This story originally aired August 11, 2016 on FOX 17 in Grand Rapids, MI. Joe Henderson went to the Grand Haven beach in his trusty Volkswagen called “The Moontower” when it tragically burst into flames.
No one was hurt, but there was a lot of history that went up in smokes. Henderson says it originally toured with the Grateful Dead before becoming a rusted wreck in Denver. He restored it with all the time and money he had available to him – eating a lot of ramen noodles in the process – and made the van his home, taking it across the country and sharing everything with it.
After the fire, his friends in West Michigan organized a benefit concert to help Joe get back on his feet and into a new set of wheels.
For this piece, I wasn’t able to take any of the principal video myself. We sent reporter Michael Dupre to interview Joe and collect videos and photos of The Moontower to use for the story. When he returned, I had approximately 2 hours to turn the story around so it could make the evening newscast.
ARCHDUKE MEDIA 