Newburyport, MA
August 17, 2019
One of the “grannies” from the community TV show “Two Grannies on the Road” is coming to liven things up in Newburyport, Newbury and West Newbury this weekend.
Plymouth grannies Beth Sobiloff and Debbie Thelen, with six and 13 grandchildren respectively, are on a mission to visit every city and town in Massachusetts, and to inspire other baby boomers to follow their passions along the way. And the next stop is close to home.
On Sunday, Aug. 18, Sobiloff and her husband Roger Jones (no Thelen this time) will be coming to West Newbury, Newbury and Newburyport to kayak, explore the area and meet with a member of the Lighthouse Preservation Society.
The “Two Grannies” tape their show on Plymouth Area Community Television, but the programs can also be viewed on Youtube.com.
Sobiloff encourages residents to look for her while she’s in the area, and to offer suggestions for places to visit through the Two Grannies Facebook page. And she doesn’t rule out the possibility of coming back to Greater Newburyport again, maybe with her TV show partner Debbie Thelen next time.
“We get there and we find out things about the place and things about the people and then we end up going back,” Sobiloff said.
For Sobiloff, who created her own web design business at the age of 52, and Thelen, who opened a candy shop after her retirement, traveling presents an opportunity to prove to others of their generation that it is possible to start a new career, hobby or adventure at any age.
“We started seeing that a lot of friends our age were getting laid off from jobs and couldn’t get rehired, or retired and didn’t know what do with themselves,” said Sobiloff.
Now, the two grannies take their show around the country, seeing the sights, meeting and interviewing baby boomers who have reinvented themselves and then turning their adventures into episodes for their viewers. Plus, they have some fun while doing it.
“Hopefully it’s setting an example for people,” said Sobiloff seriously, then joked that “it might be illegal how much fun we have.”
But that fun doesn’t come without its fair share of work. While Sobiloff originally hoped to find sponsors for her road trip, nothing materialized.
Now, she manages all the editing for “Two Grannies on the Road,” and the two grannies produce the show themselves in Plymouth, where they live.
But they’re used to figuring things out on their own.
“The original dream was to travel across the country and figure out a way to run my web design business and meet other grannies,” said Sobiloff.
From meeting actor Steve Carell in Marshfield to interviewing local chefs, the two grannies have more than succeeded. And they have no intention of slowing down.
“Once we’re done with Massachusetts, we’ll probably do the rest of New England, and then the rest of the country,” said Sobiloff.
For now, you can keep an eye out for Sobiloff and Jones when they hit the streets of West Newbury, Newbury and Newburyport.
For more on the web: https://twogranniesontheroad.com.