Within The Realm

When I was a kid growing up in the foothills of the Ozarks there wasn't a lot of excitement, but that changed the summer I turned nine. The filming of "Where The Red Fern Grows" had come to town with all the glitz and bustle making a movie can provide. One school friend had a special relationship to the REAL stars of the movie.

Nowadays a trip to the hardware store is a trip to a brightly colored big box. There was a time when such a trip was to a downtown shop full of everything you might need..and a cast of colorful characters. There is still such a place, Fletcher hardware and it has it resident colorful character, Bill.

It is still very much what it was fifty years ago when I first set foot in the place. Take a step back in time with me on a trip to the hardware store.

Earlier in this season we met Hannah Pithers, a young personal trainer with a big health issue , Crohn's Disease, in "Hannah's Story: The Big Comeback." In the course of the interview, I learned that I had two great inspirational stories on my hands.

This episode focuses on Matt, Hannah's husband, and his side of this same story.

It was the edge of the United States, closer to Spanish territory than the nearest military installation of the United States. William Lovely had been placed as agent to the Cherokees in the West, tasked with ending the bloody conflict between them and the Osages. With poor communication with the government back east and no real authority, he had to make it up as he went. His actions are apparent to this day.

Will Rogers, Oklahoma's favorite son, worked his way from failed rancher to Wild West show performer to the highest paid performer in Hollywood. His homespun philosophy won him favor with Presidents and the common man. But this story centers on a gun, a Colt 32.20, that was shipped to Muskogee, Indian Territory in 1904. Could it be the gun in Will's holster pictured above? The Humber family story suggests that it could very well be…but it's also so much more.

One of the most-heard comments at showings of his work by Indian artist Bobby C. Martin is "But you don't look Indian..." The theme of much of Bobby's work centers around the subject of Indian identity - in fact, his last show took it's title from that often repeated phrase. Listen in as Bobby discusses the process of defining his Native American identity.

Someone has to keep the family stories alive...Are you the Keeper of the Stories? Listen in as host Steve Garrett discusses the importance of maintaining the family stories and tells one from his own family that was almost lost to time!

Check out the adventures of Courtney Ann Hall as she goes from novice songwriter to recording artist in the span of one year.

Val Anderson claims to be a quiet person who just wants to take pictures. She's pretty good at it and finds herself lending her talent to various groups, like Honor Flight Kansas City, a non-profit that provides a one-day flight for veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the various armed services and war memorials. She not only gives us stellar photographs of these events but provides us with observations about veterans, their stories and America.

Just in time for Halloween! A story of a hunt for Bigfoot in the hills of Oklahoma with an excitable teenage boy and a reluctant local editor.