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| Path: Welcome way ( home) >On The Road Corner > Newsletter on the Road |
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The products are Americana, the convenience is contemporary, but the ambiance is American shopping as it was in a time before mega malls. It all can be found at the Village Shops our Main Street Business District of Americana goods and services. More 
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NEWSLETTER ON THE ROAD
The Hidden America Newsletter of OTR Travel Information Services JULY, 2008
Dear Friends: Even though it's starting to get pretty hot and muggy here along the banks of the Hackensack River, this is our favorite time of year. July Fourth stirs my patriotic juices. The parade, marching bands, fireworks. Of course, the timelessness of July Fourth is tempered by our concern and good-wishes for our troops in danger in Iraq and other places. We also find that as we review the festivities and events that we find ourselves holding our breath that none will be marred be the continuing threat of terrorism. We nonethless pause amidst the fireworks and hot dogs to contemplate the true nature and price of freedom. Hard to believe but it is already the tenth anniversary of the passing of CharlesKuralt. As has become an annual tradition, we remember him by re-introducing you to a website that recalls him in a loving but balanced way. This month we also visit the Circus Parade in Wisconsin, and a Boom Box July Fourth Parade. We've a list of "patriotic places", a recipe for "Flag Cake', and a book review. A happy July Fourth, and stay cool until we see you again next month. We then hope to again share with you some of the unique things that lie just around the bend. Eric PLEASE NOTE The information contained herein was correct to the best knowledge of the publisher and author at its publication time. However, such information is to subject to change without notice. Accordingly, the listings which follow are provided for informational purposes only. The publisher and authors assume no legal responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the contents.
POSTCARDS FROM THE ROAD REMEMBERING CHARLES KURALT INTRODUCTORY NOTE: It's now been ten years since the passing of Charles Kuralt. We continue to receive email about him and his legacy. Given the inspiration his writing provided us, the role it plays in this site, and the unsettling nature of the revelations about him after his passing, he much remains on our mind. Therefore, this anniversary provides us another chance to reflect on we were most glad to agree the suggestion. Moreover, it provides us the opportunity to reflect about what Kuralt, the genre and the man, represented to us. "One of the sad things about this job is it doesn't survive. It's gone in a twinkling. It's on the air and never on the air again. It's gone. You can't frame it. You can't send it out to a publisher and hope it sells. It's just a fleeting thing. So I don't think I'll be remembered for anything.And if I do any good, it's just the same thing all journalists hope they do - maybe some good by enlightening people about the times they live in" -- Charles Kuralt in a 1965 interview. Kuralt was wrong. He is remembered. In that quote Kuralt was referring to his role as television correspondent for CBS News. He surely was a quality television journalist in the best traditions of the old CBS News (Murrow, Collingswood, Edwards, Trout, Reasoner, etc.). But he was more. Many speechwriters and observers of the national scene like draw imergy of us as Americans collectively being greater than the sum of our parts. This seemd tto be true of Charles Kuralt. Friends and co-workers often spoke of the quality of his professional skills. A wimnner of the pretiguious ErniePyle Award for Journalism while at the University of North carolina, Kuralt's craft wsa honed in his early years at CBS News. While the image was of a laid-back person who preferred to turnaway from world events, he was worldly and well-rounded. His assignment postings inlcuded extended stays in the Vietnam War theater and in South America. He covered back road America by choice - he knew of the world from Tienamen Square to a moving homecoming piano recital for Valamir Horowtiz in Russia. He covered them all. But he was more . He not only reported, but he could also uniquely convey the feel of a place, a person, a moment. He could size-up a story, re-frame and makes us feel like he was speaking to us as a friend. Walter Cronkite was once described as the most trusted journalist of that period (and still remains so to many over 20 years after his retirement). But I venture to guess that upon reflection Charles Kuralt could have staked a partial claim to that title (as if such a title would have mattered to him), except that folks never felt that Kuralt "On The Road" in Cairo, Illinois or Mt. Freedom, Maine was as important a story as a report from New York or Washington on Watergate or from Vietnam on the War. Kuralt communicated the soul of America in his "On The Road Reports" - many say that showed us who we were in a unique way that could unite us in times that all too often managed to divide. Who could forget the story of the man building a road in the Minnesota wilderness, the coffee shop in Missouri that maintained personalized cups for the regulars, or town meeting day in Vermont ? But it was more than that. For example, when he covered local folk in France or Norway during the Winter Olympics in the 1990's for CBS News/Sports, it became clear that his beat was the human spirit - be it American, Norwegian, Vietnamese, Russian etc. The eye and heart measured and chronicled in a universal language - in terms that transcended artifical national boundaries. The posthumous revelations about Kuralt's private life were unsettling to us. We felt that we knew him. Of course, we didn't. We knew just a piece of him - that public part of him that appeared in that electronic box - and we had no right to presume that we had a right to know any more than that. Who of us is competent to stand in judgment ? Nonethless, the fact that his name and good reputation were so dragged through the tabloids did appear unseemly. With the passage of time and reduction in gossippy stories we again are left to contemplate Charles Kuralt on our terms - and recall the imagery and genius that touched so many of us. Charles Kuralt the person has left us. Remaining behind our his writings, video of his reporting, and most importantly his good reputation. Inpaying tribute to Chalres Kuralt at a July, 1997 memorial service, Andy Rooney, starist anbd longtime co-worker of Kuralt at CBS News said, "it seems quite possible that Charles Kuralt's talents exceede his reputation and exceeded the talent of some of the legends of our past, people who use words. He said:
One viewer, A Jeff Neterval, captured it best in a letter written to CBS News three years ago just after his death. He wrote to CBS News in New York suggesting that a new word be added to the dictionary: "kuraltian: the ability or quality to bring to light what is best in anyone or anything, no matter what value the rest of the world has assigned to that person or place". A published book about Kuralt in 2000 and accompanying website capture this essence of Charles Kuralt. "Remembering Charles Kuralt" is based on nearly 100 interviews with Charles Kuralt, friends, family and colleagues. Commissioned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to conduct a series of oral histories with Charles Kuralt's friends, family and colleagues, author Ralph Grizzle collected more than 60 hours of interviews and transcribed 1,200 pages of notes. His findinbgs from the basis of the book, revealing Kuralt in a rich and complex picture. A companion web site, http://www.rememberingcharleskuralt.com preceded the launch of the book, and is comprised of material such as speeches and writings, not included in the book itself. One review accurately observed. "So it goes that oftentimes people get remebered for the last thing they did, rather than the best thing they did...Remebreing Charles Kuralt remembers the best things". Kuralt's stature and spirit continue to loom large. We honor him and what he saw in us and how he shared that with us.. A UNIQUE JULY FOURTH EVENT A couple of words about one of our favorite July Fourth parades. Remember the saying “When given lemons make lemonade” ? In 1986, organizers of the July Fourth Parade were given lemons. That year a band could not be found to play in the annual Independence Day parade. Forced to improvise parade organizers arranged with the local radio station to have patriotic music played over the radio. That they gathered as many radios as could be found. Before you know not only did they get by without the band, but a new event was born- the Boom Box Parade. They have been staging Boom Box July Fourth Parades ever since – this year the annual. Radio station WILI-Am in Williamantic will again provide background music for the one half mile parade route. The playlist will include Sousa standards such as “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “The Washington Post March” along with patriotic favorites such as “Anchors Aweigh” and “Yankee Doodle”. Anyone can march in the Boom Box Parade. The only requirement is to wear some red, white and blue, and bring a radio tuned to WILI.American flags are optional, but encouraged. Spectators are also encouraged to bring radios set to WILI. Past parades have included a “baby boomers unit” – parents pushing children in strollers; a “precision drill team” – marchers holding power drills and skateboard units. Leading the parade as local radio personality Wayne Norman, who last year kicked off the parade on rollerblades towing what was described as “the world’s largest boom box, which looked suspiciously like a bus”. The hour-long parade commences this year at noon, and is expected to draw some 10,000 participants and spectators. For information, contact (860) 423-3476.
OLD TRAIN ROUTE COMES ALIVE ONCE A YEAR IN A BIG WAY IN CIRCUS PARADE TRAIN It runs only once a year and creeps along at 10–30 miles per hour, but it's certainly the most spectacular train to grace Wisconsin's tracks. Circuses have used locomotives since the 1870's, so the Great Circus Train is really nothing new. It's an authentic re-enactment of old-time circus operations. In fact, dapple-gray percherons are used to load and unload the flatcars, as was done before the invention of the internal combustion engine. The train re-enactment stretches from Barabo, home of the circus world museum to Milwaukee. The Circus World Museum craftsmen even built working replicas of the special tools used for horse and train work in the 1800's: runs, jacks, and pulleys that link horsepower to load. Using horses is extra work for everybody, but it keeps the past alive. Even the train's cars bear the names of famous circuses, illustrating how they might have looked in the late 1800's. The cars were purchased from an actual circus (World of Mirth Carnivals) and research later revealed that some of the cars spent their early years with some big-name shows like Sparks, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Tim McCoy's Wild West and Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey. When it's not in use, the Circus Museum keeps its train on a railroad spur built decades ago by Ringling Brothers for this very purpose. Once in Milwaukee there are big events too. Sunday, July 14, 2002 ;2:00 p.m. rain or shine — downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the scene for a two-hour processional over a three-mile (4.8 km) route, authentically re-creating turn-of-the-century circus street parades. It features 60 historic wagons, over 700 horses, cavorting clowns, wild animals in cage wagons, and a 40-Horse Hitch. The Parade Route is in Downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from the lake to 6th and from Michigan north to Wells. One can view the Bleacher seats are for sale. At the same me, Free seating is available all along the parade route, mny people camp out the previous night to make sure they get their favorite spots At the end of the parade lies a showgrounds. Once cramped the campgrounds is now said to be roomier. there one can gaze at all of the animals seen in the parade, including acres of horse tents where you can come within an arm's distance of the graceful steeds, mules, and ponies. There are also elephant rides and petting zoos for the little ones who want the hands-on excitement of touching a live animal. At the grounds, you'll also be a able to thrill to the stirring sound of calliope music, chance upon exciting "test runs" of the big-hitch wagon teams, and may even witness a daredevil stunt or too. There are quiet treasures at the circus grounds too. Spend a moment marveling at the delicacy of the wood carving on the magnificent wagons that seem to go by so quickly during the parade. Once can delight in the gaudy exuberance of a showgirl's costume. Or witness a long-lost craft being reborn as a wagon is repaired.Then there is the popcorn, Cotton Candy, and Hot Dogs. Finally because no parade would be complete without a real circus at the end, there a circus performances: Clown-A-Rama; Wild West Revue; . Royal Hanneford Circus Chinese Imperial Circus. Like the parade itself, admission to the grounds is free, although there is a charge for those who wish to attend the performances under the old-time bigtop. For information about available accommodations contact the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau information line: 1-800-554-1448...For (Bus) information Freeway flyer bus service from three Park & Ride lots Parking Parking locations near the parade route. For Further event Information Circus World Museum (608) 355-9450
INTRODUCTORY NOTE:"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. From the Interstate, America is all steel guardrails and plastic signs and every place looks and feels the same like every other place", said Charles Kuralt in On The Road With Charles Kuralt. Added William Least Heat Moon in Blue Highways, "Life doesn't happen along the interstates". As we chronicle "On The Road" Americana, we venture beyond the interstate to tell the story of some of the roads that help us find ourselves through their histories. THIS MONTH: THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY - Origins In 1912, during the early auto era, there were almost no good roads to speak of in the United States. The few miles of improved road were to be found only around towns and cities. A road was considered "improved" if it was graded; one made of gravel or brick. Asphalt and concrete were yet to come. Most roads were just dirt: meaning bumpy and dusty in dry weather, impassably muddy in wet weather. Moreover, they didn't really lead anywhere. Most were intended to lead within communities. Trains were still the preferred mode of transportation between communities. Carl Fisher recognized this situation, and sought a solution. The founder of the Miami Beach and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw the challenge and opportunity of creating a road crossing America. The suggested road was called the Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway. Communities along the route would provide the equipment and in return would receive free materials and a place along America's first transcontinental highway. The highway would be finished in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition and would run from the exposition's host, San Francisco, to New York City. To fund this scheme, he asked for cash donations from auto manufacturers and accessory companies of 1 percent of their revenues. The public could become members of the highway organization for five dollars. Fischer's plan became jeopardized when Henry Ford would not support it. However, two other auto-industry industrialists came to the rescue Frank Seiberling, president of Goodyear, and Henry Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company. Henry Joy came up with the idea of naming the highway after Abraham Lincoln. He wrote Fisher urging him to write a letter of protest to Congress, which was considering spending $1.7 million on a marble memorial to Lincoln. Joy thought a good road across the country would be a better tribute to the president. The name "Lincoln" captured Fisher's fancy; he realized it would give great patriotic appeal to the highway. Fisher asked Joy if he wanted to be involved directly with the highway project. At first, Joy was hesitant, but soon he wholeheartedly supported the project and became the primary spokesman for the highway. NOTE: Send us your suggestions about roads with histories worth sharing.
Introductory Note: Of the foods of America, Charles Kuralt once wrote: "No we're not all fast food from coast to coast. We're not the same. Go right into the kitchen, lift the lid of a pot, and you can still tell about where you are in this country. If you're looking for the spirit of a place, head for the stove". (Charles Kuralt's American Moments; 1998; Simon & Schuster, New York; ISBN 0-684-85903-3) THIS MONTH - A FLAG CAKE July Fourth is a time of parades, speeches, fireworks and food. Culinary staples include hot dogs, sauerkraut, hamburgers, cole slaw, and around here "Flag Cake". Here is a recipe first introduced by my Mom through a whipped cream maker: 2 pints of strawberries 1 recipe of your favorite white or yellow cake 1 1/3 Cup of blueberries 1 tub of whipped topping Mix up and bake your favorite cake mix or recipe. Let cool. Slice 1 cup of strawberries, set aside. Halve remaining strawberries, set aside. Top cake (in pan) with 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1 cup blueberries and all of the whipped topping. Arrange remaining strawberry halves and blueberries on whipped topping to create a flag design. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serves 12 In the depression era classic The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck once remarked," Ever' body says words different. Arkansas folks says 'em different, and Oklahomy folks says 'em different. An we seen a lady from Massachusetts an' she said 'em differentest of all. Could hardly make out what she was sayin'". Almost three decades later in Travels with Charley (1962), Steinbeck was concerned that American dialects were disappearing, victims of the homogenization resulting from network radio and television."One of my purposes was to listen", he wrote," to hear speech, accent, speech rhythms, overtones and emphasis. For speech is so much more than words and sentences. I did listen everywhere. It seemed to me that regional speech is in the process of disappearing, not gone but going. Forty years of radio and twenty years of television must have this impact. Communications must destroy localness by a slow, inevitable process. I can remember a time when I could almost pinpoint a man's palace of origin by his speech. That is growing more difficult now and will in some foreseeable future become impossible....No region can hold out for long against the highway, high-tension line, and the national television". This column is our attempt to journey into the nooks and crannies of America and unveil those gems of regional speak where it still exists. We may be becoming more alike - but there are still numerous regional differences to celebrate. We do so here.
LIBERTY TREE, LIBERTY ELM A tree in Boston from which effigies of unpopular people were hanged during the protests over the Stamp Act in 1765. The ground under the tree became known as Liberty Hall. In 1775, the British cut down the venerable elm down, and for a time it became known as the Liberty stump. Soon after liberty trees were planted all over New England and in other regions, some say in almost every American town. Courtesy of Yankee Talk, A Dictionary of New England Expressions, by Robert Henrickson; Facts on File, 1996, Permission Granted.
Introductory Note: I'm now some forty years removed from the most impressionable travel period of my life - the late 1950's and early 1960's. It was then as part of family trips that I started to discover the exciting world of road signs and road maps - of exotic sounding places that frequently were much less exciting than the name. With this early experience still fresh in mind, we introduce this "American Place". This occasional feature will profile the name of a place - some insight on how and why it is so named. Sources for this section are many, including state tourist boards and you. We note, for the record, the inspiration of the late Charles Kuralt's background during the mailbox segment on Sunday Morning. Wrote Kuralt, "'I have fallen in love with American names', wrote the poet Stephen Vincent Benet....Well, really - how could yo not? If you've been to Lick Skillet, Texas and Bug Tussle, and Nip and Tuck, and Cut and Shoot. In California you can travel from Humbug Flat to Lousy Level, with a detour to Gouge Eye...Robert Louis Stevenson was also struck by the wealth upon our maps. He wrote 'There is no part of the world where nomenclature is so rich, poetical, humorous, and picturesque, as the United States of America.' He called our country a 'songful, tuneful land' (Charles Kuralt's American Moments; 1998; Simon & Schuster, New York; ISBN 0-684-85903-3) We also note, refer you to and endorse a reference book, "A Place Called Peculiar" by Frank K. Gallant; Merriam-Webster, 1998. We hope you will provide continuing source material for this section. Let us know what you think. THIS MONTH'S AMERICAN PLACE: PATRIOTIC PLACES We at Hidden America are collectors of sorts. One of our collections consists of place names - places categorized by various criteria. For example, for July Fourth we want to track down and chronicle uniquely patriotic locations - in name if not in spirit. Here's a starter list. we hope yu will add your entry - and that you'llcome back each year to see how our online community list is growing: FREEDOM: Calif, Ind., NE, NH, OK, PA, WI, WY. LIBERTY: ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, ME, MS, MO, NE, NY, NC, PA, SC, TN, TX; LIBERTY ACRES, CA; LIBERTY CENTER, IN, IA, NJ; LIBERTY GROVE, MD;LIBERTY HILL, SC, TN; LIBERTY LAKE, WA; LIBERTY MILLS, IN; LIBERTYTOWN, MD; LIBERTYVILLE, IL, IA INDEPENDENCE, CA, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MN, MS, MO, OH, OR, VA, WI, AR; INDEPENDENCE HILL, IN NOTE: Do you have a story to tell about an American Place ? If so, send it along and we will share it. NOTE: Do you have any additions to this list ? Or do you have a story to tell about an American Place ? If so, send them along and we will share them.
Have you ever wondered how toothpaste gets into the tube ? How Washington's face gets on a dollar bill ? Or how a major studio makes a movie? A book addressing these questions and others recently crosed our desk. Watching It Made In The USA - A Visitor's Guide to the Companies That make Your Favorite Products is a sourcebook for travelers and armcahir travelers. Authors and factory tour expeerts Karen Axelrod and Bruce Brumberg provide advice for business and family travelers in the from of practical travel information for nearly 300 factories and company museums across the USA. The litsings range from the established and well-known, such as Boeing, Budweiser and Hershey's to Heart of the Desert pistachioes, Steinway & Sons pianoes, and Tom's of Maine toothpaste. The authors strove to select companies from diverse industries and all areas of the country. They wanted to capture the industries for which the different regions were known, such as cheese in Wisconsin and Vermont, glass in West Virginia, movies in Southern California, bourbon in Kentucky, RV's in Northern Indiana, Cajun hot sauces in Louisiana, and wood products in the Pacific Northwest. Certain high-tech industries, such as computer manufacturing and biotechonology, do not give regular public tours for proprietary reasons, so they are excluded by their choice. In other industries, such as beer brewing and newspaper publishing, tours are a standard practice, in this group authors selected the most high-profile campnaies or those with interesting processes or histories. It is interesting how the authors found that companies in certain states, even though very industrial, do not seem interested in giving public tours. For example, while manufacturing intensive states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio offer a variety of tours, most New Jersey and Connecticut companies remain closed to the public. In contrast, companies in less industrial states such as Kentucky and Vermont have exhibited great pride in opening themselves to the public. "A wealth of information" states the Philadelphia Inquirer, "A nifty new book", chimes in the Globe. We agree and highly recommend this book. WATCH IT MADE IN THE U.S.A. - A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO THE COMPANIES THAT MAKE YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS, by Karen Axelrod and Bruce Brumberg, John Muir Publications, Santa Fe , NM, 1997; $17.95; ISBN `1-56261-337-5.
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