February 19, 2025 • 38 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Mike Nelson - MassWildlife’s Invertebrate Zoologist discusses the 22 Species Added To Mass. Endangered Species List.
Jamie Garabedian - MSPCA project manager brings us the Missed Connections Adoption Event- a heartwarming, fee-waived Adoption Event for dogs over the age of 1 year at all four of the MSPCA adoption centers and partner shelters.
Vin Femia – Vice President of the Dull Men’s Club checked in! This men’s club celebrates the mundane & uninteresting things in life!
Chris Lisinski – State House News Reporter discussed the neighborhood advocates and one mayoral challenger ventured into a frigid Franklin Park to call Wednesday for a pause to demolition work at Boston's White Stadium.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
Mike Nelson - MassWildlife’s Invertebrate Zoologist discusses the 22 Species Added To Mass. Endangered Species List.
Jamie Garabedian - MSPCA project manager brings us the Missed Connections Adoption Event- a heartwarming, fee-waived Adoption Event for dogs over the age of 1 year at all four of the MSPCA adoption centers and partner shelters.
Vin Femia – Vice President of the Dull Men’s Club checked in! This men’s club celebrates the mundane & uninteresting things in life!
Chris Lisinski – State House News Reporter discussed the neighborhood advocates and one mayoral challenger ventured into a frigid Franklin Park to call Wednesday for a pause to demolition work at Boston's White Stadium.
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good evening everyone, Thank you very much, Nicole. My name
is Dan Ray, host of Nightside, heard every weeknight from
a to midnight right here on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
We're in iHeart radio station. You can check us out
on the new iHeart app and you can listen to
our program or all of wbz's program program wbz's programming
three hundred and sixty five days a year, twenty four
(00:29):
to seven. Delighted to tell you those of you who
were listening last night on Nightside, we spent a couple
of hours last night talking about anti Semitic materials that
have been circulated to the members of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
(00:50):
They lay one hundred and seventeen thousand teachers across the commonwealth,
and we had Jeff Robbins and Sarah cob of the
Antidefamation Gone. We had a lot of very interesting callers
who were concerned, and the MTA, the mass Teachers Association
(01:10):
today withdrew those materials, those course materials which many had
alleged were inherently anti semitic, and if you saw them,
I think most people reasonable and rational people would see
that for what they were. So congratulations to all the
folks were called in last night and joined the course.
(01:31):
And I think that we made a little bit of
an impact on that decision, and I'm very happy to
announce that tonight. We may get to that a little
bit later on. We have several topics we're going to
get to. We have four topies coming up this how
we're going to talk with Mike Nelson in just a
moment about the massages of wildlife endangered species lists. We're
going to talk about the ability to adopt a dog
(01:52):
with no charge involved, going to talk with a fellow
out of Northborough who's associated with the group called proudly
called the Dull Men's Club, and to talk with Chris Lisinski,
state House news reporter about the protests at White Stadium today.
And then we will talk with Josh Kraft Kennedy for
Mayor of Boston, who participated in that demonstration opposing the
demolition and the the destruction of White Stadium as well
(02:18):
as about one hundred and forty five trees to make
way for parking over there for a for a soccer stadium.
And we'll talk about the closing the temporary closing estuary
of the JFK Presidential Library for a few hours yesterday,
was back open and operating today, thank goodness. But we're
going to start it off first with Mike Nelson. Mike
(02:39):
is mass Wildlifes invertebrate zoologist, and he brings word to
us tonight that twenty two species, not just the animal species,
animal and plant species were added this year, as it
is as it's done every couple of years to the
Massachusetts Endangered Species last Mike, thanks very much for taking
the time to join us tonight. These are plants and
(03:02):
animals probably that many of us might not have heard of,
but we don't want to see them to go extinct.
How are you tonight? Welcome?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Oh, thank you very much, glad to be here, and
you're absolutely right. It's of course the rarest and sometimes
that means the most obscure species in the state that
end up on the State and Dangered Species list. But
we don't want to lose them from the state or
even worse, have them go extinct entirely. So that's the
main purpose of the Masters and Danger Species Act.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Let me get one one clarification here, so you are
making a determination. We'll go through some of these that
the eastern red bats and the gigs abrout hoary bats
and silver haired bats. They are our three species, as
well as I guess a couple of types of bees,
(03:56):
the golden bullom moth and the Akkadian hairstreak butterfly. When
you say they're growing, they're going extinct or they're on
the endangered species list in Massachusetts. Could they be flourishing
elsewhere or the fact that they're in trouble here are
these species that are sort of endemic to our region
of the country in the first place.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Well, depending on the species, that could be either of
those things. So there's of course the Federal Endangered Species
Act that was an act in nineteen seventy three, but
in addition to that here in Massachusetts, we have our
own Endangered Species Act that was an acted in nineteen
ninety and all federally listed species are also by statute
on the Massachusetts list. But we have the ability in Massachusetts,
(04:39):
and we have since nineteen ninety designated additional species that
might not be federally listed, and the Massachusetts statute specifically
looks at the status of the species in Massachusetts with
the goal of not losing them from the state. Now
that being said, in protecting species by various means in Massachusetts,
(05:03):
it contributes to the regional and global conservation of these species.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Okay, so let's talk first of all, how how difficult
is it? I mean all of us you know, see,
you know birds, blue jays and things that all of
us are familiar with. And we know that there are
squirrels around, and pigeons and coyotes and all of that.
How difficult is it to track the continued existence or
(05:32):
the viability of again, some of these species that probably
most of us don't know very little, know very little
about again, an eastern red bat. I couldn't tell you
what an eastern red bat looks like our silver haired
bat's So how tough is how tough is this task
that that you folks have assumed.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Well, it's it's very difficult, But most of us do
it because we enjoy the work. We enjoy a challenge.
And it's not just the Massachusetts Natural Herigine Dangerous Species
Program and the messages to the beneficiaries and wildlife alone.
Although we're leading the charge to speak as the state
agency with charged with conserving dangerous species. In Massachusetts. We
(06:21):
have cooperators all over the state and that ranges from
obviously universities where there's a lot of expertise on some
of these species and on both plants and animals statewide,
but also there's in Massachusetts we have a I guess
relatively small relative to the population, but a thriving community
(06:44):
of amateur naturalists. So people that not only enjoy being outside,
but enjoy paying attention to plants and animals right down
to the species level, and enjoy looking for the VARs
species and reporting them on For example, probably the most
(07:06):
popular online community for doing that next to Massachusetts, but
across the country, and you know outside the country now
is eye Naturalists. So there's all these people out there,
no small number of them who are just interested in
not just the common species. So we have a lot
(07:28):
of collaborators, volunteers, and it all comes together and we
somehow managed to keep a reasonable tab on the conservation
status of most of the species in the state. And
when I say most, I say that because certainly when
(07:49):
people think of animals, the vertebrate animals you know, the birds,
the mammals, the reptiles, amphibean fish, but Also, I'm called
invertebrate zoologists because that's my specialty, although I do a
lot of other things. At mass Wildlife, I have a
one of a few people there with expertise in insects
and other invert animals, and then of course the botanists
(08:13):
who work with the plants. So those are the main
groups you pay attention to, you know. Obviously people don't
get into other groups of things that are even more obscure, like,
for example, mushrooms and fungi. There's just not the expertise
out there to do what we do with those.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Okay, so real quick question if I could, and we're
kind of running out of time, but I think this
is a fascinating subject and topic. So let's assume you say, okay,
there's this bad this red bat, or this hoary bad
or this silver haired bat. I'm focused on those. I
know that there we mentioned some of the others, A
couple of types of bees, and a moth and a butterfly.
(08:54):
Do you get to the point where you say, look,
we're down to like, you know, fifty of these and
some how we have to capture a few of them
so that they can they can regenerate the species. Are
you simply looking and saying, Okay, they were fifty last
year and now they're down to twenty two and you know,
there's not much we can do.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, it depends there's the resources there to do what
you're describing, which would be basically captive breeding. Yeah, that's
something that's done in a number of state that's done,
for example in Rhode Island, in New Hampshire, now as
much in Massachusetts, where the New England cottontail would be
(09:38):
one example of a man I can think of it.
It's done with. That's sort of the last ditches.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
They answered, Yeah, okay, when you say the New England cottontail,
you're talking about a bunny rabbit. You're talking about a snake.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Now I'm talking about there's actually two species of cottontail
rather than Massachusetts, and this isn't very widely known, but
there's a there's a very rare one that is actually
doing better in Massachusetts and Rhode Island or New Hampshire,
which is why it's actually not even state listed, although
(10:13):
we do manage habitat for it here in Massachusetts. It's
called the New England cotton tail and it's mostly in
the southeastern part of the state in pine barrens and
others shreby habitats.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, I think the snakes are called cotton mold. So
when I heard the word, okay, good enough. Hey, look,
I really enjoyed the conversation. Mike. You know so much
more about this than I do. Thank you for what
you do, and let's keep in touch. Maybe we'll have
you on some night and go into it for an
hour and take phone calls from listeners. How about that.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Oh, that's certainly a possibility. Dan.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
All right, Mike, appreciate it. Mike Nelson with the mass
Wildlife Federation, and we really appreciate you taking the time
to join us tonight. Thanks. Thanks again, Mike Nelson. When
we come back and we talk about a great program
where you can opt a dog and a lot of
the fees will be waved, we'll give you that if
you're looking for a companion animal. Nothing beats a dog.
(11:08):
I'm a dog guy. We'll be back on Nightside right
after this quick break.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'm WBZ News Radio. Well, if you're thinking about getting
a dog, have we got a great deal for you
with us as Jamie Garabedian, the Massachusetts Society for Protection
of Cruelty to Animals Project manager and animal in the
Animal Protection Division. Jamie, Welcome to Nightside. You have some
(11:38):
really interesting news for our audience. How are you this evening?
Speaker 4 (11:42):
I'm good, How are you? Thanks for having me?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Oh, our pleasure, Our pleasure. I'm a dog guy, love dogs,
and you are doing a fee waved adoption event for
adult dogs. But the definition of adult dogs is for
dogs over the age of one year, so we're not
talking about elderly dogs. We're talking about dogs who are
(12:07):
adult dogs over a year. I think of adult dogs
as being three or four because dog years seven seven
adult years for every dog year, I'm thinking of a
dog that's one or two, sort of being a preteen
or a teen. But this sounds like a really great,
great event. Tell us how folks can can get in
(12:30):
line to meet some of the adoptees, the potential adoptees.
And this is a fee waved events, so people can
can get a great companion without spending a lot of money,
which is fabulous. Tell us about it.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Yeah, absolutely, So the event goes until the twenty third.
It takes place at all four of the MSPCA adoption centers,
but we're also joined by our mass coalition shelter partners Berkshire,
Our Humane Society, Bay Pass Humane Society, Wooster Animal Rescue League,
Boston Animal Control and Thomas J. O'Connor Adoption Center and
(13:08):
Animal Control. So all across the state, not just you
know the eastern region where MSPCA is, but all across
the state the event is going on. Each location has
different open hours, so we do encourage people to go
to their websites and check out how each location operates,
or you can go to MSPCA dot org slash dogs
and we have all of that information there for you
(13:31):
as well. But it's simple. The adoption process remains the same.
The only difference is we're removing the fee, so we're
hoping to reduce some barriers and get people in the
doors to find their new best friend. We have a
lot of amazing dogs that are just waiting for home.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Now folks can visit the adoptable dogs, these beautiful animals,
these beautiful companion animals. Can they see them online as
well as visit them in person. What's tell us about that?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Absolutely, so on the MSPCA side of things. If you
go to our website, eligible dogs are going to be
marked with a star on their profile, so you can
tell which dogs are part of the event. And then
if you go to MSPCA dot org slash dogs, that'll
direct you to the other locations with the other shelters
that are participating as well to their website so you
can see which dogs they have available and are eligible.
(14:23):
Again at MSPCA, you can do them online or you
can come into our shelters during open hours chat with
a staff member and then would be happy to introduce
you to the dogs that you're interested in.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Now, how much under normal circumstances would it cost to
do this or how much will people save who take
advantage of this great opportunity this.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Weekend peace range depending on age, but where this is
all dogs over one year. The typical adoption fee at
MSPCA and then again at the other locations are around
the four hundred dollars mark four hundred and four to fifty,
so again and you're it's quite a savings and the
hope is that it reduced some barriers and just you know,
(15:05):
encourages people to come in and meet some wonderful dogs
that are waiting.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
For a home.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Our daughter adopted from a from a dog an animal shelter. Uh.
Just this beautiful corkie. Uh. He's a We think he's
about two years maybe two and a half years old.
His name is Mustard. Uh. And he is truly the
love of the love of my life. I mean, he's
(15:31):
these these animals that are there, they are just they're
fur balls full of love. Uh. And and I know
that a lot of people want to go by, you know,
from a breeder, but these are wonderful dogs that that
are available. I assume it's a fairly wide range of
big dogs, medium sized dogs, small dogs. Uh. I. I
(15:55):
assume between all these shelters there will be there will
be plenty of matches people can find.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, absolutely, based on breed, based on personality, Between all
of the locations, there's something for everybody. And again, if
you come in and you want to chat with a
staff member, happy to talk you through what it is
you're looking for, what kind of pet would best meet
your lifestyle, and you know what kind of family member
you're hoping to add, and happy to help you make
the perfect match.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah. I mean, if you're living in an apartment. You're
probably not looking to adopt a great Dane. I get that,
you know, although it.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Could be a couch potato bait day and you don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I understand. I don't want to eliminate, eliminate anyone. So
when someone comes in and they've seen a dog, what
do you do with this? Two or three people who
have the your eye and the same dog? Do you
you know, cut a deck of cards? Do you flip coins?
What you know? Rock paper scissors? Shoot? What do you do?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
It is a first come, verserve situation. So if someone
was already talking to a staff member and meeting that
dog first and then interested in wanting to take the
dog home, that person or that family would be, you know,
the first in line to do so. It usually doesn't
happen too often, so I wouldn't let that discourage anybody.
If you see a dog that you're interested in, just
(17:12):
encourage you to try to come in on the earlier
side if you have your heart set on one of
the open hours based on the location. But yeah, it
usually doesn't turn out to be too much of an issue, No.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Problem, no problem. So the event is already underway. Today's
the nineteenth, So this started on Monday and.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Then we already sent home almost sixty dogs, which is amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Great and so in how many what's what is the
population here we're talking about between all of the different locations.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I'm not sure if the exact number that are eligible,
but I.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Would thought you said something.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I thought you, yeah, that's the capet. That's I would
say how many we all have in care, But how
many are eligible for the event. I'm not totally sure
on the number, but there's definitely so many left.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Excellent, excellent. They all they have to do. The first
step they have to take is just go to m
s p c A dot org slash Events, slash Dog
hyphen Adopter thon or you just find it at m
s p c A dot org. I'm sure all the information.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
And h M s d A dot org slash Dogs
is the easiest one and that'll bring you to all
the information.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Perfect, perfect, Okay, thanks for correcting me on that, Jamie.
And uh, you're doing great work with big fans of
the m s p c A and of course big
fans of dogs. So uh, they make a huge difference
in people's lives. If you've never owned a dog. They are.
They they will change your They make the worst day
you have tolerable, and they are so much fun. They
(18:49):
they will change your lifestyle and your your existence. And
I'll tell you I'm just I'm such a dog person.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
We had a King Cavalier Spaniel named Charlie for for
ten years, has a has a Shorky which is a
part Shitsu in part Yorkie named Willie, and Mustard the Corgi.
So now we are a big extended dog family and
we hope everyone will who doesn't have a dog will
(19:20):
at least look at the website MSPCA dot org slash dogs.
Thanks Jamie, appreciated very much. You're doing God's work.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Remember when you spell God backwards, it spells.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Dog got dog, ye.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Jamie. All right, here comes the news at the bottom
of the hour. When we get back, when we talk
to a really interesting dude. He may not think he's interesting,
Vic Femi. He's with the Northboro doll Men's Club. This
will be interesting right after They're all interesting tonight, right
after the.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
News, it's night.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Well, we've had many guests here on Nightside over the years,
eighteen years and I've never had a gentleman from a
group that is entitled the Dell Men's Club, but that's
what we have right now. Vin Femia, he's the vice
president of the Dell Men's Club. Vin, welcome to nightside.
How are you.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
I'm doing fine, Dan, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
You're welcome. How long have you been vice president? Is
the president term limited? Can you potentially ascend to the
top spot anytime soon?
Speaker 6 (20:36):
That's not anything like that. But the president is actually
the founder of the local chapter of the Dull Men's Club,
and he's been in that role for eleven years. He's
just unavailable tonight, so I might have been raised to
the realm of vice president just in the last couple
of days to do that. In fact, this is an
international organization and the man who started it won't take
(20:56):
the title of president because he says that's too haughty,
claims that he's the vice president of the international Adull
Men's Club.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Okay, so you might be the vice president pro tem
or something like that tonight, but thank you very much
for sitting in. Now. What's the most exciting thing that
the Dell Men's Club does during the course of the year.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Well, okay, First of all, we have a meeting every week,
and this is a group of retired men. We'll get
together once a week for an hour to talk about whatever.
We share experiences. We talk about current news and current events.
But with the exception of two topics, we do not
allow our group to talk about religion or serious politics
(21:39):
because we'd like to stay friendly.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Leave that tonight's side. We'll handle that for you guys.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Okay, I know I was just listening to your discussions
with people about Elon Musk, but let's not get into
that because no.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
No, no, no, no, we don't. We don't want to
stir up any trouble here. So now, this club, I
know is based in Northborough, but you have members from
several surrounding communities.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Correct, that's correct.
Speaker 6 (22:04):
There are actually at least three dull men's clubs in Massachusetts.
Ours is pretty popular because I think the topics seem
to interest people, and you know that people invite other
folks and folks from other towns. Our Senior Center where
the meetings are held, is a vibrant community and there's
(22:29):
a lot going on there and it just sort of
feeds off the Senior Center and people being invited by
other folks and everything. I want to go back to
the question you asked though. During the year we do
a number of different things. We go on field trips.
We've gone to like the New Land Patriots Hall of
Fame and Museum. We've gone to the Military American Heritage
(22:51):
Military Museum in Hudson. And we're in the process of
arranging a flight for the group of those of us
who are veterans to fly down to Washington, d C.
For just a day trip for a tour of the
different monuments and things like that.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Sounds great, great, Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
And we also contribute to the community, like every couple
of months we contribute to the local food bank food
pantry that supplies food to needy families. Sure, and I
hope I'm answering your question anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
No, no, you're giving me a sense of it. And
again I know that the name of the club is
the one that draws the attention to matter of fact,
I read the article out of the Worcester TNG. Sarah
Barnacle used to work with us at WBZ here. Well,
we're now currently in Medford, so I know Sarah very well.
She wrote a great piece. Tells me that it was
(23:47):
founded the local chapter eleven years ago. And you've been
in existence and the membership has been pretty stable. Are
you Are you growing every year by a few members.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Yeah, we are actually, and of course since these are retired,
then we lose a couple of members every once in
a while too, unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Of course.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
Yeah, but yeah, Like we have a initiation process where
somebody who comes in who's new, we give them five minutes,
so just tell us about their background, you know, what
where they grew up, what jobs they had, and things
like that. So it is growing, and we've got our president.
Estimates we've got a group of about sixty total in
the organization and our meetings usually have twenty five to
(24:30):
thirty people.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
It's pretty good. It'd be great if we could get
voted turnout that much. If you don't know, a month
on a monthly I don't want to get in politics here,
but if you if you do that on a monthly basis,
that's that's a good backbone for the club. So there's
a lot of clubs, rotaries and Lions clubs and Elks clubs.
Is this you mentioned that there's three chapters in Massachusetts.
(24:55):
Are there other chapters around the country or is this
endemic to Massachusetts.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
Now, like I said before, it's an international organization that
was started by a man in England.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Oh correct, okay, let I should have caught that when
you mentioned it. I was focused the probably my next question,
so it's.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
Easy to understand.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, it's international. Okay. Do you ever get a member
from another country who happens to be in the Northborough area.
I'm sure that you know this says some you know
cross over here. It must be kind of exciting when
you have someone, let us say, from England or Australia
or whoever the clubs are elsewhere. Have you ever had
a foreign member sit in for one of the sessions?
Speaker 6 (25:40):
In fact, every year we have a barbecue that's hosted
by one of the Dall Men's Clubs in Massachusetts for
the for all the clubs in Massachusetts, and at one
of them a few years ago, the founder followed by
the name of Gordon Klick attended and in fact, we
had a very interesting conversation with him at maybe a
dull men level, interesting conversation about one of our road
(26:01):
trips that we had just had, and he told us
about what he said was the first bus tour that
they ever went on the bus. Drove up, the bus driver,
get out. He walked them around the bus, showed them
how much air was in the tires. Let them get
on the bus, let them get off the bus, and
that was the bus tour.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Well, you know something you got to take. You got
to think, take things slowly. I mean, there's no sense
of getting on a bus the first time and going
cross country once that all of us find out. It's
one life is one step at a time, and if
you're careful with your steps, it might not be the
most exciting life, but it probably is a life that
(26:40):
that is fulfilling, nonetheless. And it looks to me I
looked at the pictures in the TNG here I could
tell from the expressions on the fellow's faces that they
that they enjoy themselves. When you go to the center, okay,
for for your you meet how often again, help once
a month or is it more.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Often once a week?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Every wedd once a week? Okay? So and you meet
fifty two weeks a year, do you take a little
break in the summertime just to kind of, you know,
calm down a little bit.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
Now, the meeting always takes place, and whoever can make
it makes it, and whoever can't, you know, they'll come
maybe the next time. So yes, it's two weeks.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Okay, fair enough, okay, And I assume that you might
have to adjust your schedule if there's something more exciting
and competition. Let us say, if it falls on the
fourth of July or on Christmas. I assume you might
have the meeting a couple of days before, a couple
of days after. I'm just guessing.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Actually, that's a very good point because this year the
meetings are usually on Wednesday, and this year Christmas and
New Year's were on Wednesday, so we did skip those
two weeks. So you are right about that.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh that's a no. Look, I certainly, I certainly can
understand that. Let me ask you something, vic are you
you're a local author and you're described as by my
friend Sarah Barnacle local author, a certified dell man. Is
that a member you call yourself? It's a dub men's club,
so you accept the moniker of it being a dull man. Correct.
Speaker 6 (28:05):
I guess it's sort of a mixed blessing kind of thing.
But yeah, I was lucky enough to have three books
that I've written and be published one is about the
Red Sox and two about the New England Patriots. And
I've done some talks about those kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
And what era did you write about the Red Sox
if I could ask.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
Well, back in two it was back in two thousand
and three and two thousand and four, and I wrote
about why they had never won for so many years
and then what happened in two thousand and four to
change things. And you know, I donated half of the
proceeds for this to the ALS Association, the Blu Garage disease,
(28:45):
people who treat families that have or worked with families
rather lugaryag's disease.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
And you know, I've done these talks at the doll
Men's Club and at the Senior Center and so on,
and we've had other speakers come in as well to
talk about different top of types of things. In fact,
it was an extended meeting. We had Harvey Leonard come
in a few weeks ago to just talk about the
storms that we had ten.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Years ago, great great meteorologist. Okay, so I'm gonna I'm
gonna run one question by you, gonna run some names
by you. Here. I don't know how old, Joe, but
I'm assuming that probably you you're a baby boomer. Is
that fair to say?
Speaker 6 (29:21):
That's correct?
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Okay, what do the following names have in common? Sammy White,
Pete Daily, Leo Kylie, and Billy Consolo all.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Were former Red Sox players. Sammy White was a catcher,
Billy Consolo was a maybe a utility infielder. I forgot
the other two names, but they were all for me.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Daily, Pete Daily.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
Pete Dailey doesn't ring a bell. To be honest, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Daily was was Tammy White's backup.
Speaker 6 (29:49):
And Leo Kyley, boy, the name is familiar. John Kylie
used to be the organist.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Of course, write a different spelling. Leo Kyley no relation,
he always went. When you refer to a left handed
pitcher in those days, you always have to use the
adjective he's a crafty left handed pitcher.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
I know, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
They were all crafty right hand Yeah, no, there were
no crafty right handers. Also, one of my closest friends
passed away at the ripe age of ninety ninety one,
Ted Lepsio. So yeah, you know, I'm a big Red
Sox and baseball guy as well, and of course everyone
(30:30):
in New England's now a football guy. Well look, yeah,
I hope I didn't stir anybody's heart too quickly when
I mentioned Leo Kylie and Sammy White and Pete Day
and Billy Consolo and Ted Lepsio. But I wanted to
just take the take the temperature in the room up
a little bit. Okay, thank you so much, Vic. I
enjoyed chatting with you. It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
Okay, yep, thanks a lot, Dan.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
And if folks want to join the club, I'm gonna
ask crazy questions. Do you have a website where they
can go or how do they do? They just show
up at the meeting sit the Senior Center. What do
they do?
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Well, first of all, there is a website. They can
go to www dot Dollman's Club dot com all one
word for doll Men's Club. And yes, the other part
of your question if they just want to show up.
The meetings are Wednesdays at ten o'clock. And as I say,
any topic is open except for those two about religion
and serious politics.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
And and let me just give you a little tip
when you give the website, don't need the www. Anymore,
just doll Men's Club dot Com. It's as simple as that.
That www. They used it for a while, but that's
that's a little antiquated, Okay.
Speaker 6 (31:39):
The members of the club, so it works out with.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
No they the members of the club are experienced, they're
not antiquated. Thanks Vig. Enjoyed the conversation very much. Thank
you so much, have a great one. Good night. Can
you see Sarah Barnacle say hi for me?
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Okay, thanks, good I love you too.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
All right, by byeh That was fun and we get back.
We're going to talk about an issue in controversy which
we're going to talk about next hour two and that
is the fate of Boston's White Stadium. Chris Lisinski, state
House News reporter for the State House News, is coming
up right after the break.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
All Right with us now is State House News Reporter
Chris Lisinski. Chris, appreciate you taking the time. You had
a busy day today. I believe that you were over
at a frigid Franklin park covering the demonstration which is
trying to stop the demolition of Boston's White Stadium. Looked
like it was a pretty good sized crowd there today.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, definitely, a few dozen folks turned out for it.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Yeah, this is an interesting case because I guess the
demolition has started, even though this is scheduled for I
guess area coord trials sometime next month.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
It does indeed look like that. Granted, the demolition work
that we're seeing does appear to be preliminary. Some trees,
and you know, those of us who are on site
saw crews working on one of the grand stands at
the stadium. This is a grand stand that has been
damaged for years by fire and was probably always going
(33:25):
to be replaced whatever direction the project goes. But still
there is work underway, as you noted, about a month
before a trial is set to begin in a lawsuit
challenging this project.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yeah, so I'm assuming that there must have been some
sort of a request for a temporary restraining order that
was denied. Obviously, the two elements of a temporary restraining
order are that you have to show that there's irreparable damage.
I think demolition fit into that category pretty easily, But
you also have to show a greater likelihood that you
(34:00):
would prevail on the merits. Have you covered this story
over the last few weeks so you could confirm for
me that there was an effort to stop this, but
that request for restraining order was not allowed.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Yeah. I haven't covered it as much as some of
my other colleagues in the press, but I do believe
you're right that the court battle has certainly been going
on for some time. It's not a brand new court battle,
so there was certainly a chance for a judge to
intervene at some point before we got to this phase,
and instead we have a trial scheduled for next month.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Yeah. This is interesting because I'm told and I again
if I'm not asking you to make any sort of
a commentary here you're a reporter, but that a lot
of trees are apparently going to be taken down to
make way for I guess some other aspects of things
(34:58):
that might surround a new White stadium. And told us
about one hundred and forty five trees that are in jeopardy,
and I think some of that work might be underway
as well.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
It seems like some of the trees are starting to
come down. That is one of these central complaints that
opponents of this project are raising is the cutting down
of these trees. That being said, the response from city
Hall is that once the project is fully complete, there
will actually be even more trees than when they started.
There are plans to install some new trees and actually
(35:32):
add about an acre of green space once we get
to the other end of this controversial process.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, and it's controversial. It's also expensive. I guess the
price tag at this point looks that it's going to
be about one hundred million dollars. As you understand, is
that all in you know, for the effort that is
that from soup to.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
Nuts that would be That would be about the city's
contribution to this. A lot of the work under the
agreement would be funded by Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the
private group hoping to bring a pro women's soccer team
to a new white stadium. I think the latest estimation
is that the city's share would be about ninety one
million dollars altogether.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Okay, so those contracts tend to roove up a little bit.
What is the what if this is a public private partnership,
what are the private folks contributing? What's the Have you
seen an estimate of the overall cost for this to
go from from where we are now to actually completion.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
Oh, great question. I do think it is roughly fifty fifty.
I could be wrong about that, but I'm sure that
it's by you know, at the very least. I would
expect that the private investors are matching, if not exceeding,
what the city is expected to pay here.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, and I know that it's become an issue in
the mayoral race. And Josh Craft, who will join us
after the nine o'clock news and we'll hear from him,
but he was out there with these demonstrators today. I
guess the one thing that you can comment on without
getting into the politics of it is it was chili
out there today.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
Yes, I can confirm. But folks were bumbled up well, stars, gloves, hat,
the whole nine yards. So it did not deter anyone
from speech.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
And that is for sure dedicated protesters. That's great, Chris Lisinski,
Thanks very much. If folks want to subscribe to the
State House News Service, it's a great service. It's a
digital it's a digital website. How can they get in
touch with you guys and become subscribers because you really
(37:44):
do some great work. Up there at the State House.
The major TV stations are not spending nearly the amount
of time that we spent up there when I was
a TV reporter back in the twentieth last in the
last century, in the twentieth century. How can folks get
in touch with you become subscribers.
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Yeah, State Housenews dot com. We've got a twenty one
day trial for anyone, so he just head to our website.
You can sign up right there. And Dan, we always
appreciate getting a plug.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Well, let me tell you, I'm a big fan and
we'd love to have you on or we follow it
closely and we'll have you on more often than any
of the other contributors. They're welcome as well. Chris, thanks
very much for what you do. It feels a very
important need we have to keep an eye at all
times on these politicians on Beacon Ill. Thanks Chris, I
(38:35):
appreciate it very much.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
My pleasure.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Then talk to you soon when we get back on
to talk with Boston Merriw candidate Josh Kraft about that
very issue that we talked with Chris about, and that
is the demolition of White Stadium. And what's my question frankly,
is what's the rush. We'll see what Josh Craft has
to say on the other side of the nine o'clock news.
Stay with us, everybody,
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good evening everyone, Thank you very much, Nicole. My name
is Dan Ray, host of Nightside, heard every weeknight from
a to midnight right here on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
We're in iHeart radio station. You can check us out
on the new iHeart app and you can listen to
our program or all of wbz's program program wbz's programming
three hundred and sixty five days a year, twenty four
(00:29):
to seven. Delighted to tell you those of you who
were listening last night on Nightside, we spent a couple
of hours last night talking about anti Semitic materials that
have been circulated to the members of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
(00:50):
They lay one hundred and seventeen thousand teachers across the commonwealth,
and we had Jeff Robbins and Sarah cob of the
Antidefamation Gone. We had a lot of very interesting callers
who were concerned, and the MTA, the mass Teachers Association
(01:10):
today withdrew those materials, those course materials which many had
alleged were inherently anti semitic, and if you saw them,
I think most people reasonable and rational people would see
that for what they were. So congratulations to all the
folks were called in last night and joined the course.
(01:31):
And I think that we made a little bit of
an impact on that decision, and I'm very happy to
announce that tonight. We may get to that a little
bit later on. We have several topics we're going to
get to. We have four topies coming up this how
we're going to talk with Mike Nelson in just a
moment about the massages of wildlife endangered species lists. We're
going to talk about the ability to adopt a dog
(01:52):
with no charge involved, going to talk with a fellow
out of Northborough who's associated with the group called proudly
called the Dull Men's Club, and to talk with Chris Lisinski,
state House news reporter about the protests at White Stadium today.
And then we will talk with Josh Kraft Kennedy for
Mayor of Boston, who participated in that demonstration opposing the
demolition and the the destruction of White Stadium as well
(02:18):
as about one hundred and forty five trees to make
way for parking over there for a for a soccer stadium.
And we'll talk about the closing the temporary closing estuary
of the JFK Presidential Library for a few hours yesterday,
was back open and operating today, thank goodness. But we're
going to start it off first with Mike Nelson. Mike
(02:39):
is mass Wildlifes invertebrate zoologist, and he brings word to
us tonight that twenty two species, not just the animal species,
animal and plant species were added this year, as it
is as it's done every couple of years to the
Massachusetts Endangered Species last Mike, thanks very much for taking
the time to join us tonight. These are plants and
(03:02):
animals probably that many of us might not have heard of,
but we don't want to see them to go extinct.
How are you tonight? Welcome?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Oh, thank you very much, glad to be here, and
you're absolutely right. It's of course the rarest and sometimes
that means the most obscure species in the state that
end up on the State and Dangered Species list. But
we don't want to lose them from the state or
even worse, have them go extinct entirely. So that's the
main purpose of the Masters and Danger Species Act.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Let me get one one clarification here, so you are
making a determination. We'll go through some of these that
the eastern red bats and the gigs abrout hoary bats
and silver haired bats. They are our three species, as
well as I guess a couple of types of bees,
(03:56):
the golden bullom moth and the Akkadian hairstreak butterfly. When
you say they're growing, they're going extinct or they're on
the endangered species list in Massachusetts. Could they be flourishing
elsewhere or the fact that they're in trouble here are
these species that are sort of endemic to our region
of the country in the first place.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Well, depending on the species, that could be either of
those things. So there's of course the Federal Endangered Species
Act that was an act in nineteen seventy three, but
in addition to that here in Massachusetts, we have our
own Endangered Species Act that was an acted in nineteen
ninety and all federally listed species are also by statute
on the Massachusetts list. But we have the ability in Massachusetts,
(04:39):
and we have since nineteen ninety designated additional species that
might not be federally listed, and the Massachusetts statute specifically
looks at the status of the species in Massachusetts with
the goal of not losing them from the state. Now
that being said, in protecting species by various means in Massachusetts,
(05:03):
it contributes to the regional and global conservation of these species.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Okay, so let's talk first of all, how how difficult
is it? I mean all of us you know, see,
you know birds, blue jays and things that all of
us are familiar with. And we know that there are
squirrels around, and pigeons and coyotes and all of that.
How difficult is it to track the continued existence or
(05:32):
the viability of again, some of these species that probably
most of us don't know very little, know very little
about again, an eastern red bat. I couldn't tell you
what an eastern red bat looks like our silver haired
bat's So how tough is how tough is this task
that that you folks have assumed.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Well, it's it's very difficult, But most of us do
it because we enjoy the work. We enjoy a challenge.
And it's not just the Massachusetts Natural Herigine Dangerous Species
Program and the messages to the beneficiaries and wildlife alone.
Although we're leading the charge to speak as the state
agency with charged with conserving dangerous species. In Massachusetts. We
(06:21):
have cooperators all over the state and that ranges from
obviously universities where there's a lot of expertise on some
of these species and on both plants and animals statewide,
but also there's in Massachusetts we have a I guess
relatively small relative to the population, but a thriving community
(06:44):
of amateur naturalists. So people that not only enjoy being outside,
but enjoy paying attention to plants and animals right down
to the species level, and enjoy looking for the VARs
species and reporting them on For example, probably the most
(07:06):
popular online community for doing that next to Massachusetts, but
across the country, and you know outside the country now
is eye Naturalists. So there's all these people out there,
no small number of them who are just interested in
not just the common species. So we have a lot
(07:28):
of collaborators, volunteers, and it all comes together and we
somehow managed to keep a reasonable tab on the conservation
status of most of the species in the state. And
when I say most, I say that because certainly when
(07:49):
people think of animals, the vertebrate animals you know, the birds,
the mammals, the reptiles, amphibean fish, but Also, I'm called
invertebrate zoologists because that's my specialty, although I do a
lot of other things. At mass Wildlife, I have a
one of a few people there with expertise in insects
and other invert animals, and then of course the botanists
(08:13):
who work with the plants. So those are the main
groups you pay attention to, you know. Obviously people don't
get into other groups of things that are even more obscure, like,
for example, mushrooms and fungi. There's just not the expertise
out there to do what we do with those.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Okay, so real quick question if I could, and we're
kind of running out of time, but I think this
is a fascinating subject and topic. So let's assume you say, okay,
there's this bad this red bat, or this hoary bad
or this silver haired bat. I'm focused on those. I
know that there we mentioned some of the others, A
couple of types of bees, and a moth and a butterfly.
(08:54):
Do you get to the point where you say, look,
we're down to like, you know, fifty of these and
some how we have to capture a few of them
so that they can they can regenerate the species. Are
you simply looking and saying, Okay, they were fifty last
year and now they're down to twenty two and you know,
there's not much we can do.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Well, it depends there's the resources there to do what
you're describing, which would be basically captive breeding. Yeah, that's
something that's done in a number of state that's done,
for example in Rhode Island, in New Hampshire, now as
much in Massachusetts, where the New England cottontail would be
(09:38):
one example of a man I can think of it.
It's done with. That's sort of the last ditches.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
They answered, Yeah, okay, when you say the New England cottontail,
you're talking about a bunny rabbit. You're talking about a snake.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Now I'm talking about there's actually two species of cottontail
rather than Massachusetts, and this isn't very widely known, but
there's a there's a very rare one that is actually
doing better in Massachusetts and Rhode Island or New Hampshire,
which is why it's actually not even state listed, although
(10:13):
we do manage habitat for it here in Massachusetts. It's
called the New England cotton tail and it's mostly in
the southeastern part of the state in pine barrens and
others shreby habitats.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Okay, I think the snakes are called cotton mold. So
when I heard the word, okay, good enough. Hey, look,
I really enjoyed the conversation. Mike. You know so much
more about this than I do. Thank you for what
you do, and let's keep in touch. Maybe we'll have
you on some night and go into it for an
hour and take phone calls from listeners. How about that.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Oh, that's certainly a possibility. Dan.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
All right, Mike, appreciate it. Mike Nelson with the mass
Wildlife Federation, and we really appreciate you taking the time
to join us tonight. Thanks. Thanks again, Mike Nelson. When
we come back and we talk about a great program
where you can opt a dog and a lot of
the fees will be waved, we'll give you that if
you're looking for a companion animal. Nothing beats a dog.
(11:08):
I'm a dog guy. We'll be back on Nightside right
after this quick break.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I'm WBZ News Radio. Well, if you're thinking about getting
a dog, have we got a great deal for you
with us as Jamie Garabedian, the Massachusetts Society for Protection
of Cruelty to Animals Project manager and animal in the
Animal Protection Division. Jamie, Welcome to Nightside. You have some
(11:38):
really interesting news for our audience. How are you this evening?
Speaker 4 (11:42):
I'm good, How are you? Thanks for having me?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Oh, our pleasure, Our pleasure. I'm a dog guy, love dogs,
and you are doing a fee waved adoption event for
adult dogs. But the definition of adult dogs is for
dogs over the age of one year, so we're not
talking about elderly dogs. We're talking about dogs who are
(12:07):
adult dogs over a year. I think of adult dogs
as being three or four because dog years seven seven
adult years for every dog year, I'm thinking of a
dog that's one or two, sort of being a preteen
or a teen. But this sounds like a really great,
great event. Tell us how folks can can get in
(12:30):
line to meet some of the adoptees, the potential adoptees.
And this is a fee waved events, so people can
can get a great companion without spending a lot of money,
which is fabulous. Tell us about it.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Yeah, absolutely, So the event goes until the twenty third.
It takes place at all four of the MSPCA adoption centers,
but we're also joined by our mass coalition shelter partners Berkshire,
Our Humane Society, Bay Pass Humane Society, Wooster Animal Rescue League,
Boston Animal Control and Thomas J. O'Connor Adoption Center and
(13:08):
Animal Control. So all across the state, not just you
know the eastern region where MSPCA is, but all across
the state the event is going on. Each location has
different open hours, so we do encourage people to go
to their websites and check out how each location operates,
or you can go to MSPCA dot org slash dogs
and we have all of that information there for you
(13:31):
as well. But it's simple. The adoption process remains the same.
The only difference is we're removing the fee, so we're
hoping to reduce some barriers and get people in the
doors to find their new best friend. We have a
lot of amazing dogs that are just waiting for home.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Now folks can visit the adoptable dogs, these beautiful animals,
these beautiful companion animals. Can they see them online as
well as visit them in person. What's tell us about that?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (14:00):
Absolutely, so on the MSPCA side of things. If you
go to our website, eligible dogs are going to be
marked with a star on their profile, so you can
tell which dogs are part of the event. And then
if you go to MSPCA dot org slash dogs, that'll
direct you to the other locations with the other shelters
that are participating as well to their website so you
can see which dogs they have available and are eligible.
(14:23):
Again at MSPCA, you can do them online or you
can come into our shelters during open hours chat with
a staff member and then would be happy to introduce
you to the dogs that you're interested in.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Now, how much under normal circumstances would it cost to
do this or how much will people save who take
advantage of this great opportunity this.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Weekend peace range depending on age, but where this is
all dogs over one year. The typical adoption fee at
MSPCA and then again at the other locations are around
the four hundred dollars mark four hundred and four to fifty,
so again and you're it's quite a savings and the
hope is that it reduced some barriers and just you know,
(15:05):
encourages people to come in and meet some wonderful dogs
that are waiting.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
For a home.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Our daughter adopted from a from a dog an animal shelter. Uh.
Just this beautiful corkie. Uh. He's a We think he's
about two years maybe two and a half years old.
His name is Mustard. Uh. And he is truly the
love of the love of my life. I mean, he's
(15:31):
these these animals that are there, they are just they're
fur balls full of love. Uh. And and I know
that a lot of people want to go by, you know,
from a breeder, but these are wonderful dogs that that
are available. I assume it's a fairly wide range of
big dogs, medium sized dogs, small dogs. Uh. I. I
(15:55):
assume between all these shelters there will be there will
be plenty of matches people can find.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah, absolutely, based on breed, based on personality, Between all
of the locations, there's something for everybody. And again, if
you come in and you want to chat with a
staff member, happy to talk you through what it is
you're looking for, what kind of pet would best meet
your lifestyle, and you know what kind of family member
you're hoping to add, and happy to help you make
the perfect match.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Yeah. I mean, if you're living in an apartment. You're
probably not looking to adopt a great Dane. I get that,
you know, although it.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
Could be a couch potato bait day and you don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I understand. I don't want to eliminate, eliminate anyone. So
when someone comes in and they've seen a dog, what
do you do with this? Two or three people who
have the your eye and the same dog? Do you
you know, cut a deck of cards? Do you flip coins?
What you know? Rock paper scissors? Shoot? What do you do?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
It is a first come, verserve situation. So if someone
was already talking to a staff member and meeting that
dog first and then interested in wanting to take the
dog home, that person or that family would be, you know,
the first in line to do so. It usually doesn't
happen too often, so I wouldn't let that discourage anybody.
If you see a dog that you're interested in, just
(17:12):
encourage you to try to come in on the earlier
side if you have your heart set on one of
the open hours based on the location. But yeah, it
usually doesn't turn out to be too much of an issue, No.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Problem, no problem. So the event is already underway. Today's
the nineteenth, So this started on Monday and.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Then we already sent home almost sixty dogs, which is amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Great and so in how many what's what is the
population here we're talking about between all of the different locations.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I'm not sure if the exact number that are eligible,
but I.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Would thought you said something.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I thought you, yeah, that's the capet. That's I would
say how many we all have in care, But how
many are eligible for the event. I'm not totally sure
on the number, but there's definitely so many left.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Excellent, excellent. They all they have to do. The first
step they have to take is just go to m
s p c A dot org slash Events, slash Dog
hyphen Adopter thon or you just find it at m
s p c A dot org. I'm sure all the information.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
And h M s d A dot org slash Dogs
is the easiest one and that'll bring you to all
the information.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Perfect, perfect, Okay, thanks for correcting me on that, Jamie.
And uh, you're doing great work with big fans of
the m s p c A and of course big
fans of dogs. So uh, they make a huge difference
in people's lives. If you've never owned a dog. They are.
They they will change your They make the worst day
you have tolerable, and they are so much fun. They
(18:49):
they will change your lifestyle and your your existence. And
I'll tell you I'm just I'm such a dog person.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
We had a King Cavalier Spaniel named Charlie for for
ten years, has a has a Shorky which is a
part Shitsu in part Yorkie named Willie, and Mustard the Corgi.
So now we are a big extended dog family and
we hope everyone will who doesn't have a dog will
(19:20):
at least look at the website MSPCA dot org slash dogs.
Thanks Jamie, appreciated very much. You're doing God's work.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Remember when you spell God backwards, it spells.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
Dog got dog, ye.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Jamie. All right, here comes the news at the bottom
of the hour. When we get back, when we talk
to a really interesting dude. He may not think he's interesting,
Vic Femi. He's with the Northboro doll Men's Club. This
will be interesting right after They're all interesting tonight, right
after the.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
News, it's night.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Well, we've had many guests here on Nightside over the years,
eighteen years and I've never had a gentleman from a
group that is entitled the Dell Men's Club, but that's
what we have right now. Vin Femia, he's the vice
president of the Dell Men's Club. Vin, welcome to nightside.
How are you.
Speaker 6 (20:22):
I'm doing fine, Dan, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
You're welcome. How long have you been vice president? Is
the president term limited? Can you potentially ascend to the
top spot anytime soon?
Speaker 6 (20:36):
That's not anything like that. But the president is actually
the founder of the local chapter of the Dull Men's Club,
and he's been in that role for eleven years. He's
just unavailable tonight, so I might have been raised to
the realm of vice president just in the last couple
of days to do that. In fact, this is an
international organization and the man who started it won't take
(20:56):
the title of president because he says that's too haughty,
claims that he's the vice president of the international Adull
Men's Club.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Okay, so you might be the vice president pro tem
or something like that tonight, but thank you very much
for sitting in. Now. What's the most exciting thing that
the Dell Men's Club does during the course of the year.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
Well, okay, First of all, we have a meeting every week,
and this is a group of retired men. We'll get
together once a week for an hour to talk about whatever.
We share experiences. We talk about current news and current events.
But with the exception of two topics, we do not
allow our group to talk about religion or serious politics
(21:39):
because we'd like to stay friendly.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Leave that tonight's side. We'll handle that for you guys.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Okay, I know I was just listening to your discussions
with people about Elon Musk, but let's not get into
that because no.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
No, no, no, no, we don't. We don't want to
stir up any trouble here. So now, this club, I
know is based in Northborough, but you have members from
several surrounding communities.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Correct, that's correct.
Speaker 6 (22:04):
There are actually at least three dull men's clubs in Massachusetts.
Ours is pretty popular because I think the topics seem
to interest people, and you know that people invite other
folks and folks from other towns. Our Senior Center where
the meetings are held, is a vibrant community and there's
(22:29):
a lot going on there and it just sort of
feeds off the Senior Center and people being invited by
other folks and everything. I want to go back to
the question you asked though. During the year we do
a number of different things. We go on field trips.
We've gone to like the New Land Patriots Hall of
Fame and Museum. We've gone to the Military American Heritage
(22:51):
Military Museum in Hudson. And we're in the process of
arranging a flight for the group of those of us
who are veterans to fly down to Washington, d C.
For just a day trip for a tour of the
different monuments and things like that.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Sounds great, great, Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
And we also contribute to the community, like every couple
of months we contribute to the local food bank food
pantry that supplies food to needy families. Sure, and I
hope I'm answering your question anyway.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
No, no, you're giving me a sense of it. And
again I know that the name of the club is
the one that draws the attention to matter of fact,
I read the article out of the Worcester TNG. Sarah
Barnacle used to work with us at WBZ here. Well,
we're now currently in Medford, so I know Sarah very well.
She wrote a great piece. Tells me that it was
(23:47):
founded the local chapter eleven years ago. And you've been
in existence and the membership has been pretty stable. Are
you Are you growing every year by a few members.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Yeah, we are actually, and of course since these are retired,
then we lose a couple of members every once in
a while too, unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Of course.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
Yeah, but yeah, Like we have a initiation process where
somebody who comes in who's new, we give them five minutes,
so just tell us about their background, you know, what
where they grew up, what jobs they had, and things
like that. So it is growing, and we've got our president.
Estimates we've got a group of about sixty total in
the organization and our meetings usually have twenty five to
(24:30):
thirty people.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
It's pretty good. It'd be great if we could get
voted turnout that much. If you don't know, a month
on a monthly I don't want to get in politics here,
but if you if you do that on a monthly basis,
that's that's a good backbone for the club. So there's
a lot of clubs, rotaries and Lions clubs and Elks clubs.
Is this you mentioned that there's three chapters in Massachusetts.
(24:55):
Are there other chapters around the country or is this
endemic to Massachusetts.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
Now, like I said before, it's an international organization that
was started by a man in England.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Oh correct, okay, let I should have caught that when
you mentioned it. I was focused the probably my next question,
so it's.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
Easy to understand.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, it's international. Okay. Do you ever get a member
from another country who happens to be in the Northborough area.
I'm sure that you know this says some you know
cross over here. It must be kind of exciting when
you have someone, let us say, from England or Australia
or whoever the clubs are elsewhere. Have you ever had
a foreign member sit in for one of the sessions?
Speaker 6 (25:40):
In fact, every year we have a barbecue that's hosted
by one of the Dall Men's Clubs in Massachusetts for
the for all the clubs in Massachusetts, and at one
of them a few years ago, the founder followed by
the name of Gordon Klick attended and in fact, we
had a very interesting conversation with him at maybe a
dull men level, interesting conversation about one of our road
(26:01):
trips that we had just had, and he told us
about what he said was the first bus tour that
they ever went on the bus. Drove up, the bus driver,
get out. He walked them around the bus, showed them
how much air was in the tires. Let them get
on the bus, let them get off the bus, and
that was the bus tour.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Well, you know something you got to take. You got
to think, take things slowly. I mean, there's no sense
of getting on a bus the first time and going
cross country once that all of us find out. It's
one life is one step at a time, and if
you're careful with your steps, it might not be the
most exciting life, but it probably is a life that
(26:40):
that is fulfilling, nonetheless. And it looks to me I
looked at the pictures in the TNG here I could
tell from the expressions on the fellow's faces that they
that they enjoy themselves. When you go to the center, okay,
for for your you meet how often again, help once
a month or is it more.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
Often once a week?
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Every wedd once a week? Okay? So and you meet
fifty two weeks a year, do you take a little
break in the summertime just to kind of, you know,
calm down a little bit.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
Now, the meeting always takes place, and whoever can make
it makes it, and whoever can't, you know, they'll come
maybe the next time. So yes, it's two weeks.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Okay, fair enough, okay, And I assume that you might
have to adjust your schedule if there's something more exciting
and competition. Let us say, if it falls on the
fourth of July or on Christmas. I assume you might
have the meeting a couple of days before, a couple
of days after. I'm just guessing.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Actually, that's a very good point because this year the
meetings are usually on Wednesday, and this year Christmas and
New Year's were on Wednesday, so we did skip those
two weeks. So you are right about that.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Oh that's a no. Look, I certainly, I certainly can
understand that. Let me ask you something, vic are you
you're a local author and you're described as by my
friend Sarah Barnacle local author, a certified dell man. Is
that a member you call yourself? It's a dub men's club,
so you accept the moniker of it being a dull man. Correct.
Speaker 6 (28:05):
I guess it's sort of a mixed blessing kind of thing.
But yeah, I was lucky enough to have three books
that I've written and be published one is about the
Red Sox and two about the New England Patriots. And
I've done some talks about those kinds of things.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
And what era did you write about the Red Sox
if I could ask.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
Well, back in two it was back in two thousand
and three and two thousand and four, and I wrote
about why they had never won for so many years
and then what happened in two thousand and four to
change things. And you know, I donated half of the
proceeds for this to the ALS Association, the Blu Garage disease,
(28:45):
people who treat families that have or worked with families
rather lugaryag's disease.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
And you know, I've done these talks at the doll
Men's Club and at the Senior Center and so on,
and we've had other speakers come in as well to
talk about different top of types of things. In fact,
it was an extended meeting. We had Harvey Leonard come
in a few weeks ago to just talk about the
storms that we had ten.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Years ago, great great meteorologist. Okay, so I'm gonna I'm
gonna run one question by you, gonna run some names
by you. Here. I don't know how old, Joe, but
I'm assuming that probably you you're a baby boomer. Is
that fair to say?
Speaker 6 (29:21):
That's correct?
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Okay, what do the following names have in common? Sammy White,
Pete Daily, Leo Kylie, and Billy Consolo all.
Speaker 6 (29:31):
Were former Red Sox players. Sammy White was a catcher,
Billy Consolo was a maybe a utility infielder. I forgot
the other two names, but they were all for me.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Daily, Pete Daily.
Speaker 6 (29:45):
Pete Dailey doesn't ring a bell. To be honest, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Daily was was Tammy White's backup.
Speaker 6 (29:49):
And Leo Kyley, boy, the name is familiar. John Kylie
used to be the organist.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Of course, write a different spelling. Leo Kyley no relation,
he always went. When you refer to a left handed
pitcher in those days, you always have to use the
adjective he's a crafty left handed pitcher.
Speaker 6 (30:07):
I know, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
They were all crafty right hand Yeah, no, there were
no crafty right handers. Also, one of my closest friends
passed away at the ripe age of ninety ninety one,
Ted Lepsio. So yeah, you know, I'm a big Red
Sox and baseball guy as well, and of course everyone
(30:30):
in New England's now a football guy. Well look, yeah,
I hope I didn't stir anybody's heart too quickly when
I mentioned Leo Kylie and Sammy White and Pete Day
and Billy Consolo and Ted Lepsio. But I wanted to
just take the take the temperature in the room up
a little bit. Okay, thank you so much, Vic. I
enjoyed chatting with you. It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
Okay, yep, thanks a lot, Dan.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
And if folks want to join the club, I'm gonna
ask crazy questions. Do you have a website where they
can go or how do they do? They just show
up at the meeting sit the Senior Center. What do
they do?
Speaker 6 (31:02):
Well, first of all, there is a website. They can
go to www dot Dollman's Club dot com all one
word for doll Men's Club. And yes, the other part
of your question if they just want to show up.
The meetings are Wednesdays at ten o'clock. And as I say,
any topic is open except for those two about religion
and serious politics.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
And and let me just give you a little tip
when you give the website, don't need the www. Anymore,
just doll Men's Club dot Com. It's as simple as that.
That www. They used it for a while, but that's
that's a little antiquated, Okay.
Speaker 6 (31:39):
The members of the club, so it works out with.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
No they the members of the club are experienced, they're
not antiquated. Thanks Vig. Enjoyed the conversation very much. Thank
you so much, have a great one. Good night. Can
you see Sarah Barnacle say hi for me?
Speaker 3 (31:55):
Okay, thanks, good I love you too.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
All right, by byeh That was fun and we get back.
We're going to talk about an issue in controversy which
we're going to talk about next hour two and that
is the fate of Boston's White Stadium. Chris Lisinski, state
House News reporter for the State House News, is coming
up right after the break.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
All Right with us now is State House News Reporter
Chris Lisinski. Chris, appreciate you taking the time. You had
a busy day today. I believe that you were over
at a frigid Franklin park covering the demonstration which is
trying to stop the demolition of Boston's White Stadium. Looked
like it was a pretty good sized crowd there today.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, definitely, a few dozen folks turned out for it.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Yeah, this is an interesting case because I guess the
demolition has started, even though this is scheduled for I
guess area coord trials sometime next month.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
It does indeed look like that. Granted, the demolition work
that we're seeing does appear to be preliminary. Some trees,
and you know, those of us who are on site
saw crews working on one of the grand stands at
the stadium. This is a grand stand that has been
damaged for years by fire and was probably always going
(33:25):
to be replaced whatever direction the project goes. But still
there is work underway, as you noted, about a month
before a trial is set to begin in a lawsuit
challenging this project.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Yeah, so I'm assuming that there must have been some
sort of a request for a temporary restraining order that
was denied. Obviously, the two elements of a temporary restraining
order are that you have to show that there's irreparable damage.
I think demolition fit into that category pretty easily, But
you also have to show a greater likelihood that you
(34:00):
would prevail on the merits. Have you covered this story
over the last few weeks so you could confirm for
me that there was an effort to stop this, but
that request for restraining order was not allowed.
Speaker 5 (34:15):
Yeah. I haven't covered it as much as some of
my other colleagues in the press, but I do believe
you're right that the court battle has certainly been going
on for some time. It's not a brand new court battle,
so there was certainly a chance for a judge to
intervene at some point before we got to this phase,
and instead we have a trial scheduled for next month.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Yeah. This is interesting because I'm told and I again
if I'm not asking you to make any sort of
a commentary here you're a reporter, but that a lot
of trees are apparently going to be taken down to
make way for I guess some other aspects of things
(34:58):
that might surround a new White stadium. And told us
about one hundred and forty five trees that are in jeopardy,
and I think some of that work might be underway
as well.
Speaker 5 (35:09):
It seems like some of the trees are starting to
come down. That is one of these central complaints that
opponents of this project are raising is the cutting down
of these trees. That being said, the response from city
Hall is that once the project is fully complete, there
will actually be even more trees than when they started.
There are plans to install some new trees and actually
(35:32):
add about an acre of green space once we get
to the other end of this controversial process.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Yeah, and it's controversial. It's also expensive. I guess the
price tag at this point looks that it's going to
be about one hundred million dollars. As you understand, is
that all in you know, for the effort that is
that from soup to.
Speaker 5 (35:53):
Nuts that would be That would be about the city's
contribution to this. A lot of the work under the
agreement would be funded by Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the
private group hoping to bring a pro women's soccer team
to a new white stadium. I think the latest estimation
is that the city's share would be about ninety one
million dollars altogether.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
Okay, so those contracts tend to roove up a little bit.
What is the what if this is a public private partnership,
what are the private folks contributing? What's the Have you
seen an estimate of the overall cost for this to
go from from where we are now to actually completion.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
Oh, great question. I do think it is roughly fifty fifty.
I could be wrong about that, but I'm sure that
it's by you know, at the very least. I would
expect that the private investors are matching, if not exceeding,
what the city is expected to pay here.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yeah, and I know that it's become an issue in
the mayoral race. And Josh Craft, who will join us
after the nine o'clock news and we'll hear from him,
but he was out there with these demonstrators today. I
guess the one thing that you can comment on without
getting into the politics of it is it was chili
out there today.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
Yes, I can confirm. But folks were bumbled up well, stars, gloves, hat,
the whole nine yards. So it did not deter anyone
from speech.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
And that is for sure dedicated protesters. That's great, Chris Lisinski,
Thanks very much. If folks want to subscribe to the
State House News Service, it's a great service. It's a
digital it's a digital website. How can they get in
touch with you guys and become subscribers because you really
(37:44):
do some great work. Up there at the State House.
The major TV stations are not spending nearly the amount
of time that we spent up there when I was
a TV reporter back in the twentieth last in the
last century, in the twentieth century. How can folks get
in touch with you become subscribers.
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Yeah, State Housenews dot com. We've got a twenty one
day trial for anyone, so he just head to our website.
You can sign up right there. And Dan, we always
appreciate getting a plug.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Well, let me tell you, I'm a big fan and
we'd love to have you on or we follow it
closely and we'll have you on more often than any
of the other contributors. They're welcome as well. Chris, thanks
very much for what you do. It feels a very
important need we have to keep an eye at all
times on these politicians on Beacon Ill. Thanks Chris, I
(38:35):
appreciate it very much.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
My pleasure.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Then talk to you soon when we get back on
to talk with Boston Merriw candidate Josh Kraft about that
very issue that we talked with Chris about, and that
is the demolition of White Stadium. And what's my question frankly,
is what's the rush. We'll see what Josh Craft has
to say on the other side of the nine o'clock news.
Stay with us, everybody,
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