With the 2024 presidential election just a week away, we're revisting then-President Barack Obama’s visit to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York on September 21, 2009. The episode features a conversation with guest Tom Wade, former Rensselaer County Democratic Committee chairman, about his memories of the president’s visit and speech on the HVCC campus.

Wade explains the bipartisan spirit around the president’s visit, his relationship with then-Rensselaer County Republican Committee chairman Jim Walsh, and the nature of national politics during the start of President Obama’s first term. He also recalls his own early years attending HVCC in the 1960s.

Were you at President Obama's speech at Hudson Valley Community College? We'd love to hear from you! Drop us a line at mail@troystorypod.com

Show Notes:

• VIDEO: President Obama Speaks at Hudson Valley Community College (Obama White House Archive)
• VIDEO: Presidential Remarks on the Economy (C-SPAN)
• Times Union: President Obama at HVCC (via Internet Archive)
• PHOTOS: President Obama Addresses Community College Students In Troy, New York (Getty Images)

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Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

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55 years after the Stonewall riots—a moment widely recognized as the flashpoint for what became the LGBTQ rights movement—the Collar City held its first ever Pride Fest at Riverfront Park in downtown Troy in 2024. The event was organized by Collar City Pride, a Rensselaer County-based nonprofit that offers peer support, training, and social services for LGBTQIA2S+ individuals.

We're fortunate to have the founder of Collar City Pride, Meagon Nolasco (they/them) on the podcast to discuss the inaugural Troy Pride Festival, lessons they learned and what’s ahead for the organization and festival for 2025.

Meagon also dissects the City Council’s 2024 vote on Pride Month, and the importance of speaking out on local issues affecting Troy’s LGBTQ community.

Show Notes:

• Collar City Pride
• Pride Center of the Capital Region
• In Our Own Voices
• Mayor Madden Issues First-Ever Pride Proclamation in Troy (Photos, Video)
• Troy City Council Votes on 2024 Pride Month Resolution
• Meagon Nolasco addresses Troy council members on Pride Month resolution

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Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)

Joe Moses discusses his family’s roots in Georgia, Ohio, and Kingston, his dad’s service with the U.S. Navy during WWII and later the Troy Police Department beginning in 1955, and his own experience growing up in Troy, including his time attending Doyle Middle School and Troy High.

Portions of the interview draws on Joe’s recollections of conversations with his dad, including about his time with—and subsequent departure from—the Troy Police Department. Joe also explains his desire to understand his own family’s multi-generational history, and his own personal journey that began in the Taylor Apartments to eventually running the Parks and Recreation Department for a Texas city of a quarter million people.

Show Notes:

• Officer Samuel Moses (Troy Police Department)
• Honoring Troy’s first black police officer (News10 ABC)
• Obituary: Samuel L. Moses (1925-2019) LINK

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Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)

Joe Moses — the son of Officer Samuel Moses, the first Black police officer to serve in the Troy Police Department beginning in 1955 — recalls his dad’s relationship with Charlie King, the Collar City's second Black police officer and detective.

New episode coming August 2024.

Subscribe for email updates on upcoming guests, chapters, and special bonus content.

Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)

In this episode, Mike shares his personal history with the Boy Scouts, the details of his Eagle Scout project, how he began his career in journalism, and where he sees the future of scouting in America following the most recent developments in the Boy Scouts’ evolution as a youth organization to embrace inclusion. Mike also explains what he sees as the cyclical nature of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation, and John briefly recaps the final vote total by the Troy City Council on the annual LGBTQ Pride Month proclamation (spoiler alert: it wasn’t unanimous).

“Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—And America“ is available now, wherever books are sold.

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Show Notes:

• NPR: After years of scandal, Boy Scouts of America changes its name to Scouting America
• Troy Record: RITTNER: Troy and the Boy Scouts, Part 1 and Part 2

Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)

With Pride Month underway, we're diving into an often-forgotten part of American LGBTQ+ history, expertly told by Mike De Socio, Troy-based independent journalist, podcaster, and author of the new book “Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—And America” which documents the fight to end a decades-long ban on gay people from the Boy Scouts of America.

“Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—And America“ is available now, wherever books are sold.

Subscribe for email updates on upcoming guests, chapters, and special bonus content.

Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)

In this preview clip, Mike De Socio (author of the excellent new book “Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—And America”) discusses the continued evolution of the Boy Scouts of America and the organization’s embrace of inclusion, and what he sees as the cyclical nature of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation. John also notes the final vote by the Troy City Council on the annual Pride Month proclamation.

Full episode coming June 2024.

“Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—And America“ is available June 4, 2024, wherever books are sold.

Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)

In this bonus segment, Tri-City ValleyCats vice president and general manager Matt Callahan discusses the history of bobbleheads in minor league baseball, the ValleyCats' process behind deciding who will be permanently immortalized as a member of the team's bobblehead lineup, and the roots of the 'Mayor's Race' event familiar to Capital Region baseball fans.

Subscribe for email updates on upcoming guests and bonus content.

Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

Visit troystorypod.com for upcoming episodes, guests, and bonus content.

Connect with Troy Story on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter)