Scandal Revealed!
Tragedy of Recent Local Events
By Dale Jacobs
| Times Editor
 The producers of the popular
radio program "Adventures in Odyssey" announced that the recent "Whit's End"
scandal will be told in dramatic form on cassette and compact disc.
Encompassing all 12 episodes of the popular radio series' 25th compilation
album, Darkness Before Dawn will chronicle the events surrounding the
sudden outbreak of vandalism, robbery and political conspiracy that rocked
the entire town of Odyssey not so long ago.
"Adventures in Odyssey's"
producers said the collection will be made available towards the last half
of the year and will touch on all aspects of what happened. "It's a faithful
re-telling," spokesperson Paula Peterson said. "The writers painstakingly
researched the scandal, including many of the personal details as recounted
by the people who were directly involved. Nothing was left to hearsay. We
felt it was so important that the entire album is dedicated to telling the
story.
Odyssey's citizens will
remember well the mystery and intrigue that began with random acts of
violence around our town and ultimately led to accusations of corruption in
the Mayor's office and the potential destruction of Whit's End, Odyssey's
best-known landmark. Arrests, the involvement of national security agencies,
months of testimony at local trials and prosecutions were the results.
Citizens of Odyssey were mixed
in their reactions to the announcement. Mayor Tom Riley said in a press
conference that he has every confidence the program's producers will do a
good job with the story. "They've done well by us so far, haven't they?" he
asked rhetorically.
Others, like Jack Allen of
Whit's End, are concerned that dramatizing the scandal might bring back some
painful memories for those who were involved. "It was a difficult time, and
I'd hate to see it bring back the kind of pain we'd like to put behind us.
But if people can learn from our experience, then I'm all for it."
Jason Whittaker, son of John
Avery Whittaker (the owner of Whit's End), is enthusiastic about the
project's potential. "There are a lot of valuable lessons in what happened.
I should know: I had to learn them the hard way."
"It changed my life," Eugene
Meltsner, employee of Whit's End and graduate student at Campbell College
said. "But it would be inappropriate to go into all of the details as to
how."
Bart Rathbone, who was also
intimately involved in the events, was unavailable for comment but said
anything that he expected some sort of royalty from the producers for his
part of the story.
The producers of the series
also said that the album takes the unprecedented step of numbering each
episode consecutively so that listeners will play them in order. A
"discussion guide" will be included with the tapes and compact discs to help
parents draw out important lessons for their children.
This
article originally appeared in "The Odyssey Times," a
special fictional newspaper produced by Focus on the Family to promote
Adventures in Odyssey.
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