Speaker 1: It's night Side with Dan Ray WBZ Constance new video.
Speaker 2: Okay, I assume that many of you, maybe not everyone,
Speaker 2: but many of you in our audience have heard about
Speaker 2: this effort up on Plum Island, actually physically in Newbury
Speaker 2: not Newburyport, but in Newbury, Massachusetts, which is a different community,
Speaker 2: about a house that is called the Pink House. And
Speaker 2: we have been in touch with a group called Support
Speaker 2: the Pink House. If you've heard the story or read
Speaker 2: about it and haven't focused on the details, while you're
Speaker 2: in luck, because tonight we have the president of the
Speaker 2: group Support the Pink House with us. Her name is
Speaker 2: Rochelle Joseph and Rochelle welcome to Nightside. How are you tonight?
Speaker 3: Oh? Just great, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. Now, Rochelle, let me just start off
Speaker 2: with some basic questions. How long has this battle and
Speaker 2: it's a battle to save the Pink House. How long
Speaker 2: has this battle been going on? How many years?
Speaker 3: Well, the effort certainly has been going on for We're
Speaker 3: in our ninth year and we've been working with fish
Speaker 3: and wildlife and municipal, state and federal elected officials.
Speaker 2: Well, this this, this is not a simple story. So
Speaker 2: we're gonna we're gonna break it all down here. But
Speaker 2: how long have you been involved in this? You're the
Speaker 2: president of the group, so I'm assuming that you probably
Speaker 2: were there at the beginning.
Speaker 3: I was with uh uh, you know most of the
Speaker 3: people on the board also and uh yeah, so we.
Speaker 2: We what why is it? Why is it important to
Speaker 2: save this property. We're going to describe the property. We'll
Speaker 2: get to the history and all of that, but just
Speaker 2: as a as a starting point in our converse station,
Speaker 2: why is it important that this property, which is not
Speaker 2: in good condition at this point? I think everyone acknowledges
Speaker 2: those are different reasons. Why is it important that this
Speaker 2: piece of this house, which has stood there now for
Speaker 2: nearly one hundred years correct saved, be saved and not
Speaker 2: torn down.
Speaker 3: Well, it's a wonderful question and a really important one.
Speaker 3: Besides that, it is a hasard matter of meaning and
Speaker 3: generational memories for many, many people. I mean there's tens
Speaker 3: of thousands of people who are supporting this across the
Speaker 3: region and in the state and beyond. It's an economic
Speaker 3: driver as well. It brings people to the area. It's
Speaker 3: a tourist or visitor draw and people then stay shop,
Speaker 3: you know, eat rent and all. And it's also an
Speaker 3: artists muse. Many artists come out here, whether they're photographers, writers, painters,
Speaker 3: and have been so inspired by it, similar to the
Speaker 3: Motif number one, which is considered one of the most
Speaker 3: photographs structures, you know, in the country.
Speaker 2: I want you to know, I may be the only
Speaker 2: person listening tonight, but I don't know what motif number
Speaker 2: one is. And since you brought it up, why don't
Speaker 2: you tell me?
Speaker 3: I will be you know. Yeah, some of the things
Speaker 3: that make you know, like the Citco sign, the Numble
Speaker 3: Lighthouse in York, the.
Speaker 2: Very very if you had said the Citco sign, Rochelle,
Speaker 2: I would have known what you were talking about immediately. Okay,
Speaker 2: So this.
Speaker 3: Is filing in Rockport, right on the sea coast, and
Speaker 3: it's charming and just something that is an identifier of
Speaker 3: the area. And the Pink House with its unique silhouette,
Speaker 3: and when you see that silhouette you know where you are.
Speaker 3: It is. It is incredibly it's an identifier for this area.
Speaker 2: Now, just the history of the Pink House. Let's let's
Speaker 2: let's establish the history here. We're doing it sequentially so
Speaker 2: people can follow along. Built in nineteen twenty four and
Speaker 2: I read some article that it was called at one
Speaker 2: point the spite House because it built for by a
Speaker 2: man who had going through a divorce. And the tale
Speaker 2: and I don't know that this has ever been neil
Speaker 2: down but his wife, his ex wife, insisted that he
Speaker 2: would build a perfect specification of the house that they
Speaker 2: had lived in. How much truth is.
Speaker 3: That to that? Well, you know, it's an urban legend.
Speaker 3: We have had, you know, our our board, Sandy Tilton
Speaker 3: and Allison Oldele who did deep dives into you know,
Speaker 3: Sandy certainly worked for tell us about I'd like to.
Speaker 2: Know more about I'd love to know more about Sandy Tilton.
Speaker 3: Tell us about him. Uh, Well, Sandy and and Alison
Speaker 3: Elison who's founded the group. Uh. You know, Sandy is
Speaker 3: a nature photographer in the area, very very well known.
Speaker 3: She she you know, has great family history here originally
Speaker 3: from Ipswich, and she's just got her ear to the ground,
Speaker 3: knows everyone and is very passionate about community and about
Speaker 3: the region and about nature and is very invested in
Speaker 3: you know, the refuge in the fish and wildlife as
Speaker 3: we all are, and as well as in this house.
Speaker 3: Is you know, has been something that she along with
Speaker 3: the other five of us and several volunteers and many
Speaker 3: Is there anyone else in the.
Speaker 2: Group that you'd like to mention, because I'd like to
Speaker 2: get their names out and then we can we can
Speaker 2: move on back to the house. Who else in the
Speaker 2: group would you like to give it?
Speaker 3: Not to give everyone such justice, I.
Speaker 2: Really want to. I want to focus more on the cause.
Speaker 2: But please, let's let's give as many names as you'd like.
Speaker 3: Go right ahead, certainly. Well again, Alison Olvi is our founder.
Speaker 3: She and and then there is Sandy Tilton, as I mentioned,
Speaker 3: a board member, Jeff Ackley who's also a board member,
Speaker 3: and Kelly Page. So they are the four of us,
Speaker 3: and Kelly, you know, worked very hard on our preservation restriction,
Speaker 3: and everybody pitches in and wears many, many hats.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's get is there someone else you'd like to mention?
Speaker 2: That's fine, Okay, good, let's get back to the pink house,
Speaker 2: because I think people want to focus on the that
Speaker 2: aspect of the story. So I asked you and you
Speaker 2: said it was sort.
Speaker 3: Of a light house. Yeah, So let me tell you
Speaker 3: that anybody who's interested can go on our website at www.
Speaker 2: What I'm going to do, if it's okay with you,
Speaker 2: I will give you plenty of chance to mention the website. Okay,
Speaker 2: So what I'd like to do with your cooperation is
Speaker 2: it like to focus on the story of the Pink
Speaker 2: House so people who do not live near you understand
Speaker 2: what we're going to be talking about. So I'm going
Speaker 2: to take a break. I'm just going to reorganize here
Speaker 2: and we're going to come back so that people can
Speaker 2: understand why the Pink House has become so important to
Speaker 2: the community and what efforts are being made to save
Speaker 2: the Pink House against a lot of opposition from the
Speaker 2: federal government. You've gotten some help from Governor Healey. We're
Speaker 2: going to get into all of this.
Speaker 3: Okay, And I would like to address the Spite House
Speaker 3: and that that is a complete urban legend that I
Speaker 3: would that.
Speaker 2: Was why that actually that actually, to be honest with you, Rochelle,
Speaker 2: was why I asked you. And somehow we got a
Speaker 2: little sidetracked on the membership of the board. So I'm
Speaker 2: glad that everybody has had an acknowledgment. And when we
Speaker 2: get back from this commercial break, we'll go right to
Speaker 2: the Pink House, and uh, and and and tell the
Speaker 2: story of the Pink House, how it got to the
Speaker 2: state of disrepair that is in today, and what is
Speaker 2: being done to try to save it, and and and
Speaker 2: the battle that is being fought, because that's the story
Speaker 2: that I want my audience to know about. Okay, Uh,
Speaker 2: that's that's what is the important element of our conversation.
Speaker 2: And we'll take a break. We'll regroup and we'll be
Speaker 2: back right after this break on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios. I'm w News Radio.
Speaker 2: We're talking with Rochelle Joseph. She is the head of
Speaker 2: an organization called Support the Pink House. Some of you
Speaker 2: have read about this in newspapers, so we're gonna go
Speaker 2: back and Rochelle tells us that the origin of the
Speaker 2: Pink House in nineteen twenty four is still in some dispute,
Speaker 2: so we'll leave that alone. This house was occupied, Rochelle,
Speaker 2: from my reading of it, up until probably around twenty ten.
Speaker 2: And at that point the last family who lived there
Speaker 2: moved away, as I understand it, and they sold it.
Speaker 2: Who was it sold to?
Speaker 3: In twenty ten, it was sold to the United States
Speaker 3: Fish and Wildlife Service, right.
Speaker 2: Okay, so that's how they got involved in it. Now,
Speaker 2: this home is on a parcel of land. It's not
Speaker 2: in what we would consider a traditional neighborhood. But you
Speaker 2: mentioned to me there's there's, there's, there are houses across
Speaker 2: the road, and it runs by it's very close to
Speaker 2: a major road when people are driving into Plumb Island.
Speaker 2: Is that correct?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yes, it is a residential acre and it's right on
Speaker 3: and in fact, it belonged to several parcels of acres.
Speaker 3: But it's got a dozen or more homes across the
Speaker 3: street and Bob Lobster, who is a great lobster place,
Speaker 3: And there's a municipal are there's an airport actually that
Speaker 3: is considered one of the oldest in the country right
Speaker 3: next to it. So it's really not in the middle
Speaker 3: of the refuge.
Speaker 2: Okay, fair enough. The US Fish and Wildlife Services, I
Speaker 2: understand that initially wanted to perhaps use it as a
Speaker 2: headquarters or as a place where maybe people could stay.
Speaker 2: But apparently they concluded that it had fallen into significant disrepair.
Speaker 3: But but I'd like to speak to that, if I may,
Speaker 3: I ask you what I'm going.
Speaker 2: To do what I'm going to do. Actually, Rachelle, I
Speaker 2: was beginning to formulate a question. So if you'll just
Speaker 2: let me lead the dance here, I promise you you're
Speaker 2: going to get everything in As they started to mention
Speaker 2: the Wildlife Service as again I'm reading from an article
Speaker 2: in the Business Insider.
Speaker 3: From yeah, which is not very accurate.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm very much in favor of accuracy as well.
Speaker 2: But what I'm trying to do is ask questions, as
Speaker 2: I mentioned to you today, to which I want you
Speaker 2: to be responsive. I'm not here to cross examine you.
Speaker 2: I'm basically trying to conduct a direct examination. And if
Speaker 2: if you'll stick with the questions and respond to the questions,
Speaker 2: we will I guarantee you at the end of the
Speaker 2: hour have told the story effectively and you'll be able
Speaker 2: to I'm sure, generate some more support for for your
Speaker 2: effort to save the ping House. So the US Fish
Speaker 2: and Wildlife Service came to the conclusion, I guess this
Speaker 2: as bestis or whatever. Uh, it is not direct question.
Speaker 2: It is not at this point in a livable condition. Correct.
Speaker 3: All of his contaminants, which were not as bad as projected,
Speaker 3: did get remediated, So it is no danger to anything.
Speaker 3: And the house itself is quite sound. The bones are wonderful,
Speaker 3: the walls and the windows are straight, the roof is great,
Speaker 3: no cracks in the foundation. And that is a misconception
Speaker 3: that it's just really important for your listeners to know.
Speaker 2: Okay, So that's fine, So you would dispute the characterization
Speaker 2: that the US Fish and Wildlife Service has made, and
Speaker 2: you actually, as I understand it, found they put it
Speaker 2: up for sale recently, and as I understand it, there
Speaker 2: was no bid to purchase it from the thing.
Speaker 3: It was an auction the federal One of the problems
Speaker 3: here and why it's taken so long, is that the
Speaker 3: house can't be sold. Typically it is no longer a
Speaker 3: typical residential house because it's owned by the federal government.
Speaker 3: So really the reason we've been working on land trade
Speaker 3: is that they can only you know, one of the
Speaker 3: limited ways in which it can be freed from their
Speaker 3: ownership is through land swath, which actually is the most
Speaker 3: beneficial to them.
Speaker 2: So in terms of I'm going to I'm going to
Speaker 2: get to that in a second. What happened at the auction?
Speaker 2: Why was there no one did they put a reserve
Speaker 2: on the auction? Did they say that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the auction was for the house only and not
Speaker 3: the land, So that was one issue. It was logistically
Speaker 3: and cost prohibitive. Anybody who really looked into it as
Speaker 3: deeply as we did realize that there's quite a bit
Speaker 3: of limitation for moving it. And secondly, most people did
Speaker 3: not know that the location is is iconic as the
Speaker 3: house itself, and nobody really wanted see it moved, and
Speaker 3: so they learned. You know, that was what was learned
Speaker 3: in the thirty day period.
Speaker 2: Just so I understand and my audience understands, there was
Speaker 2: an effort by the government to sell the house at
Speaker 2: an auction, but an aspect of the requirement of the
Speaker 2: auction is that the house also would have been had
Speaker 2: to have been moved off the property.
Speaker 3: Correct, correct, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2: All right. So now you've been working on a plan
Speaker 2: most recently as I understand it, and if I'm wrong,
Speaker 2: feel to feel free to correct me, in which you
Speaker 2: have come up with a proposal which would involve a
Speaker 2: land swap. How would that work? And why has the
Speaker 2: government not been willing to participate in the proposal that
Speaker 2: you folks have made.
Speaker 3: Well, we have been working on a few different deals.
Speaker 3: I guess you'd call it with the uf fision while life.
Speaker 3: That's what we've been doing over the eight years. We
Speaker 3: worked for three and a half years or so on
Speaker 3: one landslap proposal that kind of fell through it the
Speaker 3: eleventh hour, which is really a shame. And then the
Speaker 3: Fish and Wildlife Real Pea came to us again a
Speaker 3: couple of years ago and said it would be so
Speaker 3: beneficial for their mission to trade this acre because they
Speaker 3: can because of the difference in price of marshaker, they
Speaker 3: can get up to hundreds of acre acres in return
Speaker 3: for the trade, and so it would be so beneficial
Speaker 3: for them to take this acre, which really is a
Speaker 3: residential acre on the Plumb Island Turnpike and possibly go
Speaker 3: where they would get forested acreage where there might be
Speaker 3: you know, animal species to preserve and things. And so
Speaker 3: we are still looking for that to be that has
Speaker 3: excited us that we could also.
Speaker 2: So let me let me let me break this down
Speaker 2: a little bit so I can understand it, because if
Speaker 2: I can't understand that, my audience won't understand it. So
Speaker 2: you're still working on again. Your phrase is a land
Speaker 2: trade where you or your group or someone from your group,
Speaker 2: whether the group itself would basically get the house as
Speaker 2: it exists and the land, the one acre of land
Speaker 2: on which it exists. The house would not move, the
Speaker 2: house would stay in location, and obviously you might be
Speaker 2: able to fix it up a little bit. And where
Speaker 2: would you find this more expansive acreage that you think
Speaker 2: the government might be willing to trade for the pink
Speaker 2: house and the land on which the pink.
Speaker 3: House sets well. Originally, when they came to us in
Speaker 3: this last time that I mentioned, they the real tea
Speaker 3: chief said, we'll provide the land if you prepare the
Speaker 3: house for being traded, which we did. It took about
Speaker 3: eighteen months, and we funded it with donor donations and
Speaker 3: utilized many many professionals in the area because so many
Speaker 3: people know what this house means to the area. That
Speaker 3: we had just everybody pitching in, which was wonderful. And
Speaker 3: in the last moment.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this, rachel Rachelle, did that give
Speaker 2: you folks for some period of time and opportunity to
Speaker 2: have access to the house and to make improvements and
Speaker 2: all of that.
Speaker 3: Answers great question. No, even while I have been in
Speaker 3: there and we have a building advisor who's gone in
Speaker 3: every year several times until the last couple of years
Speaker 3: to check for wellness after you know, storms and after
Speaker 3: winter and seeing that it was still holding up, we
Speaker 3: were not allowed to make any improvements, although everybody did
Speaker 3: offer money, donated materials and time, but again said we
Speaker 3: owned that is you know, they have processes where you
Speaker 3: know they would do. You know, that would be something
Speaker 3: they would do. And by the way, if it does
Speaker 3: get traded, which is what we hope, it would become
Speaker 3: fully restored, completely restored and usable inside out. So it
Speaker 3: really is do you have.
Speaker 2: A piece of property now that do you? As I
Speaker 2: understand it that if and we get to the governor
Speaker 2: in a moment, if the government hadn't interceded, there could
Speaker 2: have been a problem. Do you have a parcel of
Speaker 2: property acreage significant substantial acreage that it's in front of
Speaker 2: them now as an offer to trade or no?
Speaker 3: Yes, actually, although it is not. It was something that
Speaker 3: the Fish and Wildlife Realty Department, you know, was to provide.
Speaker 3: We did give turn in many we might as well
Speaker 3: look for acreage, and we did turn in many parcels.
Speaker 3: And right now because the governors seely stepped in and
Speaker 3: prevented the house from being demolished in the nick of time.
Speaker 3: It is so fortunate and we so appreciate that Fish
Speaker 3: and Wildlife agreed to just reopen to discussion about any possibilities.
Speaker 3: And we did find seven new pieces of land to
Speaker 3: add to the others, so both are going to be reconsidered.
Speaker 2: So how many acres or how many properties and do
Speaker 2: you have currently on your side.
Speaker 4: Of the.
Speaker 2: Table here to offer to the government.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, because we were asked to select the best fits,
Speaker 3: I'd say about fourteen of them, and then we know
Speaker 3: that there were some state lands looked for with the
Speaker 3: introduction of the government's amazing and excellent staff.
Speaker 2: Okay, well again, what I'm trying to do here is
Speaker 2: ask you questions that you can give me more specific
Speaker 2: answers to have there been people in your group who
Speaker 2: have said, gee, I own three or four acres over here,
Speaker 2: I would be more than happy to donate it as
Speaker 2: part of a land swap. Or what's the source of
Speaker 2: the acreage that you apparently have available to trade to
Speaker 2: the government for this house.
Speaker 3: I know you want me to answer succinctly, and you
Speaker 3: ask questions that are complicated, so bear with me. There
Speaker 3: are many in the community and in this region who
Speaker 3: you know did come forward. Not all of them were
Speaker 3: good fits. We went around and spoke to people with
Speaker 3: their specific criteria in mind, who were neighbors who people
Speaker 3: know of the Pink House, wanted to support the arts
Speaker 3: in the community and did offer their land. It wouldn't
Speaker 3: be a donation they it is that had a restoration
Speaker 3: partner who's been around for five years, willing to buy
Speaker 3: any land in the country that fish and wildlife would
Speaker 3: identify or want and trade it for that, and then
Speaker 3: he would own the house and restore it on his own,
Speaker 3: time fully and completely in and out.
Speaker 2: So this donor, and again I'm just trying to make
Speaker 2: sure I understand it, this donor is willing to You're
Speaker 2: not going to local neighbors or residents of the Plumb
Speaker 2: Island area and asking them to donate money to donate acreage.
Speaker 2: You're saying, would you be willing to sell that parcel
Speaker 2: of land to and and get get paid for the
Speaker 2: parcel of land, which then the donor would assemble and
Speaker 2: trade for the land for the for the Yes.
Speaker 3: And the great thing is that everybody wins here. The
Speaker 3: great thing is anybody who would do that with her
Speaker 3: land would then have the benefit of that land being
Speaker 3: perpetually conserved by fish and wildlife yew. Great is all that?
Speaker 2: Yeah? It is. Now. You came very close to the
Speaker 2: to the to the midnight hour and and Governor Healy
Speaker 2: got involved. We're going to talk when we get back
Speaker 2: with breaking for News. Now, We're going to talk briefly
Speaker 2: about the governor's involvement. And I want to know before
Speaker 2: we go to phone calls. We do have phone call
Speaker 2: is on the line. I want to be considered a
Speaker 2: there time. I want to know how quickly you think
Speaker 2: this situation will be resolved. You're as close to it
Speaker 2: as anyone, and so I'm looking for you to give
Speaker 2: me some indication of how you think it's going to
Speaker 2: get resolved and somewhat of a timeframe. Will we This
Speaker 2: has been a long battle over years now, fifteen years,
Speaker 2: uh and I want to get your your idea uh
Speaker 2: as to as to when it when it might get resolved.
Speaker 2: I'll be back with my guest, Rochelle Joseph. She's the
Speaker 2: president of a group called Support the Pink House. It
Speaker 2: is not a simple story, as you can tell, but
Speaker 2: I'm trying to break it down as best I can
Speaker 2: for me to understand it, and f you two as
Speaker 2: well if you'd like to join the conversation. The only
Speaker 2: lines I have open are six one, seven, nine, three,
Speaker 2: one ten thirty. The six one, seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 2: ten line ten thirty lines are full. We will get
Speaker 2: to those callers, I promise, be patient. We'll get to
Speaker 2: you quickly, as quickly as possible. Right after the news
Speaker 2: break at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: On Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: We're talking about the Pink House up on Plumb Island,
Speaker 2: actually in Newbury, in the town of Newbury with us
Speaker 2: as Rochelle Joseph. She's the president of a group called
Speaker 2: Support the Pink House. If you want more information, their
Speaker 2: website is support the Pink House dot com, or if
Speaker 2: you want to support their cause, we will give that
Speaker 2: website out a couple of times between now and ten o'clock.
Speaker 2: Let me if I can try to wrap our portion
Speaker 2: of the interview here, and I want to get the
Speaker 2: phone calls as quickly as I can. Rochelle, and the
Speaker 2: question I have is you you now hope that the
Speaker 2: Pink House can be saved, and you're optimistic because of
Speaker 2: Governor Healy's involvement, you're going to need federal support on
Speaker 2: this as well. Has anyone reached out to the incoming administration,
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe the Trump administration. I think the new Department
Speaker 2: of the Interior, there'll be a new secretary. I have
Speaker 2: no idea if your Fisheries and Wildlife if as a
Speaker 2: federal agency under what cabinet position that's under. But this
Speaker 2: might be a way in which the Trump administration coming
Speaker 2: in the door might be able to take a second
Speaker 2: and a fresh look at this and work in conjunction
Speaker 2: with the Healy administration and bring a conclusion to this
Speaker 2: that would delight your supporters and also be good for
Speaker 2: the taxpayers. Are you all hopeful that we can push
Speaker 2: this forward that way?
Speaker 3: Well, anything's possible that I think decisions have to be
Speaker 3: made to go forward for a landswap much sooner than that,
Speaker 3: and the house needs to be secured for the winter
Speaker 3: very very quickly, and it really would be a win
Speaker 3: for a fish and wildlife and in the region and everyone.
Speaker 3: So we are hopeful that that will go forward. We
Speaker 3: have the support of the governor and Senator Bruce Tarr
Speaker 3: and Rep. Kristen Kasner, all the mean the leaders of
Speaker 3: the surrounding towns and where we have worked with Congress
Speaker 3: and Moulton and Senators Marquee and Warren on this along
Speaker 3: the way.
Speaker 2: And with that, with that firepower, I think you're you're
Speaker 2: you're going to be guaranteed success in this. Let's go
Speaker 2: to phone calls. Six four ten thirty is the number. UH.
Speaker 2: If you have a question, feel free, If you have
Speaker 2: a comment, feel free. No speech is necessary. Heather in Haveril, Heather,
Speaker 2: you have first this hour. Appreciate your patients. Go right ahead.
Speaker 5: I just wanted to call just to kind of understate
Speaker 5: the importance of keeping the house I grew up in
Speaker 5: the report. Basically, the to me, the house adds depth
Speaker 5: and character to an already breathtaking landscape. You instantly know
Speaker 5: where you are when you see the house in any
Speaker 5: shot or painting, it's you instantly know where you are.
Speaker 5: You're taken right there to that spot, the mini you
Speaker 5: see the house, the silhouette. It transports you not only
Speaker 5: there in your mind, but to Summer's past, spent living
Speaker 5: out your childhood on plum Island beaches. She's the gatekeeper
Speaker 5: to the beach. She's the receptionist to the therapist, and
Speaker 5: I think it's the nostalgia, the familiarity in an ever
Speaker 5: changing world and the scary world that think us to
Speaker 5: her firmly and the hurry.
Speaker 2: You're referred to as the pink House.
Speaker 4: Correct, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: Good, okay, Heather, thank you very much for your call.
Speaker 2: Very interesting perspective. Let me go to Michael, who says
Speaker 2: he is a selectman from Salisbury, Massachusetts. Michael, I want
Speaker 2: to introduce yourself.
Speaker 4: Oh yes, Dans Michael Colburn, Salisbury's selectment cheer and I
Speaker 4: just wanted her spress uh full support on the Pink
Speaker 4: House as the Salisbury Board, which you know, Dan, Salisbury's
Speaker 4: right across the river from Newbury and the Pink House
Speaker 4: is part of our part of our skyline. And there's
Speaker 4: a kid that grew up in this area. You know,
Speaker 4: the last car was right, it's part of our childhood
Speaker 4: going to Palm Island. It was like the gatekeeper, you know,
Speaker 4: every kid knew they were gonna have a great time
Speaker 4: at Palm Island. So the board has wrote in support
Speaker 4: the report. City Council wrote support Ainsbury's City Council Newbury
Speaker 4: City I mean select board, all all the local officials,
Speaker 4: we all have talked about this, and we all have
Speaker 4: full support behind the Pink House, and we love everything
Speaker 4: that the group is doing, and they're right on this
Speaker 4: site and we all stand behind them.
Speaker 2: Michael, let me ask you a question, as an elected official,
Speaker 2: why do you think the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Speaker 2: seems to have dug their heels in and this particularly
Speaker 2: in recent years. Normally, when you have as much political
Speaker 2: firepower as Rachelle just you know, listed, as well as
Speaker 2: the support of folks like yourself from the town of Salisbury,
Speaker 2: why are you surprised that that this federal agency just
Speaker 2: seems to be unwilling to to move in your direction?
Speaker 4: Ah, yes, it is. It's very disheartening because there's no
Speaker 4: there's no real game for what they're doing. Their argument,
Speaker 4: their argument, and all the meetings we have had is
Speaker 4: that they're trying to re establish wildlife. Well, Rochelle and
Speaker 4: her group have gave her way more acres than this
Speaker 4: one acres. I mean, I think Rochelle at one point
Speaker 4: was up the Hunter Acres. So there. The Pink House
Speaker 4: has done everything like kids. So it's sometimes, you know,
Speaker 4: when I listen to some of the people from the wildlife.
Speaker 4: It's kind of the coming off very pickhead and not
Speaker 4: open minded to the community.
Speaker 2: Well, the thing that's interesting is that the elected officials,
Speaker 2: it sounds to me like, are all behind this, and
Speaker 2: the folks who were preventing the Pink House from being
Speaker 2: restored are not elected by anybody. They're they're you know,
Speaker 2: they're bureaucrats, and it's just it's interesting to me that
Speaker 2: you know, if if if the if the population there,
Speaker 2: if the people didn't want uh, didn't support the pink House,
Speaker 2: and if the the elected officials didn't support the Pink House,
Speaker 2: I would understand that. What perplexes me is that with
Speaker 2: that much political support uh the uh the Rachelle mentioned,
Speaker 2: you know, Congressman Moulton and Governor Healy, and you know
Speaker 2: that's I believe it's Seth Moulton's district and and he's
Speaker 2: as good a congressman as there is. I had him
Speaker 2: on the show on on Wednesday night on it or
Speaker 2: last night actually on a on other issues. The election.
Speaker 2: It just it's always difficult when you have to go
Speaker 2: up against this big behemoth of government. There were a
Speaker 2: bunch of houses down in Provincetown last summer, which they
Speaker 2: wanted to take, which had been owned by families for years,
Speaker 2: and for no reason. That's what I was frustrated to
Speaker 2: find out that there is hasn't seen to me to
Speaker 2: be some reason here. You know that that this it's
Speaker 2: it's it's frustrating not to quite understand what they're what
Speaker 2: the government's position is, or the fishing wildlife. The government
Speaker 2: officials seemed like yourself, seem to be supportive. Appreciate you call, Michael.
Speaker 2: It's good to hear from you.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Okay, thank you, Dan, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2: We'll take quick break back with my guest Michelle Joseph.
Speaker 2: More phone calls. We'll take as many as we can
Speaker 2: between now and ten o'clock and again the website if
Speaker 2: you're interested in This is not a simple story. It's
Speaker 2: a complicated story, but it's a story that at its
Speaker 2: at its core, I think it's pretty clear that there's
Speaker 2: a lot of people of goodwill who are trying to
Speaker 2: do the right thing here. And I've seen nothing in
Speaker 2: any of the government releases I've read them that has
Speaker 2: has given me any anything to hold hang my hat
Speaker 2: on and say, hey, this house is you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's an attractive nuisance, or it's leaking, there's oil that's leaking,
Speaker 2: or it's nothing anyway. The website is support the Pink
Speaker 2: House dot Com. Back on night died right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: to Night Side Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guess is Michelle Joson. She's the president of Support
Speaker 2: the Pink House dot Com. Got a bunch of calls.
Speaker 2: I'd like to get to as many people as possible. Debra,
Speaker 2: you've been very patient. You're next on Nightside with Rachelle
Speaker 2: Joseph Garrett ahead. Okay, if Debra's not ready, we will
Speaker 2: move past Deborah and we'll move to our next call
Speaker 2: and put Deborah on hold, and maybe we'll come back
Speaker 2: to Debora in the moment. Let me go to Margie
Speaker 2: and the Catskills. Margie and the Catskills, You're next on Nightside, Margie.
Speaker 2: Garret ahead.
Speaker 6: Yes, I have almost forty years experience working in a
Speaker 6: house that's been preserved, and I thought I heard it
Speaker 6: from the start, but I have some very specific questions.
Speaker 6: What is the year the house was built? Twenty four diogs.
Speaker 2: Nineteen twenty four is the year the house was built?
Speaker 6: And what style?
Speaker 2: I don't know that answer. Maybe, Rochelle, can you characterize
Speaker 2: the house its style? Rochelle, yes, it is.
Speaker 7: Are you hearing me? Yes?
Speaker 2: I hear you. Yeah. You want to get you off speakerphone,
Speaker 2: don't please, Rochelle, if that's possible.
Speaker 7: Sure.
Speaker 3: It's an American forest square, I believe. And it is
Speaker 3: unique in that you can see it from all four sides.
Speaker 3: And the cupola also makes it quite unique.
Speaker 2: Okay, And you can look up by the way, Margie,
Speaker 2: if you want to see a picture of you, just
Speaker 2: go to the website's right.
Speaker 6: I have the question decades experience of working with historic
Speaker 6: societies and working with this, what does the woman think
Speaker 6: is the major reason for preserving it?
Speaker 2: Well, Margie, I'll tell you we've talked about this for
Speaker 2: an hour. What I'm going to suggest is a couple
Speaker 2: of things to simplify things here. You're pretty good if
Speaker 2: I recall on the computer, just go to support the
Speaker 2: Pink House dot com. Also tomorrow you could listen to
Speaker 2: the entire interview. Rochelle and I have talked about it
Speaker 2: for about forty minutes. I suspect you've joined us a
Speaker 2: little late.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I didn't join you late. But I just want
Speaker 6: to make one point with the very dedicated woman. Unless
Speaker 6: the house has historic significance to the time period, there's
Speaker 6: very little.
Speaker 4: Hope for it.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that she would argue that there is
Speaker 2: historic significance to the time period.
Speaker 6: Good.
Speaker 2: And that's a pretty subjective judgment. What might be historic
Speaker 2: to you and me and to Rose Rochelle might not
Speaker 2: be historic to some bureaucrat with the Fisheries and US
Speaker 2: Fish and Wildlife Service.
Speaker 6: Margine, I would immediately discard the Fish and Wildlife. That's
Speaker 6: a terrible designation.
Speaker 2: Okay, Margie. What you might do is go to the
Speaker 2: website and there's a way to get in contact with Rochelle.
Speaker 2: And if you could be of any help to this cause,
Speaker 2: I'm sure she would appreciate it.
Speaker 8: Okay, goodbye, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Margie, have a great night. Let me go next to
Speaker 2: I don't know if Debra's back. Let's is Debrah still back?
Speaker 2: Is she still there? Okay? Fine, dever will try a
Speaker 2: second time. You there now?
Speaker 9: Yeah, I am, I'm righty here. Thank you. Thanks for
Speaker 9: covering this too. I was gonna say for me, I'm
Speaker 9: a little bit different because I don't live in the community.
Speaker 9: I'm in Chelmford, mass same place as Nibbe the beaver
Speaker 9: that Marray Hally also helped them keep in place at
Speaker 9: their rescue here that it was really nice thing.
Speaker 2: That was probably an easier task for the governor. I
Speaker 2: think she had more control over that than this.
Speaker 9: Property, but go ahead, definitely, But it was very exciting
Speaker 9: to see her get involved in this also. And I
Speaker 9: was at a rally for the Pink Houst the other
Speaker 9: like a couple of weeks ago, and Thundered Attire was there,
Speaker 9: and you know, there are a lot of people that
Speaker 9: I've seen from the Facebook group and different thing that
Speaker 9: you know, I see online and I see the photographs
Speaker 9: and pictures and paintings and you know, and it was
Speaker 9: nice to meet some person.
Speaker 2: We're getting tied on time. What is your question or comment?
Speaker 9: Mine is just I think it's worth saving. You know,
Speaker 9: you can just walk through downtown Newberry Point and you
Speaker 9: see the Pink House everywhere. You see it on coasters
Speaker 9: and t shirts and pottery and you know, paintings and
Speaker 9: photographs and it's just such a big part of the
Speaker 9: community that you know, I just when I'm bored. I
Speaker 9: just drive there and look at it. I recently went
Speaker 9: there to see the Aurora borealis and you know, there
Speaker 9: are a bunch of us were all there photographing and
Speaker 9: it was just amazing and I just can't imagine it
Speaker 9: not being there.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, thank you very much for your for your
Speaker 2: support on that. And by the way, Gustar is probably
Speaker 2: one of the hardest working state senators in Massachusetts, concerned
Speaker 2: about local issues, and he's done, as I understand it,
Speaker 2: a great job on this. Deborah, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: I just got to get a couple more calls in here.
Speaker 9: Hi, right, thank you.
Speaker 2: Thanks. Let me go to David and Newburyport. David, you're
Speaker 2: next on Night Side.
Speaker 8: Go right ahead, Yeah, Hello, this is David. Are you
Speaker 8: Are you with me?
Speaker 2: Yes? And more importantly, you're with us, David Ram, the
Speaker 2: host of the show when you were in the air,
Speaker 2: Go right.
Speaker 8: Ahead, Hill, Hi Dan. Yet, I'm David and I live
Speaker 8: in Newburyport on Plumb Island, and I just have to
Speaker 8: speak in a more focused fashion and that it's much
Speaker 8: more than history. It's a it's part of our community
Speaker 8: really big time. I drive by it every day, as
Speaker 8: many people do. And and uh, to see it David
Speaker 8: and Goliath event take place like this is really sad.
Speaker 8: I'm very sadden. Every time I go by speaking, I
Speaker 8: would be.
Speaker 2: I would be, I would be hardened in the sense
Speaker 2: that you have a group of people and they sound
Speaker 2: very dedicated listening to Rochelle today, who have joined together,
Speaker 2: and it is a David and Goliath battle. And yeah,
Speaker 2: sometimes David wins these things. You know you will win this.
Speaker 8: I hope, well hope in place of David, it's really Rochelle.
Speaker 8: She's been with us from the get go, and she's
Speaker 8: been very patient and very collegial, and very politically attuned
Speaker 8: to the different people that let me just add Bruce
Speaker 8: Tarr indeed to some extent, has been involved and a
Speaker 8: proponent of keeping it. However, I will speak as a
Speaker 8: as a citizen, as a businessman, and as an artist. Uh,
Speaker 8: it's been just dead space talking to all the politicians
Speaker 8: that we elected. They've not stepped up. They've had deaf years.
Speaker 8: And I don't want to be nasty about it, but
Speaker 8: I'm just oh.
Speaker 2: That's okay, it's good. It's it's good to hear. And
Speaker 2: again they need to work a little harder David, I
Speaker 2: have one more'd like to get in. I appreciate your
Speaker 2: call very much. Thanks, thanks for joining the chorus tonight.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Let's go to Jeff and West Newbury. Jeff,
Speaker 2: you've just called in. I give you about thirty seconds.
Speaker 2: If you can do something with it, go ahead.
Speaker 7: Yeah, Hey day, Dan, thanks for taking me on the call.
Speaker 7: So I'm one of the board members. And a couple
Speaker 7: quick things. One is the fish and wildlife. The reason
Speaker 7: why they're saying they need to take it down is
Speaker 7: that their big excuse has been that it's filled with
Speaker 7: asbestos and lead paint, and just to be clear, as
Speaker 7: we've talked about, that's already been all mitigated, so that
Speaker 7: excuse is kind of gone now now been it's just
Speaker 7: not responsible for them to maintain a house. That's not
Speaker 7: what they want to do. They want to take it
Speaker 7: down and preserve that acre. It's one acre. Now the
Speaker 7: house has been approved has been a praise for four
Speaker 7: hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. So the swap that
Speaker 7: Rachelle and you guys have been talking about at one
Speaker 7: thousand dollars an acre that equals four hundred and twenty
Speaker 7: five eight that they could trade it for which is
Speaker 7: ecologically important land. So at the end of the day,
Speaker 7: the most important thing to think about is from their
Speaker 7: mission and what they're trying to do. The question is
Speaker 7: it more important to save one acre of upland it's
Speaker 7: on a busy road, or swap it somewhere for the
Speaker 7: equivalent of four hundred and twenty five acres.
Speaker 2: Oh okay. Unfortunately, unfortunately, Jeff, we're going to have to
Speaker 2: leave it at that point. I wish you'd called earlier
Speaker 2: because I could have given you much more time. But
Speaker 2: the news await, so I'm going to laugh to say
Speaker 2: thanks very much. I think we understand your point. Appreciate it. Rochelle,
Speaker 2: thank you very much. The website is support the pink
Speaker 2: House dot com. Best of luck. I hope you prevail.
Speaker 2: But I like these sort of issues because it is
Speaker 2: always again, whether you call it a David and Goliath
Speaker 2: or fighting city Hall, we're on your side. Thank you
Speaker 2: very much for having joined us tonight.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 3: We hope it's a win for all.
Speaker 8: Appreciate it's hope.
Speaker 2: Let's hope. Thank you very much. When we come back,
Speaker 2: we're going to talk to a question that's maybe as interesting,
Speaker 2: but a little less contentious, and that is Christmas creep.
Speaker 2: Do we start to celebrate Christmas around here a little
Speaker 2: too early? We'll talk about that on the other side
Speaker 2: of the ten o'clock News