Our Town Revisited: Kelley Rouse
DOVER, Del. – WMDT is turning back the hands of time to the late 1990s and early 2000s. We are reviving our series “Our Town.”
Starting With The Expert
“Our Town Revisited” will air Sundays on WMDT. To kick things off, we start with the expert. Kelley Rouse spent decades at WMDT, and was the one who originally brought “Our Town” to Delmarva.
“I met an amazing assortment of people and I’m a history buff, too,” Kelley said. “I love history. So, I like storytelling—incorporating all of those elements.”
Kelley started at WMDT in 1981. In her more than twenty years here, she wore many hats, but there’s one role that she remembers extra fondly.
“The ‘Our Town’ stories are the ones I hold to my heart, and I’m grateful that I was able to do that,” Kelley said. “I’m so grateful that there’s going to be a revitalization in a way.”
Highlighting History and Interesting Individuals
From highlighting the history of local towns to interesting individuals, Kelley has truly seen and done it all.
“There are a lot of stories that touched me and were total surprises,” Kelley remembered. “Anyone that had some hook into what made that town special—even the history of who lived there, who settled it originally.”
“Our Town” was about highlighting everything that makes Delmarva special.
“It could have been someone that had had the hardware store for 40 years with their family and talking to them. Or, it could be someone who was like the town historian. People who had unusual collections were of interest,” Kelley said. “Just unusual things—how communities celebrate, who they are, and what their worlds are about. I really enjoyed learning all of that.”
A Developing Delmarva
Of course, the setting for Kelley’s storytelling has changed a lot in the last 25 years. Natural environments have been lost. And where humans call home, some places that were no more than a back road have exploded into small cities, while others have dwindled, Kelley says.
Kelley says she’s glad she got to document Delmarva back then.
“Being able to get there while they still were intact, going to hear stories from people who would say, “Come on back! We’re shucking oysters. Let’s sit down.’ You know, the old days when it was still a watermen’s world,” Kelley said.
A Place on This Peninsula For You
What hasn’t changed, however, is that no matter if you’re a come-here or a from-here, Kelley says there’s a spot on this peninsula for you. “It is so diverse, and yet there is that common knot—really, this web of our little towns and communities that just bring it all together.”
On Sunday, November 10th, WMDT will air Kelley’s original “Our Town” story that she did at the Chipman Cultural Center 25 years ago. And just after that, we will air our first “Our Town Revisited,” where we will revisit the Chipman Center to see what has changed, and what may be the same. Tune in at 6 p.m.
