Rochester Welcomes ABC’s Good Morning America

The nationally syndicated television morning show Good Morning America had a bit of a local feel for a few minutes this morning.

ABC took the ride out from New York and did some live hits from Rochester, Massachusetts.

What would bring them to a little town like Rochester? One word: cranberries.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and Good Morning America decided to do a segment on the cost of a 2024 Thanksgiving dinner. Apparently, there are some pretty decent deals to be had at Aldi and Walmart, which are pitching inflation-proof Thanksgiving dinners.

Good Morning America used the backdrop of the cranberry bogs at Hartley Family Farm to book end the story. Amy Hartley-Matteson's father Woody Hartley and his brother Walter own the family farm. She told us that 7 News in Boston did a story a couple of weeks ago about the cranberry bogs and the tours they were offering.

"So I'm not sure if that sparked it, but yesterday at around 11am, my dad got a call from Good Morning America. This morning at 5:15 a.m. they were on site at the bogs," she said.

Hartley-Matteson said the whole production was more complicated than she pictured.  The broadcast was powered by a car that was kept running at the bogs.

"Yeah, it was pretty exciting to see the whole deal," she said. "They had a drone going overhead, and he was doing a couple different pitches for different local stations. It is pretty good, pretty interesting."

Good Morning America reported that while the cost of cranberry sauce is up, the cost of fresh cranberries is down. The Hartley Family Farm said that cranberries have a very long shelf life – long enough to make it to Thanksgiving if bought and stored in a cool, dry place.