On a late November 2009 Friday night, St. Cloud's downtown came to life with artists, musicians, and 800 people exploring the St. Cloud Art Crawl.  KVSC's Artistic and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack took this interactive stroll too. He brings you an audio tour with Art Crawl organizers, artists, performers and spirited souls.

Go ahead, use your favorite digital device and saunter through downtown St. Cloud with us.  This production is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

In January of 2010, KVSC's Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack traveled a bit north and east of St. Cloud to spend time at a site many of you have probably driven by, or visited in person.  This podcast takes you on a journey to the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post north of Onamia, MN.  This Minnesota Historical Society site is a focal point of Ojibwe culture in Minnesota and has been in existence for nearly 100 years.  The museum and trading post offers many workshops and continues to be a meeting place between the Ojibwe and Minnesotans.  You will also hear from Tribal Elders regarding the preservation of ancient Ojibwe culture, issues and successes on the reservation, and the tribe’s role in today’s modern world. This report is produced with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

KVSC's Artistic and Cultural Heritage producer Jeff Carmack takes look at a genre not played too often on Your Sound Alternative: classical orchestral music.  In exploring this wonderful musical treasure in the St. Cloud community, Carmack speaks with executive director Sandy Nadeau among others of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra.  Among topics discussed is the upcoming Christmas concert and the upcoming 2010 season including Bolero (with Flamenco Dancing) and a young performers competition (including Beethoven's 9th).

St. Cloud has a vibrant arts scene and the Symphony Orchestra is only one facet of arts in the community.  Enjoy this special broadcast full of heart-felt interviews and moving musical performances from the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra. This production is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} -->

Have you ever wondered what would happen if rural artists got together and helped support one another in their respective arts?  You can find out by listening in as Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack explores the Avon Area Arts.   This volunteer driven arts group has been steadily growing since its inception only about three years ago and has brought vibrancy to the businesses and communities in the Avon area.  From the Lost Hour Music Revue at Aunt Annie’s Quilts and Silks to the solitude of a potter’s studio, these artists discuss how small towns can develop a lively art scene with simply a whole lot of work and a whole lot of love.

Please join Arts & Cultural Reporter Jeff Carmack for a feature covering the rather unique and inspiring people and organizations which create a real world of make believe within the St. Cloud community.  In this report, you'll visit with professors from St. Cloud State University's Department of Theater, Film Studies, and Dance, learn about the Paramount Theater as well as the GREAT Theater Company which brings nearly one hundred performances to the area per year, and explore the Pioneer Place Theater, a newer kid on the performing arts block.  Drama, comedy, and dance on stage teach us life lessons through the creative wisdom of the past and present, and it's the original 3-D performance!  Support for this program is through the Minnesota Cultural Heritage Fund and produced by KVSC, Independent Public Radio.

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack visits the Stearns History Museum located in St. Cloud.  This report happens on the eve of the museum’s Pan Barbeque Fundraiser on Saturday, June 12, 2010.  So, come along as the museum staff discusses the exhibits which showcase the heritage of Minnesotans in Stearns County.

It's the beginning of another fiscal year and the Central Minnesota Arts Board has been very, very busy.  KVSC's Jeff Carmack sits down with CMAB Executive Director Leslie Schumacher to discuss how the Minnesota Legacy Amendment has affected the arts and the economy of Central Minnesota.

For the first time in KVSC's 43-year history, a live international broadcast is coming to you from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The festival taking place July 7-11 is one of North America 's premier festivals with live music, a folk school, children's programming and visual arts.

With help from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, KVSC has sent Wayne Bergerson, host of Frets on Saturday mornings and long-time KVSC deejay Mike Chouinard to Bird's Hill Provincial Park in Manitoba to provide live coverage Thursday through Saturday during the festival. Join Wayne and Mike in this second hour as they explore this unique music festival and all it has to offer.

For the first time in KVSC's 43-year history, a live international broadcast is coming to you from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The festival taking place July 7-11 is one of North America 's premier festivals with live music, a folk school, children's programming and visual arts.

With help from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, KVSC has sent Wayne Bergerson, host of Frets on Saturday mornings and long-time KVSC deejay Mike Chouinard to Bird's Hill Provincial Park in Manitoba to provide live coverage Thursday through Saturday during the festival. Join Wayne and Mike as they explore this unique music festival and all it has to offer.

For the first time in KVSC's 43-year history, a live international broadcast is coming to you from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The festival taking place July 7-11 is one of North America 's premier festivals with live music, a folk school, children's programming and visual arts.

With help from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, KVSC has sent Wayne Bergerson, host of Frets on Saturday mornings and long-time KVSC deejay Mike Chouinard to Bird's Hill Provincial Park in Manitoba to provide live coverage Thursday through Saturday during the festival. Join Wayne and Mike in this first hour as they explore this unique music festival and all it has to offer.

For the first time in KVSC's 43-year history, a live international broadcast is coming to you from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The festival taking place July 7-11 is one of North America 's premier festivals with live music, a folk school, children's programming and visual arts.

With help from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, KVSC has sent Wayne Bergerson, host of Frets on Saturday mornings and long-time KVSC deejay Mike Chouinard to Bird's Hill Provincial Park in Manitoba to provide live coverage Thursday through Saturday during the festival. Join Wayne and Mike as they explore this unique music festival and all it has to offer.

For the first time in KVSC's 43-year history, a live international broadcast is coming to you from the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The festival taking place July 7-11 is one of North America 's premier festivals with live music, a folk school, children's programming and visual arts.

With help from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, KVSC has sent Wayne Bergerson, host of Frets on Saturday mornings and long-time KVSC deejay Mike Chouinard to Bird's Hill Provincial Park in Manitoba to provide live coverage Thursday through Saturday during the festival. Join Wayne and Mike as they explore this unique music festival and all it has to offer.

So, is that a vasectomy in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?  Find out the answer to this question  as Arts and Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack interviews Steve Barberio from the production company The Directors.  The Directors will be bringing “The Love Knot” to the Paramount Theater in St. Cloud this Friday and Saturday night for its World Premiere before the comedy tours around the Midwest.  It’s a conversation about comedy, arts in cities like St. Cloud, and what it takes to have a successful love life when you’re middle-aged.

On this news feature, Arts and Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack travels back in time with the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict’s “In Their Own Words: Mission to China and Taiwan” exhibit out at the Haehn Museum on the College of St. Benedict Campus.  This collection of letters and artifacts traces the lives of the Benedictine Sisters in China beginning in 1930 and gives us a sense of the ordeals that they went through during World War II and beyond.  This inspiring story shows how very small acts can become huge events after some years down the road.

A diverse group of writers has been meeting regularly in a small coffee shop in Albany, MN for the past three years to create, critique, and caffeinate while supporting each others’ creative process.  Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack visited with The Creative Circle recently to hear their individual quests for expressing the wildest of ideas.  From Fiction to Poetry to Non-Fiction to Family Instruction Guidebooks, all forms of writing are welcomed and shared, laughed over and critiqued.  Some of the writers with an online presence include Phyllis Sather and Jeanette Clancy.

The Force was strong in Ritsche Auditorium when the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra performed a selection from Star Wars and previewed their season to SCSU Students for free with funding through the Central Minnesota Arts Board and the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.  KVSC’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack sits down with Symphony Conductor Andrew Altenbach to discuss the beauty and complexity of orchestral music, the upcoming season of the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, and the finer points to making that Death Star run.  So, listen in because “that’s no news feature, it’s a space station!”    

Recently, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack attended a rather unique event at the Pioneer Place Theater which was held in conjunction with their current production of Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Jesus Christ Super Star.  It’s called the Artist Spotlight and it is, and will continue to be, a chance for patrons of the plays and musicals at the Pioneer Place to interact and have a discussion with the creative individuals associated with all the Pioneer Place’s productions.  During the presentation, Pioneer Place Artistic Director Michael Kelley guided the discussion amongst the artistic team of local talent which included Music Director Jeff Engholm, Choreographer David Deblieck, Costume Designer & SCSU Theater, Film Studies, and Dance Department Chair Jeffrey Bleam, and scenic designer Justin Hooper as they discussed how Jesus Christ Superstar came to life in St. Cloud.

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack visits with Suzanne Warmanen and Melodie Bahan from the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.  A non-profit center for theater performance, production, and education, the Guthrie offers some interesting programming all year round and has even begun to send its talent and educators into out-state Minnesota with funding from the MN Legacy Amendment.

Have you ever wondered where the money raised by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment goes and how the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund is specifically affecting your community?  During this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage reporter Jeff Carmack presents a partial answer to that question.  The Great River Regional Library system has been a recipient of Legacy grants, and during this first fiscal year of the funding, the 32 branch libraries have been able to offer over 500 new programs to serve over 22,000 people.  On this trip around to various rural Central Minnesota libraries, you’ll get to hear from some very excited librarians about what this funding has done for their programming as well as why the Great River Regional Library “is not your grandma’s library” any more.

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack heads downstairs to the Paramount Theater studios to talk with Heidi Stedman from Visual Arts Minnesota and a group of young artists and their mentors who are participating in the Young Artist Exhibition Mentorship Program.  The program, in its first year of existence, brings high school aged artists together with experienced artists for the purpose of exploring an obvious but often overlooked and very important aspect of being an artist, the exhibiting artwork once it is produced.

State Representative Larry Haws from St. Cloud has worked in public service for over 40 years.  His list of accomplishments and awards include an Award of Recognition for service to Vietnam Veterans, a Citation of Service from the Saint Cloud Historical Preservation Association, and the “Eleven Who Care” Award from KARE 11 News to name just a few.  As he retires from the State Legislature, Representative Haws sits down with Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack to discuss his career and one of his greatest passions ... the parks of St. Cloud and how they bring a needed quality to our lives.

Minnesota State Representative, retired teacher and author Dean Urdahl discusses the 1862 Dakota War and Its Aftermath.  Urdahl not only has a family history directly tied to this conflict, considered to be a dark period in our state’s history that still resonates today, but he has also published two historical-fiction books based on his 30 years of researching and documenting the subject.   In this interview, Jo McMullen discusses his life-long research and historical writing with Dean Urdahl after a presentation he gave at the Stearns History Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack explores a synchronistic artistic happening in the Atwood Gallery.  Currently, artist Michael Thomsen’s intricate sculptures and paintings are on display.  Michael Thomsen is an internationally renowned artist who is second in a series of three such renowned artists coming to St. Cloud via the Rogue Buddha Gallery in NE Minneapolis.  Jeff speaks with Michael as well as with representatives from the two galleries to discuss how international art has once again come to the St. Cloud University campus.

In this Arts & Cultural Heritage news feature, Jeff Carmack explores an innovative arts program which has taken root at the Eastside Boys & Girls Club in St. Cloud.  Recently, “Youth Supporting Youth Minnesota” put a little bit of funding into the Boys & Girls Club’s arts programming and now the art that was produced will be auctioned off.  Now in its second year, this program gives children a chance for artistic recognition as well as the opportunity to use the proceeds from their art sales to support another youth based non-profit, Kids Against Hunger.

In this news feature, Arts and Cultural Heritage producer Jeff Carmack visits with Justin Michael, Executive Director of the Green Band of St. Cloud, about an innovative program which is making a difference in our community.  It’s called Making Music for Making Changes, and it’s bringing musicians, artists, and non-profit organizations together at the Meeting Grounds in St. Cloud twice a month to promote awareness, raise funds, and have a good time listening to great music.  We invite you to listen in and find out a little more information about this new artistic social movement taking place right here in St. Cloud.

In this feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Reporter Jeff Carmack takes us on the historic home tour which recently wound its way through the SCSU neighborhood.  From repurposing historic homes into academic offices to renovating existing homes, this lively neighborhood is a showcase for some of the original building in St. Cloud.

Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and other revolutionary movements across the world, the Occupy Wall Street movement has just entered its second month of activity.  Minnesota’s very own Occupy movement began on October 7^th and KVSC reporter Barbara Bates was there at the newly deemed People’s Plaza in Minneapolis taking in the sights and sounds.  This news feature highlights her experiences at the Occupy Minnesota rally, the people she encountered throughout the day, and the ideology that is springing up across the nation.

In this toe-tapping news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack explores Dancing with Many Voices, a multi-discipline dance performance produced by the Wicked Sister Dance Theater and the Pioneer Place.  His guests include Wicked Sister Dance Correographer David DeBlieck and SCSU student Karthi Veeramani.

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack heads up Highway 10 to Little Falls and the Great River Arts Association.  This vibrant arts organization has much to offer their community through partnerships and good times.  Just this past weekend, the Little Falls Community High School Art Club took over Great River Arts to glaze pottery in preparation for their Empty Bowls fundraiser for the “Oasis Share a Meal” organization on Sunday, January 29th. It was at this event that Jeff encountered the dedicated volunteers, innovative staff, and inspired artwork of the Great River Arts Association as well as the conversations that follow.

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack visits the Stearns History Museum to talk with their staff about a new exhibit from the MN Historical Society regarding the history of disasters in Minnesota.  From locust plagues to the I-35 bridge collapse to a good number of overly intense blizzards, Minnesota has seen its fair share of catastrophes.  This exhibit not only explores the disasters themselves but also the nature in which Minnesotans responded  to them and helped out their neighbors in various times of need

In this feature interview, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with high school students Karli Jopp and Abraham Williams who are involved with the Visual Arts Minnesota “Young Artist Exhibition Program” and will be exhibiting their art during the first Downtown St. Cloud Art Crawl of the season at the US Bank.  The Young Artist Exhibition Program is now in its second year of existence and is on the verge of creating a lineage of artists educating each other on the myriad of best practices when it comes to how to exhibit and promote their art.

In this feature interview, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with SCSU Music Department Chair Terry Vermillion about his recent performance with Trio Lorca at Carnegie Hall.  Yes, THE Carnegie Hall.  Joining Professor Vermillion in New York City and rounding out the group Trio Lorca were soprano Catherine Verrilli and flutist Melissa Krause.  Also during this lively conversation about the journey that led from right here in central Minnesota all the way to the pinnacle of musical performance in the Big Apple, Jeff and Terry talk about the importance of music education and what the SCSU Music Department is doing to help graduates succeed in their teaching careers.

On Tuesday, June 5^th, our sunset included a once in a lifetime event.  Venus made its transit across the face of the sun.  And as this happened, the SCSU Physics & Chemistry Department held a viewing party in the Wick Science Building Planetarium which attracted far more people than they expected.  As families gathered in a standing room only planetarium and in an overflow classroom, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack got to talk with SCSU Astronomy Professor Gary Bohannan about the Venus Transit, the collaborative effort between SCSU Departments that made the viewing party possible, and humanity’s place amongst the stars.   

In today’s news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with Mary Mathews and Alex Ames about Noble Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis and his history in St. Cloud.  Various events over the next few days will be featuring Sinclair Lewis as part of the South Side Historic Home Tour’s Main Street to Eighth Street Celebration including a presentation of two Sinclair Lewis films at the Paramount Theater with a discussion to follow and an exhibition of Lewis Family memorabilia, including autographed first editions of Lewis’s novels, at SCSU’s Miller Learning Resource Center.

In today’s news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack travels to Aunt Annie’s Quilts and Silks in Avon to talk with some of the founding members of the Avon Area Arts regarding this weekend’s Celebration of the Arts.  With kids’ activities, artist demonstrations, great food, and a host of live local music, the 6^th annual Celebration of the Arts not only has something for everybody, but it also shows how a well organized, volunteer driven arts organization has developed a vibrant sense of community and creativity within Central Minnesota.

The 2008 passage of Minnesota’s Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment has had a profound effect upon communities all over the state, and Explore Minnesota has come up with a series of Legacy Destination Weekends, an innovative program to help showcase Legacy events.  In this news feature from July 2012, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts Sheila Smith about Minnesota’s unique manner of supporting the arts and previews upcoming events which the Legacy Destination Weekend will be celebrating here in St. Cloud and the surrounding area.

The art of songwriting was the focus of the Local Blend Coffee Shop's second annual Weekend of Songs songwriter festival.  The three day festival of singer/songwriter performances, open mics, meet-ups, and jam sessions celebrating songs and songwriters included stunning performances by songwriters from around the country, around the state, and around our local community.  Topping off the weekend was the “18 hour Songwriting Challenge” where Rocori High School student Nathan Ness walked away with the Golden Ukulele after composing a song from a topic picked out of a hat.

Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack has a lively chat with some members of the Great River Educational Arts Theatre just before their production of John Water’s Hairspray takes the stage.  Hairspray runs from Friday September 7^th through Sunday September 16^th at the Paramount Theater and features a cast of over thirty local actors.  GREAT Theater is also celebrating its 15^th season in St. Cloud with a variety of other productions including The Hobbit, a Christmas Carol, Junie B. Jones, Annie, Charlotte’s Web, and The King and I.

In this news feature, Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with a number of directors and producers who participated in the St. Cloud Film Festival in September of 2012. Taking place during three consecutive days at the Pioneer Place on Fifth and an additional fourth day at the Paramount Theatre in downtown St. Cloud; the film festival featured clips from award winning films as well as films produced by area school children and participants of the "Day for Night" 24 hour film contest. Grab your popcorn and enjoy!

In this feature interview, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with SCSU English Professor Rex Veeder about the upcoming Survive and Thrive conference to be held at the River’s Edge Convention Center, the Pioneer Place on Fifth, and D.B. Searle’s in St. Cloud.  Survive and Thrive is more than just the name of the conference; it is also the underlying philosophy that survivors of sudden cardiac arrest must adapt into their lives in order to recover.  One must have something to live for, and the medical sciences are beginning to look at the science behind creativity as this “something to live for.”  The incorporation of this philosophy is making the conference more of a festival than just classrooms and panel discussions, so hold on as Dr. Veeder lets us know how we can survive and thrive!

KVSC presents the Granite City Radio Theatre in partnership with the Pioneer Place Theatre Company in St. Cloud. The Granite City Radio Theatre is a locally written radio drama and comedy starring some of your favorite actors and actresses to have graced the Pioneer Place stage over the years. This first broadcast from the Pioneer Place Theatre in front of a live studio audience was on Wednesday, October 3.  Sit back and enjoy the exploits of the Shade's Brigade, the music of Collective Unconscious , and the laughter created by taking a look around our community!

This feature length program comes from a new Arts & Cultural Heritage funded program at KVSC, the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota.  Through partnering with the Stearns History Museum, your host Jeff Carmack will be bringing KVSC listeners a series of features about parts of our culture that may have been lost within the mist of history.  Today, Jeff talks with Steve Houle about his research on the history of Minnesota’s system of river ferries and how this system wound up being the driving force behind where the cities and towns we now call home came into being.

In today’s installment of KVSC’s Legacy Funded “Untold Stories of Central Minnesota,” Jeff Carmack visits the Melrose Area Museum.  Located across the street from St. Mary’s Church in Melrose, the museum is housed in an old convent and stocked full of memorabilia and artifacts.  With items such as a Spanish American War uniform worn by an area resident all the way to Craig Schiffler’s bowling bag, shoes, and numerous 300 game commemorative bowling rings, the Melrose Area Museum gives the area’s rich history a clear and inclusive voice.

In another installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack is going to keep you nice and cozy and warm with quilts!  The College of St. Benedict is celebrating their centennial this year with a number of events including a pairing of the musical Quilters, which combines music, dance movement, and scenes of dramatic, historical intensity to depict the frontier life of pioneers from 100 years ago, with the visual arts exhibition The Quilt: The Art of Our Community, which features quilts from our local community and honors the women who have continued this historical tradition throughout the years. 

In another installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack sits down with Dan Barth at the Pioneer Place Theater to talk about the historic building in which the Pioneer Place resides.  The building itself is turning 100 years old this year and during this interview Dan and Jeff talk about the history of the building, the upcoming major celebration this summer that the Pioneer Place holding, as well as how over the last 15 years the Pioneer Place has tied the past, present, and future together in downtown St. Cloud.

In another installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with lifelong St. Cloud resident John Lund about a Facebook project that he’s begun documenting the history of our area.  It’s called “St. Cloud Remembered” and it contains a myriad of photos and stories collected through local historical institutions as well as from residents who have found some very interesting artifacts that they’d like to share.  Over the first couple of months of its existence, the page has accumulated nearly 5,000 followers, and the online conversation is just beginning.

Recently KVSC’s Roots Cellar host Bridget Baumgartner spoke with Red House Recording Artist and Folk Singer/Songwriter Lucy Kaplansky about her new album Reunion as well as her collaboration with Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka.  This collaboration has taken the form of the band Red Horse, and they are performing as part of the College of St. Benedict St. Johns University Fine Arts Programing on Friday April 26, 2013 at the Stephen B Humphery Theater.  

In another installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with retired SCSU Professor Bill Morgan and the Stearns History Museum’s Adam Smith about FDR’s New Deal program and its effect upon central Minnesota.  Currently, the Stearns History Museum and Research Center is hosting the exhibit “Uncle Sam’s New Deal” through August 4^th that details these projects.  Through a discussion about this history of our area, we find parallels, similarities, and differences with a bygone era.

In this installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota there's a little bit of a twist.  This week, it’s about “preventing untold stories” as Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack sits down with a couple of the SCAR Dolls Roller Derby team members and a representative from their partner organization, Promoting a Caring Community, which is an SCSU grant funded organization dedicated to suicide prevention. 

In this news feature, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with Rooftop Theater Company actors Mackenzie Lahren and Johnny Packard as well as director Linda McGowan about their upcoming production of the Wedding Singer.  This comedy from the late 90’s about music and love in the 80’s was made into a Braodway musical in the 2000’s and will be performed on the Paramount Theater stage in the 2010’s . . . specifically, beginning on Thursday, July 25, 2013, and running through August 3^rd.

In another installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack visits with Jean and Roger Paschke from the Melrose Area Museum regarding their commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.  The event features a uniformed Civil War interpreter, Civil War displays, free museum tours, live entertainment by local musicians, and refreshments as well as free tours of the Oak Hill, St. Mary’s, and St. Patrick’s Cemeteries that will all have Veterans’ graves marked to pay homage to Civil War Veterans.

Weber’s Deck is a non-profit, community supported, Sunday afternoon destination in French Lake for hundreds of music loving Minnesotans each week.  In Part 2 of a special Untold Story of Central Minnesota focusing on Weber’s Deck, we’ll be talking with Casey Weber as well as other area community members about how this weekly gathering of like-minded folk has evolved over the past five years into such a life and community changing event that has become a well-known oasis of “Minnesota Nice” for bands touring the country.

In today’s installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack visits again with SCSU Archivist Tom Steman.  Located on the top floor of the Miller Learning Center, the University Archive welcomes new and returning students with a plethora of historic information that is continually being made available online.  Jeff and Tom’s conversation this time concerns the founding of SCSU, a campaign visit where an eventual President of the United States partook in a university tradition, and a new addition to the archive that truly allows visitors to look into the past. 

Today’s installment of KVSC’s Untold Stories of Central Minnesota is bittersweet as Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack visits Aunt Annie’s Quilts and Silks in Avon for one last time.  On the eve of the quilt shop’s closure due to retirement, Lucy Senstad and her husband Mopar recall how they got started with the fabric store and what led to it becoming a unique and popular music venue that has attracted national caliber folk and blues musicians.  They also share some of their experiences from over the years, which turn out to be surprisingly interesting and spooky for a simple Central Minnesota quilt shop!

The Granite City Radio Theater returned to the Pioneer Place Theater on October 23, 2013 for the premier of Season 2!  In Hour #1, you can find out how Shade's Brigade falls into greater mystical dangers, how Sven, Ole, and Lena deal with a critical candy shortage, how St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis does in defending his Trivia Title, and how special musical guest Stacy Bauer rips it up with house band Collective Unconscious!

This installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota raises a glass to Minnesota 13, a nationally famous moonshine during Prohibition that was primarily distilled in Stearns County.  Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack talks with Elaine Davis six years after the publication of her book entitled “Minnesota 13” and her initial interview with Jo McMullen on KVSC to see how this part of our cultural heritage has made its way back around to be very relevant again with the passage of the Surly Bill, which has made distilling in the State of Minnesota a viable reality again along.  While the book delves deeply into some old family histories of Stearns County, since its publication more stories have surfaced from other families in the area who have found that they all share this cultural link with one another.  In fact, this cultural link includes a traveling exhibit on its way to the Minnesota History Center as well as a fundraiser for the Stearns History Museum taking place at one of our old speakeasies, Anton's Fish and Whiskey.

From stories about the days of yore to innovative ideas about how to move into the future, the KVSC series the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota has covered a lot of ground during 2013.  In today’s installment of the Untold Stories, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack takes a look back at 2013 for an audio recap of a common thread that ties all these different stories together:  community. We create our community through the way we live, and after hearing about the concepts of community found with stories such as an interview with St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis, the music and laughter of Weber’s Deck, a partnership with the SCAR Dolls to prevent suicide, as well as from a few others, you’ll agree that central Minnesota is a pretty darn nice place to live.  

In today’s instalment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts & Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack visits with Tim Hoheisel, Executive Director of the Stearns History Museum.  During the first six months of his tenure as Executive Director, the Stearns History Museum has been the site of some pretty exciting activity, including the development of a partnership with the Smithsonian Institute as well as the receiving of “The Reflection of the Year 2013 Award” from St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis.  During the next half hour or so, you’ll be able to hear more about what this means for the museum and also more about the mission and further programming available at the Stearns History Museum.

In today’s installment of the Untold Stories of Central Minnesota, Arts and Cultural Heritage Producer Jeff Carmack travels out to Sauk Centre to bring us a story about one man and his mission to restore an historical landmark.  The Old Mill in Sauk Centre has gone through many changes in its 120 year existence, and these days it looks a little rough; however, Sauk Center resident Jeremy Weber has a plan.  And that plan is to turn this massive labyrinth of a building into a focal point of the community.