Originally broadcast 5/12/08:
Patrick Murphy tries his luck at the popular Italian sport of Bocce. Since 1975, the Italia-America Bocce Club has gathered on “The Hill” to play this game enjoyed by all ages. Teams score points by rolling a series of balls as close as possible to a tiny ball called the pallino.
Originally broadcast 5/12/08:
Jim Kirchherr tours the Brown Shoe headquarters in Clayton. For more than 130 years, the company has been making fashionable footwear—with its most notable brand, Buster Brown. The company’s archivist presents the history of this cartoon character and how it came to be a household name. Originally a comic strip cartoon, Brown Shoe bought the rights to Buster Brown for just a few hundreds dollars and first began promoting its shoes at the 1904 World’s Fair by hiring a circus midget and a trained dog to portray Buster and Ty. After the fair, the company sent these characters out to shoe stores to promote the brand. Recently, Buster and Ty were retired, but the Buster Brown name still lives on.
Originally broadcast 5/12/08:
Anne-Marie Berger meets a local family that is on a diet—but they’re not cutting back on food, instead, the Engelmohrs are reducing their waste. This Kirkwood family has started watching what they buy and how much trash they throw away each week. To learn more about the “Waste Diet,” visit: www.thewastediet.com.
Originally broadcast 5/5/08:
Ruth Ezell visits with three very different but connected jazz musicians to find out what music means to them. Wynton Marsalis is one of the world’s best trumpet players, and when he preformed at the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2004 he encouraged festival volunteer Andre Brown to learn to play. Joshua Williams is an aspiring jazz trumpet player who has been mentored by Marsalis, and now teach Brown as well. Ruth also visits with Joshua’s brother Jo-el and father Terry.
Originally broadcast 5/5/08:
Jim Kirchherr checks in on the reconstruction and restoration efforts at St. Alphonsus Church in St. Louis’ Grand Center neighborhood. Heavily damaged in a fire during August 2007, the historic Catholic church is now covered in scaffolding, with the congregation using the gymnasium next door for mass. The church sustained damage to the roof and steeple from the fire and smoke, as well as water damage inside, but when work is finished the structure will be stronger than before.
Originally broadcast 10/15/07 (rebroadcast 5/5/08):
Patrick Murphy recounts the “Great St. Louis Bank Robbery” of 1953 at Southwest Bank. While it was in progress, the robbery drew a crowd of thousands of people. A movie was later made about the robbery, in which police officer Mel Stein played himself.
I’m very grateful for the opportunity to meet so many bright, creative and caring people through my work. I met several in the course of developing this week’s story, and the person who ended up making the biggest impression on me played a minor role on camera. Terry Williams is the father of four boys, all of whom play instruments. The two oldest, 18-year-old Joshua and 15-year-old Jo-el, are featured in this segment. Williams understands what I began to grasp at the age of 5, when I took my first piano lesson: that music—the performance and appreciation of it—is essential to fully developing young minds.
Williams told me he’ll often do the lion’s share of yard work at home rather than delegate it to his sons because he’d rather hear them practicing in the house. Not that he expects them to all become professional musicians when they grow up (Jo-el is planning a career in medicine)—but Williams does expect them to learn discipline, time management skills, and to be the best at whatever they do.
Terry Williams, Ron Henderson of Crusaders for Jazz, Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, Joshua Williams and Jo-el Williams
In the extremely competitive music world, Terry Williams also understands the importance of networking. From the faculties of the jazz programs at UMSL and SIUE Edwardsville, to the non-profit Jazz St. Louis, Williams said his sons have found much support and encouragement. Joshua and Jo-el’s most famous mentor and occasional coach (whenever he’s in town performing) is Wynton Marsalis: Director of Jazz At Lincoln Center and, to my mind (and many others), the greatest trumpet player on the planet.
Terry Williams thought it was so important for his two oldest sons to have a sense of accomplishment with their music, that he once convinced a friend who was getting married to let the boys (who were in middle school at the time) play one song at the wedding reception (Josh plays trumpet, Jo-el tenor sax). Then, Williams gave the friend money in order to “pay” the two young musicians.
I believe parents are the first and most important teachers their children will ever have. Terry Williams apparently believes it too, and acts accordingly.
- Ruth Ezell
Originally broadcast 4/21/08:
Jim Kirchherr tours a new exhibit at the Saint Louis Art Museum where a combination of passages, walls and holes offer a unique way to view the museum’s existing art in adjacent galleries. Artist Sarah Oppenheimer created the exhibit as a way of framing art on a larger scale.
Originally broadcast 4/21/08:
Anne-Marie Berger goes inside the jewelry workshop at Genovese Jewelers to watch the design of a rare 15 carat aquamarine pendant. Seven people had a hand in creating the pendant that was auctioned off for $7,000 at the Have a Heart, Build a Future Gala. The proceeds from the necklace benefit the Child Center Marygrove.
Originally broadcast 4/21/08:
Kate Shaw attends a reunion for former employees of the now defunct Ozark Airlines. Despite great success in the 1950s and 60s, the airline was bought out by TWA in 1986. The Silver Swallows, as they are known, reunite every year to commemorate the airline and discuss the special camaraderie and service that Ozark had to offer.
