I went to Stover today looking for stories. I found honey, pony rides, and a fellow who makes whiskey.

I’d say I was on the right street.

Today was the Rock Island Festival in downtown Stover, Missouri. I took my microphone along and spent some time getting acquainted with the folks behind the booths.

We talked about honey and bee products, goat milk and tallow, animals and pony rides, and some Missouri-made spirits. That covers a fair amount of ground for a Saturday afternoon.

And I managed to do it without getting on a pony.

That’s one of my favorite things about these festivals. You can stop to look at something somebody made and end up learning a little about the life they’ve built around it. The conversation gets interesting when you start asking questions.

There’s work behind those tables. Somebody tended the bees, cared for the animals, made the products, and loaded everything up to bring it to town.

I like meeting those people. And I like bringing you along.

The video above gives you a few of today’s conversations. We came home with more footage and pictures, too, so there will be more from Stover to share.

Thank you to the folks who welcomed me and took a few minutes to visit.

Next week in Coffman’s Landing

Back in our fictional town at the Lake of the Ozarks, we’re spending some time around the businesses that keep the place going.

T.C. Redford needs a part from Warren Pike’s hardware store. Cecil Boone is back in his barbershop, where the opinions are as available as the haircuts. There’s a loose muffler that needs another hand, a stop at Mercer’s Corner Market, and four motorcycles arriving with plenty for everybody to talk about.

Five little visits to a town where a simple errand can take longer than you planned.

Hear the whole week tonight

The public episodes arrive one each weekday, beginning Monday. Paid members can listen to all five right now.

Become a paid member of The Coffman Chronicle and you’ll get each coming week’s Five Minutes in America stories every Saturday, before their weekday release.

Your membership helps me keep writing, recording, and getting out to find the real people and places behind the stories.

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What’s the place in your hometown where a five-minute stop turns into a half-hour conversation? Hit reply and tell me about it.

Stay free,
Tony

Five Minutes in America is presented by YourPocketConstitution.com. Because every citizen should own the instruction manual.

My daughter and I went to the Versailles Apple Festival today. We found homemade ice cream, a Jesse James gang story, and somebody’s pet house goat.

That’s a pretty good day in Missouri. And we didn’t even have to get arrested.

My daughter was my camera girl and my editor. She filmed our adventures and put together the Along the Way video above. I did the talking. She made it worth watching.

The ice cream was churned by an old John Deere hit-and-miss engine brought down by folks from Palmyra. Now, I’ve been around plenty of machinery that made work. I’m considerably more interested in machinery that makes dessert.

We stopped at the Martin Hotel, home of the historical society, and heard a story about the Jesse James gang. I’ll have more to share from that visit, too. You can go looking for history around here and find yourself standing right in the middle of somebody’s good story.

Then we met the goat.

A house goat.

I’m still hung up on that part. Does it have its own bedroom? And if it eats the electric bill, does that count as paying it?

Come along with us in this week’s Along the Way video above. We got plenty more pictures and video today, so there are a few more stories coming your way.

That’s one of my favorite things about getting out to these festivals. You start talking to somebody, and pretty soon you’ve got a story you wouldn’t have found sitting at home.

Although apparently, at one particular home, you could’ve found a goat.

Next week in Coffman’s Landing

Mitchell and Dudley have their bicycles out, and that ought to be enough to make the adults nervous.

We’ve got a steep hill, wheelies, a flat tire, and a drainage ditch that two boys decide has recreational possibilities. By Friday, motorcycles roll onto Main Street, and Cecil Boone gets a chance to settle a story that’s been growing all week.

• Monday, October 5 — No Hands: Two bicycles, one steep hill, and a cousin’s story that may be taller than either boy.

• Tuesday, October 6 — One Wheel: The boys try to lift a front tire—and discover something else that needs fixing.

• Wednesday, October 7 — Two Roads: Mitchell wins on pavement. Dudley chooses gravel. Then a flat tire ends the argument.

• Thursday, October 8 — The Ditch: A drainage ditch gives the boys a place to ride—until Mitchell aims a little too high.

• Friday, October 9 — Both Wheels: Motorcycles arrive on Main Street, and Cecil Boone finally settles the cousin’s bicycle story.

Each Five Minutes in America episode stands on its own, but these five belong together. The public episodes arrive one each weekday. Paid readers can hear the entire week tonight.

If you’d like to ride ahead with Mitchell and Dudley, become a paid member of The Coffman Chronicle. You’ll get all five episodes now, plus each coming week’s stories every Saturday before their weekday release.

Your membership helps me keep writing and recording them. I’d be glad to have you along.

HEAR THE WHOLE WEEK NOW

And tell me: where did your bicycle take you when you were a kid? Hit reply. I’d love to hear your story.

Stay free,

Tony

Five Minutes in America is presented by YourPocketConstitution.com—because every citizen should own the instruction manual.

“Hi, I’m Tony. I’m a local storyteller.”

That sounds fine until you’re standing in front of a stranger, trying to explain what you mean by trading stories. A few people gave me a look. A few said no, and that was all right. Then somebody would stop, remember something, and the festival around us would fall away for a minute.

My dad was there. He cooked turkey legs at the first Turkey Fest and could still point to the place where they set up. I ran into Ray, who coached me in soccer. I saw friends I wish I’d remembered to photograph. And when I started thinking I might chicken out, my family kept me going.

Somewhere between the parade and those conversations, I remembered why I’m drawn to stories about a place. People carry its history around with them. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

In the Along the Way video above, I take you through the festival and tell you the story I brought home. It’s a little over two minutes.

Next week in Coffman’s Landing

Were you ever the new kid? Mitchell Haywood is new to the school, and Dudley Floyd is the only familiar face he has there. The week opens in a dodgeball game, then takes us back to see how Mitchell got to that moment. On Friday, we return to the gym.

• Monday — Haywood: For the first time, the kids in the gym call Mitchell by his name.

• Tuesday — The New Kid: An unfamiliar bus and school, with Dudley showing Mitchell where to go.

• Wednesday — Everybody Knows Everybody: Mitchell begins to learn the stories people carry through Coffman’s Landing.

• Thursday — Almost One of Us: He knows the routines now. That isn’t quite the same as feeling he belongs.

• Friday — Come On, Haywood: The story returns to the gym and the mistake Mitchell has to face.

The public episodes arrive one each weekday. Paid readers can hear the entire five-part story now, in order.

If you’d like to hear Mitchell’s whole week tonight, become a paid member of The Coffman Chronicle. You’ll get all five episodes together now and a new week of stories ahead of the weekday release. Your membership helps me keep writing and recording them.

HEAR THE WHOLE WEEK NOW

If you were at Turkey Fest, or have a memory of one from years ago, hit reply and tell me. I’d love to hear your story.

Stay free,

Tony

Five Minutes in America is presented by YourPocketConstitution.com—because every citizen should own the instruction manual.

I’m not going to get into the business side of that conversation. That isn’t really the point.

What stayed with me was something much simpler:

There isn’t a spare five minutes sitting around waiting on me.

If I’m going to ask a radio station to give me five minutes and ask you to stop whatever you’re doing and listen, I’d better make those five minutes worth it.

That’s what this week’s Along the Way is about.

Attention isn’t free.

When somebody gives you five minutes, they’re giving you five minutes of their life they don’t get back.

That’ll straighten up a storyteller.

It doesn’t make me want to say more. It makes me want to choose better.

Next week is already waiting

A new Five Minutes in America story will be released free each weekday.

But members don’t have to wait until Monday.

All five episodes for next week are available right now, in the order the story was meant to be heard. You can listen to the complete story today—or keep them with you and listen throughout the week.

Your membership also helps me keep writing, recording, and carrying these stories beyond Coffman’s Landing.

HEAR NEXT WEEK’S FIVE STORIES NOW

Stay Free,

Tony

Five Minutes in America is presented by YourPocketConstitution.com—because every citizen should own the instruction manual.

They still have the Country Sale. You call the radio station, tell your neighbors what you’ve got, and somebody listening might need it. Facebook Marketplace before there was Facebook.

Afterward, we stopped at the Eldon Advertiser. Walking through that door, I…

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Five Minutes in America officially launches September 7—five-minute stories from Coffman’s Landing, a fictional Missouri town built from the places and people I knew around the Lake of the Ozarks.

This week’s Along the Way is a short update before we get started. Thank you for helping me get here.

If you’re a paid member, all five episodes from the first week are waiting below. Start with The Fence and listen straight through to The Truth Comes Down Main Street.

That’s how we’ll do it each week: paid members get the coming week’s five episodes together every Saturday. Everyone can listen free as the individual episodes are released each weekday.

Become a paid member to listen ahead and help me keep these stories coming.

Subscribe now

Five Minutes in America is brought to you by Your Pocket Constitution. Keep the Constitution close at hand.

In this first official Along the Way, I want to tell you why I built Coffman’s Landing, why Five Minutes in America belongs to ordinary people, and why a more perfect Union begins with the way we treat one another.

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