm looking forward to your comments as portfolio positioning comes ahead of stockpicking and how you see that and how you go about that. I'll see you in the next video and don't forget to check my research platform in the link below.


We hold these shoes to be We hold these shoes to be We hold these shoes to be We hold these shoes to be Cellful Avenue Cellful Avenue Cellful Avenue Cellful Avenue All men and women creating by Go you know the thing All men and women creating by Go you know the thing All men and women creating by Go you know the thing All men are women creatives, but you know the thing.


On behalf of the entire world of my team, on behalf of my brother riding here, Jerry Johnson, I just want to say thank you. I don't know what to say, I get so emotional whenever I see Africans coming together to support one of our own because I believe that when we support ourselves we'll become mighty. So this is one of the examples and I know and believe that we will not just stop here, we'll continue doing this. For no man is an island, we thank you so much and for being real, continue to receive the blessings that you will get. You have to go on doing a good work, yeah? Imagine, 13,000 I hear check, you're bringing me to help this. Through people that support you, people that are praying for you, their thousands I understand, we thank them all. May blessings be on each and every one of them. In the name of the most Jairastapara. I've always been saying that it's a blessing to be from Africa, but I just want to say something. What? It's a blessing to have in my life. This deserves some 10 points, yeah? If you don't know she has a YouTube channel, you all need to go and check it out and know what I'm saying that I'm blessed to have her. Such a hardworking, sweet, beautiful lady. So much for clicking. How are you doing? I hope you are doing amazing. We are in the Gambia, yeah? This is one of the smallest countries in Africa. It's pretty small. It's almost the size of Nairobi. You know what? Check the link in the description, go and subscribe. Can I get like 6,000 new subscribers for my babe? Wow, it's like you're not expecting that. You know what, you're just telling me to be smart.  Thank you. You're welcome. Once again, I feel so blessed. You know, I always tell you guys that blessing is not all about having so much money in your account, but blessings is about people that are surrounding you.  The air that you breathe is a blessing. Let me tell you something. I'm saying all this because I feel like I have the best YouTube audience ever. I mean, I know YouTube is a huge platform, but the audience that I have... Oh my God. Thank you. There's so much traffic in Kumase and I just met a fan.  Oh, nice. Can we all give a round of applause for my YouTube audience? Sometimes I look around me and I'll be like, what did I do to deserve such kind of love and support from you guys? Because for me, I'm just being myself. I always say that I'm your one and only annoying village boy from Ghana, but I never knew that you all are going to fall in love with a village boy because on YouTube, you see people living flashy, trying to show off their lifestyle, but I'm not all about that. I'm all about impact. And I love the fact that you guys decided to be part of my journey. You guys decided to be part of the dream that I've always wanted to achieve. I told myself that when I hit a million, I want to turn this channel into what? Charity. So I don't know. You guys have been saying it and I'm all over the place. Just it's all about charity for me. I also want to say a big shout out to Star Property because this is also charity. You see people coming in here creating content. You're not charging a dollar from anybody. So I'm just going to tell you that the link will be in the description. If you want to buy land in here, do so. It's affordable. Where am I going today? I'm going to pram pram. Babe, but I'm going to pram pram with you. You remember what happened? You were there, right? The first day that we went to pram pram, there was this African-American who established an African ancestral wall in pram pram. And listen, he did all that he did over there out of charity. It's affordable to come in here. It's free. It's free of charge. It's always free of charge. That's the whole point. We're not, we're trying to teach our children so you can't ask our children from money. I'm not even talking about the children. I'm talking about like an ordinary citizen or maybe a foreigner coming to the country and want to come and visit the ancestral wall. Oh, it's free to anyone. So I felt like if he is building a resource center out of charity, then we have to support him. He built the whole resource center from his own pocket. So which means that you did all of this out of your own pocket then? I did. And that's why my pocket's a little flat. So we decided to support him and he never knew that you guys would get involved. Can you believe that we raised $13,000? $13,000. See, I wish I have $13,000. Like you guys will never see me on YouTube again. I planned the video. The video had less views, which is 40,000 views, but we still raised $13,000 out of 41,000 views. That can do so much. And round of applause for my YouTube audience once again. So yeah, I'm on my way going there right now to hand over the check to him. Oh, you have my checkbook. Let me bring you a checkbook. She doesn't have my checkbook. Yeah, but we're going right now. So I just want you guys to come along with us. My checkbook is right here. Thank you. I have so much money, man. It's not my money. Somebody's money. So the whole of this week is going to be the people that I promised. We're going to give them their money. The whole of this week. So I'm just going to give this man his money. So charity upon charity. So come along with us. God bless you. With our one and only, hey, groove half, groove half. With our one and only groove half ambassador, he's also the marketing manager for star property and star auto brother. Thank you so much for being amazing, man. This guy has been support. I don't even know. Even Trudy came to tell me that even his phone has mine. I'm like, bro, please, that's some, you know what I mean, man. I'm not big mental. Hey, bro. So you're going to come along with us. Okay. And I just want you all to go check out his groove half YouTube channel. He sings over there. I don't know. He wants to be a musician. So yeah, let's just go. And when we get there, we'll get back to you all. See Mr. Jerry Johnson. We're actually driving on the motorway. And this is one of the products of Dr. Carmen. This road has been in existence for over 50 years, and it's still strong, man. I remember when Carmen Kuma did this, I think the entire country were definitely against Carmen Kuma for wasting money. But believe me, I think Carmen Kuma was a visionary. Listen, do you know who Dr. Carmen Kuma is? Let me know in the comment section what you think about Dr. Carmen Kuma. I mean, all insightful Dr. Carmen Kuma. After all that you've read about him, things that he did during his time. You come from one of my favorite places to be in Ghana.  I wish the government can do something about the road. The only challenge of coming in here is the traffic. Listen, if we can eradicate the traffic from Accra to Pampram, I would definitely buy a house in here. And I know and believe that so many of you will also love to buy houses in here. This place is super cool, man. Listen, the air that you breathe in here is even different from the air that you're going to breathe in in Accra. But this is why you, Pampram, you don't know why I'm here. Listen, we gotta go and give him his money so that we'll be able to go back home. Let's go. This is your coconut spool, and it helps you take everything out. You see? Taking everything out. It takes everything out, of course. Watch my videos. Watch my videos. I'm from the U.S. I'm from Minnesota. Oh, wow. Nice to see you. I know you're from Accra. You know I'm from Accra. You're going somewhere or you're just dropping in here? Well, I'm just dropping in here. I'm building in Pampram area, waiting down here. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It's really nice meeting you. Thank you. I love to see you. You're staying here, right? Most of you guys are married now or you're still engaged? You're still engaged. It's very simple. She's just waiting for you. This beautiful woman. What are you waiting for? Make up your mind, y'all. Right, right. Sure, right? Yeah. It's Gavi. He's coming through on the wall. But, hey, I don't know why people are saying I look like Marcus Gavi. Do you think I look like Marcus Gavi? Leave a comment and let me know. That's super crazy. I'm so glad there is mango here, and it's ripe. I'll definitely go back home with mango today. You don't need to be thankful I am at my age to be a hero and to experience this before I die. I get to experience freedom. I get to experience supreme black love. I get to feel what sisterhood feels like without resentment and envy and cattiness. You know, I get to hear sister say, what can I get for you? How are you? I was good. Good to see you. Oh, good to see you again. Oh, wow. You look so pretty. What the? Thank you, honey, for making my dream come true.  With my sister. I have that feeling and also knowing that you're going to be someone's mother. I'm like, wow, I hope. Oh, the sound of a baby, all right, but let's just wait and see. Knowing that you're going to be somebody's mother. Someone has said that before. Is that why you have Jerry in your name? No, that came before we knew about him. Yeah, no, someone has said that. I guess, especially, I guess when I put the smoker. Exactly, exactly, exactly. It's good to see you. So welcome, good to see you. Thank you. Sorry for the long drive, but you know, come and traffic. What can we say? I think it's Pampram and traffic. How is everything? First of all, I want to say thank you so much for introducing me to Brother Jerry. And, you know, because of you, that's why I came to Pampram for the first time. And when I came in here, I got to know what this brother is doing. I actually did not know that he built this whole wall, built a resource center out of his own pocket. Even the people that come in here, he doesn't charge them anything. It really touched my heart. And I feel like with the audience that I have, we're going to put our hands together to raise funds for him. We raised $13,000, but for now, the amount that he sent to me, that I have in my account right now, is $12,000. The rest, so which means the next time when I'm coming here, I want to make sure I want to see that we've seen progress. And I know and believe that I'll bring the $8,000 when I'm coming back next time. So if you're watching this video, we're still not done. I want to say this over and over again. We're still not done. You've seen it. I'm here. I'm giving him the money. Listen, I just want to give it to you before I start talking. So on behalf of my YouTube audience, we say that this is your $12,000. Thank you. I mean, I almost don't know what to say, but thank you everyone in the- I can't be losing the check. You see, I'm nervous. I don't even know what to say other than, thank you so much, Wodemire and all your followers, because really this reflects the work you've done. Because not anyone can just come and do a go fund me, and people respond this way. So this is not just, you know, the work I've done is fairly, you know, I mean, it's good work, but he is the one who had to put the work in. He's even tired today to build up the kind of trust among the audience and among the people about Africa. I mean, it's so powerful. So many people are feeling so empowered.  So what you really see here is a result of Wodemire's work and rewarding us for trying to continue to do the right thing. So I just want to thank you and all your work. I want congratulations also on your sisters wedding, which was a very lovely thing to watch. Thank you. And of course, Sister Vera, who as I said last time has brought so much beautiful spirit, energy and intelligence. I think hopefully you all get to know one day the depth of this sister's thinking and the scope of her work. And so thank you everybody out there. And you'll see very soon a lot more progress because we'll put this to work very, very quickly. So thanks. I would say thank you to you for opening your home to so many people coming in here without asking them to pay you a dollar. And I wish we can do better. You know, trust me, I wish we can do better. This is the year of charity I've declared on my channel. I never knew that somebody's actually doing the charity. You know, years ago I'm declaring 2022 as a year of charity, but since you started building this, it's been the year of charity for you every single year. And as I said before, we don't always see it as charity. We see it as the work that has to be done, you know. So if it's charity, it's something that we have to do to build, you know. So to me, it's just our work. I want to say thank you. And Mama Vera, you want to say something before I go? I just want to thank everybody, you know, from the donations of $5 to the donations of $5,000, all of them are important. I want to thank the people in the community who have done, all that they have done to support Jerry over the years. This isn't just an initiative of the last 90 days, people have supported Jerry over the years. So we all want to throw our support behind him to help him to expand his resource center and get it finished. And we are asking for donations of books and other things that you have in your houses, bring them and let us know. Because so many of you have wonderful books and things that get thrown out when your parents and grandparents died. So let's think in terms of keeping that for posterity. And thank you so very much everybody from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for making this dream come true for me and for Jerry. Thank you. But we did a very powerful video. And now I believe that you're a star now. Yes, sir. Ah, do people say, oh, is that on to Vera? Yes, they do. Oh, wow. Mama Vera. Mama Vera. Dude, yes, they do. Yes, they do. Ah, it's awesome meeting you again. Happy for all the support we've gotten, the people who have chipped in. We're extremely pleased, extremely pleased. This part really, with the 13,000, you'll be surprised how far we'll go with that. Because I mean, this and the one below will actually be functional. Because, you know, a lot of, as you can see, a lot has already been done. So we really, really appreciate it. How long have you been here? Oh, me. I've been here since 2003. For what you choose Ghana? What would mean? One of my friends actually came here to live and I came to visit her. And I say, Ghana chills me. I didn't choose Ghana. Because we both love Ethiopia. Be rust of people, you know? But when I came in this place, something called me. I think it's the calmness of Ghana. The calmness of the people, you know? And the people that look like me, black like me. So I don't look odd. I don't look indifferent. Yeah? And I can go anywhere.  I am. Rasta is one of my biggest teachers. Most of us come through Christianity, don't we, through our parents. But when you begin to know yourself, Rasta might know myself, you know? Being brought up in the UK. From Jamaica parents, you know? Yeah, so Rasta bring me home too. Can't make me know, you know?   No matter where you born and come from. Do you agree with that? Of course, 100%. But I think you guys forgot about us. We never forgot you. What do you mean by we forgot about you? Well, I think they translated slavery. Um. Calls so much up evil. And we know why we're born in Europe. Once you start to identify yourself, you cannot leave the motherland out. Because that's your roots. When we come home, you guys, I don't remember us, you know? But we feel you in our DNA. In our bones, you know? And some of us are drawn. We cannot stay no money. How children can't hold us. We have to come back to our ancestral land. That's my view. It's deep, isn't it? Very deep. And there are so many people that are avoiding the ancestral land. What are you going to tell them?  But do not deny yourself. If you are a black man, no matter where you are in the world, your ancestral roots is from Mama Africa. Don't deny who you are.  Because this planet belongs to all of us.  I want to say thank you so much for talking to me. And you too for talking to me because I hear a lot about you. Really? I see videos about you. I want to thank you for what you're doing here at the ancestral wall. You and your team. Yeah? For no man is an island. We thank you so much. And for being real, continue to receive the blessings that you are. You will get. You have to go on doing a good work. Yeah? Imagine, 13,000 a year check, you're bringing to heart this.  Yeah. We thank them all. May blessings be on each and every one of them. Amen. In the name of the most I jarastapara. What's your name? Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa?  And you are still living.  Mansa Musa. Why you give them African names? That's beautiful. Even their hairstyle. Wow. Yes. What will you inspire that? Well, we are African, so we have to represent ourselves and nobody else. We have to build systems that inspire living as Africans. Be comfortable living as Africans. You see. So it doesn't come cheap. It doesn't come cheap. There's always a price to pay for, you know, wanting to live as an African, like a true or pure African. I mean, I think the colonizers did a great job. Oh, yeah, they did. Making us feel like when we put on heads like this, right, funeral or something. That place is beautiful, right? Thank you. You have a channel too, right? Yes. What's the name of your channel? Okay, it's blessed with Horayshivi. Is it with the kids? Is the channel the kids? No, no, no, no. Maybe, maybe as a girl, you know, I would. I used to change one thing. Ghana, what will it be? The systems. What system is that? You know everything. The education, health, everything. Because the education is what actually fills them the mentality of the people. So if the language is not the language that is from your soul, language that is from your soul, language that inspires your understanding, then everything else you are being taught is a mix. That is why we have all the degrees, but we don't really solve any problem. When we look around you, we have engineers. We have every, all the titles in the world, but nothing yourselves. So it goes deep into, I mean exposing the systems that we have. We are the systems and the systems are what builds a nation, what builds a people, what makes the continent what it is. Police people, this is the guy. When we're talking about African men don't have integrity or you can't trust them. I met him today. We talked on the street. He didn't even ask my name, but he trusted me enough to come here to see what is going on. That's a guy, that's a man who when he talks, you know he talks what he means. So I appreciate you so much. Hi. I appreciate what you're doing. Thank you. Thank you. I am so thankful to you for propagating and spreading words about Africa. Thank you. I feel comfortable traveling along Africa now because you know the stuff they tell us we read in history books are not what it is once it starts to come. So, this is wonderful. Thank you. I said since you started, I started watching your podcast and your what's it called? Videos. Videos and all that. I started claiming Nigeria. I started being African because that's what we need to be your generation especially because we are old now but you guys are the future of Africa and if we are still dividing us being this or that or that nothing's going to happen. So it's nice that that is becoming popular. You know when I met her she said she has a project. So after the donation I decided to pass through just to come and check the project myself. But listen, let me tell you something. This is so huge and I just want to say congratulations but you know from Ghana right? No. Wow. And you are building in Ghana? Yes. Well really inspire that. I was born and bred in Nigeria grew up in Lagos, heart of Lagos. My forefathers were legosians so I've done it I've lived it and all that I'm retired now so I'm looking for a quiet place to settle in and I visited here five years ago I'm like oh I can do this. And so I visited again and again and finally last year I'm like okay I think this would be it for me. I can see that you are an African to the core. I am. I love Africa. Definitely have a message for Africans watching us right now. They understand that some of us are now ready to do this but home is where we belong home is where we value it. The beauty of being here is you wake up in the morning and you see people who look like you who share your aspirations who share your goals and dreams who will encourage you not people who put you down or tell you you cannot be this or you can't do that and I think that is beautiful and we're so blessed here because we have everything. Nature, wake up in the morning and you see you know all the things that white people think they have when you come here and it's free it's all over you know. It's nature. Yeah people are so welcome in a respectful family this is family you don't have to be blanched to be related in Africa especially. When I met you you said you were in America initially what are you doing in there? I retired as an educator. Wow. Yes. So I guess you all after retirement you need to come back home? Yes. And people want to okay so what she clarified that it sounds that people don't want to come home. People want to come home but a lot of us you asked me as a warrant type building in Nigeria you know how many houses I could have owned in Nigeria but people are not trustworthy. People take advantage of she's there she doesn't know what she's doing he's there and you know in the stories so it's not that people don't want to come but some have been born so many times and then the system too is bad trying to get light here it's the struggle trying to get water here it's you know everything is just so and coming from the western world you don't go through all this just a phone call and they come it's better all come tell you exactly what it is they can do you can't do what this story needs to do but you come here they give you the running around you drive them they don't even so it's frustrating it is very frustrating so again young people are no precious but you guys don't have to change this we failed you we did because we went abroad left here went abroad for better life to give our children better life which we did but we didn't take care of what we needed to take care of here because we were taking care of you know there so young people are coming I've traveled around you'll read I've seen young people allowed to move them back which is good but they have to be allowed in it's one thing to arrive physically it's another thing to be allowed in to understand to get jobs to know what's happening that makes sense makes a lot of sense this is wonderful thank you thank you so much I mean truly I wish you both long, long, long life together and please invite me to your wedding I will fly in I'm not putting pressure on you this has been a while now that you got a mind made up right tell him why he smiling at you tell him what you want man thank you thank you all right you're blessed you both you're blessed you too thank you


Searching for Giants episode one if you guys checked out the last video I was saying we're releasing a new series onto the channel We've been doing fishing for Giants for a minute now This is a new series called searching for Giants, but first of all if you guys are new to the channel I'm Noah be sure to hit that subscribe button and also turn on post notifications We upload three bangers every single week and that is an absolute fact And if you guys have been enjoying the content recently be sure to hit that like button But searching for giant episode one first video ever for this series and what is searching for Giants? So searching for Giants is where we are going to new ponds new bank fishing spots that we've never been to before And we're gonna be trying to locate the big fish. So we have never been to any of these spots We're just trying to experiment with new places It's gonna keep it very interesting and relatable for you guys that are trying to find new ponds and obviously catch big fish So that is the basis of this new series, but without further ado We're gonna go ahead and get on the road and get to our first location, baby Well, this is the first cast today We're gonna start off with this little booyah trap Been a good bait recently Never been here first time I don't even know if there's fish in here, but we're gonna find out this morning and hopefully I'm gonna find some big old bass I am gonna give this fish out of try just to see if I can actually throw this here See if there's too much stuff on the bottom or not. I want to test that out before I Bring this pole all the way around the pond with me I feel like there's a lot of leafs on the bottom So I want to test that out before I just drag this thing along Rather cover water of one rod and I have to bring both of them It's like there should be a fish back in this little corner. I don't even know if there's fish in this pond That's my biggest thing That's one thing about fishing new places. You just don't know Till you get that bite Just like that. I got them.  Okay. All right. I will take that. You know what? We are like a few minutes in today at a new pond I've never been to just caught probably the smallest bass I've caught in weeks But guess what that shows that there's fish in here That's the first thing and two they get some monkey off her back First to try to catch some giants today. I caught it on this old booyah right here Let's see if we can duplicate that but try to catch a giant There he is. Oh, that's a better one All right, nothing big. We still we're still weaving through the small guys That's our second fish pretty quick. Look at the color on these fish Very very light. I'm just about to start covering water with this trap Second fish we're catching the small ones guys But this is the point of this series is the weave through the small ones try to find the giants at these new ponds Looks like there should be some more stacked up in this back corner I like how this narrows down back here Yep, got another one next cast Oh looks a little better We're upgrading every time About the same size. Okay Guys, we are on them. We are on them. We aren't on the big ones But that was two casts in a row and this little neck down back here That's good because I've seen a few other places around here. They're similar Maybe this little pattern we can run into is where these ponds neck down and these little shallow corners Third fish on the old trap another baby. We are figuring something out and I like it I like how quick this is happening I'm liking this so far I'm really liking this. They're not big But we're figuring them out. That's the point. We've got two and two casts. Should be another one sitting up in there Money. Oh, yeah spooked one. Oh my gosh Same size They are eating this crankbait guys We've caught four fish and three of them have been the last five cast We are figuring them out. They're eating this crankbait and this looks like we got a good little morning bite going Now we just got to try to upgrade and we're probably going to fish here a little bit longer We might need to go to another spot. I don't know if it's just because we're fishing in this corner Or this pond might just have you know dinks like this, but At least we're finding the fish and figuring out what they want One thing to think about guys when you get an opportunity like this where you're parallel with the bank It's the beamer cast just like that. So you're covering you know in that hot spot where there's fish Just like that. That's a better one He's running at me. Oh, yeah, that's a better one guys. This is the best one today We are freaking smacking him About the same size you felt better. He's just running at me There we go. It's another fish just like I was talking about right here They're parallel with this bank. I know there's gonna be more sitting up there We're gonna have to give that a try too, but we are just smoking them Not the size, but I'm having fun right now. This is I've caught like five or six fish within 10 minutes Oh my god, he slapped the heck out of me. I can't tell if he's big or not. God. He stopped me cold turkey. Hey, baby All right, thank you. I didn't even want to catch you He sure slapped it. He's the girl on that side. He's out more in the middle God Guys that's the next cast they're stacked right out of there Dink city. We are freaking on them Oh, yeah, we're necking down back in this corner just how that other one was Start whacking them. Oh, yeah, that's a good one. Oh, man. It's two pounder. Oh, yeah Yes, and he choked it Look at that guys That is the best fish today solid two pounder and that trap is in the back of his throat Oh, man, that is awesome. This is why we are filming this series upgrading And that that is a quality fish. That is a good good start right there I had to start bringing my pliers with me because of these fish sometimes get aggressive Man, that is a nice fish right there about a pound and three quarters I want to say quiet too, but he's pushing it That is a good start for the dinks that we were just catching.  This is our start to our upgrade. Oh There we go. Let's go hit that like button, baby. What an amazing start to the morning So that is the first pond. I think that's a success guys. We didn't even call any big ones. We call one two pounder Okay, but we've caught 10 fish and like the matter of I don't even know how long it's been It's probably been like 30 minutes already caught 10 never been in this place before in my life We're about to go try a new one I feel like there's just a lot of small ones in that one I'm sure there are some big ones But for us to catch 10 not get one that's like pretty solid I think we need to keep covering water and try some new spots That's what we're about to do. We're gonna throw the rods in the car and hunt for a new one. Oh man Oh gosh, this one looks really good I have to put my sunglasses on God, it's got some grass in here They're right on the edge of this grass. Oh god. I got them right away Not a bad one. That's probably the second biggest today. Oh, yeah. Look at them tugging Let's go Boom just like what I was saying around the edge of that grass. We got one right away nothing big But he's probably about the second biggest today. He's kind of similar to those ones We're catching at the beginning around the edge of this grass wherever you should have been We're making another cast and there's more than one there This pond looks a lot better Yeah, this looks like I'm about to fall in Yes I literally almost just fell in But does that matter guys? Does that matter when you're catching fish? Does it matter if you're about to fall in if you'll catch in fish? This is just it. They're eating this trap to find exactly what they wanted I just need to find the giants, but the quality here is bigger. They're like thicker I can tell you that look at the stomach on them. That is like three cast already already caught two We're finding the bigger fish I'm just waiting on that four plus. Oh, no He saw me Ah, I don't know if they're gonna perk out that I got them Why did you come back for that?  We don't want the babies This is searching for giants not searching for twinkie bass There he is. That's a bigger one Please he fills. Oh, yeah Oh, what? You're not bad, but why do you feel so big? Why did you feel so big? Maybe this is one of those ponds where you catch a fish and they fight so hard because I've seen that I really thought I had a solid three pounder right there. I felt like you was tugging pretty hard But we're still finding new spots still finding new fish I like this Some more of a lake They're really big Yep. Oh man These fish much fight hard in here unless he's good.   I haven't hooked in the side of the face. He's tugging These fish fight hard out here. He's slapped at that trap. Look at that. That's a thicker fish God, I'll take you buddy. Thank you for biting. You felt big though.   All right. All right. Oh, he's a good one, bro. I'm gonna get you. All right. That's my fish right there Two belt two pounds Oh There we go Dude, you just came this is like Alan's first cast or something like that guys Guess we need Alan on surface. Oh my god Dude, he literally just came out here. Like I haven't even had time to film him My gopro died and the words that came out of my mouth is we're about to catch him And literally I hooked him right when he died and he's caught like a solid four and a half other guys Bro, that's a good fish Searching for giants. We're finding them, baby. Just got to call it Alan Bob And get him to hook them. Oh my god. That's insane. Let me let me show you guys what's kind of happening There's a little bit of wind out here It's pushing right up in this corner And this fish are just stacked out feeding That's when you catch a solid four and a half pounder.   So I wasn't going to turn around as a bunch of traffic Solid fish right there. Let's get a release on him Hey Lily boy my third cast or something out here. It's on his brand new concept z2 He just got that. I literally just set it up for him before that Hi, bro. That is solid freaking giant Searching for giants. I'm excited for this series I know there's more out there. We doubled up right there Of course my GoPro wasn't running. I know dude freaking sweet. You got one. Is he big? Is he really?  I think it's that natural. I saw it too Choked it Bro, what the heck? I think it's a natural color This club water is a little bit more clean guys the other ponds were a little dirty And then they both have that natural. I still have my red on I'm just using that And then it gets a good one like that That's a decent fish Yeah, there you go. Good job I has money with this wind Right there right at the bank I got to get allen bob on some more fish because I keep catching the dinks Allen's got to catch another four. I don't know if he's big or not Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah Look at that. Yes, sir There we go people Been a minutes and we got a bite right here First fish in this new little spot that we came to that's a lot dude. Look how long he is That's a long fish solid 16 and a half Inches right there. Let's get back in the water That's my best one today. I've had I've had another two pounder, but that's that's a little over two Gosh Here we go allen's second fish Dude look at his skinny body.  This one's thick. Not like that one allen just caught it was kind of skinny Look at that.  That's a fat bass God That's so much fun That is going to conclude searching for giants episode one, baby If you guys are new to the channel and you have not hit that subscribe button yet Be sure to click that also hit post notifications turn those on we post three bangers every single week If you guys are enjoying the new videos be sure to hit that like button. This is a brand new series I'm bringing on to the channel super excited to see what's in store for this new series We are still going to be running fishing for giants, but we're going to be mixering You know that series with this one as well I feel like this one's just a lot more unique. We're hitting new spots. It's more real I know you guys are like on the hunt for new fishing spots as well And you guys are trying to catch a big fish So I feel like it's really relatable for you bank fishermen that are going out there Trying to catch the big ones and trying to find new spots to obviously fish at but overall I hope you guys enjoyed this one. Be sure to hit that like button and until next time keep catching fish, baby You