Michael Riley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, has been a nun, the Pope, an Asian business man and a rabbi brandishing a piece of kosher meat.
Of course, all that’s just been for fun. Since he has no qualms about embarrassing himself, he’s become the go-to guy for entertainment at fund-raisers and functions for political big wigs, like Sen. Christopher Dodd.
Riley’s worked with the legislature in varying capacities for a long time. He and the local politicos go way back.
“The only thing older than me at the Capitol now is the Capitol,” joked Riley, whose organization serves the interests of more than 1,000 companies that operate commercial motor vehicles throughout the state.
But that’s not how Riley got his feet wet, work wise. Long before he played with politicians, he was a pre-teen working long, grueling hours for a broad leaf tobacco farmer in Enfield. He made 75 cents an hour.
Picking Tobacco
Throughout the crop’s two-week harvest season, Riley was a hander, which meant he was in charge of picking up the tobacco plants and giving them to the hooker. From the hooker, the leaves went to the hanger, then the stripper. In the process, the tobacco was cured and made ready to sell.
It was a quality product, said Riley, noting that Connecticut broad leaf tobacco wraps the finest cigars in the world.
Riley used to get home exhausted, his hands covered in a thick, sticky residue. To get rid of it, he showered with Lestoil, a heavy duty household cleaner, and scrubbed himself clean. It worked, but it made him stink like pine, he recalled.
“We worked like bulls for two weeks,” he recalled. “It was hard work, but it was good physical activity.”
And in two weeks, he made enough money to buy his school clothes — and pay for a visit to the fireman’s carnival.
Riley went back to the farmer every harvest season until he was 16 or 17 years old. But since that was only two weeks a year, he also worked for his dad, who owned a grocery store in Enfield. He learned to be a meat cutter — and moonlighted as a silkscreen sign-maker for former state Sen. Robert Houley, who was seeking re-election.
When Riley’s father was forced out of business by the influx of big chains to the Enfield area, Riley placed a call to Houley and landed his first job in the Connecticut legislature.
‘To Serve The People’
He started with the appropriations committee. Then, in 1972, Riley, a 24-year-old bartender, ran for the state Senate. The first line of his brochure read: “What’s a bartender doing running for state Senate? Trying to serve the people.”
The pun wasn’t enough to get Riley elected. But he stayed in politics, building local political contacts for Dodd and then catching the eye of John Blasko, former president of the MTAC. To Blasko, Riley seemed a viable candidate to succeed him in running one of the largest trucking associations in the country.
In 1987, he was hired, and he’s been with the MTAC ever since.
“I like these guys. The truckers are hard-working people,” Riley said. “They like me and trust me.”
“And now I’m too old to try anything new,” he added with a smile.
The job’s been good to him, with more than 20 years doing what he loves. Life’s been good to him, with five kids who’ve kept him good and broke.
“It’s been the life of Riley,” he said, with another smile.
