The Spark

Fridays at Noon, Saturdays at 3pm

The Spark is WMRA's own creative look at --well-- creativity.    We dig into whatever people are passionate about in the WMRA region:  sculpture, model railroading, costume-making, poetry, whatever  --we might go there. 

We want to hear from those who are doing artsy or interesting or wonderful or obsessive things.  We also recognize that lots of creatives are a tad shy and might not ever speak up for themselves. 

You can put something on our radar about yourself or can tell us about someone you know of who might be interesting by sending an e-mail to the show host, Martha Woodroof:
WoodroMH@jmu.edu
(To launch an email to Martha automatically click here. )

Scroll down to hear past segments.

Consider this hour a community-wide celebration of the many people among us who invest time, energy and discipline into pushing against life's boundaries.

Listen to a typical 2012 version of the show's end credits (including Martha asking to hear from those who know about creative goings-on) : here (60 seconds).

2013 Spark intern Julia Skinner has been tasked with blogging about potentially Spark-worthy peers, and you can find the link to that blog on this page.

Genre: 
Composer ID: 
5187f51fe1c8951d21ce7787|5187f510e1c8951d21ce7773

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The Spark
11:35 am
Fri April 26, 2013

It's Never Too Late to Try Something New

Psychologist Paul Ackerman, who is seventy-seven and a long-time musician, shares what it's like to embark on a new career involving new computer skills, music, and teaching.

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The Spark
11:34 am
Fri April 26, 2013

Future Animator Corey Garig

Twenty-five-year old Corey Garig works at a deli (where Martha met him) to support himself and his family while he teaches himself computer animation.

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The Spark
11:33 am
Fri April 19, 2013

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

The Spark will return next week, but while it's still on vacation, we're presenting State of the RE:Union - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

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The Spark
11:36 am
Fri April 12, 2013

Internet Communities – Virtual Reality

While The Spark is on holiday this week and next... we're presenting State of the RE:Union Internet Communities – Virtual Reality.

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The Spark
12:36 pm
Fri April 5, 2013

Twitter? No. I'm Old.

WMRA News (TW)

Occasional Spark essayist Carey Keefe tries to text her mom (LOL). Meanwhile, certain oldpersons who don't want to bother with gadgets (like the hearing-aid battery) can't hear the smoke detector's low-power warning beeps. 

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The Spark
12:11 pm
Fri April 5, 2013

Folklorist Douglas Day

(courtesy photo)

Martha interviews folklore expert, Veterans' History Project workshop-giver, oral historian for hire, and musician Douglas Day. 

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The Spark
3:44 pm
Fri March 29, 2013

Organizing THIS

Abby Chapple (in background, riding the crowd) at a MACRoCK thing

Amps, speakers, hundreds of rocked-out sweaty students, an annual invasion of the former Turkey Capital of the World.  A chat with two organizers of MACRoCk --the alternative music festival that thrashes through Harrisonburg each year. 

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The Spark
12:14 pm
Fri March 29, 2013

Feeding A Need

Dietician Lara Sokoloff saw sick people in Harrisonburg with nutritional needs and is hoping to galvanize the community into helping. 

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The Spark
11:41 am
Thu March 28, 2013

What Can Roller Derby Teach The Church?

“Five Things the Church Can Learn from Women’s Roller Derby” is a Kelly Figueroa-Ray  essay for the Huffington Post.  HuffPo religion-blogger Kelly Figueroa-Ray has a divinity degree from Wesley and also actually does do roller derby --under the rinkname Bible ThumpHer.

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The Spark
4:14 pm
Sat March 23, 2013

Like Airplanes

Images: Modified from NOAA photo

Jeff Ell muses about looking up at contrails --and jetwatching with binoculars. (By the way, Jeff penned one of our web's most-ever clicked  essays: 

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