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"The Enchanted Highway" is a half-hour radio documentary profiling artist Gary Greff’s attempt to save his dying Great Plains hometown by building giant metal sculptures along a lonely strip of county road. His goal: to transform the community – Regent, North Dakota – into the Metal Art Capital of the World, a tourist mecca.
For the past twelve years, Greff has been building magnificent metal sculptures along a 30-mile stretch of road leading from Interstate 94 to Regent, ND, where the majority of residents are over fifty, and the population – currently 200 – is plummeting. The documentary details Greff’s dogged struggle to raise money and craft the sculptures, which include a giant tin family (where the tin father’s hat is the size of a small car), a flock of pheasants that weighs over 30,000 pounds, and, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest metal sculpture, “Geese in Flight.” Greff’s plans also include a motel, dinner theater, and a metal art theme park. Says one resident, “He truly believes he can save this town.”
"The Enchanted Highway" debuted on March 6th, 2005 on Chicago Public Radio, and has subsequently been aired as a series on April 11-13 on NPR's Day To Day, and May 16 on North Dakota Public Radio.
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Piece Description
"The Enchanted Highway" is a half-hour radio documentary profiling artist Gary Greff’s attempt to save his dying Great Plains hometown by building giant metal sculptures along a lonely strip of county road. His goal: to transform the community – Regent, North Dakota – into the Metal Art Capital of the World, a tourist mecca. For the past twelve years, Greff has been building magnificent metal sculptures along a 30-mile stretch of road leading from Interstate 94 to Regent, ND, where the majority of residents are over fifty, and the population – currently 200 – is plummeting. The documentary details Greff’s dogged struggle to raise money and craft the sculptures, which include a giant tin family (where the tin father’s hat is the size of a small car), a flock of pheasants that weighs over 30,000 pounds, and, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest metal sculpture, “Geese in Flight.” Greff’s plans also include a motel, dinner theater, and a metal art theme park. Says one resident, “He truly believes he can save this town.” "The Enchanted Highway" debuted on March 6th, 2005 on Chicago Public Radio, and has subsequently been aired as a series on April 11-13 on NPR's Day To Day, and May 16 on North Dakota Public Radio.
Broadcast History
March 6, 2005--Chicago Public Radio
April 11 to 13, 2005--Day To Day (in 3 parts)
May 16, 2005--North Dakota Public Radio
Timing and Cues
Host intro and credits included in piece.
In: "Many great plains towns....
duration: 28:33
out: music resolves.
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Steve Yasko
Posted on June 19, 2005 at 07:53 AM | Permalink
An Enchanting Tale of the Human Spirit
It's all here and told in a very nice public radio way. The production is wonderful and the many voices in this piece are well organized and the story is told deftly.
This is a regional piece with universal appeal. I am not sure I could encourage its use in a regional magazine, but as part of a themed based show it works great. It was aired nationally and that works in that context. It sounds great in the plains and on a national program, but a show in the Northeast would have to be themed based, you couldn’t just toss it in as it given its geographical origin without other similar pieces around it.
A few picky things. It's long. Half an hour for this may work great locally and even nationally, but in between the two is a whole lot of ways this piece could be used that would require it to be cut down a bit. There's an even pace in music and narration, I think a bit of a change here and there, speeding up here and there would minimize what I call "mid piece burn." That's where the experienced listener knows the next couple of elements and is willing to sit through them to get to the pay off, but you risk them tuning out mentally if not physically.
Overall, this is a great story that is well produced and executed