The Sunny Side of Life with Troy Thompson

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Sunnyside of Life, Troy discusses the downfall of seeking a life without consequences, how that is playing out in the Middle East, and what that means for each of us. Then, he covers some movies and themes from the mid-80s...what were we thinking and who was behind those storylines? Tickets for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever go on sale November 8th and can be fou...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy visits with the local Veterans Service Officer, MaryLou Kleveland of the Winnebago County Veterans Affairs to discuss the role of a Veteran's Service Officer at the local level, the importance of communicating with veterans at the local level to assist with benefits and entitlements, the opportunities to serve those who have served us, and the myriad steps inv...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy takes a stab at the problem in the Holy Land. What's the solution? Well, there is one but don't expect much to change. We have a unique gift of choice, but what (or better yet, WHO) will we choose? Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This week, Dr. Bob Alsop stops by Sunnyside to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of Waldorf University, Troy's Alma Mater.  Find out what it takes to keep a small liberal arts college going for 120 years - it's not easy - but there have been blessings at every fork in the road. It's a great conversation about higher education, the future of liberal arts, classrooms, s...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy is joined by Nate Forsberg and Donovan Johnson - the three directors of the BrickStreet Theatre's December 2023 one of a kind production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!  Listen in to the processes these three have created to produce the most unique and inspirational performance of a childhood classic about the story of the nativity, redemption, and the fol...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy ruminates over the incredible turn-out for casting auditions of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the Christmas show he's directing for BrickStreet Community Theatre. He updates us on the goings-on at Sunnyside including his encounter with a nailing gun which left a pretty good impression on him - especially his arm!  And, it turns out Troy has been notified he...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of the Sunnyside of Life, Troy shares his take on recent travels to Mackinac Island, the ups and downs of dressing up, directing the Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and the analogy of playing your irons. Also an update on the happenings on the homestead, running into regulations, the beauty of porches and the virtue of hiding the garage. Thanks for stopping by and Che...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Ron Simmons drops by Sunnyside to share his story detailed in his book: Life Lessons from the Little Red Wagon.  Ron is a successful retirement investments CEO, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives for three terms, the current chairman of the Texas Mutual Insurance  Company. He also serves an advisor to the Heritage Foundation and the Texas Public Polic...

Send us Fan Mail This week we welcome to Sunnyside, Professor Sumatra Ray, MD/Registered Nutritionist; Director of Research in Food Security, Health and Society, University of Cambridge. Troy met Dr. Ray (and his amazing daughter - Nikki) in the hotel lobby while visiting Washington, DC and we're glad he did. Let's dive into worldwide nutrition issues and solutions. What if we were to sc...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Labor Day from Sunnyside! We hope you're enjoying your time off and being useful in some way...like this week's guest, Zach Smith, founder of The Stock Cropper, co-inventor of the Cluster Cluck, and advocate of alternative farming practices from the homestead scaleable to corporate farming. Find out how Zach and friends came up with this innovative ag production sy...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy shares who's coming up in the next couple weeks. He covers the debates and provides some solutions to this fentanyl problem we keep hearing about. But, it's football that he really loves and when it comes to the future - well, let's just say the farm studios will be a little busier starting in January... Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This week Troy sits down in studio with friend and neighbor from just down the road, Todd Lewis. Todd dropped his graduation cap and gown from high school in the backseat of his parent's car following commencement in 1995 and hit the road in his pickup. That winding road took him from fly fishing guide, to SnoCat operator, to Hot Shot HeliTack Firefighter and eventually, full...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Sunnyside of Life, Troy talks about the new dog - Knox, the value of Charity, Shame, Guilt, and small communities.  We've also found the guy who should get the Republican nomination, in case anyone is paying attention - that North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgum. Crazy, right? Oh, and there's a special visit to the Joseph R. Biden Presidential Library of th...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Sunnyside of Life, Troy returns from Washington DC and covers the highlight of the week long family trip to our nation's capital including stops at Gettysburg and Mount Vernon.  He actually read the Wallstreet Journal and learned a few things about the status of Chief Diversity Officers.  He has a solution to draining the swamp and some input on the loving na...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Scott Bertelsen stops by the studio. It's not the first time he's been here though. Turns out, he's been working for a couple months on creating his own podcast with Sunnyside Farm Studios and the reveal is just around the corner!  Listen in to what 40 (well, really 39) years of teaching, directing, and inspiring young people - including Troy - is all abo...

Send us Fan Mail Holy cow! What a week it was! We cut, raked and baled our own oat hay here at Sunnyside - find out how that went: the good, bad, sentimental, and indifferent. New this week: Wicked Limericks....hmm. Thank God for great weather and helpful family and friends! Speaking of friends, it was Troy's 30th high school class reunion and Sunnyside played host for one of two parts of tim...

Send us Fan Mail This week Cory Schmitt drops by the studio. Cory is a doctoral of musical arts candidate at the University of Iowa and the most recent former band instructor at Forest City High School and Waldorf University. Cory shares his journey in music education, teaching our kids the importance of "breathing together" to create something excellent. He has "calloused ears&quot...

Send us Fan Mail Here's a stand alone version of the segment featuring Nate Forsberg discussing the Hope4Kids Deep Water Well project and Walk 4 Water event in August. You can join our team: The Sunnyside of Life Team to walk or donate funds in any amount to help build a deep water well in Uganda. Visit here to donate:  https://support.h4ki.org/team/514227 Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This week, Uncle Wes Koskela stops by Sunnyside on his way to the races in North Dakota. Meet the Ringmaster of the Spectacle this week on The Sunnyside of Life! Wes began as a small-time announcer for truck and tractor pulls in North Dakota but through moxy and creativity he found a way to make an entire career out of announcing, promoting, and boosting truck and tractor pulls, m...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Birthday, America!  This week, Ben Anderson visits the Sunnyside of Life. Ben's the head pastor of Christ Church Nashville, an old friend, talented musician, family man and man of God. Listen to his story and share in the laughter of days gone by in the old quartet, the Nashville music scene, the happenings in today's church, from song to Psalm - this is the messag...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy catches us up on the progress at Sunnyside, his little brother visits Vietnam, and we discover the origin story of Sunnyside and what was supposed to by Sunnyside Social Club #1. He also discusses the Oceangate Titan V sad outcome, RFK Jr., Hunter Biden, Trump and a little suggestion about India. Also, a film review and recommendation for The Lost King. Support the...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Troy sits down in-studio with guests Karl Wooldridge, Jason Slater, and Brandon Weber - three local sports officials with a combined total of over 50 years  of experience making the calls. Our kids don't play the games without someone to make the calls and be the "calming influence when the bat guano is raining down from the sky."  These are the professio...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Sunnyside of Life, the studio gets hi-jacked by four boys intent on telling stories about their father: Troy. Who knew they had  it in them? Learn all about the host from the perspective of the boys who know him best. Tough love or just a 3-day rule on injuries? Poop too long? Favorite bed time stories from Shel Silverstein, what it sounds like when your dad annou...

Send us Fan Mail This week we welcome dear college friend and maestro, Joel McNulty, to Sunnyside. Troy and Joel go way back to college. He's full of surprises, encouragement, and humor and he did the interview from the ER! What? Find out why this Kansas City saloon singer stays at the top of Troy's charts and why he'll be at the top of your heart once you hear his words and work......

Send us Fan Mail This special Memorial Day episode was produced using the stories of local veterans from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam who have since passed.  Memorial Day is for active remembrance of those who gave all for this nation.  Hear Troy navigate the produced stories of voices from our past on this week's episode. Men such as: Don Aamodt, Marvin Juhl, Larry Kearney, and Bob VerHoef as we...