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Journeys of Discovery: Mermaids rule in San Marcos, Texas

Correspondent Tom Wilmer and associate producer Randi Hair visit with July Moreno, creator and executive director of the Mermaid Society of Texas along with local legend, Shirley Rogers.

Rogers’ father opened Aquarena Springs amusement park on the river in San Marcos, Texas back in 1951 and she starred as one of the original Aquamaids--fondly known as Mermaids today.

Come along and join Moreno and Rogers to learn about the State of Texas officially proclaiming San Marcos as the Mermaid Capital of Texas, the roots of Aquarina Springs as a tourist destination that was originally started by Rogers’ grandfather back in 1926, and the Springs’ eventual stewardship today by Texas State University’s Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.

Credit Randi Hair
Shirley Rogers (left) visits with July Moreno at the Mermaid Society headquarters in San Marcos, Texas
Credit Texas State University Meadows Center for Water and Environment.
Circa early 1950s--Aquarena-Submarine-theatre1A--Margaret-Russell (left) Shirley-Rogers-Lehman (right)

Underwriting support for Journeys of Discovery provided by Nashville's Big Back Yard economic initiative focused on rural communities in the southwest quarter of Tennessee and the Shoals Region of Northern Alabama.

You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas Award-winning podcast travel show, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast DirectoryiHeartRadioApple Podcast.

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Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
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