Ron & Jen’s Great Escape: 8-24-22 – Ron St. Pierre & Jen Brien

by Ron St. Pierre and Jen Brien, commentary

PUPPY SITTING IS THERAPY

This past weekend my brother asked me to watch his 6-month old puppies while he went to Tanglewood for a concert. After weeks and weeks of anticipation, the day had arrived! Once my brother left and waved goodbye it was on – Puppy Madness! I was worried about having the entire weekend eaten up by those 2. I was concerned I would be bored, or trapped inside for 3 days. But as luck would have it, these 2 crazies taught me how to enjoy simple things again. Fetch, snuggles, and the joy of resting. They made me laugh out loud and opened back up a place in my heart I had sealed off after the death of Ellie Bean… my golden retriever. The world can be a challenge, and life is complicated, but puppies are not. They’re wonderful teachers and show us what trust and love looks like. 

It’s no wonder the word dog spelled backwards is GOD. The original source of love.

Charlie and Layla, thank you for tenderizing my heart . 

You were a lot of work, but I miss you two nuggets.

A lot.

Till next week my friends,

Jennifer

___

SOMETHING WAS MISSING

Growing up I was a big Three Stooges fan. Salty Brine featured the trio on Salty’s Shack along with Popeye cartoons on television. I confess, to this day, I remain an ardent STOOGEAFILE. While I admit the shorts aren’t in the cerebral comedy category alongside W.C Fields and the Marx Brothers (also my faves), there’s just something about them that continues to draw my interest. All the Curly episodes, the early Shemp’s (he got short changed), NONE of the Joe Bessers. In 1967 The Stooges were to appear LIVE on stage at Crescent Park. The stage was an outdoor set up in an open field next to the Shore Dinner Hall. Growing up mine was more of a Crescent Park family than a Rocky Point clan. So as a 12 year old, I excitedly loaded my KODAK Instamatic camera and made my way from Pawtucket to far off Riverside to catch the Stooges. By then, vaudeville comedian Joe DeRita had joined the Stooges for multiple bad movies and the touring circuit. Still, I could look forward to seeing Moe and Larry. I worked my way as close to the stage as a pint sized 12-year-old could as the 20 minute show began. Several minutes into the act I sensed something wasn’t right. Everything seemed “off” until it came to me. NO SOUND EFFECTS! When Moe poked Larry in the eyes (I was close enough to see him miss Larry’s peepers by a good three inches) no pluck of a violin string. A blow to Curly-Joe’s belly produced no bass drumbeat. A bonk on the noggin’ was boringly silent. Still, I had fulfilled a Stooge fan’s dream of now being able to say, “I saw the Three Stooges in person!” – knowing those sound effects would be there when I got home the next time the Stooges aired on my family’s black and white TV. I just had to adjust those rabbit ears right! – Ron   

INFLATION HITS THE TOOTH FAIRY

There’s good news for young kids losing their choppers. THE ORGININAL TOOTH FAIRY POLL (yes, there IS such a thing) conducted by Delta Dental says the value of a lost tooth is on the rise. In fact, it’s at an all time high. The average cash gift for kids ages six to 12 who lost a tooth? $5.36 – the highest amount in the poll’s 24 year history.

_____

Ron St. Pierre is a veteran broadcaster whose career has spanned over four decades. Ron has programmed, performed on and managed WHJJ, WPRO, WWRX, 790 The Score in Providence, as well as WBZT and WKGR in West Palm Beach and WABC in New York City. Ron also anchored sports on WPRI Ch 12 in Providence. He is a member of both the Rhode Island Radio and Television and the City of Pawtucket Halls of Fame. He was born and raised in Pawtucket.

Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.

Hazel, Ron’s dog, makes regular appearances.

“Ron and Jen’s Great Escape” podcast, a more lighthearted look at the events happening around us, can be found on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes premiering each Wednesday and listen to Ron and Jen’s Great Escape call in radio show Friday afternoons 2 til 4 on 101.1 FM, 1540 WADK and streaming everywhere on WADK.COM.