Feb. 11, 2025

Flop the Penguin's big comeback

Show Notes
Transcript

Join Johnny Mac as he shares five uplifting stories that will brighten your day. In this episode, meet Jack, a 100-year-old man who walks five blocks daily to visit his wife Stella in a care facility. Learn about the remarkable rescue of stranded pilot whales in New Zealand by over a thousand volunteers. Discover the amazing story of Mackenzie, whose message in a bottle from 26 years ago was found by a student at her old school. Celebrate Flop the penguin's triumphant recovery with the help of innovative zookeepers. Finally, enjoy the amusing tale of an escaped cow that roamed Kansas City before being safely returned. Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed! You also get 20+ other shows on the network ad-free!

00:00 Introduction and First Good News Story: Jack's Journey
01:05 Rescue Mission: Saving Stranded Whales in New Zealand
01:34 Message in a Bottle: A 26-Year-Old Surprise
03:05 Flop the Penguin's Comeback
04:08 Escaped Cow's Adventure in Kansas City
04:48 Conclusion: Spreading Smiles with Good News

5 Good News Stories is a daily podcast with five positive, uplifting news stories to brighten your day. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network

John also hosts Daily Comedy News

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Calaroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Johnny Mack with five

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few news stories. Let me tell you about Jackie's one

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hundred years old and he rarely goes on a five

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block walk to get to where he wants to go.

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That's to the care home where his wife, Stella lives.

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Jack said, I asked God to help me with my movement,

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help me with my walking, because I walk there and back.

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They met nineteen forty seven. He was getting a ride

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from Winnipeg to Sandy Lake. She was getting a ride too,

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and they hit it off. Jack remembers Stella turned around

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and kissed me. They were married three years later. They've

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been together ever since up until about a year ago.

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Stella had to move out of the retirement home to

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a care facility. Their daughter, Alexander, said, he really misses

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her and she really misses him, and he likes to

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pretend sometimes that she's here, but he knows that she's not,

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so he goes to see her whenever he can. Sometimes

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he gets a ride, sometimes he walks. Jack says, when

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I make my mind up, I just dress up and

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I'm going. I don't care what anybody says. Takes them

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a half hour to get there. They've been together for

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seventy five years. In New Zealand, over thirty pilot wales

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stranded themselves on a beach. Over a thousand volunteers and

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professionals that came to carry them back out to see

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on sheets. Rescue efforts saw almost all the pilot whale survive.

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Three adults in one calf did pass away. A Maori

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ceremony was held to honor their spirits. Joel works for

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the Department of Conservation and said it's amazing to witness

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the genuine care and compassion people have shown towards these

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magnificent animals. The response demonstrates the deep connection we all

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share with our marine environment. Got another message in a

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bottle for you. Back in nineteen ninety eight, a fourth

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grader name Mackenzie typed and printed a letter, rolled it up,

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stuck in a bottle. Canzie tossed the bottle in the lake,

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grew up, got married, had kids. Twenty six years later,

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a student at the same school found the bottle. McKenzie said,

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I got a phone call from the school secretary and

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she said, do you have a couple of minutes. What's

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this about? Kenzy said, typically when the school calls and

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asked that question, you're pretty frightened as parent, but she said, oh,

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it's good news. I just need you for a few moments.

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We found a letter you wrote, and I think you're

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going to want to hear this. A student named River

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found the bottle. River opened the bottle and read the

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undated letter inside, which said, this letter is coming from

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Mackenzie and I go to Saint John the Baptist's School.

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I'm in grade four and mister Saint Pierre's class ps

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please contact us at Saint John the Baptist School. River

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is a kindergartener at that very same school. That's amazing.

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He brought it with him to school. A teacher read

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it out to a group of fourth graders. One of

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the fourth graders Mackenzie's daughter. That's amazing. Scarlet said, my

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mouth completely dropped and everybody was like, who's that and

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I was like, it's my mom. They tracked down mister

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Saint Pierre. He's now retired, but he remembers coming up

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with the idea after his class read Paddle to the Sea.

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That's a children's book that tells the story of a

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handcarved canoe that travels from the headwaters of the Great

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Lakes through the Saint Lauris Seaway to the ocean. He

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instructed his students to write letters introducing themselves and explaining

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what they've learned about the Great Lakes the book. Some

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of the bottles were found within a few months, others

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remained in the lake for more than two decades. Meanwhile,

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good news for Flop the penguin. Flop the penguin had

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lost her ability to waddle. She's now learned to stand

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on her own feet again. Thanks to an idea from

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a zoo keeper. The zookeeper made a specially designed baby bouncer.

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Flop was hatch last April and was reared by the

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crew at the Dudley Zoo. Mom penguin had passed away.

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Dad penguin started leaving the nest for a long periods

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of time. Flop wound up developing a limp, and within

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twenty four hours she couldn't support her own weight. Staff

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came up with the idea of using the penguin equivalent

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of a baby bouncer, which they had made for her.

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They constructed a treadmill and adapted a baby walker for

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the penguin. Leaving her an upright position for supervised periods

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of time to get her used to standing again. Gradually,

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Flop started using her feet to push herself up, lifting

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her head and stumbling forward, and eventually began standing upright

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by herself. The zoo said, Flop will always be smaller

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and lighter than the rest of our penguins, and the

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slight hunch in her back will probably never completely disappear.

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But thanks to her determination and the dedication of her

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bird Keeper's Flop has found her wattle and these are

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always fun. Good news. We found your cow. I always

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liked doing these. Multiple agencies responded when an escape cow

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took a stroll through Kansas City and even paid a

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visit to the Kansas City University campus. KSU police set

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on social media that officers responded to an utterly unique call,

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I see what you did there, University police report. With

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some careful maneuvering and maybe a please move along requests,

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responders were able to safely get the cow into a trailer.

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Oh that's good. There's a very funny picture here. Uh.

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It's on the Instagram page of the Kansas City University

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Police Department, and it's just this cow. It's very funny.

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All right, silly show. I'm having a good time. That's

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the idea here right, Five good news stories in and

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out make you smile, Go have an awesome day.