Boston Found
Founded four centuries ago, Boston has simply never settled. Conversations here determine the future, so let’s discover what’s next! Join us as we seek out the real Boston, past and present, through stories and perspectives that capture a city always in motion. Hosted by Martha Sheridan, CEO of Meet Boston, this is the Boston Found podcast.
https://www.meetboston.com/podcast/
Boston Found
Tall Ships in America - Boston Invented that too
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Sail Boston is coming, learn about the Parade of Sail and the role of the USS Constitution as Boston's majestic maritime heritage will be on full display.
Welcome To Boston Found
Speaker 2Founded four centuries ago, Boston has simply never settled. Conversations here determine the future, so let's discover what's next. Join us as we seek out the real Boston, past and present, through stories and perspectives that capture a city always in motion. I'm Martha Sheridan, CEO of Meet Boston, and this is Boston Found. I'm your host, Martha Sheridan, and today we are thrilled to welcome the iconic Dusty Rhodes of Conventures and Jeff Draeger from the USS Constitution Museum. Welcome today. Thank you, Martha. Today we're going to talk all things tall ships and sail Boston because that's such an exciting event coming our way. And of course, for Jeff, it's going to have a big impact on your museum and in your area of
Meet Dusty Rhodes And Jeff Draeger
Speaker 2Charlestown. So before we get started and talking about the event itself, our listeners really do like to learn a little bit about our guests from your own perspective. So, Dusty, I'm going to start with you. You're well known in the city of Boston, and you you manage the most successful event management company in the region. Talk a little bit about your background, how you got started, when you started Conventures, and sort of what your journey has been since then.
Speaker 1Thank you. I'm thrilled to be here. Going way back, uh Pennsylvania girl got in my car and drove north to come to the interesting possibility of living in Boston and found it absolutely a fabulous town for so many reasons and was dirt poor and ended up actually working for for the New England Patriots for several years, which taught me a lot about teammanship and winning and losing and how winning is what matters and that kind of thing. Seeing the opportunity, uh, I did a large conference at Harvard and said, well, wait a minute, event planning was a very new industry. It didn't exist, actually. Mid-70s. And um said, I think event planning could be a uh a wonderful field to pursue. And uh with my hundred dollars, I started conventures.
Speaker 2Oh wow, and look at you now. Talk a little bit about Conventures now. What does it look like today?
Speaker 1Uh we're almost 50 years old. And again, I I adore this town. It is actually a a small town when it comes to producing events because you know where your resources are, you get to know the fire chief or the police chief and and the guys who are running the MCEC. And um, because it is such a doable, wonderful town, we've been successful uh 50 years.
Speaker 2That's fantastic. I like to call it one degree of separation here in Boston, right? Well said. Yes. Well said so, Jeff, you're new to the area. Would love to hear a little bit about your journey and how you arrived at your role where you are now.
SpeakerCertainly. Uh, and thank you, Martha. First for being a part of our leadership forum with Governor Baker earlier this year.
Speaker 2Fabulous. Thank you for having me.
SpeakerAnd for this opportunity, and thank you, Dusty. I mean, what you've arranged with Sale Boston, as Martha alluded to, is going to be so impactful for the USS Constitution Museum and mission. And I think about what the two of you have done for Boston over the years. It's just an honor to sit down with you. My wife and I both did dual Navy military careers. Uh we have 46 years of active duty service between us. Early in our journey, we were assigned at the former Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. And soon after, uh, we adopted New England as our forever home. That included our celebrating our 10th anniversary at Fenway Park. Great memories from that. Uh of course the Navy moved us elsewhere. Along the way, I commanded a Navy P3 squadron and then a Navy base that included another very historic Navy R down in Washington, D.C. And then when I hung up the uniform, uh I took an opportunity out in Seattle. I couldn't pass it up at an aerospace company called Blue Origin. And then during the pandemic, uh I pivoted, like a lot of people, to do something uh different. And uh I found my way to arts and culture in the nonprofit space and had a fantastic uh two and a half years at the Seattle Art Museum as a chief operating.
Speaker 2You were with my friend Tammy.
SpeakerYes. And then uh I was the interim CEO at the end, and uh that all lined up with us coming back to our adopted home here. So we moved back to New England about a year and a half ago, and soon after the uh the museum cocked out to me about this amazing opportunity. So I'm loving it. I'm with a great team, a wonderful community of support here. You saw it at the leadership forum. I did, I did. Charlestown's a wonderful place to live. And uh you living in Charlestown?
Speaker 2Yeah. Oh, great. Yeah, and Boston's gonna be busy there this summer. We'll get to that in a minute. Buckle up is well, all I can say between Tall Ships and World Cup. You're gonna be busy. All right, so
How Sail Boston Started
Speaker 2let's talk a little bit about tall ships. Dusty, you've organized several of these, obviously, by now. Talk to us about how you initially got involved with the tall ships organization and and and the creation of Sail Boston as our sort of entity, affiliated entity to that.
Speaker 1Thank you. Dave Davis, who was head of Massport in 1988, if you will, heard that the Quintus Intro, the 500th anniversary of Columbus coming to America, was underway, and the Italian Navy, particularly, was organizing a very large regatta, and Boston was selected, and Chief Davis said, I have no idea what to do about it. And so I quickly dug in and got to know the the story of tall ships and how rare uh it is, and basically formed the nonprofit Sale Boston and produced 92, uh, which was enormously successful and turned Boston on its head like wow, we just had five million people come through and the city just shone. It was so uh so wonderfully uh executed in that early year, and that's how the hotel ship endeavor started.
Speaker 2And how many have you worked on since then?
Speaker 1This will be the fifth coming up. Uh it only happens about every eight, eight or nine years. And the reason is is that you are coordinating foreign navies. So to get the Chilean government to to agree with the French government, to agree with the Argentinian Navy, at a shape, to all come to America on a certain day takes about six or seven years planning. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 2Has Boston always been a stop along on the tall ships?
Speaker 1Boston created in the United States, Boston created the the idea of a tall ship gathering. It had it had happened in 76 for the bicentennial.
Speaker 2Right, I remember that one.
Speaker 1And it it took no there was no energy thereafter because there was no convening force. So Boston became, quite frankly, the Western Hemisphere became the convening maestro, if you will. And because the ships were so well tended to in 92, we put a high water mark so that when Boston says the ships are welcome here, they start coming.
Speaker 2That's awesome. That's fantastic. Well, thank you for that, by the way. I think this year it's gonna be on steroids, and we'll get to that in a minute. So, Jeff, uh, you're obviously, as we talked about, situated in Charlestown, which first of all is gonna be a prime viewing area for uh the sale of Boston event, but it's also gonna be a very active area for World Cup happenings. We know the anchor is gonna be a home base, so to speak, for the Scotland fans coming into Boston. And I'm sure there'll be many other bars and restaurants in that area that'll be welcoming our soccer fans. So tell me a little bit about how you feel about your your now a home neighborhood and and what you expect this summer and how you how will that impact the museum? How are you going after those visitors to make sure that they all get to experience the museum?
SpeakerI'm just incredibly excited to be here. If you're gonna have your first summer in Boston and Charlestown, uh America 250, I love history and the American Revolution is my favorite uh sort of uh focus. Um Boston, the the aircraft that flew in the Navy, its mission was maritime patrol. So all things maritime are definitely uh in my focus. And then with World Cup. I'm a big sports fan. My wife is a huge soccer fan, played at the Naval Academy, and so we're all these things we're excited about. Charlestown is gonna be a great vantage point, as you mentioned, and I mean it's so steeped in history and then it's connected to everything that's going on. I would just reflect on this. Uh Sail Boston is gonna remind us that Boston Harbor is sort of the front door of this great maritime city, and it's a great way to showcase that in that way. And the other thing is I hope that it's people really turn out for the festival. But one of the things that we want to do and our job is to help them take meaning away from that. Uh help them see that Boston is a premier maritime city, that Charlestown is a place where that story is still alive, especially on the Navy Yard, and that USS Constitution is just really it's a living connection, you know, spanning four centuries. But it connects, you know, the the founding of our nation to the responsibilities that we have today of uh service, of citizenship, and all the great values that our Navy represents uh to this day, and obviously are doing right now overseas. So uh it's pretty exciting when you think about all that tied together.
Speaker 2Fantastic. Well, buckle up, right?
Sail 250 Route And Boston Finale
Speaker 2So, Dusty, a little bit more about this year's event. As part of Sail 250, Boston is the final stop. And um, we have an incredible list of ships coming our way. Just for our listeners who may not understand how this whole uh, I guess, route works, talk about the route, where they're going. I know they're stopping in five cities total. Do all ships go to all cities or do they not? And what does our event look like compared to some of the other stops that they're making on the route?
Speaker 1A good a good question. The semi-quincentennial is why why we moved Sail Boston into 26. Uh, because we knew that from a national point of view, it would be the 250th year and be quite significant. Also, because we had so many, we knew that we wanted a large fleet from South America to come. Uh, we engaged New Orleans, uh, and then Norfolk has always been a strong port, particularly for the Navy. Baltimore, not not quite as a large event there. And New York on the 4th of July will be what they call an International Naval Review, which will have a lot of Greyhole ships as well as some tall ships. Um, the big event for the tall ships is Boston. We are the high water market, will be the largest maritime, peaceful uh maritime festival in the country. And um, with over 60 ships coming, 20 cultures, uh, it will be truly a majestic uh scene on our harbor. I might add that part of the beauty of of Sail Boston is is the harbor is narrow, which is interesting, because that way people can stand on the shores in East Boston or Charlestown, North End, or Seaport and whatever, and you're within a couple hundred feet of the ships going by. So it w that's one feature that uh Boston can boast, but we take no credit for the the topography.
Speaker 2Yeah, well, let's jump ahead to that question and expand on that a little bit more because the parade of sale is obviously you know one of the premier events of the whole festival, even though getting on ships is a big part of it as well. And it's all free, by the way. But just talk about how people can experience the parade of sale from different vantage points uh along the harbor in Boston, in Charlestown and Southie and wherever they might be. East E.
Speaker 1East Boston's a great vantage point. Anywhere along the shoreline, uh, because again, the ships will begin basically up on Broad Sound, which is outside Castle Island. Castle Island will have 30,000 people on Castle Island. Um, but again, on both sides um of e of East Boston. Uh the seaport's got a lot of viewing area. Your point is so important. It's all free. Everything is free. So it's come on down, uh, bring your bring your chair if you want, and um be ready for a parade. But it'll go on for about five and a half hours.
Speaker 2Wow.
Speaker 1Um it will be it'll kick off at 900 on the 11th Saturday. Um, but it really sort of when the Constitution meets up with the lead flotilla, the uh Navy will have a flyover. Um there'll be fire boats exploding everywhere with with water sprays. And we're we're truly putting at that point where we're we're giving a great uh a great salute to the USS Constitution.
Speaker 2So is the Constitution gonna come out from Charlestown and meet the rest of the group and then turn around and come? Wow. And then one just watching the Constitution go by. We're gonna talk about that in a minute, but that's itself to begin with, right? Yeah, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1And the lead flotilla, interestingly enough, is uh is um the U.S. Coast Guard Bark Eagle, which of course is America's tall ship. Obviously, the USS Constitution is leading, but then we also have the um schooner S. C. Marrisi coming in the adventure, and they're all Boston, New England-based ships. That's wonderful. And by the way, in a later flotilla, the Mayflower.
Speaker 2Fantastic. I love that. That's so great.
USS Constitution Underway And Museum Mission
Speaker 2Jeff, on your website, you have uh something called Underway 2026. So can you explain what that is? Um I've never heard of it, but I'm curious.
SpeakerAbsolutely, Martha. That that is uh in coordination with the ship, and I'm uh work very closely with the commanding officer. Uh, we published the schedule for all the Constitution underways. And uh uh as you know, it's coming up on a crew only underway at the end of this month, uh May 28th, and then uh very exciting for Bunker Hill Day, July 4th, July 11th, leading the parade of sale, and several others. I haven't been able to join in underway yet. I missed the end of the last season when I joined the museum last fall. Uh I did come in early on March 28th when she went out to be a part of the USS Massachusetts commissioning and then pivoted to support the community event we were hosting. Uh, but there's a good chance I'll be uh aboard uh for the Bunker Hill event on June 17th, and uh and then likely for the parade of sale as well.
Speaker 2Well that's the place to be for the parade of sale right out front.
SpeakerIt is. You think about, and just adding to what Dusty said, the tall ships are this incredible spectacle. The scale, the majesty, the the complexity of these uh these uh ships, but USS Constitution really anchors it all. So they make it unique from any other thing.
Speaker 2You've mentioned, you know, your passion for maritime history, for history, and obviously marry to the maritime career that you've had. So let's just talk a little bit more about that. And how do you spark interest in maritime history? How do you, you know, it's a new generation coming up, and how do we get people to understand a little bit more? What is it in your role that you're trying to do to um to maybe shift that dynamic and maybe change the way we tell the story?
SpeakerAs many people know, the museum has these incredible strengths in terms of its interactive, hands-on exhibits for uh for youth, um, has great K through 12 programs, incredible community engagement opportunities, the leadership forum. Uh, but we're doing some new things. We're taking a new approach to how we do exhibits to broaden their appeal. There's an early example that maybe I'll talk about a little bit later that we installed just a couple weeks ago. But it's also about, I think, reframing things to your point. I believe in the power of precedence and seeing that's what what's old is new again. Whether we're talking about the shipbuilding history in Boston and the importance of that in America Day, whether we're talking about the importance of commerce, you can't watch the evening news without thinking about the importance of commerce right now.
Speaker 2Or you talk about the maritime commerce, right now.
SpeakerAbsolutely. And then think about just innovation. In a city that's known for innovation, it's very much a big part of Boston's history. And the last thing I'll say is that influencer is a common term, you know, a trendy thing to talk about today. The ship still exists because of a great influencer in Oliver Wendell Holmes with the poem Old Ironsides. It became an influencer itself when it went from fighting battles and winning them to being doing the around the world cruise, 1844 to 46, opening up countries to access for our country. And it's an influencer today. It represents the best of America, American values, uh, naval service, and all the things that I think really help our country cohere.
Speaker 2Great way to put it in modern terms, that's for sure. So I'm gonna stick with you for one more minute because we have been talking a lot about the old iron sides. And we had um Billy Farrell on, the former commander. She was amazing uh last year. And I just I'm curious about the relationship formal or otherwise between the ship and the museum. Because I, you know, you're obviously located next to each other, and you're featuring obviously the history of the ship, but the ship operates separately from the museum.
SpeakerThat's right. And I I appreciate you clarifying that. Uh we have an incredible strategic partnership, is how I refer to it. Uh, I work very closely with the current commanding officer. Uh many people know the 78th CEO, Crystal Schaefer. I'll note it's Captain Select, Crystal Schaefer. She recently was selected to promote to a captain. We'll pin that on later this year. That's great. It's really great news. Uh we we connect often and collaborate on things. Uh, it's a mutual supporter relationship. When they have events going on, there's often something the museum can add to that with what we have, our collection, and things like that. And we we have a special event. The idea of incorporating some sort of time aboard constitution adds to it. Uh we do things like Vault to Vessel where people explore the archives, explore the museum, and then go over on the ship and put it in context. Uh and we also do training for the crew in the off-season. About a half a dozen training sessions where the crew comes over and our team helps train them on the history of the ship, but also how to engage people and do that storytelling.
Speaker 2So the crew lives right there, right?
SpeakerThey're right there on the campus. Yeah. I see a lot of them coming from the gym every morning when I'm coming to the museum. Yeah.
Speaker 2What a wonderful place that must be to go to work every day.
What The Festival Brings Boston
Speaker 2All right, we'll talk a little bit now about impact. Dusty, as you know, I'm very much engaged with Sale Boston, and I'm familiar with the incredible impact. Obviously, economic impact is one piece of what we expect to happen this summer, but there's so much more to it. You know, it's the exposure that our destination gets. Can you talk a little bit more about, you know, what do you think the impact of this event will be moving forward?
Speaker 1We welcome the world and the cultures that come. So when the Colombian ship comes into port and those sailors are up in those yards singing the national anthem for their country, um, when you have 20 different cultures, and again, uh the Argentinian ship, there's a lot of Argentinians live here. So what we're doing is we're drawing these constituencies, these loyalties, if you will, uh to the shoreline. So the Mexican community, the Latino community, we're bringing them downtown to to celebrate their their their pride. And of course, with that, restaurants, hotels, retail opportunities. So the economic impact is north of 150 million. Uh and that's why we get such wonderful support from the state and the city, and and most importantly, meet Boston, uh, because it truly is a generator of economic impact. And we're able to monetize that and demonstrate that. And that's why when we work with the 67 different public agencies for public safety, we're all singing from the same song sheet because it's good for Massachusetts.
Speaker 2Well, let's expand a little bit on the involvement of all of the different businesses. This event is much much more than the parade of sale. It's a multi-day event. We want to convince our listeners, families out there from across the region, they want to come in and spend spend a few nights here, right? Tell us why they should do that.
Speaker 1Absolutely, because it's you're right. The parade of sale is Saturday, but those ships are open for five days, ten to ten. Now, not every ship is open from ten to ten, but that's the window. And it's spread all over the downtown Boston area. We absolutely want them to come for the multi-day experience. And speaking uh with Jeff here, it's interesting, is is the families will come down and visit three, four, or five ships. They'll come back the next day and they go to the Navy ships because that's a totally different experience. The gray hulls as the gray hulls. Exactly. And they'll say, My grandfather served on a on a destroyer. I want to see what it's like and to go below deck on the gray hulls. So that's a whole different experience. And then you have the festival, which is, you know, the beer garden and outdoor food and lobster sandwiches and ferris wheels and cultural activities. And uh oh, and of course the parade on Monday is with a thousand crew of cadets coming up a seaport boulevard, playing their their musical instruments and giving it a big hoot because these crews are celebrating each other too. So I mean, when they're out at sea for six months, they don't get to to interact. Now, here we have crews and uh sailors from all over the world totally integrating. And then that, of course, then brings more people who want to meet these sailors. And, you know, it it's it's pretty festive. Yeah, all the young ladies and all the young men.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's um well I I I love the sort of the visual of the parade itself, to be honest with you, and the fact that the crew members are young and and they've most likely never been to the US before, many of them, let alone to Boston. So I think for the city, we have an incredible opportunity to welcome them and show them come back, come back, bring your families over.
Speaker 1And and and we give them a crew pin. Um so obviously most are in uniform anyway. Um, but when they go into the restaurant and they get a a a free soda or a free cup of chowder, so the restaurants open their doors. As well as the hotels, yes, uh, who are hosting the captains and the XOs of these foreign navies. So you're integrating the hotel situation, the restaurant situation, the retail situation. So and and that's that kind of wonderful celebration and welcoming is what Boston's known for.
Speaker 2Speaking of the hotels, I love the concept that we've initiated this year. It's been done before, but I think it's gonna be even more successful where different hotels adopt different ships. So you'll get to travel to the colonnade to experience the Italian culture and Bermudian culture and maybe uh dark and stormy at the Hilton Park Plaza. So I'm excited about that. We gotta create a little hotel trail for people. So, how
Museum Plans And Summer Favorites
Speaker 2do you plan to maximize attendance and what will you do differently at the museum during this event that can ensure that you can handle the increased volume?
SpeakerAbsolutely, Martha. We're definitely looking to make the most of this. We've been working on that for a while. You know, expanding the museum's profile in a number of ways, increasing visibility. Thanks for this opportunity again, by the way. One of the things the museum started doing uh in recent years is having a special edition mini golf course right out in front of the museum. We're doing a a really uh improved version this year called Revolution on the Harbor. Oh, wow. It's gonna be installed next week. Uh, we've got a ribbon cutting and a ceremonial first punt planned for as Constitution comes back in from the underway. That's fantastic. Uh the CO is gonna walk off and join us along with some civic leaders like uh rep Danny Ryan. Uh and then we'll bring him into the museum to have a tenth hole after that. I mentioned uh new approach to exhibits. We've installed some new things. One is called Art of the Ship. They're all paintings of our favorite subject, but their artistic interpretations vary on Constitution. The other one that I'm personally very excited about is exploring old ironsides in partnership with the Auki Foundation. Massive photographs, some of them are three by five feet, printed on metal, luminous, reflective, a lot of depth. And you see images of the ship that you can't even see on a tour of the ship. You can see what that copper magazine looks like. Uh, and then uh going back to my Naval Academy days and uh being a little playing a little bit of football there, I was able to acquire one of the Army Navy uniforms from last year, which was a salute to the Navy's 250th birthday. The copper colored helmet with constitution painted on the side. That will also be installed by the end of next week. And so there's just a lot of things we're doing to just add excitement and have different things for different people to take advantage of it.
Speaker 2Wow, can't wait. Gosh, I don't know how we're gonna fit all this in. So we're gonna wrap up with my favorite question. Well, one of them. Being a tourism organization, we always like to pick people's brains, tell us what you like to do. And this will be an interesting sort of yin and yang because Dusty, you've been in Boston for over 50 years, and Jeff, you're new. So as the veteran Bostonian, Bostonian Dusty, tell us a little bit about where you like to go when you're not managing events, which is not very often the case.
Speaker 1But I I have to say it's the harbor. It is absolutely magnificent from from any vantage point. And to walk along the the waterway um and and literally be right right in front of you, take a seat on a bench and just look at the commerce. I mean, my office is all all day long. It's tugboats and police boats and freighters and cruise ships, fishing boats, and fishing boats, and it's like a ballet watching all of this this activity, and that is the heart of Boston is the commerce, the water, the harbor is we're all drawn to it. And that's my my favorite place to be and the fireworks that will be over the harbor. We forgot to mention that Saturday, July 11th, and Wednesday the 15th. Be sure to come down.
Speaker 2That's fantastic. All right, Jeff, you're the the new kid on the block. Tell us what what you've experienced so far.
SpeakerWell, you're right, just beginning to explore. There's so much to see and do in Boston. Uh, obviously, I've spent a lot of time in Charlestown in my short time. Love to get over to the North End. Being on uh Dorchester Heights and uh South End for evacuation day was a very special experience. And I've gotten a couple different uh tours and meetings at the State House, which is is truly a special having toured other state houses. It's a great building. It's wonderful. There's two things I would sort of uh highlight, uh Martha. One, uh I live pretty close to Bunker Hill. Uh we rescue labs, and I love to take our lab there first thing in the morning. There's other dog lovers there. As you're walking over the hill, you're always reminded about the history, about how Boston threw the first punch in the revolution, as Rev Danny Ryan pointed out to me in a meeting. The other thing is uh whether it's my wife and I going out to dinner at one of our favorite places in Charlestorm, or when she's on the road, she now flies uh uh for Delta. Uh, I'm out there by myself sometimes, and I always meet wonderful people. Let's just say I'm at Brewers Fork one evening and I find myself sitting next to, we'll call them Sal and Kathy. And next thing you know, they're telling me about where they've lived as they raised their two daughters. One is now a doctor, the other one works in the North End. Uh, they tell me about how they moved to Charlestown after their daughters grew up so they could be a part of everything that's here. And then they tell them how how much they love to see Constitution get our one underway on July 4th each year.
Speaker 2Beautiful.
SpeakerLearning from pick people like that is really helping me uh appreciate how lucky we are to be a part of this uh this city. And so I'm excited about more of that learning and uh meeting new people in that way.
Speaker 2As an empty nester who moved here eight almost eight years ago with my husband, um, we have the same experience. We love to go to our local restaurants and hang out and meet people and pick their brains as well. So, and believe me, we have so much left to do in this city, even though we've been here for a bit. So um
Where To Get Info
Speaker 2tell us how people can learn about Sail Boston.
Speaker 1Go to the website, tailboston.com. Come down several days in a row. You you can't do it all in one day. Reminder that everyone, it's free. And um just come and enjoy the pageantry of all these wonderful countries visiting Boston.
Speaker 2Fantastic. And Jeff, the museum?
SpeakerYeah, come on out to the museum. Uh as of June 1st, we'll be open nine to six, and you can visit uh USSCM.org to see all the events and everything else that's going on. Uh, we've got a lot lined up for the summer, and uh and then we'll be lining up the fall schedule of leadership forums and and all those things too before long.
Speaker 2That's terrific. Well, Jeff and Dusty, thank you so much. We cannot wait for this summer, and we've appreciate your being with us today on Boston Found. Looking to find more Boston stories, go to meetboston.com and don't forget to share and subscribe to the Boston Found podcast.