At WFDD, we love our communities just like our listeners do. And, we love our listeners! So what better way to connect than to get out and explore our region with some of our favorite people: WFDD listeners! With that in mind, we present WFDD’s Listener Expeditions! Join us for thoughtfully-curated explorations of special and unique locales in our region, guided by expert presenters. Learn something new about the community you call home and maybe make some new friends while you’re at it. Listener Expeditions are designed to be small-group, intimate experiences that highlight noteworthy moments and places in our region and create opportunities for us to connect with one another.
A look at past Listener Expeditions
Listener Expedition #3
The Old-Salem Hidden Town Guided Walking Tour
February 19th, 2023
The Hidden Town Guided Walking Tour explored Old Salem while considering African-born and derived people, free and enslaved, as founders and builders of the town. Their descendants and the post-Emancipation African American population to the present day are part of the story as well. The tour began at the Old Salem Visitor Center to view the exhibit “Selections from Across the Creek: Happy Hill.” Afterward, we toured St. Philips Moravian Church, the oldest standing African American church in North Carolina, and we proceeded on a walking tour of Old Salem. Our tour guide was Martha Hartley, Director of Moravian Research and Co-Chair of the Hidden Town Project.
Listener Expedition #2
Exploring Vade Mecum & the Sauratown Mountain Range’s Unique Geology
May 7th, 2022
Our second Listener Expedition took attendees to a truly special location in Stokes County: former mineral springs resort Vade Mecum, which has been brought back to life by the Friends of Sauratown Mountains. On Saturday, May 7th, we experienced a guided tour of the property and a special presentation by park ranger Jason Anthony, and learned about the unique mineral content of the springs around Vade Mecum, the geology of the Sauratown Mountains, and why past advertisements and publications reported the area as “having hills resounding with the roar of jungle animals.”
Now a part of Hanging Rock State Park, Vade Mecum was an early-1900s resort destination for wealthy workers in the furniture, textile, and tobacco industries of the Piedmont. It was advertised that if you drank the water, you’d be cured of any ailment!
We presented two sessions, and left time for exploring Hanging Rock State Park or Stokes County; tickets included discount options for a few local establishments.
Listener Expedition #1
The Underground Railroad Tree
February 20th, 2022
Our first Listener Expedition journeyed into Guilford Woods to visit a living monument to the Underground Railroad: a 300-year-old tulip poplar that stands in an area that played a significant role for enslaved people seeking freedom. Dr. Omar Ali and Dr. Nadja Cech, both UNCG professors, led us on a shortwalk to the Underground Railroad Tree. Along the way, they discussed the history of the Underground Railroad in our region and talk about another kind of underground network: the mycelium network used by trees to communicate.
Learn more about our guides:
