Memorial Day Where It Started - Part II

Barbecues, a long weekend, store-wide sales, the unofficial start of summer. That’s what Memorial Day represents to many these days.

Lost in the shuffle is the actual act of remembering. Who is supposed to be recalled, and why ?
How and where did the holiday start ?

Last year we went to Waterloo. New York to hear about that community’s claim as the birthplace of Memorial Day.

There are more than afew other communities with their own claims.

One such community is Bolasburg, Pennsylvania in the foothills of the Alleghenies. It’s described as a dot on the map, and a place that could be easily overlooked if not for marker by the side of the road that reads: “Boalsburg. An American Village - Birthplace of Memorial Day”.
We pay a visit to Boalsburg, Pennsylvania to speak with longtime resident and historian of sorts Margeret Tenis about Boalsburg’s role in the origin of Memorial Day. We also see how they honor war dead and their community’s legacy today.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access May, 2008)

Gullah: Richness & Resiliency along the Sea Islands & Beyond

The Gullah are African-Americans who live in the low country region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes the coastal plain and the Sea Islands.

The Gullah are known preserving their African linguistic and cultural heritage. They speak an English-based creole language containing many African loanwords and significant influences from African languages in garmmar and sentence structure. The Gullah language is related to Jamaican Creole, Bahamian Dialect, and the Krio language of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Gullah storytelling, foodways, music, folk beliefs, crafts, farming and fishing traditions, etc. exhibit influences from west and Central African cultures.

In this conversation, we speak with educator, singer, actress and historian Anita Singleton-Prather, a native of the Sea Islands in Beaufort County, South Carolina. Through Anita we also speak to her character, Anita Peralie Sue - a personality based on Anita’s grandmother.

As she has done on stage and film, Anita creatively entertains and educates us about Gullah culture - a culture more vibrant and diverse than most might be led to believe.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access May, 2008)

Minnesota's 150 Years of Statehood

The land of 10,000 Lakes is celebrating 150 years of statehood this year. On May 11, 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state.

We speak with Tayne Danger from the Sesquicentennial Commission in St. Paul about Minnesota’s origins, its history as a state, and just what they’re doing this year in the way of celebrating.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access May, 2008)

What Would Morrow Do ?

April 25, 2008 would have been the 100th birthday of Edward R. Murrow. A pioneer in broadcast journalism both on radio and television, his spirit looms large on media news more than four decades after his passing.

In a conversation with Rick Buselle of the Murrow School of Communications at Washington State University, we speak of the legacy of Murrow. We also contemplate what Murrow’s response to challenging times might teach today’s breed of broadcast journalist.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)

Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike

There’s a stretch of road, 13 miles (21 km), now abandoned that was once part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was bypassed in 1968 when a modern stretch opened to ease traffic congestion. The reasoning behind the bypass was to reduce traffic congestion at the tunnels.

In this case, the Sideling Hill Tunnel and Rays Hill Tunnel were bypassed, as was one of the Turnpike’s travel plazas. The bypass is located just east of the heavily congested Breezewood interchange on exit 161.Today, the “Abandoned Turnpike”, as it is commonly known, has become a popular tourist attraction.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)

The Smallest Post Office in the USA

There’s a unique post office along Route 41 in Ochopee, Florida which has become something of a tourist destination unto itself.

This closet-sized, 7×8-foot building used to be an irrigation pipe shed for a tomato farm. It was pressed into service after a fire destroyed the Ochopee general store — which also housed the post office — in 1953.

The town, which sits on the edge of the Everglades, and which reportedly has a population of 11, has been happy with it ever since.

We speak about it with Gene Wooten, who owns the building. Our conversation also gets into some other local flavor, including a culinary dish called Gator Tails.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)

“Happy Days Are Here Again”: The End of Prohibition After 75 Years

April 7, 2008 marked the 75th anniversary of the official beginning of the end for Prohibition. On the date in 1933, legal beer production resumed in the United States, sparking celebration among brewers and imbibers alike. Historian William Rorabaugh, author of Alcoholic Republic, puts the event into historical context.

Make sure to also check out Mr. Rorabaugh as he spoke with NPR’s Robert Siegel on this subject on All Things Considered:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89441573

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)

Where They Toss Typewriters

In Springfield, Missouri each April during Administrative Professionals Week (f/k/a Secretaries Week), some of these vital “gatekeepers” ascend a fifty-foot cherry-picker to throw office objects (over the years ranging from classic typewriters to computer terminals). Overcoming gender and environmental iisues, this event is now in its 18th year.

Dave Roberts of host radio station KGBX describes what takes place at their annual Typewriter Toss and how you can take part.

For more info about the Typewriter Toss:
http://www.kgbx.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=105990&article=3486868

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)

Recalling the Life and Death of MLK Forty Years Later at the Lorraine Motel

On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was killed at the Lorriane Motel in Memphis. The site, preserved as it was then on the exterio,r has been transformed inside. It is now the National Civil Rights Museum.

Allison Fouche of the Museum speaks with us about this special day at the Museum. She also provides some context for the observance - describing what happened at the site after the King Assassination and after all the pain what the site has come to represent.
For more about the National Civil Rights Museum, visit their website: http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)


By the way, if you get the chance, catch a “Hidden America” segment in which Mark Walsh & David Goodfriend of Left Jab speak with Rev. Jesse Jackson. He was beside Dr. King at the time of ther killing and he returned to the Motel turned Museum on April 4, 1008, from where he spoke to Mark & David. It was a powerful interview on a powerful day.

Spring Pilgrimage: A Celebration of Season and Traditions

In Columbus, Mississippi Spring is just not Spring. It is Pilgrimage time.

The annual Columbus Pilgrimage is an award-winning event with a reputation as one of the best and most authentic historic home tours in the South.

But Pilgrimage is more than tours of the many well-maintained antelbellum mansions.

We speak with Nancy Carpenter and Brenda Caradine, both anchors in the Columbus community about the tours, and what the Pilgrimage has come to represent.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2008)

The Spiedie

The spiedie (IPA: /spɪdɪ/) is a dish local to Greater Binghamton in the Southern Tier of New York State, and somewhat more broadly known and enjoyed throughout Central New York state.

A Spiedie consists of cubes of chicken and pork, but it may also be made from lamb, veal, venison or beef. The meat cubes are marinated overnight or longer (sometimes for as long as two weeks under a controlled environment) in a special spiedie marinade, then grilled carefully on spits over a charcoal pit. The freshly prepared cubes are served on soft Italian bread or a submarine roll, wood skewer and all, then drizzled with fresh marinade.

We learn more about the food and its role in regional culture from Sam Lupo of Lupo’s restaurant, an area institution (They ship a mean spiede sauce too).

For Lupo’s: http://www.spiedies.com/

For the Spiede Fest: http://www.spiediefest.com/main.aspx

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access March, 2008)

This Year’s Town Meeting Day in Vermont

Lost in the presidential primary news on March 4 (Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island primaries) was that it was not only primary day in Vermont, but Town Meeting Day there too.

We speak with University of Vermont Professor Frank Bryan. He is the leading authority of the Town Meeting as a Vermont institution, and he shares with us a rundown about this tradition and what was on the mind of Vermonters this year.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access March, 2008)

The Legacy of the “Nut Lady” & the Nut Museum Collection

We talk with Dr. Christopher Steiner, a professor of art history and museum studies at Connecticut College about the Nut Musuem, its late curator and the present day nut collection.

It was Dr. Steiner, who in 2002 rescued the collection, and who is dedicated to preserving, interpreting and communicating the legacy of Elizabeth Tashjian.

Tashjian, who debated whether she was a nut culturist or a nut artist, but was, as the New York Times wrote ”indisputably, well, nuts enough about nuts to win fame (but not fortune) as matriarch of the Nut Museum in Old Lyme, Conn.”. She died last year at age 94.

According to an obituary in the Times, Ms. Tashjian hated being called “the Nut Lady” and died without fulfilling her dream of opening a nut theme park certain to surpass Disneyland. (Her reasoning: Squirrels are cuter than a certain mouse.). She is best known to many as an entertaining and eccentric television gurst with Carson, Letterman and Leno, etc.

We get a handle on her and the nut collection here.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access March, 2008)

National Flirting Week

“National Flirting Week” has become an annual event (parallel to the week of Valentine’s Day).

It celebrates the ancient art of flirting and recognizing the role it plays in lives. We speak with author and “Love Coach” Robin Gorman Newman about flirting, and its role in cultures.

Robin’s website: http://www.lovecoach.com

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access February, 2008)

Remembering Red Barber, 1908-2008

On Feb. 16, 2008, Columbus, Mississippi, will celebrate the centenary of one of its illustrious native sons, Walter Lanier “Red” Barber. Considered one of the seminal figures in sports broadcasting, Barber made his indelible mark as a radio play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds (1934-1938), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1939-1953) and the New York Yankees (1954-1966).From “the catbird seat,” the Ol’ Redhead called games for the Reds, Dodgers and Yankees using language he made famous, phrases like “tearin’ up the pea patch” and “I’ll be a suck-egg mule.”

Though there were many firsts throughout his storied career, perhaps none was more significant than the role Barber played in the integration of Major League baseball by Jackie Robinson. Barber told the story in his 1982 book: “1947: When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball.”

In 1981, Barber, by then well into retirement, was introduced to a new generation of admirers by Bob Edwards, host of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Each Friday for 12 years Red and the Colonel (as Barber dubbed Edwards) would chat about a wide range of topics.
Barber, the son of a school teacher and a railroad engineer, lived the first 10 years of his life in Columbus, Mississippi.

On the weekend of his centennial, Barber’s hometown will host a banquet featuring Edwards, and noted broadcast historian Curt Smith.

Also planned for that weekend is the dedication of a state historic marker near Barber’s first home in Columbus.

In this conversation, we speak with Curt Smith, author of “Voices of the Game”, the definitive work on baseball broadcasting ”, and with Glenn Lautzenhiser of Columbus, who as much as anyone, is responsible for making this unique event happen.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access February, 2008)

A Wisconsin Community’s Claim as Groundhog Capital

It’s that time of year when we pay attention to groundhogs.

Will it be an early Spring or will there be eight more weeks of winter ? (The impact of global warming and media attention on groundhog predictions should be a future topic)

These days many communities have their own groundhogs predicting the weather. Staten Island, NY and St. Louis are but two of those places. And of course, there is Phil who has made a small Pennsylvania town famous.

There is, however, one community in Wisconsin that not only has a groundhog, but it claims to be “Groundhog Capital of the World”. Needless to say this does not sit well with some elsewhere - especially Phil’s hometown in Pennsylvania.

We speak with Sarah Vitale from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin to get their take on this claim.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access February, 2008)

Tying the Dots: From The Original Amateur Hour to America Idol

Professor Robert Thompson, our expert on American Television and Popular Culture from Syracuse University joins us to look at Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour - truly the original American Idol program which debuted on television sixty hours ago this year.

This television pioneer was successor to Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour, a radio fixture dating back to 1934.

We talk about the similarities between the original and modern day program, the differences between them, and just what it all means about us as a society. We even touch upon the gong, a variation of the Vaudevillian hook that inspired Chuck Barris’ ”The Gong Show”.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access January, 2008)

Christmas Time in Santa Claus (Indiana)

Many years ago folks in Santa Fe, Indiana had trouble gettting a post office for their town (There was already a community with that name). So in a lark an applicant to the U.S. Post Office filled in “Sant Claus” for the town name.

Years later the post office and the community not only thrived but propered - especially during Christmas season.

We speak with Pat Couch about what it’s like during the holiday season, and just what it’s like to live in a place named Santa Claus.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access January, 2008)

Boston’s Continuing Tea Party

Though the event took place centuries ago, the Boston Tea Party remains an important event.
Each year one of the triggers to the American Revolution is remebered at the Old South Meeting House.

We speak with Robin DiBlasse about how Boston recalls this important event in history these days.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access January, 2008)

National Tie Month

Twenty per cent of all ties sold are bought as Christmas gifts. Nemo Turner of The Protocol Institute speaks to us about ties and their proper use.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access December, 2007)

The World Famous Fish House Parade

Some folks go shopping after Thanksgiving. Up north in Minnesota, many would head out to the lakes with winter fish houses.

Afew years back a couple of guys were sitting in an Aitkin, Minnesota cafe observing what seemed to be a parade of fishes houses en route to the lakes. Why not have a real parade, they thought.

The “World Famous Fish House Parade” is now a local institution. Some three dozen uniquely and humorously decorated fish houses used for ice fishing during the winter are on parade and on display.

We speak with Sue Marxen from Aitkin about the culture of ice fishing, fish houses as well as the parade.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access December, 2007)

Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald

To folks like me, it started from a Gordon Lightfoot song.

But beyond the song, the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a fascinating one. The ore carrier broke into two during a heavy storm in Lake Superior in 1975, resulting in 29 lives lost.

Each year this tragedy and other shipwrecks are recalled throughout the region.

We speak with Lee Radzak of the Split Rock Lighthouse, where a beacon is lit each year to remember the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald and others who lost their lives on the lakes.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access November, 2007)

A Day at the Outhouse Races

Some years ago, folks in Mountain View, Arkansas wanted to brng folks to their community during the fall foliage season.

They came up with a Beanfest, but with beans you can’t stop there. Logically, the fun eventually played out to include the after beans.

One thing led to another and now each year folks come from far and wide to watch and compete in the annual Outhouse Races.

Jimmy Edwards speaks with us from Mountain View about beans, outhouse racing and a lot of fun.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access November, 2007)

A Talk with A Pumpkin Chucker

What happens to all those pumpkins that are not smashed on Mischief Night or turned into Pumpkin Pie? Many become part of a municipal mulch pile, but others are turned into competitive projectiles.

We are talking about pumkpin chuckers. No, this is not like what you have seen on Letterman. It is much more. Part sport, part science, part art form.

For this Conversation on the Road, we speak to a chucker from Montana, Scott Kellum. He tells us about what he does, why he does it, and about the community of chuckers.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access November, 2007)

A Taste of Burgoo

Burgoo is a soup made from chicken, beef and vegetables, cooked for several hours until the flavors have blended and the ingrediaents have become a thick stew. Its origins are said to have come from the hills of Kentucky.

Each October the small central Illinois community of Utica stages a Burgoo Festival. Gerald Hulslander from the LaSalle County Historical Museum, which stages the event, speaks with us about the origins of Burgoo locally and what happens each year at their Burgoo Festival (especially how the community pot of burgoo is prepared).

We try (without success) to garner some of the sceret ingredients that make the local version of Burgoo special to thsoe who keep coming back every year.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access October, 2007)

Music of America: Celebrating the Singing Cowboy

In his time Gene Autry was the real thing. To those who know he remains big.
Known as “the Singing Cowboy”, he made his mark in records, film, radio and television.
This September he would have turned 100.

To mark the occasion, folks at the Gene Autry Museum in Gene Autry, Oklahoma celebrated the man and the culture he represented in a big way.

Mary Schutz of the Gene Autry Museum speaks with us about Gene Autry, his legend, and the way they are celebrating his life this year. She also tells about the museum and even the town named after him.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access October, 2007)

Must See TV Over the Years

Prof. Robert Thompson, professor of Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, is an author of six books and a leading authority on the impact of television on popular culture.
He speaks with us about a series of television shows celebrating milestone anniversaries and their impact on television and on our society - they range from Bachelor Father to Thirty Something and a lot in between.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access October, 2007)

Music of America: Guitar Flat-Picking Championships & More at Walnut Valley

For more than 30 years Walnut Valley, Kansas has been the scene for an annual family event that features four stages with eight contests, at least 14 workshops and more. Larry Junker talks to us from Walnut Valley about its origins and traditions.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access September, 2007)

Labor Day Remembrance: Walter Reuther, 20th Century Labor Giant

Walter Reuther would have truned 100 years old on September 1, 2007.

He was President of the United Auto Workers during the mid 20th century. But he was much more. His life represented the life and times of millions in the labor movement.

As we remember Walter Reuther on the occasion of his 100th birthday anniversary, we see just how different times are today.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access September, 2007)

Vinyl Record Day

Gary Freiberg has created a day intended to recognize the cultural influence that vinyl records and album covers have had for more than 60 years. He talks with us about the origins of this day and how it is observed in his California hometown and elsewhere.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access August, 2007)

Music of America: W.C. Handy

Most everyone has heard the name W.C. Handy. But what do you really know about this giant of American music ? Yes he wrote the St. Louis Blues and is considered to be the “Father of the Blues”, but he accomplished so much more. Join us as we go to Handy’s original hometown of Florence, Alabama(Memphis and New York are among the places claiming part of him too). Florence stages an annual W.C. Handy Festival and we stop in to gain some insight.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access August, 2007)

Orville Redenbacher: A Man, His Popcorn & His Community

Orville Redenbacher was born on July 16, 1907. He would have turned 100 years old this July.
It seems that Orville has turned into a 21 st century media cliche. Though dead over 12 years, he is back in TV commercials run for the popcorn bearing his name (Multi-national corporation Con-agra now owns the product).

We speak with Glennas Qick from Valaparaiso, Indiana about Orville Redenbacher to mark his 100th birthday. Orville made his popocorn famous while living and working in Valapraiso.

We find that he was a real person (not a Betty Crocker) and an interesting one at that too.

We also ask Glennas why Orville, why popcorn and why Valapraiso ?

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access August, 2007)

Where Baby Food is Gourmet Cuisine

We go to Freemont, Michigan, home of Gerber Baby Foods - where they stage the National Baby Food Festival each July 17.

Sherry Heisse of Freemont talks with us about the event and what to us is its highlight activity - the Baby Food Cookoff. It’s an event for grown-ups where all dishes prepared must include baby food.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access July, 2007)

Music of America: Louis Armstrong

July Fourth to many means fireworks, hot dogs and Louis Armstrong. Stachmo always claimed that he was born on Independence Day 1901. In fact after his death it was disovered that his actual birthday was on August 4.

This discovery was made Louis Armstrong’s house in Corona, Queens.

We speak with Deslyn Dyer, Assistant Director of the Louis Armstrong Home and Archives about his real birth date, his connection with NYC (don’t you connect him with New Orleans?) and more in this first of what we hope to be a regular series of conversations about the story behind the music of our legends of American music.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access July, 2007)

The Legacy of Charles Kuralt 10 Years Later

Charles Kuralt died on July 4, 1997. Listen in to a conversation with Kuralt biographer Ralph Grizzle about Kuralt’s life, his signature “on the road” series and what we remember about him now a decade after his passing.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access July, 2007)

Paying Homage to RC & Moon Pies

Someone mentions Southern Cuisine and you likely say BBQ. Right ?

Then, there’s grits, chittlins, Cajun Cooking and more.

But there’s a group of enthusiasts of another Southern tradition - RC Cola and Moon Pies. Some consider this the original fast food - both Moon Pies and the RC Cola provided bigger portions for less money, as a result it became a quick meal of choice by many workers.

Thousands annually gather the third weekend in June in a Tennessee community called Bell Buckle, normally population of 406. In this podcast we hear what the big deal is and how they celebrate.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access June, 2007)

Where People Celebrate the Flag By Being the Flag

To mark Flag Day, we go to Huntsville, Alabama - where for over 40 years folks at the Whitesburg Baptist Church have been celebrating America by transforming themselves into a “Living Flag”. This flag is comprised of 100 singers surrounded by thousands of lights.

True, they do not perform this unique transformation on Flag Day (it is around July 4th), but what we felt their story was a nice way to celebrate the flag and Flag Day anyway.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access June, 2007)

A Bubba on National Bubba Day

Comedian T. Bubba Bechtol has created a holiday for Bubbas everywhere. This “Bubba #1″ as he describes himself, tells us about it and about Bubbas.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access June, 2007)

Memorial Day Where It Started

Barbecues, a long weekend, store-wide sales, the unofficial start of summer. That’s what Memorial Day represents to many these days.

Lost in the shuffle is the actual act of remembering. Who is supposed to be recalled, and why ?
How and where did the holiday start ?

Although there are many other communities with their own claims, Waterloo is popularly considered to be the official birthplace of Memorial Day.

In this podcast we speak with Tanya Warren from the Memorial Day Museum in Waterloo (located in New York’s Finger Lakes region) about the origins of the Memorial Day we observe today.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access June, 2007)

Jose Ronstadt on Mariachi Today

As a follow-up to a Left Jab Radio interview on XM Radio about the Tucson Mariachi Conference, Jose Ronstadt engaged in a conversation on the road with us.

Ronstadt, a cousin of Linda Ronstadt, is a TV anchor in Southern California and longtime emcee of the Tucson event.

Our conversation went into the historical origins and present day status of Mariachi, as a musical art form and as a window into culture.

It was interesting to hear Ronstadt describe how the Tucson conference has been an important catalyst in reinvigorating mariachi in both the American Southwest and in Latin America.

In addition to this podcast, Ronstadt can be heard speaking about the Tucson International Mariachi Conference�at�the Left Jab website: http://www.leftjabradio.com

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access May, 2007)

Johnnycake Breakfasts as a Rhode Island Tradition

The earliest American settlers discovered corn and were taught by Natives how to grow, grind and cook this then unfamiliar grain.

Paul Drumm from the Kenyon Corn Meal Company of Usquepaugh, RI speaks with us about the legend of Johnnycake and their role in the Bay State - for example this year marks the 140th annual Johnnycake Breakfast at one Rhode Island church.

By the way, here is “The 6 Minute Secret for Quick-As-Mix Johnnycakes” (From the Kenyon Corn Meal Co.):
1. Mix 1 cup of corn meal, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Mix well. Batter will be thick.
3. Drop by tablespoonful on any well greased fry pan or griddle. Medium hot - 380 dgrees for electric pans.
4. Do not touch or turn over for 6 minutes.
At 6 minutes, turn over and cook for about five minutes. This will yield 8-10 golden brown Johnny Cakes every time. For thin crisp Johnny Cakes, thin batter with milk or water - about 1/2 cup. Cook as above.

For free recipes or info about Johnnycakes, you can write or call: Kenyon Corn Meal Co., 21 Glen Rock Road, Usquepaugh, RI 02892; (401) 783-4054; http://www.kenyonsgristmill.com

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access May, 2007)

Remembering Katherine Hepburn & On Golden Pond

On May 12, 2007, actress Katharine Hepburn would have turned 100 years old.
To remember her and some 25 years since the film On Golden Pond hit the scene, we spoke with Pierre Havre, a one-time New Hampshire Innkeeper who until recently ran “On Golden Pond Tours”. He speaks with us about the impact of Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda and their award winning movie upon Squam Lake and us years after the filming.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access May, 2007)

World's Largest Trvia Contest

The central Wisconsin college town of Stevens Point becomes the center of the trivia universe for a weekend each April as more than 12,000 players, including more than 500 teams compete to answer eight questions every hour for 54 hours straight.

Longtime question-writer and event organizor Jim Oliva (also known as Oz) shares with us some of the origins of the event and what happens during the big trivia weekend.

http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access April, 2007)

Chester Greenwood Day

We go to Farmington, Maine in this “Conversation on the Road” to talk to Mike Blanchet about Chester Greenwood Day.


Chester hailed from Farmington in the 1800’s. By the time he died in 1937 he had dozens of patents to his name (one informed source told us 130). He is most famous for having invented the earmuff. Chester is honored each year (first weekend in December) at Chester Greenwood Day.


Mike describes the scene in Farmington and just what Chester means to the community.


At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com/ (Access December, 2006)

Return Day: A Unique Day of Political Reconciliation

A conversation with Rosalie Wells of Georgetown, Delaware about “Return Day” -where winners and vanquished in the most recent election “bury the hatchet” in a unique tradition dating back centuries.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access November, 2006)

They race coffins to remember Emma Crawford in Manitou Springs

Who is Emma Crawford ? Why is she remembered ? And why is she remembered each year around Halloween by coffins being raced down the Main Street ? Listen to to our conversation with Floyd O’Neil from Manitou Springs to find out.

At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access November, 2006)

The Premise: More than Content - A Feeling, A Place in Time & Space

“It is commonplace to view all of the United States as a monolith – one culture, one citizenry, one mass market. The homogenizing forces in American life – evidenced on every front from standardized television to eroded national accents, from national banking to the appalling sameness of Holiday Inns and McDonald stands – have brought us to thatpoint.

This (book/program) asserts a contrary them, that however real the nationalizing and leveling power of mass communications, of ectralize4d government and corporate power, each of the 50 states remains a unique blend of history and peoples and ecomony and politiocs and natural environment….To experience the world of Massachusetts or Texas, of Vermont or Arizona, of Florida or Oregon, is to live and move in strikingly different places…”

So read the introduction of The Book of America, Inside the Fifty States Today, by Neal R. Peirce & Jerry Hagstrom,W.W. Norton & Company, 1983. Though the words are now 25 years old, the thought is still compelling. If anything the standardiziation and homogeniziation over the decades has only accelerated. Media power has consolidated, Home Depot, Walmart and Barnes and Noble, Dunkin Donuts and Convenience Store Gasoline Stations are some of the nationalized brands – in addition to the Holiday Inns and McDonalds that endure.

Through it all there remains more to America than fast-food restaurants, shopping centers, strip mall and mega-stores. There’s a Hidden America of authentic Americana, often in the past scattered and hard to find, now available through Hidden America Radio (ON the Road On the Air).

Just what is the Hidden America?

It's not likely to be found on a map. Nonetheless, the Hidden America may be found across the land - in Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, even New York City. It's the individual parts of America that collectively make up the American experience.

It's lobstermen in Maine, loggers at work in the woods of Washington State, a rodeo in Oklahoma, and Blue Ridge Mountain Bluegrass. It's the foods, places, peoples, customs, and history that unite Americans, while accounting for the historic diversity that endures to today.

Inspired by the late Charles Kurault’s On The Road. Hidden America is a guide to the people, places and events that celebrate America’s rich traditions in music, books, customs and history – information that for a long time was scattered and diffuse.

Introducing Journeys into Hidden America

We’ve been doing “On The Road” for a while, we’ve been doing conversations for some time too.

We started "Hidden America" in 1986 - it became http://hiddenamerica.com/ in 1997.

This site provides a compliation of "Americana" podcasts to be found at our companion podcast website: http://conversationsontheroad.com/.

Additional "Hidden America" interviews may be found at http://leftjabradio.com/.