3rd Episode of Tales from Agnes:1972 Flooding in the Chemung Valley

The third episode of the podcast series, Tales from Agnes: 1972 Flooding in the Chemung Valley, will be released by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes on Monday, June 18, 2012. The 15-minute episode, Strandedness and Salvation, will be on The ARTS Council's website: www.eARTS.org/agnes. Each episode of the series will also be available at a listening booth in the Reading Room at the Southeast Steuben County Library.
 
The ARTS Council collected the stories for Tales from Agnes using a digital voice mail service, which allowed people in the community to tell their flood stories in their own voices. These stories have been shaped into brief, thematic episodes. Strandedness and Salvation tells of people taking risks to help each other in the midst of the flooding. It describes community members trying to rescue stranded possessions and people; some were saved and some were not.
 
To listen to the podcast, go to www.eARTS.org/agnes and click on Tales from Agnes.
 
To add your story to the collection call 1-866-598-7273. Your story will be archived along with the others at the local libraries and historical societies.

The impetus for Tales from Agnes began when The ARTS Council, in partnership with The Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes brought StoryCorps, the national oral history project, to Elmira and Corning in June 2009 to record eighteen interviews.  Facilitators from StoryCorps recorded flood survivors at the Steele Memorial Library in Elmira and the Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning.  While StoryCorps interviews are not included in this podcast series, they are available to the public at both libraries and the Chemung Valley History Museum. Following the StoryCorps project, The ARTS Council wanted to expand its collection and the idea for the digital voice message service was born.

The ARTS Council has also been involved in other Flood documentation including the forthcoming WSKG documentary, Agnes: The Flood of '72, which will be broadcast June 21, 2012 at 8 PM.

The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes is the region's arts services organization, serving artists of all disciplines, arts/cultural organizations and the public in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties of New York State, and beyond.  Visit www.eARTS.org for more information.