Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back.
[00:00:00] Speaker B: Even though we've had all of the major city events for the holidays here in Quincy, it's not over by a long shot. A lot of the city neighborhood associations have their own tree lightings and holiday parties, including the Wollaston Hill Neighborhood association with their annual Sanford park tree lighting. It's coming up this Friday evening at 6pm so the President of the association, Walter Hubley, is here to tell us all about it. Happy holidays, Walter.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: Yeah, Happy holidays for you. I guess we're taking the season into extra innings with our event.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Right. This is it.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: There's a few others though.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: We're an ot.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Happy to do it.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. This really is another long standing tradition though, in the city at Safra Park. Right?
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Yeah. This is our 23rd this year. It was not started by Walston Hill.
Kevin Coughlin, the former Thor 3 city councilor, started it years ago. And then shortly after that, he added in Clara Yeoman's tree to the park, which functions as our Christmas tree. So, yeah, it's something that's been going on for a long time. And when we started the association, we partnered with Kevin to continue that tradition and then subsequently with Ian Kane as well.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. How long ago was that when the association. 15 years ago. Has it been that long?
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Okay. So, yeah.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: And the tree itself is. It's a permanent tree. It's not. You don't just bring it in every year. Correct. It's there.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Yeah, it's Clara's tree. Clara Yeoman's long time neighbor, years ago.
Environmental activist, Scout leader or Girl Scout leader, rather very involved in the community. And Kevin had the tree planted there and dedicated in her name. And we try to keep up and maintain it and so forth. During the Community Preservation act renovation at Safford park, we brought in some electrical facilities Right. To the tree. So that helps us with the tree lighting and things like that.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: And it's grown over the years. Right. This particular event, more and more folks attend it because it's not just. You don't just go there and turn the lights on and go home. It's more to it now.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Yeah. There's a little bit of a ceremony that goes along with it. And we have a special guest. I have it on good authority we have a guest from the North Pole coming down.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: Yes. It's gonna be fun.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: All right.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: He's been very busy, you know, we appreciate that he makes the extra effort just to come all the way down into Safford park and then has to Go all the way back to do.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: His preparations and multi modes of transportation for Santa. I mean he's been, he's been on a fire truck, he's been on a helicopter, he's been on a boat.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Planes, trains and automobiles. I'm telling you, he makes his way here and he never disappoints. So that's great.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: Well, that's fun. That'll be fun.
Before we talk about the Friday event, let's talk a little bit about the association. So 15 years old.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Yeah. So yeah, my wife Kathryn Hubley and I started the association 15 years ago, largely inspired by some of the other associations in the area, specifically the Montclair Wollaston Neighbor association started by former councilor Kevin Coughlin, as well as the Housingett Community Council. And so we got together with a couple of neighbors. We just went door to door and passed out flyers and talked to people and had our first meeting which was very well attended.
And since then we've been very much focused on community building, bringing neighbors together for different reasons throughout the year, whether it's volunteering or, you know, showing up for a fun concert at the park, things like that, as well as doing some advocacy for issues that are important to neighbors. So yeah, it's been going on a long time.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: I know the Saturdays in the park series is very popular and once again this year.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Right, yeah.
So we sponsor Cleaner Greener Quincy, Safford park and Forbes Hill. And so we spearhead that. And then also, as you mentioned, Saturdays in the park we have a multi week concert series every Saturday where we bring bands and food vendors and so forth into the park. Gives neighbors a good opportunity to get together. And then we also have our tree lighting and we've done a few other different types of events over the years. And I'm excited to see what we're going to be doing in the coming years just with new ideas and new faces and new things.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Speaking of.
[00:03:44] Speaker A: Speaking of which.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: New faces. Yes.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Yeah, well, sort of new faces.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Well, right.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: So yeah, we're excited to announce and unfortunately he wasn't able to make it today due to a work conflict. But we're excited to announce that Bob LaRocca has taken on the presidency role, the Wallace Until Neighborhood association. In light of my new role here in the city coming up in January, Bob, as some of the viewers might have seen him come on the show with me, your show with me. In the past, him and his wife Leslie, when they first moved into the neighborhood, they found out about the association, reached out to us we came over, sat in their living room, and they said they'd love to get involved and help out, and they've been involved in helping out ever since. So he's learned the ropes kind of alongside myself and Katherine and Brian and Eileen and the rest of the crew. And I'm super excited about having a new person take lead on it, even though he's not new per se. He's been with us for about five or six years, but someone with previous continuity who knows how to do what we usually do, and then someone to bring in new ideas and new thoughts and even just small tweaks or new events or new ways to get people together. Super excited to see what.
What he can bring to the table, and I'm happy to be in a supportive role for that.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Do you feel a little bit like you're kind of giving up your baby, though?
Yeah. Not gonna lie, because you've been the only president, right?
[00:05:01] Speaker A: Well, my wife served a period of time as president as well, and then I went back into the role, so we've kind of traded off a little bit, but we've had great support over the years. Just no one who would take on complete the lead of things, which is. I'm super excited about that. It's been a. It's been a great, rewarding effort over the past 15 years.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Big part of both of your lives, right?
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. We do a lot in the neighborhood and in other ways and throughout the city. It's where Porchfest was born.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: Through that association and that spun off and became its own sort of thing.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: So, yeah, it's been great. But I'm also super excited about my new role, and just as I said before, getting new ideas, new thoughts, new perspectives. I think one person, two people can only take it so far in terms of leadership. I'm excited to see what new perspectives and new ideas can come in and just make things even better or change them.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: Okay, but you're staying on the board, right?
[00:05:52] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah, I'll still be serving on the board and helping out with some of the fiduciary responsibilities of the nonprofit just to maintain continuity and still play a role. But, yeah, you're right. I mean, when you start something and then run it for many years.
But I feel wonderful about getting to know Bob over the past several years, that him and his wife and his family live in the city.
I really feel really positive about what he's going to bring to that role and bring some new stuff.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And Kathy will Stay on the board.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: So we'll stay along, run shotgun, and help out where help is needed. And we're still ironing out some of the other roles in the association. With the holidays, people are super busy, so we're trying to find time to meet together to find out who wants to take on different functions of the association. Managing the website, managing social media, doing correspondences, recording our meeting minutes, things of that nature. So we're still kind of sorting through that. But I'm excited to announce that Bob's taken on the leadership role.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: That's great. We wish him the very best. And of course, as the incoming Ward 3 counselor, you'll still have interaction, right, with the association.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. My intention would be, of course, to attend every event that I can possibly attend that the association throws on and support them in any ways and focus on helping them develop in different ways. Just being a supportive resource for me, getting involved in community associations like Wollaston Hill and like the Montclair Walliston Neighborhood association as well as Hospital Hill Neighbor Association. That, to me, is really where a ward councilor can really just kind of get closer to the topics that matter to people. As I've said, I won't want to bring politics into it, but during the campaign trail last year, this past year, I did say that, you know, it's important to be able to have opportunities to hear from people who aren't the type or it's not their way to communicate by getting up to a mic in front of large groups of people. I call them sort of the silent majority. And that's not how most people communicate and not how most people are comfortable. So I find that just working side by side with neighbors, with different association groups, you really get to hear what people think and what's important to them.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Meet them where they are. Right.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: In their neighborhood, their comfort zone.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's important to hear from everybody.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Very good. So I'm sure there'll be a lot of communication, cross communication. Who knows, as an elected official, you might be able to bring a new benefit to the association or start a new group, perhaps. You know, you just never know.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: Yeah. I did say during the past year that I'm excited to see if there are other people out there in different pockets of neighborhoods that are interested in starting something of their own, whether it's a small effort or a larger scale effort. And, you know, having gone through the process and having run one for so many years, two, actually. Both Balliston Hill and Porch Fest, I kind of know the mechanics of getting things set up. So I'll tell you, it would have been very helpful to have someone who can guide through the process when we first started. Now, I won't say I was without support. One person in particular, Brian Laroche from the Housing Ecuador Community Council.
I met him, I want to say, maybe 16 years ago, a year or two before we started the association. And he dropped what he was doing and gave me all the time I needed to ask my questions and take me through the process of at least getting things set up nice.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: I know they came to your rescue one Saturday in the park when it rained. Right.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: They brought the tents, the fleet of Easy up tents.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: That's right, yes. They saved the day.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Then we swiftly started making investments in Easy up tents which also help up for Porch Fest.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: Because you get those. You know, there are bands who graciously donate their time and talents, but they also have audio equipment, as you know. Well, from the Christmas parade.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Yes. We won't talk about that.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: That don't take well to weather.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Water and electronics, not a good mix.
I think our operations manager is having a fit right now trying to test all our equipment.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you don't want to find out if it got broken during another event. Correct.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah. So Bob takes over first of the year.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Okay, first of the year.
You'll have other things on your agenda by then.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, certainly will. There's going to be a steep learning curve and as a lot of people know, a lot of new faces on the council. So a lot of us will have a good learning curve. So it's going to be good to be able to focus on that while also supporting Bob and the rest of the team.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So let's talk more about Friday's event.
[00:10:15] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: It's again 23rd annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Sanford park on Beale Street, 6pm what's going to happen?
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah, so people show up, gather around. We'll have a table out with hot chocolate and refreshments.
And so, yeah, It'll be about 15 minutes worth of socializing and doing a sing along. We'll have a podium set up. We'll have all the electronics ready to activate the tree and the lighting. And then we're expecting a visitor from the North Pole and he's going to be getting, getting some help getting here. So he made his way down to Quincy, but then from Quincy he's going to make his way over to the park on a fire truck, of course. So you definitely want to thank the fire department for, you know, their support in that, as well as the Parks Department, who does a great job every year getting things set up for us. They put a PA system in place, a podium from which to speak, and. Yeah, that's kind of how it rolls. And then we'll be there for about 45 minutes to an hour, hour and a half, where we'll sing along with Santa and we'll say a few words, and then we'll count down and light the tree. And then it's just more like a social hour after that.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. Mix and mingle kind of thing. Who gets to flip the switch?
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Usually it's Santa. Oh, of course.
That's one of his important roles.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: One of his official duties. Right.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: I don't know what we'd do if he didn't make a trip.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Be left in the dark.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: Now, is the whole park decorated, Walter, or is it just the tree?
[00:11:37] Speaker A: So the tree, and then there's a couple of other adjacent trees that are also illuminated. Okay, that's something I was thinking about. Maybe down the road, we did have the large granite retaining wall illuminated in the evenings, but the lighting system has failed in the studios. So I might see if I can look into getting that re enabled. Because it makes the park overall feel a little bit safer at night. Because when you illuminate that dark corner under all the tree cover, it just opens it up and makes you kind of feel a little safer walking through the park.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: And it's also quite pretty, the beautiful granite wall.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. To be uplit would be very nice here.
And it really kind of sets the stage for neighborhoods to start putting up their decorations, too, I think.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Maybe it acts a little bit of a catalyst.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: For me, though, it's sort of the ceremony that I know we have a lot of great ceremonies. My wife and I attended with our daughter. The Christmas tree lighting downtown that was wonderful. They showed the movies and hot chocolate and all. But I'll tell you, in our neighborhood, this event really, for me is like the kickoff for the holiday season. It really gets you into the. Gets you into the neighborhood spirit when you see your neighbors come down and share in this experience.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, logistically, do we have to let folks know about anything in terms of parking?
[00:12:50] Speaker A: There's usually plenty of off street on street parking.
Walston School also has some parking, so. Yeah, it's never been too much of it. We've gotten. It varies, of course, by weather, how many people participate.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: But we do send the messages out through the local PTOs of all the elementary schools to let families know about the event. And we put something in the Quincy sun. And then, of course, you know, through your program, you share about it.
We get anywhere between, you know, some years in the frigid cold, we've had 20 to 20 to 30 brave souls. Yeah, yeah. And then other years where the weather's a little bit better and there aren't as many other competing things going on in the city, you know, we get up to 100, 150 people shine. Really? Yeah. We captured a good photo a few years ago where we had darn near like 120 people in the.
[00:13:34] Speaker B: Oh, wow. I wish we had that to show folks.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: Okay, maybe next time I have to hunt that down.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that would be nice to see for sure. A lot of folks just walk, probably, right?
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah, for the most part.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
The forecast looks okay. It looks cold, but it looks dry right now.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: I'm not even looking at it yet.
[00:13:49] Speaker B: There may be some snow on the ground by then.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Who knows? I'm learning from all the years of running Saturdays in the park and porch fest and so forth. You can torture yourself by looking at the weather a week ahead of time, but once you get a day or two ahead, that's when it really starts to count.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: The accuracy factor just increases as you get closer to the event.
Right now it's kind of 50. 50.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Yeah. I'll let that be that.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: And it's all free, right?
[00:14:11] Speaker A: Absolutely, yeah. The association takes care of all the costs for hot chocolate and cookies and so forth. We've had different donations from others in the past. This year, Wollaston Hill is funding it.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Do you need help? Do you need volunteers? Do you need cleanup? Do you need elves? Do you need anything?
[00:14:26] Speaker A: We have a few people lined up. The cleanup is mainly just putting the table away and cleaning up after the hot chocolate. That's pretty much it. It's a low, low lift, light, lift event.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: Okay, who provides the. All the refreshments at Walston Hill?
[00:14:39] Speaker A: We'll be doing it. In past, we've also had different PTOs step up and do it. They're a little busy this year. So this year, Wollaston Hill is going to be taking care of the hot chocolate and the cookies and stuff like that.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: Nice, nice. And the city actually puts the lights up. Are they the ones that.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Yeah, the city maintains the lighting. The city puts it up during the winter season, takes it down when the season's over, and they assist us on the night of the event with the PA system and making sure that the Santa switch is fully functional and ready to move.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: Can't have that malfunction at the inappropriate time, Right?
[00:15:08] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: It's got to go off and Santa will be there no matter what the weather.
Is there a photo op as well?
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah. So Santa walks around and hands out candy canes or different treats and then poses for pictures. And oftentimes we'll try to do a group picture picture in front of the tree and so forth. So it's fun.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: Fun.
And then after that, it's kind of wind down for the season, is that right?
[00:15:34] Speaker A: Yeah. After that, we take a couple of months off and then we start getting ready for Porch Fest. We start booking bands for Saturdays in the park. It really starts, frankly, in January.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Does it really?
[00:15:44] Speaker A: With ordering shirts and ordering supplies and scheduling bands and performers and stuff like that.
It's a year long.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: So Bob's going to jump in both feet first with the new responsibility. Yeah. Okay. All right. Go to the website or you're on social media.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Wollastonhill.com and then from there you can jump to all the different social media platforms we have presence on. And that's really a good way to stay in touch. You can also sign up to our email list.
[00:16:11] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: I want to say we have maybe three or four hundred people on that list.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Yes, I am one of them. It's great.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: We try to send out things that are relevant to the area and just relevant to. To families.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. And are there regular meetings that folks can attend at the association, Walter?
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So we do an annual meeting every November, and then there are. I'll say we do meetings as deemed necessary for different topics or different issues in the area.
But primarily we meet through the different social and volunteering opportunities that we make available throughout the year.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. Okay. Kind of impromptu. Probably at Safford Park Tree lighting. There'll be discussion about.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: Yeah. When we started the association, we were meeting monthly because we were kind of getting our, you know, getting our feet under us and getting prepared. And then over time, we reduced that to quarterly. And now we have an annual meeting that's scheduled amongst the board and anyone else who'd like to attend.
But other than that, we try to meet more ad hoc. We've just found that's been the most effective way to do it.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. All right. Anything else we should share with folks right now?
[00:17:12] Speaker A: No, we'd love to see everyone. It's hopefully going to be a good night in terms of weather. Hopefully that cooperates and everyone's excited to see our guest from the North Pole make his appearance.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, thanks again for stopping by and happy holidays.
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Yeah, same to you. Thanks for having me.
