Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Shen.
[00:00:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Knock, knock.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Who's there?
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Aru.
Aru, Aru.
Are you ready to talk about the holiday parade?
See, that's some of the gold you got during the holiday parade.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Last Saturday.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: I don't know if I'd say gold.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: I think it was gold. I think it was gold.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: Have been silver at best.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: So. Yeah. So we're here to recap the 2025, 50, 2024 55th anniversary 55th Schecty county holiday Parade.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Do you want to give that a fourth try? The 2024 55th annual Schenectady County Holiday Parade.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: You're welcome, everybody.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: And I'd like to note that I had the 55th correct the whole time. Because you were like, 53rd. 54th.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Okay, but I got the name down now.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: We got it down.
So how was it? What do you think? How did we do? What was it like the first time, being like a visual observer of the parade.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: It was windy.
It was very windy.
It was chilly.
I feel like the parade moved really fast. Like, I feel like they told us, like, have three to five minutes of stuff to talk about here and there. And that parade was just moving.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. It was. Because, like, we're going through the prep. It was like, okay, so you guys, like, can you guys fill 25 minutes, like, together? And we'll have some speakers come up and stuff like that.
We got like a couple three or four minute breaks when somebody got ahead of somebody, but that was it. Other than that, I thought it did. Once the parade was underway.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: Yes, once it was actually underway. Not that false start I had there. Which is not really my fault. I feel like, I don't know, maybe after you drop off the officials, we shouldn't have the police cars come back down as if the parade was starting. But hey, listen, things for next year. Now we know. Just wait till the motorcycles show up.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Yes. Once we saw the motorcycle show, then we knew we were officially underway.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: A lot of learning.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: The list of shout outs is endless. But I think we start with Schenectady county itself. Jason and Aaron, and everybody involved is Schenectady County. Some will be unnamed, but we're part of the working crew of our livestream broadcast on our Facebook page. Still available. Daily Gazette. Family of newspapers. That's still up. We got some great numbers out of that. So huge shout out to Scanty county for everything.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Then after that, big thank you to the downtown Schenectady Improvement Corp. Not only for letting us huddle inside their building before and after the amazing snacks that they helped lay out and provide. But beyond that, biggest, biggest thank you to Maureen Newfield over there, who was.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Our rock star status, rockstar status, our.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Behind the scenes elf for the night. Who.
You probably didn't catch her. And a lot of people don't know the amount of work that goes in to making sure that, you know, we're knowing who's coming down the parade route. We're being kept up on who our next speakers were. As many of you probably saw, I stepped off to the side quite a few times. That was her handing me some notes like so and so is coming up next. They're like right behind you.
You know, at one point, I don't know how or why, along the parade route we had a couple people out of place, which, which happens.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: Which is not. It was like the least of our surprises, I think.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Yeah. So. And then just letting us know, oh, hey, now they're here. So that we, you know, we can make sure that we mention everybody, every participant and you know, and then I think after that, you know, we probably should thank our own company for, for believing. Believing in the two of us.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: And we're volunteering us up. One of the, it's like, is like, thank you for letting us do this after you told us.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:20] Speaker A: Thing. But no, seriously, I mean, Gary LaBelle.
[00:04:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: In house, you never see, you've never seen Gary LaBelle probably.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: He also rides behind the float, which a lot of this is. One of the reasons many people don't like see him is like everyone thinks Santa's last, but really there's still a truck coming behind that float. And that's Gary. And Gary is, you know, beyond just Henry, who also helps, you know, create the float for the year and make sure that it's up to date. And Henry is, you know, one of the, was one of the owners. Soon to be, you know, retired from.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Owning the company, the Hume family for the past 130 years. And we'll have that transition to the D'Agostine family coming up. Yeah.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: So, you know, they, you know, he really helped make sure the float was in working order and he would be inside, you know, filling the smoke machine and doing things like that. But Gary too, you know, he spent a lot of time preparing this year's float and getting new lights and, you know, making sure the reindeer were in tip top shape and transporting it.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: I mean, 6:00am on parade day, he's bringing that parade down because of the size and traffic and things like that. He's making sure. That that troop, that float is there safely, securely and in place.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: Probably the first thing in the parking lot is probably Gary with that float. Yeah, we're at the tail end, so it kind of starts from us and builds and builds up. So, you know. And Gary became ultimate uber Dr.
For the staff because he was responsible for transporting Newsy, played by Abby Burkhart and her sister Emily. And then we would be nowhere without our lovely Mrs. Claus and some elves and her two elves. One of the elves.
So Mrs. Claus was played by my goddaughter. One of the elves was her daughter.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: And for any youngsters out there watching Santa okayed all of this. I just wanna let it be known that we have lettuce, we have receipts in which Santa says he needed some help this year.
Mrs. Claus wasn't, you know, not.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: She was tapped.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yeah, she was tapped. And so drafted.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess by Santa. Can draft anything. Just tap, draft, same thing.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Santa asked you to serve, you serve.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Yeah. We saw the big man that day, too.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: He was all in.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah. So just putting that out there. Yeah.
So everybody knows that, like, there are a lot of people who help Santa make this happen, who helped make the parade happen.
I probably say after that, you know, there's a long, long list of people to thank. And after that, I really just want to give a huge shout out to not only the participants, but the people on Lower State Street. We had such a fun time, and I don't think it would have been as like, as big of a to do for us like we would. We're still talking about it, like, days later. We're still talking about it. We have a long list of ideas to ask the county about potentially next year, you know, and that couldn't have been done without the participants being so fun. I don't know if you guys saw me. Me and the mascot from the Valley Cats throwing hearts at each other.
Love the fire trucks who always, just as we're talking, honk, honk their horns.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Gotta give it when they hear they're being talked. Cause we're. We were speaking not only to the live stream audience on the Facebook page, but we were also. That was also broadcast through PA system, through PA speakers out to the participants along Lower State Street. And again, a huge shout out once again to all my people over at Frog Alley, who are like my little peanut gallery, who I was reaching out to and looking for shouts of acknowledgement and sound and stuff like that, you know. And again, Schenectady County. Kathy got it. You know, was Always there for us to be. You know, make sure everything, you know, what do you think? Things like that. So the elephant in the room again. This is the first time ever. Second stage, first time, second broadcast, first time for us. First time. Everything.
It was dark. We know. We saw the comments. We were there. We lived it. Yes, we had challenges seeing because we were well lit, but we were, in a sense, blinded to what was in front of us. So everybody knows that.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: Everybody's like, notes were taken on that one for sure. It's like, definitely.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: Oh, gosh. They're like, oh, gosh. Yeah, it's one of those things that when you're in the middle. In the middle of the game, you can't, like, reconstruct the court. So.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: But I think this.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: But it was, it's. It's. It's a lock now. I think that second stage.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: But this is a great ask for people. Like, I mean, it's not just about us lighting up. You know, lower stage, street lowering lighting up. You guys can bring that. Bring that energy to like. You guys brought the energy as far as, like, noise. So next year, let's bring the energy. Let's. Let's. People dress up, People bring light. You know, we had necklaces you can easily get off of Amazon or at a local store that lit up. Like, let's see that next year. I mean.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: And MVP was giving out some stuff.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: Yeah, they were.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: They had their table, had. They had hot chocolates. They had mitten, little glow in the dark.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Sticks.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: Sticks. J Street. How about J Street before we got down?
[00:09:28] Speaker B: Yeah, that was great.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: That was. That was absolutely phenomenal.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: So shout out to Nibble Nosh. Because I the cookies the next morning for breakfast, and I needed that.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: So we did a couple live hits. You'll see on our Facebook page.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: Bittersweet.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: First got there when Manhattan Transfer took the stage. They were. They sounded phenomenal for a short period of time. They sounded absolutely incredible. People were dancing. Grand Central. Grand Central Station. Not the famous Manhattan Transfer. Yes. I'm that old. I apologize. Grand Central Station was awesome.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: I'm glad you caught yourself, because I was like, who is this guy?
[00:10:05] Speaker A: Who is this? Like, yeah, thanks.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: Also another great part of the parade and definitely something, if they bring it back next year, will play up a lot more. Was the sensory friendly room just a great addition to have this year for great addition.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: We had conversations about that to make that, you know, more publicized, more emphasized, things like that.
A lot of that's directly from Mrs. Claus herself, who's very in tune to the needs of special children.
She wants to play a big role in that next year. She's. She's volunteered to be booked for the next 20. I said, I'm gonna last that long.
I'll try.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Please let us know your thoughts on. On Stan's knock knock jokes, though, should he bring them back?
[00:10:51] Speaker A: I cr. We had knock knock.
We had. We had dad jokes. We had knock knock and dad jokes. And this, this was all set up because all the whole week going in, Shun's like, stan's gonna bring the dad jokes. Stan's gonna bring the dad jokes. And I'm like, what are you talking about?
And so that morning I'm there, like, pouring through, trying to come up with these dad jokes.
And I think, here's what I know.
Every time Shen rolled her eyes at a knock knock joke or a dad joke, behind her, down below was Maureen Neufeld, who was killing herself laughing. She was just. She thought they were great. So my audience of one that I could see was who I was playing to. And I mean, I got. I got. I got the gold star. I mean, this is America's Got Talent. I gotta go. I got. I got the gold.
I got the gold star.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: Well, maybe if. If anybody has some, they can separately email them to Stan and maybe we'll add them in next year if we get asked back. I think we will, but I think.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: For the amount that they paid, I think they're more than happy to.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: Which, by the way, was absolutely nothing. We volunteered for this, as we've mentioned. This is like one of our favorite things to do during the year.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: So we're hoping, like, we're like, please invite us back. Yes, we think we did okay.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: And I think we can do bigger and better next year.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: Bigger and better the crowd. So the feedback we got. And again, this is from Mrs. Claus. This has weight to it. Who viewed the entire parade, part of the parade, a little bit biased, you know, on my part. But she said the crowd size was very similar at Lower State as it was at Proctors, which is nice for the city because then the crowds spread out. And I think it's a little bit more. It's easier to watch, so it's easier for kids to see and smaller kids to get in front and see the parade and parents be able to keep literally a handle on their child and things like that. So I think that was a big plus. But the one thing that she pointed out was the energy was down at Lower Straight, Lower State street at our stage.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's Definitely, for sure. Because anytime we asked, you know, the crowd to really pump it up, you know, think our first responders was a huge one or, you know, make some noise, like, you know, we get it. We understand totally. From your guys's perspective, we're out there right with you.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: You don't have to be loud because you're freezing.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, I'm happy that, you know, I can make out some kids here and there who are, like, really excited, really dancing, really, you know, pumping it up. And I think you, when you bring that energy in the. In the crowd, it only makes the parade better for the participants, too, because, I mean, you know, they're supposed to be having fun and they're supposed to be dancing and getting you laughing. And if, like, the response of silence when they're coming, they're not going to feel like they're having as much fun. So I'm glad that, you know, we had a lot of, you know, yelling and clapping and singing and things like that. And I apologize now if any of my singing was caught on the broadcast. I can't carry a tune, but I love to sing nonetheless.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: So speaking of singing, what was it like when you had hundreds of people singing you Happy Birthday?
[00:14:00] Speaker B: That was something, that's for sure.
I'm actually really. Usually those can go one or two ways. People could be like, I have no idea who this person is. I'm not gonna sing them Happy birthday. Or it could go, which is the way it went for me. Everybody joined in, and it was really nice, and it was a special way to kick off 28. So thank you to everyone who did do that. It made my birthday a lot more special this year.
And so, you know, I look forward to that. You know, just that same energy.
I look forward to that same energy.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: 29.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: We will that same energy next year.
Yeah. Again, I just think. I don't know. I think we get a good group of people down on Lower State Street.
[00:14:44] Speaker A: Speaking of good people. Good people. We got down on State Street. How about our guests? I mean, our guests rocked. Our guests were right up there. They were amazing energy.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: Some of you. Yeah. Some of you on the live stream didn't get to hear the entire conversation with the New York Phoenix. We know that. We understand buffering issues. Some audio sound stuff right in the beginning.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Working on all that.
[00:15:04] Speaker B: But they were great. Excited to see how well they do. Hope that Schenectady turns out for them.
You know, they were just fantastic, I think, you know, giving out some Gazette. Gazette hats, too. Everybody Loved those. Hope to see you wearing our big.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: Thank you because we didn't have enough mugs.
Swag. Proper swag. So the hats for that day, as windy as it was, I think the hags were. The hats were very welcome.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: A lot of them did trade. Yeah.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: One of the owners, I got a.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: T shirt, the Phoenix. So I'm okay with that.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: She's good with that. I got a phoenix hat so I'll be rocking that.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: But we also had National Grid up on the stage.
[00:15:40] Speaker A: We had so great, she was so great. Sun Mark.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Loved, loved seeing national grade grid come through with the, with all their trucks with all the lights on it. I think they might have taken up all the energy that day.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: And thank you for sponsoring our stage too. Our stage was made possible through the sponsorship of National Grid. So a thank you and a shout out to them not only for supporting us literally up on Sal Ferry street, but also. Yeah, their trucks were.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: And that's the other thing is, you know, we didn't. We did during the parade and I think it should be reiterated again the number of sponsors that it takes to put on the parade. And so there's, there's a lot. We don't have the full entire list in front of us, but things like mvp, national grids, Sun March, the Daily.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Gazette, things to thank everybody that was on the list and throw up a logo.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Just do a full, a full like 15 minute credit roll.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: Of a special thanks.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: Because again, and I said this earlier is like people really do not realize the sheer number of people that it takes to put this on. And a lot of times it's volunteers because I recall Schenectady county putting out quite a few times that they still need to volunteers in the parking lot.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: And even the sponsors are volunteers.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Like mvp. MVP is like a major sponsor. Like, like one of the title sponsors with Scuthe county. Everybody's helping out with mvp. It's a Saturday.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: They're volunteering their time to be out there making hot chocolate, hanging out hot chocolate, things like that.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: All the first responders, the police officers.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: That shut down roads, firemen that were up on trucks.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Yes. The DPW crews or county waste. You know those guys.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: And then also the other thing you don't see when both streams stop because county broadcast from the main stage on their YouTube channel is that when Santa goes by and the. And the crowd goes away, it's Schenectady city and County DPW that the roads shut down until it's clean. So everything's gone. Nothing sits around. And then, then there's a crew that comes in Sunday morning at 6:00am no, it's. It's 9:00.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: They were quick to clean up south. They were quick to clean up Lower.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: State, and then they just move all.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: The way up and then they just reopen.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: We're back to Schenectady as you see it on a day and days basis, you know, maybe even a little bit better and brighter.
[00:17:54] Speaker B: Yeah. So, I mean, I'm really looking forward to. I hope they ask us back. Hopefully we soon. We find out sooner rather than later because we have ideas. Put us on the committee. We got tons of them. We're ready. We're ready to go. We have many ideas. We think we, we can make either, especially, you know, Lower State street even bigger, better happening, lots more people. Definitely. Yes.
And so, you know, we look forward to seeing what the county's ideas are and hopefully they take some of ours and, and just, you know, I think our big ask for next year is just bring that same energy, that same love for the holiday parade. You know, we. We get it. We know it's. It's at night, it can be hard, it's cold. But that's what makes it so special. Again, the largest nighttime parade in the Northeast. Who. Who else gets that title? But here in Schenectady, you know, like, it could be bigger and better every single year if we just keep working at it.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: The Schenectady county holiday par.
Just like the Daily Gazette and the Stan and Shen show.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: Is that what you're gonna end us on?
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Well, I don't.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: I mean, I mean, you gotta get the last word.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Where do you want to see us next? Reach out on social media. Stanhoudy S T A N H U D Y Reach out. I'm on all the different platforms. Let me know where you want us next.
[00:19:16] Speaker B: Yes.
Fridays. Fridays and weekends, usually.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: Yeah, a lot of. I've already pitched a couple, so I'm working.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: There's a lot of coordinating.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: Jen's got duty coming up next Friday.
She's agreed.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: I have agreed to do a different role.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Play a different role than the Stan and Shen show.
And we may have a. May have a video presence, a Facebook presence. Thursday, Victorian stroll. We're still working that out.
And I've got to ask Shen about something later. Oh, yeah. December 14th, a Saturday. I gotta ask her about that. So maybe you'll see the Shen and Stan show in Saratoga if Shen wants to put her ho ho ho on.
Because it is SantaCon in downtown Saratoga.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: I don't know if I want to dress like Santa, but maybe I think you do.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: All you gotta do is the hat and we'll talk to people about being SantaCon. And it's a. It's a thing. I was there last year. It's a thing. And I think we would have a lot of fun together.
[00:20:18] Speaker B: Possibly.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: Possibly. Maybe you're not going to know unless you tune in and follow us on Facebook and the Daily Gazette Facebook page. And our friend Newsy Coloring holiday coloring contest started. Newsy Daily Gazette mascot is out there on Facebook. Download that. Have your kids color. Entries are due in December 16th. You're looking at one half of the judging crew. I can't judge, but she's one of many who do. So get that colored and filled in. You can scan it, parents take a picture of it, send it in. All the details are on there.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: And yeah, I mean, I think just to sort of wrap everything up, you know, if we get asked to do it again, we're definitely looking forward to seeing it. We'd love to do it again next year.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: Love, love, love.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: And love to do it again. Love your feedback.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Let us know.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: Yeah, let us know. Leave comments if there was anything in particular you wish was done different for the parade. This is all stuff that when we sit down and we talk to the county, you know, we. We do give this back to them.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: We do have a year. We have a. Do have a year. And again, some of the big things, you know, we are definitely a noticeable. You know, we have some dropouts. We had some audio. We had some. We had a little bit darkness down there. The big things I almost guarantee are going to be fixed the best of our ability. And then after that, it's like. Any other ideas? Throw it out there. I mean.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Did you like our outfits? Did you not like our outfits? Was the Santa hat good? It did fly off a couple times. What about our neckl? Did you like our necklaces? Should we be standing, sitting? How should we do this?
[00:21:45] Speaker A: Shen wants to know. All right, so from the stand and Chen show, Happy holidays. We're recording this before Thanksgiving. Have a happy, safe, traveling Thanksgiving. Enjoy your Thanksgiving. I'm hoping I will get my show partner back in the seat again before the 25th of December, maybe to do one of these. Depending on what we do, we may come back and recap SantaCon perhaps. Perhaps again, it's only things I can wish for that may or may not be granted.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: All right, I think it's time to tell everybody Happy holidays and go.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Happy holidays.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Happy holidays, everyone.
