Father-son team: The McGillivrays team up to vaccinate the masses

Apr. 18—Outside of grocery and liquor stores, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on practically everyone and everything, including the business of race director and promoter extraordinaire Dave McGillivray.

McGillivray has done it all over the last three decades when it comes to putting on events and races, from the Olympic Marathon, to dozens of triathlons, to the Boston Marathon and, of course, locally, the Feaster Five Road Race.

The 35 events scheduled for 2020, mostly road races, that his business, DMSE, puts on each year were cancelled.

And, for the most part, the vast majority of those same events were canceled early, again, in 2021 when it became clear, even if possible the events wouldn't draw flies never mind thousands of participants.

But all has not been lost on the Boston Marathon and Feaster Five race director.

Dave realized his son, Ryan McGillivray, was more than a hard-worker fields' superintendent with nearly two decades of experience. Ryan, he learned, was gifted in other areas.

Ryan also had an awakening about his dad. He wondered if those incredible stories about his dad's exploits as a tenacious organizer might've been underappreciated.

And, indirectly, with these two working side by side, a half million vaccinated Massachusetts residents at Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, Reggie Lewis Center and the Hynes Auditorium might consider this the best local tandem since David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

On Christmas Eve, 2020, McGillivray was contacted by CIC Health, a company that was hired by the state to oversee the COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. CIC Health collaborates private and public entities to streamline and expedite operations to meet public health challenges.

They heard about McGillivray's extensive 30-year record of organizing events, often times with thousands of participants.

It was a welcome opportunity for McGillivray's company after a rough nine-plus months.

Their "pivot" from road races over that span was to drive-in movies and high school graduations.

As for movies, they rented space at Suffolk Downs and the Hingham Shipyard, hired a subcontractor to put up a big screen and the DMSE crew made sure everybody was spaced out.

They also helped organize high school graduations in Dover, Norwich, Conn. and Ridgefield, with people staying near the cars hearing the ceremony over a public address system and directing traffic.

Easy stuff for DMSE. Also some good old-fashioned creative American ingenuity.

That's where Ryan, who joined the family business in Sept. of 2019, comes in.

"He was all over the phones, using his contacts," recalled Dave. "He was super-aggressive in trying to get some business. It was impressive."

Two weeks after the call from CIC Health, Dave signed a contract for DMSE to oversee the operations for helping Massachusetts get vaccinated, first at Gillette Stadium; then Fenway Park; then Reggie Lewis Center and lastly Hynes Auditorium.

All were locations Dave has a history with.

They mapped out where people would enter the facilities, check-in, go to the next checkpoint, wait until their name was called, get the vaccine, rest 15 minutes and go home.

Of course, it sounds easier that it was.

"We didn't have anything to go from. There was no blueprint to start with," said Dave. "We were creating this from scratch."

At Gillette things went so well using the west side of the Putnam Club, with more than 3,000 people getting vaccinated every day, that Ryan was gifted with the responsibility of doing the same thing on the Putnam Club on the east side.

Within a few weeks, they were up to 7,000 vaccinations per day, and that was in conjunction with Fenway Park, which ended a few days before the Red Sox arrived after spring training, and the Reggie Lewis Center was added to help facilitate the vaccine, now at 2,200 per day, in that part of Boston.

Two weeks ago, the Hynes Auditorium was added to the DMSE/McGillivray mix. That has been the best locale of them all, already at approximately 7,200 vaccinations per day.

Ironically, Hynes would have been packed this weekend, particularly today, with a huge Boston Marathon expo where runners pick up their bibs and goodie bags.

Dave would be making a pitstop or two there. Instead, Ryan is the McGillivray rep at Hynes.

"The Hynes is great because it's a huge room," said Ryan. "We have maximized every single square inch. FEMA brought in the Navy to help administer the shots. The sailors are in uniform. It's pretty cool to see."

Vaccines are offered seven days a week at Gillette, Reggie Lewis and Hynes Auditorium, 10 to 12 hours a day during the week, and usually eight hours on the weekends.

They passed 600,000 vaccines last week over the four locations.

"They have been an incredible group to work with, Dave's entire team," said CIC Health VP of marketing, Rodrigo Martinez. "Things happen that you don't expect. I remember the first time it rained at Gillette. Ryan was there. it was hectic because lines were forming outside. It got crowded inside at registration.

"The next day it rained again, but they had umbrellas ready," said Martinez. "They expanded the capacity inside. Everything moved smoothly. They have a we-will-figure-this-out mentality. There will be bumps, and there were bumps, but Dave, Ryan and everyone would have the same attitude, like 'We got it.' And they have."

The well-oiled DMSE machine has allowed Dave to spend more time with his Boston Marathon duties, which is sponsoring a virtual 5K and 1 mile races this weekend.

Ryan was elevated to manager of warehouse and equipment operations. Ryan's wife, Courtney McGillivray, who was a senior manager with Boston Senior Healthcare, joined DMSE as an executive assistant a month ago, but during this vaccination tour she took over Ryan's previous duties at Gillette.

"The biggest thing I've learned from my dad is not to accept failure," said Ryan. "Learn and grow. He has a few sayings that I like a lot that I've adapted into my life. 'My game. My rules.'

"He's always said, 'My greatest accomplishment is my next one,'" said Ryan. "I try to look at things that way. I also call him a lot to pick his brain. It drives my wife crazy sometimes. He usually knows the answer."

Dad has learned some, too.

"Ryan came to races with me when he was very young, but was never into running and never really seemed interested," said Dave. "He has followed his own career path, cutting grass when he was 12 years old in our neighborhood, little league fields, and really took to landscaping and the sports turf business.

"I had no idea of his skill sets, discipline and passion," said Dave. "Now I do. I've seen it up close and it's special. He's added so much to our company now and going forward. We care to be able to do things because of his expertise with equipment."

The duo, with the rest of the DMSE crew, which includes CEO Matt West, Dave's nephew and Ryan's cousin, and also Aaron Nemzer, director of events, are keeping an eye on the post-vaccine world.

Some events in the fall haven't been canceled or postponed just yet. While there's no crystal ball as to when the vaccination sites will close, the end is a lot closer than it was back in January when this all started for the McGillivrays.

They are keeping an eye on the future of DMSE when time permits.

"It wasn't that long ago that we didn't know each other, Dave, Ryan and the team walking around Gillette, trying to figure out how everyone could pull it off," said CIC Health's Martinez. "Now I believe we have built some of the most efficient vaccination sites in the country. We're up to 100,000 vaccinations per week. That's incredible."

That's Dave and Ryan McGillivray, one formidable tandem.

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.