Adding up The Y and the whole Thanksgiving menu of the Turkey Trot

John Hoey of The Y returns to give Nestor the receipts and warm trail of holiday fun from the 5K Turkey Trot on a chilly Thanksgiving morning that took place all over the community and wound up being featured on the Ravens’ NBC broadcast for the world to see with their pumpkin pie.

Nestor Aparicio and John Hoey discussed the Turkey Trot event, which had 37,000 participants in Towson and 17,606 across the region. John highlighted the YMCA’s efforts to support young men, noting that only 41% of college degrees are earned by men, and 25% of men aged 15-34 are unemployed. They discussed the challenges young men face, including social isolation and lack of social skills. John emphasized the importance of providing job opportunities, role models, and social activities to help young men develop. They also touched on the broader societal issues affecting young men and the need for community support.

• [ ] Create dedicated cohorts of young men pulled from after-school programs to provide focused college and career readiness support and mentoring
• [ ] Implement a hiring initiative to provide job opportunities for local youth through the Y, including onboarding them into Y roles and surrounding them with male role models
• [ ] Organize and run residential retreats (Camp Pub Talk) during school breaks to engage cohorts of boys and young men in group work and role-modeling activities
• [ ] Operate and maintain Fresh Mart food access programs at community Y locations and solicit food and monetary donations to support families in need
• [ ] Ensure programming intentionally surrounds boys and young men with older male role models to improve socialization, confidence, and post-high-school planning

Turkey Trot Experience and Community Engagement

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning the Maryland Lottery and GBMC as sponsors.
• Nestor reflects on the year and his recent health scare, thanking GBMC for their care.
• John Hoey joins the conversation, discussing his role at the Y Central Maryland and the Turkey Trot event.
• Nestor shares his experience attending the Turkey Trot in Towson, describing the cold morning and the large crowd.
• John mentions the national exposure of the Turkey Trot on NBC, highlighting the event’s popularity and impact.

National Recognition and Community Impact

• Nestor recalls seeing the Turkey Trot on NBC and the national attention it received.
• John talks about the annual gathering of Y leaders from across the country.
• Nestor shares his observations of YMCA locations in various cities during his travels.
• John mentions the involvement of NFL teams and owners in supporting the YMCA.
• Nestor recounts a memorable interaction with a police officer who recognized him at the Turkey Trot.

Family and Community Spirit

• Nestor describes the family-friendly atmosphere of the Turkey Trot, including people dressing up as turkeys.
• John highlights the community spirit and the sense of togetherness at the event.
• Nestor shares a story about a neighbor playing the Rocky theme song as he passed by.
• John mentions the tradition of people visiting Baltimore for the Turkey Trot every year.
• Nestor and John discuss the importance of community events like the Turkey Trot in bringing people together.

Challenges Faced by Young Men

• John shifts the conversation to the challenges faced by young men in society today.
• He mentions a book by Scott Galloway that discusses the struggles of boys and young men.
• John shares statistics about the declining college graduation rates for men and the increasing loneliness among young men.
• Nestor and John discuss the impact of COVID-19 on social development and the role of technology in exacerbating these issues.
• John emphasizes the need for young men to have plans for after high school and to be exposed to male role models.

YMCA Programs and Initiatives

• John explains the various programs and initiatives at the YMCA aimed at supporting young men.
• He mentions the YMCA’s presence in 29 community schools and their focus on college and career readiness.
• John discusses the importance of providing job opportunities and surrounding young men with positive role models.
• He describes the YMCA’s retreats and group activities designed to help young men develop social skills and focus.
• John highlights the historical roots of the YMCA in providing social structures and job skills for young men.

Addressing Social and Emotional Needs

• John talks about the need to address the social and emotional needs of young men, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• He mentions the challenges of managing disruptive behavior in YMCA programs and the importance of de-escalation.
• John emphasizes the YMCA’s role in providing a supportive environment for young men to develop and grow.
• He discusses the broader societal issues that contribute to the struggles of young men, including access to guns and technology.
• John highlights the importance of meeting young men where they are and providing them with the support they need.

Holiday Season and Community Support

• John shares a heartwarming story about a church donating $3,700 to support the YMCA’s food access programs.
• He encourages listeners to donate food or money to help those in need during the holiday season.
• Nestor reflects on the importance of community support and the role of organizations like the YMCA in making a difference.
• John and Nestor discuss the significance of small acts of kindness and decency in building a stronger community.
• Nestor concludes the segment by promoting the YMCA and encouraging listeners to get involved.

Personal Reflections and Holiday Wishes

• Nestor shares a personal story about wearing an Orioles belt buckle and reflecting on his favorite baseball years.
• John and Nestor engage in a light-hearted discussion about their favorite baseball teams and players.
• Nestor mentions upcoming events and promotions, including a visit to Planet Fitness and a giveaway of candy cane cash.
• John and Nestor exchange holiday wishes, emphasizing the importance of spending time with loved ones and being grateful.
• The segment ends with Nestor expressing his appreciation for the community and the support he has received.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Turkey Trot, YMCA, community engagement, Baltimore, Thanksgiving, youth programs, social issues, young men, college readiness, mental health, social media, role models, job opportunities, food access, holiday donations.

SPEAKERS

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John Hoey, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, AM, 1570 taci, Baltimore. We are here in the epicenter of awesomeness. We’re at the B, M, a, we’re gertrude’s here. My friend John shields, my my cousin by marriage, John shields has hosted us here on the afternoon. We’re Christmas time. We got the gingerbread here, and we’re trying to do some fun community stuff here this week. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have candy cane cash. Candy Cane cash. John Hoey is going to get number 40 there, because we all want to be a perfect 40. Also brought to you by GBMC, and they’ve taken great care of me in the last couple of weeks, and just talking to people about their numbers and their checkups and the colonoscopy thing that I had, and cancer awareness and all that stuff. And, you know, it’s been quite a year. It’s like the last week of the year, and I’m looking back and reflecting a little bit. John hoe, he’s been on a couple of times. He’s come by here and didn’t make it on last year as well. We laugh about that, but

John Hoey  00:53

still on the bat, in the in the on deck, sir, you’re

Nestor Aparicio  00:57

not mad at me. So that’s all that matters. You know, you got a good lunch out of it.

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John Hoey  01:01

I think it’s near my house. So, yeah, we didn’t have to work, you know.

Nestor Aparicio  01:05

But John always runs the Y Central Maryland. Last time I saw you, dude, like, for years, you’ve been trying to get me out to the turkey trot. This year, I dropped my wife off on Thanksgiving morning to go to New Hampshire, and I drove straight after you to Towson. I got there parked up the street, came was a little bluster. It’s kind of like first cold sort of morning. Ravens were playing the big game that night. And I’m telling you, when I parked the car, it was like going to a stadium event, because everybody was walking in one direction, like toward the light. I made the left turn up the driveway. Mob scene. There were people were not expecting that. There were people out there that were underdressed by my standards of how cold it was. There were girls out there in, like, short, like, they must have really been runners, and I’m, like, so cold, so I came out and you they give you, like a high chair, like a producer’s chair, and a megaphone. And there were 3000 4000 how many people?

John Hoey  02:02

Many people in Towson? There were 3700 people registered. And probably they looked like they were all there. And across the region, we had 17,606 relocations. Towson is the largest. So you saw the biggest one. And you know, you probably know this. What was really cool that night ravens were playing. Unfortunately, they I

Nestor Aparicio  02:27

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think I said to you, in the morning, there are people here who got up at seven in the morning, run this race, do this thing in the cold, and then they’re gonna go down. You’re gonna have Thanksgiving at home. Then I’m gonna get a tailgate down, and then I’m gonna go to game.

John Hoey  02:39

But what I was gonna say leading into the second quarter, NBC was doing some cool like, you know, around town things, and leading in the second quarter, what did they show you the turkey trot?

Nestor Aparicio  02:51

Man, I was in that shot too. Everybody was in that shot.

John Hoey  02:56

Yeah, there were 37 people. And what was great was, you know, Mike tarico read exactly what I wrote for him. Oh, okay, which was nice, and it was just great to get a little national shout out. It was awesome. And I

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Nestor Aparicio  03:12

was awesome for me, because I was like, That’s me. I was there.

John Hoey  03:15

And I had, I had, I have colleagues who do this work across the country. Oh, so they saw you, and they’re all texting me, like, holy, how the heck did you get on national you know you’re why get on national television? I’m like, You guys aren’t working hard enough.

Nestor Aparicio  03:29

So do you have an annual get together where you see all the why people deserve is there an annual Super Bowl for

John Hoey  03:36

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yeah, there’s a group of us who run the largest wise across the country, and we get together once a year, and then I have a few other groups that I get together with. So it’s a nice opportunity to kind of compare notes and and talk about what work and what’s not working. I think the thing

Nestor Aparicio  03:57

for me in knowing you and befriending you and trying to get people to come to the turkey trot, promoting the things you do is now when I do travel, and I don’t travel as much as I used to, but I was in Albuquerque recently. I was in LA recently, I think I told you, I was in Atlanta to see Pearl Jam back. It’s unbelievable how it’s my eye catches it now that I go past places and I see in Atlanta as an example, I walk through the Georgia Tech I do a lot of walking when I go. It’s what I liked kind of house, yeah, it’s a great way to see, you know, yeah, like, I walked through, I intentionally stay places where I can walk. And I was in Atlanta’s walking by, and there’s a why. And it was all of these kids getting let out of school. It was attached to a school, and it had Arthur blanks name on it. You know what I mean? So, like, I So, you see the philanthropy, you see rich people getting involved. You see communities getting involved. But I was in Albuquerque and turned the corner and there was the why, you know, like, and I’m like, Oh, they got one here too, and, and I think that there’s part of that that very much is ubiquitous, and anywhere in my village, people belt buckle

John Hoey  04:58

today for you, I left that out. Yeah. Know, if you’re in Houston, you’d see the Bob McNair, why? Okay, and in Indianapolis, which, you know, stole the

Nestor Aparicio  05:06

Colts, Jim, I say, Jim Irsay, they both have been on my show, by the way, both those guys.

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John Hoey  05:10

I think it’s it may be there, say, Why, or maybe the Colts, why. But you know, you see, in some cases, NFL teams or NFL owners stepping up in a big way to support the Y so it’s great to

Nestor Aparicio  05:23

see, well, that was your association with getting on NBC and being a part of Thanksgiving. And I don’t know how it happened, somebody at the ravens, or somebody you says, this is a great thing that happens on Thanksgiving. They told me the cop to when I pulled up, it was cold. I mean, I was all bundled up, right? There was a cop that recognized me, right? And he said to me something like, Why aren’t you at the Calvert Hall game with Todd Schuler and Cal Bowman? And I’m like, How do you know the neighbors told me I took a selfie with the cop and with the YMCA sign, with the why the Y of Towson on the way in, right? Let’s take the selfie and anything. Oh, man, NBC is here. He said that to me. I said, NBC is here. And I’m like, and I saw the drone flying around, yeah, over my head, and then I came up, and I went over the hill, and it was just people everywhere. And I went right to the starting line, and I people started recognizing me. And I write, the thing that I didn’t realize is how many wackadoodles bring their whole family dresses turkeys. It’s a family there is a complete like, it’s, it’s a little Halloweeny kind of fun.

John Hoey  06:29

Yes, it’s, it’s a family fun thing. And it’s a you have neighbors who do it every year.

Nestor Aparicio  06:35

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Everybody on the porch. When I pulled up one of the porches in Towson, was playing the theme from Rocky, when you go by, right? This is, I mean, that’s, there’s,

John Hoey  06:48

you know, there are people who come to Baltimore every year to visit family, even from outside the country, who run that every year, like it is, it’s neat. It’s a great vibe. I mean, as you saw, and it’s a fun thing, people are in a good mood. You know, we have such issues in our country, but on Thanksgiving morning, generally, people are feeling Democrats and Republicans there. As far as that’s what we want in this world, in the world I live in, I saw them coming together. I want people, regardless of their political beliefs that say, Look, we’re a community. Let’s have some fun. Let’s enjoy each other. And that’s the turkey trot. And you mentioned the turkey bowl. So the good thing is, if you were on the Towson why Towson race? You could go to the turkey bowl right afterwards. By the way, my daughter’s why I

Nestor Aparicio  07:37

wasn’t over Bowman’s house getting smoked up at 730 in the morning like all these Loyola

John Hoey  07:41

Calverton, my daughter, one of my daughters, I have twin daughters, as you know, goes to Maryvale, and she has a bunch of friends who go to those two schools. So right after that, my wife went off and took her and dropped her off there. So, I mean, you can, you can do both. It’s great. I love the Towson University.

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Nestor Aparicio  08:05

Give me some you know, you and I have talked so much. I mean, if I put into my chat my clone write a piece about what John and I have talked about over years, you and I head start. You know how different the whys become over years, federal funding, local funding, getting in the communities you give me the Dundalk hard time about getting back into Dundalk and my childhood at the Y and Dundalk, I’ve been out to Reisterstown and done the show where there’s this beautiful world class pool and everybody splashing around in it. So the y isn’t one thing. And I guess that’s my takeaway. I think that is my takeaway. I didn’t know what the heck it was, and I still don’t know everything it

John Hoey  08:44

is. Well, one of the things I wanted to talk about today,

Nestor Aparicio  08:49

I even have notes. Look at this man like a real CEO.

John Hoey  08:54

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One of the things that I was just having lunch the other day with a woman who actually was our head of HR for a while, and and she was telling me about her kids and her son, who’s chat, who’s struggling, and we started talking about what’s happening with boys and young men in Our country right now, right now, and

Nestor Aparicio  09:21

I’ll give you an example. This is what’s happening.

John Hoey  09:24

That’s part of the problem, right here, part of the problem. But if you, I don’t know if you know of Scott Galloway, he’s a, he’s actually a professor at NYU, but he’s written a bunch of books. He has a book out now that is getting a lot of people talking about it and reading it, hopefully I’m reading it, and it’s really about the problems that are apparent. And in our society, boys and young men are struggling. And if you look at if you plot a line. Thankfully, in our society, girls and young women are doing better like they are on an upward trajectory in terms of college graduation rates and all the kind of measures that you you have, but just a few men now account for only 41% of college degrees being earned, which is lower than women’s share in 1970 I have you talk to any college admissions person. A lot more girls than boys, and my alma mater is you’ve South Carolina. Happen to know the admissions guy there. Well, we talk a lot and struggle to get a class that is even close to 5050, boys and girls, because the girls are just, you know, much better and and yet, you know, most schools want some that kind of relative balance. And so boys are not doing well. 10% of young men 20 to 24 are doing nothing, work, college, nothing, nothing. Twice the rate than it was in 1990 25% of boys and men aged 15 to 34 say they experience loneliness a lot every day. One out of four boys, one in seven young men, reports he has no close friends.

Nestor Aparicio  11:34

Two thirds, I can’t imagine having make it, made it through that part of my life

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John Hoey  11:38

without friends, right? Like that was that’s how we survived. I still have some of those knuckleheads in my life, right? Two thirds, two thirds of men under the age of 30 think that no one cares if men are okay.

Nestor Aparicio  11:55

And here’s one, what’s the mental health challenges too? Right?

John Hoey  11:59

45% of men ages 18 to 25 have never approached a woman in person.

Nestor Aparicio  12:07

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Give me that number,

John Hoey  12:09

45% of men ages 18 to 25 have never approached a woman in person. Think about that. Okay, so we can’t have a functioning society if we’re antisocial, if we’re antisocial, and if both genders don’t aren’t succeeding, if one gender is falling behind socio economically, there’s all kinds of reasons for this. And again, I want to credit Scott Galloway.

Nestor Aparicio  12:46

I think covid also plays a, it is a role in the social part of that. When I talk to younger people, I had a young lady on for COP, and I do a lot of work with cop, and she was a quantum physics major 4.0 student, you know, yeah, my next job when I’m 21 again,

John Hoey  13:02

right? A real slacker, yeah,

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Nestor Aparicio  13:04

you know. And I just said, you know, when I talk to anybody of that age, 19 to, let’s say 27 right? I think about them wearing a mask for a year and a half their life when they’re in part of the high school, junior high, high school, college, during that period of time where I’m making out with girls having a good time, doing social things, being out and having that sort and that, look, we’ve had wars. Our parents went through a lot of that, right? Yeah. But I think for this generation, there is, there’s something missing. Part of it is this brings the whole world

John Hoey  13:38

that and right? The thing that’s interesting, though, is, you know, we all, we already know that boys develop later than

Nestor Aparicio  13:47

girls. Girls mature faster than they do.

John Hoey  13:49

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They just do it. They say that to me, they’re they’re front or frontal cortex is not developed and fully developed to 25 so boys already struggle with judgment and other things longer, right? Boys are not they’re not physiologically set up to sit in a classroom and pay attention. Girls are more able to do that. So, you know, Scott Galloway argues that all boys should be held back one year, that like you get in a classroom with boys and girls. Let’s pick a grade, seventh grade, invariably, the girls are going to be ahead, not just intellectual, 11 year old, 12 year old girl, they’re just more mature. They’re more disciplined, etc. One of

Nestor Aparicio  14:40

them is in high school, and the other one’s still in middle school psychologically, right?

John Hoey  14:44

So we’ve always had this issue of boys developing slower. What’s changed? Well, you pointed to a phone, very good point. You can hide now on a phone behind a. Green boys spend more time on a computer, whether they’re, you know, going down rabbit holes in, you know, on the internet or social media gaming, sadly, a lot of time on porn, right, which you know, doesn’t help you understand how to engage with girls, sure, it actually teaches you all the wrong skills, sure, right? And so you think about it. I mean, if a young man thinks of that, I can experience what it’s like to be with a woman through porn like I don’t need to meet any real women, because look at this, this is all like, perfect. No, it’s not. And so, you know, it, there’s a lot of implications, and it’s really a problem that I think our country and our culture needs to focus on. I will say, you know, at the Y, it’s one of the things that we are spending a lot of time on isolating that group, isolating focusing on that group, and trying to provide things for them that will help them be more confident, detach from antisocial behaviors, be more social with each other. Realize be more focused on you have to have a plan for after high school, right? You know, career or college, whatever that plan is, you have to have a plan. Boys need to be more exposed to male, males who are older than them, and who, have you know, they, who you know, have been through all the stuff that any, anybody, any young person, goes through, and can give them guidance and and we need, I think there’s a lot of other things our society needs to do. But at the Y, interestingly, as you know, I mean the Y acronym, young men’s Christian Association started essentially as a self help group for young men in London in 1843

Nestor Aparicio  17:18

I believe, give him a direction. Is that? Like, yeah, and

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John Hoey  17:20

this was the Industrial Revolution. Remember? So all these young men were coming in from the country side, initially in London and then across the US, and they they needed job skills like everyone else, right? They Well, the jobs were there, but they didn’t know how to act. You know? They were beating people up. They were beating each other up. And the y created, essentially social structures for them to to kind of candidly, get their act together right, to be socialized, to be socialized, and it included recreation and other things. And we know we all need recreation. Boys need it more. They need to release that, all that energy. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  18:07

I just laugh because I just accuse you of socialism, by the way, yeah, well, just a word. This word, socialism has a thing, but that really is it does mean well.

John Hoey  18:16

And I’m not talking about the economic philosophy. I’m talking about, we all need socialize to be to understand how to be in a social

Nestor Aparicio  18:26

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environment, right? So, so for wise in your area, just Central Maryland, what kind of programs are set up for? I’ll just say young men, men under 20. Whatever that would mean is there you know anything?

John Hoey  18:39

Well, we have a number of things that we do. We as you know, we’ve talked about we do a lot. We’re in 29 community schools around the city, and so we have a lot of we have a lot of out of school time programs for young men, for men and women, but we have in those programs, we have now created cohorts of young men, pulled them out of some of the after school programs we focus on college and career readiness schools, another thing we are doing to help them, we’re hiring them, giving them job opportunities. Most of them won’t make the why? A career, that’s fine, but we’re bringing them into employment and surrounding them with other with with male role models. We’re doing retreats. So, you know, every year we take a very large cohort, cohort of these young boys in the city who are in our programs. We have a we have camp pub talk up in Moncton, so during spring break, it’s usually, I guess, April, we bring a whole bunch of them up to pub talk for a weekend. Well, not a weekend, I’m sorry, for like, two or three days. Is during the week, and we go through a whole series of of activities with them, and we surround them. Most of them, in this case, are boys of color, but not all. But we surround them with folks that they can look at and say, well, in 1015, years, I could be that person. So we surround them with role models, and we we do a lot of group work with them, right? So a lot of this is saying you got to focus. One of the other things we noticed, I was just having this conversation the other day. It’s like the oldest issue in the book for a why, you know, so lot of our wives, you know, a lot of young kids come and want to play basketball, right? Which is great. I love basketball, and a lot of times they get unruly, because that’s what boys do. You know, I’m sure you’ve thrown a few elbows over playground.

Nestor Aparicio  21:00

It’s a little different when you move inside the Y, yeah. And so that should go without saying. We just like a Dundalk guy coming to Gertrude, yeah. I gotta act a

John Hoey  21:09

little different. We have certain expectations, core values, right? So, you know, we were talking about this. And one, I won’t have to name it, but one particular why we have where this group is having more and more issues, and there’s a concern that someday someone’s going to run out to his car and grab a gun, and, you know, we could be off to the races. So we’ve got to find ways to de escalate.

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Nestor Aparicio  21:35

And we’ve got, societally, yes, not just but the wire and it just in a general

John Hoey  21:40

sense, right? Yeah. But because there’s such easy access to every guns and other things, you know, we have a special we believe we have a special responsibility to why? So it’d be easy enough to just say, you know, either ignore those kids or just say, hey, they can’t be there because, you know, you’re too disruptive. That’s not our job. Our job is to say we want you here. My first thing is, like, you know what good thing is? They came, right? They came. They need help. We need to help them. Our attitude can’t be they’re bad. You know what? They’re good. They’re here, right? And, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  22:21

and so society has rules. Just follow a lot

John Hoey  22:25

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of this is about being intentional to know that this, you know, this group of young of boys and young men, they struggle, they struggle, and they’re struggling more in society for all kinds of reading reasons, including technology, including lots of other things.

Nestor Aparicio  22:42

Well, thinking there’s going to be job for them, and

John Hoey  22:45

they may not be, there may not be, yeah, and, and so we’re, you know, I could go on and on that. We have so many other programs in the summer and other things for these boys and young men, but the key thing is to meet them where they are, and to recognize that they need to be they need to be together. They need to be surrounded by male role models who can help guide them, not tell them what to do, but just guide them who they can talk to. And they need to be to understand that they are. We value them. You know, we don’t, you know, we all the message a lot of them get is we don’t value your problem, your problem unwelcome that. Well, yeah, and I mean, that’s a that’s a problem for the larger society, and I would argue it’s a problem for young women, right? Like, why? Why are women getting married later? You know, there’s a lot of reasons, but a big part of the reason is they can’t find a mate, right? Can’t find somebody who they can look at and say, this is going to be someone I really who I see as a peer, you know, professionally, and who I want to spend my time with. Because boys are developing later, and some of the technology is making them less like they’re not even interested, as I just waited, not even they’re not even walking up to them, right, right? Like, I don’t know about you, I had good game back in my day, you know, I did. Oh, my game, my wife. My game was, you know, it was, it was, it was hot and cold. And look, I no one likes walking up to somebody they don’t know. But I mean, the the ability to engage with somebody without screens, without anything, is so fundamental. Not just in a relationship that could lead to something, you know, great, like marriage or long term partnership, but in work, we talk about networking and communicating possible in every aspect, everything is going to help your life, to lift you in society. But right now, it’s like everything is throw kids to a screen, you know? We we have this horrifying social media environment, which is algorithm driven, and so it’s spinning you into rabbit holes that are really unhealthy. We have this.

Nestor Aparicio  25:34

And me and you were 15 years into that, right? We understand it a little bit. Young people don’t

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John Hoey  25:38

understand it. And we know, in my case, like, I know, I don’t spend time on it like LinkedIn, that’s all I do, right? I don’t find it of interest, right? Okay, that doesn’t make me better or worse. It just means, like, you know, I’d rather hang out with my friends, I’d rather read, I’d rather hang out with my family. I’d rather, you know,

Nestor Aparicio  26:00

do a million things, million I feel that way about television shows and stuff like that, just not what I do. Yeah, I feel that way about the NBA at this point. It’s not what

John Hoey  26:07

I do anymore. What I always say every second spent on social media is like your brain cells are, you know, are being extinguished.

Nestor Aparicio  26:17

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Oh, my algorithm is a little better than that, John. But John always here. He’s from the Y. He runs things. We had such a beautiful experience at the turkey trot, I would highly encourage everybody look that up and check it out. How can people be helpful here during the holiday? Join a Y, right? Come out. See what you’re about.

John Hoey  26:30

Well, yeah, you know. And look, this is a wonderful time, but it’s also a time when people are struggling. Let me tell you a quick anecdote. We have, we do a lot of food access work, right? We have fresh smarts and several of our y’s. We have them in all of our community schools. So donate food, or donate money to help us buy food for people who are struggling. Quick anecdote, so yesterday, it was a Yes. Two days ago, I’m in my office late in the day. There’s very few people in the office. It’s getting dark. I’m banging away on something. And some nice gentleman came in our office, and he was in, you know, he was insisting he wanted to see me. And, you know, I thought, well, it’s probably a disgruntled member, you know, that wants to see whatever. So he came, I came out. He was, he’s a member of our Parkville wide, where we have a fresh Mart, and he’s the treasurer of his church in the Parkville area, sure, right? And they have a little endowment. And he said that he’s been so moved by the what we’re doing to try to help people in Parkville make sure that they have something to eat that, you know, he gave, he handed me a check for $3,700 from this. I don’t know anything about this church, but it’s a, you know, his congregation in Parkville, because it stayed in the community. They wanted to do something in their community, and, and, and I just like, it’s these small but important acts of kindness and decency, and that’s all we need to do for each other. Love that and we can help. Thanks for the beautiful holiday message, that’s my holiday All right, my holiday story, you know, my stories

Nestor Aparicio  28:22

you spent trying to spend time with people I like and hearing some stories that might uplift me a little bit. Part of that’s John shields in the gingerbread house here, so and talking sauerkraut and kielbasa and nothing. And I wore my special belt buckle today, and this would appeal to you, because you’re a baseball soul. You’ve told me the story of coming to Baltimore for the first time as some big upscale banker guy and went to Memorial Stadium. Someone has to do for Dan Rogers today. Any no means city. I wore my Orioles 1971 belt buckle. There I was at 71 I wasn’t such that was a good year, but not a great year. 70 was better. 66 was good. But this is Major League Baseball properties.

John Hoey  29:03

69 was an almost year because, you know, you know, I’m a Met fan, but time to go for you. Orioles are an awesome they were a better team than the Mets, but

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Nestor Aparicio  29:12

Oh, no second, I can’t let you go without doing a little minital. Pete Alonso, yeah, yeah, Mr.

John Hoey  29:17

Met, come on, I’ll tell you. I’m a, you know, me, I’m a mad guy. You are. That was one of the more that’s gonna feel like a Tom Seaver situation for the Mets, you know, good on the Orioles you’re getting class. A hard working guy never misses a game, big time hitter, middle of your order. He will, He will pull the Orioles forward.

Nestor Aparicio  29:44

There you go. Katie Griggs area, right there. One 800 bird land, right there. It’s time to buy right, like,

John Hoey  29:48

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literally, right. And my Mets are the are much worse for him being gone. So good, good on the Orioles.

Nestor Aparicio  29:56

I saw a meme. Was an onion meme. It was like, Mr. Mets. Lines with Dodgers. Why Dan Rogers is gonna be coming up next? I’ve got candy cane cashes to give away. I had $100 winner for real at Costas on Thursday in this competition, my friends at GBMC have sent me out reminder to everybody, take care of your health during the holidays. I had a little health scare last month. People keep asking me about it. I’m just appreciative that we caught it. And then I’m going to be here to annoy all of you into 2026 we’re going to be a Planet Fitness on Monday. They have promised see plan of fitness, one of my sponsors, and they do the funny hats and the glasses on New Year’s Eve, and they promised to bring me those on Monday. So I’m gonna be doing that out of Timonium, new location out there. They’ve told me I can lay in the rejuvenation bed. So I’m gonna go rejuvenate as well for the new year and for Santa coming down the chimney and I’m out here at gertrude’s. I looked at the menu and I realized I talked too much when I’m here. So I can’t have the Highland town chicken salad, but I might take it home the hutzlers Tea Room. Does Hutz mean anything to an out of town guy? Or no?

John Hoey  30:55

No, I do here. Yeah, it was here when I got here, and it’s not here anymore, but I know how important it was to

Nestor Aparicio  31:03

John shields is not only my family member. He’s old Balmer. We’re gonna be back for more. I’m classing well, they’re classing me up. I’m out here at the PMA work gertrudes back for more on Baltimore positive. Stay with us.