It's night.
On B'SO.
I have been telling you all night long. Dan will be off. He's got a vacation. I think it's one of those station trips. But he will be back on the twelfth of August that Monday, and I should let you know on the Morgan Show Saturday. Mel Simon's will be joining me again. A WBZ legend, and I've got him and I'll share him with you on Saturday ten to midnight. I'll be here for Night's Side on Monday. And I've got a gentleman well known for gossip reporting,
Will Cach as well, Alison Angram. Remember her on Little House in the Prairie. She was that brady little earl. Now she'll be joining me. And for those of you who've had these gentlemen entertain at your function over the years, the Winnakers, Bill and Bo will be here. So now that you know all of these things, you may call about National Parks and Ranger Richard Thurando aka Dixie is here. And as soon as I said that Dixie, two people have called in.
Should I finish my story or wait.
No, finish his story?
Okay, So I was I was being a volunteer, being a good boy helping out. I was. I was in the office by myself on July fourth weekend. I did everything that was there to do. Everything went fine, And then as the month went by and became labor day, all of the other volunteers disappeared slow except for me.
When you say volunteer, were you paid?
No, no, no no. And there was an elderly couple, a single woman maybe in her thirties or forties, a couple younger people, but there were all kinds of little people. They just showed up and wanted to help out the
park Service. And that's fine. But as the days went by, they went either back to school, back to their families, went on vacasion, whatever, And I was the last one left, okay, And you got to remember that the man in charge was going to leave, the person who was second in charge was going to leave, and the person who hired me was going to be left by herself, hung out to dry. So when labor day came, and this was a parent, I said to her, you know, I could work here if you can find a way to do it.
I can work here because I hate where I work. And she found a way to do it, and that's how I became a park service worker.
And the rest is his.
History, for good or for bad.
All right, let's take Garry and Wooburn. So, Gary, you want to talk about National parks, do you?
Oh?
I'm so sorry you had Dixie on. I was working and I hit the phone. I thought you guys were talking about baseball.
If you want to bring up baseball going out? Gary?
No, no, no, he cannot, No, No, We're not going to do this. Absolutely not. Plenty of time to talk about baseball. When we're talking about baseball. It's National Park Night, that's it. I'm sorry.
Oh, but you hear how surly he got. All right, Gary, thanks for calling. Bye bye, Here goes Gary. Let's go to Sandy in West Roxbury. Sandy, I hope you're going to stick to topic.
I think I am okay, No, excuse me. In nineteen ninety five, I was teaching first grade in a private school and I wasn't there, and I had come from teaching in Roxbury. And one of the things that we had done was my boss, who was also different, had called the I think it was the National Park Service, and we got a tour of the monument to the fifty fourth Robert Gulchar, and I thought, well, this is something that the first graders should be exposed to. So
I called them and we arranged the tour. They was thrilled that I called, and the kids loved it, and they came to me afterwards, the park ranger and said, you know, we have lots of programs for kids, and nobody takes advantage of them. So every week for a full year, they either changed my class and did programs, or we went to down with Love Reading and they taught us things, or it was just something every week that we did and they were thrilled, and of course
I was thrilled, and the kids were pills. The best one they had was a pro been called horse, of course, and we were right near Adams Park. I'm getting at Adams Park in Usindale, but they brought a horse and they let all the kids ride them, very gentle of course, you know, and pat them, and they taught them how to talk to kids and me how to take care of a horse, and we had so much fun that year. I think it went on for three or four years,
and then they said we can't do them. We just don't have the funding, you know, And that It was just so much fun and it was wonderful.
Ah.
You see there's the magic word. We don't have the funding.
Yeah, it's a shame.
And everybody was having a swell time.
Oh everybody. You know, it was just fantastic.
You mean, what what visitors don't grasp maybe right away, is that most park rangers, whether they're state park rangers, national park rangers, most park rangers love an audience. Are they are They are willing, ready, willing and able to tell you what they know.
Yeah, and the kids have the best questions, you know. Well, it was just wonderful. I was hot broken and they said, you know, they didn't shut this up, you know, but they did like one a month, and the next year it was like, you know, three four times a year and then yeah.
See that that's the thing when you don't have enough funding, you have to pick and choose of when you can do stuff, as opposed to just doing it because you have the funding and have the people to do it.
Yeah. Oh and other kids, I mean, they'll let them know what they missed not having that program. I've never seen it in any other school because I guess they have never been able to do it again.
Oh, Sandy, thank you for sharing that story.
Yeah, and thank you for your service to the first graders.
Oh, oh, like you. You know, I loved what I was doing, so you know, it was just it was wonderful. Well, thank you for everything you do and keep on doing it.
Thank you, Thank you for the call.
Good night.
All right, We're going to take a break and then Susan and Worcester will be up. If you want to do what Sandy has done and Susan has done six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty eight eight, eight, nine, two, nine, ten thirty and Dixie is being adamant only calls about the National Park Service. I know I've used Dixie in the past about baseball, but tonight it is his National Parks hat that he's wearing,
not a baseball cap. Here on Night Side. Well, the time is eleven point fifteen, temperature eighty four degrees.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nice Sight Studios on WBZ News Radio.
This is night Side without Dan Ray and Dixie. I was just speaking with Rob. He's wearing a hat that says, may the Forest be with you.
All right, that's good, that's good.
Let's go to let's go to Worcester and speak to Susan. Susan, good evening.
Good evening, Morgan, and Dixie, thanks for the program tonight. Just a couple of things. I'm a mom of four. They're old older now thirty eight to twenty eight. But we've driven across country twice with them when they were younger and hit many national parks, and we're very grateful for each and every one of them, and they are all so unique from each other. It's just quite an adventure out there, and I would encourage everyone to explore
National parks near and far. So many opportunities abound. But I did want to know. I'm actually just tuning in. Has anybody mentioned anything about Sunday and it being a National Park Day. My husband told me about it today, and maybe you can confirm it, Dixie, that you can go into national parks that normally charge, but it would be for free.
Well, it sounds possible. I don't know about it because I'm no longer in the Park Service. I wouldn't get a memo about it. I know there's a National Park Week earlier in the year, so for them to have a specific day at this time of year is a little bit odd. Normally you would think they would have it on the day of the National Park Service birthday, which is Longust twenty fifth, But if they pick something else, then you pick something else.
And I could be totally wrong. So people out there, don't go by me and investigate Firth.
You can't tell me with four children traveling, which is a chore, did you have time to pick out a favorite National park?
But that's a loaded question personal favorite. I think it's a toss up between Glacier National Park and Zion National Park. Okay, choices, both absolutely stunning beauty, totally different from one another. And I would be remiss to say not to say that locally here with all of the history that we have and everything the National Park Service does here in Massachusetts, we have done it all with the kids. I can't say maybe all of it, but a large percentage of it.
And I'm so grateful that we are in this part of the country.
Susan. Let me ask your kids that are now all adults. I'm sure they some of them have kids of their own, and are they forwarding this, paying it forward that they are now taking their kids to national parks?
So we actually just had her first grand baby. She's eight weeks old, so not yet. But I was actually thinking of this today, Morgan, that if they don't travel, we are bringing those grandkids with us because we drove every time, and we homeschool homeschooled our kids, so we were free to do it in the month of September October when everyone is back in school and things are less crowded. So it's just one of the luxuries of homeschooling.
And so yes, I look forward to I won't even say dragging the grandkids because I can't say our kids were always angels in the car and wanting to go to the places that we wanted to go to. But I think they will look back and do look back now grateful for the experiences they had.
Thank you.
Yeah, that's all ye.
Let me ask this in regards to national parks. Did you prefer to stay overnight in the national parks or were they day trips to national parks?
They were mostly drive bys, not drive bys, but we'd be along the way. We would go through Lake Glacier, Mount Rushmore. We would go through them and then just press on to the next night's hotel. But no, he never did stay in the National parks okay, so yep, and they all did when we went. They did the Junior Park Ranger, which I would encourage everyone we've young children.
They did the Junior Park Ranger, which meant taking a little more time, but the results were that they came away with so much more.
So, and you know what, you're the reason. You specifically the reason why I do this show once or twice a year with Dixie to encourage activities such as that. And since you homeschooled your kids, do you feel that your kids are scholastically equal to or ahead of other kids of their ages because you learn more with mom and dad at home.
Well, thanks for saying that, Morgan, because it would really sound braggadocious of me to say that, because I truly believe the ratio is so much better when you're at home. I will tell you all four of them, not that this necessarily means anything, but all four of them have graduated from college with very good GPAs two of them have gone and gotten their masters. All of them are dutifully and well employed, so if you're measuring it by that, but to be honest, the better success story to me
is that they are all friends with each other. And we have a very tightly knit family, but we're not under a rock. We are definitely out and about and they have a very great perception of the world. And it's just it's a great way to do it. We had religious reasons we were doing it, but also the academic comes alongside of it.
So and I'm sure your kids are well versed in the academics of mathematics, geography, history, all the things that you would get in the little over it schoolhouse.
Yep.
And they know how to and they know how to do cursive handwriting. How about that?
How about God?
I told them, someday you're gonna make a lot of money interpreting historical documents because other people will not be able to do this.
What letters said is that an ass I don't know. I know, Susan. Thank you for the call.
All right, thank you, Morgan, have a great night.
Thank you, Dixy, bye bye, thanks for calling.
And let's take another call. Let's go to South Carolina, and I'm gonna throw sticks and stones at South Carolina. My son, born and raised in Massachusetts, uprooted his family and relocated to South Carolina. One of my good friends, a gentleman who I've had on the air many a time. I'm not gonna say his name because he might not want people to know his business. Excuse me, just niece
has gone, or we'll be going to South Carolina. And an old girlfriend this week drove down with her child and the current man in her life to do the same thing. Good grief. What is it about South Carolina? And as I'm saying all that, the caller that we had from South Carolina is patiently letting me ambalon. Jeff, thank you for letting me ambalon. How are you good?
I'll do a good Morgan. I just one of the comments on what season just said about a range. There was a Ranger Day. World Ranger Day was July thirty first. Every year is World Ranger Day, Okay, And I wouldn't let you know this. I contacted a special events station, i HAM Radio on qy Z. That's the website to go to, and the call SI was W four R. So it was from July twenty seventh to July thirty first, just to let you know.
Did you know that? No?
I did not?
All right, Yeah, So I just want to let you know that, and they do that every year. I didn't know that, so I just wanted to call in and tell you that that.
Let me ask you, what is it about South Carolina? Three died in the wall. People born in Massachusetts just pulled up stakes to relocate in your state. What is it about your state that just welcomes all the people moving down there.
I guess it's getting getting out of the cold weather, the snow in the winter.
There is no cold weather.
Rumor. But you get hurricanes doing much more damage from June to November tornado.
But tornadoes, yes, but not to really tornadoes. That's hurricanes you have to worry about.
Yeah.
Are you anywhere near Greenville?
H No? Okay, A couple hours away from Greenville?
Okay, yeah, all right.
Thank you Morgan. Okay, take care.
I appreciate your contribution. Thank you. You are right now. I'm almost at another break time. That calls all of a sudden started coming in hot and heavy. If you want to call in to talk about national parks. He's got good memories of when you're a kid, mom and dad chucking you into the old station wagon and you went to go see this national park of that national park.
All right, let me throw it, let me, let me throw in another fact. All right, go ahead, all right, we know the number of parks is four hundred and thirty, and we know a lot of other stuff now, including the first park, Yellowstone. I'm still looking for an answer to what is the second National Park? But what you should know out there, sports fans, is that the national parks take up eight eighty five million acres of land. And eighty five million acres is the combined size of
the state of New Mexico and Vermont. Okay, Now you could have other two sums of states, yes you could, but I just picked those two. But it is eighty five million acres is how much land is taken up by national parks at this point.
Well, thank you. That's more of a fact than a trivia question.
Oh I know, Oh yes, all right, it's not a trivia question. Trivia question now is what is the second National Park?
No one has answered or tried to answer.
Yeah, they got a half hour, and that's exactly right.
Let me take my break, and Rob, I'm asking you you can just whisper in my ear. Are we going to get from CBS? Oh all right, so perfect. During this break, which is coming in about ninety seconds, CBS is going to give us a bit of the news conference that's going to get people who were freed from Russia. So former Marine Paul Whalen and writer for was it the New York Post of the New York Times, Evan gersh Covi. I knew i'd miss his name up, Evan gersh Kovich. If if I say, if you're ever mind to,
this ought to be interesting. So pay attention to this break and after that press conference is over, dixing out, we'll be back to talk about national parks six one, seven to five, four, ten, thirty eight, eight, eight, nine, two, nine, ten thirty Time and temperature here on wbz's night Side eleven thirty eighty four degrees.
Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news.
Radio Kidoky, we are down to roughly twenty one minutes of show to go. Dixie is here, and Dixie, did we leave off at something hanging or can I take another phone call?
I don't think we left anything hanging except the trivia question, and that's up to the person coming on the phone.
And it might be Bill Winnaker that knows it. So Bill can't wait to be on the radio with me next week. You got a call in tonight.
We're looking forward to Dixon. It's great to hear Dixie's voice. We were riding home from Westwood tonight. We play in a restaurant on Thursday nights and Westwood. We're riding home when I hear Dixie. So, Dixie, was great to hear your voice.
Thank you very much.
And Bill, tell everybody where you and your brother play on Thursday nights.
You know, we play in a restaurant called Neoli any Roli. It's a beautiful new restaurant's about two years old, and they created a room for us. They call it the Supper Club, and we play in there and it's too us. It's a couple of hours you have dinner and a couple of hours of music. It's it's almost like family. It's just all our friends come and it's just just great.
We've only music to you and your brother play.
I know.
But tell the audience, all right, well, we're doing the whole gamut. We look over the crowd, we play jazz, we play you know, motown music, we do, we do just everything. We look at the study, the people that are there, and gear the music. You know, we keep changing it all night long. So that we're touching everybody in the room. So it's the potpourri of music. Everything not too loud because people are eating. But I'm writing
home car and it reminded me. When I was a freshman in college, I got a bunch of gigs voted too with this piano player, Jimmy Donovan, and he used to talk about this island in northern Michigan is in Mackinac Mackinaw, Yeah, Macinac, Mackinaw Island. Yes, So there was this big resort there and he was always telling me about the National Park on the island, and he I think, if I'm right, he told me that was the second park National Park, so that I'm putting in my guest for that Dixon right, he.
Is not correct. Oh, here here's the reason why he's not correct. Mackinaw Island was supposed to be a National park and then it wasn't. It was recalled.
Michigan.
State of Michigan wanted it more than they didn't want the National parks. They didn't want it to be become part of the National Park Service. So it is still there. Mackinac Island is still a great place to go. It was a very highly known tourist spot in northern Michigan. But it was only supposed to be a national park, but it never really became one. For if it was, it might have been one for a six months or something and then it was taken back.
Pardon my grammar, but is you is or issue? Ain't my baby? I mean, can't they make up their mind? Isn't? Well?
You know, I know I'm not supposed to talk baseball, but Bow and I saw the Mariners the other and we beat them fourteen to seven. That was a thrilling game.
More thrilling than a three to two extra inning wind.
No, but it was.
It was really thrilling. They were everybody was hitting and fielding and it was a great game.
Yeah, get used to that.
I know.
They lost the next night.
It was terrible, but that's who they are.
That day salvage and they won the rubber game.
Yeah that's right. So you know, listen, we grew up here. We live and die with the Socks. You know, I I love the Red Sox all my life as a little boy. So you know, you just got to hope and hope and pray.
You and your brother will be on with me. On Monday night.
Yeah, we're looking forward to that, all right, thank you for calling. Oh, you're welcome. I'm joining the show tonight very much.
Yeah.
You two were always fun together. It's great. Thank you, Okay, good night.
Yeah night six.
Or eight eight, eight, nine to nineteen thirty. So Macinaw is or isn't the right answer? Depending on it.
Is, it is not the right answer.
I was going there. I was going there. But if you think you know the right answer, use either of those phone numbers to call in. And as I said that, somebody's calling in. So Rob will take this call, go through the process of screening this call and push a button that turns the call from white to yellow, meaning I can push my button here and take the call and it will be Donna in Sagas. So Donna, thank you for calling in.
Hi.
Hi.
I thought it was Macinaw too, but we're gonna go with Sechoya.
And you would be correct.
Yay, Johnnah, Now there's no prices. We're not allowed to wed. How did you know Sequoia?
Well, I thingured it was out west, and I originally was going to say Yosemite, but that was too easy.
Okay.
Well, actually Yosemite would not have been a bad guess because Yosemite was declared a National park a week later.
Ah.
There, but Sequoia did win out by a week in eighteen ninety.
And how large an area is Sequoia?
Very large?
Answers that question, thanks, hand.
I don't know. But it contains the highest mountain in the south of Alaska in the United in the United States, Mount not Mount Whitney, isnt No, it leaves in Alaska. I think it's about Whitney. But whatever, the highest mountain is in the lower forty eight it's in Sequoia.
Okay, okay, yeah, and Donna, yes, have you been to Nay? I have not the Furthest West. I've been in Vegas.
Oh well here here now Zion.
Sorry, my husband just reminded me. We went to Oregon.
Never mind, And what national park in Oregon? Did you see?
What was the national park in Oregon?
Crater Lake, Dixie?
Crater Lake.
You better know it's Crater Lake because Crater Lake is my favorite national park.
Oh, there you go.
And why is Crater Lake Dixie's favorite national park?
Well, first of all, it's a lake. Secondly, it's a lake inside a volcano. And thirdly, it's the deepest lake in the United States at one thousand, nine hundred and forty three feet.
You are no your statistics, don't you, sir?
I try.
My husband helped on that one.
What's your husband's name, Donna, Michael Clark, Michael, you're probably listening on the radio hearing the seven seconds later?
Yes, we are all right well also known as.
The Q Okay, Well, Michael and Donna, thank you for calling. I've got to take my last break of the night, so I'm waving goodbye to the both of you, but thank you for your talk.
Bye bye, Thank you very much.
Good night you too.
Bye.
All right, let me throw it to the break, which means Rob gets to push some buttons in the control room. Time and temper to hear on night Side eleven forty five eighty four degrees.
Now back to Dan Mine from the window World Lakes Studios on WBZ news Radio.
Roughly ten minutes of show to go. The show is Nightside. The host is Dan Ray, who is not here tonight. He's on vacation. He should be back Monday, the twelfth of August. Let's go to another commonwealth like Massachusetts is one as well. So as Pennsylvania. Rick in Pennsylvania. Good evening to you.
Good evening.
Did you get an answer to that question about the lake?
Yes we did.
Oh you did.
What what did you want to say?
I wanted to tell you that I thought you were talking about Crater Lake or Okay, the beautiful place. It should be one of the wonders of the world.
Yes, it is. It's my favorite part. Yeah, I did.
How long? How many miles around you decide to drive?
I think it's.
I think you're right. I was there once. I believe you are right, but very nice. So well, I'm sorry I didn't I just tuned in. I didn't really event Have.
You been to mini parks? Yes, yeah, that was your favorite.
Well, I really enjoyed Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Okay.
We started at one end and drove to the other end and ended up at ST's Park. Yeah, and it was beautiful. It was in July. We had snow. The road was closed for a little bit until they plowed the road in July.
That means you crossed over the Alpine Visitors Center at twelve thousand feet.
Yes, we did, and also went to forget one of it.
It was a.
Very high mountain near Elbert Mount Elberts there. I think that's the tallest one in the park.
Yeah, yeah, we went there, and yeah, there's there's so many beautiful spots in this country to live it. I just can't see them all. But I'd like to go to New England.
Plenty for you to see.
Yeah. What is the.
Island there that is a national park?
I think.
No, it's an island off Maine. I believe, oh iloh, yeah, yeah, I believe that all of that stuff.
Is part of a Kadia National Park.
Adie. That's what I'm trying to think of. Yeah, get there some time.
But a Kadi a kadi has many pieces.
To it, it does.
Yes, Tim, you take your car there or.
Oh yes, oh yes you can. Most of the park is on the mainland, but they do have islands off of it.
Yeah.
I'd like to get there some day too.
So will you come up anytime you want?
Rick, I will and thank you guys. Have good evening.
Bye, last call all night will be in Winthrop and it's Tim, So Tim, welcome to Night's Side.
I want to thank you three years ago for tell me about your guests. Told me about Golding's Lodge and Monument Valley.
That is, Yes, Goldings that is.
It's any reservation.
I know that.
But I've been to Grand Canyon and I've been to most of them. But you know something, my favorite It goes from Monument Valley into the Valley of Gods into Zion. That whole area is unbelievable. It's the best. I think it's the best one because it's famous for the movies and everything. And we won a UFO tour at night and we saw three of them.
There's a tour that led you to see three different UFOs.
We saw three of them. They said I saw too good, and I saw another one. They said there was another one. They were sitting on top of you, way far away, but we had the bnarcies. We looked at him and it was like blue and purple and it was pretty. It was worth it. And you go in the daytime and you go back to the dining hall is fabulous in Golding's. It's like a cafeteria style but it's really good. And they get John Wayne's cabin there. It's the set
of the movie She Warrior Ribbon. Oh, it's fabulous. The place is. I got to go back there. Soon. I never so peaceful in my life. And you did that, Morgan, your guest told me about that. Remember that that twenty to two and a fish sandwich a long time ago.
I remember talking about that.
I just missed that about nineteen seventy eight, but I did it in twenty one, like you said, and I looked it up and I it's seven hour drive from Phoenix and Flagstaff is like New Hampshire. It's a highway and seventy five hundred feet it's high the Mount Washington. But then we went back in the desert Tuba City, Kayanta. It's right near Kayanta. It's like one hundred miles west of the four Corners, and it's the most beautiful place
you want to see. It goes on for one hundred miles, all those things sticking up, and it was just it was better in a daytime, but then nighttime with the stars als. It's on my list, the bucket list. There's two hotels.
Did you get to see the Goose Necks?
Was that?
It's right there. It's the San Juan River doing unbelievab.
I went up as far as Valley of Gods. They went back down south back to the whole time. I didn't take a six hour tour.
Try and find the Goose next and see where it is in relationship to where you're going.
Yeah, well I'm going back in a couple of years, maybe next week. I'm going to the Alamo next week.
Okay, that's good. Well, glad to be of service.
Oh that was will you guys as a gentleman who told me about that Goldings, you.
Might have to be Yeah.
Oh that that place is unbelievable. It's it is, it's it's it's much better than I expected. And at sunset the colors, I took one hundred and forty pictures and I'm selling my pictures to the galleries. It's unbelievable.
Yep. That's about the size of it.
It's not a national park. They want to make it, but the Indians don't want it.
I talked to them, the Indian the Indians should keep their park. Let them keep it.
I love that park. That's that's God's country. It's beautiful.
Tim. I'm glad we put a smile on your face and thank you for sharing with us.
Yes, sir, Byway Valley, that's the best one I see.
All right, all right, Dixie I've got about oh I'm mint and a half that you can promote anything you want to promote within the National Park System.
Okay, I got one rant left my friend who used to be a guy that we tuned into all the time when I was working in the public affairs office. He was working in the the official Park Service public Affairs office in Washington, and I asked him because I was going to be on the program tonight for some stuff. Well, he sent me stuff. Here are the headlines. Kayaking death at Cape Hatteras, body of Colorado man found in Frenchman Bay Park Visitors cautioned to respect wildlife. Two dead people
getting lost hiking in Canyon Lands, Texas. Hiker dies in Grand Canyon. People, you've got to be careful out there these places. Now that in the summertime, with whether it's one hundred and twenty degrees, you do not go on a five mile hike without water because you die. So wake up and think about what you're doing. And by the way, don't feed the buffalo.
Actually, don't feed the buffalo. Don't feed the bears, don't feed any of the wildlife, right, do not feed them. They're in the woods. And for eons. They have learned to eat off.
The land there.
That's their house.
You're only visiting, so you don't need to give them a hand sandwich with mayo. No, all right, Dixie, thank you Morgan.
It's been a great pleasure this evening. I'm sorry if I had to talk too long, but that story.
Some days are and you know what, we'll do it again.
Thank you, thank thank you very much.
All right.
I also want to say thank you to Alan Toles, Aaron Murphy, and Jeffrey Sitkov. You all contributed to Night's Side and did exemplary work. Thank you for the listeners and the callers, whether you did one or both, I want to thank you. Thank you to Rob, thank you to Nancy, thank you to Gray. And that's basically about it. I'll see you on Saturday night when I have mel Simon's here in the Morgan Show. Bye, Boston,