Speaker 1: It's a nice eye with Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: I'm going mazy Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much, Madison. A wise decision by the
Speaker 1: Red Sox not to play baseball tonight. Yikes, whould have
Speaker 1: been out there on water skis. My name is Dan Ray,
Speaker 1: the host of Nightside with Dan Ray, whod every weeknight
Speaker 1: from eight to midnight here on WBZ Boston's ten thirty
Speaker 1: Boston's News Radio ten thirty on the AM dial. Rob
Speaker 1: Brooks the producer of this program. I always like to
Speaker 1: introduce Rob. He is back in the control room at
Speaker 1: broadcast headquarters, the central location in beautiful Medford, Massachusetts, and
Speaker 1: he will set you up with telephone calls. Once we
Speaker 1: get to our guest portion of the program. At nine o'clock,
Speaker 1: we'll be talking with Mike Kinneely. He's a Republican running
Speaker 1: for governor. We talked with Brian Shortsleeve, a Republican running
Speaker 1: for governor, on Tuesday night, and tonight we'll talk with Mike.
Speaker 1: And we'll also talk at ten o'clock tonight with the
Speaker 1: Consul General from the Nation of Israel two New England
Speaker 1: to Consul General Benny SHARONI about this just tragic event
Speaker 1: last night in Washington, d C. Two staff members of
Speaker 1: the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC shot and killed. They
Speaker 1: were leaving an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum. The
Speaker 1: suspect is under arrest, and we'll talk about that. And
Speaker 1: I think we're in for a tough summer here in America.
Speaker 1: It just seems to be lining up that way. But
Speaker 1: before we get to all of that, we have four
Speaker 1: very interesting guests here in the eight o'clock hour, and
Speaker 1: we're going to start off with a special ed teacher.
Speaker 1: She's also an author and now illustrator of a new book.
Speaker 1: The book is called Abilities with Us as Michelle McLain. Michelle,
Speaker 1: welcome to Nightside. Thank you for what you do as
Speaker 1: a special ed teacher. How are you this evening.
Speaker 3: I'm good. Thank you so much, Dan for having me
Speaker 3: on your show. It means so much.
Speaker 1: You're very welcome. Do a very impressed with your book.
Speaker 1: It's interesting. It's you described as a local special ed
Speaker 1: teacher who wrote and illustrated a book and graphic novel.
Speaker 1: Now the word graphic, he has a couple of interpretations. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is not the bad term graphic. Uh, this is Uh,
Speaker 1: it is intended to show that this uh, this novel
Speaker 1: called Abilities about children with learning and social disabilities trying
Speaker 1: to navigate school life and friendships. It's illustrated. Uh, and
Speaker 1: it's uh it's quite bright, uh brightly uh well written,
Speaker 1: and and and and brightly illustrated. Uh. It's it's a
Speaker 1: it's a book that I think I think every child
Speaker 1: should read. And I think you would agree with me
Speaker 1: on that. What motivated you to write the book? Obviously
Speaker 1: tell us what it's about generally, and then who is
Speaker 1: it intended to benefit?
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, So I'll tell you a little bit about
Speaker 3: what it's about. So Abilities follows for middle school students,
Speaker 3: each with a different disability. The disabilities are autism, dyslexia, ADHD,
Speaker 3: and social emotional challenges. And the books just really shows
Speaker 3: the ups and downs of middle school and it explores
Speaker 3: obstacles that middle school students with disabilities face, but it
Speaker 3: also just highlights how their unique strengths can kind of
Speaker 3: come together to overcome different difficult challenges. And just in
Speaker 3: the book you get to see them achieve something meaningful,
Speaker 3: which I think is just so important for all students
Speaker 3: with disabilities to understand. And then what really.
Speaker 1: Inspired right ahead.
Speaker 3: Oh go, okay, So what inspired me to write the book? Obviously,
Speaker 3: my students have been my biggest inspiration. I keep a
Speaker 3: special education support class called Skills and what kept happening,
Speaker 3: and it still happens today. Every day I interact with
Speaker 3: amazing kids with different disabilities. But they sometimes actually a
Speaker 3: lot of the time they come and just say calling
Speaker 3: themselves dumb or stupid, and I felt like I was
Speaker 3: constantly just reminding them that they are not They just
Speaker 3: learn in a different way and that's okay. So yeah,
Speaker 3: that's kind of what motivated me to start this book
Speaker 3: because I just kept looking for a story for my students,
Speaker 3: and I just felt like there was nothing for middle
Speaker 3: school students for them to connect with and to just
Speaker 3: to understand their disability but also understand that like they're
Speaker 3: okay and being different is fine.
Speaker 1: So yeah, So who can benefit from from reading the book?
Speaker 1: You mentioned these are middle school students? Is this book
Speaker 1: written for middle school students? Is it written for kids
Speaker 1: who are younger and are coming along who someday will
Speaker 1: be in middle school? What's your target audience?
Speaker 3: So originally I thought of my middle school students, but
Speaker 3: I have heard I've heard from students that are in
Speaker 3: elementary school that they love and enjoy the book. So
Speaker 3: my targeted audience, I think is now just like everyone.
Speaker 3: I think almost everyone knows someone with a disability, whether
Speaker 3: it's a friend, a classmate, or a coworker. Stories like
Speaker 3: these don't just like help people with disabilities better understand themselves,
Speaker 3: but they also help others learn and grow, and they
Speaker 3: show that while disabilities can have challenges, they also come
Speaker 3: with strengths that deserve to be celebrated. So that's the goal,
Speaker 3: and the goal is through sharing these experiences, is just
Speaker 3: to build empathy, understanding, and just a deeper appreciation for
Speaker 3: perspectives and personalities.
Speaker 1: Now, is this your first book?
Speaker 3: Yes, this is my first book. And this took me
Speaker 3: five years to do, and I think I've spent I
Speaker 3: can't even tell you how many hours I spent drawing
Speaker 3: like every page. So I don't know if there's going
Speaker 3: to be another book. I think I'm going to start
Speaker 3: working another book, it's just this one.
Speaker 1: This.
Speaker 3: I started writing this book during COVID, when obviously I
Speaker 3: had a lot of time and I don't have kids yet,
Speaker 3: and so I had plenty of time during that time
Speaker 3: to kind of work on this book. But yes, this
Speaker 3: is my first book. No.
Speaker 1: Look, it's beautifully illustrated, it's bright colors. So it's something
Speaker 1: that kids are going to read. What class level? I mean,
Speaker 1: how young could a child be to benefit from this book?
Speaker 1: Could it be someone in the first or second grade?
Speaker 1: Or would they need some help with the language describing?
Speaker 1: Because I'm sure there are parents out there saying, gee,
Speaker 1: this might be a good book to get for their children.
Speaker 1: So not only maybe that if they're dealing with any
Speaker 1: of these abilities as you describe them, but they're going
Speaker 1: to run into kids, it will help them be a
Speaker 1: little bit more empathetic when they run into some other
Speaker 1: children as they go along. So how young can a
Speaker 1: child be to benefit from this book? Just from the
Speaker 1: point of view of reading the book.
Speaker 3: On as a teacher, I don't think it matters. I
Speaker 3: think once they have an interest in reading, parents can
Speaker 3: read this book. I would hate to put an age
Speaker 3: limitation on any book, you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so when they start showing an appreciation for reading. And
Speaker 3: one thing that I love about graphic novels is that
Speaker 3: they support students with reading. Visuals are so helpful for
Speaker 3: kids to help them kind of navigate some of the words.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm sorry, I don't have an easy answer
Speaker 3: for you. I'm not big on putting levels on reading.
Speaker 1: I remember as a child some of the books that
Speaker 1: I read, really when I was young, they were they
Speaker 1: were books that were Remember there was one that I
Speaker 1: read about how a letter was written and mailed in
Speaker 1: the mailbox and that it went in a truck to
Speaker 1: to a location where it was put into another truck
Speaker 1: and put on an airplane and flown across the country.
Speaker 1: And the pictures almost tell the story. And I suspect
Speaker 1: that's what this book does. But of course to back
Speaker 1: up the pictures, uh and I. So the big question
Speaker 1: now is it's on Amazon as I can see it's
Speaker 1: it's available now as I understand it. Actually, ye, okay,
Speaker 1: when when.
Speaker 3: Was it purchase it?
Speaker 1: When did it come out? Technically we came out I
Speaker 1: guess in late December.
Speaker 3: So yeah, when I had a day off from work
Speaker 3: I was able to put I bothered my husband to
Speaker 3: help me. He's an art director and he works in
Speaker 3: graphic designs, so he had a lot of He helped
Speaker 3: me a lot with putting this book together. So it
Speaker 3: was the day after Christmas. I bothered him enough where
Speaker 3: we were. He helped me put together the book and
Speaker 3: publish it.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, that's great. Well, Michelle, thanks very much. I
Speaker 1: understand that your dad is a big fan of the
Speaker 1: book as well.
Speaker 3: On my production shell, he's so excited.
Speaker 1: I'm that's great. That's great. Where you say hello to
Speaker 1: him for us? Okay, what's your dad's first name?
Speaker 3: Yes, Jimmy kellerher Jimmy.
Speaker 1: Kelly here Keller Okay, maybe Irish? So I got something
Speaker 1: in common with him there, Okay, so I'm proud of
Speaker 1: my daughter too, so I know exactly what feels like. Michelle,
Speaker 1: thanks very much. The book is called Abilities. It's available
Speaker 1: certainly at Amazon, and I assume some good bookstores it
Speaker 1: must be available as well.
Speaker 3: Correct, not yet, not quite.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, we got to get him in bookstore, so
Speaker 1: we have people who own bookstores. Its Abilities, and again
Speaker 1: available most easily through Amazon. Michelle, thanks very much. Congratulations
Speaker 1: on a developing a second career, not only a teacher
Speaker 1: but now an author. Thanks very much.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you so much for having me on the show,
Speaker 3: and thank everyone and your crew. They've all been wonderful
Speaker 3: just putting this call together.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Thank you, very very much. When we
Speaker 1: get back, when I talk with Jackie Cushman, she's the
Speaker 1: president to the Adams Memorial Commission in Quinsy, and this
Speaker 1: is a group that is trying to drum up support
Speaker 1: for John Adams Memorial. I didn't realize that Quinsy lacked
Speaker 1: the Home of Presidents, lacked a John Adams Memorial. We'll
Speaker 1: be talking with Jackie Cushman on the other side of
Speaker 1: the break. My name's Dan Ray. This is night Side,
Speaker 1: So Thursday night, May twenty second, and it's raining cats
Speaker 1: and dogs here in It's really coming down here in
Speaker 1: the greater Boston area and probably all up and down
Speaker 1: the East Coast. So stay inside, stay out of the cross,
Speaker 1: stay warm, and listen to Nightside. And when we get
Speaker 1: to the telephone portion of the program, we'll give all
Speaker 1: the numbers and you can join the conversation and your
Speaker 1: voice can be heard all across all across the United
Speaker 1: States and in many parts of the world on the
Speaker 1: night Side broadcast through the iHeart app, the new and
Speaker 1: improved iHeart app. Bring it down, make us your first preset.
Speaker 1: WBZ will always be just a fingertip away wherever you
Speaker 1: are in this big wide world. Back on Nightside after.
Speaker 2: This, You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w
Speaker 2: b Z, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1: All right, I think all of us know that Quincy
Speaker 1: is the home of presidents. And with us is Jackie Cushman.
Speaker 1: She's the president of the Adams Memorial Commission. Jackie Cushman.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Nightside. How are you?
Speaker 4: I am great. Thank you so much for having me on.
Speaker 4: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You have an interesting looks like maiden named Jackie Gingrich Cushman. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't want to open this up the politics, but
Speaker 1: any relation to the former speaker.
Speaker 4: Absolutely so. My dad is a former speaker, Nuke Gingrich.
Speaker 1: Oh my godness.
Speaker 4: I grew up in politics and all I remember. But
Speaker 4: I love this project for the Adams family, and I
Speaker 4: know we're going to talk about it, but I think
Speaker 4: it's a really important project, not just for Massachusetts, for
Speaker 4: our country.
Speaker 1: Wow. Well that was it was. Look, Gingrich is not
Speaker 1: the name of Smith of Brown's. So I took a
Speaker 1: shot and uh and thank you rank you very much. Uh.
Speaker 1: Some people have told me that your dad and I
Speaker 1: beer resemblance, maybe maybe philosophically, but also physically to one another.
Speaker 1: We both have a full head of hair, and a
Speaker 1: couple of times we were in the newspapers together as
Speaker 1: separated at birth. So if you ever talked to you,
Speaker 1: may be talking too, might be talking to his doppel ganger.
Speaker 1: Right now, I wish I was as smart as nude Gangridge.
Speaker 4: Oh God, that's true. Then you and I have the
Speaker 4: same eyes because I have the same eyes as my father,
Speaker 4: so well, you and I must look alike as well.
Speaker 1: So I think. So let's talk about this Adams Memorial Commission.
Speaker 1: How did you get involved in this?
Speaker 4: You know that that's an interestant question.
Speaker 3: So I was.
Speaker 4: I was nominated and appointed by President Trump at the
Speaker 4: end of his first term. I had no idea. My
Speaker 4: dad had nothing to do with it. I've been working
Speaker 4: for gosh decades on community projects, mainly in the Atlanta area.
Speaker 4: But I was, I was. I'ming a president's appointee, and
Speaker 4: I love this project because it's bipartisan, is good for
Speaker 4: the country. It focuses on our founding father or family
Speaker 4: founding the family, right, So it's just a great project.
Speaker 4: And I've learned so much more about the Adams that
Speaker 4: have been involved. I'm really thrilled that I'm part of
Speaker 4: this project.
Speaker 1: So where do we stand on this project? I would
Speaker 1: have imagined there would have been some physical memorial to
Speaker 1: John Adams as our second president in Washington, D C.
Speaker 1: And that's what the goal of the project then for
Speaker 1: the Memorial Commission is at this point. That's that's what
Speaker 1: that's what you're trying to make happen. Have you picked
Speaker 1: the side? Where where do you stand on this project?
Speaker 1: None of this is going to be simple, I'm sure
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, as you know, nothing in Washington is simple,
Speaker 4: and certainly not memorials, right, I mean the Washington you know,
Speaker 4: the Washington mind me. If you go and look at DC,
Speaker 4: you can literally see where it stopped. They stopped doing
Speaker 4: the Washington Monument for years. But if it isn't the
Speaker 4: funding and the Jefferson money was built without final approval,
Speaker 4: which is so funny. So you know what we have
Speaker 4: is we have in Washington, we have the Washington Monument
Speaker 4: and the Jefferson Memorial, and when we don't have the
Speaker 4: John Adams, right he second president, vice president? Like, oh
Speaker 4: my god, he's so deserving. The more I'll learn about
Speaker 4: John Abigail and John Quincy, and Louisa Cavin. The more
Speaker 4: I love this family. They are so dedicated to our country,
Speaker 4: they are so focused on what they're doing. They so
Speaker 4: deserve recognition our nation's capital, and that's where were going
Speaker 4: to have happened. But as you said earlier, this is
Speaker 4: not a fast process, and the process begins with site
Speaker 4: selection and then design. So where we are is we
Speaker 4: have a build us in Congress, so please everyone write
Speaker 4: your congressman. And Stephen Lynch from Quincy is one of
Speaker 4: our commissioners. He's great, He's a congressman, very very very
Speaker 4: involved in the project. But what we're trying to do
Speaker 4: is we're trying to establish the site and then from
Speaker 4: there we'll get the design for the Adams from Moreland, Washington, DC.
Speaker 1: By the way, I've only known Steve about thirty five years,
Speaker 1: so he is a he's a great American and he's
Speaker 1: a Democrat, but he's still a great American. I want
Speaker 1: you to know absolutely, And no, I'm a really great guy,
Speaker 1: and he's he's a wonderful person as a as I'm
Speaker 1: sure you have come to know, and he is he's
Speaker 1: very influential on the other side of the aisles. So
Speaker 1: I'm sure that will work. We should have had Steve
Speaker 1: On with us tonight as a matter of fact, is
Speaker 1: to talk about this bipartisan effort. But again, Quincy is
Speaker 1: the home of the Adams family. It is to me.
Speaker 1: It's it's stunning that now, what two hundred plus years,
Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty five years after this, a man
Speaker 1: served as President of the United States, there's still they
Speaker 1: still lack a memorial in Washington, d c. In his memory,
Speaker 1: And hopefully you'll get it going and anything we can
Speaker 1: do for you, Jackie, please keep us in mind here because.
Speaker 4: It's absolutely so Yeah, everyone can go to this so
Speaker 4: it's the Adams Memorial dot org. It's a nonprofit. We'd
Speaker 4: love to have you siund up to get information saw
Speaker 4: us and socials obviously donate. But he is so deserving.
Speaker 4: I mean, just think about on the road to two fifty,
Speaker 4: like we're about to get this out right to fifty
Speaker 4: years yep, two and fifty years ago he was in
Speaker 4: Philadelphia serving in the second Count of Congress while Abigail
Speaker 4: was home raising the family, and they didn't know how
Speaker 4: it was going to turn out.
Speaker 1: Well, there was nothing, nothing was guaranteed back then, no, no, and.
Speaker 4: He and he nominated George Washington to be the commander
Speaker 4: in chief. He was the one to suggested Thomas Jefferson
Speaker 4: should write the Delia Declaration of Independence, and when it
Speaker 4: came back on the floor, he's the one that argued
Speaker 4: for so he is so deserving of a monument, a
Speaker 4: memorial in Washington. See. And we also as a country,
Speaker 4: they served us so well, and we should do some
Speaker 4: worlds not just in service to them, but also to
Speaker 4: our country because the women inspire the next generation of
Speaker 4: Americans to give as much as the Adams.
Speaker 1: Said, Well, it's a great project. It's a pleasure to
Speaker 1: talk with you. And when you see my friends Steve
Speaker 1: Lynch telling me you were on my show, he's only
Speaker 1: been about twenty five times, I'm sure, and he really is.
Speaker 1: We have an interesting collection of Democrats here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: as you probably know, and he's one of the ones
Speaker 1: who enjoys coming on this program. Let me put it
Speaker 1: like that, Okay, he's been a friend for many years.
Speaker 1: I knew him when he was a state representative, state senator,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he's being He's a immense value to
Speaker 1: the effort. And say hello to your dad. I know
Speaker 1: your dad was a great historian, so I suspect that
Speaker 1: you have have have picked up a lot of that
Speaker 1: historical appreciation from your dad. So it's a I think
Speaker 1: it's a great combination between you and Steve Lynch and others.
Speaker 1: And again, give that website one more time so people
Speaker 1: can get information and maybe support it.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. So it's the Adams Memorial dot org. And we
Speaker 4: also have social media, so please follow us. We're announcing
Speaker 4: a scholarship thing. We're giving a scholarshful way to a
Speaker 4: senior in high school who's going to college. And we
Speaker 4: have lots of good things going on. One of the
Speaker 4: things of the Road to two fifty, which talks about
Speaker 4: John and Abigail on the way to the Declaration of Independence.
Speaker 4: So we're so thrilled to this project, and thank you very.
Speaker 5: Much for having me on it.
Speaker 1: Jackie Cushman, President of the Adams Memorial Commission. Love the interview, Jackie.
Speaker 1: And by the way, tomorrow we post this on our
Speaker 1: podcast page. My producer can tell you how to do it.
Speaker 1: He probably has already, but you can pull this down
Speaker 1: and use this. I'll just post it on your page
Speaker 1: and spread the word around the country because here w's.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know. WBZ is heard virtually
Speaker 1: everywhere in the eastern half of the US where a
Speaker 1: big old, one of those iconic radio stations from way
Speaker 1: back in the nineteen twenties, long time ago. I wasn't
Speaker 1: working here at the time. I want to make that.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Jackie, all right, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: All's say, how do you dadt for me?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 4: Well, have a good night.
Speaker 1: All right. We have the news coming up here at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the hour, which of course is very important,
Speaker 1: and we'll be back right after the news. On the
Speaker 1: other side, we'll go to talk about the New England
Speaker 1: Aquarium whale watch partners. They partner with the Boston Harbor
Speaker 1: City Cruises for the twenty twenty five season. Now, maybe
Speaker 1: you don't want to go on a whale watch today, tonight,
Speaker 1: or tomorrow, but you may want to get some information
Speaker 1: about these whale watches because you may sometime this summer
Speaker 1: like to go on one. Win the weather, it's just
Speaker 1: a little warmer. We're coming back on night Side right
Speaker 1: after the news.
Speaker 2: It's night Side you Boston's news radio.
Speaker 1: Not a great day to have traveled, And as we
Speaker 1: begin to get closer to the Memorial Day weekend. Let's
Speaker 1: hope the weather gets better. All right. My name's Dan Ray,
Speaker 1: and we're going to be talking about something that everybody
Speaker 1: likes to do in the summertime, and that is a
Speaker 1: whale watch. The New England Aquarium now is a whale
Speaker 1: watch partner with Boston Harbor City Cruises for the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five season with us as Bob Wawler, he's the
Speaker 1: Regional vice president general manager of Boston Harbor City Cruises.
Speaker 1: Explain to me, first off, I know what a whale
Speaker 1: watch is. Bob explained to me the partnership with New
Speaker 1: England Aquarium. How does that work?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 6: Hey, Dan, how are you? And thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: You're welcome.
Speaker 6: We've been a partner with the England Aquarium for well
Speaker 6: over ten years now, and what that does for us
Speaker 6: is it really has credibility and allows us to share
Speaker 6: research with the aquarium. We hire many of their interns
Speaker 6: as our nows and we you know, the biggest part
Speaker 6: is sharing the data and sharing the knowledge that the
Speaker 6: aquarium can bring to our guests that come on board
Speaker 6: our crews. So our naturalists work together with the interns
Speaker 6: from the aquarium, and as I said, we share all
Speaker 6: the data of all the whales and all the species
Speaker 6: that we see when we're out there.
Speaker 1: So so just to be clear, because I was a
Speaker 1: little confused on it, you in order to get tickets
Speaker 1: and get to the boats for the whale watch, you're
Speaker 1: not getting them at the aquarium or walking through the aquarium.
Speaker 1: And there's no tour that's associated with it. You have
Speaker 1: an association where you use the you work with the
Speaker 1: folks from the aquarium, who in turn work with you. Guys.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a cooperative effort effort.
Speaker 6: Right, But also we do depart right from their dock,
Speaker 6: so we not only do we share, well we leave
Speaker 6: right next to the aquarium. And so that makes it
Speaker 6: even better.
Speaker 1: Well, it makes it easier for people to find where
Speaker 1: they're going, because I know sometimes when you go down
Speaker 1: to the to the harbor and you're trying to figure
Speaker 1: which boat is witch or where you're going, you don't
Speaker 1: have much of an idea. So tell us the whale
Speaker 1: watches this summer. What's the schedule like, And let's first
Speaker 1: of all talk about that, and how long are the
Speaker 1: whale watches and what obviously, I know what they're going
Speaker 1: out there to see whales. How's it all work? What's
Speaker 1: going on? Sure?
Speaker 6: Well, we started cruising started with our whale watch season
Speaker 6: on the sixteenth, which was last Friday, and we'll go
Speaker 6: all the way through November as long as the whales
Speaker 6: are there, and the whales have just come up from
Speaker 6: the Caribbean and we see all kinds of species we see.
Speaker 6: You know, the ones that we see the most are
Speaker 6: the humpback whales and they like to put on a
Speaker 6: really great show either feeding and jumping around, breaching, slapping
Speaker 6: their tails. But we also see finback whale, fin whales
Speaker 6: and sea whales and minckey whales, as well as many
Speaker 6: species of dolphins and seabirds while we're out there. So
Speaker 6: this year we cruise every day, multiple times a day,
Speaker 6: so we do at least two cruises a day on
Speaker 6: weekdays and that'll pick up to four crew is a
Speaker 6: day as we get into the summer, and on weekends
Speaker 6: we can do up to eight cruises.
Speaker 2: So last year we.
Speaker 6: Carried over one hundred and twenty two thousand passengers out
Speaker 6: to stell Wagon Bank to see the whales. On five
Speaker 6: hundred and twenty four cruises.
Speaker 1: So how how far out do you go do you
Speaker 1: have to go to see a whale starting from the aquarium.
Speaker 1: How many nautical miles do you do you have to
Speaker 1: see that's.
Speaker 6: A great question. Well, stell Wagon Bank is the feeding
Speaker 6: zone and that's where the whales like to hang out
Speaker 6: all summer long. That's about twenty five miles outside of Boston.
Speaker 6: But it's a huge marine sanctuary that stretches all the
Speaker 6: way from Cape Ann all the way down to Cape Cod.
Speaker 6: But occasionally we get lucky, and even last week there
Speaker 6: was a juvenile humpback whale swimming around in Boston Harbor.
Speaker 6: But when we see one that close, that doesn't count
Speaker 6: as a whale watch. We like to get out there
Speaker 6: where the population is.
Speaker 1: Now. There's no truth to the room. And someone told
Speaker 1: me that last year there was one whale watch where
Speaker 1: there was a congo line of whales dancing along by
Speaker 1: the boat. That's not true, correct, Just.
Speaker 6: Well, I'm not sure who called it a congo line.
Speaker 6: But it's not uncommon for five seven whales to work
Speaker 6: together feeding and they use they call it's called bubble
Speaker 6: feeding or bubble net feeding, and they swim in circles
Speaker 6: and they blow bubbles and capture all those fish they need.
Speaker 6: Each whale needs to eat about three thousand pounds of
Speaker 6: krill and small fish a day.
Speaker 1: Man, do you think, and again, you know more about
Speaker 1: this than me, and I don't script questions? Do you
Speaker 1: think these whales that are out there understand that there
Speaker 1: are human beings on boats coming out to observe. Do
Speaker 1: you think that they're that intelligent, you know, species, that
Speaker 1: they really understand what's going on. I suspect they do.
Speaker 1: And I'm not a I'm not an expert on whales.
Speaker 6: I suspect they do too, Dan, and I think that,
Speaker 6: you know, as we see the same whales coming back
Speaker 6: year after year, and there are certain whales that seem
Speaker 6: to be more attracted certain boats, and whether that be
Speaker 6: from the noise the boat makes so the hum of
Speaker 6: the engines, or but they like to put on a
Speaker 6: show for us, and it's been great, so I like
Speaker 6: to think that they do.
Speaker 1: So literally any day. We got to first get the
Speaker 1: website so that people could have had a chance to
Speaker 1: listen to us. This is something that it's for all ages,
Speaker 1: whether it's a senior citizens going out on a romantic
Speaker 1: cruise or whether it's kids for the first time on
Speaker 1: a boat that is actually going out onto the ocean.
Speaker 1: Tell us, what's the website.
Speaker 6: So the website is Citycruises dot Com. Very easy, and
Speaker 6: just click on the Boston page and you'll find the
Speaker 6: New England Aquarium. Well, watch right up front, and I
Speaker 6: think you passed me earlier. How long is each whale watch?
Speaker 6: And it's about three and a half hours. So we
Speaker 6: get to you know, we cruise out there for about
Speaker 6: forty five minutes. It takes us a little while to
Speaker 6: find where the whales are, and we'll stay with them
Speaker 6: as long as we can for another hour usually, and
Speaker 6: then we'll we'll head back into shore. So it's about
Speaker 6: a three and a half hour adventure. And we're doing
Speaker 6: that every day during the summer, just beginning.
Speaker 1: Last and it's comfortable.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: You have you know, restaurants, climb food.
Speaker 6: We have food, food and beverage on board, climate controlled
Speaker 6: and we use very stable catamarants. So we use high
Speaker 6: speed catamarans to go out there and see the whales.
Speaker 6: So it's very comfortable. Okay, Now I heard you say
Speaker 6: you wouldn't do it today, Well neither would I.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, this was a tough day, that is for sure,
Speaker 1: is it? It probably is not very weather dependent once
Speaker 1: the the good weather finally gets here, correct, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm assuming that if you take a throw a dart
Speaker 1: at a at a calendar of the month of June, July,
Speaker 1: and or August, you're going to be pretty safe.
Speaker 6: You are the only thing, you know, The whales like
Speaker 6: like the water. They don't mind the rain, so they're
Speaker 6: out there. The only thing that would really cause us
Speaker 6: to cancel a trip or interrupt the trip would be
Speaker 6: high winds, which would bring the heavy seas and a
Speaker 6: little too rough. We like to keep our passengers nice
Speaker 6: and comfortable. We don't we don't want anybody having a
Speaker 6: bad time out there. So when the way, when the
Speaker 6: waves get too high, we'll just stay on shore and
Speaker 6: we'll try another day.
Speaker 1: And and just for my audience to the prices are
Speaker 1: pretty I'm sure reasonable. Obviously they're not. They're gonna this
Speaker 1: is something that that that people are going to pay for.
Speaker 1: This isn't free. But the prices are within reason.
Speaker 6: Hope, I hope they are within reason. And they're very
Speaker 6: competitive to the other whale watch companies were we start
Speaker 6: at seventy dollars. And that's for a three and a
Speaker 6: half hour adventure out on the sea.
Speaker 1: Great, and is it does it breakdown between adults and
Speaker 1: kids or is it per person?
Speaker 6: Yes, there's kid there's kid prices as well.
Speaker 1: So good, okay, great, Yeah, Now I just want I
Speaker 1: want my audience to understand what's going on and uh
Speaker 1: and this is something that everyone at some point should
Speaker 1: take advantage of, that's for sure. I appreciate your time tonight.
Speaker 1: This was a fun, fun chat, Bob, and I'd love
Speaker 1: to have conversations that are more fun related like this
Speaker 1: later on during the night we get into all politics
Speaker 1: and stuff, but this is something we all can agree
Speaker 1: upon that well. Watch is for all ages a great
Speaker 1: summer adventure.
Speaker 6: Thanks so much for you, and thank you. And yeah,
Speaker 6: just check out Citycruises dot com and you'll find us.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you about Bob law and reason, vice president,
Speaker 1: general manager of the Boston Harbor City Cruises. When we
Speaker 1: come back, we'll talk about another adventure for this summer.
Speaker 1: This one is land based. It's the American Heritage World
Speaker 1: War Two Museum. The World War Two Memorial Day festivities
Speaker 1: are upcoming, and we will talk with Rob Collins the
Speaker 1: president of the American Heritage Museum. Right after this break
Speaker 1: on Nightside.
Speaker 2: It's Nightside with Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 1: Well, summer approaches, and we're gonna once again talk with
Speaker 1: Rob Collings. He's the president of the American Heritage Museum.
Speaker 1: The American Heritage Museum, we'll be conducting their World War
Speaker 1: Two Memorial Day festivities in order this Memorial Day weekend.
Speaker 1: Welcome back, Rob Collins. How are you tonight.
Speaker 5: I'm wonderful, Dan, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Sure, so let's once again very quickly because I want
Speaker 1: people to know where you guys are located. You are
Speaker 1: really in at least two or three communities. It's a
Speaker 1: big parcel of land that upon which the American Heritage Museum.
Speaker 5: Sits correct, that's correct, The American Heritage Museum. Our physical
Speaker 5: address is in Hudson at five sixty eight Main Street
Speaker 5: in Hudson, but the vast majority of the property is
Speaker 5: in the town of Stow, and there we have this
Speaker 5: incredible museum which is sixty seven thousand square feet, but
Speaker 5: it's on a one hundred and thirteen acre parcel which
Speaker 5: allows us to have these tank demonstration weekends, historical reenactments,
Speaker 5: and other events, and during these weekends we open up
Speaker 5: other parts of the museum which are not generally open
Speaker 5: to the public, which includes an aircraft hangar and an
Speaker 5: antique car barn, which makes it just a fantastic time.
Speaker 1: So the event this weekend, the World War Two Tank
Speaker 1: Demonstration Weekend, is literally from Saturday at nine o'clock the
Speaker 1: twenty fourth of Saturday through Sunday afternoon at five pm.
Speaker 1: And I think that's actually pretty good timing with all
Speaker 1: the weather bad weather we've seen the last couple of days.
Speaker 1: Are you still open on Friday, you know, tomorrow, or
Speaker 1: do you open up on the twenty fourth Saturday at
Speaker 1: nine o'clock.
Speaker 5: I want to make the absolutely open tomorrow, as we
Speaker 5: are all weeks from Tuesday through Sunday. Unless it's a
Speaker 5: holiday week than we're open Mondays and Tuesdays with school holidays,
Speaker 5: but we are open tomorrow for the public. We are
Speaker 5: an indoor facility, so even in the lousy weather we've
Speaker 5: been having, people can come out and have an amazing time.
Speaker 5: And this weekend's looking really good. Looks like the rain's
Speaker 5: going to stop. It's going to be cooler, maybe more
Speaker 5: overcast on Saturday, but a perfect day for watching these
Speaker 5: tanks run.
Speaker 1: So tell us what people will see in the tank demonstrations.
Speaker 5: This is where we really try to bring history to life.
Speaker 5: We'll bring out some of the most iconic of the
Speaker 5: American World War two tanks, including there'll be a couple
Speaker 5: Sherman tanks, three Stort tanks, and M thirty six Jackson
Speaker 5: M twenty four to Chaffey. And these vehicles represent the
Speaker 5: American armor from the European theater in World War Two.
Speaker 5: And not only is it Memorial Day weekend, but we
Speaker 5: just saw the celebrations for V Day victory in Europe,
Speaker 5: and eighty years ago on May eighth, Europe was liberated.
Speaker 5: It wasn't just winning the war against Hitler. It was
Speaker 5: important that we're liberating France, Belgium, all of these countries
Speaker 5: that had been oppressed for so many years.
Speaker 1: And these tanks are not replicas. These are actual tanks
Speaker 1: that were involved in World War II, as I.
Speaker 5: Understand correct, that's correct. These are actual examples of these
Speaker 5: types that will be.
Speaker 2: Out running and driving.
Speaker 5: And to see them moving around, to see something that's
Speaker 5: twenty thirty tons, they are impressive. You can feel them
Speaker 5: as they go by. It's a great step back in
Speaker 5: time to understand what these vehicles were like. And without
Speaker 5: those there wouldn't be the freedom in Europe that there
Speaker 5: is today. And people can experience it because think about
Speaker 5: what it was like for these young crew members, eighteen
Speaker 5: nineteen year old kids who were thrust into these battles.
Speaker 5: But you can be part of this, not in a battle,
Speaker 5: but you can ride along a tank or even drive
Speaker 5: one of these vehicles experience what it was like.
Speaker 1: Right, But just to be clear, and I always want
Speaker 1: to be clear with my audience, that's an additional charge
Speaker 1: if you want to get into the tank or drive it.
Speaker 1: That's that that can be. That is an additional.
Speaker 5: Charge, correct, That's absolutely right. It's an additional charge on
Speaker 5: the lower end of the spectrum. We have rides in
Speaker 5: the half track. I believe they're forty dollars a person,
Speaker 5: but driving a tank is a lot more expensive on that.
Speaker 1: So what's the top end? Just so that people know
Speaker 1: for sure, if I say I want to get up
Speaker 1: there and drive a tank. Uh, you know how, what's
Speaker 1: what's that going to cost?
Speaker 5: If you want to be driving one of these tanks?
Speaker 5: The chaffee is nine hundred and ninety five dollars and
Speaker 5: the Sherman tank is fourteen hundred and fifty dollars. But
Speaker 5: it is an amazing experience. And it's what's incredible to
Speaker 5: me is the demographic of people who are doing this.
Speaker 5: It's incredible how many younger men and women are doing this.
Speaker 5: When I say younger, I mean like seventeen eighteen years old.
Speaker 5: A lot of times it's a high school gift, but
Speaker 5: today there are so many younger people who know these
Speaker 5: vehicles intimately through these video games. When I was a
Speaker 5: young kid, I would learn about aircraft or tanks, this
Speaker 5: history through models. But today these video games have really
Speaker 5: brought a whole new generation and built their interest. And interestingly,
Speaker 5: it was last weekend in the Wall Street Journal they
Speaker 5: were talking about the impact of World War two books
Speaker 5: and how this is the largest growing segment. And it's
Speaker 5: not World War Two books for adults, it's for kids.
Speaker 5: There's a huge amount of interest out there amongst the
Speaker 5: younger generations now.
Speaker 1: So if somebody, for whatever reason has the inclination and
Speaker 1: the financial wherewithal to drive one of these tanks, and
Speaker 1: again you mentioned the prices are pretty steep, did they
Speaker 1: get like a couple of photographs taken of themselves as
Speaker 1: a memory. I hope that they get they get something
Speaker 1: like that. In addition, what would what does a package
Speaker 1: like that include?
Speaker 5: Well, in this day and age, everyone's coming with their cameras.
Speaker 5: We're always equipped with them. They're always with us. And
Speaker 5: some people do put like a GoPro up there and
Speaker 5: have this. But it's really the experience is the one
Speaker 5: on one time with the instructor of learning about the vehicle,
Speaker 5: what it was like, how it operates, and so forth
Speaker 5: before you get into this tank or when you get
Speaker 5: into it.
Speaker 1: And for those who might be interested, you know, again,
Speaker 1: this is a this is a unique experience. Not too
Speaker 1: many people could ever say that they drove a World
Speaker 1: War II tank. What's the the approximate length of time
Speaker 1: that someone can be in command of the tank? Is
Speaker 1: it a thirty minute ride or something? What's the GIF?
Speaker 1: Give us some idea.
Speaker 5: Yeah, normally with the driving, it's about fifteen minutes, and
Speaker 5: that's the point when most people physically are tired of it,
Speaker 5: and it gives you an appreciation. Remember it is a
Speaker 5: thirty ton vehicle and whenever you move those break laterals
Speaker 5: to steer it there is no power steering, there's no
Speaker 5: power assist you're doing steering.
Speaker 1: Okay, No, I'm only would I would not have assume
Speaker 1: that is.
Speaker 5: The one thing that everyone appreciates a whole lot more
Speaker 5: is the commitment and sacrifice that was made by these
Speaker 5: these young men during World War II. And they all
Speaker 5: agree on one thing. When they get out of there.
Speaker 5: None of them are losing any arm wrestling competitions. These
Speaker 5: guys must have been really strong to be doing this,
Speaker 5: you know, eight ten hours a day.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And it's interesting. I know that some days we
Speaker 1: talk about how rough people in their early teens and
Speaker 1: early twenties, or they're in they're late between teams in
Speaker 1: their early twenties feel they have it today. And I
Speaker 1: think of that World War two generation, not only the
Speaker 1: people who landed on June sixth at Normandy and all
Speaker 1: those beaches, but I think about these young men who
Speaker 1: are driving these tanks across Europe. None of them will
Speaker 1: look at for you know, comforty animals, our blankets. They
Speaker 1: had to grow up real quickly, and it's amazing. And
Speaker 1: I think this will drive it home to people who
Speaker 1: perhaps don't have as much an appreciation of that as
Speaker 1: as maybe a prior generations have. So it's a great
Speaker 1: it's a great event. Give us the website one more time,
Speaker 1: so people who are intrigued and want to get up
Speaker 1: there this weekend, this Saturday and Sunday. What's the website, Bob.
Speaker 5: Rob Absolutely American Heritage Museum dot org. So American Heritage
Speaker 5: Museum dot org will bring you to the website. You
Speaker 5: can pre purchase tickets or you can buy them at
Speaker 5: the entrance. It is going to be going on from
Speaker 5: nine to five Saturday and Sunday or shine. But it's
Speaker 5: looking like we're going to have some decent weather and
Speaker 5: it's a wonderful way to step back in time. And
Speaker 5: I think you very succinctly said it. We're very privileged
Speaker 5: today with everything that we have. We look back now
Speaker 5: eighty years ago on the people and the sacrifices and
Speaker 5: that they had to make so we can have the
Speaker 5: lives we have today, and I think we all have
Speaker 5: to appreciate that a little bit more, and this is
Speaker 5: one way to do that, to have a greater understanding
Speaker 5: of what life was like eighty years ago during World
Speaker 5: War Two and at the end of the war.
Speaker 1: Absolutely Rob callings from the American Heritage Museum dot org.
Speaker 1: Appreciate best of luck this weekend. I hope the weather
Speaker 1: breaks perfectly for you.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Dan.
Speaker 1: All right, talk, so all right, we're done for the
Speaker 1: eight o'clock hour. We have a newscast coming up, and
Speaker 1: on the other side, we will be talking with a
Speaker 1: second candidate for governor on the Republican side. Again, this
Speaker 1: race is going to be an interesting race. We talked
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night with Brian short Sleeve and and I'll
Speaker 1: be talking with my guess, Mike Kennely. He'll be back
Speaker 1: with us right after the nine o'clock news here on nightside.