New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
On May 8th, New Bedford grandmother Irene Beauregard of New Bedford will turn 90-years young.
Beauregard’s granddaughter Katelyn wanted to make sure the special day was recognized but knew that during the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing guidelines meant that a birthday part with dozens of family and friends would not be a possibility.
So Katelyn’s creative juices kicked in and she decided to contact the producers of one of her grandmother’s favorite shows “Today with Hoda & Jenna” on NBC to see if they would do a birthday “shoutout,” something very popular on TV and radio shows. Typically, these shoutouts are quick, 2 seconds long well-wishes and the host moves on to other segments.
Not this time.
Hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager fell in love with grandma Beauregard’s story and decided it was worth much more than a simple “Happy Birthday!” Instead, they called the unsuspecting Irene in the middle of their live broadcast. “Since you can’t be with your grandchildren, I thought ‘Why don’t we try FaceTime?” said co-host Jenna Hager.
As you might guess the 90-year old Irene as flabbergasted and elated when she picked up the phone. But the surprise did not end after they exchanged a few words. A correspondent of the show was actually outside Iren’s door with gifts: flowers, balloons, a Red Sox jersey that says “Nana” on the back and tickets to the next Red Sox game when sports return.
There are no words that can put Iren’s response into perspective so we’ll let the video speak for itself:
