Podcasts by Daniel G. Clark, hosted by LibSyn.com. Most shows were editions of "Trolleys, Tales & Talk" aired weekly on KWPC radio from January 2006 until May 2010.
Dan Clark's guest is Heather Shoppa, director of Muscatine's Convention and Visitors Bureau http://www.meetmuscatine.com/. It's her job to market our town's attractions, and she tells about two big days for out-of-town visitors arriving via motor coaches: Great River Celebration and Meet Muscatine Day (September 30 and October 21 this year). During such events, the trolley shuttles the visitors from the Riverfront through Downtown. Heather explains that the CVB does not receive hotel/motel tax revenue directly and must request funding from local governments each year.
Direct download: ttt2009sep29.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:34am CDT

Dan Clark's topic is "Who's Afraid of the Paint Police?" Dan compares Muscatine's Historic Preservation Commission (educational and advisory only), which he chairs, with other communities' more robust protections for historic properties. And he confesses envy of Dubuque which last month celebrated a huge economic development success based on historic preservation. He reads from Dubuque's ordinance prohibiting "Demolition By Neglect" and imagines something of the sort for Muscatine. Meanwhile, our city struggles to cover the costs of recent landfill expansion, and Dan jests that maybe it's time to help out by demolishing a whole bunch of old stuff. Later this week Muscatine hosts a two-day historic-preservation workshop conducted by state experts http://www.iowahistory.org/about/news/2009/08-26_historic-preservation-workshops-muscatine.html.
Direct download: ttt2009sep15.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:56pm CDT

Dan Clark's topic is "Celebrating Freedom Seekers" with guest Barb Christensen, director of the Muscatine Art Center http://muscatineartcenter.org/. They discuss a current exhibition of paintings by Joseph Holston, "Color In Freedom: Journey Along the Underground Railroad," and related programs at Musser Public Library http://musserpubliclibrary.org/Quick-Links/Event-Calendar/The-Undergraound-Railroad-in-Iowa.aspx. See a "virtual tour" of the paintings: http://www.umuc.edu/colorinfreedom/virtual_tour/index.shtml.
Direct download: ttt2009sep8.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:05pm CDT

Dan Clark's topic is "Iowa and Russia: A Half Century of Citizen Diplomacy," starting from memories of Nikita Khrushchev's visit to Iowa in 1959. He tells of welcoming visitors from the former Soviet Union and helping many Iowans with their exchange efforts, having traveled in Russia eight times, 1984-1998, especially Iowa's sister state Stavropol and Muscatine's sister city Kislovodsk. He asks listeners, "What difference has Russia—or the former USSR—made in your life?" and invites calls during Part 2 scheduled for Sept. 22, the actual 50th anniversary of Khrushchev's arrival in Iowa. Links related to the topic: "Khrushchev in Iowa" http://www.creatinggreatplaces.org/khrushchev.aspx; "Dan's Russia Experiences" http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=105312&id=802136391&l=fd3f441222; "Chechen war: We know these folks" http://friendlywork.com/chechen.html; early history of Kislovodsk-Muscatine relations (1996) http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=269536050226.
Direct download: ttt2009sep1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 11:54am CDT