The name “Our Town: Dowagiac” isn’t just a fancy title for a TV special.

It reflects the fact that the entire content of the hour-long documentary was recorded and narrated by members of the community it is focused on.

At 8 p.m. Monday, viewers from all around Michiana will have a chance to learn about the Grand Old City from the very people who live there, as WNIT debuts the program on its station.

The PBS affiliate has been working with residents of the city throughout the summer to complete the project. Dowagiac is the first community in Michigan to be featured on the station’s “Our Town” series, which has highlighted places such as Goshen, Warsaw, Mishawaka and Elkhart in previous editions.

Eleven local volunteer videographers contributed content for the 14 segments comprising the show, said producer Brian Lewis.

“We had some very enthusiastic volunteers help out this year,” Lewis said. “They went out and got some stuff for us to put together.”

The stories told on Monday’s program were not only told by these individuals, but devised by them as well.

“A lot of the stories have to with Dowagiac’s history,” Lewis said. “There are several different takes on historical events, told from different angles.”

Another big focus of the program will be on the artistic side of Dowagiac, including a look at the public sculptures featured throughout the city.

The station hosted a special premiere event for the select people in the city last week at Southwestern Michigan College, days before the official release on TV. Several of the contributors to the project were in attendance, including Bobbie Jo Hartline, Paul and Karen Pugh, and Andy Jackson.

Jackson, a member of the Pokagon Band, focused her segment on the tribe’s annual Water Walk, which is held every year before the Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow in August. During the event, local women make a 14-mile trek from Gage Lake to Rodgers Lake in order to honor their ancestral duties as protectors of the tribe’s water.

“I did the Water Walk because it’s my passion, taking care of our waters,” Jackson said.

The Dowagiac woman volunteered for the project, despite it being the first time she ever had to create something that would be broadcast on TV. She shot video, assembled pictures and provided the narration for her segment, which is shown near the end of the show.

“It’s a highly special place for me, so it made it easy for me to do,” Jackson said.

Like the contributors to the program, she said he is excited to have received the opportunity to spread the word about her and her neighbors’ home to the rest of the Michiana area.

“It’s going to be neat to see the completed project,” she said.