Posted in American Countryside Iowa

A Valuable Letter from a Penpal

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/10/25Oct23-Anne-Frank-Letters-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Did you ever save a letter that was important to you?  This lady did.  It was a nice letter from…

Continue Reading... A Valuable Letter from a Penpal
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

A Penpal in Danville, Iowa

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/10/24Oct23-Anne-Frank-Letters-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Way back when I was in school our classes sometimes had penpals.  That was the case for this school in…

Continue Reading... A Penpal in Danville, Iowa
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

The Composer Comes to Spillville

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/02/06Feb23-Bily-Clocks-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In the summer of 1893 a unique visitor arrived in Spillville, Iowa.  He loved the place so much that he…

Continue Reading... The Composer Comes to Spillville
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Ford’s One Million Dollar Offer

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/03Feb23-Bily-Clocks-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In 1928 the Bily brothers received quite an offer from Henry Ford.  He offered them one million dollars for something…

Continue Reading... Ford’s One Million Dollar Offer
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

The Amazing Bily Clocks

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2023/01/02Feb23-Bily-Clocks-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)The Bily brothers were farmers near Spillville, Iowa.  But it’s what the brothers did when they weren’t farming that has…

Continue Reading... The Amazing Bily Clocks
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Work That Saved the Lives of Millions

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/12/07Dec22-Norman-Borlaug-Home-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)In an era when most farm boys completed eighth grade at most, this family saw something in their son that…

Continue Reading... Work That Saved the Lives of Millions
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

The Old Farmhouse That Impacted the World

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/12/06Dec22-Norman-Borlaug-Home-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)The old farmhouse that sits about a dozen miles south of Cresco, Iowa that probably appears a lot like other…

Continue Reading... The Old Farmhouse That Impacted the World
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Get Your Picture Taken Here

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/09/19Sep22-American-Gothic-House-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Just about every day there are people driving to this small Iowa town to get their picture taken.  It’s not…

Continue Reading... Get Your Picture Taken Here
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

A Picture of a Sister and Dentist

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/09/16Sep22-American-Gothic-House-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)If an artist painted a picture of his sister and his dentist, you’d probably doubt it would be anything special. …

Continue Reading... A Picture of a Sister and Dentist
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Escape from the Squirrel Cage Jail

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/07/02Aug22-Squirrel-Cage-Jail-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Prisoners have used many different methods to escape from their cells.  A man in this jail crawled through pipes of…

Continue Reading... Escape from the Squirrel Cage Jail
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Hamsters in a Prison Wheel

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/07/01Aug22-Squirrel-Cage-Jail-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)If you seem to be busy, but going nowhere in life, you might be said to be a “hamster in…

Continue Reading... Hamsters in a Prison Wheel
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Coming Home to the Place That Held You Captive

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/05/13May22-Camp-Algona-Iowa-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It’s hard to imagine being held as a prisoner of war and then, after the war, immigrating to the country…

Continue Reading... Coming Home to the Place That Held You Captive
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Camp Algona Iowa

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/05/12May22-Camp-Algona-Iowa-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Over the years you’ve heard us feature some towns in the heartland of America that served as POW camps during…

Continue Reading... Camp Algona Iowa
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Jubilee Days in Shenandoah, Iowa

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/05/11May22-KMA-Radio-History.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Imagine hosting a breakfast so large that you needed to buy pancake flour by the boxcar.  That’s exactly what happened…

Continue Reading... Jubilee Days in Shenandoah, Iowa
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Small Town, Big Impact

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/04/20Apr22-Perry-Iowa-100-Plus-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Four times each year a group of people in Perry, Iowa are writing $100 checks to an important local cause…

Continue Reading... Small Town, Big Impact
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

One Hundred Plus for Perry

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/04/19Apr22-Perry-Iowa-100-Plus-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It’s called One Hundred Plus for Perry.  Although local residents can’t take credit for the idea, they adapted in from…

Continue Reading... One Hundred Plus for Perry
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

Grotto of the Redemption

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/04/18Apr22-Grotto-of-the-Redemption-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It took 80 years to build this structure in West Bend, IA and today it is valued in the millions…

Continue Reading... Grotto of the Redemption
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

A Story for Good Friday

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/04/15Apr22-Grotto-of-the-Redemption-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It is a story fitting for the message of Good Friday – the story of a priest who recovered from…

Continue Reading... A Story for Good Friday
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

The Work of the Wallace Family

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/01/28Jan22-Henry-Wallace.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)This father and son pair both served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.  The son even became vice president of…

Continue Reading... The Work of the Wallace Family
Posted in American Countryside Iowa

The First Great Train Robbery

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2022/01/27Jan22-Jesse-James-Train-Robbery.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Great train robberies are the stuff of wild west movies.  In real life though, the first such event occurred here. …

Continue Reading... The First Great Train Robbery