James "Woody" Wood owns the food truck Woody's Goodies. He parks it near the commuter ferry into Boston at the Hingham Shipyard. When Covid hit last year, pushing hundreds of Boston offices to shut down, nearly his entire customer base was wiped out with work from home. Woody was terrified. How would he feed his family? What would happen to the business he worked so hard to build? The answers were with his customers. He shares beautiful stories of struggle and generosity that saved his business and fed his soul. But as the Delta variant looms, Woody worries offices will shut down again and take his customers with them.

Ally Donnelly 0:00

Hi and welcome to the Hingham Cast. I’m your host Ally Donnelly. This episode is sponsored by realtor Erica Colantonio of Planter Hill Properties.

The Hingham ‘Cast is hyper local journalism. We look at the world through the lens of one small town. My town, on Boston’s South Shore.

We launched in January, when the pandemic was in full swing. We dug into our Covid numbers, what was happening with our kids, our schools, our elections, our small businesses. We craved connection and community.

As the Delta variant seeps into our lives, who knows what happens next? Will things get restricted again? Will we stay remote even longer?

What will happen for people like James Woods who was just starting to bounce back as more commuters and day trippers take the ferry into Boston?

James Woods

Timmy, what’s up buddy? Want me to fry ‘em up? I make about 60 to 70 breakfast sandwiches, grill muffins for everybody.

All set, thank you very much brotha.

Ally Donnelly 1:19

It’s the breakfast rush at Woody’s Goodies, the food truck stationed outside the commuter boat in the Hingham Shipyard for the last decade.

James Wood 1:24

Johnny how are ya?

Customer #1

Good, how ya doing?

James Woods

Oatmeal cream, RT? We have a bacon, egg, and cheese, sausage, egg, and cheese, ham, egg, and cheese, corn beef hash, egg, and cheese on a Portuguese English muffin, which are right now very tough to get but I will tell you any store that I see them at I will wipe them out. So, you better get that first.

Sausage, egg, and cheese? And…here you go.

Ally Donnelly

Why the Portuguese English muffin?

Ally Donnelly

It's got a sweetness to it. They're very dense feeling I would say, but, it is just a certain texture to it that everybody loves. It put me on the map over here.

Ally Donnelly

At the helm, with his spatula and easy grin is James Woods, Woody.

James Woods

It’s a great job, I love it. And you guys are all good, thank you guys, have a great day.

Ally Donnelly 2:12

Woody wakes at 4 each day to be at his post before the first boat.

James Woods

Peter, good to see you, brotha!

Ally Donnelly

Before the pandemic he had about 400 customers a day, but, that’s been slashed in half, on a good day, even after he added lunch to his service.

James Woods

It's tough with the pandemic because you don't know how many days people are working or whatever. Like, back in the day, yes. But now it's very sporadic. You just don't know who's coming, who's not, who’s doing two days this week, three days this week.

Do you need ice buddy?

Customer #2

Yeah, please.

James Woods

You got it.

Customer #2

How ya been?

James Woods

Good. How about you? Good to see you, man.

Customer #2

Yeah, you know, good to be back.

Ally Donnelly

The earlier the boat, the steadier the customers.

James Woods 2:54

The 8:45am is a tricky one, it’s usually the people that are hung over or people that are just coming back from being in Cape or late comers. It’s a very tricky boat. You never know who, it's the slacker boat we call it.

Ally Donnelly

Woody’s customers are fiercely loyal.

Customer #3

Woody’s the best.

Customer #4

He introduced me to the Portuguese English muffin and now I can't resist it.

Customer #5

Yeah, his coffee’s always good too.

Customer #6

Amazing. Best guy in the biz right there.

James Woods

JP, what’s up buddy? RT you want a little flavor today?

Ally Donnelly

And he knows them and their orders by heart.

James Woods

Jake: black, one Splenda. Lara: black one Splenda. Cheryl: black. We have James he's a sugar addict so we multiple flavor in that, but, now he's losing weight now so he's just a cream only.

Ally Donnelly

Two teenage boys walk up and Woody gets to work.

James Woods

What’s going on guys?

Ally Donnelly

So you didn't even ask them what they want. You know what they want?

James Woods

I know exactly what he wants. He wants a sausage and egg with hot sauce. No cheese. And the other one, straight sausage, egg and cheese with hot sauce.

Ally Donnelly

Is that right?

Customer #7

Yeah.

Ally Donnelly 4:04

He does that not just with these two, but, dozens of people while I was there and he says he knows hundreds more orders by heart.

Tick me off some first names and their orders.

James Woods

Well, Pete and his daughter they get a chocolate chip muffin, a water, Pete gets a milk and a bacon egg and cheese wrap or he’ll get a chocolate chip muffin grilled each day. Dave you just, just left he's an everyday guy. He's a skim milk or he'll do coconut cream in his iced coffee. My buddy Al, he should be coming up actually any minute he takes the eight o'clock boat. He's a large black every single day.

Ally Donnelly

What do you got behind you?

James Woods

Umm, we have a cream only.

Customer #8

Yes.

Customer #9

Yes.

Ally Donnelly 4:44

Then there are the customers “comin’ in hot” -- as he calls it.

James Woods

When they come in hot, I'll have their stuff ready so that I don’t keep the boats waiting.

Ally Donnelly

And how is it to have someone just waiting here with your coffee?

Customer #10

Especially nice when we have about 30 seconds to make the boat.

Ally Donnelly

Is he better than your husband, I mean, to have a coffee waiting for you?

Customer #11

Uh, yes, absolutely 100 percent. I've never had a coffee waiting for me at home.

Ally Donnelly 5:09

Let’s take a quick break here to thank our sponsor–Realtor Erica Colantonio with Planter Hill Properties. Erica grew up in Hingham, she’s raising her girls in Hingham. She understands and is invested in this community. So, if you buying or selling a home or want to help someone looking in town, connect with Erica. She knows the neighborhoods, the schools, and can help find the perfect home for you. Reach out at Erica@PlanterHill.com. Okay, back to the conversation.

Ally Donnelly

So, after a shift last week, Woody and I sat down to talk. Watching you work is a pretty joyful experience. You're totally charming, you're connected with your customers. What is it about your job that makes you happy?

James Woods

I just love what I do. I love the people. So I mean, what better way to please them by giving them a nice smile every day and having a good conversation and giving them a good experience when they come by.

Ally Donnelly

when you told people that you were going to work at the shipyard in Hingham. What was the reaction?

James Woods

They told me, those Hingham people are going to eat you alive. And, so I went in scared, I really did because yah know, I listened to my friends and everything. But come to find out the people in Hingham and the surrounding areas are exactly opposite what they had told me. They’re just very caring, loving people that actually do care about the small business and just this support has been like nothing I've ever seen in 22 years of this business.

Ally Donnelly

You know, food service in any capacity is not an easy life. If you're sick, you don't make money, if you stay home, mental health day, any of those things. Global pandemic? You're on your own. Describe what it was like for you, when COVID first hit?

James Woods

Well, when it first hit, you know, and none of us think that it's going to be anything as long as it was, it's something you don't prepare for. After a few months, I got really scared, really scared that the business that I had grown was going to be completely gone at one point. Whoever knew when the boats, were ever going to come back again. I think I was out seven or eight months, I was very, very nervous that there was never going to come back again.

Ally Donnelly 7:19

And you know, you have a family, you have a wife, three kids, what was your fear for them?

James Woods

Ugh, my God, I get the chills right now thinking about it. You know, this is all I know, this is all I know for 22 years and at my age having to start something different or go into a different field it's very, very hard. It's just a very hard thing that you have to think of and I was thinking of it, but I'm, I'm just very happy that I hung in there.

Ally Donnelly

Yeah, I mean, your wife is a hairdresser.

James Woods

Yes. Hair salons and food establishments were probably the most affected. And you know, other businesses like that, but yeah, definitely 100% affected on both, on both parts.

Ally Donnelly

So how long were you out of work?

James Woods

I was out, I would have to say, nine months to 10 months, I did not work at all. Collected unemployment, which I don't like to do. I like to work and make my own money, just didn't feel right to me. After let's say the eight, nine months, I told my wife I said, listen, I gotta start getting creative here, I gotta to figure out how to get my myself out there again. I just all of a sudden created a date when the boats were going to be running at a certain percentage and I said, I'm going out there and I started a lunch and I told my wife, before I started it, I said, there's absolutely no way that this going to work. And low and behold, there's my customers and the support again, I will never underestimate these people ever again. Not that I did, but they just were so receptive and they kept me going. I mean, you know, not only did they just keep me going with business, but you know, I've had people drive by that weren't even buying anything and giving me a little something to help support me. You know, I got a great story my buddy Kevin Weldon, he's a Hingham guy, I've known him since probably 17 years old and he would come up to me every couple months that he would get a stimulus check. And all of a sudden, he gave me a giant hug and then he would hand me over $150, because he wanted to help out, he wanted, he told me that he didn't need the stimulus check as much as it could help me he wanted to do it. This kid is one of the best kids I know and it's just stories like that, that have been keeping me not only financial, but just mentally, it has helped so much for me, it really has.

Ally Donnelly

Yeah, I mean, you talk about that relationship with your friends and with your customers, it really is something you know, a few years ago, you lost your mom,

James Woods

I did.

Ally Donnelly

Tell me about that, what happened there.

James Woods

My mom had Alzheimer's for a good nine years, and me and my wife, were the primary care for my mom. My wife is a wonderful woman and you know, not too many people can do what we did to take care, because it's very extensive care. She's, uh, she's been the glue to this family and what she's did for me with my mom has been extraordinary. So, it's, it was tough, it was tough to work, and then have to come home and take care of her 24/7. It was very tough, but you know something, me and her created a system. We got it done and my mom finally passed away and it was, it was good not to see my mom suffer anymore, to be honest with you. It was a, it's a it's a terrible disease, but, a lot of good things came out of it also, to know that you have a wife that's going to be there for you and a wife that's gonna support you till the end. And she proved that to me. She's just a wonderful woman. That's all.

Ally Donnelly

Your customers were there for you, too when your mom passed?

James Woods

Absolutely. Yes.

Ally Donnelly

You had to take a couple days off.

I had to so I don't know if they want their names mentioned because they're very modest people. They know who they are, so when they listen to this, they know who I'm talking about. So, I had to take a Friday and Monday off and I just simply texted my good buddy down there. He's from Hingham and let him know that my mom passed away and I wouldn't be there for Friday and Monday and let all his group of friends know And I knew he would get the word around, so throughout that time, overnight, him and his wife decided that they were going to set up a stand in the morning and giveaway box to Joe and donuts to my customers. So, what I came in to that Tuesday morning after a couple days work was a can with about eight-nine hundred dollars in it, which was lost sales for the two days. And it was probably one of the most chilling experiences in my life to see people that would actually go out and do that for me. I will never, I mean I can't thank them enough and they're just happy to do it and those are the type of people I encountered down there. It's just, I'm very lucky.

Yeah, and it's, I mean, it's honestly not the only story when the docks were broken and the boat wasn't running, you had folks raise almost $10,000 for you.

James Woods

John Shaughnessy on two different occasions, I will tell you, when the boats were broken, he emailed me and told me that I better accept an email from GoFundMe. And I said, listen, John, it's not my style to take money from people, I'm sorry, I can't do it. And he just persistently told me, if I don't accept the email, he's coming down my house with a bag of cash. So, I did finally accept the email for the GoFundMe for the docks. Most recent one, they did it again, at the pandemic, when I was off for eight months and I think that raised $21,000. So I mean, that right there explains to you, the type of people that, um, that they are, I mean, the support was absolutely overwhelming. I can't tell you how different my life would be if I didn't have that support, because I don't know what I would have done. It took a lot of the mental heartache away from me, it took it took all worries away. You know what I mean? And I think that's really what their goal was to do was just to not have me worry.

Ally Donnelly

Yeah, yeah.

Let’s take a quick break to say, if you like the podcast, make sure to follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen and sign up for our emails. Each week, we raffle off great prizes: $100 to Tryst, Intrinsic Provisions, XR BBQ sauce, Swag from Vitamin Sea Brewing, movie tickets, don’t miss out! Sign up at thehinghamcast.com. Okay, back to our conversation with Woody and what it was like to be away from his beloved customers during the shutdown and the happy reunions.

Ally Donnelly

How hard was it for you to be away from people? I mean, you’re such a people person.

James Woods

It was very hard. I'm not a guy that sits at home, I was going stir crazy after a certain amount of time and now that I'm seeing some faces coming back. I'm just overwhelmed with joy to see them. So it's like, not only did I miss him, and I have so many customers that all of a sudden, you'll be like, oh my god, I forgot about him, when he shows up. But the thing is, you wonder how you forgot about that person? Because he's such a wonderful person, but, you have so many customers that if you don't see them for such a long time, they kind of leave you until you see them. But you know, something? It picks up right where we left off. Each different customer, I think I have a different subject or just talking about kids or talking about baseball or talking about anything and it's, it's actually really great.

You know, it's interesting, I read somewhere that you said that you had low self-esteem at a point in your life.

James Woods

I did.

Ally Donnelly

I have a hard time believing that after watching you with everyone.

James Woods

Well, sometimes we can put on a front. It is one of my main goals is to not have any of my daughters or son go through what I went through. But umm, I always put on a good front, I was always overweight as a kid and because of that, yeah, I mean, I would act like I'm the happiest kid going into a bar with my friends or anything. But what I was really worried about is who's looking at my weight and whatnot, but you know, something overtime when you get older, you just don't care about that stuff anymore. And what we want to do is we want to pass on to our children. You know, what we went through just so they don't go through the same thing. That's what I try to tell my kids without giving them any type of complex. It's very hard, actually. I just don't want my kids to ever go through anything like that, we don't want our kids to go through that type of pain. But after 25, 26 years old that was: listen, you take me for what I am. If you don't like me, that's okay. That that self-esteem thing is long gone now because if you don't like me, you don't like me, that's it.

Ally Donnelly

I can’t imagine...

James Woods

Listen, I am a little too much for some people, sometimes, trust me and I always tell them that and they'll laugh it off because I'm, you know, I'm loud and obnoxious sometimes and but, you know, I am what I am. I would say a good a good percentage of the people do like me, which is a good feeling.

I'll bet, I'll bet I want to go back for one thing to your menu. Watching you crank out these egg sandwiches, and muffins, and iced coffee, and knowing everyone's order. I mean, you're just like a whirling dervish.

James Woods

Yeah, I mean, it's, the bottom line is most of my customers have five minutes before the boat, if you can't remember, if you can't get it out to them time, they will have to walk off because they're gonna miss the boat. So, you got to have things ready for ‘em or you're gonna just give away business and you don't want to do that and you don't want to. I like to keep people happy, Ally and I'm going to tell you right now, a lot of customers if they have to walk away sometime, they'll tell me: “Oh, Woody, don't worry about it. It's no big.” It's a big deal to me, it will bother me for days, I'm telling you. It's just what's, it's in me. My father always brought me up to work to my best of my potential. I mean, I used to stock ice cream shelves at the supermarket for my dad back in the day. And I would do that to the best of my ability to the point we had bosses calling people over to check out my ice cream section. I mean, everything had to be perfect and that's how my father brought me up. He was a Marine and he was a perfectionist. And he didn't give me any leeway as he was my boss. So that was so helpful to me, the way that he trained me just as an ice cream stalker. You know what I mean? You learned a lot just from a job like that.

Ally Donnelly

Yeah, of course, of course. Your memory is insane. I mean, people are coming from their car and you're making their coffee. I mean, what is that?

Well, I will tell you and I do the joke to all my customers. I go to bad it only pertains to coffee. But um, the funny thing is, I'll say to myself, Oh my God, I gotta get American cheese out of my cooler, I'll round the corner, I'll forget what I'm going for. So, I think it's so much stored in my head on what people need. That the simple things like, oh, you're going to go around the side and get cheese, then I'll just stop in my tracks. And forget it and then walk back. And then about 10 minutes later I remember Oh, yeah, cheese.

Ally Donnelly

But I mean, especially like six o'clock in the morning, I can barely remember my name. And you are getting people's orders ready as they're coming. Not just one guy, I mean, it's hundreds of people and you're whipping out their orders before they even open their mouths

James Woods

Absolutely. I mean, the brain, it's just, I don't even know the word for it. You know? It's just happens. I don't, I can't tell you. I told you earlier today, math has always been a strong suit for me. I don't have to write things down, I can figure things out in my head it has to have something to do with that.

Ally Donnelly

Hmm. Well, maybe you're, you know, like genius IQ. And you don't know it

James Woods

Well, I did take one of those IQ things on my phone one time, and it said I had a 136 IQ and I think that's pretty high. But um, listen, I don't put any any credit into those. You know, I would like to take an IQ test one time.

Ally Donnelly

You should, you should.

James Woods

I'll get back to you guys on that

Ally Donnelly

I have to go to your menu for a second and I had never had your breakfast sandwiches. And I guess I probably never would have given a second thought. But you made me one that was so good. What, what is the secret with that Portuguese English muffin? What is that?

Well, it's basically, um, you got to know how to get that coating on it. There's a nice crispy coating on the muffin and you gotta know how to do that and it's just basically fresh off the grill. I mean, make sure that the Portuguese English muffins are fresh, which I'm having a very hard time getting those, so, I'm actually doing my first trip down to Fall River tomorrow and I'm picking up 150 packages, they’re doing a special order for me. And I am going to freeze half of them so, I don't have to go running wild to get those. So, once a month, I'm going to be doing that and I can tell all my customers that I've run out on the Portuguese English, you will not see that anymore.

Ally Donnelly

What are people's reactions when you don't have the Portuguese?

James Woods

Oh my God. I mean, some of them will just say there are set, they won't even take the wrap or anything else. They say they're all set, because that's the reason why they came there. And, like again, that goes into the, I just feel horrible. If they don't get what they want, and I can't get out, and they take a trip there to me. It makes me feel horrible.

A quick break here to thank our media partner, the Hingham Anchor. If you want to put faces to voices log on to the hinghamanchor.com and catch up on all the community’s news. Okay, I asked Woody if he had anything else to say. He didn’t want to worry about the unknown of the Delta variant or what lies ahead just yet. He wanted to end where he seems to live, in gratitude.

James Woods

A cream-only is walking up right now.

Customer #12

Thanks a lot.

James Woods

You got it. Have a good day.

Customer #12

You too

James Woods

It’s good to see you man.

Customer #12

Stay cool.

James Woods

You too

I am just so grateful for my customers. I'm grateful to be there…

How you doing? Just milk? You got it.

I'm grateful for the DCR

Okay how many egg sandwiches do you want?

I'm on their property and the DCR has been absolutely amazing to me so I do want to mention them.

How do you take it? I got ham or uh, sausage.

All the people that run the ferries, such as Steve, John, Adam, all the captains, all the workers and my buddy Phil, of course, I'm going to mention him.

James Woods

One stop shopping over here buddy

I mean, just my wife, my kids. My whole support system, all my friends down there. The people that are members of the Black Rock that have invited me to play golf. I mean, I get a taste of the good life without even having to pay for one of those crazy memberships. You know? And um, just listening to this, they'll know exactly who I'm talking about.

Ally Donnelly

I think that's probably everybody.

James Woods

Absolutely. It’s good group of people, I will tell you.

Ally Donnelly

Awesome. Woody, thank you so much for talking with me.

James Woods

Thank you, Ally. I appreciate everything. I really do.

I want to thank my podcasting partner, the kind, talented, and beautiful producer-editor Kristin Keefe. Our interns, are Claudia Chiappa from Boston University and Hingham’s own Cameron Baker. Our website was designed by Donna Mavromates and her team at Mavro Creative. And I’m Ally Donnelly. Thanks for listening. Talk to you soon!