Flat River Front Porch

Flat River Community Library

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SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

The Flat River Community Library in Greenville, Michigan presents a safe and welcoming place where the library and the community come together: the front porch. Episodes will contain info on our community and library from the past, present and future, and a new interview from individuals in our local (and beyond) community. Settle in, relax and enjoy!

SEP 3

Episode 17: Page-Offs and the Hamptons: All-Star Celebrity Edition with Amanda Jones

At long last, it's our end-of-summer edition of Flat River Front Porch! This one has been a long time coming, but it is packed full of (low-key, nerd-friendly) celebrity guests. While we will be coming back home in our next episode to interview a local retired teacher, our guest this week is a teacher from much farther away. She is Amanda Jones, small-town Louisiana school librarian turned freedom fighter who has been making headlines for fighting back against individuals in her community trying to scare her into silence over attempts to remove books from the public library. Her fight turned into a multi-year lawsuit and a bestselling book, That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America (check our shelves!). Cassie, our Marketing and Outreach Librarian and fellow intellectual freedom enthusiast, joins us as we talk about the threats Amanda had to deal with and the good things she was able to take away from the experience. (Warning: there is a small amount of profanity in this episode.) The episode also features some recognizable names and voices from 30 Rock, The Good Place and Parks and Recreation who were excited and kind enough to be featured on our little podcast. Take one last trip for the summer on the Flat River Front Porch!

1h 3m
JUL 22

Episode 16: Jaws and Midwestern Slang for Fruit with Steve Bowers

We are in the home stretch of summer and it has been BUSY, so we're a little bit behind with sitting down indoors and recording. However, we are celebrating the summer fun and planning for the warm weather we have left with some local guests (and one far-flung one). I sit down with Amanda Lee (AGAIN, I know -- but we have so much fun) to talk summer fruits and veggies and the bizarre slang terms Midwesterners come up with for them, when it's acceptable to use your crockpot, beach reads, and something called the Great Saunter (a real thing for which Amanda is currently training). Then we speak with Steve Bowers from The Library Network on the east side of the state. He told us all about the Michigan Activity Pass program (and I've been saving his interview since last October so we were all in a state park and traveling kind of mood). Finally, we compare notes with a handful of library moms about what their alternately exciting and relaxing summers have entailed so far. It's never been a better time to pour yourself some lemonade, settle in on the front porch and join us!

1h 17m
JUN 28

Episode 15: Goldilocks and the Three Pole Barn Apartments: The Home Ownership Edition

June is Home Ownership Month, and we're celebrating it by talking to a set of people who eat and breathe housing and all its facets. We kick it off with Kamey Krum-Howe, newly back at FRCL from other adventures and full of her own interesting home history tales. Then we sit down with Mike Adams from Montcalm Habitat for Humanity, local realtor Andrea Belding, and Larry Moss from Greenville City Council and City Planning Commission. We dig deep into our very homey topic, with everything from the housing shortage to the idiosyncrasies of finding and maintaining your forever home. We talk about ways people are working to improve options for safe and affordable homes in our community, and each of our topsy-turvy journeys with pole barn living, city homes vs country homes, tree infestations, bats, basement floods and so much more. If you've ever lived indoors, this episode for you. Take a tour, then join us on the Front Porch!

1h 43m
JUN 6

Episode 14: Home School and Love Languages with the Quigleys

This week we celebrate the kick-off of Summer Reading by chatting with two members of one of our biggest reading families, the Quigleys! I've been talking books and everything else with Amanda Quigley and her EIGHT (yes, 8) kids for 7 years, back when we were both still in Belding. Amanda is a homeschooling coach, a Cannonsville Critters volunteer and animal lover, and a strong advocate for open discussion about mental health, neurodivergence, and pretty much everything else. Her daughter, Hannah, joins us, and we talk about the happy chaos that is the Quigley household. We are also joined by Miss Tiffany, and we get into everything we can look forward to this summer, and our proposal to refresh the Black Field property until a beautiful new performance and natural education space. Get comfortable with us on the front porch!

1h 27m
MAY 28

Episode 13: The (Im)possible Cake Pans: One Book One County edition with Brooke Whipple from ALONE

This episode is an out-of-the-office, off-the-grid adventure as we dive into this year's Montcalm One Book One County selection! We are joined by Brooke Whipple, native Stantonite and star of The History Channel's Alone and National Geographic's Yukon River Run. Brooke has a million fascinating stories about adventuring and surviving under harsh conditions, and this episode features my conversation with her as well as highlights from her presentation at the One Book One County kickoff. We're also joined by (almost) all of the library directors in Montcalm County. We hint at (and then finally reveal) this year's selection title, then talk about creative and unique projects and items for checkout that each one offers. We recorded before the kickoff, so sections about the OBOC book this year were added later, so don't be alarmed when I start to go a little NPR on you. Put in your earbuds and go for a walk with this special outdoorsy episode of Flat River Front Porch!

1h 6m
MAY 6

Episode 12: Horror Movies and Body Safety with Alexis Thane from RAVE

The "body safety" in this episode is not the fleeing-from-Freddie-Krueger kind! We honor Sexual Assault Awareness month (which, to be fair, was April) by sitting down with Alexis Thane, Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for RAVE, Relief Against Violent Encounter. Their organization provides support, shelter and counseling for survivors (of all ages and genders) of sexual assault and domestic abuse. While these topics are rarely easy, open discussion of them is so important to try to reduce the stigma of honesty around them. This is essential if we want to prepare and support young people (or anyone) in their relationships, and promote body safety awareness. We hope our episode will encourage you to start your own honest discussions. Also, we sit down with staff member, Danielle, and her visiting daughter, Megan, who make me work exceptionally hard to get them to talk. Megan was with us for job shadowing, but tells us about the horror film-inspired career aspiration she prefers over becoming a librarian. Then I attempt to get Megan to try her hand at podcast hosting (with mixed results). This episode is a hodge-podge mix of silly and serious, but then that's the best kind. Join us on the Front Porch!

59 min
APR 20

Episode 11: Time Life Series and Bluey (and more!) with State Senator Rick Outman

We appreciate your patience as we get out this last episode, and it is a doozy! This is the second half of our two-part series with the Outmans, our local state legislators. This time we are joined by Rick Outman, senator for the 33rd district. Rick talks his grudging entrance into politics years ago, the history of redistricting in Michigan, his chihuahua Chico, and his serious fandom of the cartoon Bluey (which he admits he may watch even with the grandkids aren't around). We are also joined by Marketing and Outreach Librarian Cassie Vargo, who talks seed libraries, the Career Fair, and our shared nostalgia for all things Time-Life. Tune in as we talk all these things (and more!) on the Flat River Front Porch.

1h 26m
MAR 25

Episode 10: Historical Fiction and the Feral Cat Porch Takeover with Rep. Pat Outman

Our guest this week takes a break from partisanship to join us for a low-key conversation on the front porch: State Representative Pat Outman! We talk parenting young kids, outdoor hobbies, childhood aspirations, travel spots, and the challenges of representing all the voices from a rural district. Then we play the first half of a father-son version of the Newlywed Game, to see how well he and his dad know each other (to be concluded when his father, Senator Rick Outman joins us here in a few weeks). Also joining us this week is Montcalm Area Reading Council Director, Amanda Lee, and she and Stef talk about a whole array of ridiculous things (as usual). We run the gamut of topics, from Princess Kate (who announced her cancer diagnosis a couple days after we recorded) to celebrity memoirs, vacation prep, upcoming concerts, vegan diets and swishy pants. Lots of fun as always, and TONS of book recommendations... so settle in and join us!

1h 19m

See All (19)

Creator

Flat River Community Library
Years Active

2023 - 2024
Episodes

19
Rating

Clean
Show Website

Flat River Front Porch

Flat River Front Porch

Episode 17: Page-Offs and the Hamptons: All-Star Celebrity Edition with Amanda Jones

Episode 16: Jaws and Midwestern Slang for Fruit with Steve Bowers

Episode 15: Goldilocks and the Three Pole Barn Apartments: The Home Ownership Edition

Episode 14: Home School and Love Languages with the Quigleys

Episode 13: The (Im)possible Cake Pans: One Book One County edition with Brooke Whipple from ALONE

Episode 12: Horror Movies and Body Safety with Alexis Thane from RAVE

Episode 11: Time Life Series and Bluey (and more!) with State Senator Rick Outman

Episode 10: Historical Fiction and the Feral Cat Porch Takeover with Rep. Pat Outman

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