Here’s why it’s your year to do the Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving with The Y

We love mixing and match the best people in Baltimore. This time, John Hoey of The Y joins Nestor with Baltimore Magazine Senior Editor Ron Cassie to discuss the Turkey Trot and plenty of local history and optimism from Pizza John’s on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour.

John Hoey and Ron Cassie discussed the upcoming Turkey Trot event organized by the Y of Central Maryland, which will take place on Thanksgiving Day with six race locations, including Towson and Memorial Stadium. The event aims to raise over a million dollars and attract 16,000 participants. Ron shared his personal connection to the event and its community spirit. They also touched on Baltimore’s history, including the Piscataway tribe’s story, and the city’s role in film production, highlighting the impact of movies like “Homicide” and “House of Cards.” The conversation emphasized the importance of community engagement and storytelling in Baltimore.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Read the article in Baltimore magazine about the Piscataway tribe in Maryland.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Coordinate with Max at Baltimore magazine regarding the “And Justice for All” movie story.
• [ ] Organize a spot from Memorial Stadium to showcase the Y’s history wall.
• [ ] Determine which Turkey Trot location Nestor Aparicio should participate in.

Memorial Stadium and Baltimore’s History

• Speaker 1 discusses the history of Memorial Stadium and its significance to Baltimore, mentioning a story about Rick Emmett from the rock band Triumph.
• John Hoey shares his experience moving to Baltimore from Toronto and his first encounter with Baltimoreans at a baseball game.
• Ron Cassie reminisces about his first visit to Memorial Stadium and the sense of community it evoked.
• The conversation touches on the emotional connection people have with Memorial Stadium and its historical importance.

John Hoey’s Journey to Baltimore

• John Hoey recounts his move to Baltimore from New York via Toronto and his initial impressions of the city.
• He shares a story about his first job in Baltimore and the sense of community he experienced.
• The discussion includes the importance of history and how it shapes a person’s sense of identity.
• John mentions the creation of a history wall at the Y to educate people about the site’s past.

The Y’s Role in the Community

• John Hoey explains the Y’s mission to provide health and community services across generations.
• The conversation highlights the Y’s various programs, including head start, community schools, and before and after school enrichment.
• John emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the Y’s role in fostering connections among people.
• The discussion includes the Y’s efforts to expand its services and the challenges of working with local governments.

Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving Traditions

• John Hoey and Ron Cassie discuss the Turkey Trot event organized by the Y, which involves six race locations across Central Maryland.
• The event aims to bring the community together and raise funds for the Y’s programs.
• Ron Cassie shares his personal experience of participating in the Turkey Trot and the sense of community it fosters.
• The conversation highlights the importance of Thanksgiving as a non-political holiday and the positive vibes it brings.

Baltimore’s Film Industry and Cultural Impact

• Ron Cassie talks about Baltimore’s role in the film industry and the impact of movies like “Homicide” and “House of Cards” on the city.
• The discussion includes personal anecdotes about meeting famous actors and being part of the filmmaking process.
• John Hoey shares a story about Richard Belzer visiting his office in Harbor East.
• The conversation touches on the cultural significance of Baltimore’s film industry and its contribution to the city’s identity.

The Piscataway Tribe and Native American History

• Ron Cassie discusses the Piscataway tribe, their history in Maryland, and the challenges they faced.
• The conversation includes the tribe’s recognition by the state of Maryland in 2012 and the ongoing efforts to secure federal recognition.
• Ron shares personal stories of meeting Piscataway tribal members and learning about their cultural traditions.
• The discussion highlights the importance of understanding and preserving Native American history and its impact on contemporary issues.

Baltimore Magazine’s Mission and Storytelling

• Ron Cassie explains Baltimore Magazine’s mission to share the best of Baltimore and its stories of connectivity and history.
• The conversation includes examples of stories the magazine has covered, such as the urban renaissance and the Piscataway tribe.
• Ron emphasizes the importance of storytelling in understanding Baltimore’s past and present.
• The discussion touches on the magazine’s role in promoting positive stories about the city and its people.

Personal Connections and Community Engagement

• The conversation includes personal anecdotes about the hosts’ experiences in Baltimore and their connections to the city.
• John Hoey shares his involvement with the Y and the impact it has had on his life.
• Ron Cassie talks about his experiences working in Baltimore’s film industry and the sense of community it fostered.
• The discussion highlights the importance of personal connections and community engagement in shaping Baltimore’s identity.

Memorable Moments and Future Plans

• The hosts share memorable moments from their time in Baltimore, including encounters with famous actors and being part of the filmmaking process.
• The conversation includes plans for future events and projects, such as the Turkey Trot and Baltimore Magazine’s upcoming issues.
• The discussion touches on the hosts’ personal goals and aspirations for the future.
• The conversation concludes with a sense of optimism and excitement for what lies ahead.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Turkey Trot, Baltimore optimism, Memorial Stadium, Y of Central Maryland, community engagement, Thanksgiving tradition, Baltimore magazine, Piscataway tribe, Native American heritage, Baltimore Renaissance, local partnerships, health and fitness, family activities, Maryland lottery, Baltimore history.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor J. Aparicio, John Hoey, Speaker 1, Ron Cassie

Speaker 1  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are in Essex, Maryland, next to my homeland of Dundalk. But you can’t beat the pizza because we’re pizza John’s. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. Have Raven scratch offs to give away. I’m waiting for the scented candy, cotton candy, candy cane, candy cane. That’s coming next. But I got some ravens to give away. We got more crab cake tours ahead. We were Cocos the other day having great conversations in the community. Luke has left the building for all things baseball. He’s in Owings Mills doing all Ravens. You could follow him out there at Baltimore, Luke as well. And also big thanks to my friends at GBMC. We talked about local people, local partnerships. GBMC taking good care of me as I educate people about knee surgery and hip surgery and making babies and all sorts of things, and even when you’re 57 years of age and you’re probably 12 years removed from being able to get a colonoscopy, I probably should have done a long time ago, but my thanks to them for making sure that I’m healthy and I’ll hope to have a clean bill of health to report to everybody in a couple weeks. Let you know that I’ll be here to pester the Orioles and the Ravens in the Ravens in the next season, and it’ll be six days, or give or take, before Thanksgiving, which is the turkey trot. John Hoey is here from the Y of Central Maryland. My man, Ron Cassie, is here with his top doctors Baltimore magazine. So I am slipping from baseball into Thanksgiving, into Memorial Stadium, into the Y. And I said to Cassie, I’m like, Hey, I’m doing this turkey trot thing this year’s like, I’ve done a turkey trot. And I’m like, I got John here from the Y. He’s like, I had a job at the Y when I was a kid, my brother and I so and San Jablonski was here, and he actually lived three blocks from the Dundalk y. We were kids. I didn’t live near the Y. I lived in Colgate, and my parents didn’t drive. So I didn’t go to the Y much, but when I did go to, why I went to the Dundalk y, the pool. It was a big old, like, like, old building, even then, like wartime kind of it was an old fashioned looking building when I was there. And I know there’s a new Dundalk y, but anybody that wonders what happened to the old Memorial Stadium I had Rick Emmett from triumph on the rock band triumph, and he told me the story. I didn’t know this. He was a huge baseball fan in Toronto, of all places. And he told me his brother loved Cal Ripken so much that his dying wish was to have his ashes scattered at shortstop at Memorial Stadium. He told me this on the show, and I’m like, I know a guy that might be able to help with that so But literally, he didn’t know what Memorial Stadium was. And I still think there are some people, John Hoey, you don’t know that. You know, it’s now really a hub for an incredible organization like the y that’s been doing this kind of work in lots and lots of ways. I’m always heart and I can feel better going over there. And I went over recently because I had a friend from out of town who said, Where was Memorial Stadium. So I drove over there on a Sunday morning after we had some pancakes, and I drove around. And I feel good about driving. It used to really bother me. From all that Luke talked about the light stanchions being gone and all that my father’s death, there were years I couldn’t drive down 33rd Street. And my god, you guys have been doing good work there the last two decades, right?

John Hoey  03:08

John, we need to get we need to do a spot from there, because we have, we put up this great history wall inside the Y to give people a sense of what happened here there. It’s fun. I didn’t grow up in Baltimore. I’m a New Yorker, but I moved here, and Nestor has heard the story, so I won’t, you know, won’t tell my audience. You know, the audience needs to hear it. And, well, I mean, when I moved to Baltimore, I moved here from Toronto, we were talking, I’m a New Yorker. I was in. I was working for Citibank. They moved me down to Baltimore, and I flew in on a Friday night. Stayed at Cross Keys. I got up on Saturday morning. I know anybody, anybody or anything about Baltimore, other than I’m a sports fan. It’s April, and I so I bought the Baltimore Sun, and I saw that they were playing, and I was talking to the guy at the store. There used to be a store across keys, and he said, Oh, Balmoral state was right down the street. So I bought a map back when you used to buy maps. And I really, I mean, I had to run a car. So I realized, Oh, God, what am I going to do? I’m going to go watch a baseball game, right? So my first thing I ever did in Baltimore was go see a baseball game. And that puts you with Baltimore people, right? Like, yeah, where Cal and Billy were playing, and their father was the manager, and, you know, so it was like, you know, that was my welcome to Baltimore moment. And a really good one, great one, they won the game.

04:33

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Won you over two. You never left. Well,

John Hoey  04:35

yeah, I did leave for a little while, and then I came back. But so anyway, the history, to me, history is important. I love history. I think it’s people without a sense of history are kind of rootless in a lot of ways, not ruthless, some are, but rootless. And so when we, you know, we built that building. Learning everything was before my time. But several years ago, we, we had, we commissioned this beautiful history wall to give people a sense of what was here beforehand. And it’s funny, you watch, you know, people wander in and out of that building. And, yeah, I love a lot of older people go up to the wall because, you know, it’s their their history. But I love when a 15 year old kid walks up there and just stands here and reads that, and I’m just thinking to myself, This is great, you know, they’re learning something, because as far as they know, you know, this has always been the why and, you know, and that’s cool, but this site was so much more, and so, yeah, yeah. I mean, Baltimore is great that way. I mean, you sounded like you came from New Jersey. I came here from New York via Toronto. And, you know, I only expected to spend a few years. Here it was. I was on this corporate rotation for Citibank. And, you know, I they moved me back to New York for after a while, but I ended up back here with another job, and I’ve never left. And New York and Baltimore is this big little town that, you know, I love New York, I still do, but, you know,

Speaker 1  06:15

first time at Pizza John’s, it is first time at Pizza John’s, see, and so it’s a small town, but there’s still this is a new place for you to see.

John Hoey  06:24

Yep, and you probably thought this too. Like when I think of John’s and pizza put together, I think of John’s pizza in Greenwich Village looks better now, which is, oh, I don’t know about that, it’s pretty good. Well, I’m not gonna judge, but I’m just saying to New Yorkers, if you’re a New Yorker pizza. John has a

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Ron Cassie  06:44

so if you’re from New York and New Jersey, the first time you come to Maryland, you’re like, I’m in the South. You’re in the South. That’s what it feels like you do. They have pizza. People say like, Mr. Nestor, and the accent and the, you know, the Yeah, the food, all that feels and feels right, more south than North, more south.

John Hoey  07:05

And yeah, I went to school in South Carolina, so I had a taste of the South. Yeah, but you’re right, it feels

Ron Cassie  07:13

we do have Little Italy, which is great, but Rick, but it’s really little the old basketball is today. Rick Latino, the basketball coach. When he went to Louisville, he opened, he said he opened up an Italian restaurant because he, because he couldn’t find a good Italian restaurant to eat at. That’s a little bit when you’re, you know, from from New York and New Jersey, how you feel a little bit like, Yeah, I’m a little bit out of my culture. Oh, look

07:34

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at you. Good pizza, I’ll admit.

Ron Cassie  07:36

But I fell in love with crab cakes and, you know, seafood and things like that. You pick

John Hoey  07:40

up the food scene here is great now, yeah, when I first moved here, I agree, I was a bit my ex wife and I, we would go to DC to go out to dinner.

07:51

Okay? Because you have more options. You didn’t have a rock. Because we

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John Hoey  07:55

didn’t like we we assumed, and we thought, like, you know, I always people would describe Baltimore is like Noah’s Ark. It’s got two of everything, but not many, not much more than that. And so, like, the assumption was, there’s a couple good restaurants, but, but over time, and there’s great gems like this, that once you live here, you really so there’s gems. But now I would say the restaurant scene in Baltimore is about as good as any venerable please open 50 years. Got those years you’ve been in my set and you’ve got more recent places that are so it’s a great I agree. I’m not a restaurant critic, but, you know, I may play on it. You don’t have to go to DC to get a meal, but I would never think, I think you have better options in Baltimore.

Speaker 1  08:39

I was in DC last night, and I assure you with that John how he’s here, why Ron Cassie is here for

John Hoey  08:43

Baltimore, man, though you came for a restaurant review,

Speaker 1  08:47

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say Memorial Stadium, because it did remind me of this. And Ron used this is Mr. History here, and Cassie, but Joe Erman did a piece the year they knocked Memorial Stadium down. So I guess is 9899 in that era, with Steve sable and Joe’s son was a small boy. Then it was a 1012, year old boy. Had his boys with him, and I met them at the Colts reunion. We talked about a minute ago. Now they’re, you know, 40 years old, right? Joe Irma was there. He now lives in Buffalo Joe, you know Joe’s very minister and all that he was in the upper deck, and you know how his voice, he’s got that buffalo thing going on. And he talked to Steve about it being the theology of a place that things happened here, there’s a history here, there’s a there’s a spirit on 33rd Yeah, and I feel that when I’m there and you work, and you talk about people coming up wanting to touch the wall and feel all of that? I think that that is sort of the bit of a mysticism about sports in Baltimore, and why a guy who rooted for the Mets, or a guy that’s from New York would come here and fall in line with Babe Ruth or Cal Ripken or Johnny Unitas or even Ray Lewis for 15 running another party thing? We’ve had sports has been a heartbeat of what we’ve done here. Another funny,

John Hoey  10:04

another funny. Welcome to Baltimore. Moment for me. This is way back in 1989 so I had my first experience at the Memorial Stadium. So we moved here. We’re in temporary housing, and then, you know, we start to look for a house. So we have a real estate agent. She takes us around the first house. We go, we meet the real estate agent trying to sell the house. Who is it? One of United’s sons. I was like, I don’t know much about Baltimore, but I know, I know Johnny united. I’m like, I looked at, you know? I looked at real estate like this, Baltimore, like

Ron Cassie  10:42

Artie Donovan. Donovan’s daughter was like the general manager, perfect. Where are you? Right? Exactly.

John Hoey  10:49

That doesn’t happen in New York. Those kind of things don’t happen.

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Ron Cassie  10:53

No, right? So, but to yours idea about place, right? Because I was talking about my father, my grandfather, my uncle before. So we have these memories, these connections that are very real, that the vector is this thing we used to do we love together, is going to ballgames, talking about baseball watching. And when I’m thinking about when I first came to Baltimore Memorial Stadium, you know, sitting in the in the Upper Deck, the last opening day I was there for and I remember drinking, you know, drinking natty bows with them in my 20s, with friends that time, and I’m not from here, but I’m moving here and meeting people. I meet my future wife, my daughter, and when she’s born, she’s like, first thing at six months old, I take a memorial stadium because I want her to be there before it closes. And she’s like, just sucking on a soft pretzel the whole game, and you’re in a stroller or, like, in, like, the section out in right field. And so it’s not even just the tactile things. Those tactile things reverberate within us because of all these other memories.

Speaker 1  11:48

You’re telling me a story about it, yeah, that etched in your I think it’s a part of you

John Hoey  11:54

totally baseball is, has a has a capacity to bring us, you know, experiences that other sports do not, right, like you mentioned your, you know, your daughter, I did similar thing with my son to the old Shea Stadium, right?

Ron Cassie  12:12

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My brothers and I still call it Shea. We go to a game.

John Hoey  12:16

It’s hard, like Citi Field, and I work for Citibank, so, but I still, and I had a great experience there, but I still call it Shea. Sometimes my best, one of my best friends, is also from Queens and lives in Baltimore. So we go back and we both like we’re going to Shea. No, we

Ron Cassie  12:32

call it Shay on purpose, a burger with you guys.

12:37

Okay,

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Speaker 1  12:40

I’ll get a paddle freighter burger with you guys for 38 bucks. John always here and run So Ron, you were you said you had why connections. And before you even got here, John, I said, I’m doing this turkey trot thing with John Hoey, and I know it’s your biggest thing. And you said you’re doing it too, so you’re familiar with it. And obviously, you know, you get press releases, like the rest of the media here. You know a lot of things that goes on, but the wine, the turkey trots, part of Thanksgiving. Right?

Ron Cassie  13:04

To me, it isn’t a Thanksgiving tradition going up to Waverly. And you always see people you know up there. And I usually ride my bike up there from from fellows point where I live and and always see people, a lot of kids. There’s a whole family. I mean, there’ll be people from 70 dog strollers, like the whole thing, and it’s just a lot of fun, and it’s great for you, right? Kind of, sort of do the run around Lake Montebello. Yeah, it’s a nice, nice course, flat, flat,

Speaker 1  13:32

which is nice. Give me the whole deal, turkey trot. What do I need to know about this?

John Hoey  13:36

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Well, we do have six race locations I knew, so, I mean, we’ll have to talk which one you want to go to. There’s a lot of good they’re all good choices. They’re like six kids. So I can’t say that, like one more than the other. Go to the one nearest you. Yes, that’s what I say. But, I mean, I think you’re just, it’s a, we have 16,000 participants. We did last year, and we hope to have a few more this year. It’s a vibe, you know? It’s a it’s like the ultimate community thing. You’re there, you see neighbors, you see friends, people are in a good mood. To me, Thanksgiving is like the best national holiday, because there’s, it’s just something we can all participate in. People are in a good mood.

Speaker 1  14:14

Non political. It’s not political, right? Everybody gets off. Everybody’s happy

John Hoey  14:19

and and you know, it’s, it’s, you know, it’s a, it’s a 5k so it’s, it’s not a hard people walk it. So we have people, people, you know, some competitive runners run it, mostly people who just are runners. We have walkers, we have dogs. We have a lot of strollers. People, a lot of people are in their Turkey costumes. It’s just a very fun thing. You feel like, you know you’re getting some exercise, you are helping the Y that morning, you’re helping your community. And you just, I think people leave in a great mood. And I think, you know, what more can you ask for that to have an event that is something that feels good? You know, you’ve exercised so, you know there’s, well,

Speaker 1  15:03

you’re the history guy. Give me the history of the event. Had it all come together? Well, this event, the NFL, clearly zoned in on Thanksgiving, is being a good day to market people. At some point, the Y said,

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John Hoey  15:13

like everything with the NFL, they overdid it, but we’re

Speaker 1  15:18

not doing Thanksgiving with Turkey. It’s a dumb idea to get people, I don’t think, because, I mean, there is a thought like, you’re with your family that day. That might not be the greatest day to do it, but you guys leaned into

Ron Cassie  15:27

it. You’re home by then, quickly.

John Hoey  15:31

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And you know, if you got a bunch of relatives over here, you really don’t enjoy you get out the morning. So there’s that. But, I mean, the history is apparently something like around 30 years ago, a group of volunteers in Towson, the old Towson y, came up with the idea, this is a local event. It started as a one, as just a Towson y event. The a group of volunteers up in Harford County started the year after we didn’t have a actual physical why up in Harford County until, you know, quite a long time later. But we had all, we had programs up there. So we had volunteers up there again. It’s way before my time. They then they said, Oh, that’s a great idea. Let’s, let’s, you know, we’re going to do that. So those two had Turkey trots for lots of years, right? We had those two. I came into this role many, several years ago,

Speaker 1  16:26

Stadium at Towson, many years. Am I wrong in saying that, where were the Towson one? The original base was around the campus, correct? Yeah, okay, yeah,

John Hoey  16:35

yeah. I mean, the course has always been right around in that it’s in a neighborhood, sure. So it’s the course is right in that neighborhood, and so they were doing a bunch of fundraising things, and we just said, Let’s own Thanksgiving, like, that’s the ultimate opportunity. There’s a lot of events. Let’s not do a rubber chicken event downtown where everyone’s got to get dressed up and really doesn’t want to be there, you know, let’s do, you know, forget the golf tournaments, all that kind of stuff. Let’s just go all in on Turkey Trot. And then we expanded it eventually to six locations to say, you know, it’s a great opportunity. It’s very much the why. It’s about health, it’s about community, it’s about family. So that’s like, that’s us. That’s what we do, and and then, but put it at six locations, because people really don’t want to travel very far. You know, if you got, you got the turkey in the oven and all that stuff. So it, it’s really sort of took off. And it’s this, it’s this big event, which, now, again, we have about 16,000 participants. We raise over a million dollars that morning. And you know, it’s, it’s, it’s become a phenomenon. And I think, you know, we love it. And you know people, people, it’s a tradition. You’re right. You mean people have done it. There are people in Towson who’ve done it every year for those 30 plus years,

Nestor J. Aparicio  18:04

start your holiday feeling healthy, happy and a part of something epic. It’s one dose of fun for you and your family and food and financial assistance for another family. The perfect Thanksgiving recipe with six race locations across Central Maryland. Everyone is invited to this morning of good vibes and high fives. I’m good at both of

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Ron Cassie  18:21

those. You gotta do something before you sit in front of TV. Don’t have food and watch football, right? You gotta get out and get some sunshine and get some fresh air.

John Hoey  18:28

You know what’s coming?

Speaker 1  18:30

YmD, Turkey, trot.org is the way to do that, that you are. Why worker? What were you your

Ron Cassie  18:37

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kid? So we’ve talked about was born in North Jersey, but we moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, up for when I was, like, in middle school with the middle school, high school there, and so exactly village also, yeah, you literally were, yeah. So my first, my first job was summer camp at the YMCA. We were always members.

Speaker 1  19:00

Not uncommon, right? That’s a, that’s a very common, yeah, first job at the

John Hoey  19:03

water, right? Camp, yeah, swim instructor, six year

Ron Cassie  19:07

olds how to swim, and we play. Did the kickball the six year old, six year old camp, I don’t know how old I was, how to get a premise on the work, I guess. But then, you know, it was one of those places where, like, your whole family goes like, my dad would go to swim. And then my brother, I mentioned brother six four, you know, when he got older, he gets to go play basketball, because that’s where the best basketball was. We get guys from the EBA, the Allentown jets, or guys who played, like the Philadelphia Bell, you know, really competitive athletes and playing the basketball, if you could get on the court for a while. And yeah, you had the gym, and back in those days, kind of before the elliptical machines and universal, universal. And you had the boxing, because Alan wrestling room, yeah, you know. And it was really old school, like, you know, school too. Yeah.

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19:58

Find. Dundalk. Now Dundalk is back open, right?

John Hoey  20:01

It’s back open squash courts. Then you also

Ron Cassie  20:05

the community room where you had, like, the soccer, you know, foosball,

John Hoey  20:11

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yeah, we, all of our wives, have what we call family room where, yeah, I’m big. I like, we don’t put computers in there, yeah? Reading Room, yeah. Put, you we put foosball and ping pong, yeah, and it’s like, non device room, not Well, I mean, we don’t require but it’s like, we want people to engage with one another. And it’s great to watch, because then you go in at different times of day, you’ll see an older couple playing ping pong with each other. You then you’ll see teenage kids playing foosball. I mean, it just,

Ron Cassie  20:43

it was our Boys and Girls Club Center. Was our place to go,

John Hoey  20:48

just ride your bike, yeah, where they’re safe and they’re going to have a good time, and where they’re going to see people in the community that they wouldn’t see if they’re sitting in their houses and

20:58

getting some activity. Yeah, you know it’s

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John Hoey  21:00

getting exercise.

Speaker 1  21:01

So I’ll do the show in Dundalk at some point. What am I gonna find when I get over there?

John Hoey  21:06

Well, right? It’s reopened. The the pool has been redone. The there’s other parts of the building that the county is using. We are still talking with them. We’d like to do a lot more. We’d like to bring as much of the traditional y activities back into Dundalk as we can. So we’re working with Baltimore County to try to figure that out. And because it really, you know, people want, that’s what people want. The people, you know, we talked about this when we were at Randallstown, people come in the pool and they’re great. Where’s the rest of the why? And we kind of, you know, we say, well, unfortunately we this is what we have here. But when people walk into a why, I think, you know, people expect a wide range of things, right? So what we’re talking to the county about that hoping to expand their conception of what we do there. We always

Nestor J. Aparicio  21:59

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try to make it better. Why is central Maryland? How many located? Maryland? How many locations? And set me off on Turkey Trot. But also, you like to brag about you. We were talking about 33rd Street, Randallstown, Dundalk, but you have locations all over the place, like a couple of them. I You can’t talk about

John Hoey  22:15

all. We have 1010, wise and two swim centers. But as we’ve talked about, we are really operating out of over 120 sites around the region. So we head start. We have, yeah, we have 30 Head Start sites around the region. We are responsible for 29 Community Schools in Baltimore City. We have 40 before and after school enrichment sites and schools. We have six preschools about to open another one. We have a dozen camps, most of which are at our y’s, but a few are our standalone, overnight residential camps. And you know, we just have wide range of programs, from cradle to grave, not quite the grave, I guess, but keep you out of the grave. We’re trying to helping to keep you out of there, really, for all generations. And you know, so, yeah, I’m really proud of the work we do. And you know, we really are, you know, we’re really trying to help families and communities. Not only, yeah, stay healthy, but stay connected to one another. We really live we talked about before, in a society where people are not engaging with each other in a in a civilized way. They’re not engaging with with each other across generations or race or income or other things, or, you know, political points of view, and

Speaker 1  23:39

even in their own community where they live, being close together, and they’re that is the bomb

John Hoey  23:43

they’re turning, yeah, they’re turning into keyboard, you know, warriors, but wise, whether it’s in a classic why, or even a school site we’re operating, why, I think it gives reminds people that humans need other human beings, that the only way We’re going to be successful as humans, as families, as communities, is to engage with one another, to support each other, and that’s what that’s all the work we do, and we have 1000s of programs, but all the work we do comes back to really building community and helping communities be connected, healthy and engage with one another. I’m really proud of it. It takes a lot of moving parts to accomplish that, but somehow we make it all work.

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Nestor J. Aparicio  24:28

John, how he’s here from the Y Central Maryland turkey trot is Thanksgiving Day. Ron Cassie, from Baltimore magazine, SENIOR EDITOR, will be trotting and turkeying and all that you know, this speaks to your Renaissance piece from about a year and a year and a half ago this month, it’s top doctors. I think my doctors at GBMC or top doctors, you can read on, but the community piece that someone like John brings is we sit here in Essex at a pizza John’s and talk about the renaissance of Baltimore, and getting out a little bit. I think your magazine always is trying to touch the best stories in the city and the. Kinds of stories to bring people together. You know, speak to that a little bit. Not just best of magazines and all that for Baltimore magazine, but the storytelling part of good things that are going on here. I know that’s what Steve Jeffy wants. Yeah.

Ron Cassie  25:12

I mean, absolutely, I think, you know, part of our mission is big. Part of our mission is to share the best of Baltimore. I mean, what’s going on and the stories of connectivity, you know, I think I was talking to somebody else recently about, I was in the I was in New York, and there was a an exhibition of the city museum about all the films that were made in New York, and how their New York is mythological. And

Speaker 1  25:35

both, like, Ghostbusters, right? Yeah, like, or whatever, you know, the woody, alpha,

Ron Cassie  25:40

8

spiky, right? All these films and but Baltimore has stood in for films. A lot of places. Sleep was a Seattle, right? Yeah, Barry Levinson, John Waters, back in the day, made some films. Not quite the story of Baltimore is not quite told in film the way New York has been. But I think that’s what the magazine does, is we tell the story of Baltimore, and we tell some of the, I don’t say myth, and that’s a lie, but the issues of how, of history, of how the connection the unfolding story of Baltimore, you know, the people of Baltimore, the places that are magical to us, and why that’s important. And you know, I don’t think you understand where you’re going lets you know where you’re coming from, and making those connectivity, those connections in story, and storytelling is really what the ball the magazine does best through our photography and our storytelling. Why

Speaker 1  26:31

invited max out along with you today, and today was your your close day, right? Like, literally, magazine goes to bed today. Yeah,

Ron Cassie  26:38

this was a little frightening this, and that’s why you

Speaker 1  26:42

were late, like all that, January, November edition.

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Ron Cassie  26:46

This is a Thanksgiving story. Should bring this up. Well, I

Speaker 1  26:49

like for me, yeah, I was, I’m an old journalist, right? So I sat at the paper, and a band would come to town and say, Well, I’m gonna get an interview with Getty Lee or, yeah, whatever. And the stories would come to you. I think there’s a different thing from a magazine perspective, and say, well, there’s an event Turkey, trout, we’ll do a story on the why that’s nice, whatever. But then to go out and find stories off the beaten path, or stories that don’t come on a calendar, or don’t scream at you or something that you’re like, I heard a story about something, but nobody’s ever written it, so I need to go research it. And I think that’s where a guy like you comes in, that’s where you really take the essence of something, saying, well, somebody know, we know a little bit about that, but let me get like Paul Harvey the rest of the story. I think that’s what you did in this piece, right? Yeah.

Ron Cassie  27:31

I think, I think, you know, one of the things we have opportunity at the magazine is, is, is, if you’re here, and I live in the city, I ride my bike everywhere, is you’re trying to get a sense of what’s unfolding, what’s percolating, right? So you talk about the urban Renaissance we did a year ago, with a dramatic decrease in homicide and some of the good things that are happening and kind of be ahead of the curve sometimes.

Speaker 1  27:53

8

And you were first ones to write that kind of grace before all the national publications growing about,

Ron Cassie  27:58

I think, in the Inner Harbor, we did a story and CFG Bank Arena, where you’re like, hey, this is it’s a big piece. These are big. The CFG bank are really a big piece. Or a couple years ago, these inner hard pavilions are really in trouble. What’s the future going to look like here? And you know, and you know. So this the story in November issue on the Piscataway tribe that’s indigenous to Maryland. So I think a Piscataway. I think about New Jersey. No, the Piscataway. So, so the Native American story in Maryland is really important, really hasn’t been told. And you know, this is November’s Native American Heritage Month, but we’re also coming up on the 250th birthday of the country, the 400th birthday of Maryland. And so I thought, I really want to go back and understand the story. Because we think of these stories of being out west. We think of the Trail of Tears, right? We think of the, you know, the horrible stories in South Dakota, like Indian reservations and the Christian schools, and I’m Catholic and the forced coercion. But this stuff happened in Maryland. First, we had reservations, we had forced Christian conversion. We had broken treaties. We took their land. We had the genocide. We had war parties against Native American all happened in Maryland almost before anywhere else. 1634, the Ark and dove arrive, right? We celebrate this in Maryland as Maryland. It’s a legal holiday when they arrive. But 1634 by the end of that century, one lifetime, 66 years, right? And one lifetime, almost all the Piscataway are gone, and they’re essentially just wiped off the face of the of what becomes the state of Maryland. Now they were also in like, what we’d consider like DC today, but the tribe of like seven, well, a combination of disease, right? Stolen land because they can’t eat, they can’t farm, they farm, they can’t hunt. It’s all being taken away. So combination of germs, guns and disease, all this stuff destroys their way of. Life, and they all leave. Some go to Pennsylvania. Some go to all the way to Canada, become part of the Iroquoian still live there. Some go the Ohio Valley and West and some kind of return and some never left. Some slowly assimilate with like intermarrying among indentured servants and free blacks and and never left with the DNA, the history is there, and even their way of life. And so to unpack the Piscataway story and interviewing and spending time with some of the surviving Piscataway members, and learning that there’s a Piscataway National Park in Southern Maryland, is a beautiful state, beautiful National Park, the historic home of the Piscataway, where there’s, I mean, 1000 years of chiefs buried there on sacred land that was going to be taken from them. And we talked about, I thought, in the story is, the interesting

30:53

part about this is, I’ve never heard any of this, so this is

John Hoey  30:56

right, how many Piscataway were you able to actually talk to? So

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Ron Cassie  31:00

I talked about like a half a dozen for the story. I mean, there’s, this is Chief Mark tyack. This is a little in the story. Here’s a photograph of his grandfather, Turkey. Tyek is really the linchpin. He’s born 1895 and he’s the one that keeps these traditions alive. He’s the one who fought for Mayon, this historic town that survived before the ark and the dove that was there for 1000s of years, where ancestral words were buried, and they would plant like a cedar tree to every burial. He fought to be buried there. Need an act of Congress to be buried there. And the creation of this Piscataway national park that survived, ironically, across the Potomac River is George Washington’s Mount Vernon, which is kind of an irony in hindsight. Yeah, but it’s, it’s a, you know, beautiful story. And these, these tribes, were recognized by the state of Maryland in 2012 the Piscataway, Piscataway, Conway, and also the Assateague. And one of the things I learned right is every place that we love in the state, Chesapeake, Bay, Assateague, Allegheny, mountains, Choptank River, Nanticoke River, all named after the tribe that lived there. That’s where all these names come from. These are all homes people that were wiped off the map. And

32:09

God, you’re teaching me stuff. I feel like I need to get a proper

Ron Cassie  32:13

piece of pizza here or something. But I don’t mean to go on, but it is a really remarkable untold. You’re both gonna read this article? Yeah, no, I wanted the idea of it was to fascinate invert this story that we’ve been told about the rival of English settlers. I

John Hoey  32:28

8

mean, I didn’t know this story. I mean, I know that the story is, you have to know there were story resonates because it’s consistent. But the particularities of Maryland is very interesting. It is never heard

Speaker 1  32:40

about a Native American in Maryland. I mean, the highest Maryland, the high school Susquehanna. Or see these names? Yeah, I know they’re Indian

Ron Cassie  32:46

names, right? Susquehanna, the Susquehannock, were a huge tribe that doesn’t really, I

32:50

never thought acidic, or Chico chink, or any of these kind of,

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John Hoey  32:53

oh, they’re all my high school in New York was, it was an Indian name, right? Like we are take all this stuff for granted. So just think it’s

Ron Cassie  33:06

fun. This is, this is a good time. And thanks. We don’t tell, we don’t tell, and Maryland, we don’t tell it. And with thanksgiving, it’s really important to understand it. You know, Governor O’Malley signed the recognition of these, of these state recognition, not federal recognition, which would really acquire bring some benefits along. But the way the discrimination that the Catholic church always recognized the Native Americans in Southern Maryland. The oldest Catholic parishes in the country is in Southern Maryland, and they were tri segregated, so they had white people in front Indians in the back pews, and free blacks, you know, the balcony. That’s how the Catholic Church, but ironically, it’s how some of the Piscataway records survive, because the Catholics are good about marriage and birth to certificate. Record everything. Record everything. So ironically, despite the racism and segregate because the census just blurred them out. The census was just like, you know, free people of color. They just blurred out the Native American part of it. But there’s a you I’ll ask those a question. Why do you think the native tribes got recognition? 2012 what happened the year before that? 2011 Yeah, what

34:16

happened? I don’t but go ahead.

Ron Cassie  34:18

8

2011 Maryland’s gaming casinos pass. Oh, they wouldn’t take the chance of recognizing by first. They didn’t want the Native Americans to get to life, right? So they gave them trial recognition.

John Hoey  34:30

That was the that’s what was held up for us, what they threw to them, yeah, it

Ron Cassie  34:35

was hell literally held up Glendenning or like, and not that, like, state recognition would have gotten a foot in the door for you need federal rent again, but they was literally held up until them. So they are still issues that are like in the land that they owned. This was their land, right? And they want to scout away other, other native, indigenous people. Like, look, if the government owns this land is not being used. If this is an empty lot, these acres, give it back. Let us. Do something with it, you know. And they’re very strong, you know, the interview, the tribal members I talked to on the Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, and a lot of didn’t get into the story, is a very strong environmental issues to this day, you know, which are very, very important to them, the sacred nature of connection to the land, which, you know, I think we’re coming around to today. So this is not just

35:21

that’s crying in the

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Ron Cassie  35:25

just, I don’t think we I’m not really interested in just doing the story for what happened four years ago. It’s how it reverberates today, where we live today. And I like, at least when I’m going around the state going, Oh, history

John Hoey  35:39

does not go away. No, I really believe that. Yeah, does not go away. It keeps coming back to you, and that’s why I think it’s so important to

Nestor J. Aparicio  35:47

understand it. We’re still here. Is name of the piece. Ron Cassie is the senior editor of Baltimore magazine. He is here. It is the top doctors magazine. I hope the top doctor, Dr scares you take care of me in a couple weeks over GBMC. John Hoey is here for the Y he’s got turkey trot. I’m hoping to be back up on the grid for Turkey Trot. Where am I going to Turkey Trot? Where you tell me? Where do you want to go? Well, I live in a Towson area, but like, you know, I’m always partial Memorial Stadium or six down there. You know, I don’t know where should I go, where where I want to go, where I’m most needed or appreciated or desired, or what’s comfortable for you? What do you

John Hoey  36:22

8

think? Wow, I don’t know. I’m gonna get back to you on that, because there’s so many options. I mean, I’m gonna participate. I The governor sometimes runs Governor Moore, okay? I’ll chase he.

36:35

I’ve been chasing years, a

John Hoey  36:37

lot, a lot of times, he’ll register and then and tell us he’s coming. And then Nacho, you know, he’s the governor. He’s got stuff going on. I understand that, but he does come. If he comes, he’ll run it Memorial Day. He used, he used to be an active member of that

Ron Cassie  36:52

hit it here flag still up there is the one here flag after

8

John Hoey  36:58

Frank Robinson. It was the Ring of Honor is in the gymnasium. Okay, I haven’t

Nestor J. Aparicio  37:04

seen it yet. I’m gonna come. You got to come in, all right. John, always here for the Y, turkey trot is available. I had the website here because it was kind of an S, you could just Google it, but it’s why the letter y, y, because we like you. MD, Turkey trot.org, y. MD, Turkey trot.org, and, of course, Baltimore magazine. You can find him at B register right as soon as you can tell Max that it’s good, it’s all it’s the magazine’s done now, and she can come out and visit with me sometime soon. Okay, I will. I will. Yeah, back and forth. You know about Max and I this week? Oh, okay, so Max puts a thing up on you guys are not from around here, so I should you weren’t here in 1976 we had a very famous movies being made Baltimore, and justice for all was made here in Baltimore out in 79 so apparently, Max is doing some sort of piece for the magazine on the legend of and justice

Ron Cassie  37:57

for all. I happen to be editing that piece, all

Speaker 1  37:59

8

right, so she reached out in because you’re the senior editor of Baltimore magazine. I’ll remind her that as well. So she’s the chief though, right? Yeah, listen, there’s a there’s a Native American to see the editor in chief. See anybody can be an executive or a CE, whatever, when you’re a chief executive officer.

John Hoey  38:18

It was appropriated that term from

Ron Cassie  38:21

I moved here in the middle of this whole period where these films were being made and I was tending place, yeah, at the treemont Hotel, part time, like at night,

Speaker 1  38:33

homicide was getting shot, yeah. So some of the actors would stay minor diner. Diners before that were

8

John Hoey  38:39

that great. 10 men. Mary Levinson had a string of

Ron Cassie  38:43

great yeah, he said, she said, Richard Gere and Julie Robertson movie. That’s

38:50

runaway prize, yes, yeah.

Ron Cassie  38:54

8

So I had this idea for, we should do a story about this period, you know, like, I said, kind of like, you know, we kind of miss allies balls, when we kind of all remember these things, and you still have Veep and House of Cards, of films we made here deep Yeah, and I played Iowa State Trooper, by the way, in House of Cards, you got your card? Do you? No, no, I was, I was extra, extra, okay. But they, you know, the big deal was get the state trooper outfit and hat on the gun and everything like that. Was, I made it. I had the idea, I said, But Max, you got to write it. You’re the film critic. You know, it’s her. She was here, Major League Two. The Replacements was made, yeah, Chris Rock and Will Smith and Whoopi Goldberg made films here. Gene hack. Gene hack was a coach.

Nestor J. Aparicio  39:47

Jack warden has made lots of movies here. Yeah, so and justice for all. Max is looking for somebody or anybody, yeah. And I told her, I’m like Tom Davis was in and justice for all his faith. Race, yeah, appears in it. And I’ve taught for years every time I see Tom last Saturday night, the night of game seven. Leonard Raskin from Raskin global, my partner, was throwing his annual crab soiree out in Timonium, and Tom, and here close. So I saw Tom last week, and I congratulate him on getting into the Oriole Hall of Fame and all that. And Tom star, and I had to get the hell out. I was game seven. I’m like, it’s third inning. Bechet, to sit the home run. I gotta leave. You know, I gotta go home, yeah, to see the greatest baseball game of all time, or whatever. And Tom started to, let me tell you about, let me tell you about. Don’t tell me. Tell max. So he told me this story about him and Pacino and had they had to shoot the scene 15 times in a row. So I know you’re doing this movie thing at Baltimore magazine, so I want to get maximum love Max. I hope you get the

Ron Cassie  40:45

maximum. Come on. She’ll come on when she gets when the story comes out. I was gonna say so I was like tending Bart at the Tremont, as at the Midtown during the day and at night, I worked at the at the treemont and see Thomas Howell and Juliette Lewis were doing a movie. This is like 19 8919 it went nowhere. But people suddenly, we had some famous people come in and, you know, it was, it was, it’s kind of funny, Johnny Depp and Tracy lords and everything. I knew people knew them. And I had friends who were like, extras, right? And was fun. Thing about doing the House of Cards was, like, I got, I was there on set. This is in Harford County, when Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. I actually met him. She was directing that episode, you know. So you’re in there, Sean Penn’s wife, you’re seeing the whole thing being done, which is kind of fun. I think people hand them one. It’s fun to see Julia Roberts and Richard Gere on the street and 34th Street doing their thing, right? Like we all got to get a kick out a little glimpse behind Hollywood. And so, yeah, it’s, I think it’s fun. I think people like the movies are made here, because Baltimore can stand in for New York. I was

Speaker 1  41:46

driving down Calvert street about 30 years ago, and I look to the left and that little beaten up motel that’s like near Chase killing on St Paul, kind of all beaten up peace, and Richard Belzer was standing on out, and from him shooting homicide in there, yeah, and I’m at a red light, and there’s rich freaking Bowser. I

8

John Hoey  42:10

have a Richard Belzer story. Belzer, I love you, alright, so you know, I worked for Sylvan, learning we actually were the first company that signed a lease in Harbor East, yeah, I remember that. And Baltimore magazine moved in that building, yeah. And so I’m, I have my I’m in my office, and I’m working, and I, you know, it looks out and there’s, you know, they built an apartment building, like, right next to it. I got stuff going on meetings. I look all of a sudden Turner. I look up out the window. Richard Belzer is, like, as close, almost feels like as close as you are to me standing on the balcony, just smoking a cigarette, looking at me. And I was like, Hi, Richard Belzer, like, literally, you know, you don’t see that every day. Richard Bell, yeah, he was just killing time to

Speaker 1  43:01

your point, it’s not often you see a movie star on the street Baltimore. So that is a, there is something a

Ron Cassie  43:06

little behind the scenes look at. Like, homicide was a big hit TV show and sleepless and some of the movies, like House of Cards, like they used to, we had a period. We had a little Robin Wright used to jog in Patterson Park, right? That was the park where they used to jog. So it’s, it’s kind of, you know, it’s kind of fun to see. It’s like, you know, when you get, when you’re a sports where you go to the ballpark and you get to go in the dugout, in the locker room for the first time.

Nestor J. Aparicio  43:30

8

Movie story I got is about 15 years ago. Nicole Kidman was in Baltimore shooting a movie, yeah, and it was in my building. I lived at Harbor court at the time, and there were flyers up everywhere, condo association, the Cole Kidman shooting here Friday, from 6pm till Sunday, like, we couldn’t even go in our lobby. Like, and our doorman, Al said, I came in he and Al was the best. He’s like, I saw him. Nicole Kidman last night she was in the building. She walked through, you know, I saw her. She’s beautiful. And I’m like, you know, Nicole, so they shut our building down, and they make these move, these movie people. They’re all, you know, they you would always know when to shoot in a movie, because the meat truck would be outside. They’d have the catering, yeah, catering trucks to be lined up out on the

Ron Cassie  44:15

street. And I’m like, gotta shoot a movie. Sometimes you gotta move your car. There

44:19

was always no parking in

John Hoey  44:21

this block. Well, Veep, we got it when Veep, which I thought was one of the great shows, Rachel, they contacted us, and they, they wanted to film a scene in one of our wise and one of Ellicott City. It was campaign appearance, you know. And so, you know, they want to shut it down for the day. And I said, Well, there’ll be a price for that, but they we worked it out. We worked it out they were and they allowed a few members to sit there and watch because and they go in and they just use one room, and they repainted the whole thing right, and they did, shot their scene, and then they leave, they repainted all back to the color. That it was, and they and it’s just like, Wow, all it’s just a room for God’s sake, but the amount of money they spent and attention detail, yeah, and some guy is assigned to go in and paid in a certain period, and then the next guy, it’s, it is a whole interesting process. And I always think, like, you know, glad I’m not in that business. Well, it’s an it’s an expensive business. Yes, everything has an incredible cost to it. That is my observation. But look, we sit there and watch a show like Veep, which I thought was spectacular, yes, and we love so funny, because you’re right, their attention to detail allows these shows to just

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Speaker 1  45:39

work. I love storytelling. At Bulma magazine. Here’s tell stories. John Hoey from the Y is here. Make sure you’re supporting the Y and turkey trot. I’m gonna get over to Dundalk and do the show sometime soon. And of course, Ron Cassie with a great, great story about the Piscataway tribe here in Maryland. My thanks to Luke Jones for stopping by as well. We talked some baseball with Ron re came by. I bought everybody pizza. I tried to buy him pizza, and they bought their own pizza. So also, my thanks to Stan Jablonski, my high school pal, for stopping by for a little while, and we had some great guests early on, Todd Schuler and Bill Cole, great friends in real life. I know them separately. They’ve never done radio together. We did an hour here talking started with AI and it devolved into like coaching high school sports. So you never know where this thing’s going, because Baltimore positive. My thanks to the Maryland lottery for sending us out. Raven scratch offs to give away. I had a two women at Cocos on Wednesday, and you’ve done the show both. You’ve done the show me, Cocos, they came up from behind me, and they got in front of me, and they’re holding tickets up in the middle of the show. And I’m like, give me the tickets. I said, your winner? Well, we don’t know. So I got my scanner out and I scanned them. First Lady won 20 bucks, and she’s jumping dancing, retired school teacher. Next lady won five she danced more. So I put that out online so people really win. I really give them away. They really are lucky. For crying out loud, I bought somebody half a crab cake over Cocos. We’re at Pizza John’s eating pizza and french fries, and we invite you to come down and do that as well. My thanks to GBMC for getting me out, keeping me healthy a couple weeks from now, fingers crossed that everything goes as well as I need to go. I feel healthy, but they tell me that’s part of the whole deal, that it can be fleeting. So my fingers are crossed. I’m drinking my milkshake. I’ll be doing things the right way. Luke’s doing things the right way. Out in ravens camp as well. We got a big football week ahead, signing off from pizza John’s part of the Maryland crab cake tour. My thanks to John and Ron. Back for more after this, we are Baltimore positive. Stay with us.