Bob Flaherty’s voice is familiar to anyone who tunes into WHMP, where he and Denise Vozella host an early-morning news show from 6 to 9 a.m. Flaherty, who has been at the station for nearly six years, is known for his lively commentary on local news; he won the 2014 Radio Personality of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association.
He’s also a big believer in giving back to the area he’s called home since moving here from Boston in 1981. Last week, he bicycled 50 miles as part of the Western Massachusetts Food Bank’s annual “Will Bike For Food” ride to raise money to fight hunger.
But on Oct. 6 at Zing! Table Tennis in Easthampton, Flaherty, who’s 67, will take fundraising to the next level: He will take on all challengers in ping pong for 12 hours — 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. — to raise money for the local resettling of refugees, a collaborative effort by different groups that’s called Welcome Home Northampton. He’ll get some help from a few others, like his wife, Annemarie, an acupressurist who can keep his muscles loose.
We sat down recently to talk with Flaherty, who lives in South Hadley, about his plan, which he has advertised by appearing in a picture with a headband and a long-haired wig — the better to invoke John McEnroe when the former tennis star was nicknamed “Superbrat” and regularly screamed “You cannot be serious!” at umpires for their calls.
Easthampton Savings Bank is the event’s main sponsor, while Sylvester’s Restaurant and Cooper’s Corner/State Street Deli are “business donors” that will double the $50 donation for anyone who beats Flaherty in a best of three games.
Morning routine: “I’m out of bed at 3. I have breakfast at the station at 4 while I’m editing and doing prep. I always eat a big bowl of Raisin Bran, every day, without fail. Then I get off the air at 9 o’clock, and I have to have breakfast again.” (Usually a bagel or sandwich.)
How will that routine differ the morning of Pong-a-thon? And what will you eat during the day? “I’ll probably do some carbo-loading that morning because I won’t be able to sit down for a meal. My food intake is going to be from grazing, snacks, that kind of thing.”
How did you come up with the idea of Pong-a-thon?“You can’t just say, ‘Hey, donate to this cause.’ You have to do something that no one else is going to do. Ping pong is a fun game; it’s very hard to play well, but it’s also a game that anyone can play.
“The way we’ve set this up, you can play a game for $15 as a basic donation. If you challenge me, it will cost you $50. If you beat me, then our sponsors … will double that.”
What prompted you to want to raise money for refugee resettlement? Was it the anti-immigrant rhetoric we’ve heard over the past few years? “My general take on this is to grab my microphone and make up poems about deporting Donald Trump. But how effective is that?
“But I’d followed the stories in the Gazette about refugee resettlement, and I’ve been impressed by the work of Catholic Charities and Welcome Home Northampton. And what’s most inspiring is Northampton itself, that we live in a place that’s got a big heart. This is America, the America [refugees] will know. This isn’t the America on TV of flames and gunfire. This is the America of Child’s Park and the Oxbow and Hospital Hill and the Young at Heart Chorus.”
What kind of ping pong player are you?“I’ve been playing a long time but I’m not very good — my grandkids beat me now. But I’m getting better. Noel [Abbott, the owner of Zing!] has refined my game a bit. I can return things that I couldn’t before. The game is all about spin — you have to change the angle of your paddle to neutralize the spin.”
You’ve already lined up some celebrity challengers, like Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, so it would seem being at WHMP gives you some clout. What do you like best about that job? “I get to do satire; it’s fun to do a skilled and witty diatribe where you can bring music and quotes and other things into the mix. And with interviews, you’re challenged to come up with something different every day. If you can put people at ease, they’ll tell you stuff that can surprise both them and you.”
What’s the worst part of the job? “Getting up at 3 a.m.”
You’re been at WHMP for six years, and before that you were a columnist and reporter for the Gazette. But you’ve had many other jobs over the years — can you describe a few? “A lot of my jobs would be what you would call soul damaging [laughs]. One example: I used to stock vending machines. This would have to happen at 2 in the morning because you can’t do it while people are using them. It was hideous — long, long days: You had a lot of money to keep track of; and the machines would break down and create angry customers.
“But for eight years I also drove a wheelchair van for the Amherst Council on Aging. I’d been what you’d call anti-social, but that job cured me. I learned an awful lot about people — and I made some friends for life. That more than anything else changed me and helped me get to where I am now.”
Visit facebook.com/events/172007566704753/ for more information on Flaherty’s fundraising event.