Way Back When

Captain George Vancouver Sails from England to North America - Glynn Burrows on Big Blend Radio

Glynn Burrows, family history expert and owner of Norfolk Tours in England, talks about Captain George Vancouver’s historic ties between King’s Lynn in Norfolk, England and the West Coast of North America. A British officer of the Royal Navy, Captain Vancouver is best known for his 1791–95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions. He also explored the Hawaiian Islands and the southwest coast of Australia. See Glynn's article here: http://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/captain-george-vancouver/Featured music on this episode is “Seafaring” from The Madison’s album, ‘Greener’. www.MadisonsMusic.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Betty Metoyer portrays Marie Therese Coincoin on Big Blend Radio

Standing outside the Yucca House at Melrose Plantation, Betty Metoyer, a descendant of the Metoyers, portrays Marie Therese Coincoin. Built in 1796, Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches Parish in Northwestern Louisiana, shares the story of slave Marie Thérèse Coincoin and her ten Franco-African children with Thomas Pierre Metoyer, as well as the Isle Brevelle Creole community, the Civil War, plantation history, and Louisiana folk art. Learn more at: http://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/melrose-plantation/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Darroch Greer & Ron King - The Millionaires Unit Documentary

Filmmakers Darroch Greer and Ron King discuss their documentary THE MILLIONAIRES' UNIT about a privileged group of college students from Yale who formed a private air militia in preparation for America’s entry into World War I. Known as the First Yale Unit, and dubbed ‘the millionaires’ unit’ by the New York press, they became the founding squadron of the U.S. Naval Air Reserve and were the first to fly for the United States in the Great War.
The Millionaires’ Unit tells the unsung story of a group of Yale college students who took the initiative to learn to fly in preparation for America’s entry into World War I and became the founding squadron of the U.S. Naval Air Reserve. The award-winning film’s VOD release date of February 15, 2018 was chosen to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of First Yale Unit member Albert D. Sturtevant, the first U.S. Naval Aviator killed in combat, when his plane went down in the North Sea on February 15, 1918.
Narrated by Academy Award®-nominated actor Bruce Dern, grandnephew of one of the aviators, the feature-length documentary charts the romantic, little-known story of the origins of American airpower and features very rare archival footage and thrilling dogfighting sequences filmed air-to-air with replica WW1 planes, some with original engines. Inspired by Marc Wortman’s book The Millionaires’ Unit, the film has been developed and produced by descendants of the First Yale Unit, including filmmaker Ron King, producers Harry Davison and Mike Davison, and narrator Bruce Dern who are all grandnephews and grandsons of FYU members.
After seeing a photo with his grandfather on the cover of the book, The Millionaires’ Unit, Ron King contacted his old friend Darroch Greer with the idea of a documentary film on the First Yale Unit. Ron and Darroch met in college at Carnegie-Mellon University in 1977 in the Fine Arts Department.  Both were born in the Midwest and raised in California – Ron in Larkspur in the Bay Area, Darroch in Santa Barbara. They both lived in Manhattan as young adults and moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. They now live in southern California with their respective families. Ron works in video production. Darroch is a documentary filmmaker and writer. In terms of division of labor, Ron is more the cameraman, Darroch the researcher and writer. They directed and produced the film together.
They founded the non-profit Humanus Documentary Films Foundation in 2007 to raise money to make the documentary, and formed a fund-raising team with Harry Davison, grandson of Yale Unit member Trubee Davison, and his cousin Mike Davison, grandson of both Trubee and WWI naval ace Dave Ingalls. The seed of the idea was to interview the Yale Unit family members, access their unique, personal photo collections, and augment them with footage and photographs from the National Archives and Library of Congress. The deeper the filmmakers got into the story and the archives, however, the clearer it became that to make the film work, they needed to film some WW1 planes in flight. This led to a series of opportunities to film replica WW1 planes, some with original engines, at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, NY, at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, NY, at the Aeroplane Collection in Paso Robles, CA, and finally, at the Vintage Aviator in Masterton, New Zealand. It was in New Zealand that the filmmakers finally captured the elusive Sopwith Camel with the distinctive, original, Gnome rotary engine on film.
The Millionaires’ Unit —originally envisioned to last 90 minutes and to take three years to make —is now a two-hour epic film, filmed at locations on the Eastern Seaboard and across Western Europe and on the other side of the world. It tells an intimate, character-driven story set in the historical context of the United States one hundred years ago, the birth of naval aviation, and the drama and tragedy of the First World War. It took seven years, but the film is now ready to help commemorate the centennial of World War One. www.MillionairesUnit.org.

Big Blend Radio Interview: Glynn Burrows - Stately Homes & Gardens of Norfolk, England

Norfolk, England, once one of the richest areas of the country, is home to a number of large estates and amazing stately houses, including Norman Castles, Moated Tudor Houses, Jacobean Halls, Georgian Mansions and Victorian Stately Homes. Glynn Burrows, family historian and owner of Norfolk Tours, talks about two magnificent mansion with gorgeous gardens in the countryside of Norfolk, England - Oxburgh and Holkham. See his photos and article, here: http://blendradioandtv.com/listing/gorgeous-gardens-and-magnificent-mansions-of-norfolk-england/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Blend Radio Interview: Travel Writer Debbie Stone - Historic Las Vegas, New Mexico

From Film History and Ghosts to historic Harvey Houses and Pecos National Historical Park, travel writer Debbie Stone talks about her adventures in historic Las Vegas, a Northern New Mexico destination that offers scenic beauty, rich history, eclectic architecture and a burgeoning art community. Read her article here: http://nationalparktraveling.com/listing/its-all-about-authenticity-in-the-original-las-vegas/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding Your Family History in England - Glynn Burrows on Big Blend Radio

From talking to relatives to understanding the origin of family names, Glynn Burrows, a family history expert and owner of Norfolk Tours, shares tips on tracing your family’s history back to England. Read Glynn's article here: http://blendradioandtv.com/listing/find-your-family-history-in-england/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Blend Radio Interview: Andrew Rowen - Encounters Unforeseen: 1492 Retold

Andrew Rowen discusses his new historical novel, “Encounters Unforeseen: 1492 Retold,” that dramatically recasts Christopher Columbus’ epic voyage that has shaped cultures, religions and ideologies for centuries. www.AndrewRowen.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Blend Radio: Glynn Burrows discusses Captain John Smith

The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a series of water routes in the United States extending approximately 3,000 miles along the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary. The historic routes trace the 1607–1609 voyages of Captain John Smith to chart the land and waterways of the Chesapeake. Glynn Burrows, owner of Norfolk Tours in England, discusses Captain John Smith’s historic ties between England and America. www.Norfolk-Tours.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.