AI-generated transcript of Medford Happenings Episode 42 Rick Caraviello

[John Petrella]: Hello, everyone. I am John Petrella, and welcome to Method Happenings. Your community, your voice, your method. And the purpose of this program is to give Method citizens facts and information to help you make informed choices and to share city services or businesses you may have not been aware of. Our show today is the first of a series of shows we are calling a Method Good Neighbor show. And we'll have more information on this program later in the show. Our guest and first Method Good Neighbor, I'm proud to say, is Rick Caraviello. Rick is a longtime resident. and a person who has done an amazing amount of good deeds for the city of Medford. Rick, welcome to Method Happenings. Thank you, John. This is my second time on the show. Thank you for having me. And we're so happy to have you back. Thank you. And we're going to start right off, Rick, a little background about yourself. where we start all the shows. What can you tell our audience? A little background.

[Richard Caraviello]: Born and raised there. My whole life. Married. Going on 50 years this year. Whoever thought that would happen. Congratulations. Three children. Eight grandchildren.

[John Petrella]: And life has been good to me. It certainly has. It certainly has. And you've been good for Medford. Thank you. All right, so let's talk about, there's a couple of things you've been associated with. One is the Method Kiwanis and the Chamber of Commerce. You know, how did you get involved with them? Why did you get involved? And how long has your involvement been with each organization?

[Richard Caraviello]: I was, I think, about 45 years old when I joined the Metro-Kiwanis. And I joined it through a good friend of mine, Bill Parsonetti, who was a president at that time. And he says, you know, you should get involved. And he said, you know, you've got a business here. And why don't you come? And so I was kind of at a... little bit of crossroads and you know uh at that age and I was never really involved in the community other than you know helping you know little league or cheerleading with my kids and um I have to give the Kiwanis credit um they uh they taught me how to give back to the community and and the purpose of volunteering uh in the community doing good things for me and that's really uh you know I credit them for me being what I am today. Without them, I don't know where I'd be. But they set you off. They set me on a path. And they jumped there. There were some good men and women there. And I was proud to be part of a business. It was a business organization. And they did good things throughout the community. And they taught me about how to be a volunteer in the community and how to give back to the community. So I credit them for making me the person that I am today. And there still is a lot. And then they say I still am a member as of today. I'm like I think 33 years.

[John Petrella]: OK.

[Richard Caraviello]: That's a long time. And I'm not even under. I only fall into the middle of the pack.

[John Petrella]: You're in the middle of the pack. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well you know as time goes on things change. What about the Chamber of Commerce. I know I know you've been with them fuck. I was I.

[Richard Caraviello]: It was kind of an accident that, you know, Linda Rayana Coney was the president, and I'd be in the square and see her, and then she says, you know, why don't you get involved in this? I said, I don't know if I got time, but Linda brought me on as a board director. And I was probably involved with the chamber probably close to 30 years. And I worked from a board director to vice president to eventually becoming president of the organization. And an unfortunate thing happened during my presidency was the executive director of the chamber, Cheryl White, passed away. And I was not going to let the chamber fall under my watch. So I stepped in as both president and executive director of the chamber for a little more than two years. I had some help from a few other members who kept us alive until we were able to have enough money to hire a director and get the chamber back on course. And that was it. I'm very proud of doing that.

[John Petrella]: Both organizations have done a tremendous amount of good things for Method. And they're still strong. It's amazing. So you have spent a tremendous amount of time helping out many causes involving Method. You know, I know you work with St. Rayfield's, the food bank, and I know at Thanksgiving, I know for a fact, you get a lot of phone calls. I mean, a lot of phone calls. It's a ton of work what you do, but, you know, let the people know.

[Richard Caraviello]: I mean... We started out, it started out as... a program for the veterans, families of veterans. And it kind of morphed into St. Raphael's needed help. St. Francis had a food bank back then. Many people don't even know we have a women's shelter here in Medford. We started giving food to them, West River Community Center. So it just grew. It's just something that I did every year without any funds from anyone else. It wasn't sponsored by the city or anything. But I did it because I wanted to do it, and I continue to do it. up until today. Unfortunately, St. Francis is no longer there, but I still do those other groups still up. You're still with St. Ray's helping out. St. Ray's, through the corners, twice a year we do a big food drive there where we package up about 10,000 meals in one night for their food bank, and they in turn give it to the other churches in the city of Medford. That's called giving back to your community.

[John Petrella]: It really is.

[Richard Caraviello]: And that's done through the Kiwanis.

[John Petrella]: Yeah. And that's a ton of work.

[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah, it is. I'll tell you, right now, we did it about a month ago. And we did 10,000 plus meals in just about two hours. And that feeds a lot of families. A lot of volunteers. A lot of kids came down from the football team. Chris Murphy brought a whole bunch of the kids down. A lot of volunteers from everywhere came down and helped out.

[John Petrella]: And you're getting the whole community involved is what you're doing. And that's a great event, bringing the community together like that. Some of the services, let's talk about some of the services that you have sought out, provided for others who needed some kind of help. I'm not going to get into it with me, but you helped me many years ago with something. We won't get into it, but I'm very thankful for that. And I know you've helped. Veterans, I know you've helped. I mean, go on. You can tell the stories. I mean, there's too many to tell.

[Richard Caraviello]: You know, it's not something that I did, you know, Rick, by himself. A couple of projects we've done. Mr. Bloomrath called us down. He was a World War II veteran. Right. And he was paralyzed from the waist down in a wheelchair. Couldn't get out of his house. I hadn't been out of his house for three, four years. Every time he had to go out, he had to call an ambulance to get him down. And the wife kept on calling. We need help. We need help. And finally, I went there. Went to the house. And I says, what are you looking for? Are you looking for like a ramp? And she said, no. He says, I need an elevator. I said, wow. He says, an elevator. I said, I think that's kind of out of the scope of what I can do. I said, let me see what I can do. I left your house on a Saturday morning, about 9 o'clock, and I made a couple of phone calls. And one of the first calls I made to was my go-to veterans guy, Dom Marcellino. Dom, yeah. Great guy. Great guy, yes. Purple heart veteran. So I called up Dom. I said, Dom, explain the situation. 20 minutes later, he calls me back. He says, Rick, go to this address. He says, people just bought the house, and there's an elevator in there they want to get rid of, if we can get it taken out. So one of the groups I worked with was Chad Murphy. Chad had an electric company. He had a lot of guys. And I brought Chad down there. We looked at the elevator. He says, I think I can do this. I called Mrs. Bloomberg, I says, Merry Christmas. I said, we got you an elevator. Wow, that's tremendous. Good for them, bad for Chad. A lot of work for Chad. It was a lot more work than they thought. We got the elevator to the house and next thing you know, You got to take a tree down. And we take the tree down. Now we have to make a ramp to go to make it accessible to get to the thing there. So now we get all that. And so Chad goes to hook up the ramp. Mr. Blumberg had a power thing that still had this old screw and fuses. Chad and his people put in a whole new electrical system out of their own pocket. Mr. Blumenthal, I think I gave you a video. We were recognized on Channel 5 as a 5-on-5. They came down and pictures of Mr. Blumenthal coming out of the house. It was very touching. Another one we did was, it was a gentleman, a Vietnam veteran, lived on Spring Street, had a paralyzed daughter. looking for some help. So we went over there. Big project big. I mean that the daughter was living in the living room because she couldn't get no bathroom. And again I'm going to call Dom. I got in touch with some other people. I want to thank the people of Mill Creek. They came down with a full crew of people and donated probably $200,000 to $300,000 worth of work and labor all for free. We got a hospital bed donated. We got a lift donated. Mr. Nigro from Mill Creek did a bathroom. He says, these people aren't going to listen. We did a complete home makeover for these people in about six months. Again, that was on the 515 too. And they thanked us enough. We've put on roofs for people. It's not me. It was a volunteer effort. of many of the people who helped out, and I can't take credit. Maybe I helped facilitate it, but I'm very proud of some of the work I've done for the veterans. Oh, absolutely. And I still do the veterans every holiday. We're still doing the food for them, and I continue to do it.

[John Petrella]: Yeah, no, it's like I say, it's my honor to know you. And I say, it's about helping other people. Yes, but the thing is, Rick, you have that. And we're going to get into this more. You have the ability, and you always have, to bring people together. You know, I mean the family network is another situation. I got lost up with them too.

[Richard Caraviello]: It's not about taking credit for anything. If you started doing this because you wanted to take credit, get accolades, then you're obviously doing it for the wrong reason. You do it because you want to do it. And Johnny, you know, you and I have grown up in the same type of family. My mother and father, our families weren't, we weren't involved, they weren't involved in the community. They didn't really do anything. You know, we both worked for our fathers in the family business. And so, you know, and my dad helped out some other people, but it wasn't, you know, it wasn't something that, you know, he ever looked to get credit for. And I think I learned from him to help other people.

[John Petrella]: Now, that's how we all grew up. But the thing is, you know, it's not that you're looking for credit. I mean, there's just so much that you've done that I know about and a few other people know. And, you know, we're trying to do these shows. We're trying to have a series of shows. And it's people like you. You know, you just don't talk it. You know, you walk the walk. You're doing things. And the thing is, yeah, nobody Nobody knows half the things you've meant for this city.

[Richard Caraviello]: I'm not here looking for credit. I appreciate you having me. They're trying to bring out these things. That's not why I did it, and I continue to do it.

[John Petrella]: I appreciate it, and all the people you've helped appreciate it. You're a true gentleman. So now, let's talk about The time you spent at Method City Council, I mean, I can't even, I don't know how many years, we'll get into how many years were you a Councilor. You were elected council president. You did a lot of good things as a Councilor as well. And even, you know, when you were a Councilor, I mean, you had some very significant accomplishments To this day, you don't get credit for it. People wouldn't even know you had anything to do with it. They wouldn't. And I know you don't want to talk about this stuff, but tell me some of those good things. And I'm sure you had a few setbacks. I was on the council for 12 years.

[Richard Caraviello]: I served three terms as president. I was always... I had a type of job that gave me time during the day, which my other Councilors didn't have that type of time. I took my job very seriously. I took it as a full-time job. When I got a call for something, I went to your house. People would call. I'd come to your house and talk to you and see what you actually needed. I would go to City Hall. I wouldn't make a phone call. I would go there and make sure that it got done. And even, you know, the Councilors that I served with, they'll always tell you, Rick was the one that actually answered the phone and went out the piers. And I pride myself on doing that. I like doing what I did. And I say, you know, there's a lot of things that They say, well, I had a lot of good votes on some things. I mean, maybe a couple I'd like to have back. Right. But that's, you know. And you learn over the years. Yeah. But I took it as a full-time position. And I went over and above what my responsibilities of a council was. And when people call you, it isn't just doing city stuff. It's about helping them. get access to things that they don't know who to call. They don't know what to do. I mean, you don't just call city people, but I've helped them get in touch with federal people, state people, and resolve issues that needed to be done. One of the nicest things someone said to me was, a woman called me one time, and she had asked me for help for her daughter. And she was getting kicked out of housing. Something happened, and I went down to housing. It took a few weeks, but we got it rectified. And she thanked me. And so it went on my way, you know. And I'm walking through Stop and Shop one day, and she grabs, she says, are you Rick? I says, I am. She says, you don't remember me, but she says, you helped my daughter. I said, well, thanks. She says, what you did for my daughter changed her life. And I want to thank you. Yeah. And those are the one or two things that actually, you know, do. And I try to explain like the new Councilors coming in. If you can do one or two things that aren't on your job as a Councilor, those are the things that you remember.

[John Petrella]: Yeah, that's a special moment.

[Richard Caraviello]: Great feeling. It is a good feeling. when you actually help somebody. I'm not talking about fixing a pothole in front of your house or a street sidewalk. It's actually helping people that actually need help. And it doesn't fall in the scope of your job as a city councilor.

[John Petrella]: And it's important. It's important to them. It's more important than anything else, yeah. Well, that's a great story. And I know you have a few more like that. I really do. But it's nice to hear this stuff, you know. And I know you don't want to take credit and that's fine. But, you know, you've done some great things. I got to ask you. Now, I know you ran for mayor. You know, what's the difference? I mean, you run for city council for 12 years. You run for mayor. Well, it was tough.

[Richard Caraviello]: I mean, you ran a great campaign. It was tough. You know, it was a lot harder than I ever thought it was going to be. I never thought that I would be able to raise the funds needed. You know, you could run for council with a couple of friends helping you at your kitchen table. This was a giant undertaking. And I don't regret doing it. Unfortunately, the results weren't what I wanted. But I think I ran a clean campaign. I stuck to the issues. I never made anything personal. And I still have a relationship with the mayor to this day. I mean, that's what it's about. And I told her after I lost, I said, Madam Mayor, I'm here for you, anything you need for me, the city. This is my city, along with yours. I'm still here to help you. And if you call me any time today, I'd be here. I know you would.

[John Petrella]: And she knows you would, too. We all know you would. You know, this is, you know. One of the things that really, you know, you've done great stuff, but I got to tell you, because I do use the library. And, you know, I'm used to going to the library, you know, back when it was a library. This, what you did, you know, to get this thing going, the Medford Public Library, I mean that was a huge challenge and you delivered to Medford a state-of-the-art, I mean it's a public facility. It's so much more than a library. I mean, it's way more than a library. I can't believe what's up there. The first few times I went in there, I mean, I've used the rooms up there. We've had a lot of activities up there. You know, talk about that. I mean, that was something.

[Richard Caraviello]: It wasn't something that I actually sought out to do. Every year they have a show, the Mass Municipal Association has a show every year. They have different departments of the state there. I'd go, and I met the people from the Library Association, and they'd have a list there, and I'd say, you know, geez, are we on the list? No, no, you're not on the list. I didn't realize the process of how to get in. You had to ask to get on the list, and you had to work a little bit to get on. And so after four or five years, we got on the list. So it was four or five years before you got on the list. We finally got on the list and I got called and I went to then Mayor Burke. Without her, the library doesn't happen. She could have said, Rick, we've got a lot of other stuff happening. I can't do this. part of the library was it came with upfront funding. Without that upfront funding, this library would never have happened, because we got $12 million on day one. Not on day one, but you got it as the library. But we got $12 million upfront. And people don't realize what a bargain we got this library for. The library cost about $26, $27 million. The state gave us pretty close to $12. We raised another $6. So the people in this community, you have a state library, about $10 to $12 million, which is, in today's day and age, is a steal. And let's say, you know, Barbara Kerr gets credit. Let's say, you know, without Mayor Burke putting together a team to get this financially, we had nine months to do something that took other cities two years to do. And like I say, the mayor put together a team, Barbara put together a team, and we got the approval. And it was a good thing. We started a foundation. to raise money privately, we raised $6 million.

[John Petrella]: That was amazing when you guys did that.

[Richard Caraviello]: Johnny, we sold... No, I couldn't believe that. Anything that could be sold in that library, we sold to someone to put in that library. I know. I'm still on the foundation. The foundation's still there. We're trying to keep the foundation going. going with the Money Dad. We're trying to raise more money to keep the foundation alive. Right. Thank you to the Bloombergs for their donation. Yes. But the community came together with private funding, businesses, banks, who bought a room, organizations bought rooms. It was incredible. People bought rooms. People bought plaques, leaves. Like I say, we sold everything. Anything you could put your name on We sold it and they say we're still trying They said the and I say the foundation is still growing strong and I want to thank Barbara Kerr for all her work I mean This is a woman who had to take the library pack it up and move it out into a warehouse and thank Bill Cummings For giving us the warehouse that we had and then she had to move it all back. I So, you know, her and her staff did a great job on doing that. We've had Barbara on the show.

[John Petrella]: And like I say, it's, you know, and I know it gets used.

[Richard Caraviello]: It does.

[John Petrella]: People don't understand.

[Richard Caraviello]: It is busy. I still hear from people, oh, you know, we didn't need this library. You did. It's, a library isn't what you and I remember. You don't just go there for books. It's a community space. It's a lot more things. It's a lot more to the community. than people think. It helps your real estate values, but right now, that's one of the hardest buildings in the city. It's constantly gone. Hundreds of thousands of people go through there every year. The children's program is there, and there's maker space. There's so much happening in that building. We're trying to get it open seven days a week, but we have it open six days a week. And again, it's probably the pinnacle of our city right now.

[John Petrella]: It is, and it's an incredible thing. And once again, it's like everything else. It starts with a few people. It starts with a thought. It starts with a question. And I mean, you guys, all of you, and I know. See, you all, everyone who was involved with that, it's just, it was a tremendous, and now it all comes together.

[Richard Caraviello]: Yeah, it was a collaboration of a lot of people. It's not just me. Like I said, you know, when I brought this to the mayor, there was a lot of other things on the table, and she could have said, Rick, we can't do this. But I'm going to say, the most important part was, this was done with upfront money. Exactly. Like I said before, without the upfront mind of this library, it would never happen.

[John Petrella]: But you got it done. In today's world, that's peanuts what you got that library done for. We own this library for peanuts. And the value that we've gotten out of it, the amount of use, the kids, the adults, I mean, it's for everybody. It is. It's incredible.

[Richard Caraviello]: It's a great building. It's going to be there for a long time.

[John Petrella]: Oh, it is. It is. It's a beautiful thing. You know, and I got to say something else because I know this and I don't think. Not that I know everything, but as far as the arts and all that, you and someone else, I mean, you should have a plaque. You should have a plaque. I'm just saying you should for all the time, the effort, and what you, and I'll say Michael Marks, what you did as far as the arts. So that came about.

[Richard Caraviello]: through friendships. Friendships, people that own the property, they put in a cannabis facility. And part of the cannabis thing is you have to give something back to the community. And the property owner called me and said, Rick, I know you're involved in the community. He says, I've got 5,000 square feet of space I'd like to donate to the city. He says, can you use it? Yeah, I says, well, I says, you know, in all honesty, I says, the community has been looking for a home for 25 years. I says, I think this would be a good fit. I from that phone call, I called Michael Mox. He was involved with with the community long before I was right.

[John Petrella]: Yeah.

[Richard Caraviello]: This is what we get. We came down. We met the people. We brought people down from from the community. And that's how it happens. And it's here now. I mean, they've got, I think, 10 years of free rent. I mean, the people in the building did a lot of work for free in their renovations office. So we not only have a library, we have the art center that The city has long wanted for the last 25 years. And again, it was done through collaboration. Not me personally, but it's collaboration with Michael Marks did it. He was on board with this long before I was. And he helped bring it together. This is one of the reasons.

[John Petrella]: You know, the way you do things, the way certain people do things, it's a collaboration. It takes a lot of people. You know, it's not one person. It's not this. Everyone gets together. And you know as well as I do. When you get a large group of people, it's difficult to keep everyone focused and there's a lot of egos.

[Richard Caraviello]: But with you.. The odd thing was, you know, it started to get a little out of control a couple of times with the renovations. That's normal. Plus, you know, it needed a vote. It needed support from the mayor and the committee. So, you know, we.. had people calling, people sending letters, you know, voicing support for this project. So it's, again, another, it's good for the next 10 years. The art community has a great thing. Let's get the home that they have always wanted.

[John Petrella]: It's wonderful.

[Richard Caraviello]: I was happy to be involved with that also.

[John Petrella]: It's another big plus for the city. That's what it is. It really is. I mean, it's incredible. And I had to get it in there because I know. Those are one of the last things. Those are one of the last things. But I know, like I said, it starts with a phone call. It starts simple. But the key is, it's a lot of people. It's a lot of time, a lot of effort, but it's everyone working together. And I like the fact, like you say, yeah, there's arguments, but basically, You and the group of people, there's a large group of people, they're able to keep their egos out of this. They're not looking for credit. They're not looking for anything. They rarely, rarely look to help the city of Medford. That's it.

[Richard Caraviello]: And I say, that's a great building. There's a lot of events happen there. Like I said, the arts had always been looking. There was talk many years ago of taking over the Swan School.

[John Petrella]: Right.

[Richard Caraviello]: And it's too big. And then they was going to move over to the, maybe to the Heckner Center, but it needed funding and needed money. Here's something. Perfect. Nothing out of your pocket. No money out of the state's pocket.

[John Petrella]: Oh, anyhow.

[Richard Caraviello]: No taxpayer dollars involved.

[John Petrella]: Yep. No, it was great. That's what I mean. It's incredible what you can do when you set out.

[Richard Caraviello]: It's having friendships in the community, being in the community my whole life. It's building trust. It's building relationships. That's what it's all about.

[John Petrella]: All right, now, for me, this is unfortunate, but we've got to get to the last question, Rick. You know, listen, you know, the last question I have is, you know, can you really seriously talk about what it means? You know, you were voted citizen of the year, and to me, you know, that's a great honor. I have to say, in your case, it is, you know, well-deserved. It's well-deserved, and many of the people that I wanted recently, Maria, I mean, great, great choice. I was so happy. So it wasn't a lot of other people. What's it like? I mean, how do you feel about that?

[Richard Caraviello]: I always wanted the ship. They give you the boat. It's a boat, you keep it. Being involved with the Chamber, that award had started long before I was there. And it's a distinguished group of men and women who have dedicated their lives to the community. And I'm glad that I am able to share what I did with those other people who came before me. It's a great honor to be even considered with the people that have gotten the award prior to me. And I said, it was something I'm very proud of. Didn't ask for it. It's a feel-good thing, and it says that the people of Medford actually recognize what you've done. Right, yeah. No, it is. I can imagine. It's a good feeling. You know, it's nice to have that ship, and, you know, credit goes out to the Chamber, and, you know, Dominic Camara. Right. You know, who keeps the citizen in the Cody. You know, he keeps the Codys together on his end, and the Chamber does that there. Right. And I say this year's choice of Marie Cassidy was Outstanding choice. And listen, everybody who's won it is a good choice, and even the people who don't win it, the nominations of them are good choices. And I tell people, people say, you know, how come you didn't put this person in? I says, nominate them. The nominations don't come from me. They come from the people in the community. And you're the one that has to tell the chamber who you want. Put their names in when it comes time. Every year after the award, ah, you should have picked this person, you should have picked that person. There's always a few. And everyone that gets picked is deserving. Again, when it comes to that time, if you know somebody or you know a group or an organization, put their name forward. Because that's how it is. If the chamber doesn't pick it, they're picked by the people that get sent in. And I say, then there's all of them are wrong with these races. And I'm glad that I'm in the company with those men and women.

[John Petrella]: You deserve it, so. You know, it's that time again. And I want to thank Rick Caraviello. He's our inaugural Method Good Neighbor. I want to thank you for joining us on Method Now.

[Richard Caraviello]: You know, Johnny, you and I have known each other for many years. But whatever think, you and I would be sitting at the table doing this. Wouldn't imagine it. Wouldn't have imagined it 30 years ago. No, it is. It's incredible.

[John Petrella]: How our lives have evolved. over the years. And before I continue I got to let our audience know it was not easy getting you on the show for this. It was very difficult. And I know you and I know it was difficult but thank you so much. I thank you for having me on. And I hope people you know really the people that we're getting some some a lot of Interest a lot of people watching the show and this is what method is all about people like you That's all we'll end the show.

[Richard Caraviello]: I'm a lifelong member of this. Yeah, I've lived here my whole life I don't have any intention of moving and I want to say to be a good city Yeah, and I still I still do things for the city, you know, like I said, I I don't want us to fail. I don't like when we get bad press. It's not good for anybody. I live here. You live here. I'm not looking to move. A lot of my friends have moved away. I chose to stay. I'll die here.

[John Petrella]: I'm in the same boat, I think. That's where I want to live. I could have moved many years ago. We all want what's better. All right, so that's it for our inaugural Good Neighbor show. We're going to do a few more of these. Hopefully we're going to do one a month. So if you know a good neighbor or know someone that you would like to have come on the show, give us a ring. So I want to take a minute to thank everyone who has been watching our show, and I want to thank you for your feedback. If you would like to appear on the show or know a person who should be considered for our next Good Neighbor of Medford, you can contact us at MedfordHappenings02155 at gmail.com. And you will be able to watch replays of this program on Method Community Media Access Channel. You can also check out our website, methodhappenings.com. You can now either view or listen to a podcast of this program. And you can find all of our shows on YouTube. Just go to youtube.com, search for Method Happenings. And you could please, we'd appreciate it if you'd like and subscribe to our channel and videos. And last but not least, you can also find us on Facebook at Method Happenings. For the Method Happenings team, Paul, Marco, Bruce and James, I'm John Petrella, and remember Method, stay informed. Ta-da!