A visit with Dan Needles, the creator of Walt Wingfield and the Wingfield mediaverse.

Program Title: Remembering Wingfield Farm
Description: The "Letter from Wingfield Farm" series of stage plays have been a staple of summer repertory theatre companies for many decades.

The comedies focus on the life of stockbroker-turned-farmer Walt Wingfield. The plays consist of a series of letters containing philosophical musings about the nature of life in a small rural community, theories of why animals sometimes misbehave, and puzzling though humourous encounters with the neighbours.

After the blockbuster success of the first play, there were many others -- Wingfield's Progress, Wingfield's Folly, Wingfield Unbound, Wingfield on Ice, Wingfield's Inferno and Wingfield Lost and Found - written by Dan Needles, directed by Douglas Beattie and performed by Rod Beattie.

Host Wayne MacPhail starts off by chatting with Dan Needles, a mainstay for Harrowsmith readers and the author of the Wingfield Farm mediaverse. They touch on turnip-mashing drudges, the parallels between Walt and Dan and how Needles is taking to the boards himself these days.

And the episodes finishes up with a conversations with Mike Hurley telling us about the ambitious charity, the Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign, that aims to plant a tree for every man and woman who’s served in Canada’s armed forces. So, one way or another, we’re getting back to roots.

Host(s): Wayne MacPhail
Featured Speakers/Guests: 1.) Dan Needles - For 30 years, author and playwright Dan Needles has been bringing to life the stories and characters of his mythical Persephone Township, a fictional rural Canadian community two hours north of the big city. His Wingfield Farm series of stage plays have appeared in virtually every English speaking theatre in Canada, including the Stratford Festival and Royal Alex in Toronto and eventually became a popular television series aired on CBC, Bravo and the PBS networks. Thousands of readers have followed his magazine columns in Harrowsmith-Country Life, Country Guide, Small Farm Canada, In the Hills, On the Bay and Watershed. Nominated three times for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Dan won in 2003 for his local history of Persephone Township, With Axe and Flask. He is the author of 12 plays, four books and hundreds of magazine columns. From more than a thousand platforms, Dan has entertained crowds as a banquet and conference speaker, carrying a message of neighbourhood, affection and the power of farmer thinking. 2.) Mike Hurley - Executive Director - Highway of Heroes Tree Campaign

Credits: Wayne MacPhail - host and producer
Yolanda Thornton - publisher, Harrowsmith Magazine
Victoria Fenner - campus and community radio distribution

Comments: program runs 28:00 to last word, music to 30:00 which can be faded out to run station promos etc.