89.5 KOPN kicked off a new radio segment called The History Minute this week. Each weekday at 2:01 p.m. the History Minute will bring an episode of our community’s history to the ears of our listeners.

The series was created by Stephen Bybee and sponsored by a grant from Columbia’s Office of Cultural Affairs. The History Minute was also funded by the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission and the Boone County History and Culture Center.

In his announcement about the new program, Bybee extended special thanks to the KOPN staff and programmers including Tim Pilcher, Sarah Catlin, Linda Day, Kevin Kelvin Walsh, and Dylan Martin. He also thanked members of our community who, on a cold afternoon in late February, were willing to climb the stairs to the old KOPN studio on Broadway and lend their time and their voices to the making of this project: Barbra Horrell, David Sapp, Chris Campbell, Verna Laboy, Billy Polansky and Steve Schnarr.

And a very special thank you to the incredibly talented Chaz Prymek and Lake Mary, the local musician who has allowed the History Minute to be blessed with a musical soundtrack that seems perfectly suited to the material.

And there never seem to be enough thank you’s, but, once again, there are more. Thank you to everyone who helped inspire this project, and who patiently gave their time assisting with research, interviews, and inspiration: John Ott, Pat Fowler, Cindy Mustard, Gary Cox, Dianna Borsi O’Brien, Nancy Thomas, Paula McFarling, Nancy Obermiller Kiser, Carolyn Collings, Jane Accurso, Trevor Harris, David Sapp, Rusty Palmer, the entire Historic Preservation Commission, and historian Andrew Wanko.

Can’t get enough broadcast history? The History Minute series concept was inspired a series Bybee heard on St. Louis radio station KDHX called “Here’s History”, hosted by public historian Andrew Wanko from the Missouri History Museum. Learn more here https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2020/01/30/st-louis-character-public-historian-andrew-wanko.html.