Shownotes
This is a story about a little brother who was accidentally shot and killed with a gun that his friend thought was unloaded. It was years later, that Doris McLallen became involved with BeSmart, and organization that educates families about gun safety.
Doris also talks about Susan Kennedy, the founder of Bullets4Life, which takes bullet casings found on the street and uses them in workshops with parents to create bracelets. "One less bullet on the street, one less life lost to gun violence."
Wendy Green kicks off this lively chat with Doris McClellan, who’s quite the dynamo and the first guest on the podcast! They’re diving into the heart of National Volunteer Week, and Doris shares her incredible journey from public school administration to becoming an active community member in South Carolina. You can feel the love and respect Wendy has for Doris as she describes her gentle strength and her knack for rallying people around causes that matter. They get into the nitty-gritty of what it means to be a Baby Boomer today, reminiscing about the major shifts they experienced growing up during times of social upheaval. With Doris recounting the changes she saw from the 1960s to now, it’s a reminder of how our past shapes current activism. They also talk about the importance of having meaningful conversations across generations, emphasizing that it’s not just about talking but about listening and doing something to create change. So, grab a comfy seat and get ready for some inspiration!
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Foreign.
Speaker B:My name is Wendy Green, and I am so excited to bring you this second installment of hey Boomer.
Speaker B:Last week, I introduced you to the concept of hey Boomer.
Speaker B:And this week I have my first guest, Doris McClellan.
Speaker B:Obviously, Doris and I are in separate locations.
Speaker B:I'm in my home, she's in her home.
Speaker B:And we are hoping that everything goes smoothly, the sound and the technology and all of that works.
Speaker B:If not, then please forgive us in advance, but we are counting on everything running smoothly.
Speaker B:And Doris just told me, very timely for the topic that we're talking about today, that this week, today starts National Volunteer Week.
Speaker B:So that's awesome.
Speaker B:So let me tell you, I am.
Speaker B:I'm very excited about having Doris as my first guest and very appreciative that she agreed to join me today.
Speaker B:I met Doris through my mother.
Speaker B:My mother kept saying, you have got to meet this amazing, dynamic woman.
Speaker B:And my mother was so right.
Speaker B:Doris is an amazing, dynamic woman.
Speaker B:She has this gentle strength about her, this strength that gives you confidence that whatever Doris says she's going to accomplish, you know she's going to accomplish it.
Speaker B:And this gentleness that just makes you want to listen to what Doris is saying.
Speaker B:And Daris moved with her husband Scott to Greer, South Carolina, seven years ago from Watertown, New York.
Speaker B:She retired from a career in public school administration and served 15 years on the Black River, New York Village Board, including eight years as their mayor.
Speaker B:She was the incoming president of the Jefferson Community College Board of Trustees and was very involved in community mediation at the time of their move to South Carolina.
Speaker B: ion of University women since: Speaker B:She has volunteer affiliations, which is very apropos for Volunteer Week.
Speaker B:She has volunteer affiliations with the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Daughters of the King, the Greenville Literacy Association, Public Education Partners, the American Cancer Society, Road to Recovery Program, the League of Women Voters, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Speaker B:So, Doris, thank you so much for agreeing to be my first guest on hey Boomer.
Speaker A:Well, thank you, Wendy.
Speaker A:And I want to congratulate you on such a success rollout last week of your very first.
Speaker A:And this is kind of an inspired project, and you inspired me to say yes, we'll see how this goes.
Speaker A:But thank you.
Speaker B:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker A:You talked about conversations, and I heard recently Maria Shriver talk about the importance of having having meaningful conversations about issues and topics of mutual interest to a lot of people.
Speaker A:So here we are.
Speaker B:Here we are.
Speaker B:And so you heard last week that in my introduction, I talked about my vision for hey, boomer.
Speaker B:And about starting conversations, like you said, to build bridges of understanding across generations.
Speaker B:And what I wanted to start with, Doris, was, you know, give us an idea of your experience as a boomer and your perception of how our experiences as boomers are relevant today.
Speaker A:Well, I don't like to generalize, certainly about a whole generation, and I hesitate to even say that there's a typical boomer.
Speaker A:We're pretty diverse group.
Speaker A:But I do think of us boomers as coming of age, on the cusp of significant change.
Speaker A:So if you're out there and you lived this age since the 40s and 50s, I think you could join this conversation easily, and we're hoping you might.
Speaker A:I have an example, it's not a very serious one, about experiencing that kind of change.
Speaker A: college, that was the fall of: Speaker A:When we left, we had curfews in the dormitories, 10 o' clock or 11 o', clock, I guess, on weekends or on, pardon me, the week and during the week and then one o' clock during the weekends, we didn't wear pants to class.
Speaker A:We were gone.
Speaker A:20 Of us were gone for a year.
Speaker A:Came back, there were no curfews anymore, and boys were allowed up into dorm rooms, which was unheard of, and everybody was wearing jeans.
Speaker A:That's how fast there was change in those times.
Speaker A:We actually did challenge authority a lot and challenged norms.
Speaker A:But at the root of all that push for change was that we cared deeply about issues of, I think, fairness and justice a lot.
Speaker A:So boomers got involved early in civil rights, environmental issues, the fight for equal opportunities, education and equity for women and girls, and of course, the rise in protests of the Vietnam war.
Speaker A:I love the idea of exploring the paths that boomers took in those times.
Speaker A:Like I said, not everybody did the same thing, but in reality, we all care about something as adults.
Speaker A:It's what we do about it.
Speaker A:And so I would suggest, and I mentioned this to you, Wendy, you like the idea.
Speaker A:If you're watching and you have been involved either back then, 60s, early 70s, in an issue or now where you can comment, maybe you were just put that issue or how you're involved, maybe an organization, maybe you are a leader in some cause that means a lot to you.
Speaker A:So let us know and maybe we'll do something with that.
Speaker A:What are the actions that you might be taking or that I did.
Speaker A:I joined a lot of organizations over time, took leadership roles.
Speaker A:My community, joined public protests, never got arrested at rally.
Speaker A:Did you write letters, make phone calls, all those things?
Speaker A:Maybe you support a cause financially.
Speaker A:For me, I did some of that as a teen and in my early 20s.
Speaker A:But then I got busy getting a career off the ground.
Speaker A:I got married.
Speaker A:I had two wonderful sons.
Speaker A:I held office in my small village community, as Wendy mentioned, and I served on boards and various things that I cared about.
Speaker A:But in recent years, there was an issue that came to the fore, that touched me to my core, a place where the seeds had been planted.
Speaker A:When I was just 17, the issue was gun safety and the need for stopping senseless gun violence.
Speaker A:So Wendy's goal with hey Boomer.
Speaker A:Is that we listen to each other.
Speaker A:This can be a controversial topic.
Speaker A:I know that when I thought of a story that impacted my life and that led me to work on something I came to care deeply about, that was it.
Speaker A:And it was a part of the story that not even people who may know me pretty well might know because I didn't talk about it a lot.
Speaker A:It's a family tragedy.
Speaker A:Tragedy touches lots of families in different ways.
Speaker A:But if you're ready, Wendy, I'll tell this sad story.
Speaker B:Yeah, Doris.
Speaker B:And I know, and I appreciate what you've said so far about how change affects us.
Speaker B:And, you know, I know you're going to tie this into activism and with wisdom and perspective.
Speaker B:And I'm sure it takes a lot of courage to share this.
Speaker B:So thank you for being willing to talk to us about this.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Well, happened when I was a freshman in college.
Speaker A:I'd left home to go to a school five hours away.
Speaker A:Left mom, dad, and four brothers whose names are John, Bill, Don, and Jim.
Speaker A:And what happened was one night I was at a party, dancing, actually, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.
Speaker A:Turned around, it was my dorm director.
Speaker A:And RA the looks on their faces said there's something bad and that I needed to come with them right away.
Speaker A:And so we went back to the dorm and waited and waited and waited until my aunt, who lived not too far away and her friend came.
Speaker A:You think the worst?
Speaker A:Well, it was the worst.
Speaker A:My Little brother Don, 13 years old, had been shot and killed in a gun accident.
Speaker A:And I use that term, but in another boy's home, eighth graders, excuse me, had gone bowling, stopped off to another kid's house for a little while.
Speaker A:Little Brother sitting at a kitchen table when the boy whose house it was went into his father's closet, came out, going to show the rest of the boys his father's new shotgun.
Speaker A:It went off and it hit my little brother Don in the chest and he bled to death there on kitchen floor.
Speaker A:So I don't know to this day how my family carried on, got through Christmas, got back to school, got back to life, back to work, my poor mother, my father.
Speaker A:But we did.
Speaker A:And there was no counseling in those days for things like that.
Speaker A:Families like that that we knew of, we just did got through it.
Speaker A:And gun safety wasn't an issue for me really in the 60s and 70s.
Speaker A: But then in: Speaker A:And he lunged towards the President and he let off rounds and he hit a man, his public relations secretary, Jim Brady, in the head.
Speaker A:And Mr. Brady was disabled for the rest of his life.
Speaker A:And after that, not until actually 93, but there was a Brady bill to require some places the waiting period for people to get guns so that people like John Hinckley, who had a history of mental illness, would not habitan.
Speaker A:After that I joined the Brady campaign and got involved.
Speaker A:And there wasn't a whole lot more that went with that, except maybe you'll all remember not that long ago, Gabby Giffords young congresswoman and seven other people were.
Speaker A:Seven people were killed.
Speaker A: he was attacked in Arizona in: Speaker A:Well, I joined the Giffords Pack, Send money, do stuff.
Speaker A:Then also later that year, folks came Sandy Hook Elementary School where adam Lanza killed 28 people.
Speaker A:He got the same idea, got that gun out of his father.
Speaker A:It's mother's closets came and did terrible damage.
Speaker A: ization called BON started in: Speaker A:Bahn stands for Ban Assault Weapons now in Florida.
Speaker A:So that's another organization.
Speaker A:And most recently, young woman Susan Kennedy started an organization for parents, especially of children who have been killed in gun violence.
Speaker A:And for every bullet casing that is sent to her found in the street, bullets that did not kill somebody, she takes that casing and goes around the country and holds workshops and parents make these beautiful bracelets.
Speaker A:I attended this workshop a couple weeks ago before the quarantine in Spartanburg, and so I made these two and they, they're a reminder, you know.
Speaker A:And her concept is every bullet that's in a bracelet is somebody that wasn't killed with a bullet.
Speaker B:So, Doris, let me just.
Speaker B:I also had an experience similar to what you just described with your brother.
Speaker B:It was more of a.
Speaker B:My husband, cousin, who was a young boy and accidentally killed when they were playing with what they thought was an unloaded gun.
Speaker B:And then I love how you tied all of this into the different school shootings because that is certainly your education and schools has been your background.
Speaker B:Can you give me an idea of what made this the event that you wanted to talk about and how it has really affected your life?
Speaker A:Well, we only have so much time and as I've said, I think a lot of people care about a lot of things.
Speaker A:But you do have to narrow down to what you will spend your time on and give your energy to.
Speaker A:And when you asked, you know, what had impacted you, that came back that memory and the activism, you know, the things I'm doing.
Speaker A:Most recently, this program, Be Smart.
Speaker A:So, yes, I go with other people who are members of Be Smart.
Speaker A:We go to schools, parks, community picnics, different things where we can have tables.
Speaker A:And I've decided that it's education about the issue that might save one other child, that one other parent will know that it's not safe to have a loaded gun.
Speaker A:We read about it all the time in the newspapers, right?
Speaker A:Four year old finds a gun in the, in a drawer, in a bedroom, or a kid finds in the car.
Speaker A:People, people leave loaded guns in the car all the time.
Speaker A:There's a statistic, actually, that 4.6 million kids live in homes with access to an unlocked or unsupervised gun.
Speaker A:So that mattered to me when it happened to me.
Speaker A:I didn't do a lot about it.
Speaker A:Now I'm retired.
Speaker A:I have time.
Speaker A:There are organizations that can make a difference and I chosen to take part.
Speaker B:So I love the idea of the bracelets because I think that's an excellent way to turn something negative into a positive.
Speaker B:And that's part of what we hope to do with this.
Speaker B:Now, the education piece that you're talking about, it's not about banning guns, it's about gun safety.
Speaker B:Am I understanding that correctly?
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:Okay, could you explain a little bit more about how that education piece works?
Speaker A:Well, the word smart stands for secure.
Speaker A:So you, you want parents, through literature or talking to them directly.
Speaker A:And a lot of the communities that we're going to into are places where there have been a lot, you know, there's been a lot of, a lot of violence.
Speaker A:Here's a. I don't have to tell everybody, but look at this.
Speaker A: killings reached new high in: Speaker A:It's endemic.
Speaker A:It's a bad thing, a good thing.
Speaker A:This was in the news this week.
Speaker A: ng in the United States since: Speaker A:That says something.
Speaker A:So we talked to parents about the importance of securing their guns in their homes and vehicles, how they can model responsible behavior around guns for their kids.
Speaker A:They should ask.
Speaker A:This is a big thing.
Speaker A:Your kid, your child is going somewhere to spend the night.
Speaker A:And you know those people, but not real well, but you suspect they're.
Speaker A:You ask usually if they're going, you know, if your child has an allergy, you're going to ask or tell them, gee, he can't have bananas or peanuts.
Speaker A:But you might ask, are there guns in your home and are they secured also?
Speaker A:Guns in homes like that are hugely responsible for kids and suicides, and that's how the program works.
Speaker B:And that's an interesting question.
Speaker B:I would never have thought to ask that.
Speaker B:You know, obviously my kids are grown, but I would never have thought to ask that when they were younger.
Speaker B:Are there guns in the home and are they secure?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker B:So where do we take this from here, Doris?
Speaker B:What are like one or two things that you think you would really like people to take away or you asked about things that people are involved in.
Speaker B:We see women's rights, SUSAN G. Komen, Rotary.
Speaker B:Wonderful.
Speaker A:They are important things.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So what are one of the takeaways that you would like from sharing this today?
Speaker A:Well, one takeaway is I talked about the activism of people that we're boomers or are boomers, different generations, different ages, different topics.
Speaker A:But I think care connects us across generations.
Speaker A:So think about what we care about.
Speaker A:We all care about something.
Speaker A:And there's so much need about lots of things if we give it time and thought.
Speaker A:But we have to give it time and thought.
Speaker A:The question is what we do.
Speaker A:And even the golden rule states, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Speaker A:And a good friend of mine recently pointed out the key word there is do and not to just think about something or talk about it, complain about it, fret, just worry.
Speaker A:There's lots to worry about.
Speaker A:But the word do, my takeaway is to be the change you Want to see.
Speaker A:We can all do some.
Speaker A:Some little bit, some part to make our world a better place and just show up.
Speaker A:Used to say that a lot.
Speaker A:Just show up, get involved.
Speaker A:You don't know exactly what you can do, but show up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Great takeaways.
Speaker B:Gandhi used to say, be the change you want to see in the world.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I didn't make that up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's what he said.
Speaker A:Be the change you want to see.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And just show up.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, sitting by the sidelines doesn't change anything.
Speaker B:Well, this was.
Speaker B:This was awesome.
Speaker B:People are just appreciative of what you've said.
Speaker B:I see, you know, hearts and likes and people appreciate what you have shared.
Speaker B:I'm sure that was a difficult story to bring up and memories to bring back.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'll just add this.
Speaker A:And it doesn't.
Speaker A:I don't say it out of, you know, holding on to a lot of feelings about it.
Speaker A:At the time.
Speaker A:There were a lot of feelings about it, but I.
Speaker A:It's about attitude.
Speaker A:I stood next to my grieving mother in a funeral parlor and bless them, that family had the courage to come to the funeral parlor.
Speaker A:And you know, every eighth grader in North Tonawanda, New York, ninth grader, those kids were all horribly, you know, impacted by this loss and this tragedy.
Speaker A:But the father stood there and said to my mother, we're so sorry, Mrs. Chilton, but these things just happen.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:So now I'm the adult in the room.
Speaker A:These things just don't have to happen.
Speaker B:They don't have to happen.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:They don't have to happen.
Speaker A:So when we get out in Oregon.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Activists push for strictest gun storage law.
Speaker A:You know how they are in Oregon.
Speaker A:They're not like South Carolinians.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Thank you for what you're doing as far as the education piece, because I think that can definitely save lives.
Speaker B:So thank you for that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And, you know, I can see the comments here.
Speaker B:People really have appreciated what you've shared, so thank you.
Speaker A:My first guest.
Speaker B:Yay.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:We're a little rough around the edges,.
Speaker B:But I think we did good.
Speaker B:My guest for next week, her name is Joni Kraft.
Speaker B:Joni retired from the CIA, and she and I worked together at a company that did travel, risk management, business continuity, preparation, and we also did training for people traveling to high risk locations.
Speaker B:But the biggest impact on life lessons that Joni experienced was from her diagnosis to her recovery of breast cancer.
Speaker B:And she is going to talk about that next week again at one o' clock on the Facebook live on the hey, Boomer channel.
Speaker B:So I hope to see you all there.
Speaker B:Thank you again, Doris, for coming.
Speaker A:Thank you, Wendy.
Speaker B:And my name is Wendy Green, and this is.
Speaker A:Hey, Boomer.
