Our Town With Host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Christianne Ricchi on memorable encounter with Shimon Peres at Ristorante i Ricchi's ~ "Now picture this. These are 12 Israelis. They're sitting at a long table and they were all sitting on their elbows hunched forward talking about world peace. . . Only I can serve them. I go to the bar, I get 12 of my best long-stemmed crystal cordial glasses. . . We fill to the brim with limoncello . . .I go with the tray and I take one glass and I bend over to put it in front of . . .the prime minister. With that, the tray in my left hand starts to teeter. . ." Christianne Ricchi - Owner of Ristorante i Ricchi on 19th Street (right) and Andy Ockershausen (left) in studio A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town and I have a very, very, very, very, very wonderful opportunity to talk to a gorgeous young lady. Young girl I would say in the old days but now a young lady. Christianne Ricchi. She's born in New York City, a shock to me when I found that out, Christianne. You went to Italy in the summer to s

Connie Morella on becoming a Republican ~ "Mac was running for office and he had very stiff competition. He was a Republican. I had to cross-over and become a Republican to vote for him in a primary. I did, and I thought, I think I'll go back. Then, I looked at what was happening in our Country. I saw Jacob Javits, Clifford Case, Everett Dirksen. I saw all of these great men who brought both sides together who were Republicans. Who believed in fiscal responsibility, but also believed in liberal rights, rights for people. I stayed a Republican. I became the Moderate Republican, which then gradually became an endangered species, and now it is almost extinct." Connie Morella (right) and Andy Ockershausen (left) in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town. We have such a delightful, delightful friend and one of the great women of my lifetime. In spite, my wife is right up there too. She's made such an impact on Our Town. So many ways in a national local level. She served

Mary-Claire Burick on Rosslyn Business Improvement District and what Nestle means to it and the Region ~ "We're very fortunate in Rosslyn that the developers are not there to turn a quick buck and move out. They really have invested in the neighborhood. All of that sort of culminates in a thing like Nestle. This is probably a once in a lifetime deal. This is one of those deals that is going to have impacts and reverberations throughout the entire DMV, the region." Mary-Claire Burick - President, Rosslyn Business Improvement District A Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. I have such a special guest. I don't want to call her a guest because she's a big part of Our Town. Happy to introduce Mary-Claire Burick, President of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and a very dear friend. We did not meet at a Board of Trade function. We had a conversation at a restaurant in Laurel but we'll go back to that. I can't think of the many times that I've talked to people about Mary-Claire and w

Drew Mills on leaving Comcast SportsNet to start his own business ~ "I remember Jeff said, 'You can't leave, you have the best job in America.' I said, 'Jeff, I'm leaving. I'm starting my own business.'" Drew Mills, Founder and President of Mills Marketing & Communications,(right) and host Andy Ockershausen in studio for Our Town interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town, and have a great, great opportunity to talk to a very dear friend that I worked with for a while when I worked. Now I don't work anymore. You understand that, Drew. Drew Mills: I do, I do. A Ockershausen: My wife ... 24/7 I work now. A man who grew up in Washington, was a great high school athlete, and was very well-known around the area. And I know he's a local, even though he grew up in Arlington, or was born in Arlington. Arlington is Our Town, Drew. Welcome to our town. Drew Mills: Yes it is. A Ockershausen: It's a

E. Hunt Burke on being involved in the community, before community outreach programs became a thing ~ "A lot of banks today have these, I don’t know, community outreach programs and what not. We’ve always been deeply involved in helping build the community." E. Hunt Burke, Chairman and CEO, Burke & Herbert Bank, Alexandria, VA A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town. This is a special, warming day for me because our guest is a part of banking history in Our Town. Even though he's Mr. Alexandria, Alexandria is still Our Town. I tell everybody at Hunt Burke, that the Greater Washington Area is Our Town. It's Vienna, Virginia. It's Upper Marlboro, Maryland. It's north, south, east and west. It's about Our Town and his bank, Burke & Herbert. When you mention the name, it's usually followed by, "Oh, that's my favorite bank." Or, "They really helped me out when I was starting in my business." Or, "I remember that crazy bird, Runyon." We always get a retort when we mention your bank. It

Diana Mayhew on the National Cherry Blossom Festival ~ ". . .the festival's first and foremost the Washington D.C. springtime celebration that makes Washington the destination to come in Spring, but we always remember the roots and we celebrate the culture of Japan, because that's where it all started." Diana Mayhew - President, National Cherry Blossom Festival A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. I have the distinct, wonderful pleasure to talk to an old friend. This is not only the busiest time of the year, but inviting her into the studio right now is like kidnapping Santa Clause at Christmas Eve, but she's here with us for Our Town. Over the past 20 years, she's grown the Cherry Blossom Festival into an internationally recognized extravaganza, generating over 100 million dollars for Our Town. She's usually wearing pink in honor of her role as one of the most important people in the city of the Spring. Please welcome Diana Mayhew, Director of Events at Downtown BID, and Preside

Jim Cuddihy with career advice ~ "I tell kids all the time, interns that come into my office, people who want to get into the business: 'When you wake up in the morning, you better want to go to work. Figure that out. Do something that you love.'" Jim Cuddihy - Executive Vice President MASN A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town and we have a special, special delight to have a guest that has made such an impact on the greater Washington area at both Home Team Sports, Comcast SportsNet, and now with MASN. We'll get into that later, but right now I'm gonna say hello to Jimmy Cuddihy, the man from New York who took over Washington by storm. Jim Cuddihy: Great to be with you, Andy. One of my heroes since I moved here to D.C. in 2001. On Moving to Our Town A Ockershausen: I love your story. When you first arrived in the city, your wife and your two little children, at the time, got lost and ended up going by Georgetown Prep. Jim Cuddihy: You know, it's- A Ockershausen: The hated rival of

"JB" James Brown on one of the most important lessons he learned from being cut by the Atlanta Hawks ~ ". . .when I looked back on it, there's a verse in the Bible that says, "Why be concerned about the speck in your brother's eye when there's a plank in your own eye?" And if you point a finger and blame at somebody, there are three pointing right back at you. It was on me. I didn't work as hard as them, and I vowed in the game of life I would never let an opportunity pass me by, that I didn't work hard to capitalize on the opportunity." "JB" James Brown (right) Sportscaster and Special Correspondent with Andy Ockershausen (left) A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town and I have a distinct pleasure to introduce our next guest. My wife feels that he is tall, dark and handsome. We know about the dark. And he is talented and he is homegrown right here in Our Town. There are certain people in this world that I grew up with and you could say their name like Sonny, like Tiger. Y

Kathi Bowers Wallis on equality for all ~ "I particularly felt strongly about women and the fact that women were having a very difficult time. You couldn't get a loan from the bank. You couldn't get anything done because you were a woman. For me, that extended right over into minorities and people who were having a difficult time breaking through the old boy white network, which frankly really pissed me off." Kathi Bowers Wallis, Civic-Minded Entrepreneur Our Town in studio interview A Ockershausen: Hi, this is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I'm going to read an introduction that's important, and then I'll explain why when I finish it. Our next guest has been a tremendous influence on my life. I've known her and been a friend for almost 50 years. That's hard to believe. During my career at WMAL in late 1970s, that was for radio and television, this lady made some courageous suggestions to me professionally that have changed the course of influence of our industry. Our industry, not just Washington, a

Patricia McGuire on growing Trinity Washington University ~ "We had to get on our feet as an enterprise. We had to get people knowing us, and so two years ago, when I went around looking to build a new science laboratories and nursing laboratories and classrooms, we were able to raise the money to build a new academic building because the sports center was successful. It's amazing how success breeds success." Patricia McGuire (right) and Andy Ockershausen (left) in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen, and this is Our Town. Our next guest was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and thank the Good Lord, she came to Our Town in 1970, liked it so much, she said, "I'm gonna stay here." And she's been called a transformer and a superwoman, and she deserves all the accolades. She's expanded academic programs, raised significant amounts of money, built an award-winning, $20,000,000 state of the art athletic center for women and girls, which I find is one of the real jewels of Our T

David Carpenter on Secret Service Deputy Director William J. Callahan and recent change in command at Secret Service ~ "It is a good sign. He was actually. . . just been appointed. He was Deputy Director prior to . . . the election. When the former, Joe Clancy, the former Director, retired, or left, he was a natural to keep continue running the agency. That continuity is critical. It's critical to everything." David Carpenter (right), with Andy Ockershausen (left) in-studio A Ockershausen: This is Our Town. I'm so pleased with our next guest, a man I've known for over 30 years. He's the type of guy that makes you feel real safe. He's the epitome of security. We invited him to Our Town because he can give us some personal insight on what it takes to have the kind of confidence to be a special agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division of the US Secret Service. Dave Carpenter went on to serve as former ambassador and assistant secretary of state and then was hired as vice president of Global S

Jackie Bradford on Jim Vance NBC4/WRC ~ "He told me the story the other day...He said he was out at Betty Ford and one of the nurses came into him and said, 'Come here.' She took him into this room where there were stacks and stacks of letters and she said, 'Who are you?' 'Who are you?' Because he has lived his life so out loud and he's been nothing but honest with himself and with his viewers that is why he is so beloved." Jackie Bradford, President and GM NBC4/WRC (right) and Andy Ockershausen, Our Town host (left) A Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen and I am so delighted and happy and everything to welcome our next guest here. She's not really a guest. I would describe her as a general manager's general manager. Jackie Bradford: Okay. A Ockershausen: She's actually a president and a general manager. I've known this young lady for so many years and I've seen her in action and what she's done for her company and the greater Washington area is unbelievable. She has a unbelievable

Mark Ein on Venus Williams after she won a tie breaker to win the championship and Kastles Tennis' second perfect season ~ ". . .she said 'I wasn't just doing it for myself. I was doing it for a team. I was doing it for a city. I was doing it for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.' She will literally cite that as one of the highlights of her career. For Venus Williams to say that, I think is a great summation of what this can mean to people." Mark Ein (right) and Andy Ockershausen (left) in studio A Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town and our special guest is Mark Ein. I'm going to tell you a little bit about Mark. As I tell everybody, Mark, Our Town includes Annapolis, PG County, it's Montgomery. It's as far as our signal goes. As you probably know, we have a great signal because once we get up there, it goes all over the world. This is a podcast. Mark was an investor and an entrepreneur. He's built companies over the course of his 22 year young career, but that's

Chick Hernandez on one on one interview with Dan Snyder when Snyder wasn't giving interviews ~ "He interviewed me for six minutes. We put it online because it was hysterical to watch this guy ask me questions. What do you like eat? All kinds of off the beaten stuff. By the time we turned it around, I did him, it was good." Chick Hernandez in studio interview A Ockershausen: This is Our Town and having an opportunity in Our Town to talk to one of Washington's most renowned sports broadcasters. Chick Hernandez: Well, I can't wait for this. Who is this? A Ockershausen: They used to be sports talents. Now they're broadcasters. Chick Hernandez: Are they? Talent. A Ockershausen: Like there are no more sales people. They're account executives now. That's happened to our world. Chick is a very dear friend and has been so important to Comcast Sportsnet and its growth, and we want to talk about that, but I'd like to go back to Chick Hernandez to where he is born. He's a local guy. He's an Our Town guy. Born and Rais

Arch Campbell on Channel 4 ratings back in the day ~ "We couldn't get arrested. In fact, we used to ... You know, Patty Hearst was kidnapped and started robbing banks back then. We used to say that, 'When Patty Hearst was on the lam from the FBI, she anchored the 5:00 news on Channel 4, because that way she knew that nobody would see her.'" Arch Campbell (right) with Andy Ockershausen (left) in studio Our Town interview A Ockershausen This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. Arch Campbell: Oh, ho, ho. A Ockershausen We have a special guest ... Arch Campbell: Whose town is this? A Ockershausen Who has one of the best jobs in show business. He gets to go to the movies, he goes to the theater, he goes to concerts. He sees great entertainment. He never pays. He's been doing it close for 40 years. If every channel and every radio station had an opportunity to have Arch McDonald, as a friend of mine. Welcome to Arch Campbell on Our Town with Andy Ockershausen. Arch Campbell: Does anybody come on this sho

Giuseppe Cecchi on Italian architect Luigi Moretti and Moretti's work on Watergate ~ ". . .we had to convert it from strokes of pens in meters into design, working drawings, in inches. . .He was a genius. I think the Watergate is a really a fantastic architectural project. . .he was that kind of prima donna genius. . . you couldn't change . . . a comma of what he did. . .we hired a local architect here, and I was sort of the marriage counselor between these two . . ." Giuseppe Cecchi (right) - Visionary Real Estate Developer - and Andy Ockershausen (left) A Ockershausen: This is Our Town, this is Andy Ockershausen and I have just a delightful guest here, who has been a very dear friend for many years. He's a visionary in a Real Estate development. He's built close to three million square feet of office space and three hotels. He was building mix-use office space before it was the rage. He saw the importance of technology even before Silicon Valley when he built Techworld. He saw the trends for senior livin

Chris Plante on the interactivity of radio talk shows ~ "We are the original interactive media. We invented interactive." Chris Plante, Talk Show Host on WMAL radio in Our Town and elsewhere A Ockershausen: This is Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen. Our guest today, unlike most of Our Town have been, are native but he's not a native. He's a relative newcomer, but he's not really a newcomer. He's been around. He started out on WMAL here in Our Town with a local broadcast, and now he's being heard all over America. He's on Westwood One, he's a regular on Fox News, but he's not a baby when it comes to Washington politics or holding his own in a room full of liberals. He's had a lot of experience growing up in a media family in Chicago, a family of Democrats so I hear. His mother and grandfather were on radio and television, and his stepfather is still in the news business. He's been 20 years at CNN and they've been preparing him for his daily talk show, and the most popular radio show probably on WMAL radio

George Allen on "learning to be yourself" in politics after he switched out his boots for wingtips and lost his first election~ "The best advice I ever got was from a guy named George Beard who was chewing tobacco at the Green County Fair. He was a delegate from Culpeper, and I said 'Oh, you're chewing tobacco here in public.' He says, 'You got to be yourself.' There's no better advice." Susan Brown Allen, and Senator George Allen at Our Town Season 2 Launch Party Andy Ockershausen: This Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen and I've known our next guest for close to 50 years. It goes so fast. His name is a household name to anyone who as ever lived in Our Town for even a few years. His father was a big deal in Our Town, and our guest was an even bigger name in politics and government. He was a senator, governor, member of the House of Representatives. I mean, I don't know what he hasn't done. He wasn't born here, but his impact on the State of Virginia and Our Town was legendary. Welcome Governor, Senator, F

Larry Michael on what would be better than the Washington Redskins playing in Super Bowl LII ~ ". . .the perfect scenario here would be, the Redskins go to the Super Bowl in 2017, which would mean 2018, and the day before the game is played, we get where Joe Jacoby is going into the Hall of Fame." Larry Michael, Voice of the Washington Redskins A Ockershausen: What a great opportunity for you in Our Town to hear about the voice of the Washington Redskins, who's going to be now a voice of the Washington Redskins WMAL thank you, thank you, thank you. A very dear friend and a big, big man in broadcasting in Our Town, Larry Michael. Welcome to Our Town. Larry Michael: Hi, buddy. How you doing? A Ockershausen: Larry, we've had such a great, great time with you. I look about all the stuff you've done, and I can't believe it until I've seen it and read about it. You have been involved in so much, but you never left town. Larry Michael: Never did, and one of my highlights is working with you. A Ockershausen: O

Ed Henry on the story that was the impetus for the title "42 Faith" ~ "It's a lesson for all of us, and that's why we call it 42 Faith. It wasn't just Jackie's faith, Branch Rickey's faith, I think a lot of these players on the Dodgers had remarkable faith." Ed Henry - Author, 42 Faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story A Ockershausen: A friend in need is a friend in deed, and this man is a friend. He used to be a fresh faced kid, he made a huge impact on Our Town. He's not fresh faced anymore. Ed Henry: Wow. A Ockershausen: Ed Henry is a transplant from Queens, New York. Ed Henry: Mm-hmm. A Ockershausen: Came to Washington as a journalist, to work for Jack Anderson. Ed Henry: That's right. A Ockershausen: How about that! He's another success story who found his way to WMAL radio. Providing political insight into a morning show. We had a morning show here called Harden and Weaver, it's not with us anymore. He worked with Chris Core, and Chris Plante. In fact, he worked everywhere from Roll Call to t