(Spirit Lake)– A podcast about the history and stories of the Iowa Great Lakes is about to launch for another season. Emma Myhre is a writer and audio producer for the Okoboji Project…
“I created it in 2024 with my friend, Ryan Maris, and it really emerged from this fear that we had about losing valuable voices from our community, people that we know made the Iowa Great Lakes such an extraordinary place for both of us to grow up in. And then as we started thinking about how we could collect those voices and present those voices for our community, we decided that we should really contextualize them with the extraordinary history of our area. So we have produced 20 episodes so far. We have a brand new set coming out this summer for season three, and we’ve been really fortunate to not only get to talk to people in our community, but also to get to talk to people around the world who have connections to the Iowa Great Lakes and historians whose work intersects with stories from the Iowa Great Lakes too.”
Myhre says the history of the University of Okoboji and the Loon Lake Cemetery are just a couple of the stories they’ve featured, along with interviews of community members with background sounds, period-accurate music and firsthand accounts of the area’s past.
Myhre says they’ll be kicking off the third season of the Okoboji Project with a special event June 2nd at the Dickinson County Museum in Spirit Lake…
“We are co-hosting this with the museum, the Dickinson County Trails and the Lakes Area Museum Alliance. Our first episode is about the history of the railroads in the Iowa Great Lakes and how they got here and how we still see them visible in our area today. We’re really, really excited to get a chance to collaborate with so many extraordinary organizations again that make our area so special.”
She adds they are very grateful for the support and assistance they’ve received…
“Over the past two years we’ve reached people, listeners in all 50 states and it’s just incredible to see in a new way how the Iowa Great Lakes resonates with people who call this place home, who grew up maybe coming here, and we’ve even heard from people who have never been to the Iowa Great Lakes before who have said well now we have to come because this place is extraordinary. We’re excited to see what this next chapter unfolds for us, too, and again we’re just so, so grateful for everyone who has supported us along the way.”
The June 2nd event at the Dickinson County Museum is free of charge, however freewill donations to help support the museum would be very much appreciated. Light refreshments will be served and after-hours access to the museum will be available, along with an early listening of the season 3 premier episode. Myhre adds it will be available to the general public the next day, June 3rd, wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
