Prairie Fire Segments

Yoga for Health

2008-04-25T01:30:00Z

For 6,000 years people have been practicing yoga. Its roots are religious, but outside of India, most people practice it as a form of exercise. Producer Virginia Steffen examines this ancient practice and learns that it’s something anyone can do.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-24-a.mp4 (duration: 08:49)

World's Largest Catsup Bottle

2008-04-25T01:30:00Z

Nestled along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, Collinsville, Ill., is home to the world’s largest catsup bottle. The bottle, formerly a water tower for a local catsup bottling plant, had become a bit of an eyesore by the late 1990s. The company that owned it was reluctant to do upkeep and maintenance. By 1993, the plant and the bottle were up for sale. After a community outcry, the town saved the famous bottle.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-24-b.mp4 (duration: 05:03)

Japanese-American Spent War in Internment Camp

2008-04-25T01:30:00Z

Yuki Okinaga Llewellyn of Champaign, Ill., spent three years during World War II interned at the Manzanar Assembly Center in California. Llewellyn and her 23-year-old single mother were evacuated from Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, to Manzanar in Lone Pine, Calif. The now famous 1942 National Archives photo, taken by Clem Albers and showing Yuki sitting on a suitcase in the train station, became representative of that period. A retired assistant dean of students at the University of Illinois, Llewellyn returned to Manzanar last fall for the first time since she and her mother left it in October 1945 with $25 and a pair of government-issued bus tickets. Producer Denise La Grassa talks to Llewellyn about living in Block 2 inside the internment camp where she shared a 20 x 20 room with her mother and another family.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-24-c.mp4 (duration: 07:55)

Trumpet Player John O'Connor Recalls World War II

2008-04-18T01:30:00Z

John O’Connor of Champaign served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. He was chosen as lead pilot with the first experimental flying unit aboard the B-24 Liberator. He flew 50 missions and also used his skills as a trumpeter and band director. Flying back from a mission, John and his crew would often pull out their instruments and play. O’Connor later became a member of the Medicare 7, 8 or 9 Jazz Band, performing around the country.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-17-c.mp4 (duration: 04:46)

Vintage Baseball with the Rock Springs Ground Squirrels

2008-04-17T13:30:01Z

A group of baseball players in Macon County is preserving the old days of baseball. The Rock Springs Ground Squirrels play the game by 1860s rules, which don’t allow swearing or gloves. Producer Julius Bolton takes viewers to the Macon County Conservation District to enjoy a bygone era from our national pastime.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-17-b.mp4 (duration: 06:02)

40 north/88 west Nurtures the Arts

2008-04-17T13:30:00Z

The mission of 40 north/88 west is to nurture artists in Champaign County by fostering collaboration, and keeping them informed about opportunities and events. Producer Virginia Steffen introduces some of the artists who are part of 40 north and the work they are creating in central Illinois.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-17-a.mp4 (duration: 06:45)

U of I Professors Travel to Kenya

2008-04-11T01:30:01Z

The Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya borders the famed Serengeti, where the wildebeest migrate. Recently named one of the seven tourist wonders of the world, this territory was once a favorite hunting ground for big game. The elephants, lions, buffalo, hippo and leopards are now protected. But the Maasai tribespeople say they need protection, too. They are being attacked by the increasing numbers of wild animals that roam outside the game reserves. This story takes you on safari to Kenya where you will hear from the Maasai. University of Illinois journalism professor Nancy Benson traveled with U of I law professor Patrick Keenan who is working with the Maasai to write new laws designed to provide compensation when a life, or crop, is lost. This story provides one example of what is happening in many developing countries where tourism is big business.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-10-b.mp4 (duration: 07:24)

U of I Journalism Students in China

2008-04-11T01:30:00Z

China is one of the fastest growing nations on Earth. China is changing in many regards. The economy is booming. China is becoming a more vital part of the world—politically and economically, positively and negatively. Air pollution from China drifts half way around the world. Some Chinese are becoming more affluent and more Western.

John Paul produced this feature report about China as part of his graduate studies in journalism. John was part of an international reporting class, taught by Professor Nancy Benson, that took 10 University of Illinois students to China in May 2007.

Each student reported on a different aspect of China—from its growing economy to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the increasing amount of electronic waste sent there from America. The students produced a two hour radio documentary titled “Beyond the Great Wall,” which aired on WILL-AM 580.

This story for Prairie Fire gives the viewer a glimpse of the China the students saw—from the Great Wall to Tiananmen Square and the streets of Shanghai. It also tells what it’s like to report in China.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-10-a.mp4 (duration: 09:02)

Wartime Decatur

2008-04-11T01:30:00Z

In World War II, soldiers from Decatur, Ill., served in North Africa, Italy, the Philippines and Germany. Local volunteers rolled bandages, collected food, and recycled bales of paper and heaps of scrap metal. Citizens planted victory gardens and bought war bonds and savings stamps. Dan Guillory’s book, “Wartime Decatur: 1832 & 1945” documents the vigorous wartime culture based on community involvement and a strong sense of patriotism. Prairie Fire talks to Guillory about his stories of service both on and off the battlefield. Then producer Denise La Grassa recounts the experiences of Decatur’s Carl Mocabee, who was a master sergeant in the Army stationed in the Philippines and New Guinea. He received a Purple Heart and Silver Star during his service.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-10-c.mp4 (duration: 05:50)

Recycled Rhythms

2008-04-04T01:30:00Z

By producer Alison Davis Wood

I first met Chad Dunn when I was producing a story on another band that he plays with called Desifinado. After talking to him, I quickly realized that Chad should be his own story for Prairie Fire. His talents include hand crafting instruments that are used by Sting and members of Paul Simon’s band, and he teaches Brazilian percussion to young and old. But Chad is also a lover of trash. He looks at old bottles and paint drums and hears music. What also is incredible is that he inspires others to do the same.

Chad’s musical mission of keeping things out of landfills led to him forming Recycled Rhythms. The band is unlike anything you’ve seen before. It is part musical group, part perfomance art, part environmental activism. But most of all the band is fun to watch. You can’t help but move to the beat and maybe even join the band on stage with a pair of “dancing hands” (empty boxes with scrap paper attached).

Chad’s vision for the future of the band is that Recycled Rhythms will do extensive workshops within communities across the country. The group would help organize a community “clean-up” with a local school. Then Chad would work with school children to turn the items collected into musical instruments. They would teach the kids how to play tradtional Brazilian rhythms on the new instruments. All the work would result in a performance between the school children and Recycled Rhythms after which the instruments would be donated to the school.

I hope this story inspires people check out a performance of Recycled Rhythms or possibly make their own instruments. Maybe you will think twice before you throw something away ... there could be music in that old cereal box or coffee can. You just have to let it out!

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-03-a.mp4 (duration: 09:19)

Friendship in Combat

2008-04-04T01:30:00Z

A friendship during World War II helped George Kitterman of Bloomington survive fierce conditions during the Battle of the Bulge. In this Prairie Fire story, Kitterman describes being pinned down in a foxhole with his friend Joe Spencer, covered with snow with only a bazooka and one shell between them. They wondered what they would do if a German tank came over the ridge.

Producer Denise La Grassa begins with Kitterman learning about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when he and his pals were finishing a game of touch football and turned on a car radio to hear the Chicago Bears score. “We follow him through much of his war experience, but the centerpiece is this friendship that was so important to him,” La Grassa said.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-03-c.mp4 (duration: 08:26)

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

2008-04-04T01:00:00Z

The goal of Habitat for Humanity’s Champaign ReStore is to keep gently used furniture out of the landfill and also help people in need.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-04-03-b.mp4 (duration: 06:49)

African-American Steward-Gunner on USS Missouri

2008-03-28T01:30:01Z

Theodore Freeman of Rantoul was a steward, serving officers in the mess hall on the USS Missouri. But when the enemy struck, he had to man his position on a gun mount and defend the ship. He was on board the USS Missouri when a Japanese kamikaze pilot crashed his plane into the ship very near to where Freeman was standing. He talked with WILL-TV producer Denise La Grassa about the challenges he faced as an African-American on board ship and about the conflict between his life as Pentecostal pastor before Pearl Harbor and his life as a sailor pledged to defend the country.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-03-27-c.mp4 (duration: 06:23)

Japanese-American Spent War in Internment Camp

2008-03-28T01:30:00Z

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-03-27-b.mp4 (duration: 07:55)

Battle of the Bulge

2008-03-28T01:30:00Z

Sparky Songer of Danville, Ill., served in the infantry in Europe and was captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. He spent six months in German camps before escaping as the war was winding down and finding his way to American lines, thanks to the help of an English-speaking German guard who was a graduate of the University of Michigan. Songer talks to WILL-TV producer Denise La Grassa about his escape and his experiences in the German camps, where he subsisted almost almost entirely on rutabaga soup. He weighed under 100 pounds when he reached safety. Songer is curator and president of the Vermilion County War Museum.

MPEG4 archive of this segment: http://willmedia.atlas.uiuc.edu/mpeg4/pf2008-03-27-e.mp4 (duration: 09:11)