Listen to Storage Unit 217 on KUR July 7

Photo of Wellman and Green.

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Kutztown University Radio (KUR) dares to go delightfully deep into the stacks 5 p.m., Thursday, July 7, with the premier episode of “Storage Unit 217,” a new radio and podcast series produced and co-hosted by collectors and history buffs Lew Green and Tony Wellman in cooperation with KUR and KU’s Center for Mallet Percussion Research.

On each episode, Green and Wellman visit the mythical “Storage Unit 217” and wind their way deep through the piles of quirky accumulation to uncover fascinating and funny artifacts, music, memorabilia and other surprising “stuff.”

“The stuff of history,” they declare. “The things we hold in our hands are our physical connection with people’s lived experiences of the past.”

“Storage Unit 217 itself may be mythical, but a lot of the stuff we discover in it are actually things which were in one or more of my own or Tony’s real storage units over the years,” said Green.

Both Green and Wellman are longtime collectors of historic memorabilia and love to tell the stories these things represent, especially those which are musically related. That’s where Kutztown University's Center for Mallet Percussion Research comes in. Green’s two uncles were the famous “Green Brothers,” pioneer musicians and composers for the xylophone in the early 20th century. One of the rooms in the new Wells-Rapp Center for Mallet Percussion Research at KU is named after the Green family. And the Center’s archives is the recipient of considerable historic Green Brothers memorabilia. Green and his wife, Mary, have been enthusiastic supporters of the Center since 2017.

Wellman, a writer and announcer, is a good friend of the Greens and their shared enthusiasm of 19th and early 20th century music and culture.

“We always just seemed to click” on this stuff,” said Wellman. “We have a lot of fun with it and wanted to share it with others, so we came up with this show. We’re delighted KUR wanted to join in with us on it and look forward to the collaboration.”

Storage Unit 217 will debut on KUR at 5 p.m., Thursday, July 7. The livestream will be available online at https://www.kutztown.edu/kur. New episodes will be released every two weeks. Each broadcast will be available as podcasts through Mixcloud. Simply search https://www.mixcloud.com/kuradio and scan through recently uploaded station programming.

For more information, contact KUR, 188 McFarland Student Union; P.O. Box 730; Kutztown, PA 19530, or call 610-683-4059 or email kur@kutztown.edu.