Created in 1987, Mainstreet Radio held a mission of reporting specifically from rural Minnesota to all of Minnesota. With an introductory staff of Rachel Reabe, Leif Enger, and John Biewen, the group developed both long and short form news features as part of MPR Journal and Morning Edition broadcasts. As the years progressed, Mainstreet Radio expanded both in reporter contributions and programming, with memorable work from the likes of Mark Steil and Catherine Winter, amongst others. Beginning in the 1990s, Mainstreet Radio presented a monthly two-hour special, focusing on issues outside the Twin Cities metro. The varied Mainstreet Radio programming ran into the mid-2000s.
Mainstreet Radio presented a breadth of topics, providing an avenue for individuals from all walks of life to be heard. These efforts garnered numerous journalistic awards, including 65 national and regional awards in its first 10 years (1987-97).
Award-winning material in “special programs,” “series,” or “documentary” categories include Meth in Minnesota; Against the Grain; Dancing on Beat: Portrait of a Reservation Family; After the Flood; An Education in Diversity; Rekindling the Spirit: The Rebirth of American Indian Spirituality; Wilderness Truce: Ely 10 Years Later; Making the Grade: Rural schools the work; The Rural School Challenge; Broken Trust: Civil Rights in Indian Country; Gold: New Prospects on the Iron Range; and Articles of Faith.
Award-winning material in the category of “reporting” include Frog Music; Pumpkinland; Four Winds Treatment Center; Deer Hunting Weekend; Border Check for Poachers; Mille Lacs Fishing Launch; Loon Habitat; House Call Doctor; Geritol Frolics; Cartwright's Calendar; Ice-Fishing on Mille Lacs; Mercury Fillets; and A Place for the Wolf.
May 6, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin went listening for frogs with a couple of volunteers. The two are amongst dozens of volunteers across Minnesota driving backroads, looking for puddles and ponds, and listening for frog music.
May 23, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports on birthday celebration for Bob Dylan at Duluth’s Armory building. A teenage Dylan was inspired by a Buddy Holly concert at venue.
June 5, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports on annual concert held in a Mankato quarry. Thousands of people show up to listen to the Mankato Orchestra and blues rock band City Mouse.
June 10, 2003 - Opera lovers in Sioux Falls are trying to light the flame in hopes of it catching on in the northern plains. Two South Dakota natives, both of which are now opera stars, are performing scenes from several operas as a way of introduction. Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland caught up with Louis Otey, one of the performers, to talk about the efforts.
July 8, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Erin Galbally looks into divorce in the Hmong communtity. Some Hmong say it's allowing women in particular to escape difficult marriages. But traditionalists worry about the long-term impact of the new trend on Hmong culture.
July 11, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Bob Kelleher reports that Minnesota's premier hiking trail is finally complete - it's taken fifteen years. A missing eight-mile stretch of the Superior Hiking Trail has been cleared through northeast Minnesota forest and the trail now runs, without break, 235 miles from Two Harbors to the Canadian border. The trail features wind swept views of the world's biggest lake, challenging hills, beavers, bears, moose, and mosquitoes.
July 22, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Erin Galbally visits Andrea Een, a hardanger fiddler extraordinaire and a well-known music professor at St. Olaf College. To the untrained eye the Hardanger fiddle, Norway's national instrument, looks much like the violin. But the nine-string fiddle produces its own distinctive sound. That sound and the instrument will be celebrated at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where more than 300 hundred enthusiasts of the violin sibling are expected to attend.
August 15, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio’s Chris Julin reports on rocks of the Great Lakes. Thousands of tourists visit the beaches of Lake Superior's North Shore to enjoy it’s rocky shoreline…and many will be throwing those rocks into the lake.
August 20, 2003 - On this Mainstreet Radio special report, MPR’s Cathy Wurzer presents “Rekindling the Spirit - The Rebirth of American Indian Spirituality.” Program includes various reports by MPR’s Dan Gunderson and Tom Robertson, and numerous interviews with Native Americans on spiritual beliefs and roots.
September 5, 2003 - Mainstreet Radio's Cara Hetland presents a profile of Bill Janklow's political career. He's been South Dakota’s attorney general, governor and now the state's sole U.S. representative. To some he's a hero: a champion for the underdog, and a great leader in the face of fires, floods and tornadoes. But to others he's a bully, who doesn't just beat his opponents, he obliterates them.