NightSide News Update

It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBSY Boston News Radio.

You're exactly right to call. That is our destination, and we're about three hours and fifteen minutes out, that's for sure. So sit back and enjoy. Put your seatbelts in the upright position, and bring down your table trays, and we'll serve you up four hours of conversation and talk and you can participate, or you can listen and prefer your participation. I'd like invite your participation. My name is Dan Ray, host of the Night Side. Dan is back in the

I'm good, Dan? How are you good?

Fine? How long you been the president? There is this? I don't think I've had the pleasure of talking with you before. Tell us a little bit about yourself. First, You're involvement with the Pine Street In.

So I've been at Pine Street believe it or not, for forty years. Dan. I was ten when I first went to work there, and I've.

Been president as president that I know.

No, No, I did not. I did not, No, I did not. I ran the mens Shelter, I worked in the volunteer department, I ran our fundraising office, oversaw a number of our programs, and so I've been president for about twenty years.

Whoa boy.

I don't know how I missed you, but I'm first of all thank you for that length of service. Pine Street In is an institution in Boston and every October they they put out a call and you call it October, which encourages donations for homeless shelters. It should be patently obvious why socks are so important to people who live, particularly those who spend more time than perhaps any of us should outdoor during the winters here in New England.

No, you know, Dan, this was not our idea. This was really created by a guy in Tennessee named Brad Marshand who is a children's writer. And there's a guy.

That plays for the Burns named Brad Marshan. I'm sure, yeah, yeah.

Not the same It's not the same person. No, no, But he has a kid's website and we're you know, talk to kids about giving back and things they can do in their community. And he and I think some school kids down in Tennessee came up with this idea. We get a lot of calls from schools, churches, synagogues, what can we do to help and for younger students, younger kids, you know, they can't always come into Pine Street and we always need stocks. So he really started

Yeah, I assume the socks you're looking for. And if I'm wrong here, because they've been wrong a couple of times in this conversation already, don't hesitate to correct me. But I assume you're looking for heavier type socks that will really keep people warm in the winter, as opposed to, you know, the light summer socks that you know people might wear to fancy summer parties.

Yeah, honestly, the best socks, if people are going to do this, are are the are the white cotton socks, you know, the thick white cotton socks right now? Yeah, No, they're they're warm you know, a lot of our folks have foot is shoes. They may not have shoes that fit exactly right. You know, the shoes might be used, especially for people who stay out. You we've got a lot of health issues, and the clinic in particular, really uh, you know, pushes us to if we're going to to

Of your clients will come in on a winter's night without the benefit of appearance? Yeah, I mean are they actually people? And I know this is a tough question to ask, but I'm going to ask it. Are there actually people who are out of the men out of the streets of Boston during the winter, you know, snow and rain and sleet and all of that, and.

They they men and women, by the way, not just men, men and women. And Boston we are very fortunate. Every year when we do the homeless count, we go out with Mayor and we count the number of people on the street, and then we count the number of people staying in shelter on one night, usually at the end of January, and that is done across the entire country. That dad all gets sent up to HUD and then

You're temperate in those communities. And of course we'll also best and you have the great Rosies Place as well, So I mean, we we've got some great facilities here, thank god, because of the work of people like you and you volunteers, and the folks at Rosy's Place as well.

Yeah, yeah, no, No. What I'd say is, look, we always appreciate, appreciate financial support. It's going to be a tough winter we have had. Our numbers are quite high across the state, not just in Boston, and we are everybody, I think is trying to figure out can we add more beds for the winter. So financial support is terrific. It's easy and go on our website. You can send

And the Pine Street in easy address if someone's going to be able to check in is. I'm sure if you just Pine Street in Boston you'll get it, but

Yes, four four four Harrison Avenue, Boston, mass And the

Wish of course has all the information that is available. Lindia, thank you very very much, and congratulations on your twentieth year as the president of Pine Street in Well.

Thanks for having us well. I really appreciate it. Thanks

We'll have you back, you know, as we move in through the winter, because I think it's good to remind people when we're in the comfort of our the warmth of our own homes, that not everybody is in a comfortable, warm home. Although many people are in you know, the

Take care, Thank you, Okay, you too.

When we get back, we're going to talk with Nicole Spencer. She's the executive director of a group called Heroes in Transition, honoring veterans at mashbe Commons at dedication event coming up this Sunday, Sunday, November three, So if you're down on the South Shore, you want to harken close to your radio and pay attention. Back on Nightside with the executive director of Heroes in Transition Nicole Spencer. Right after this on Nightside, you're listening to w BZ, Boston's News radio

Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.

I'm delighted to welcome Nicole Spencer. Nicole is the executive director of Heroes in Transition. Nicole, Welcome to night Side. Thanks for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me and it's really an honor to speak with you tonight.

Well, thank you. Tell us about Heroes in Transition. I I'm sure there are many in our audience who are familiar with the group, but maybe some who are not.

Absolutely so. Heroes in Transition was founded in two thousand and nine and actually just about fifteen years ago this weekend, Ken and Cindy lost their son in Afghanistan. He was

My understanding is that the mission provides help for veterans service members their families, but help in programs that are not readily available from government agencies. Give us an example of you know who, not who you're helping, but the men and women that you're helping. In what is our government not providing these people that you folks are able to fill that very important gap.

You know, when Cindy and Ken started this foundation, they really wanted to make sure that they were bringing back that feeling of camaraderie and the family. So when they first began, it was really about getting people together. A lot of times our men and women come back they might not have the people that they have served or

Reboot and Regroup.

Courses that really it just helps people with mindfulness and trying to figure out kind of how they can you know, help with themselves and bringing themselves back to center when things happen, or how to just do our you know, different things with our Equine Warrior another weekend that we have. So we have fifteen programs that we offer in all different ways of really servicing the entire family.

Well, again, this is dedicated to the memory of Marine helicopter pilot and Captain Eric Jones, and it sounds like a great program. Do you have an event coming up this Sunday, a dedication event with heroes and transition. Tell us about it. Where it is. I assume it's open to the public. How can folks find out more information and perhaps be there and join and support this organization?

Absolutely, So we're on callshpur Home. Although we assist veterans and active service members, military families from all across not only the Cape, but through you know, throughout the state, as we're close to Joint Base Cape Cod but mash b is you know where we base our and the Matchbee Commons for for many years now has been supporting us. And we received a call from Kristin keller Heer, Jess

Now, what time is? What time is the event on Sunday?

Yes, Sunday, that's at the Mashpee Commons and we're going to be outside the be outside on the plaza, the area between Lulu Lemon and Regal Cinemas. So we'll be out there. We're excited to be out there.

It's supposed to be abusing.

Just the time you broke up on me there, it's just I'm sorry. What time Sunday is this twelfth to two? Twelve to two. Everybody knows where the Mashpee Commons are and if they want more information, give us the web page so we can get them, get them there on time with good directions. What is your your website?

Absolutely, Heroes in Transition dot org.

Heroes in Transition dot org. Nicole, thank you very much much. It sounds like a great event. And anyone anywhere south of Boston who has some time on Sunday, this would be a wonderful event. From from twelve to two, you get to meet some great people. Thanks so much for drawing us today, Nicole.

So that will be the wall will be up throughout the whole holiday season. So if you can't make it from twelve to two and you're coming down to match be Commons at anytime, just be on the lookout for it. It will be there for you.

Sounds great. Thanks thanks again, Nicole, appreciated banks.

Take care.

Yeah, broke up a little bit there of the end, so I hope all of you got that. Let's keep rolling here. We've got the news coming up, and after that we're going to talk about food allergies as a true fear factor. I'm going to be interested, and it's going to be talking with doctor Sirita Patil of MGH. She's a physician scientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Stay with us right here on w B Boston's news radio. This is Nightside. My name is Dan Ray, and we

You're on Nightside with Dan Ray on w b Z, Boston's news radio.

Delighted to be joined by doctor Sirita Pettil. Doctor Pettil, Welcome to Nightside. How are you?

Thank you for having me tonight? Really great you.

And I hope I'm pronouncing Patil correctly. Is that correct?

That's perfect?

Yes, perfect, Okay. You are a physician and a scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and your area of expertise food allergies. But the note that I here have here says that food allergies also are a true fear factor. Not exactly what's true that what that means? Perhaps you could explain it to my audience and to me.

Well, you know, I think we were inspired by the Halloween theme. That's you know, the holiday that's coming up.

Proud.

Yeah, so that that was sort of the s silly sensationalist title there. But you know, there is a real fear element to food allergies. It's kind of amazing. There's, you know, this incredible rise in the incidents of food allergies, and I know we all feel it. You know, we all, we all experience it kind of on a daily basis. You know, food allergies are like ten percent of Americans, and you know one and a half percent of those have human allergy. It's actually, you know, really really common.

Why is it? Why is it that it seems maybe when I was young, back last century, we just ate everything and we maybe suffered from food allergies, but we figured, oh it's no big deal, is it. We're diagnosing more food, you know, more food allergies accurately. What is why are the number of the percentage of young people or people with food allergies seem to be more prevalent or is that a mirage and they're just as the prevalency is the same.

No, it's it's not just better at diagnosing them, Although that is true, we have better tools to day to diagnose food allergies than to manage them. Then you know that we ever have had before. But you know, I think what you said was really telling. You know, we

Okay, So let me ask you a question. As a parent A long long time ago, one of the things parents are concerned about is would be a child choking. I mean that's something that was always prevalent in my mind. I would assume that babies don't have the ability to chew a peanut. So what I suspect you're saying is introduce peanut butter or something like that, so that they're getting the peanut product, perhaps not in the in the form of actual raw peanuts, but they're getting the peanut

That's absolutely what I'm saying.

You know, every as you have been a parent, you know, every baby is there has their own kind of progression, right, and so you really have to have to see the child that you have in front of you. But there are lots of peanut containing foods that do not involve a choking. This is obviously would not feed the infant peanut. So yeah, there's lots of great instructions on how to do this now on the web, and lots of peanut

What are some of the other food that parents should introduce early to diminish the likelihood that children later on will develop specific allergies? Are there a series of foods that perhaps you could get you could list for us, which would help people absolutely, yeah, from developing.

Yeah, no, absolutely. It turns out that it's actually all the major allergens. So you know, peanut obviously is one that's on all of our minds, that peanuts, trenuts, milk, egg, wheat, even fish and shellfish. Actually, if we can get all of that in early into their diets, give them a nice very die and make sure that they keep eating it, we really do reduce that risk of allergy. It isn't zero, but it is significantly reduced.

Sure is there a list? I mean you just went through a number of food items. It's funny. We have a grandson who's too little, over two years old now, maybe two and four months, and he loves fish. I mean there's just just you know, haddock, you know, regular fish, and I would not think of kids liking fish. I would think of kids liking things like cookies and snacks. But there's no again, I've never seen a kid want

Yeah, I know, I mean sounds like he's right on trap. Then yeah, it does turn out that, you know, kids really do frivees you in terms of what they like. And I think that you know, you'll get this advice from the FUSI often that we do have to try foods, you know often in order to have to really meaningful

I think do you think this is a question that has just struck me, and we don't prepare questions, as you know, this is the first time we've talked. Do you think that perhaps we have relied we meaning young parents, not that I'm young parent now, but when we were young parents on baby food, you know, the little, the mushy sort of food that you know that you gave, that we gave our kids, uh, and that we we need to introduce real food to them at an earlier

Well, Dan, I'll tell you that I remember those early parent days very vividly and in both from you know, the medical side as well as you know, the parenting side. I'm a strong believer in options because you have, as a parent, really have to do what's practical for you and your family, and what that practical solution looks like is really different for family to family. So no judgment for me at all in terms of how we get

That's that's great advice. Doctor Serta Patil Patil. Thank you so much for your time. Is there any either website or particular article that people that you could refer people to to read? I mean, you've given us so much information. I hope that everybody absorbed a lot of it. But is there any website that you want to refer people to?

Yeah, there's two sources. One, the National Institutes of Health has a website on early introduction guidelines. There's also, you know, food allergy resources at food allergy dot org that I often recommend to my patients. And then the last, but not least, there is an early introduction program at mass General Hospital led by one of my colleagues, doctor Mike Pisper.

Up with us.

Well, that's great. Thank you so much, doctor Batilla. I really appreciated the opportunity to chat with you, and perhaps we'll do it again sometime soon.

Thank you so much, thanks for having me.

Thank you very welcome. When we go back, we're going to light it up just a little bit and talk about the most popular Halloween costumes in Boston this year with us. We'll be Sabrina Lamb, who's a Boston Globe correspondent. She's written an article, but this I looked at the article and a lot of these costumes I don't recognize. So we'll see what she has to say. Maybe you've picked out some costumes for yourself afore your young ones.

Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.

Now, I'm not going out trigg or treating tomorrow night, because we'll be doing night side right here. However, however, some of you are, and some of you are going out trick or treating with your kids and with us. Is Sabrina Lamb. She's at Boston Globe Correspondent and has just written a piece for The Globe on Boston Halloween

Sabrina, thank you, glad to be here. Yeah, but costume wers surprised me this year as well. It seems like there are a few recurring favorites. Beetlejuice is definitely one

Yeah, breakdn I was a great breakdancer in my prime. By the way, A lot of people don't know that about me, Sabrina. But I wish they had Olympic breakdancing when I was breakdancing. I think I could have had a chance to compete. But but so people are going to be wearing breakdancing costumes this this fall, this Halloween.

So it's going to be a costume of a particular breakdancer, this woman who goes by Raygun and she had a breakdancing routine at the Paris Olympics this year, Yes, which went viral for a multitude of reasons.

But impressive. I remember it. I remembered very well. It was impressive. So people, who do we that costume? Okay, when you say Reagan, I figured people were going around dressed as the fortieth presidents of the United States, Ronald Reagan. But I missed that one. Who's who's the guy the picture here? The guy in red? Uh, He's like in a red body suit and he looks like some sort of ninja warrior from a from another galaxy, far far away.

I believe you are talking about.

De Yeah, dead yeah right. I had no idea who Deadpool is, but it's a pretty neat costume, you know. Uh. And then who's the little guys here with the google with the googly eyes, the little yellow heads or whatever their their Withable.

Well, those are the but yes, they're fromable me. They're the beloved minions. They're like a species of some type of creature that are kind of like the minions of the main villain grew so then they've become very popular.

Yeah, so they're villains. They look like friendly little credits. Let me ask you this, are there any that people over the age of twenty will recognize? I mean again, I'm guessing you're a little younger than me. But I mean, I look when we were young, and I was young a long time ago, back in the last century, Sabrina, you dress up as a cowboy or maybe as I can't say it, I can't use the word Indian, but as as the Native American. Are those costumes now just

I think the Halloween costumes have definitely gotten more creative over the years. People want to branch out and try out the ones that no one else has done before. So your usual vampire and what Bolt get parties as much as you know Ray Gun or Deadpool nowadays.

So so if every if everybody's doing, uh, you buy, you gotta buy? You can't really make these costumes. I mean, I'm looking at the costume of the Deadpool guy. I mean you're not gonna make one up like that. I mean, this guy's where in he looks like he's, I don't know, an Olympic skier, he's he's a very toned fit with this body suit on. Where do they find those these days? At their costume stores in Boston where they can go buy these costumes? Or I mean, this is not something

Yeah, certainly unless you get really creative with its probably something you you would probably have to go to Spirit Halloween for.

Yeah, I mean what about I mean this sounds a little goofy, but and I'm kind of goofy, as you probably figure it out bright now, But what happened in the old days when kids would put on like a Tom Brady jersey and a Patriot's helmet and they would go around as Tom Brady. Is that stuff considered just you know, not creative enough, not creative enough, I guess.

For the younger generation, especially the kids, they like to get really creative for Halloween, so those costumes aren't popular with the children. They use a holiday at the time to really get creative and get crafty and think of something really whacked to do for the holiday.

So but my last kind of serious question here, and this is a serious one. Are these costumes that we've just seen, and it's a great piece you wrote, By the way, are these costumes getting people are buying in costume stores? Are they actually making the costumes for their kids that are the kids making the costumes? Who's creating the costumes? Are these costumes being sold commercially, which I can understand, or are people actually creating the costumes from stuff they have at home.

I would definitely say it's a mix of both. Like I mentioned before, the Beetlejuice characters are very popular this year, and you know their outfits are very very extravagant and detailed. But that's all the things that you can really put your head to and go out and buy stuff and put together. I think that's the fun aspect of it is, you know, getting all the different items to make the out of it.

Well, Sabrina, I just want to make a confession because I had never heard of Beetlejuice until I flipped on Saturday Night Live a couple of weeks ago when Michael Keaton was the host and I realized they were talking about some movie they made, Beetlejuice. I'm without a clue here. I apologize for not being more redued anyway. Thanks very much, Sabrina. Thanks for joining us and I left ev you you back soon. You helped me out. I learned a lot

I'm glad all right.

Thanks a grady to talk to you soon. Thanks good night. When we get back here on night Side, right after the nine o'clock news, we are going to raffle off. We're going to give you an opportunity to win a couple