Pandemic pals
Weather guru Frankie MacDonald makes Zoom friendships
HALIFAX — A young man from Ontario says Cape Breton meteorological guru Frankie MacDonald has been helping him weather the pandemic with Zoom calls they’re making to celebrities.
Introduced by a mutual friend, the pair – who both have autism – hatched their plan after the lockdown started.
“Alex Singleton from the Philadelphia Eagles, actor Vincent M. Ward from The Walking Dead, Heather Rankin from the Rankin Family, Premier Stephen McNeil, and Actor Keith Coogan all have Zoomed us so far – we are hoping to have Sidney Crosby Zoom us next,” said Hamilton’s Dylan Atack.
“Frankie sure knows how to light up the room and put a smile on everyone’s face.”
Atack, normally an equipment assistant with the Hamilton Tiger Cats, had been looking for other ways to occupy his time as the Canadian Football League isn’t playing this year.
“Our friendship started a couple of months ago,” the 31-year-old said of MacDonald, 36.
“He sent me a copy of his book, Be Prepared, and that’s how we started our friendship. Frankie has meant so much to me. He is truly an inspiration because I have autism and I look up to him. Him and I will Zoom every single week. And we started a fun project to see how many celebrities we can get Zooming us as we pass the time.”
On Sunday they chatted with Jayne Eastwood, the Gemini Award-winning Canadian actress who has taken on hundreds of television and film roles from geography teacher Miss Wimsey in Hairspray, to the neighbour across the hall in Chicago and the foster mother in Anne of Green Gables.
“She played the waitress in the Santa Clause movie,” Atack said.
Last week they Zoomed with Keith Coogan.
“He was in Adventures in Babysitting and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” said Atack. “And his grandfather is Jack Coogan and he has a star on the Walk of Fame.”
MacDonald said he really enjoyed meeting Vincent Ward from The Walking Dead. “I tell them all the weather in their area,” he said of the celebrity calls.
He also got a kick out of chatting with the premier. “I told him to dress warm when he was golfing on the weekend,” MacDonald said.
It’s “plain and simple” how Atack organizes the Zoom calls with celebrities.
“I do all the emailing and I say you’ve got to meet Frankie MacDonald and I send them the link of when Frankie predicted the earthquake in New Zealand back in 2016.”
That’s Atack’s favourite
Frankie forecast. “I was just astonished how his prediction came true.”
Chatting regularly with MacDonald, an amateur weather forecaster with millions of views on YouTube, has helped Atack stay social during the pandemic.
“It was pretty hard not seeing friends and family, but I’ve come to the realization you must keep doing your part to play it safe,” Atack said. “And by Zooming Frankie has really made an impact on my life.”
Frankie is often the draw for celebrities, Atack said. “Every time we go on Zoom he’s always ready to show his
action figure and his talking bobblehead and his book. We’ve got it down pat.”
Their Zoom chat with Nova Scotia’s premier went well, Atack said. “He was very nice and actually his office is sending Frankie and I Tshirts.”
Heather Rankin talked to them about music. “I grew up listening to the Rankin Family,” Atack said. “We were singing some songs and we talked about the restaurant they own – The Red Shoe Pub.”
On Tuesday’s agenda they plan to Zoom former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne. “I’m good friends with her,”
Atack said.
They also have Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in their sights. Atack is working on two Nova Scotia MPs to make that happen – Jaime Battiste of Sydney-Victoria and Andy Fillmore, who represents Halifax in the House of Commons. “They both think it’s a tremendous idea so they’re working hard on it for me,” Atack said.
He’s still waiting to hear back from the Pittsburgh Penguins about chatting with Crosby.
“I met Crosby (in Buffalo) right before the pandemic started back in March,” Atack said. “I gave him a Tiger Cats football helmet. He’s a very nice guy. Crosby actually gave me his stick that he played with in Los Angeles back in February.”
MacDonald hopes to Zoom hockey stars Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in the future. He also has former U.S. president Barack Obama on his wish list.
“I’ll be showing him my action figures and my bobblehead,” MacDonald said of Obama.
MacDonald said he also wants to chat with more movie stars. “Kevin Hart could be extremely funny and Melissa McCarthy could be another funny one.”