KRCU to air 'River Tales' series on area's history

When Chatauqua visited Cape Girardeau last summer, Marsha Toll was inspired to find local storytellers who would be willing to share their oral histories.

She found nine of them. Around the time Chatauqua came to town, Toll worked with Southeast Public Radio to record their histories for broadcast.

Now more than half a year later, those stories are ready to reach listeners.

Starting Sunday, KRCU will air the 13-part series "River Tales," documenting the oral histories of Southeast Missouri residents. The series will air every Sunday at 3 p.m. on "Going Public" for 13 weeks, with encore presentations each Wednesday at 7:35 a.m. during "Morning Edition."

At four-and-a-half minutes each, the stories explore life in Southeast Missouri through the eyes of several well-known local residents like Dr. Frank Nickell, the Rev. John Harth of Oran's Guardian Angel parish, Mike Shain, Don McNeely and Don Greenwood.

Nickell will lead off the program Sunday, but the schedule of when other "River Tales" will run is not yet determined, said KRCU producer Jacob McCleland.

Toll lined up the storytellers and KRCU recorded their stories. Toll, who serves on the Convention and Visitors Bureau, is an organizer of Storyfest -- an ongoing series of events meant to encourage storytelling and preservation of oral history. Toll came up with the idea for "River Tales" as part of the city's Storyfest activities.

The concept was a good way for the CVB and KRCU to work together to promote the city's images as the place "Where the River Turns a Thousand Tales."

"It's a way for people to learn more about the community we live in, but in a very personal way," Toll said. "We essentially all have a story."

Greenwood tells the story of an encounter he had along the Mississippi River when he moved downtown 27 years ago. He was walking along the river downtown one day when he saw an older woman kneeling by the river filling a glass with water.

"I warned her to be careful with that water because the river was so dirty," Greenwood recalled.

The woman answered she didn't intend to drink the water, but to take it home with her -- a place away from the Mississippi.

Nickell's story is one of community activism. Along with his wife, Nickell founded the local Humane Society in the mid-1970s. His story focuses on addressing the need for an animal shelter in the area and the ordeal of getting the organization up and running.

Harth's story is one of local broadcasting history. In the early 1980s Harth transitioned from broadcast news to being a member of the Catholic clergy, a career move that Harth knows may seem strange to some.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182