Muscatine Tours Podcast

July 24, 1998 • John Schwandke reported live from Muscatine's sister city in Russia, Kislovodsk.

Dr. Bruce Rigdon addressing an orientation session for participants in the 1984 Iowa Christian Friendship Study Tour of the USSR. 

DeWayne Hopkins Daniel Graham Clark March 22 at 4:58pm Mr. Clark, I would be honored if you would consider being my guest on City Talk next Thursday. How bout it? Like  ·   ·  Unfollow Post  ·  See Friendship Daniel Graham Clark   Thursday the 29th? I could. What are we talking about? March 22 at 7:01pm  ·  Like DeWayne Hopkins   Yes, Thursday the 29th. We can talk about the trolley, world peace,...

"So, I keep gathering the pieces, and one of these days I think it'll flow out." Dan Clark tells about family history discoveries and says he is writing a book. The readings on this podcast began as two Facebook "notes" which may be read at Underground Railroader Ancestors  and Anticipating "a time machine experience" .

Robert A. Fiedler II realized he couldn't answer when his 10-year-old daughter asked, "Daddy, why do you do what you do?" He quit his job rather than prepare for nuclear war.

[Distributed via e-mail and Facebook on May 3, 2010] Hey, Neighbors! THIS WEEK (May 4) on Trolleys, Tales & Talk: "THE END OF THE LINE" This will be my last show. That's right, this is the end. It's been a good run since January 2006. The trolley is parked, and I am moving on to other things. For this last show I'll be taking calls and talking about what I plan to do next, including local-history...

"Civil War 150 Years Later" • Dan Clark read William D. Randall's story, "Muscatine's Heroic General," and guests Pam Knott and Lee Miller of the Civil War Memorial Committee told about a fundraising campaign to replace the 1875 monument at the Muscatine County Courthouse. As sesquicentennial observances approach, there's much local and national history to recall and much work to be done. Hear the...

Dan Clark and Lee Miller address the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors on April 26, 2010 • Photo: Lee Miller with soldier removed from 1875 monument • Duration 04:36 min

"Too Much Local History?" • Dan Clark's guest is Kent Sissel, restorer and resident of the Alexander G. Clark House. The Muscatine City Council recently recognized a two-square-block area as the "Alexander Clark Heritage District." They discuss what's next for our latest district as it relates to other local history efforts and as a destination for heritage tourists. They speak about the effort to...

"Crawfordsville Connections" Dan Clark tells of attending the 51st annual meeting of the Washington County Historical Society the previous evening in the little Iowa town that's still bragging it was the birthplace of the national Republican Party in 1854. He continues from last week about the Underground Railroad line from Crawfordsville to Muscatine, and he says he wishes for a Muscatine County...

"The traffic...to Muscatine was very heavy," according to O.A. Garretson, along the important Underground Railroad line from Crawfordsville in Washington County. Dan Clark reads several Muscatine references from Garretson's 1924 article which you can read at http://www.garretson.us/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=6. Mark your calendar for "Recent Research on the Underground Railr...

"Season Without a Trolley?" Dan Clark announces: APRIL 15 WILL BE THE LAST DAY OF TROLLEY-BUS OPERATION FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. "What I've decided is that my little company needs a rebuilding season. I apologize to all who hoped to use the trolley in coming months, but I am optimistic about bringing it back even better—eventually if not this year. Meanwhile, there's definitely demand for fun t...

  "Moving Day for the Jayne House" • Dan Clark's guests Susan Jayne and Frank Kelly tell about some of the families who lived at 1402 Mulberry Avenue over the years. Susan's great-grandparents Henry and Ella Jayne built the house 110 years ago. The Kellys were there in the 1980s and 90s when it was still known as "Dr. Miller's house," remembered for the family residing there longest. Susan came fr...

"Muscatine Downtown—Maybe Down But Far From Out" • Dan Clark's guests are Chris Clark and Dawnese Openshaw. Dawnese co-chairs the Downtown Action Alliance http://www.muscatinedowntown.com and tells what's coming up including "It's A Spring Thing Girls Getaway Weekend," March 26-27. Chris tells about the Muscatine Melon Patchers quilt show, March 19-20 , and all discuss the challenge of attracting...

"Historic Preservation Turns 10" Dan Clark talks about his experience serving on the Muscatine Historic Preservation Commission, created 10 years ago in response to citizens who were asking for the city to take better care of preserving Muscatine's unique collection of historic buildings and neighborhoods. He invites listeners to get involved via Friends of Muscatine Historic Preservation http://m...

"Renewing Muscatine's Civil War monument" Dan Clark's guests are Sandy Lee and Lee Miller. Lee chairs the committee to restore the 1875 Civil War monument on the grounds of the Muscatine County Courthouse; Sandy is local commander of the American Legion and treasurer of the Civil War Memorial Fund. Yesterday, the soldier who has stood watch for 135 years came down from atop his column in the gentl...

"African American life in 19th century Iowa" Dan Clark's guest is David Brodnax, Sr., a leading expert on black life in early Iowa and Muscatine in particular. A law graduate of the University of Iowa with a PhD from Northwestern, David has taught history at Trinity Christian College (Palos Heights, IL) since 2005. More about him at http://www.trnty.edu/faculty/brodnax.html. Last week, David was q...

  "A Heritage District for Black History and More" Dan Clark's guest is Kent Sissel, restorer and resident of the 1878 Alexander G. Clark House. This week Muscatine City Council will consider Kent's proposal for naming a two-square-block area on both sides of West Third Street as the "Alexander Clark Heritage District." The center of the district would be the intersection of West Third and Chestnu...

"Something Magical About a Bookstore!" Dan Clark's guests are Sharon and Tom Savage, co-owners of Muscatine Books & More http://muscatinebooks.com—and sponsors of this show "from the git-go." Eight years ago they opened their independent bookstore in the recently restored Silberhorn Building at 124 E. 2nd St. "It just looks like a bookstore you'd find in a movie," Sharon said at the time. "It's in...

"Muscatine's Black History" Did you know Muscatine was Iowa's center of African American life in the 1850s? Dan Clark says there's a lot happening in Muscatine during Black History Month, a time for us all to learn about race relations and equal rights. Then historian David Brodnax calls from Chicago and tells about Muscatine's black population before the Civil War and the far reaching influence o...

"Builders to the World" Dan Clark's guest is Richard H. Stanley, chair emeritus and past president of the Stanley Group which includes the Muscatine-based Stanley Consultants, Inc., a member-owned worldwide provider of engineering, environmental, and construction services. Dick tells about the firm's international work in some 98 countries over the years since it opened an office in Liberia in 195...

"It's Time for Ragtime!" The 16th Annual Eagles and Ivories Ragtime Weekend is January 29-30-31. Dan Clark's guests are Chris Clark and Duffy DeFrance representing the Muscatine County Arts Council which co-sponsors the festival along with the Muscatine Art Center. See schedule and program and links to performers' sites at http://www.muscatineartscouncil.org/eagles&Ivories.htm.

Dan Clark called this show "Who's got a better idea for Muscatine (better than tourism)?" [more soon]

Dan Clark asked his next-door neighbor Frank Kelly to take the lead for this first show of Year 5. A former executive of the local community foundation, Frank says Muscatine is "close to greatness" as an award-winning city for many attributes and attractions, e.g., health care and river front and trails and historic preservation. Caller Kent Sissel calls for a "summit" on cultural tourism. Hear pa...

Dan Clark called this show "Isn't it time for a REAL trolley in Muscatine (again)?" We had 'em from the 1880s through the 1920s, unless you count the electric interurban which ran through 1938. What would it take, he asks, to run a real streetcar in Muscatine, maybe between historic Downtown/Riverfront and Southend sports complex? He says the USA's premier heritage-trolley restorer and replica-mak...