Latest / The Ric and Dan Show / "What are you gonna do about it? You fix the problem and go on" : Jason Clay of Governor's and Anglers

Transcript

"What are you gonna do about it? You fix the problem and go on" : Jason Clay of Governor's and Anglers · The Ric and Dan Show

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Dan often rattles the microphone before we get started.
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  I do.
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  It's crazy, I don't understand why you don't.
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  Is that your thing?
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  I just try to annoy Rick at every turn.
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  He doesn't have to try.
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  For a guy that eats dessert first, by the way, you're looking pretty svelte.
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  I don't know how you hold on to your girlish figure.
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  I don't know how I do either.
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  It's a lot of hard work.
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  Guests of the Rick and Dan Show, by the way, get the home version of our game,
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  which is the equivalent of talking to themselves.
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  And they also get lovely gifts from Coffee Hound Coffee.
• 0:25
  Wander.
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  Explore.
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  Caffeinate.
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  Coffee Hound Coffee Company.
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  CoffeeHoundCoffeeCo.com.
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  He's Rick Tyler.
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  And he's Dan Cashman.
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  And I'm Jason Clay of Governor's Restaurants.
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  And I'm on the Rick and Dan Show.
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  In Maine, we often hear, you can't get there from here.
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  These are the stories of the risk takers, the trailblazers,
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  those who turn obstacles into opportunities every day and found their way to get there from here.
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  And today, they're on the Rick and Dan Show.
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  You were almost selling ball bearings for a living?
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  I was.
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  How did that happen?
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  Well, graduated University of Maine, right?
• 1:01
  So what do I do with my life when I graduate?
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  You know, I take interviews that might come my way.
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  One of them was with a company locally that had a local branch in the Bangor region,
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  selling ball bearings to mills.
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  And OK, sure, why not?
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  So I went for an interview and they liked me, apparently.
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  So they called me back for a second one.
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  And then they sent me to Mississippi to interview and offer me a job.
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  And you know, young kid out of college.
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  Yeah, sure.
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  OK, I'll do that.
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  Then I thought about it on the plane ride home and was like, do I really want to sell ball bearings?
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  Let's see what else I might have for options.
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  And how did the Governor's Auction come your way?
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  I am from Lincoln originally.
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  So I grew up with a local restaurateur up there and worked for him when I was in high school,
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  college.
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  And he'd gone to work for governors after his restaurants closed.
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  And so after I graduated from college, I just kind of connected with him.
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  And, you know, he said, hey, why not come work for us?
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  We're creating a marketing position, the first marketing position at governors.
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  So, yeah, that's what I stepped into.
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  I grew up in Old Town.
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  Governors was an institution throughout my childhood.
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  Right next door to Wadley's with the fun caricatures on the windows.
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  Were you aware of the status of governors, I guess, to those who were local to it,
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  loved it, grew up with it?
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  I mean, probably not to the degree that you were, Dan.
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  I grew up, you know, getting out of Lincoln was a big deal.
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  It would come to Bangor on the weekends, right?
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  It's called parole.
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  Right.
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  So, you know, my grandparents would bring me to Bangor.
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  And on the way home, they lived in Holland.
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  So we'd drive up route two.
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  And, you know, we'd stop at governors and have dinner.
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  And that's kind of my introduction to what governors was.
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  And then later on, going to college at University of Maine,
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  obviously spent a lot of time there.
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  A lot of hot chicken sandwiches, maybe a meatloaf mountain or two.
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  That Friday fish fry was my jam through college, especially during Lent.
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  I found my home at governors every single Friday throughout college.
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  Yeah.
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  First date with Elizabeth after it was a double date.
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  And after we went to the movies, we went to governors.
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  And she was appalled that I would have macaroni and cheese on a slice of apple pie.
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  But I'm saying this is good stuff right here.
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  And for a bachelor, you get what you get.
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  You don't pitch a fit.
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  And this is this was like gourmet to me.
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  And the moose burger.
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  Still, every Father's Day weekend, I get a moose burger.
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  Is that a big seller?
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  Not like you think it would be.
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  It's more of a sort of a legendary item on the menu, mostly because it's a it's a big burger.
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  You do moose burger.
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  You have to loosen your belt.
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  Yeah.
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  But no, ma'am, it is not moose meat.
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  The little character sketch of the little moose on the original, or I don't know if it was on
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  the original menu, but on the menu that I grew up saying was the little sketch.
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  And the little moose is saying, no, ma'am, it is not moose meat.
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  Were some of the customers coming in and saying, is it actually made of moose?
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  I think they must have.
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  They must have.
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  Striking to me that just recognized memories of going to governors and the first date story.
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  You know, who else had their first date at governors is Cara D'Aguardi, the former American
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  Idol judge songwriter.
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  She wrote Sober with Pink.
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  She's written songs for countless pop stars.
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  And her first date involved dessert at governors.
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  And she specifically remembered the train in Bangor.
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  How many of those stories do you hear about from either locals or national celebrities
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  that had an interaction at governors over the years?
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  It's really interesting.
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  Not so much celebrities, per se, but, you know, my daughter is nine and a half and she's getting
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  into sports and, you know, just in the different sports leagues, you connect with new sets
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  of parents.
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  And it's really interesting once you, you know, say, hey, we own governors.
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  Oh, my gosh.
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  We went there in college.
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  We met there.
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  We had our first date there.
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  I mean, you hear lots of that for sure.
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  Is that a challenge when you purchased governors?
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  You suddenly had this not old town institution anymore, but main institution on your shoulders.
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  How much weight does that carry for you?
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  Or do you have to carry?
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  I think it's for me, what an honor to carry on that tradition.
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  You know, I think, you know, I feel that, you know, the Wadley family founded the restaurant,
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  you know, has an unbelievable amount of trust in me to carry that forward.
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  And that was really kind of part of that transition was that they felt comfortable enough
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  with me that, you know, I'm not going to screw it up, hopefully.
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  Right.
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  You know, we preach change.
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  We preach change for years.
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  You change or you die.
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  And so, yes, we still have the moose burger on our menu and liver and onions, but our
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  menu's not what it was 30 years ago.
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  And sometimes people hold that against you.
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  Yeah.
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  You know, I remember 30 years ago, you had this and it was only this much.
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  Right.
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  But it's but it's not.
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  It's different.
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  We we try to look at what's trending menu wise and work some of that stuff into our
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  menu.
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  Well, you once had a blizzard on your menu, too.
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  And then how did that play out?
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  Well, yeah, it's, you know, when Dairy Queen comes to town and, you know, you can't use
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  that terminology anymore.
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  So some of it was the fact that, you know, we did a lot of things.
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  We had fried chicken and then KFC came to town.
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  We had blizzards.
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  Dairy Queen came to town.
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  Right.
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  So you change the name.
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  We call it the nor'easter.
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  You know, it's a little bit different.
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  But it has as times change, you know, we don't have ice cream machines anymore like we used
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  to.
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  Part of the reason is it costs pretty much like a small car to buy one.
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  And they're always broken.
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  I mean, think about McDonald's.
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  Oh, yeah.
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  You know, so they're hard to maintain.
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  And, you know, people aren't coming to the ice cream window like they were 35 years ago.
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  But, you know, you evolve and you try new things and see what sticks.
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  And originally Wadley's was just an ice cream window, wasn't it?
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  Started as Creamy's back in 1959.
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  Yep.
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  The original building in Old Town, like to tell the story, it's been added on to, I think,
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  19 times.
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  Every time they had a little bit extra money, they'd add a little section of that.
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  They'd hire people from the mill, you know, during shutdowns.
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  And they'd come and add on a little bit.
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  The front of the building is six inches off square.
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  So if you look down the wall, it literally kind of curves in.
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  I was crushed on the Saturday night, driving back from work and back in my news radio days
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  and hearing the call to the Old Town restaurant because there was a fire.
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  I witnessed it myself.
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  Firefighters going in, those that weren't tasked with hoses and water, opening the pie
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  case and rescuing the pies.
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  I don't know if you know of this.
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  I don't know of that particular detail, but that's amazing.
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  It was remarkable to witness.
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  But I think to those firefighters responding, I do not recall when that fire must have been.
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  93, I believe.
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  Is it that?
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  Yeah.
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  And just the fact that the first responders had such a respect for the institution that
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  they would want to go, let's do a really good job of dousing this thing.
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  Let's get these people back open again.
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  Oh, save the pies.
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  I mean, important things, right?
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  They're really good pies.
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  I mean, it wasn't eat dessert first.
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  It was save dessert first.
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  You took over Governor's in what year?
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  2023.
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  And there's a story about a one year opportunity, a window or something there?
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  Yeah.
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  So, you know, born and raised here, went to school here, moved away.
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  Right.
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  A lot of people do that.
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  Chased a girl to Boston, lived down there, headed up going to grad school.
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  Raise your hand if you ever chased the wrong girl out of state.
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  Just two of us.
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  All right.
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  There's time, Dan.
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  There's time.
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  So, you know, that didn't work out and I was feeling a little homesick.
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  My sister and her husband just had a baby and I wanted to be close to my family.
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  So I'd reached out to Randy Wadley, the owner of Governor's at the time and said,
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  hey, you know, I'd love to use you as a reference.
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  I'm looking to try to come home.
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  And his response was, sure, you know, I'd love to.
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  But, you know, next time you're up, why don't you stop in and see me?
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  And so I did.
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  I was Thanksgiving, over Thanksgiving one year, I stopped in, we chatted and he said,
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  I don't know what exactly, but I'd love to try to figure out a way to get you back here.
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  And so he proposed to me, you know, I know I could fund this for a year.
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  You know, we could come back.
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  You'd be our marketing director and, you know, we'll see what happens and where it goes.
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  And so, sure, I'd love to come back.
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  Right.
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  And I really felt like, you know, spending that time in Boston, it was kind of like restaurant
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  finishing school.
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  I worked at a couple different concepts down there.
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  I learned a lot.
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  I mean, it was, you know, once was a startup and which has since kind of gone away.
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  But I was definitely coming back with some different experiences.
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  So, you know, that year went fast and, you know, here I am 14 years later.
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  Things worked out all right.
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  The different restaurants all have a different feel to them, but they all feel like governors.
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  We've never built a building other than Old Town.
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  Yeah.
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  I was amazed.
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  I've been in Waterville.
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  I've been in Vancouver.
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  I've been in Old Town.
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  I've been in Presque Isle.
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  But my first experience in Lewiston was this past year.
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  And it was almost like the, like a Twilight Zone thing where everything looked familiar
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  and the same and the personalities, I felt like I should know these people, but it was
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  different.
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  How do you do that?
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  Because it's not like McDonald's.
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  It's not, there's a definite personality to it.
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  I walked out of there that morning thinking, I don't know how Jason does this.
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  And was it something that was already sort of in place or have you had to sort of mold
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  it, shape it differently since you've taken over so that all of the governors sort of
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  speak the same language to all the patrons, but they're not exactly the same.
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  They're all unique in their own way.
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  Well, I think that, you know, I certainly couldn't have done that by myself.
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  And that's something that we've built over many years.
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  You know, I've been involved in countless others, you know, and it comes back to culture
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  and really developing, you know, what's your identity as a company.
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  You know, we want to be the place where people want to eat and dine, but also where people
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  want to work.
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  And it's a lot of competition in the restaurant business to be that, you know, and we're not
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  the, we're not the sexy restaurant, you know, downtown where people, you know, really want
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  to go work or want to go out on a date night.
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  We're, we're old and reliable, right?
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  Uh, so we, we need to create that culture and have a, uh, a place where, um, we're
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  dependable for our team.
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  We're there for them.
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  We give them opportunities to grow.
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  Uh, you know, we have standards that we hold people to and want to make sure that they
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  are delivering great experiences to our guests when they come in for me loaf or breakfast
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  or just a slice of pie, you know, and it's not easy, uh, and it's especially not easy
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  in these times.
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  It's been even more of a challenge since the pandemic.
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  But, uh, but you know, we, we really focus on that and work hard.
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  We're not driven by, uh, you know, the numbers per se.
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  I mean, we got to make money like everybody else, but, uh, if, if that means that we're
• 13:11
  investing in our people, uh, to do that, then it's worth it.
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  I'm going to be brave and recall her name, Kat with a K.
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  And I think she's a server on Broadway in Bangor.
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  And she's been there a long, long time.
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  I don't know how long, but a long time.
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  You're holding on to someone, they're, they're staying with you.
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  They're sticking with you.
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  Why?
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  Well, again, I think it's about the, the, the opportunities in the culture, right?
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  We've tried to, uh, create, you know, careers for people, which in our, in our industry,
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  it's hard.
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  You get the people who, you know, especially in old town, right?
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  Waterville, um, college kids coming in, going to school.
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  Um, I can't remember the amount of, uh, governor's babies that have come from people maybe meeting
• 14:02
  while they're in college.
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  They get together there, you know, they start a family.
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  I mean, it's, it's, it's a lot.
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  Um, but you know, also, you know, we have people who've been with us 40 years and we're
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  60 years old.
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  That's, you know, the majority of the lifespan of the company.
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  And, uh, we're so blessed to have those people because, you know, having that history and,
• 14:26
  and, and, you know, where we were and where we are now, and, and they're able to, uh,
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  be living proof of, you know, here, look, you can make a career here.
• 14:35
  Is there a fish tank at every location?
• 14:37
  No, um, there's not just, uh, actually.
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  There is in Lewiston.
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  There is in Lewiston, Old Town and Bangor.
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  There used to be one in Waterville and there just isn't a good spot for it there.
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  That's an old Howard Johnson's.
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  It's a second floor restaurant.
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  It's, it's a very unique building layout.
• 14:55
  Um, and so there's just not a really good spot for it.
• 14:58
  I mentioned in Lewiston, I felt like I know these people and I certainly feel that way
• 15:02
  at every location I've been in.
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  Is that something that they learn when they come to work for you?
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  Or is that something that you look for when you hire people that they are engaging and
• 15:14
  outgoing and the type of people that you just feel like you already know when you walk through
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  the door?
• 15:18
  Well, we try to, we try to hire for that, right?
• 15:21
  We can teach anybody how to, to bread clams or, or to serve guests and, and, uh, you know,
• 15:29
  that's a lot.
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  We, for years we were kind of known as like, Hey, you go get your start at governor's and
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  learn, learn the trips of the trade.
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  And then you move on to something else.
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  Um, you know, but, uh, uh, it's, it's hard, uh, to do that.
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  And sometimes you, uh, you have to try to teach culture and teach, you know, some of those
• 15:47
  skills as well.
• 15:48
  Um, and as the generations change, you know, you're, you're finding that you have to teach
• 15:53
  different things.
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  So, um, you know, we, we try to really look for that and, uh, and, and look, everybody
• 15:59
  else is looking for that too.
• 16:00
  Right.
• 16:00
  So, um, you know, training is, is huge, uh, for us and, and really trying to take advantage
• 16:06
  of what, how can we train people better?
• 16:09
  You know, how can we, how can we win a little bit on the margins when it comes to guest service
• 16:15
  and training that some other companies aren't focused on or don't have the capacity to do.
• 16:21
  Did you come out of COVID a little bit behind?
• 16:24
  Did you come out of COVID breaking even?
• 16:27
  Did you come out of COVID stronger?
• 16:30
  We were so lucky coming out of COVID.
• 16:32
  Honestly.
• 16:33
  Um, you know, we look, you know, sure.
• 16:36
  We were takeout only for three months.
• 16:39
  We didn't.
• 16:39
  Thank you for that, by the way.
• 16:41
  We did take out.
• 16:42
  I never, I'd never worked from home.
• 16:44
  We went to work every day.
• 16:46
  You know, we, we kept as many of our staff as we could.
• 16:49
  A lot of the, a lot of the service staff, um, you know, laid off just because, uh, you
• 16:56
  know, that's what everybody did.
• 16:57
  And, uh, and there were all kinds of programs for them out there, but a lot of them came
• 17:01
  back, um, as soon as we were able to call them back.
• 17:05
  But we were fairly busy doing takeout and, you know, we already had online ordering and
• 17:11
  DoorDash and, and all that stuff in place.
• 17:13
  So we were able to, to kind of pivot to some of that stuff pretty quickly and, and, uh,
• 17:20
  you know, make it work.
• 17:21
  Did that have you ahead of the curve?
• 17:22
  Do you think by having DoorDash and all that?
• 17:25
  I think so.
• 17:25
  I mean, it certainly, we didn't have to scramble as much as a lot of other places did.
• 17:30
  Um, you know, obviously there's a lot of support for our industry from the government and, uh,
• 17:35
  you know, we were able to take advantage of some of that stuff, but coming out of, you
• 17:39
  know, when we opened the doors, I mean, it was on, it was, you know, things were really
• 17:43
  good coming out of that.
• 17:44
  Uh, and, and the few years after that, you know, it was pretty good.
• 17:50
  So you have Governors and then Anglers presents itself to you as an opportunity.
• 17:56
  Yeah, that was, uh, that was kind of out of nowhere.
• 17:59
  You're never quite ready for something like that, I think.
• 18:01
  And, uh.
• 18:02
  And to let listeners know who don't know, you purchased Anglers.
• 18:06
  Yep.
• 18:07
  Restaurants.
• 18:07
  So a year, a little over a year ago, um, that opportunity had, had presented itself
• 18:12
  that, uh, Anglers, uh, and they had two locations.
• 18:15
  Uh, they used to have a location in Hamden.
• 18:17
  That one had closed before I got involved.
• 18:20
  So, uh, they have a location in Newport, a location in Searsport.
• 18:24
  And, uh, that, um, you know, uh, we looked at that and that was part of my, my own sort
• 18:31
  of business plan going into this thing is if there's opportunities to take on other
• 18:37
  restaurant companies that are similar, you know, you look at, you know, maybe ownership
• 18:42
  that's aging out, um, that doesn't have anybody that wants to take it on.
• 18:46
  Um, here's my opportunity to come in.
• 18:49
  We can utilize some of the resources that we have to operate those places.
• 18:53
  And what a great opportunity that was.
• 18:55
  I mean, that's, that's been great for us.
• 18:58
  Um, we're so lucky that, uh, really the majority of the team stayed on.
• 19:03
  Um, from day one, my, my thought was, you know, don't screw it up.
• 19:07
  Right.
• 19:08
  They've, they've got a good thing going here.
• 19:10
  It's a good business plan right there.
• 19:11
  Kind of is.
• 19:12
  Don't screw it up.
• 19:13
  A five-year plan.
• 19:14
  Yeah.
• 19:14
  And, uh, I mean, I don't know how many people asked us, uh, you know, oh, you're going to,
• 19:19
  he's going to be governor's now.
• 19:20
  Well, no, I mean, that's, Angler's has been around for 20 years.
• 19:23
  I mean, they do things pretty good.
• 19:26
  I mean, why should we change anything?
• 19:28
  So two Angler's locations, how many governor's locations?
• 19:31
  I own five of the six.
• 19:33
  Five.
• 19:33
  So five and two, seven, seven, seven.
• 19:36
  There's only one of you though.
• 19:38
  Well, there's one of me, but I have, I'm so lucky to have the team that I have.
• 19:42
  I mean, and, and really we look at it, you know, everyone that's kind of come up through
• 19:46
  the company.
• 19:47
  I mean, I have a director of operations that I work with when I was a general manager,
• 19:50
  Bangor years ago, uh, she was my assistant general manager.
• 19:54
  Um, so she's been with us for, for years.
• 19:57
  Um, I have a couple of, uh, folks that oversee, you know, multiple locations.
• 20:01
  They've been with us for one of them for 30 plus years, one of them for 15 years.
• 20:07
  I mean, you know, we're so lucky to have that in the team of people, our office team
• 20:12
  has been with us for, you know, a long time.
• 20:17
  I don't want to, I'm sure someone's wondering right now, and I do not know the answer to
• 20:21
  the question.
• 20:21
  Maybe, you know, the answer to the question, if it's okay to ask, what is the one location
• 20:24
  of governors that you do not own operate?
• 20:27
  The Presque Isle location, uh, it's a franchise.
• 20:30
  It's our only remaining franchise.
• 20:31
  So years ago, governor's franchised.
• 20:33
  And, uh, we had mostly locations in the Southern part of the state, uh, Westbrook, uh, Lewis
• 20:39
  and Original was a franchise.
• 20:41
  Uh, we had one in South Portland, one in Bidderford, uh, also one in Holton for a little bit.
• 20:46
  Oh, that's right.
• 20:47
  And, uh, um, you know, those didn't work out.
• 20:50
  Uh, I think what we found was that that model for us, it just didn't work.
• 20:55
  Um, except for Presque Isle because those people are awesome.
• 20:58
  My parents cheered when you opened in Presque Isle and I laid father, you know, why?
• 21:06
  Liver and onions.
• 21:07
  I kid you not right now.
• 21:09
  He's looking down from heaven going, you know, if only we had liver and onions up here, the
• 21:15
  way they have liver and onions at governors.
• 21:17
  And I'm sure that is going to bring that up here.
• 21:21
  Is Presque Isle like a, a monopoly board for you when you're just waiting to shake the
• 21:25
  dice and land on it and buy it?
• 21:26
  Uh, no, actually, um, it's, uh, I don't want to reveal anything, but, uh, there's going
• 21:31
  to, they're going to pass that on to, uh, the son of the owner, uh, at some point here
• 21:36
  in the future.
• 21:36
  And, uh, they're great partners.
• 21:38
  Okay.
• 21:39
  Cause when we're up to camp, you got the buffet on Sundays.
• 21:42
  Yep.
• 21:42
  My two kids won't want to get out of bed for anything in the morning, except dad, can we
• 21:47
  go to the buffet at governors?
• 21:49
  And by the time I get them there kind of toward the end.
• 21:52
  And so the waitress just says, clean it up, boys.
• 21:56
  And they do, you know, I liked you from the first day I met you.
• 22:01
  And I, one of the things that has always, there's not a however to that, however, well,
• 22:05
  it doesn't always happen.
• 22:06
  Listen, I'm going to tell you right now, I, I, I didn't know you at the time, but you
• 22:09
  know, going to college at the university of Maine back in 95, 96, you know, your show
• 22:15
  was on the campus television network every, so every Saturday night here we are tuning
• 22:20
  into the night show version one.
• 22:23
  I apologize for everything that I'm still here, Dan.
• 22:26
  So I know you are.
• 22:27
  Yeah.
• 22:28
  Well, I applaud you for that too, because clearly people can evolve, but you've always
• 22:32
  struck me as somebody who is kind, generous, hard worker, but what really impresses me
• 22:38
  that I can't figure out how you do.
• 22:40
  You never appear to be stressed.
• 22:42
  And I feel like restaurant ownership is possibly one of the more stressful jobs.
• 22:46
  You own seven.
• 22:48
  You're involved with the chamber.
• 22:49
  I see you at Maine basketball games.
• 22:51
  You always have the same sort of demeanor to you of calm, relaxed, outgoing, cheerful,
• 22:59
  except when Maine loses.
• 23:00
  And then I see a little hint of stress in your face.
• 23:02
  But other than that, I just, how do you silo these things off, sort of deal with the stress
• 23:08
  and then move on?
• 23:08
  How do you tackle that?
• 23:11
  Well, I guess I hide it.
• 23:12
  Well, my wife might disagree.
• 23:17
  Actually, it seemed a little stressful.
• 23:18
  I was asking a question that was.
• 23:21
  You know, the way I look at it, there's always something, there's always something going
• 23:25
  on.
• 23:25
  I'm open 24, seven, 264 days a year.
• 23:29
  You know, the only day that our restaurants are open are Christmas time.
• 23:33
  And, you know, my phone is, you see those memes of the business owner walk around on
• 23:38
  vacation, taking phone calls and stuff like that.
• 23:40
  And yeah, tag, I'm at, I guess, you know, my phone's always ringing or buzzing or whatnot.
• 23:46
  Is Jolene okay with that?
• 23:48
  Yeah, I think she is.
• 23:49
  By now, she better be.
• 23:52
  She knew what she was signing up for.
• 23:55
  So there's always something, what are you going to do about it?
• 23:58
  I mean, you fix a problem and you move on.
• 24:00
  And, you know, yes, there's things that keep me up at night, you know, making sure that
• 24:04
  in the middle of January and here's payroll and sales tax coming and, you know, there's,
• 24:11
  you know, snowstorms for the last five days and no one's coming out to eat, you know,
• 24:16
  how are you going to make that?
• 24:17
  And, you know, I've been just so lucky to be, first of all, taught by, you know, Randy
• 24:24
  Wadley, who really, you know, mentored me and still does.
• 24:28
  And, you know, make sure that you take care of yourself first, but be ready for stuff
• 24:34
  that's going to pop up.
• 24:35
  And, you know, that's, you got to be prepared for that and know that there's going to be
• 24:41
  something that always pops up.
• 24:42
  So, you know, we try to plan and score all things away when you can, you know, it's
• 24:48
  summertime in Maine, things are all right.
• 24:50
  So, you know, putting money in the savings account because, you know, January is coming.
• 24:55
  So, you know, that helps, I think, deal with the stress a little bit as we try to be prepared
• 25:00
  for whatever comes our way.
• 25:01
  If there were two times a year that Governor's probably gets really, really busy still to
• 25:05
  this day, I will say one is tournament time.
• 25:08
  When still to this day, because the Eastern or maybe Western Maine basketball, they still
• 25:14
  call it Eastern and Western.
• 25:15
  I know they changed the classifications, but I'll say that the experience I've always
• 25:19
  seen is that that week in February during the high school basketball tournament, Governor's
• 25:24
  became a destination.
• 25:25
  Still that way?
• 25:26
  It's not like it was, but it's still, I mean, that's a busy week.
• 25:29
  I mean, I think about it, people are finally, hey, have an excuse to get out of the house
• 25:33
  and spend some money.
• 25:35
  Taxes are coming back.
• 25:37
  You know, people have a little bit of money to spend, you want to get out of the house
• 25:41
  with the kids and vacation week.
• 25:42
  So that's, you know, that's usually the light at the end of the tunnel for winter time in
• 25:47
  Maine.
• 25:47
  And the other one is the last time you and I had a chance to talk is lobster roll day
• 25:51
  where you literally sometimes call in the local police department to help handle traffic
• 25:57
  around Governor's location.
• 25:59
  Now, if there was a time where we think we'd see you maybe a little stressed, would be
• 26:06
  on lobster all day.
• 26:07
  Yeah.
• 26:08
  I mean, it's definitely an event that takes a lot of planning and preparation.
• 26:14
  We've done that for 18 years now, I think is, you know, we started on the 50th anniversary
• 26:20
  of Governor's.
• 26:20
  The only year we didn't do lobster all day was 2020.
• 26:23
  And so we kind of have it down.
• 26:25
  We've got a pretty good plan of attack for that.
• 26:28
  You know, we'll be, we're already talking to vendors about making purchases for lobster
• 26:33
  meat for next year, just so that we can get pricing locked in and all that stuff.
• 26:38
  But, you know, we're-
• 26:39
  Was there ever a year that there wasn't enough crustacean to go around?
• 26:41
  Never supply problems, but always what's the price going to be?
• 26:46
  You know, sometimes, you know, it's been the last couple of years, it's been higher,
• 26:50
  which what else isn't higher?
• 26:51
  But still the least expensive around.
• 26:53
  What was the price this past year?
• 26:54
  $11.67 in honor of our 60th anniversary.
• 26:58
  How many lobster rolls did you go through this year?
• 27:01
  This year we sold just under 19,000.
• 27:04
  Wow.
• 27:04
  How many did you go through, Dan?
• 27:06
  I didn't go through any.
• 27:07
  Oh, what?
• 27:08
  No, I've never been there on lobster all day.
• 27:11
  I don't-
• 27:11
  Go ahead, flip the table, Jason.
• 27:12
  This conversation is over.
• 27:13
  I'm the only Mainer that has never been there on lobster all day.
• 27:17
  And it's not the weight.
• 27:18
  It is not the-
• 27:20
  When you say weight, you mean not W-E-I-G-H-T.
• 27:23
  Some years it's been that, I got to admit.
• 27:26
  No, it's that I like lobster rolls, but they're not my favorite.
• 27:33
  Dan, I've never eaten a lobster roll in my life.
• 27:35
  What?
• 27:35
  Seriously.
• 27:36
  It's not my thing.
• 27:37
  You and me should have a lobster roll eating competition some year.
• 27:41
  Wait, you've never eaten one in your life, but you said it's not your thing.
• 27:43
  How do you know it's not your thing if you've never eaten one?
• 27:45
  Do you have an allergy or something?
• 27:46
  I've tried lobster.
• 27:47
  If I'm going to spend that kind of money on something, it's going to be a steak.
• 27:51
  So wait a minute.
• 27:53
  You've had lobster, but you haven't had it in lobster roll form.
• 27:56
  That tastes much different than a lobster.
• 27:58
  My world has turned upside down.
• 28:01
  Rick, can you get Paul to go get us a couple of lobster rolls and Jason and I can-
• 28:04
  Time to do this now?
• 28:05
  Probably not.
• 28:06
  No, I like lobster rolls, but I have to be in the mood for it.
• 28:10
  It's one of those foods.
• 28:11
  I have never met a meal I don't like.
• 28:13
  Well, I will say that-
• 28:14
  Liver and onions?
• 28:16
  I like liver and onions.
• 28:18
  It was my brother's go-to in high school.
• 28:21
  Talk about a nerd.
• 28:22
  I mean, honestly, ask him about it next time.
• 28:25
  I will, I will, I will.
• 28:27
  The hot buttered roll makes anything like that, right?
• 28:31
  And I'm a bread guy.
• 28:32
  I love bread.
• 28:33
  So you put anything in a hot buttered roll and it's probably going to be all right.
• 28:39
  My mouth is watering now while we're talking about it.
• 28:42
  I feel like we need to rectify this at some point and you have to try one because I do
• 28:47
  think I like lobster.
• 28:48
  I like lobster rolls.
• 28:50
  I like them both when the day is right.
• 28:51
  But I feel like they are very different tastes.
• 28:55
  Would you agree with this, Rick?
• 28:56
  X gets the square.
• 28:57
  I agree.
• 28:58
  We'll have to do that sometime.
• 29:00
  You guys can eat the lobster rolls.
• 29:01
  I'll eat the offerings out of the pastry case on the way in, including the triple layer
• 29:07
  chocolate peanut butter cake.
• 29:10
  Is that the biggest dessert somewhere?
• 29:12
  Or maybe a whoopie pie?
• 29:13
  I'm not sure which.
• 29:14
  Yeah, that's right up there.
• 29:15
  I mean, chocolate peanut butter cake, chocolate chip cookies, whoopie pies.
• 29:19
  The no-bakes.
• 29:20
  The no-bakes, I was just going to say are to die for.
• 29:23
  Peanut butter no-bakes are my favorite.
• 29:24
  Peanut butter no-bakes move faster than the chocolate no-bakes?
• 29:27
  They're about the same.
• 29:28
  I have a friend, went to UMaine, now lives in Virginia.
• 29:32
  Every time he comes here, he has to go to Governor's for no-bakes.
• 29:35
  If he doesn't, it's a colossal failure.
• 29:37
  Lifelong friend, Chris McCowsky, author, just came up for a three-day vacation and it was
• 29:43
  his second stop.
• 29:44
  First, it was a bathroom on the way up.
• 29:46
  Second, then he made his way to Governor's.
• 29:48
  Governor's has bathrooms.
• 29:49
  I'll tell you what he came to Governor's and he wanted.
• 29:51
  He wanted a Hawaiian pizza and I don't know if those are still on the menu.
• 29:57
  No.
• 29:57
  The menu has evolved.