[Carter]: All is well, as you like to say.
[o9F0qYH9Geo_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. Yeah.
[McElroy]: Yeah, that's fine. I know when we set the date. It's all inverted exactly in this one. We had two guests. They're on. You can use this to adjust the focus, but I kind of don't. That's all there is. It's the newest New York, not just New York. Way over there, yeah.
[Carter]: stay around for long enough to learn how to tune in. I do all of this work to keep that from happening to everybody else to show nothing happens. Thank you, sorry. Good evening, friends and neighbors. My name is Terry E. Carter, and I direct elder services here at our beloved West Medford Community Center. Welcome to our November edition of the live monthly presentation of Fresh Friday's Words and Music. We are rebranded. and moving smoothly along through the village. We are back to the business of senior club gatherings, after school shenanigans, and a bunch of other things that keep us active and excited here at 111 Arlington Street. This program is possible in part thanks to the assistance of the Medford Arts Council, a member of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. We are also grateful for the ongoing partnership of Medford Community Media. So as fall starts to usher in colder temperatures and friskier germs, we want to remind you that COVID and RSV and the flu are still out there, and we are trying to be mindful of local health requirements and concerns. So if you want a mask, you're welcome to do that, but you're not required to. We've got test kits and masks available for anybody that might need them. You can always drop by and grab them up. And as always, we're just happy to be here sponsoring live programming at the center. We're glad to see our neighbors, our friends and supporters coming through those doors. So thank you very much for being here. And thanks also. to Kevin Harrington and Mark Davidson from the aforementioned Medford Community Media for consistently guiding us as we broadcast you via Medford Community Media channels, nine for Comcast, 47 for Verizon, as well as on the MCM YouTube channel. If you're out there watching on your electronic devices or on any kind of a screen, welcome to the show. So my pastor always used to say, it's a sorry frog that won't praise his own pond. So tonight's words portion of the program is the There's No Place Like Home edition. We want to put in a plug for the work that's being done here at the WMCC, and there's no one better for me to chat with than our own highly esteemed executive director, Lisa Crossman. Okay. So, Lisa is certainly not new to Medford anymore, but she has already made a significant and positive impression on everyone who has crossed her path. She has been tirelessly committed to restoring the luster to WMCC, fighting through the worst of our COVID slowdown, and advancing the programs, partnerships, and reputation of this venerable institution. Lisa is passionate about creating and strengthening community partnerships and advancing the mission of social impact organizations. I've gotten to know her a little bit over the past few years, and I can attest to the fact that she's great with people. She's very smart, dedicated, and not afraid, and this is important, to do a lot of the heavy lifting that comes with running an agency that doesn't have all the resources and advantages that many other community-based organizations do. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, please give Lisa a warm welcome. So when the center's leadership changed abruptly at the West Medford Community Center back in March of 2022, Lisa really stepped right up. She was a member of the board at the time, but she came with many years of experience working in community nonprofits. young men and young women's programs, the Y programs, and advocating for education and human resources, human services. She stepped into an interim role and there was no interruption in service whatsoever. So having long since been confirmed as the permanent executive director, Lisa has helped us to continue to steer through the pandemic tight finances, many new programs, and new partnerships. So Grant Phillips, who is not with us, he's probably in the office right now playing on the computer, her now eight-year-old son is still her constant companion. She's highly motivated by him and for him. He's her sidekick, her shadow, so to speak. and one of the great loves of her life. He's currently a tall second grader at St. Raphael's Parish School and a fixture in our own after-school program. So, we want to give a little shout-out to Grant Phillips. Okay, he's part of the organization. So, as is my custom in introducing these evenings as a former Poet Laureate of Medford and Poet Laureate Emeritus, I like to share a little bit of poetry just to kind of get us in the mood. So this piece, and I'm sure Lisa will dive into one or two of the topics in it, is called Picket Fences. The modern day home makeover moguls and real estate robber barons keep coming. We buy ugly houses, signs plastered telephone poles and fence posts. The contractor trucks and dumpsters sit ready beside the port-a-parties and pallets of bricks, boards, and broken promises. Digsafe has mocked out the gas and power lines. The city has issued all the permits, the banks approved the financing, and the harried homeowner has headed south. North Carolina, Georgia, maybe Tennessee, somewhere warmer where their new money would grant them acreage. Three full bathrooms, lots of bedrooms, and a serious man cave. The old house on Jerome or Lincoln or Arlington was supposed to be the inheritance built by their daddy's daddy or just beyond the red lines and purchased for that 10,000 GI bill bucks that seemed like a million back then, back when the wink and the nod between the moneylenders and the city founders defined the boundaries of a white man's privilege. Now that heritage is fading. What used to be that remarkable black neighborhood with the legacy of legends, war heroes, doctors, shop owners, athletes, artists, is losing its bronze-hued luster, losing its proud patina to the new shine of subway-tiled bathroom spas, barnwood beams, butler's pantries, and his-and-hers beamers. The new residents don't care much about the history. Old Henry's Little Store and Faucina's Beauty Salon and such But they do love the basketball courts, and they laud the city's haste to redo the tennis courts and such. They like the green grass and backyard barbecues and the walking trails along the river, too. They like the Bloody Mary mornings and Merlot meetups and the Margarita midnights. They feel instantly entitled, and they let the old folks know it. Meanwhile, the developers keep calling those elders and their grown-up kin. We buy ugly houses. We pay cash, any condition. Half a mil sounds like a lot when you had a devil of a time getting a $10,000 mortgage for your little piece of the American dream. Still, you hang on. You really love this old place. You remember when a black man was the postmaster. and when the first Negro woman was elected to the school committee. You remember how great Charlie Booker was at hockey and how good Rudy Smith looked in the PD's dress blues. You remember the letting the little kids get on those yellow school buses to leave the comforts of the Hervey and go integrate the wait, the Gleason, and the Dame. You remember when the neighborhood was a tight-knit community of Doc Count's date lines, and OG's shallow sermons, and Humpty's homeboy haircuts, and Vonnie Carter's sand-finished ceilings. You fix your face, because you know God don't like ugly. You wave and smile politely. Sometimes they smile back, sometimes they don't. Whatever. All the while, you're reminiscing about back in the day. Maybe you're hearing Alan Dawson playing with Dave Brubeck on that old stereo console, or Conrad and Levi singing Peace Be Still on the corner of Houghton and Bower, or the doo-woppers on J Street and Harvard Ave reminiscing about the neighborhood back in the day when the Ville had a soundtrack all its own. Truth is, you never actually wanted a white picket fence. Not quite the statement you were trying to make way back then. You wanted respect more than assimilation. You wanted community more than acceptance. You wanted the familiar, the faithful, and the first love. All the while, you wished that the kids would have stayed and tried to make a go of it here. But the developers kept calling, so did Atlanta and Raleigh Durham in their own American dreams. I guess home is where the heart is, but. You're already tired of the condo culture and bedroom convenience of professional dog walkers, commuter rail parking spot bandits, snooty au pairs, and the 9-1-1 dialing Karens. How could the dregs of the city, given up so grudgingly, seated so strategically, now be the jewel in the mystic kingdom's crown? The modern day home makeover moguls and real estate robber barons keep coming. Ugly houses signs plastered the telephone poles and fence posts. Newsflash, ain't too many ugly houses left. Nope, ain't too many left. Could be a doo-wopper's refrain from that J Street corner back in the day. Shout it out, my brother. Ain't too many ugly houses left. Nope, ain't too many left. OK. All right. So now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's have a friendly chat with Lisa Crossman. So Lisa, in making the transition from the board, where you kind of first came in the door, to the executive director's chair, what immediately struck you about the community center?
[Crossman]: That's a good question. And that's a tough question. What immediately struck me was, I think the silence, hearing so much about the community center, all the stories, all the programs, and then coming in for the first time during this transition, and it's quiet, and the phone's not ringing, and no one's in the building, and nothing's going on. So that really struck me as kind of, okay, this is the state of the organization, this is where our starting point is.
[Carter]: Okay, all right, yeah. Yeah, you know, and it's funny because you were obviously coming in during a time when, you know, just because of the nature of the COVID beast, things were gonna be somewhat quieter.
[Crossman]: Yes.
[Carter]: But even still.
[Crossman]: Even still, so yes, the pandemic, I was working up until a few months in, I was a commuter, I was on the train and I had a hiatus during the pandemic, which was wonderful for me, kind of like a sabbatical. So I got my rest, I got my peace while others had to kind of push through. But on top of that, I'm just searching for the best words. The executive that was here, I don't think she saw the value in the organization and it seemed as though she saw it as a burden and began to treat the board that way, began to treat members that way. and really ended up making the executive director's office kind of like a fortress. No one could speak to the executive. No one could see the executive. No one came out to say hello. And that really was a disservice to the organization. It hurt relationships we had in the community. It hurt relationships we had with members. So we had, we, all of us had to do a lot of digging out after that. Because it really hurt us, even though it was a short time span, it hurt our organization.
[Carter]: Yeah, you're absolutely right. And it just goes to show you that it doesn't take very long to build up those walls. And it takes a lot longer to start to break them down and get back to the business of doing business in the community. So what did you know about Medford, coming here from, you were from Malden in the short, but you were from like Western Massachusetts, Central Massachusetts in the long.
[Crossman]: Right before Western, the limits of Fitchburg area is where I grew up. I spent my whole life there, had a good life there, but always felt like, oh, I'm a big fish in a small pond. I would love to come out here and really see if my skills have scratch. But I was going to college at Fitchburg State College at the time, now Fitchburg University, and met my now best friend, Danielle Coleman, who lived just a stone's throw from here, Fletcher Coleman's daughter. So, I mean, she started bringing us out here on the weekends, we would go to the basketball court, the tournaments, and at night, she'd be like, okay, you know, it's getting dark, let's go take a walk around the neighborhood. And to me and to Choma, it's like, there's no sidewalks really all the time. Taking a walk isn't always the best idea late at night, but it was like, see who's out, see who's on the porch. They're checking to see if you're out on the porch. You're finding out what everybody's getting into. And it's just black families everywhere in this neighborhood and everybody's saying hello. getting together, and I've just always had such a wonderful time. Her family really has embraced me. They are my second family. Yes. And, you know, Fletcher introduced me to so many people. I heard so many stories. And so that began over 20 years ago that I started coming out and getting to know Medford in that type of way.
[Carter]: It's interesting because you kind of came in on the tail end of the golden era of the neighborhood. Yeah. And so I had spent, you know, my entire childhood, obviously, in those very streets that you used to, you know, walk around in at night. And that was part of the beauty of the neighborhood is up to a certain point, you know, because when the streetlights came on, all bets were off. But for the kids anyways, but there was a point in time in this neighborhood, and I guess at least to a certain extent still, where folks felt comfortable like that.
[Crossman]: Yeah, I mean, you don't worry about anything except somebody might try to holler at you, get your number. Holler at you. Well, that's about it. Everyone was just looking out for everyone. So yeah, that was really great, yes. And then when I arrived now after the pandemic, after all these years, and I'm looking around like, Where is everybody? What happened? What has changed? So that was a learning curve for me to learn history, where we're at, what's going on, the dynamics in the city, learning about the racial rights at the high school and how that's impacted culture. So yeah, it was a lot to learn to come to. Okay, here we are today. This is very brand new.
[Carter]: Yeah, very much so, very much so. And you and I have talked a lot about the change in the dynamics of the neighborhood from where we were coming up to where we are now. So you're two years in to your tenure as executive director. You've seen a lot, obviously. But you've done a lot, too. So what types of initiatives are either in process or on the horizon that are positioning the community center for further success?
[Crossman]: All right, so we're celebrating our 90th year. In 2025, we'll be celebrating our 90th year. So we are planning a big celebration for that Memorial Day weekend. So we'll have a fundraising campaign for that as well. Our newest initiative is the Circles USA program, which is a poverty reduction program. We were lucky to get a grant with the city through what they call the Resiliency Hub, and you can find all this information online at the city's website. And it was a pilot program. The former executive was in communications regarding these dollars. And as she transitioned out, we weren't aware that there was dollars on the table. So we had probably a few days to figure out what we wanted to do. And I had been doing some research, Arlington Eats had, mentioned the program, I had done the research, so I felt like, okay, this is the time, this is something that will reinvigorate our organization and give us kind of that pivotal program that will take us another 90 years. Because before there was the Medford Family Network, there was the West Medford Community Center. Before there was a lot of these other organizations, there was the West Medford Community Center. through years and not really understanding maybe what it takes for an organization like this to thrive and move forward and grow, we lost opportunities, different things happened, some things were mishandled, which left us with just the two programs, the after school program, which was dwindled, and the senior program. So anyways, I say all that to say, This poverty reduction program, it's a national program. There are over 80 chapters. There's a few in Canada. So we have a lot of support there from kind of our mother organization, but it's a way for us to work with our community that's coming in, who's in this upper to middle income bracket, and to work with those in our community who are experiencing poverty. And to bring those two communities together, but also fill the gap in Medford that we see, you know, we've got food programs, we've got to help with drug addiction, we've got to help with childcare, We've got help with English as a second language, and this program kind of threads the needle for all of them. So, you know, let's get people the supports they need, the social networks they need, and move them out of poverty, changing that in our community so that the goal is to reduce poverty by 10% in our community in 10 years.
[Carter]: Yeah, it's ambitious, but it's doable, especially if we get the partnerships and getting the folks on board with it. I do want to take you back just a second and talk a little bit about a 90th anniversary celebration, because I think a lot of people They recognize that the community center has been here, and that this is the second building on the site, and so on and so forth. But I don't think that the breadth and length of the duration of the community center's existence is clear to a lot of folks. So 90 years is really, really very significant.
[Crossman]: Oh, it's huge for any business, I think, to to be in business 90 years to have only one full time employee that only started maybe five, six years ago that there was a full time employee. So, I mean, that's pretty dynamic to be relying on community volunteer support and to exist for this long. That's pretty amazing.
[Carter]: Yeah. A lot of transitions. two buildings at one time, the old army barracks into this much nicer, newer space. At one time, we were a charter agency of the United Way, and they kind of footed the bill for virtually everything that we did, but it hasn't been like that for a very long time. So that's really, really one of the key areas that I know you've had to really, really dig into. is how do we keep ourselves afloat financially? So you wanna talk about grant writing and any of that kind of stuff?
[Crossman]: Sure, I mean, it's honestly, what we did when I came in is really pull back and take a look at the organization, right? Understand how this organization works, what it needs to be successful, shore up our foundation so that we can stand the Circles program on it and we can stand other things on it and it will grow no matter who sits at the board. So this board has really been great. with Melinda, Melinda Regan, we have Brian Collins, Michael Bergman, David Kilpatrick, and we have Phil Davis. And our board emeritus, Rachel Tanner. I'll catch you back if I don't mention her. But they've really been great to kind of to listen, to absorb, give feedback and participate because being on this board is a hands on job. So we really looked at what we need to do, where we need to go and now how we're going to get there. We were blessed to work with Janelle Coleman, who is a fund development person. She worked for St. Francis House for years, raised millions of dollars. So she's helping us part-time to put together our fund development plan. So we'll be excited to roll out in January a bunch of our sponsorship packages. our fundraising plan for the 90th. Yeah. So we're really getting all of that lined up. We realize, you know, we cannot rely on grants. We no longer are going to rely on grants. Yeah. And the board is willing to do their their part. So but we've done really well with grants as well. And we have some very, very generous supporters as well. The donations have always been right on time.
[McElroy]: Mm hmm.
[Carter]: Mm hmm. you know, we're approaching a really, you know, whatever side of the political spectrum you might sit on, and I don't wanna dishonor or disregard anybody who's, you know, who voted and got the result that we got, but it's a perilous time, and there are some definite dangers for agencies like ours, agencies that have declared that we stand for equity and civil rights and social justice and advocacy for marginalized communities. So a lot of people right now are fearful and fretful. It's an important time for the community center.
[Crossman]: Absolutely. I am very hopeful. I think with the Circles program, we're poised to do well with the new administration, I believe. And as we were talking earlier, I feel like a lot of philanthropists will end up stepping up during this era. Yes. And we're poised to do well there. There's a lot of justice happening in the side of grants. There's a lot of things happening, restorative justice right now. So this is a key time right now while the funding is available. Yes. So we're applying for a few of those grants that are longer term. And I believe with our history, with the wonderful people who have come through here and have gone on to be very successful, the ability that this community center has been kind of the key and the linchpin to the community growing and thriving to then gain equity and move on, it shows what this community is able to do, aka the community center. So that gives us a lot of skin in the game as we apply to things.
[Carter]: Absolutely, absolutely. significant that we've also had a growing position in the arts community here in Medford as well. I mean, obviously, this program is one of, you know, part of our arts programming, but, you know, the Medford Jazz Festival, having been housed here, and us having been, you know, kind of a focal point in terms of West Medford Open Studios and helping them to run their program, I think that that's kind of a unique place for us as well.
[Crossman]: Absolutely, I'm thrilled to have arts and culture as something I can say that I do. I'm not artistic, I'm not a singer, I don't do any of that, but I very much enjoy it. I've always done the team work and workforce development, which is great, but can be boring. So it's exciting to have this piece to work with artists to be able to provide jobs and pay for artists. That's right. Pretty amazing to not compromise. Right. A lot of people want you to be artists to take a short. So I think we do well trying to pay artists their value. So that's been really exciting. With Melinda's help, we've really been able to partner well in the community, I think. So with the Medford Jazz Festival, with our Mothers Out Front group for the Pumpkin Splash. So that has been very exciting, the Hoops and Hope group. So it's very exciting.
[Carter]: Yeah, a lot of exciting initiatives that have taken place just in the last several months. It's been a busy, it's been a very, very busy year. What, as you look at the past two years of your practice here, what things are you most proud of?
[Crossman]: That's a good one. I think I'm most proud of the black entrepreneurs piece. I think us being able to use our platform to help these smaller businesses gain new customers, get a surge in income, especially right before the holidays. It's pretty amazing when everyone gets together. Some of them are our personal friends who we introduced to the community and now they're friends and it's pretty awesome. I think that's great. Also my son, I think having him come here, he's very good friends with the senior group. He's everybody's boyfriend He is like he's pretty amazing and I'm lucky to have him and he's just so great. So, you know when we go places The first thing he's doing is talking to the seniors. Mm-hmm. He's having he's meeting them and spending time getting to know them He's getting the scoop on everybody But then he's also with the youth groups and so it builds trust with the kids, they feel more comfortable. No one's ever the last kid here, he's always with them and so it's just been so wonderful.
[Carter]: Yeah, I'm thinking back to this summer and last summer as well, the Lego group that was here.
[Crossman]: Yes, yes.
[Carter]: And what an amazing time that was for all of the kids that came through, but also for Grant, who basically, you know, was a little bit of a boss. He was a little bit of a boss amongst all those kids. But programs like that, I really think, you know, have helped continue to establish the community center as a viable partner for outside organizations.
[Crossman]: Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, what people are beginning to recognize is that we we know the value of our organization. All right. We might need to put a little paint, a little lipstick on her, but we know the value of our organization. And, you know, it's it's beyond aesthetics. And we have something that cannot be replicated. It cannot be captured or bottled. Many try. but they cannot do what is done here at the West Medford Community Center.
[Carter]: That's right, that's right. How do you think the things that you did coming up in Central Massachusetts and working with the Ys and working with the various youth groups and such kind of prepared you for what you're dealing with these days?
[Crossman]: I got a good taste in Central Mass. I worked for a grassroots organization called Luck Inc. And they did some group homework. Well, not homework, but group homes.
[Carter]: Okay, yeah.
[Crossman]: And You know, I just happened to stumble in it. And the guy who was the executive director was just starting. He happened to be a friend of my father's. He was a hippie, a true hippie, and his wife. And I learned so much from them. and that piece in meeting the community, knowing the community. My job core work, I got to learn about the workforce development world, partnerships, getting those higher level partnerships, kind of making deals in how we're gonna give service for service. In the Y, it's just their values, they're very values-based, and that really speaks to me. So to be able to do my work and speak on Christian values, but without having a penalty was just a boon to my work. So it grew my passion. Then also my family had a business. We had a liquor store for 20 years. So I grew up in the business. I was 16 in there sweeping floors, dusting things, and then eventually was behind the cash register doing scheduling, doing the banking stuff, or doing orders, carrying 30 packs. So my dad never took it easy on me. He always wanted me to learn things to eventually take over the business. So you may not know about me in my grandfather was a mayor of Lemonster, Massachusetts for many, many years. OK. And after he had retired for some time, they came back to him and asked him to come back. And he served for many, many more years. So he was very loved in the community. After he passed, the new incoming mayors would talk to my father. Our family was very involved in community. I learned a lot from my father, my grandfather. So by the time I left Fitchburg, which I had worked in for many years, they were calling me the mayor. The mayor of Fitchburg. And so for me, I didn't want that. I didn't want to be handed what my future was. And I broke off to say, I'm going to make it on my own. I'm going to do, if I have to struggle, if I have to, I'm going to. I'm going to make it on my own. That was really my motivating driving force is to to show my father that I can be successful in this business. My ideas are good ideas. I can execute these ideas. I can bring people together to do good in the world beyond just turning a dollar.
[Carter]: Well, all of your ancestors and your living relatives, they must be proud of you, if they know about the work that you're doing.
[Crossman]: Oh, they do, they're great. We have a small family by now, but yes, they are absolutely great.
[Carter]: Yeah, and your late mom as well.
[Crossman]: Yes, yep.
[Carter]: Absolutely, God rest her generous soul. Can you talk a little bit about your philosophy as a community advocate?
[Crossman]: That is a really good question. I guess my philosophy is to make the time. I think it's very easy to, especially in today's society, in my role to say, well, I'm the executive director, I gotta meeting, I gotta get to, I don't have the time to talk. Members are going through things, community members are going through things. And I have deadlines, I have meetings. Oftentimes these people, they don't understand that someone just walked through the door and they're in crisis. Someone walked through the door and they lost a relative. And so I make the time. I make the time no matter the sacrifice because I feel like in the end that's why I was sent to show up today. So that has been my philosophy this time around here. I've learned in the past to talk to community members and get to know them and share my life and share my life with them. But this time around, I put down the pressure, I put down the deadlines, keep the door open, keep my ears open, keep my heart open and just make time for people.
[Carter]: Well, as I as I said at the beginning, and I really wasn't trying to blow any smoke, you know, that that really I think that's really one of your gifts as you know, as a director here is that you do have a heart for the people and you do make time for everybody. And I think it's been recognized and it's also in many instances the favorite part of somebody's day when you come in the room and you spend a little time chatting, finding out what's going on. with our folks. And you and I have talked about this a number of times, the most difficult thing that we experience here is losing people.
[Crossman]: Oh gosh, yeah. Yeah, that's tough.
[Carter]: Yeah, it's not going to stop, you know.
[Crossman]: Right. And I think the other piece that oftentimes people don't look at, especially in human services, is that, you know, you're dealing with people who are going through things who might be at the end of their rope, their their bottle is ready to pop. And oftentimes we receive that other end of it. We receive the outburst. We receive the anger. We receive that quick outbursts without, and I apologize, and we take it, we process, and we move on because we love these people.
[Carter]: Yeah, we do, we do, we do. And I credit you for some really, really wonderful things that have happened since you've come on board. The reinvigoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, I think the celebration that we had at St. Ray's last year and the one that we're looking forward to this year was really, really a high watermark. I think it was an exceptional celebration. Little things like making sure that the seniors can continue to have their barbecue every year. Even though to hear them talk, they done, they done, we finished, that's it, no more. And it's a labor of love, that one. And just really, really making it known that we're open for business. in that we really want to make sure that the community center is seen as an institution for everybody in the community, no matter where they came from, no matter how long they've been here, black, white, or whatever, our doors are open and we want to have you as part of the team.
[Crossman]: Absolutely, absolutely. Everybody is welcome here. And yeah, one of the things, and this is something I've been lamenting over recently, is that, you know, being in existence for 90 years, you develop a personality. We have programming, we have things going on. And although our neighborhood is changing, We just cannot pivot in that way to dump what we have going on to take in, right? Because we're limited by capacity. And until financially that changes, we're not going to abandon our key programs. But we have some lovely neighbors, some lovely families. We are looking to add some events to bring them in. We have a lot of young families in Medford that are just really great. And we love having them because when people come here, they get to know their neighbor. And everyone's guard is down, and it's really the true sense of community.
[Carter]: Yeah, and we've been, you know, for the past several years, we've been a good landlord. I mean, we've had, between Petit Boots, who was the French nursery that was here several years ago, and now, for the past several years, General Dragon, we've been a good landlord. Absolutely, absolutely. Our tenants like us a lot. Okay, so we got a few minutes left. Will you play a quick game of word association with me?
[Crossman]: Sure.
[Carter]: Okay, so I'm gonna give you a word and just give me a few sentences on what that word means to you, okay? All right, so community.
[Crossman]: Community, that's a good one. That is a very good one, because I'm limited here. Community to me is authentic, transparent, understanding, hopeful. Yeah, I think I'll leave it there.
[Carter]: That's cool, that's cool, that's cool. Philanthropy.
[Crossman]: Philanthropy is wonderful. I could go on and on about this topic, but I'll keep it short. I think that philanthropy is a lost art. You know, our young folks don't understand about giving, why it's important to give, kind of what you get from giving.
[Carter]: That's right.
[Crossman]: So. I would like to see a shift in culture, and that's something we hope to kind of work towards. But I think giving is great. Giving is what we're meant to do. We're just borrowers of everything that's here. None of us, we don't own anything. Can't take it with us. So I think give when you can and give often and give more. Heart. OK, heart. That's a tough one, Terry.
[Carter]: I'm grading on a curve, so.
[Crossman]: Heart, I think it's important that you share your heart, you share your heart, and that you lay your burdens down. And I've been on both the giving and receiving end of that here, so it's just, your heart lies in community. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they do.
[Carter]: They go together for sure, for sure. And I'll just give you one more, courage.
[Crossman]: It makes me think of the Cowardly Lion. So courage for me, I would say I do all things with him who strengthens me. I don't have any courage on my own. If it hadn't been for God, I wouldn't be sitting here and I wouldn't have any courage. And every day I turn to him for more and hope that he keeps me holding on. And I have been better for it. Our organization has been better for it. And I think I'm following in the footsteps of many that have come before me in this organization, which is why we have found so much success.
[Carter]: Yeah, big shoulders. We have big, huge shoulders that we both stand on, but that we also have to make an account to. Yes. So it's been a challenge. So five years from now, What will you want the people of Medford, and particularly the folks from West Medford who've been here and done some things, to know about the community center in your stewardship of this organization?
[Crossman]: Oh, this is a good one, because just a quick short story. In our attic, we have a bunch of files. And so there's no organization to the files. But in looking through the files, which is how you understand an organization, there's many handwritten notes, typed types on a typewriter notes. And I got to read a lot of annual reports. And a lot of it was like, kind of, I hope you know that I tried my best and God was with me this whole time. And I was like, I get it, guy. I get what you're going through. What I would like them to know is that I I oftentimes, before I came here, I couldn't understand what my next move is, why am I here, what am I doing? And what stood out to me was Restorer of the Breach. Okay, I like it. Restorer of the Breach. And so I hope that in my time that those that hold a grudge are able to let that grudge go. Love it, yes. I hope that, I don't see it as a changing of the guard, I see it as a repository as we've talked about. We plan to take on as many events, organizations, and things that happened in West Medford for the longevity. We hope to encompass that and carry it forward for the lifetime of our organization. And we hope to bring in our new neighbors. We want to continue that West Medford spirit. So who are we if we don't welcome our neighbors? We don't embrace them if we don't teach them the history, because it is everything that these people learn that are on these walls that made them great. made them great in their field is why we still talk about them. I still think about Buddy and Cecil and how they've influenced me and that influence on me now influences the kids in our after-school programs who then we help our board members and community members who are the philanthropists that come back So, you know, I hope to carry on the legacy and do it well and carry on the spirit and do it well and set up this organization on a pathway for success that needs not one of us to continue on. It would continue on through the engine of community spirit.
[Carter]: I love it. I love it. I love it. And I am going to let that be the last word, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much. I think it's important for us to come back to the table on a periodic basis and just check in and talk about what's going on, what's being done, what's anticipated, and what the future looks like. So Lisa, thank you so much for stepping in.
[Crossman]: You're welcome. Let me just say really quickly, this is a wonderful opportunity because, as some of you know, my day-to-day is checking the bathrooms. The plumbing, the IT, the HVAC, the bills, Ian, a lot of the day to day. So to be able to pull back and talk high level is really wonderful. And to spend time with Terry just talking with you all has been wonderful. So thank you, Terry.
[Carter]: Thank you. My pleasure. Absolutely. All right. All right. All right. So we're going to take a pause for the cause. We're going to break down the set and get ready for something really, really wonderful and awesome on the musical side of the ledger. So if you need to get up and move around and chat a little bit and so forth, do that, but don't go too far from your seats because you're not going to want to miss a minute of what we have coming up. We'll come back, we'll do some quick commercials, and then we'll have our musical guest join us. All right? Thank you very much. Okay, so we're getting very much more efficient at our transitions, so there's not as much time for chitty chatting as there used to be. So everybody can take your seats.
[McElroy]: Okay.
[Carter]: So there's an old adage, and part of it, I'm not going to state all of it, but part of it is keep your friends close. You might know the rest of it. And over the years, what I've come to really, really appreciate in the circle of friends that I have is dependability. And what I mean by that is having the kinds of friends that when you call them for whatever you call them for, if there's any way in the world they can do it, they can make it happen, they can be on your side and available to you, they do. And the best among them literally jump at the opportunity to help you because that's their spirit. And Lisa and I have certainly come to anticipate and expect that among our friends here at the community center. And some of those friends have come from friendships that she's had before the community center and friendships that I've had before the community center. I say all that to introduce a really, really wonderful friend who I've known since our undergraduate days, me on my way in, her on her way out, at Fisk University of Nashville, Tennessee, where she was a Jubilee singer and a budding diva. And I say that in the best of ways, okay? In any case, Donna McElroy has been here before. She's engaged us and entertained us. She is a raconteur and a storyteller. She is a music historian. She is a vocal teacher who has been a professor and a department chair at Berklee College of Music. She's been an international recording artist. She's got credentials up the wazoo and the yin yang. So I'm not going to belabor it. But the main thing about her is she is my friend. And when I call her, if she's available, she comes. And you have been the beneficiary before. And tonight, you're going to be the beneficiary again. So I would like to welcome back and reintroduce to some my friend, the inimitable, the inestimable Donna McElroy. Oh, you got that one, that's right.
[McElroy]: Hello. How's everybody doing? Okay, so let's see. I would like to get everybody to join me in a hum. A hum? Can you hum? We're going to start kind of low. So now when you do this next one, I want you to do it like you would be resisting laughing. So until you run out of air, OK? 1, 2, 3, go. Okay, now let's move up a third. Okay, and in the back of your throat, go ee, but you keep your mouth closed. okay now somebody's looking kind of what does that mean she's got the mouth closed and she's saying e okay so i'm going to do it for you can you hear in the back of my throat i am forming vowels okay so Now, my suggestion to everyone, I do this every morning, to warm not my voice up, but to get my breathing apparatus practiced and running and up and ready and, you know, before I get on that elliptical, I like to feel I'm not going to completely shock my heart, my cardiovascular system. So in the bed, I'm going to, Now when I do this one. So you push and you crescendo and you back off and you decrescendo and you let it, the air just do what it's gonna do. See, it gave out on me. But if I'm warmed up, that air can help me last a long time and my warmup, My message to you, my verbal message to you is warm yourself up for challenges. Every day is a challenge. When you wake up, and you're doing your stretches, and you're in the bed, and you're pulling your knees up, and you're doing all of the stuff on the way, you should be humming. You should be warming up your vocal apparatus, and your breathing apparatus, and your abdominal apparatus for handling it, stepping out, and being on top of life, instead of trying to, oh God, I hope I make it. I am definitely gonna make it, and when I get there, They gonna know I was in the building. That's all the preaching I have for you tonight. There's a sweet, sweet spirit in this place. And I know it is the spirit of the Lord. Can I get an amen? There's a sweet expression on each face. And I know it is the Spirit. of love. Sweet Holy Spirit, sweet heavenly Stay right here with us Filling us with your love And with these blessings We're gonna lift our voice in praise. You know this, sing it with me. Without a doubt we'll know that we have been revived when we have left this place. Give yourselves a round of applause.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the new thing. Kids say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.
[McElroy]: Was that a good warm up? I've been buked. And I've been scorned, yeah I've been buked And I've been scorned, children I've been buked And I've been scorned. I've been talked about. shows you born there is trouble all over this land amen there is trouble all over this land children There is trouble all over this land. There is trouble all over this land. Ain't gonna lay my legion down, no, no. Ain't gonna lay my legion down, children. No, no, no, no, no, no, ain't gonna lay my legion down. Ain't gonna lay my legion down. Been believe in way too long. Been believing way too long, baby. Been believing way too long. Been believing way too long. Ain't gonna lay my legion down, no, no. I'm glad I got my legion in time, children. Glad I got my legion in time. Oh, yes, Lord. Glad I got my religion in time. Thank you so much. So whenever I do this, I'm gifted that I can sing without accompaniment. You're not prepared to hear what I can do with an actual pianist. OK? Don't even show up. OK? The keyboard players are like, all right, she went there. I'm going with her. I very seldom rehearse. especially on songs that are old, and most musicians know how to play. This next one especially. It's like, you grown up, I heard this song for the first time when I was three years old, and I'll be 69 in two weeks. So you know these songs, and they're in your heart, and you come in with a seasoned player who hasn't been just listening to the bumpity, bumpity, bump, and the modern stuff, and the rhythm section stuff, and they know a couple of hymns, maybe five or six, 60 or 70, 80 hymns. The foundation, the edifice of our faith is in the hymns. And this is one of mine. My grandmother used to, you heard me talk about my grandmother in the kitchen snapping beans and putting on the fat back and putting it in the water and boiling that piece of meat and then adding her green beans or her turnip greens or her kales or her collards to it. A mixture of all of the above. And making her cornbread batter. and leaving it in the refrigerator for when she comes back from the church. So she can stick it in the oven. You know about that. Anybody from the South? Michigan. If you are from Michigan and you had a family like that, they came from probably the South. They came from Georgia. And I'm from Kentucky. Yes, yes, yes. So that's a tradition that we are losing as a race and a culture. And that's the reason why I try to talk about it as much as I can wherever I go. It's how I grew up with my grandmother in the kitchen. I'd wake up and I'd smell that whatever, what is that mom is cooking today? We called her mom. Honey, and my little butterball self, I was jumping up, ready to eat something. And it would be simple. You know, it would be simple. We were lucky to get a ham. She was lucky if the white woman that she was working for gave her a little five-pound ham. And she'd bring that home, and she'd feed me and my brothers and sisters and her daughter and her son and a couple of church members. And she'd slice thin, baby, thin. You hear me? And she'd take that skin and she'd fry it up and make that crackling. She, you know, we would make, the pig was well digested. And I'd wake up and she'd be snapping those beans and she'd say, I am thine, oh Lord. I have heard thy voice and it told thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee. Draw me near. Nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. You know this, don't you? Consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in thine. Draw me near. Nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to thy precious bleeding side. You know, every now and then you hear somebody sing an old hymn that you thought you forgot. That's one of those. I always love to hear like an old lady. I don't feel like I'm all that old, but I must be, because these hymns are not being sung in the churches anymore. OK, I'm going to get into preacher mode. I'm not going to do it. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord. to thy precious bleeding side. About that time, I'd be downstairs. I'd say, Ma, what's for breakfast? She said, girl, go on, sit down somewhere, you silly self. Let me see. Let me see. Let me see. Another one was a, my Lord, what a morning. My Lord, what a morning. Oh, my Lord, what a morning. When the stars refuse to shine. You will hear the trumpet sound to wake the nations underground. Oh, looking to my God's right hand, When the sun refused to shine, when the stars began to fall, when the Lord takes all away, my Lord, What a morning. Oh, my Lord. What a morning. Oh, my Lord. What a morning. When the stars begin to fall. When the stars begin to fall. Yes, yes. You said what? Little jazz? Is that what you said, little jazz? It's so interestingly coincidental that you said that. Well, let me see. Because the next song is a jazz classic. And I'm trying to think in my head, can I put it in a key where I can not hurt myself? Okay. Snap with me. Them that's got shall get. Them that's not shall lose. So the Bible says, and it still is news, mama may have, papa may have, but God bless the child that's got his own. That's got his own. Will the strong get more while it seems the weak ones fade? Empty pockets don't ever make the grade. Mama may have. Papa may have. But God bless the child that's got his own that's got his own money. You've got lots of friends crowding around your door. You know the ones. When the money's gone and spending ends, they're all so busy. They don't come around no more. Now you know rich relations, they want to give you a crust of bread and such. They say, come on, honey, help yourself. Wait, wait, wait, baby. You take too much. Mama may have. Papa may have, but God bless the child that's got his own, that's got his own. Now, I'm just going to take a little break right here. Let's act like the band is playing and the drummer's taking a solo. Do you have the volume up on that thing? Do you have the volume up? Because I think the last time I came, I did not have the volume up because I turned it down so it wouldn't ring all over the room. And then I got home and I was like, jamming, man. But there was no music. You know how to do that? Is it on? It seems to be all the way up. OK. Here we go. I'm going to do the bridge. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. money you've got lots of friends they all crowd around your door but when your money's gone and the speed it is they don't come around nowhere no more listen here Rich relations may give you a little crust of bread and such, they say. Help yourself, honey. But wait a minute. Don't take too much. Mama may have. Papa may have. But God bless the child that's got his own. Hallelujah. That's got his own. I made him get tech-minded. Okay, let me see what happened. Okay, let me see. Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Let me see. I'm gonna go back here. and we'll get this to you in the dance. Okay, there you go. Perfect, thank you.
[Carter]: You're welcome. Now sing some more before I get in trouble.
[McElroy]: Okay, sing some more while I get in trouble. Okay, so, and how am I doing? Yeah, just know that even if a person is seasoned and well-oiled, they still need encouragement and a little goose every now and then. So I get lazy, and I'm sitting on my couch, and I'm watching Perry Mason. And you don't watch Perry Mason? Don't be laughing at me now, I ain't that young. I watch Perry Mason and Andy Griffith. But I am from Kentucky, so Andy, and Barney, and Opie, and B, and Goober, and Gomer. Shazam! That's me. That's me. I'm sorry. I'm sitting at home, and I'm looking at my emails. Oh, Terry Carter. No, I'm kidding, baby. Every time I see your name, I'm like, yes. Yes. Fisk, our alma mater. Yes. All right, so where'd I stop? God bless the child. How long do I have? Do I have 20 minutes? Do I have 20 minutes? OK, so I'm going to do one that is a little bit more modern, but it has a real prophetic message. the group that put this out didn't get all the play that they were deserving of because it was a really lovely, a really lovely tune. And so this is called Wake Up Everybody. okay i'm hearing the intro in my head but i don't know what key i'm gonna start in though so i'm just doing the rhythm section and the Wake up everybody. No more sleeping in bed. No more backward thinking. Time for thinking ahead. The world has changed so very much from what it used to be. There's so much hatred, war, and poverty. Calls. The world won't get no better if we just let it be. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The world won't get no better. We got to change it, girl, just you and me. Hoo, hoo, hoo. I'm breathing. Hoo. Wake up all the doctors, make the old people well. They're the ones who's suffering and catching all the hell. But they don't have so very long before the judgment day. So won't you make them happy before they pass away? Nah, nah, nah. Wake up all the builders. Time to build a new land. I know we can do it if we all in the hand. The only thing we have to do is put it in our minds. Surely we will work it out. We do it every time. The world won't get no better if we just let it be. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. The world won't get no better. We got to change the girl, just you and me. We got to change the children from inside out. We've got to change the world and show them what we're talking about. We've got to walk in faith and not in discouragement. We've got to walk in courage and show them what we mean. We've got to wake up everybody. Say, wake up everybody. Say, wake up everybody. Wake up, everybody. Wake up, everybody. Say, wake up, everybody. Wake up, everybody. Say, wake up, everybody. Wake up, everybody. Yeah, give yourselves a round. Listen, there's a song. Okay, I'm going to sing it. I'm just going to go ahead and sing it. I've been torn between the version of it that I learned when I was like maybe, oh gosh, I think I might have been 17. Do you remember the Hebrew boys? The recording artists who were part of the Edwin Hawkins chorus. And he picked three fabulously talented, harmonically very, very attentive guys. And he put out a record called The Hebrew Boys. And they did old arrangements of traditional hymns. Like this one, it has a very, it's like jazz. It's like they had to have ears to hear it. Look it up. The Hebrew Boys. When We All Get to Heaven. If you can hear that song, it'll probably open up the whole album. And it's an absolutely amazing album. And it was like, okay, Edwin Hawkins, the whole happy day. That was back in the time when that song came out. I think it was 1963, 64. And I came in singing that song and my mother said, girl, you better hush that mess up. Don't you bring all that stuff in my house. I don't want to hear all of that mess. Because there was drums. She wouldn't let me play the record. She said, I don't want to hear that mess in my house. She was a Tennessee Ernie Ford fan, George Beverly Shea. You see what I'm saying? So she did not want to hear all the whooping and hollering in her house. And I had a little turntable, 45, and I'd have it down the lowest, lowest, lowest. She'd be walking past my room, and she'd say, what's that you playing in there? Turn that mess off. I don't want to hear all that mess. The Hebrew boys, if you ever get to hear them, you will absolutely be mesmerized by the harmonies and the reharmonizations of these traditional old hymns. And this is one of them. So you're going to remember how this sounds when I sing it. And then when you go look for the song, the Hebrew boys, When We All Get to Heaven, you will be amazed. All right? Do you know this one, When We All Get to Heaven? Dang it. I thought I was going to pick an old hymn nobody knew. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Yes, please. I got a bottle of it over there somewhere. It's under my coat. Thank you so much, Terry. Thank you so much. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus. Sing his mercy and his grace. In the mansions bright and blessed, prepare for us a place when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all Jesus will sing and shout the victory. While we walk the pilgrim pathway, clouds will overspread the sky. When the traveling days are over, not a shadow, not a sigh, when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all see Jesus will sing and shout the victory onward to the prize before us soon his beauty will behold soon the pearly gates will open and we will tread the streets of gold when we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all See Jesus will sing and shout, sing and shout, sing and shout the victory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Don't you get me started up now. OK, let me see. How much time I got? Whatever you need.
[Carter]: Whatever I need.
[McElroy]: I'll come get you. OK. This takes a lot of emotion out of me. I get really emotional with this song right here. So y'all bear with me if I cry. I've been so many places in my life and time. I've sung a lot of songs. I've made some bad rhymes. I've acted out my life in stages with 10,000 people watching. But we're alone now, and I'm singing this song for you. I know your image of me is what I hope to be. I treated you unkindly, but darling, can't you see? There's no one more important to me. Baby, can't you see through me? Because we're alone now, and I'm singing this song for you. taught me precious secrets of the truth withholding nothing you came out in front and I was hiding but now I'm so much better and if my words don't come together just listen to my melody cause my love I love you in a place where there's no space or time. I love you for my life. You are a friend of mine. And when my life is over, remember when we were together. We were alone. And I was singing a song, whispering in your ear. I was singing a song, baby. For you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I miss my mama. When I sing that song, I miss my mama. I miss my mama. I miss my mama and my little sister. I talk to them every day. And you know what? They talk back. I never forget what my mama taught me. Never, ever, ever. So y'all forgive me for cracking on that. quality control in the back. He's like, yeah, you did. You went flat, lady. OK, I have one more, and then I'm going to stop. And this is my hope, that you take this home and know that there are people of like mind and kindred spirit who may sing the gospel or they may sing another style of music, but the message is always very rich and very deep and thrives in the hearts and minds of all of us. This is called If I Ruled the World. Does anybody know If I Ruled the World? Tony Bennett? Well, that's, I learned it from Tony Bennett, but everybody's, I think James Brown did a version of this, didn't he? Yeah, yeah. If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring. Every heart would have a new song to sing. And we'd sing of the joy every morning would bring. If I ruled the world, every man would have as free as a bird. Every voice would be a voice to be heard. Take my word, we would treasure each morning I'm sorry, let me sing that verse over. I get to do that because I don't have a band behind me. Every man would be as free as a bird. My mama would say, girl, you need to shut up and sit down. Every voice would be a voice to be heard. Take my word, we would treasure each and all day, day that a plan, that a, I don't know why I mess up on that line. You think I'm doing it on purpose, don't you? That's my comedy background. Take my word, we would treasure each day that occurred. My world would be a beautiful place where we would weave such wonderful dreams. My world would wear a smile on its face like the man in the moonbeams. When the moon beams, if I ruled the world, every man would say the world was his friend. There be happiness. that no man could end. No, my friend, not if I rule the world. Every head would be held up high. There'd be sunshine in everyone's sky. if the day ever dawned when I ruled the world. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so, so much. Okay, now I'm going to leave you with this one. You sing with me. It says, I shall not, I shall not be moved. I shall not, I shall not be moved just like a tree that's planted by the water. I shall not, Be moved. Just hum it with me. Just like a tree that's planted by the water. Keep the faith. Don't let what's outside mess with you inside. Make a commitment to smile and be nice to everyone. It doesn't benefit anyone but you and God. Many times no one gets it, but you get it. It's a blessing to know that you're serving a higher power than what you see. Can I get an amen? One last amen, and I'll talk to y'all next time I come. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You did great. Thank you so much. I love coming here, too. Y'all don't know. Every time I see him call, and I say, oh, God. But that's because I have to spend so, I have to use, I have to get so much energy.
[Carter]: Got to get ready. Got to get ready.
[McElroy]: Energy, and get ready, and do this, and be, I mean, I've done it all my life, but it's just like, what do I sing to these people? Well, Donna, why are you trying to complicate it? It's not a science project. Be you, girl.
[Carter]: Ladies and gentlemen, Donna McElroy. Okay, before we fade to black, let me just remind you about some of the things that are going on at the community center. Elders, join us each week Tuesday through Thursday for a nutritious lunch and a vibrant fellowship. Lunch is served at 12 o'clock or whenever y'all get there. Call 781-483-3042 to make a reservation. November 17th, it's Sunday, there is a flyer on the bulletin board, COVID and flu shot clinic here at the community center sponsored by us and some of our good friends in the health community. And on November 23rd, this coming Saturday, not this Saturday, but the next Saturday, we will be having our holiday Black Vendor Fair, and it is going to be a blockbuster. We're gonna have at least 20 vendors in the building, downstairs, upstairs. There'll be all kinds of things to browse and to spend your hard-earned dollars on, and you know you'll be helping some local entrepreneurs make their holiday nugget. So please come out and support this effort. We're really, really looking forward to this. It's always a great event here at the community center. Let's see, what else? Well, I can't think of it, so it don't matter. OK, so how you can help us. Your tax deductible donations, especially as we come to the end of the fiscal year, to support the mission of WMCC. Partner with us in carrying our mission forward. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this vital community organization. You can make your donation by phone, online, or by check. Take cash, too. Please contact Lisa Crossman at 781-483-3042 for more information or to become a member. That's another way that you can certainly help us. Thanks, as always, to the great sponsors of WMCC Fresh Fridays, the Medford Arts Council, a member of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and our good friends at Medford Community Media, represented by Kevin and Mark this evening. We appreciate them very much. Make sure we have your email address if you want to be included in our regular constant contact connection. And you can also call us at the office to give us your information. We have a good time. And I'm not going to apologize for that. That's the reason why you want to have great community-based organizations like the West Medford Community Center. So thank you, everybody, for coming out, for joining us this evening. I'm not even going to say, I hope, because I know you enjoyed yourselves. And join us again in December when we'll take it through a whole different door. And Donna will certainly be back at an appointed hour, as they say. So hallelujah, have a great time, be safe out there, and have a good evening.