Anything BUT Politics
A groundbreaking new podcast, Anything BUT Politics, is redefining how we view political figures by focusing on everything about them—except their political careers.
Anything BUT Politics
From Harley Wrenches To House Gavel: Sherm Packard’s Journey
What does it take to hold together a 400-member citizen legislature through a pandemic, a razor-thin majority, and a polarized moment—and still pass a budget on a voice vote? We invite Speaker Sherm Packard to open up about the practical craft of leadership and the human stories that shape it. He traces his New Hampshire roots, a family steeped in public service, and the lesson that steers his approach to every negotiation: you can disagree without being disagreeable.
The conversation travels from a frigid, “drive-in” legislative session at UNH while news of January 6 broke, to the behind-the-scenes cooperation that turned a two-vote margin into a bipartisan budget. Along the way, Packard spotlights the unique strengths of New Hampshire’s citizen legislature—$100-a-year service, tight-knit districts, and constituents you meet in the grocery aisle—and the real challenges of recruiting and retaining younger members. His perspective is grounded, candid, and rich with experience drawn from speaking with legislative leaders nationwide about process, not politics.
Then we downshift into another passion with public impact: motorcycles. Packard recounts building New Hampshire’s motorcycle education program and helping to unwind federal penalties tied to helmet mandates, saving lives through training, awareness, and better roads. He shares the lore of Sturgis and Laconia, the softer turn toward family-friendly rallies, and the long-running Toy Run that transforms horsepower into holiday giving. Woven throughout is a love of history—Civil War battlefields, presidential biographies—and how that lens informs modern choices on safety, infrastructure, and community.
If you care about how government actually works, how culture builds trust, and how unlikely coalitions get big things done, this story is for you. Listen, share with a friend who loves New Hampshire or motorcycles, and leave a review with your favorite moment—we read every one.
Anything But Politics is a groundbreaking new podcast that is redefining how we view political figures by focusing on everything about them—except their political careers. Co-hosted by former journalist and media expert Tiffany Eddy and seasoned lobbyist and ex-politico Tom Prasol, this video podcast dives into the personal lives, passions, and pivotal experiences of notable figures, offering a refreshing and intimate look at who they are beyond the public eye.
Hi everyone, I'm Tiffany Eddy.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm Tom Frasall.
SPEAKER_02:And we are so pleased to welcome you to another episode of Anything but Politics. Well, where we talk about anything but politics.
SPEAKER_00:Of course. I thought that was a given, given the name. But um today we're really excited uh to have a guest. Um today's guest has I think he's in his 18th term in the legislature. You know, he has quite the resume of titles he's held from minority leader to deputy speaker to speaker pro tem. And also I think he's our first Hall of Famer that we're having on the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:It's a big deal.
SPEAKER_00:It is. But without further ado, we'll introduce Speaker Sherm Packard. Good afternoon.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thank you so much for coming on.
SPEAKER_00:It's my pleasure. We'll uh let's have some fun. Yeah, absolutely. And I think we'll start with, you know, you're a New Hampshire lifer, right? You were born and raised here.
SPEAKER_03:I was born and raised in Manchester. And uh I moved to uh Londonderry uh back in 1973. And I'm still in the same house as I moved to in 73.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my goodness, that's amazing. So you must like the house.
SPEAKER_03:I like the area.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and probably the mortgage. What's what's that? Exactly, exactly. Um so no, so you've been a New Hampshire lifer, but I think it's really interesting, and this is something I just learned out learned about you, but so your name, Sherman Adams Packard.
SPEAKER_03:I I was named after uh former Governor Adams, Sherman Adams. Uh I don't know the whole story, but I know my uh father was working on his uh I think inaugural or something like that. And uh I happened to come along and uh that's how I got my name.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I was actually just learning and reading about uh Governor Adams because I didn't really know much of his history, but maybe you can share some of it because it's really fascinating. Um, you know, his storied, you know, career from I think he was a congressman, governor, chief of staff. Chief of staff, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:No, he had he had he had quite the career. In fact, I uh I haven't got to it yet. I mean, but I I've got a whole book on him, you know, and in and in his life, and uh that's one of the next ones I'm gonna be reading.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's great. I so he was the chief of staff for Eisenhower. Eisenhower. I think if what I read is accurate, which it was on the internet, so I don't know if it is or not, but did you go to Wikipedia? Yeah, I may or may not have visited Wikipedia today. Uh but so the he's the first person to hold the title of chief of staff um while in that position because Eisenhower brought that title from his military career.
SPEAKER_03:You know more than I do at this point. I didn't I did not know that. Well, we don't know if it's true, but we're gonna say it is right now. Once I read the book, I'll let you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Heard it here first, right here for the international audience. Now, uh you've been in politics for a long time, but but also sounds like you come from uh a a political family. So can you tell us a little bit about your what inspired you to get in politics and and your family background?
SPEAKER_03:Well, my family background is my father was in the Senate uh from 52 to 60, and he was Senate president in 59 and 60. And uh in uh 60 he decided he was gonna run for Congress in the first district. And the current congressman at that time was Chester Merrill from up in Ossipe. And he'd been in there, I think, 10 terms, like 20 years.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:And um uh my father lost in the primary, you know, kind of hard to see the 20-year on, you know, 20-term congressman. And um so that was um uh he lost that. And then the following uh uh year, following year, when uh Justin Morrow decided not to run, uh everybody said run, you'll guarantee to win, and he decided not to. And that's when he and a other handful of people got together. And um, after what I was told was a long night of uh asking him and begging him and probably prodding him, uh they got Louis Wyman to run instead. I don't know if you must remember Louis Wyman. He was a congressman for I think it was 10, 12 years and ran in the tightest, closest Senate race in the history of the country.
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00:So what did your dad do when he decided not to be able to do that?
SPEAKER_03:Well, he he went he went to work for for uh for Louis. Okay. He we still had a so he still had a business in Manchester uh that he had been started in uh 1942, uh doing automotive interiors and seat covers and all that stuff. So uh but he went to work for Louis down in Washington for about a year and a half, and um he just hated Washington. So it's a common theme. Came back up here and uh ran Louis's office up here in New Hampshire.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's amazing. And what sort of lessons do you think you learned from your dad that kind of inspired you to get into politics?
SPEAKER_03:Uh good ones and bad ones.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, you can share both if you want.
SPEAKER_03:Uh well, I mean, you know, it's it uh politics back then was uh I I gotta say, probably a lot more civil than it is today, unfortunately, that uh, you know, we've we've uh uh devolved into what what has become sometimes very nasty politics. And I mean if you read a lot of history, which you know that's what I love to read, history about presidents and everything else, I mean uh there has been some pretty nasty elections. I mean, even going back to the 1800s. Uh, you know, look at um, you know, some of the ones that happened, and I mean, you know, they were they were pretty bad. They got they're really pretty nasty. Of course, we didn't have mass media and everything back then, so you know, it didn't get out like it gets out today. I mean, uh, you were out in some small town out in the middle of uh, you know, Pennsylvania or something, you know, you might get a paper once every two or three weeks. So uh, you know, a lot of this stuff just didn't get out. But uh it was uh, you know, there have been some pretty nasty stuff going on through the years, but uh it it's it's it's gotten worse is from what I can see.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And having been um in politics now for 18 years, is that correct?
SPEAKER_03:Eighteen terms. Eighteen terms. Oh my god. It's like almost thirty-six. This yeah, next year on my 36th year in the legislature.
SPEAKER_02:So, first of all, you should probably be writing a book yourself, right? From all the experience.
SPEAKER_03:Well, a lot of a lot of people have said that I gotta write a book, especially over the last uh three terms. I mean, uh my first term was COVID. Yep. And um, if you remember, um you know, Dick Hinch was elected speaker and he died seven days later, you know. And uh when we decided to um have the uh drive-in over to uh UNH, uh which has never been done before and will never be done again, uh we had that uh drive-in and um it worked. It was very interesting, but it worked. And if you saw a picture of me, uh everybody was in their cars, the cars were running, they were nice and hot, and they were, you know, uh, you know, drinking their hot coffee and everything else.
SPEAKER_00:They know where this is going.
SPEAKER_03:And uh Paul, Paul, uh Paul Smith, you know, the clerk and his staff and I, we were up in stage. Well, it wasn't too bad until about maybe three o'clock in the afternoon, somewhere in that vicinity, and started getting cold.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But I was I I had on for like five layers, I had on one of those uh real nice uh you know, hot hats with the flaps coming down and everything else. Yeah. And I mean it i i it was starting to get cold, but the the most amazing thing that happened that day, which I think it was about three o'clock in the afternoon, Paul Smith comes up and whispers in my ear, Capitol's under attack. Yeah. It was January 6th.
SPEAKER_01:Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_03:That I that I got I got elected through the uh speakership. And of course we didn't, you know, we didn't know if it was, you know, any details. All we knew was that, you know, the the Capitol was under attack, and we didn't know if it was gonna transcend to the state house. Uh we didn't know if other states were gonna, you know, we really had no idea. So we wrapped up as quickly as we could and um, you know, and then it was there. But uh uh I go to uh every year there's a National Speakers Conference and uh um I I've told that story a number of times, and uh of course there isn't a the the closest that we have to any state as far as numbers go is Pennsylvania and they're at 203. Yeah and we're at 400. Yep. And they look at me like, are you crazy? You know, 400, 400 people you have 400 people? And if it's a news speaker, a lot of times they don't know, and yeah, they just say that I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that. You're crazy, you know. So um it it's it's been it's it's been a real interesting run. And then of course, you know, we had uh prior to that, you know, we were still in COVID, and uh, and that's why we had to have a session in the parking lot, yeah. But uh, you know, that was uh and thanks to uh Aaron and the staff. Uh, you know, we were out in Bedford first at the sports complex because we had to rent that. We had to bring in our own chairs, we had to bring in our own food, we had to bring in our own communications, you know, because they didn't have enough uh you know communications to uh to work out there. And that was the first year, and then the second year of COVID, we had we were in Manchester because they had things scheduled out at Bedford, so we were at the uh well, the old center in Hampshire, I keep calling it that, but it's a double tree now. So we were there and we had to do the same thing, you know, basically. They had chairs, but we had to still buy the food, we had to, you know, still park the cars, we still had to bring in, you know, the electronic equipment, uh, you know, for everything. So um, you know, the the uh the staff did a tremendous job, you know, setting all that up.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, when you're talking when you're talking about 400 people, there's only so many places in the state that you can go that can fit that many people. And make sure they're six feet apart. That's right. I mean that's a good point.
SPEAKER_02:It's an incredible testament to to I mean your leadership and also your staff to be able to logistically pull something off, but also keep our state government going and and keep us, you know, operating with the transparency that I think the public is is wanting and expecting and deserves.
SPEAKER_03:And then the following session, I had a roughly a two-vote margin, which means we were basically even. Yeah. Because on any given day, uh session day, uh, you know, we were in the minority.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You know, depending on who showed up and who didn't show up, or who left at three o'clock, and you know. So but we still uh we still got a budget passed. Um I think that's you know one of the uh crowning achievements uh in my career is what we were able to do um that uh session. Uh I I just remember I sat down with the um uh you know the minority leader, you know Matt Wilhelm, and and basically neither one of us had the votes past budget. So we had to sit down and work together. And we did. And we passed the budget to the Senate on a voice vote.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:Which was I don't know if that's ever happened. Yeah. And then when we we kept working with the Senate, and um, you know, when they sent us back the the uh the uh budget bill, um we concurred with it. And I think the vote was well three hundred and twenty-five or three hundred and thirty to fifty-five, something like that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So I mean, I I mean it just goes to show you can disagree with people, but you don't have to be disagreeable, you don't have to cause problems. We were able to put a budget together. Uh and of course there's never been a budget that everybody's been completely happy with. And there was things in there that uh we didn't like, there was things in there that the uh, you know, man, the Democrats didn't like, but we realized it was the right thing to do. So we got a budget passed.
SPEAKER_00:And well, and that's the thing, and I think that's really important what you just mentioned, which is, you know, you don't have to agree, but you don't have to be disagreeable. Um and I think that's something that's kind of we're losing a little bit as a a country and a society. And so part of the idea of the podcast was to let people know who these people are so they can, you know, find common ground and really develop relationships. And, you know, having been in the House for, you know, uh going in your 18th term, I'm sure you've developed a ton of relationships over the years. I mean, so I think did you start on transportation? Yes, I did. Yeah. I've always I said this when we had Representative Tolersky on that the transportation committee just breeds leaders. I mean, she's a deputy democratic leader, you know, you're the speaker. Steve Smith, the former chair, is the uh deputy speaker. So um, but tell us a little bit about some of the relationships that you've developed and over the years, uh either both sides of the aisle.
SPEAKER_03:Well, when I first uh you know first got up here, uh, you know, I mean, I was uh my you know, I had a business, uh, automotive upholstery business, you know, and um so I mean I was in the automotive industry per se. So I got on transportation and um it uh back then it was uh I mean if we went to lunch, it usually was three or four Democrats and three or four Republicans, and uh we we got along great. Occasionally we had something that we disagreed on. But overall, I mean we were, you know, I had some I made some very, very good friends. And I mean, but prior to that, I had been um I had been working on different motorcycle issues, and I knew most of the people on the transportation committee at that time, anyways, because a lot of those issues is what we had dealt with. And uh, but uh, you know, it was really good. And then after was it the Yeah, and when Donna Saitek took over, Harold Burns was there for for three terms as speaker, and when Donna took over, uh she made me chairman. So I was chairman for ten years, and then I was chairman again under Bill O'Brien for those two years. So I was chairman for six terms altogether.
SPEAKER_02:And it seems like as you were mentioning, you've been in the House for such a long period of time. Do you think that there's still the ability for people from both parties to kind of sit down and have lunch and you know, good conversation, or does it seem like that's become No, it's it's still possible. It's still possible.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I it it's still very possible. I mean, you you just you've got to be realistic that you can uh disagree on a subject matter, but that doesn't mean you you know you can't sit down and uh you know have lunch with somebody or go out and have a drink after session or something like that. There's there's nothing that prevents that from happening, and I still got a lot of good friends that are Democrats.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Uh we don't agree on some things, but I mean, I mean I I've got a lot of good friends that are Democrats that I've known for years. So I mean and it's still possible. And I and um, you know, we've I've always tried to encourage, you know, members to, you know, get to know somebody from the other side of the aisle. You might be surprised. You might not agree with them a lot, but you might be surprised that, you know, they're just an another person that believes in, you know, what they believe in. Yeah, I think that's really important.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and that's what's so wonderful about getting to know people is you know, you have many talents, and maybe someone doesn't agree with you necessarily, but they might be interested to hear a little bit about one of your passions that I'm hoping that we can talk about, but uh motorcycles. So what when did you first have a love for motorcycles? And um let's talk a little bit about some of your activities on behalf of uh the rights of motorcyclists.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I started riding, I think it was 1968, and that's when I had got my first bike. Uh it was a 1954 Harley Panhead. Okay. And it was what we used to call a basket case where it was all in pieces.
SPEAKER_02:What's that mean?
SPEAKER_03:Well, it was completely apart.
SPEAKER_02:So you had to put it together yourself? Oh wow.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, it was completely apart. And uh I think I paid$175 for it back then.
SPEAKER_02:I'm like, a Harley?
SPEAKER_03:And I I'm saying, boy, did that guy get me, you know? It's probably worth$5,000 in today's money. But yeah, I mean, uh, you know, back then I I I bought it. It was what we call a basket case, and I had to buy a few parts and but put it together. And then uh in 1974, there was a piece of legislation that uh was in the Senate. I think it had to do with a mandatory lights on bill. And of course, my father still knew many, many people in the Senate at that point, and uh made a few phone calls for me and we killed the bill. And uh at that point we were um there was a movement starting in the country uh against the uh mandatory helmet law. And uh a lot of states had started forming organizations. Uh and uh so I started the one here in New Hampshire, New Hampshire Motorcycles Rights Organization. And the first thing we did in 75, when I started it, is we went to Washington, because one of the things that was forcing states to pass helmet laws, mandatory helmet laws, uh was the um federal government was blackmailing the states that if you didn't uh have a mandatory helmet law and a mandatory seatbelt law, of course they and they enforced the helmet law part, but they didn't enforce the seatbelt part, is you lost, I think if it was, I remember correctly, three or four percent of your highway funds. Wow. You know, they just took them away. So we went to Washington as uh a group of um motorcyclists. Not any of us really knew what the heck we were doing. I mean, you know, and I mean I had a little bit of background in politics, you know, but uh basically none of us were ready for what we ran into, but we got the law changed.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And in 1976, President Ford signed the uh the highway bill, and uh that was part of it. So we were able to repeal that. And then I just kept working in the state uh on um well one of the biggest things was but you know, I I came into the state uh state house in 91. In 89, I was able to get uh a bill passed that set up the motorcycle education program in 1989. And um, you know, it was a state-run program, and it was self-funded, you know, through uh money from registrations. If you had if you were a motorcycle licensed or you registered your motorcycle, uh there was I think it was five dollars on the license and a dollar each year on the registrations, if I remember. So the program became self-funded with a little bit of uh money each person had to put in. But over the past uh, what is it, 30 years now, 35 years, um we've I can honestly say we've probably saved hundreds and hundreds of lives and prevented not only saving lives, but we've probably prevented thousands of accidents from happening because people were taught how to ride properly and what to do and what not to do. And it's still a very successful program. Very successful. Every in fact, uh talking to the motor vehicles, uh, this year they had a record number of people that came through the program.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's impressive.
SPEAKER_00:It is impressive. I mean, that type of education and including, you know, driver education, where they teach you how to, you know, drive behind uh or in front of a motorcycle. I think those are incredible things. I always operate under I don't have a motorcycle, I don't ride a motorcycle, but I always respect them and you know give them a wide berth, you know, because if I were in their situation, I wouldn't want me creeping up on them.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you'd look good on one.
SPEAKER_03:There's two there's two things in the uh driver education, you know, for for for cars, you know, driver education program. One of them is a 45-minute uh thing on on uh motorcycle awareness and a 45-minute thing on tractor trailer awareness. And Bob Laterno and I got that bill passed.
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_03:You know, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02:Well, no, I want to ask a personal question because this is it's incredible, and it already just the legacy and and the lives that you've helped save because of the legislation. But I want to go back to a little bit more of you as a person. So you bought that motorcycle that Harley back in 1975?
SPEAKER_03:No, no, uh 68.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, 68. Sorry. So 1968, and it was a basket case. Yep. So do you still have it, or what was your next bike, and do you still ride? And why do you love riding? And do you wear leather? And um, I just I want to learn more about you as a motorcyclist.
SPEAKER_03:I don't have that one.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:I do have a uh 1967 that I bought. It'll be 49 years this year.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:And uh I still have that one, but I also have a uh 21 Heritage Soft Tail that I bought brand new. Um I don't ride as much as I used to, but I mean I still I still love it, you know, I still enjoy it. Uh obviously I am I'm not in the same physical shape I was 50 years ago. You know. Well, who is so uh so you know I I I can't do what I used to do, but I I still love it. I still I still believe 100% in, you know, um motorcyclist rights.
SPEAKER_02:And I think the the very kind Aaron Goulette was uh nice enough to send us some historical articles of of you and your wife um from I think I saw one that was 1976, but uh your wife is kind of part of the motorcycle's rights too, is that correct?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, she she worked alongside of me. Um she used to love to ride with me. And um she's passed away. She passed away seven years ago. And uh yeah, but we we used to ride all the time. Every summer we'd take off for about two weeks on the bike and you know, just go wherever. Yeah. And so yeah, she used to we used to love to just get out there and go. Is more i is that how you met through No, no, no. I we met in high school.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Now, so you mentioned they used to get on the bike and just travel for, you know, two weeks at a time. Um, whereabouts? Because I know you are very well traveled.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I mean, I mean, all over the Northeast. Uh, you know, a couple of times we went up in uh up into uh Canada or Nova Scotia, Prince Elbert Island, you know, just every year we went someplace different.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. But you both traveled together outside of just on the bikes, too, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I've done a I've done a tremendous amount of traveling. Uh, you know, I uh I spent uh a number of years going around the country uh actually testifying in different legislative bodies and uh and putting on seminars on on how you should act and how you should work to you know get things done in your state. And so yeah, I I I I've been to 49 states. I got one to go.
SPEAKER_01:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_03:Which one? Hawaii. Got any plans?
SPEAKER_00:Uh maybe. You can't ride your bike there. No, no, no, no, no. Well, you should go. I've been to Hawaii, it's beautiful. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I haven't been. I'll if you want someone to to join you, I'm I'll go too. Yeah, oh yeah. You know, we could just take anything but politics on the road, so that would be a lot of fun. And but you have been to um, I believe, your Hall of Famer, as Tom alluded to in the beginning. And uh how did you want to tell us a little bit about where that is and how that came to pass? Because that's a big deal.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it was back in 2003. Um, some a lot of well, I I made a tremendous amount of friends across the country, you know, in the movement. And um uh some person that used to live in New Hampshire and had moved to I think it was Kansas or Nebraska, and uh she got a not you gotta be nominated by somebody that's in the Hall of Fame. And she nominated me back in 2003, and um so I was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame back in 2003.
SPEAKER_00:So can you tell us a little bit about Sturgis and what it is?
SPEAKER_03:Well, it's probably the largest motorcycle gathering in the country right now. When does it take place? Uh South Dakota. Okay, like in the summer? August. Okay. Usually August, first and second week of August. And um I don't I don't know if you've ever been to South Dakota. No, never. Uh there's some beautiful roads out there. I mean, just you know, I mean, they got the Black Hills and uh, you know, some beautiful riding roads out there, of course. Uh the state's quite quite a bit bigger land wise than New Hampshire is. But I think they only got like six, seven hundred thousand people, you know, so it's a lot less than we do here. But it's um they'll easily Sturgis itself is a town of about I think six thousand people. Uh when they uh when they have the motorcycle rally out there, there'd be five hundred thousand people in South Dakota. Wow, five hundred thousand?
SPEAKER_00:Five hundred thousand, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Wow, so they've almost doubled the state's population. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Do they have the infrastructure or do is it like camping? A lot of camping. Okay. I was gonna say, I mean, I don't know how these are. Yeah, there's a lot of camping.
SPEAKER_03:You can't find a motel room if um unless you've got one booked, you know, that's for sure. So uh, but uh it's it's uh it's just uh they literally shut down the the the the uh town of Sturgis, uh and uh I think their main street is maybe about a mile long or something like that. It's just everything is motorcycle for that, you know, for that whole time down there for the for a full week. Well, we have a great motorcycle, you know, rally that takes place here, which is the oldest one in the country. And um we just had our hundredth anniversary. Was it last year or the year before? I can't remember. But yeah, I mean we we don't get the crowds that they do in Sturgis, but we still have uh I think we still get a 200,000, 250,000 people show up here in New Hampshire. You know, it's huge. The three big ones are Sturgis, Daytona Beach, and Laconia. That's those are the three big ones. You've got a lot of smaller ones around the country, but those are the the top three.
SPEAKER_02:Kind of the legends of them.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's changed over the years though, too. I think like uh I remember back in the day when I used to cover it uh being a reporter at Channel Nine, it felt like there were more people that were coming in at that point. And uh I I don't I used to ride a motorcycle a little bit on the back.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. With Danny, the camera guy here. But um yeah, and it was fun. And uh yeah, but remember going up there and and thinking like, wow, there's so many people. And and I don't know if it's because I'm not in the news as much anymore, maybe I'm not paying as much close attention, and you know, kids come and the motorcycle kind of goes, vanishes, and goes away. But it doesn't seem like it's it's the same um as it used to be, but is that just maybe my my misperception?
SPEAKER_03:It's it's a lot calmer.
SPEAKER_02:Calmer. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Calmer than than it used to be. I mean, there's more um more families type stuff going on, you know. I mean I haven't I haven't actually been up to Laconia in a number of years, but and I know Charlie St.
SPEAKER_02:Clair does a great job, you know, keeping it going and and kudos to him. And um so it is it is a lot of fun. We used to always joke because it used to always rain um when bike week would come. And we weren't allowed to call it bike week. It's supposed to be motorcycle week, but everyone would say bike week, and it would always feel like it rained.
SPEAKER_03:The past few years we've been pretty lucky. But too many times. Yeah. I've been up there many times when it's it's weather isn't too too nice for riding a motorcycle. Yeah. But uh yeah, it it of course it used to be just the weekend, you know, years ago. It used to be just the weekend, and now it's uh full week, you know, and yeah, and Charlie and Charlie and I are good friends. I've known Charlie for 50 years almost. And uh, you know, they've they've been able to um put it together so now that they have activities all the time.
SPEAKER_02:Charlie was always very good and very gracious to me whenever I was up there and very helpful. Um but I have a question. When you ride your motorcycle, and when I used to ride a bike, I you know, I had the um black leather pants and I've still have my old motorcycle jacket. Do you do you, you know, get decked out? I mean it's for safety too, because it protects you.
SPEAKER_03:It does protect you, but it also if it's a cool day, yeah, you know that's warm. That's what you want. That's what you need to keep warm. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So question, fashion question then, fringe on on jackets. Fashion faux pas. Talk amongst yourselves.
SPEAKER_03:It's it's it's the fringe is uh well, at least to me, I don't have a fringe jacket, but uh uh it it's usually f for you know for Lork.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah. I I mean the fringe isn't going to help you keep you warm and it isn't going to help you in an accident.
SPEAKER_00:So well we know what to get you for Christmas this year.
SPEAKER_02:I mean I think Tom would look good in a little fringe.
SPEAKER_00:But speaking of you know the holidays, uh I want to go back to talking about some something that you and your wife did, which was you started the toy run.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, the the the organization uh you know uh she was she was you know one of the main people that worked and started and worked on the toy run. That was this was our 42nd year, I think, today, this year. And um So tell everyone a little bit about what the toy running is is um it's it's literally uh a you know a number of motorcyclists will conjug uh congregate um in some place and uh they'll take a ride and they'll bring toys. Now when we first started doing it, we did it for the uh uh Toys for Tots, you know, the Marines, and then we switched over after a few years to Salvation Army. And so for 39 years now, I think it is uh 38 years, we have the toy run, Rain or Shine, and a couple times. One time it actually snowed, and we were having it in October.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:So that's when we changed it to the second week in September. We've we've been at it that now for a long time. But we usually start in Concord. We used to leave uh Heritage, Holly Davison, and go down to Manchester uh for the past 10, 15 years, maybe longer than that now, maybe 20 years. We've been meeting at the Department of Safety parking lot. So I'd like to give them a real thank you for allowing us to do that. So we'll meet in the uh Department of Safety parking lot and we'll ride down to um we used to ride down to the union leader before it was, you know, before they moved out of where they are now. And now we go down to uh Comcast. Comcast has let us use their uh parking lot uh right off Industrial Drive there. And it's a perfect place to meet. And the Salvation Army will come and they'll have a trailer and uh, you know, people there to, you know, fill the trailer up in the in the on any given day. It could be 200 to 500 motorcycles that'll bring down toys for the Salvation Army.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:And all those toys uh go to the uh to the uh Salvation Army uh room where they give out the toys and the jackets and stuff like that for Christmas.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's super important and it it's uh it's just such a great uh you know organization and uh charity, you know, what you're doing, but uh it's also fun, right? Because it's it's fun. Santa leads, right? It's Santa Santa leads the pack. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And um have you ever been Santa? I've never been Santa.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Uh but it's Santa's at the North Pole. I I meant for the ride. Oh, okay. Uh it's I'm usually, you know, right at the beginning of the pack, and it's it's it's so nice to see a lot of times how many kids are out there and they'll see Santa on the bike and they're waving and saying, hi Santa. And uh, you know, they'll the lot the kids will meet us at the uh at the uh you know end of the run and they'll you know everyone wants pictures with Santa and everything else. You know, we we've had some great Santa's over the years.
SPEAKER_02:That's amazing, and what an incredible legacy. That's that's what a great thing to start and have it continue on. Must make you feel good.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it is. I mean, if anybody had said when I started this thing 50 years ago, this is our 50th anniversary this year, I would have said, What are you crazy? I I had no conception whatsoever that it would be as successful as it is, and and uh it's still going strong. You know, still going to very, very strong.
SPEAKER_02:That's incredible.
SPEAKER_00:This is obviously a passion that you and your wife had, and you have how many kids? One. One one daughter. One daughter, and uh, does she like to ride? Yeah. Or does she like to ride? Well, I uh that's a good story.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Uh when she was uh in high school in in Londonderry, every now and then, you know, uh probably more than it should have been, she uh purposely missed the bus. And so she would come in, oh dad, I missed the bus. I know you want me to ride you to the store, right? You want me to get on the back of the bike and bring you to school, right? Yeah. So yeah, she she pulled out on me a few times.
SPEAKER_02:That must have been fun.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, it was for both of you. Um she said that a lot of people didn't believe that I had a motorcycle. So I think the first time that I actually drove her to school, you know, drove her to school in the back of the bike and you know, pulled up into the parking lot, and of course, everybody, you know, come up and look, found out who it was and everything else. So yeah, that was that was it was pretty neat.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's a good story.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that is a great story. So I'm just wondering, beyond obviously the the passion for motorcycles, um, and I know you had a a car reupholstery business, but are there any other hobbies or any other things that you're doing when you're not being speaker? You know, what what would a typical week or month look like for you?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I've been with uh my local Lions club for 33 years. Past president, past treasurer. Uh more titles. I've also uh I've been a uh uh I'm I'm a Mason. And I've been a Mason now for 16, 17 years, and I've held many, many posts in in, you know, in that organization. Um I also twice I've sat on the uh executive committee of the National Conference of State Legislators. And um uh right now I'm still on the Board of Directors of the uh State Legislative Leaders Foundation, and I'm also on the Board of Directors of the uh Southern New Hampshire Services.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:That's a lot.
SPEAKER_00:So when do you mix in the fun?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, what do you do for fun?
SPEAKER_00:Uh well right now I'm you know.
SPEAKER_03:Reading bills? No. Do a little bit of that. I I mean I I I I s I enjoy reading a lot. And what I just started reading the book on champagne. Oh, really? Champagne, yeah. Yeah. Have you been to France? I haven't, but I've been to Canada a number of times. Okay. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I thought we were talking about champagne for a second. No, no, champagne.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, that's what I thought we were talking about, too.
SPEAKER_02:Like we should get some and try it out a little bit.
SPEAKER_03:So, but I I mean I love reading about history.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Well w one thing that I know about you is you also like to visit uh Civil War battlefields, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I've visited half a dozen of them. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So it lends itself to the history as well.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. It it's I mean, if if you if you go to some of them, I mean Gettysburg or you know, any of the other big battles, uh Antietam, you know, and and you just, you know, imagine. Imagine you know what you know what those what those men had to go through. You know. I mean, of course that's when they still had the muskets. So you had to get about a hundred feet away before the things even, you know, hit something and you know and hope you hit it. And you hope you hit it at that point. But yeah, it's it's it's incredible some of the uh some of the battles that took place and and if you get a chance, I would recommend it to anybody, you know. That's such a such an important part of the history of this country, let's face it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's uh you're reminding me, I remember reading uh David McCullough's 1776.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, I read that.
SPEAKER_02:And uh did you like it?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But just thinking about it, and then you're talking about uh the Civil War and visiting these battlegrounds, but you think about what they had to deal with beyond the muskets, but the communication and the fact that you're a general and you have to deploy different troops, um, hoping to either attack or um stave off an attack. But can you imagine like how do you logistically figure out how to move this battalion battalion or this and and the ramifications and then not knowing what happened for days? It's it's when you start to read these historical um not novels but biographies, it's incredible what they did and what they overcame.
SPEAKER_03:So and the uh, you know, and what what what they went through.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You know, I mean, uh if you ever get a chance, I don't know if you have, go down to Valley Forge. And you know, they've got reconstruction of you know what it was like, you know, that winter at Valley Forge. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_02:So not to put you on the spot, but are there any favorite um presidential biographies that that stand out in your head, and if so, for what reason?
SPEAKER_03:I think one of one of my favorite ones was uh Washington by McCulloch.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And one of the other ones, I think that was an amazing, uh, amazing biography was um Truman.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, by David McCullough as well. I love that one.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that those two a couple of years ago, uh, we were out at the Truman Museum. I was out at the Truman Museum. And I mean that they just had finished like$20 million, you know, upgrade and everything else of that place. That that that place is amazing. If you ever get a chance to go out there, you know, go out there and see that museum. He was a banker by trade, right? Wasn't Truman was he a banker?
SPEAKER_02:Trying to remember if he was a banker or a habitashery. Okay.
SPEAKER_03:He had a habitashery and they didn't do too well. That was right after World War I. Because he was a um he was in World War I over in France in charge of a um a um uh battery, you know, battery uh and um yeah, they came back and they started the habitashery and didn't do too well. And that's when he got um, I think it was that was about that time, he got the judgeship, you know, uh from Pentergast. Okay. And um then he went on from there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's one of my favorites too. It's it's a remarkable story, and you talk about um a man who who ended up in the presidency during uh you know quite the time and all the different things that he did.
SPEAKER_03:So And the fact that he never even knew the Utah Bond existed. Yeah. You know, until he got to be president.
SPEAKER_00:Is there anything you don't know exists in the state? Probably.
SPEAKER_02:And and I just want to make sure we're not missing any secret hobbies because we had uh Representative Greg Hill on a couple weeks ago and we learned all about beekeeping. So I want to make sure you're not like keeping bees or something else that that the audience really needs to know about you.
SPEAKER_03:No, if if I get a bee, I'm gonna kill it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I'm right there with you. Don't tell Greg that though. Yeah, right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he's not inviting you over anymore.
SPEAKER_00:He'll come, he'll come and trap it for us.
SPEAKER_03:No, I mean, I uh yeah, I I just I don't I don't think I have any real what you might call hobbies. I just uh have always put my time extra time into writing when I did a lot more of it.
SPEAKER_00:And well, in service, I mean, you know, people may not think of it as a hobby, but in the state of New Hampshire, serving in the legislature is a s is basically a hobby because you don't get paid for it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we are the lowest paid in the country.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um yeah, it was uh three weeks ago now, we had our speakers' conference down in New York City. And uh there was thirty-three speakers from across the country there, which is the largest gathering I think we've had. And um we were quite a two or three times, we'd get in the room just the speakers. Just just us, you know. Uh no staff, no spouses or anything of that nature, just just us. So one of the meetings we were having, I says, um and I think I knew, yeah, but I said, uh who's the highest paid? You know, who who's the highest salary in the l in the uh country, you know? And you could probably pick one of the states that it is.
SPEAKER_00:California?
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_02:Texas?
SPEAKER_03:No. New York? New York.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Uh I think their base salary is like 140 plus thousand, whatever it is. And the speaker got an extra 40,000.
SPEAKER_00:And so you said to that speaker, so you can take I just want to know who's taking me out to dinner tonight. Yes, well, then I asked, uh, who do you think the lowest paid in the country is?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So but yeah, it it's uh it's uh we we they have a um the State Legislative Leaders Foundation has that meeting once a year for speakers only.
SPEAKER_00:And um uh is that bipartisan?
SPEAKER_03:Oh yes. Yep. Absolutely bipartisan. And uh the great thing about it is, you know, we get together for two, three days, and one of the things we don't talk about is policy. We talk about, you know, what problems we might have, you know. Of course, everybody still thinks, you know, we're crazy in New Hampshire to have uh uh, you know, 400 representatives, and they say, well, how many people do you represent? I say roughly around 3,500, and I say we have some multiple districts and explain it all. And you know, you get California or in New York or Texas is Florida, places like that. I mean, they'll represent 500,000 people.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_03:And you know, it and of course there are elections, you know, they might spend they they spend millions of dollars on a house seat in these uh in these places.
SPEAKER_02:Isn't that an amazing thing though, too, because you really get to know your constituents. So you represent represent about 3,500 people, and I'm sure you've crossed paths with a lot of these people. And and it's just kind of a unique relationship where you're at the grocery store and I'm sure someone you probably get approached, you know, on a regular basis of like, hey, Mr. Speaker, either how are you doing or I need your help on something, or yeah, that happens a lot.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, that is I mean, we are truly the only um citizen legislature left in the country. Um New Mexico tried to claim that. And I I I we had our one of our speakers' conferences out there a few years ago. I was talking to a minor majority leader in New Mexico, and he said, Well, we're you're the only uh state that doesn't get paid, so we're citizen legislature. I said, Well, we get paid a hundred dollars a year. He says, Yeah, so we don't get paid. I said, How much do you get per diem? Oh, well, I don't know, it's$150,$200 a day. I said, we don't get it per diem. Yeah. We don't get a stipend. Just mileage. We get a hundred, we get a hundred dollars a year. He says, Oh, yeah, I guess I guess you guys are the only citizen legislature left in the country. Touche.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's great, but I think the other thing about you know, our New Hampshire uh our wonderful state here and our legislature is because you represent such small number of folks, um, it's easy for you know to get engaged in the process and and really work and get things done. And I that's a testament to you and and how you became, you know, in the legislature. Obviously, politics was kind of you know in your bones and your DNA. Um, but you know, you had an issue, you know, motorcycle rights, and you took that and you worked a couple issues, you found you were effective, and then ran for the legislature, and you know, here you are 18 year 18 terms later. Well, that's what that's how I got into legislature.
SPEAKER_03:I um, you know, I was working, uh I guess you could say I was a somewhat of a lobbyist, but I was a signal lobbyist because I didn't get paid, we didn't get a dime for it. And um I after 15 years of doing that, I said, you know, maybe I can do more if I actually run. And you know, and the first time I ran, I lost. Second time I ran, I won. 18 turns later, you know, here I am.
SPEAKER_02:Still winning. Do you see uh younger people coming up through the ranks of the legislature?
SPEAKER_03:We have some younger people, uh very, very, very capable, you know, uh young people coming up. The reality is most young people might do one or two terms and they're gonna get a job or they get a job that they can't, you know, just take that much time off.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So that that is the one drawback about, you know, not you know, having somewhat of a pay. Because I mean, even some of the some of the states that um don't get paid that much, and most of them are still ten, eleven, twelve thousand dollars, some of the smallest states. And uh most of them, a lot of them still get it this, you know, some kind of a stipend or something like that. But a lot of bigger states have the problem um uh when they meet. Um, you know, they're big enough where they're they might be three, four hundred miles from home. Yeah. You know, so uh I know I I there was a new speaker from Montana. He's seven and a half hours from the Capitol.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_03:You know. Does he get a speaker's residence like you do? Uh I I don't think he gets a yeah, a residence, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Residence the backseat of my car.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you got the you got the house uh right next door, right? It's got like a one bedroom upstairs, right?
SPEAKER_03:Well, there is there is that there, but I've never stayed there. Yeah. But uh fortunately I'm only half an hour away.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But um, you know, it you you we you know that's what's nice about being able to get together once a year with these uh with these people, and um, you know, we get a chance to talk about all this kind of stuff.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it's incredible.
SPEAKER_00:It is. Well, I just want to say thank you again for for coming on. You know, I've known you for a number of years, ever since you know I've been lobbying. You've been obviously at this a lot longer than I have, but uh I really appreciate what you said at the outset, which is about, you know, collegiality, getting to know, encouraging people to, you know, talk to folks from the other side. I think it's really important. And I think it's a testament to how you've been so effective and you know, getting bills passed and you know, getting a budget done when you've got a two-vote majority working with the other side, getting a budget done on a voice vote. So I I appreciate that that mindset, and I appreciate you coming on and sharing your stories with us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, thank you very much, and just uh your dedication to service, you know, all the different things that you've done for uh the community and you know, being a lifelong granite stator, you've you've definitely given so much back.
SPEAKER_03:Keep keep giving. Well, of course, there's one other piece there. I'm also uh in the Hall of Fame for the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. Oh, you're a double Hall of Fame. We didn't know that.
SPEAKER_02:We only knew about Sturgis.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation uh uh has a Hall of Fame also. So I'm I'm in it and my wife is in it too, so we were both both uh in that. That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_02:That must have been special.
SPEAKER_03:I was I I I helped set that organization up. It's a national organization that uh basically our our main goal is to uh um keep track of legislation in Washington. And where are they based out of? Uh the organization itself is um we have an office in Ohio, uh, but it's just a partially manned office, but we have a they they we have a paid lobbyist on in uh Washington that uh does a hell of a job for us. That's great.
SPEAKER_02:And on the horizon, are there any uh major issues you think you see coming up that um could impact motorcyclists?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, there's there's always issues coming up. Always issues. Um, you know, and um you know the helmet thing right now is kind of because I think there's thirty plus states that don't have a mandatory law. And um but we also have uh problems with um um the roads, uh the safety of the roads, uh distracted driving.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Uh this there's so many other issues that you know we deal with day in, day out. Um, you know, that has to do with uh motorcycle safety. And um you know, every time you think you've got one thing behind you, something else pops up.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, it it's it's but we uh we've got uh almost every state in the country has their own own separate organization. And uh they we get together once a year also. And usually we got 35, 40 states that'll show up. That's for a once a year annual meeting.
SPEAKER_02:Well, Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for your time.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Really nice getting to know you a little bit better.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, I could go on for another couple hours, but after after the first hour, people would probably stop listening.
SPEAKER_02:No, this was this was terrific, and really appreciate you coming on the show and and and sharing a little bit of yourself with us and um the international audience.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And uh I I know you've traveled internationally, so you've got to keep your head spilled because you're gonna be a celebrity over there.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I mean, we have uh I mean every year uh the National Conference of State Legislators, you know, has something. And um I know we were when we were in Ireland, we went to the Irish Parliament. Uh we've been up to Canada or gone to the, you know, the Canadian, you know, the uh Quebec Parliament, you know, a couple of times. So, you know, if they can, we you know, they really try and get us involved with the uh with the government when we go to these different countries.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and keep us in mind when you uh make those plans to go to Hawaii.
SPEAKER_02:Tom and I'll tag along in the baggage.
SPEAKER_00:Don't threaten us with a good time.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome. Well, thank you again very much for coming on. And uh thanks to our audience for watching and listening to this episode of Anything but Politics. And uh, we've got more episodes coming your way, so stay tuned.