Bill Baker and Jessica Show
OCMD Mayor Rick Meehan 112624
[MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, what's up, guys? It's Bill Baker. Hey, what's up? It's Jessica. And thank you guys so much for coming and listening to us right here on our podcast. Be sure to check us out Monday through Friday, 6 to 10 a.m. on Power1017. Tons of news and entertainment, prank phone calls, win huge prizes, question of the day with relationships, and so much more. And don't forget to subscribe to our channel and get notifications when we upload new content. Now let's check out another new segment on our podcast. 828, wrap it up. That coffee mix on Otako 2's, D. Good morning, everybody. It's Bill and Jessica show. What's up? Good morning. It's going to be cloudy this morning with some rain showers. Then the sun will come out in the afternoon, highs in the lower 60s. We have Ocean City Mayor, our friend, work me in, saying goodbye. We'll talk to him in a sec. Got to tell you about the Bill and Jessica Twinkle Town showdown. It is on-- Yay. Decorate your house. Send in a picture with all the Twinkle Town lights. Compete with your neighbor. You could, like, just us. You could win $100 grocery store gift card. And Jessie got all the 4-1-1. Yes, so easy to do. Just send us the pictures of the outside if you're decorated house. Send them over to Jessica at power1017.com. We're going to post all the pictures on the Power Instagram page and also the official Power Facebook page. We encourage you to go on there and like it, love it, put hearts, share the pictures, leave comments, all that good stuff. And then every week, we're going to pick our favorite and that person or family. We'll receive a $100 grocery store gift card just in time for the holidays. Yes. So again, get those picks in. Jessica at power1017.com. Ocean City Mayor Rick Bien, happy holidays. Good morning. Oh, good morning. Hey, good morning, guys. Happy holidays. Yes. It's got here fast, but it's here. I know. I can't believe it. We're excited. We are two days away from setting our scales back 15 pounds. So when we get on the scale, we will maybe possibly even lose weight. That's pretty good. I haven't really thought about it in that manner, but you're absolutely right. Yes. Yeah, we'd all set our clocks back. We set the scales back. Wow. Well, welcome. I hope everything's good. Mayor, you know, Winter FestaLights, officially on. Give us a rundown on how was the ceremony, the light and up of Winter FestaLights. Well, Winter FestaLights, quickly flipped the switch. So it was tonight, and it was a great crowd. And as always, the stars in the show were the OC stars, the third and fourth graders from Ocean City Elementary School. And they were there to perform. And of course, when the stars come, that brings all their families and friends and everybody else. So it was really a nice night. It was bliss. It felt like, you know, the holiday season. We flipped the switch on time. And everybody got to enjoy a free night at North Side Park to view these, to view the lights and some of the new displays, some of the new interactive things that they've added this year. They've added fire kits in a couple of locations so people can kind of, you know, take a break from walking through the park. Really, it was a lot of fun. And it's exciting every year when we open up Winter FestaLights. Yeah, absolutely. It's always a great time. It's like a tradition in Ocean City tradition all over. People come from all over just to see Winter FestaLights. How has the Winter FestaLights evolved? Like, how in your opinion has it been going? Because, you know, since COVID, you know, back in the day, I say back in the day, a few years back, you know, you used to go up to Winter FestaLights. You would ride the tram through. And then, you know, when COVID hit, you guys, you know, switched up things, of course. And it turned into more like a walkthrough or whatever. But now, you guys have, like, the fire pits and all that. I mean, it's different from what it was, you know, five years ago or whatever, like, how's it kind of evolved? And, you know, how's the crowd reaction, you know, gone since then? Well, you know, the event has ever evolved. And every year we try to, you know, add something. And Frank Miller and special events. And, you know, they do a great job. And, you know, we just try to, you know, make it a little bit different every year. And, you know, we're adding some of the things you, you know, you see, in 2024, like some of the interactive displays and just some of the, we have children's rides inside the tent now, thanks to Trimper's ride, you know, fire pits. Everybody's in the, you know, sitting around the fire pits. And, you know, I don't care if it's a little chilly up there on some of the nights, so that's a great place to take a break. And we've got some new displays. And I always marvel at the one thing that's so interesting to me is that they're all walked through. And I don't really pick up to something new. All the kids know with something new. They go, "Hey, that's new." "Yeah, it's a man." How they pick up on that. And, you know, I think it's something that's a tradition. I think so many families make that part of their Thanksgiving holiday or Christmas holiday tradition that, you know, after or before, you know, Thanksgiving dinner, or during the weekend, they go up to the whole family to take a walk through one or first of life. And I think it really is something that's special at Ocean City. Yeah, absolutely. Doorside Park, 125th Street. Six dollars for guests. And then, you know, under 12, 11 and under is free. It's 5.30 to 9.30. So you can go to ocosian.com for more details. And this goes on all the way up until the new year, right? Until the 31st. "It starts and it's Wednesday through Sunday." OK. All right, very good. "It's Tuesday, it's not open on Monday through Tuesday. "It is open Wednesday through Sunday. "And, you know, along that, you know, "we have our train garden open now "at the Ocean City Convention Center. "And that's open at the same time "that winter festival lights is open. "And they've expanded that. "They moved it to the dockside room, "the convention center, so it's much bigger, "much bigger area. "That's really exciting. "And, you know, this is for all the kids, "including the kids that are 40, 50, 50, 70, 80s. "I mean, it's just one of those things. "To watch the trains and all the work "that they've put into creating, "really a terrific train garden. "If you haven't seen it, it's a must be. "And, for the kids, they're just passivated "watching all the trains and the different types of trains, "you know, they go through the train garden. "It's really a nice thing to do with the family." Man, that's awesome. That's a great, great family traditions at Ocean City. Speaking of family, you know, this week is Thanksgiving week. We talked a little bit about it. And I'm seeing here up at oc ocean.com, by the way, which is a website that I frequent stay on all the time. There's so many Thanksgiving dinners going on at so many local establishments, you know, throughout Ocean City. I mean, I'm just looking through here, you know, the carousel, alley-oop, saltwater 75, green turtle, Spain. I mean, the list goes on. The residents in Marriott is doing a Maryland style Thanksgiving, which is awesome, always, of course, one of my faves. Rope walk, blue, Marla Moon. I mean, it's just incredible. Like, there's so many, you know, restaurants that are open and that you can go support for Thanksgiving. Are you gonna be frequenting those restaurants? You're gonna eat at home? Like, what's your, what's your plan for Thanksgiving, Mayor? - Well, we're going to be eating with the family at home. - Okay. - 'Cause I'm at Katie's daughter's house in Berlin. We are gonna do that. But then over the weekend, I'm sure we're gonna go out to a couple of different restaurants over the weekend as other family members come into town. So we're gonna spread it out a little bit. But you're absolutely right. I mean, so many people come to Ocean City Thanksgiving weekend. It's like a family tradition. Many of our non-residents, property owners, condominium owners come to Ocean City with their family as the tradition. And they go out, you know, for Thanksgiving dinner. And there's so many options. You know, right here on Ocean City is just that bill. I mean, it really makes it, you know, an exciting time. I think in Ocean City. - Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I love, you know, going out and supporting the local businesses. And, you know, it is a tradition, you know, to do that. And a lot of people do that on Black Friday. And the day after Thanksgiving, do you do any shopping on Thanksgiving, Mayor Rick? - You know, like, don't, particularly. (laughing) - David and the girls, you know, they all go out shopping. Last question, I, but sometimes they'll go along. - Yeah, yeah. - They'll go over a while. I like shopping, so I'm good with it. I like being out with everybody. And I think it's kind of exciting. And, you know, they're shopping opportunities. The Ocean City, the shoppers fare will be open at the Ocean City Convention Center. And that's opened November 29th to December 1st. And that's always something that I think is well attended. It just offers something a little bit different to the holiday shoppers. Well, not going shopping. Good call. Good call. (laughing) Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Like you did say you enjoy going. - Right. Now, he enjoys going with the family, you know? (laughing) - I'm a shopper. I mean, I used to be a little bit confused with those, so, you know, I do like shopping. I don't like going by myself the holidays and just getting to the spirit. So, I'm a pretty good shopper. I like to do that. So, but lots of things to do over the weekend. And, you know, I think we'll have a big crowd in Ocean City. There's also an open house on Sunday, December 1st at the Ocean City Lifeway Museum. - Okay. - That's 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. And if you haven't been to the life-saving museum downtown at the end of the boardwalk, it really is really a nice, unique kind of experience to be some of the history of Ocean City. So, that's, you look at something that's good to do this, to be, you know, a big reason. That's a nice city life-saving museum that is a big, you know, we like to do, you know, we live in Ocean Pine. So, when we get a chance to get up there, I always like to go to the Gold Coast Mall. It's so nostalgic for me because that's like my childhood. I like to go to the Gold Coast Mall, walk around, you know, they got the TJ Maxx, they got the big liquor store, you know, but I mean, like the old, just like walking, you know, like in the mall area, you know? I mean, it's just, it's just always a lot of fun. And they got the Ocean City Christmas Parade coming up, all of it. - Yeah, the Christmas parade, of course, that's gone on December 4th, you know, excuse me, Christmas parade on December 7th. - Yes. - And that's always a big event in us to be the mayor council and participate in that. And I'll tell you, that parade has really, really grown. I mean, there are so many floats in this parade now and so many different organizations and so many different clubs that participate in the parade. The crowds have really grown over the years. And again, it's one of those things that it's really geared to the kids when you look at all the different floats and everything. So, you know, that's another good time, you know, right here in Ocean City. - Any update on the wind turbine situation. I just have to ask, you know, I know we're kind of keeping it light, you know, but I just had to ask if there's any kind of update or are we waiting till after January and into the new year? - You know, we seem to be working on it every day and I'm glad you always ask that question because it's so important to all of us. A couple of updates, I did, Terry McGinn and I did meet with the Oakland Pine Board of Directors on Saturday and Oakland Pine has decided to become a co-playing us in our lawsuits. - Okay. - Get home in the federal government and join in our opposition. We're really proud of the fact that, you know, our Worcester County, the Davis and Ocean Pine is the largest residential community in Worcester County. Our recognizes the concerns and the deficiencies of what's being proposed and they've agreed and have agreed to join the co-playing us in our lawsuit and, you know, we're very, very happy that they decided to do that. Also, there is a meeting that's planned with December 4th and 4 to 7 at the double three by Jilton and this is a fundraiser. The SEDC is working with the Maryland Post between the opposition campaign to raise funds to help offset the cost of this organization's opposition to the wind farm project that's been proposed and now take place at the double two, that's 4 to 7. December 4th, so if you'd like to contribute to this effort, the County is stepping up and funding some of the opposition of this particular group, we're part of that, but they are having a fundraiser and it's not only to raise funds, but also again, to try to get more information to everybody about what's being proposed and our United Opposition to this particular project. So put that on your calendar and if you can, we've tried to make it to some of the 4 to 7 at the double two in Ocean City. - Okay, all right, very good. Well, before we wrap up, I gotta ask you, with Thanksgiving coming up, what is Mayor Rick Means' favorite Thanksgiving side dish? Of course, you know, you'll probably have, you probably have a turkey, right, is that? - Yeah. - Okay, so you have the turkey, do you guys have ham or no? - Sometimes, yes, for some, you know, not everybody's turkey to this, usually a small ham. - Okay. - Included as well. But with that question, favorite side dish, it's stuffing. - Stuffing, all right. - Stuffing. - Now, okay, so you call it stuffing because we've talked about this. Some people call it stuffing, there's also filling and there's also-- - It's addressing. - The dressing, yeah, but you call it stuffing. - Yeah, stuffing, you know, that's kind of, you know, the things, but definitely, definitely the dressing, the stuffing, that's my favorite. And look, I'm also a Baltimore guy. - Yeah. - In Baltimore, you have Sourcrowd 30. - Oh. - And I enjoy having the Sourcrowd with turkey, that's a Baltimore tradition. And so, you know, it seems to be something that we always have on the table for Thanksgiving as well. - Oh, very good, very true Marylander, he is. A true Marylander. - Yeah, yeah. - I am also a true Marylander because every year, it's a tradition. We have Eastern Shore stuffing, we have the Oyster stuffing and talking about once again, getting the Oysters, you know, the prior to eat, you know, like either all Oysters are on the grill. So that's definitely something we do in our house. - Yeah, I agree with that. I try to fix the oyster stuffing all the time. I don't know where not that, but, you know, I agree. Oyster stuffing, oyster stuffing, Thanksgiving. - Yeah. - Maryland. Just in, you know, the style of little Sourcrowds sometimes and that kind of stuff, that's really Baltimore. - They're right, no, absolutely, Sourcrowd. Well, look, Mayor Rick Bien, we hope you and your family have, you know, the best Thanksgiving ever. We appreciate all you do. We appreciate you checking in with us and enjoy the holiday, my friend. We appreciate you. - Well, I thank you very much and, you know, everybody is good thing, you know, have a safe holiday weekend if you're traveling. You know, be safe, that's the most important thing and enjoy the time with your family and friends. You know, it's harder to get family together nowadays with all the activities that everybody's involved with. So let's all take advantage of this and make the kids sit around at the table for at least a little while with you, you know, while we enjoy Thanksgiving. - They're right, right. Well, look, great message from Mayor Rick Bien. Thank you so much for checking in, my friend. Happy holidays. - Thank you. - Okay, take care, guys.