May/June 2016

T he Flo rid a StoryTimes A Journal of the Florid a Storytel l ing Association

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Greetings, Story Friends!

This issue of The Florida StoryTimes reflects our growth and our growing up as

storytellers and story-lovers here in Florida.

Kay Byrnes recaps our 33rd Annual Annual Storytelling Festival on page 3, while

out-going board members and Youthful Voices team Linda Chancey and Connie

Trama look back..and ahead, as they complete their terms of service to FSA.

See page 4.

Are you interested in adding a visual component to your storytelling? Consider String

Stories. Maureen Belote guides you through it on page 7.

Mary Lou Williams has kindly agreed to contribute a regular feature in which she will

“deconstruct” story types and storytelling styles. This issue, she tackles Bil Lepp. See

page 8.

On page 10, guest contributor Susan O’Halloran shares thought-provoking insight into

storytelling and social justice in this issue’s Stories on Purpose.

Want to know how Wanda Violet is growing a Youthful Voices movement in Madison?

Read about it on page 14.

Panama City’s own Paul McAuliffe stepped up to share his personal story in this

edition’s My Storytelling Journey. Turn to page 16 to learn about his inspiring connec-

tion to music, story and spirituality.

Is it time for you to start a guild in your area? Madeline Pots gets you started on

page 18.

Lastly, if you’re interested in House Concerts, see our contact information on page 20.

If you wish to share information about upcoming events, send an email to fsamem-

bers@groups.electricembers.net. Your message (and any subsequent comments) are

emailed to all FSA members,

Articles, comments and suggestions can be emailed directly to me

at StoriesHeal@gmail.com., or call 203-241-7644.

With warm greetings,

Linda Schuyler Ford

Florida StoryTimes Editor

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Another Outstanding Florida Storytelling Festival

By Kaye Byrnes

The 33nd gathering of Florida storytellers and story-lovers took place March 31 – April 3 in lovely Mount Dora and it was another weekend to remember. Janice Del Negro, Donald Davis, Robyn Rennick, Mary Kelly and Kuniko Yama-moto rocked the house with their wonderful stories and stage presence. Storytellers from the guilds and groups across the state joined the roster as part of the Florida Stage concerts and the Front Porch Storytelling series. Bravo to everyone that brought storytelling to our festival audiences!

This year the festival was expanded to include a storytel-ling field trip for students of area schools, a Friday event that we will grow in 2017. Also added was the Thursday late night Ghost Stories by the Pool story swap. Thanks to Autumn Garick, we added the Front Porch Storytelling se-ries that allowed the general public to claim a rocking chair on the veranda of Lakeside Inn and listen to our talented Florida storytellers. The late night swaps, the Swapping Ground Competition and the Front Porch Storytelling were free to the general public, offering many curious locals an opportunity to experience storytelling for the first time.

Festival momentum is building in Mount Dora. The evening concerts filled the tent, individual admissions to the workshops were up sig-nificantly and the local community is definitely becoming more and more aware of the event. Our partnerships with the Mount Dora Chamber of Commerce, Visit Mount Dora, Lakeside Inn and other lo-cal establishments are bearing the fruit of success. Grant funding from the Mount Dora Community Trust, Lake County Tourism & Eco-nomic Development and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs help us keep our registration and admission fees as low as possible while still generating funds to support the year-long efforts of FSA.

Mark your calendar NOW for March 30-April 2, 2017 when we’ll gather again in Mount Dora to listen, learn and tell. It just keeps getting better!

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4 Growing Youthful Voices by Connie Trama and Linda Chancey

…There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that

did not tell stories.”-Ursula K. Le Guin

The 2016 Virginia Rivers Youthful Voices Scholarship winners wowed the audience with their story-

telling prowess at the FSA Festival on Saturday night, April 2. As co-chairpersons, we were proud to

present Kalena Slaton, Emily You, Melody Coe and Liberty Blair at the Youthful Voices Concert. The

process to get them there was multi-pronged. Many different avenues led these girls to the stage

that night. It took the work and desire of the students to learn and rehearse; the parents and teach-

ers to encourage and support; and the storytellers who taught, mentored, and motivated them. It

also took the effort of the FSA Board to ensure the opportunity through the scholarship process.

The applause has faded but a year from now it will happen again with a different set of winners. We

must keep the Youthful Voices momentum that has been growing since 2001 alive and thriving.

Listed below are some additional avenues that can support, promote, inspire and ensure future win-

ners.

Local guilds – There are three brand new storytelling groups that have formed in the past year. That

brings the total to 20 different groups throughout the state of Florida. Many of these storytellers

work in the schools and communities demonstrating the craft, mentoring young tellers and con-

ducting storytelling workshops. If every group made it a priority to promote Youthful Voices it

would help the effort immensely.

Tampa-Hillsborough County Storytelling Festival-for 36 years this organization has produced hun-

dreds of youthful voices and is the powerhouse and heartbeat of teaching storytelling to children

in Florida. They have a marvelous manual online at www.tampastory.org and have always en-

couraged their youthful tellers to enter the FSA scholarship competition. They could teach us all

some wonderful skills about growing young tellers.

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FSA Festival – Our Virginia Rivers Scholarship and Youthful Voices Concert provide an exciting plat-

form for our membership and other listeners to celebrate and support young tellers around the

state. The youthful voices family and fun tent is a special place for growth and learning to take

place every year. This year one of the little girls who attended the events on Saturday and then

attended the YV Concert said, “I want to tell a story onstage next year!” We gave her grandfather

information about the closest storytelling guild to his home and encouraged him to help her to

achieve her dream.

Florida Folk Festival – Memorial Day weekend young tellers are invited to tell at this festival in the

spring each year. This is our state folk festival and it is a great place for our youthful voices to per-

form.

Nationals – National Youth Storytelling Showcase (NYSS) has seen 24 years of excellence. The Show-

case, held Labor Day weekend in conjunction with the Timpanogos Storytelling Conference and

Festival, is the culmination of many hours in storytelling and competitions for youth tellers from

across the nation. From those submissions, eight to ten youth storytellers are selected to be the

National Torchbearers and invited to travel to Utah to gather, learn, perform and celebrate their

accomplishment at their own expense. Afterward, these talented youth will represent youth sto-

rytelling as Storytelling Ambassadors for the next year. Florida had three winners who went to

Utah last year; Shannan Adams, Makeia Butler and Molly Elllis. We have submitted one teller’s

name this year from among this year’s FSA scholarship winners.

Cracker Storytelling Festival – Each October this event provides an opportunity for many students to

perform a story on stage. The Cracker Committee is working to expand and refine this youthful

teller component.

Tellebration – This national night of storytelling offers a unique chance for young storytellers

throughout the state. Public libraries, schools and guilds around the state work together to spon-

sor this event every fall. If you work with one of these events, please include Youthful Voices as a

part of the celebration.

Miami Book Fair – There have been opportunities for youth to tell at this event in the past and may

offer a stage for students to tell in the future.

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6 Other literacy events – There are many activities and events in schools that could include a youthful

voices storytelling component.

These storytelling venues go on year round! If we all continue to support these and other events

that give our Youthful Voices a place to share their stories, then we can be sure the future of

Youthful Voices is secure.

While there are many ways to promote and grow Youthful Voices, it takes everyone doing some-

thing to keep the show on the road.

Here are a few more ideas that could help…

Fund the YV scholarship through the Let’s Grow Campaign. We could increase the number of

scholarships each year with increased funding.

Use social media to promote all storytelling events and invite young people into your storytel-

ling circles.

Make friends with your local librarians, teachers and parents. Always give timely information

about storytelling events. Model good storytelling whenever and wherever you can.

Start a Storytelling Club for your guild that teaches young ones or teens.

Teach a storytelling workshop at your local school or library or in your guild and then promote

the students. They need a stage.

We all know the old axiom that you get out of anything what you put into it. The next generation

of storytellers needs to be nurtured and encouraged! Together we can rise to the challenge and

make sure that what we get out of our efforts is a whole new generation of storytellers and stories!

Talk about a real pot of gold!

Linda Chancey and Connie Trama are the dynamic (truly1) duo who have just completed two year

terms on the Board of Directors of the Florida Storytelling Association. Their significant dedication and

leadership has expanded Youthful Voices in scope of service and in participation. Their vision plan

enables members to continue to grow the next generation of storytellers.

Deep thanks to Linda and Connie.

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String Stories! Visual Art Meets Storytelling By Maureen Belote

I found this site shows how to make a mosquito. SnapGuide (https://snapguide.com/guides/tell-a-simple-string-story/)

This site, http://www.stringministries.org, is from the man I saw in AK, David Titus. I also bought his tape (yes, this was a while ago… ) STRING FUN WITH THE PARABLES. On this site one can order SHARING WITH STRING on a DVD for $9.95.

I have used the string mosquito to tell the Chip-pewa Cree Indian tale I heard from Doug Elliott. It explains why we should be grateful for mos-quitos, as they once saved mankind from extinc-tion. I have also used it in churches to gain attention before explaining the need for long lasting insect repellant treated mosquito nets. I tell stories about how such nets have made a big difference in communities preventing malaria where peo-ple are taught to use them properly and consis-tently.

Maureen Belote’s tag line

is “Truth and lies told with

twinkling Iris Eyes.” Since

1997 she has actively told

and presented workshops

to audiences of all ages,

served on the FSA board

and is currently

president of The Tampa

Bay Storytellers’ Guild.

http://storytellermaureenb.com

I saw my first string story when I was in Alaska. David Titus had a group mes-merized with telling stories that had string forms made from a loop like we used in cat’s cra-dle. I bought his 2 video tapes! Later I found that KLUTZ

has a book of STRING GAMES from

Around the World. Believe me, it was harder to learn the moves than I thought it would be, but it was made eas-ier by the tapes and David’s gentle reminder that he would show the figure created twice from the front and once from the back. And if that wasn’t enough, I could also rewind the tape. I admit I did do that on more than one occasion. The KLUTZ book, STRING GAMES from Around the World by Anne Akers Johnson (and her book, Cat’s Cradle) has step by step directions in color that are fairly easy to follow. Use a globe to il-lustrate where the stories come from.

Photo by Flickr users

Rick and Brenda Beerhorst

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8 THE COMEDIC ART OF BIL LEPP By Mary Lou Williams

Bil Lepp uses all the tools of the comedian’s trade: call back, rule of three, self-deprecation, exaggeration and understatement, incongruity, puns, similes and metaphors. He uses them in his own inimitable way. But he is the King of the Tall Tale, and although other storytellers tell tall tales, he has his own unique technique in creating his. He calls that technique the “context box.” When he creates a story, he creates a world. The story has to be true to the rules of the world he creates. The context box is that world and its rules. The preposterous events in his story are reasonable inside the world of the story he creates.

According to Bil, the mistake that many tall taletellers commit is to fail to make all the events inside the story reasonable given what has already happened in the story. He establishes the context box by talking about things that are familiar to the audience, that are common to them and him and that are true. In this way he establishes the audience’s trust so that they can believe the whole story. Once the story takes off, he can go anywhere with it as long as he stays true to the context he’s established. He can’t change the rules. Once he has established the base line, he has to stay within the parameters. Everything that happens inside the story has to stay inside this context box. The irony of the tall tale is that the effectiveness of the lie de-pends on the truth, the truth of the world created in the story.

Bil starts off with a crazy idea. He works backward to establish trust. He works backward to the beginning where he starts with something that is true and plausible, then gradually builds up the exaggeration until the audience believes the crazy idea inside the context box.

For example, in his story “The Teacher in the Patriotic Bathing Suit,” Mrs. Baird, Bil’s fourth grade teacher, looks like Linda Carter, the actress who plays Wonder Woman on a TV show at that time. The fourth graders have been trying to out her as Wonder Woman with all kinds of tricks, but to no avail. But one day, she rips off her dress to reveal the red, white and blue bathing suit that identifies her as Wonder Woman. But why would she be wearing a red, white and blue bathing suit under her clothes? Well, it has been established earlier in the story that it is Halloween and all of the students and even the teachers are participating in a best costume contest later at an end of the day assembly. But why would Mrs. Baird do such an outlandish thing as to rip off her dress in her fourth grade class? Well, she has to get at her Wonder Woman whip with its magical powers in order to save her fourth grade students from the red, gelatinous, inflated and expand-ing blob that is emerging from behind the lockers and descending upon the class to engulf, devour and di-gest them while they are watching a movie called The Blob about a red, gelatinous blob that has descended from a meteorite and is engulfing, devouring and digesting all humans in its path.

But where has this red, gelatinous, inflated and expanding blob that is emerging from behind the lockers come from? Well, earlier in the story it has been established that Mrs. Baird has brought in the lungs of a

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cow (that she had gotten fresh from the local butcher) to perform an experiment with her class to see how the respiratory system works, since they are studying the respiratory system at this time. The ex-periment consists of the students blowing into a piece of surgical rubber tubing that they have inserted into the cow’s lungs and watching the lungs inflate as they do so and deflate when they stop. Mrs. Baird has pushed the cart with the cow’s lungs and the long surgical rubber tubing (from which they have cut the smaller pieces) behind the lockers at the back of the room to get them out of the way so the class can watch a movie.

They are watching the movie, by the way, as a treat because it is Halloween and they have been good all week. But how do the cow’s lungs become so inflated that they emerge over the top of the lockers to become this red, gelatinous, inflated and expanding blob that is about to descend on Mrs. Baird’s fourth grade class and engulf, devour and digest them? Well, earlier in the story it has been established that the parents of one of the students have hired a clown to come to the class to blow up balloons for them with a helium gas tank, which he has forgotten to take with him when he leaves. So Mrs. Baird has pushed that behind the lockers, too, to get it out of the way so they can watch the movie.

But how does the helium get connected to the cow’s lungs? Well, before the movie begins, Mrs. Baird tells the students that anyone who is too scared to watch the movie can go behind the lockers till the movie is over. The only one who does so is Alicia Snitch, the goody two-shoes of the class who never gets into trouble. She is bored behind those lockers with nothing to do. So being intellectually curious, she decides to see what will happen if she connects the helium tank to the cow’s lungs using the long surgical rubber tubing and then turns on the tank full blast.

And this explains how we have a red, gelatinous, inflated and expanding blob emerging from behind the lockers and descending upon Mrs. Baird’s fourth grade class to engulf, devour and digest them. And it explains why Mrs. Baird is forced to rip off her dress and reveal herself as Wonder Woman to get at her magical Wonder Woman whip to deflate the red, gelatinous, inflated and expanding blob and save her class.

All these preposterous events are reasonable in the context of the world of the story. Bil’s crazy idea of Wonder Woman and the blob is perfectly plausible inside the context box.

The basis of all humor is the unexpected. The incongruity of something that is preposterous and impos-sible in the real world being perfectly logical and plausible in the world the teller has created is the sur-prise that makes the tall tale funny.

And because he does it so well, Bil Lepp is King of the Tall Tale.

Mary Lou Williams, is a retired educator who has spent 35 years as a high school teacher of English and also of mathematics. She holds a Bachelor of Arts

degree in English from Queens College and a Master of Education degree from Columbia University. She is a member of the Tamiami Tale Tellers of Fort

Myers and the Florida Storytelling Association. Mary Lou is an astute fan of comedy, and will be contributing a regular column deconstructing storytelling

genres and styles.

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I tell many kinds of stories but when I am telling autobiographically, the stories fall into two broad categories: personal stories and political teaching stories. In this article, I’m going to share a few things I’ve learned and struggled with concerning the differences between these two types of tales. Take these musings not as strict how-tos, but as signposts for the journey.

In political stories, I often START with the theme

When I’m working on a regular (if any story can be called that) personal story, I’m usually called by an image or memory. For example, I don’t know why but there’s something about remembering my grandparents’ quilt made from wool scraps from my grandfather’s old suits that sends me deeper into the time when that quilt was lying across a bed in our rented cabin on Lake Michigan. And didn’t it rain our whole week there? I’d lie on my grandparents’ bed and watch the wood beams in the ceil-ing change to a deeper brown, becoming soggy with moisture. And isn’t that the week – how old were we? Three? Four? - when Patty Lubjeck fell into the recently-dug foundation for the new homes on the other side of California Avenue? The hole was filled deep with water from all the rain and a broken water main. I heard Patty scream for help, turned and saw her arms waving to me, slic-ing the air in stiff, mad circles like helicopter blades. I didn’t know whether to search for a two-by-four long enough to reach her – could I even pick up such a board? – or run the two blocks back to her house and get her Mom. You get the idea. I hop from picture to picture, without a clue of what I want to say, where the story is headed or what it might add up to in the end. I just follow the images, often to a temporary dead end of anecdote-only status. Scores of these incomplete descriptions sit in my journals and file draw-ers until every so often they make themselves known, “Pssst, Sue. We could be a story now.”

However, when I’m working with political stories, I don’t start with an image. I start from the theme. From the beginning, I know I want to show the history of U.S. involvement in Central America. I know I want to show how segregation was created in Chicago and other cities. I know I want to give an his-torical example of people taking a stand for justice. These are teaching stories. However, to say I know where I want to end up doesn’t mean that’s where I’ll actually land. Many times in doing the research, I find the story is much more complicated than what I initially thought. Whether I’m telling personal stories or political stories, exploring image or theme, doesn’t mean I know at all what story will emerge.

How much “I” there is in my political teaching stories varies widely

Though all of my political teaching stories are autobiographical in nature how much I am actually in the story as a character differs greatly. Sometimes I am at the center of the story, using my own

Stories On Purpose

The “I” in Politics: Using Autobiography for Social Justice

By Susan O’Halloran

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firsthand life experiences to clarify the chosen theme. Sometimes I am peripheral to the central story, peering in around the edges of history trying to understand. Sometimes it is a combination of the two. Here are some examples:

The Garbage Story: A story from my high school days of some of my first awakenings to the issues of race. I am at the center of the action witnessing a Civil Rights demonstration. The audience follows me through my experiences and discoveries.

Dividing Lines: The Education of a Chicago White Girl in 10 Rounds: This story of segregated housing in Chicago is a blend of my own experiences plus historical information transmitted through stories other people tell me. You learn as I learn.

The Oberlin Rescue of 1858: This historical story of a town’s refusal to obey the Fugitive Slave Law has an autobiographical frame. At the start, I tell my audience what I am searching for – a story of “good white people.” Then, as I recount the Oberlin Rescue, I am able to comment on how these his-torical figures are or aren’t fulfilling my need for white role models. I get mad at them; I cheer them on. This extra layer of my elation or disappointment laid over the ups and downs of the historical events provides a double rise and fall emotional arc and mirrors the story’s theme: flawed people – just like us – cause social change. If we wait to do it “right”, we’ll do nothing at all.

How much “I” is in the story seems to depend on how much of the story is personal history vs. how much political or social history the tale requires.

I allow myself to become a character in service of the story’s purpose

In many of my stories, I allow less than stellar parts of my personality to show so that the voyage has a starting place, a point from which to grow. Because I am a stand-in for the audience, articulating their doubts, I whine, guffaw and complain where they might. Following my emotional journey, tons of data can be transferred without the audience feeling as though they’ve just crammed for a mid-term. For example, in my story of taking my sons to Guatemala, Moments of Grace, you can forget that lessons are even being learned as you get caught up in my goal – to educate my cynical, post-Watergate sons how we (enlightened adults of the 1960s)

work for justice. As soon as I state this lofty goal you know I’m going to fall. And part of you is going to enjoy watching me fall. While you’re witnessing my neatly prescribed plan unravel, I can fold in information about the stealing of the Mayan people’s land or the CIA toppling a Democratically-elected president because there’s forward motion; there’s suspense: when is she going to get hers? Because the audience knows the questions with which I, the narrator/character, am struggling, they get the significance of any fresh information that is introduced into the story. Like reading a good mystery novel, the audience wonders, “Now what will this know-it-all do with that bit of incongruity?”

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12 In addition, because the audience and the characters in the story are having realizations at the same time, it’s more likely the audience will change along with the character. There’s a chance the audi-ence will end up understanding what I’d like them to understand, not because I preached at them or because I’m the authority, but because we took a journey together.

I come right out and explicitly say the meaning of the story

In my personal stories, the meaning is often implied but unspoken. The audience’s “Ah!” at end of the story tells me they got it, even if everyone in the room might articulate the point of the story dif-ferently. However, in a story such as Dividing Lines, I come right out and say, “These politicians, bankers and developers used us! Don’t let them do it again!” I go on to say what we can do about the problem of segregated housing today. I am that blatant because I am very clear that this story is a teaching and community organizing tool. I joyfully serve as a recruitment strategy for groups with good causes. People hire me to rally and educate their members and to point them in the direction of action.

The trick here, of course, is to provide inspiration, to show people that the solutions are truly doable, without bringing the whole piece to a grinding halt through a laundry list of action steps. I use my craft: I present with humor, suspense, heartbreak and drama. I’ll also use simple staging when it con-tributes to the theme. Dividing Lines, for example, is done in a metaphorical boxing ring. I wear boxer trunks, tank top and shoes. A bell announces the rounds as I duke it out with a black glove and a white glove on either hand. I can teach and organize, but I must always entertain. And, then, when time allows, I follow this one-woman show with handouts of resources and a question and answer period. Story can do what no other art form or media can do, but it can’t do it all.

Crafting political teaching stories is a long, messy process.

I want to make it clear that this style of telling wasn’t stumbled upon one day and voila! Captivating social history is born! There is no formula. I have attempted to tell some of these stories for years before they found forms juicy enough to see the light of a stage. I could bring you a very long line of witnesses - good friends upon whom I foisted first draft ventures. They could attest to their utter boredom as I rattled off pages of facts that to me were absolutely fascinating. Their looks were god-sends. They said loud and clear, “It’s not a story yet, twenty minutes of this and festival audiences will be diving out the sides of the tents!” This glorious and excruciating process of sifting through mounds of data and searching or listening for a story continues. It never stops. For example, I have been trying for several years to tell the story of how the “white” race was invented. When Europeans first came to America, there were no white people. Yes, there were Englishmen, Portuguese, Spaniards and so on, but people hadn’t been

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taught to think of themselves as “white people” yet. Racial categories are arbitrary creations con-cocted for political and economic gain. I love this story and think it’s crucial for understanding and ending racial conflict today.

I had attempted to create an autobiographical performance piece on this theme, once again, this year. One major problem – my grandparents came to America in the 1880s and early 1900s. The leg-islative and political shenanigans that created the white race happened mostly in the early and mid-1800s. I had no family link to the 1800s Democratic Pro-slavery Party, for instance. However, that didn’t stop me.

I lined up scores of my grandparents’, parents’ and my own anecdotes on being Irish. I tried a per-sonal framing form such as the one I used in the Oberlin Rescue of 1858 story. I tried making a list story – 5 ways the white race was created and 5 ways this illusion affects me today. I tried language hooks, repeating phrases, to move the story between the historical material and my family remi-nisces until friends who listened to these first drafts actually looked nauseous from being whipped back and forth in time so often. I remember famed storyteller, Syd Lieberman, moaning after yet an-other attempted draft, “I thought it would never end.”

So I have put the “How My Irish Family Became White” Story aside yet again. However, out of my early attempts at this story I received the gift of a story about my grandmother coming to America. This story says nothing about the invention of the white race, but it is a thank you letter, a love letter for all the hardships my Grandmother endured to make my life possible. My Grandmother’s Story has political undertones, the way any immigrant story might, but it is at heart a very personal, sweet family story. I have often found a different story while researching and rehearsing a story that didn’t work (yet). I’m glad I found this one.

In the end, for all their differences, I find that personal stories and political teaching stories are simi-lar in the way that matters most – when done well, when the story ends, the audience feels more connected to themselves and each other than ever before. We encounter our despair, our immeas-urable victories and the perfectly imperfect, common experience of being human.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article was printed in the National Storytelling Magazine – July 2004. Susan O’Halloran’s Garbage Story can be found on the video Tribes & Bridges at the Steppenwolf Theatre; Moments of Grace is on the CD Moments of Grace and Other Stories of Hope; The Oberlin Rescue of 1858 is on the CD Searching for Heroes; the story of Chicago segregated hous-

ing is on Dividing Lines: The Education of a Chicago White Girl in 10 Rounds; Grandmother’s Story is on the CD Journeys of the Heart.

The Chicago Reader says Susan O’Halloran who is also featured on PBS, ABC-TV Nightline and in the Chi-cago Tribune and New York Times, “has mastered the Irish art of telling stories that are funny and heart-wrenching at the same time.” Susan has several times been a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival and the International Storytelling Center Residencies and as a National Storytelling Network keynote speaker and Circle of Excellence Awardee. For the last twenty years, this author, keynote speaker and seminar leader has been producer of multicultural events featuring social justice stories to build racial and ethnic bridges. Over 170 videos that Sue has co-produced can be found at:

www.RacebridgesStudios.com

Sue comments, “Single seminars, performances and keynotes are great but won’t bring the changes most organizations seek. Only strategic repetition brings culture change. If your organization is ready to take a

deeper dive into Diversity & Inclusion, contact us at: Susan@SusanOHalloran.com or 1-866-997-8726.”

After a career of working with schools and teaching teach-ers the value of health and wellness for their students, I was looking for something new that would dovetail with the skills and talents I had been using in my professional life.

In 2012, I started searching the internet and eventually found Pat Nease. Well, was that ever a phenomenal find! Pat’s professionalism, passion, and generosity helped me

dive into and learn about the world of storytelling, and boy did I jump into the deep end!

Pat gave me some wise advice when she suggested that I attend Florida Storytelling Association’s 2013 Festival in Mt. Dora. I was already booked for that weekend with another event, but I was able to attend the second event she floated past me – The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, that fall. Of course I was thrilled and overwhelmed and inspired!

Then, the following spring, I was able to attend the 2014 FSA Festival. That was it! I left there con-vinced and determined to do something with storytelling here in Madison, Florida. My husband, Jim, had attended some of the concerts and visited with people all over the town, and he too was moti-vated to do something for Madison.

So as we drove home, we discussed the possibility of hosting a festival. We started a first important step – setting our goals:

1. Bring storytelling to Madison,

2. Provide an opportunity for growth to the children of Madison, and

3. Help put our wonderful, small town of Madison “on the storytelling map”

So Madison County Florida Storytelling was born!

Meanwhile I had been digging around on the National Storytelling Network’s site and found the page about Tellabration!TM. BINGO! That was it. We decided we would join the ranks of cities big and small to celebrate storytelling. We ordered a big sign and began planning our event.

We started recruiting tellers, creating a web-site, securing a venue, advertising, printing brochures, being addressed. However, goal #2 was not being fulfilled so easily. Now we started in March of

Bringing Youthful Voices to Madison By Wanda Violet

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2014, to plan for the November event, and while we thought that was enough time, which it was for the first and third objectives, it surely wasn’t enough time for #2.

We started talking to the local schools to find some young people to tell stories. Don’t laugh at us because we were new at this, but we thought the schools would be thrilled to accept this opportu-nity. It didn’t work that way. Teachers are overwhelmed. It doesn’t matter how much they might even want to work with you, the average teacher just doesn’t have the time even to consider an-other event, assignment, or opportunity for their classrooms and students. Some of the schools said they didn’t have time that late in the year. So we offered to present them with the project in the summer pre-planning meetings. Again, this still was not doable.

Finally, a breakthrough. One teacher. One lone, passionate, hard-working, en-thusiastic teacher saw the value of this and had her students write short sto-ries. She then selected two that she thought were the best. One day she called me and said, “Do you want to come hear them?” I did. They were won-derful, sweet 4th graders who were excited about telling at our event. One of them, Abbey Ratliff, went on to win a scholarship to the FSA Festival Youthful Voices event.

We were off to the story races. We made sure these two students received publicity, newspaper articles, and recognition at their school. We naively thought, “That’s it; the schools will be begging us to let their students in.” Not yet. However, we didn’t give up. Along with the original school, we talked to a homeschool group. Only one of their students entered. She was Liberty Blair, who won a scholarship at the 2016 FSA Festival.

So we started over a year ahead of time for our event coming up in Octo-ber, 2016. Good news, a new school has now joined us. With the original school, this new one, and homeschoolers, we are fully expecting to have a bigger participation this year.

In each of these three entities (two schools and homeschoolers) we have known someone who caught the vision for what this event could mean to a child. So we will continue to nudge, ever so gently, promote, advertise, and show the community that this is an invaluable op-portunity. We just need time.

Wanda Violet is a mother, grandmother, wife, and storyteller. She and her husband, James Glaser, live in lovely Madi-

son, Florida, where the folks are friendly and the values are focused on family. She is a native North Florida gal who

comes by her love of grits, fried mullet, and flip flops naturally. She is honored to have been elected this year to serve

on the Board of Directors for the Florida Storytelling Association.

16

16 My Storytelling Journey by Paul McAuliffe

Eight years ago, at age 54 I was diagnosed with

Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. This

was a major breakthrough, helping me to better

understand the workings of my own mind, as well

as the non-autistic "neurotypical" mind that I had

always found so confusing and off-putting.

With slowly improving social skills due to my

growing autism awareness and research, it be-

came easier to spend more time interacting with

others. I'd been

a musician since

age 12 but was

always a side-

man in bands,

letting others

bask in the lime-

light while I

stood back and

did my thing

(primarily as a

bassist.) In 2005

I'd taken up Native American flute and other eth-

nic flutes. I ended up developing a program called

"Flutes, Autism & a Different Way of Seeing" that

took me on lecture/performance tours over a 12-

state area of the Southeast. I spoke in churches,

at universities, and at The Center For Disease

Control (CDC) in Atlanta, as well as being fea-

tured twice on CNN.

Anecdotes from my rather unusual life became a

I'm currently a member of The Bay Storytellers

in Panama City, Florida. I didn't join until I was

in my late 50's; I guess you could say I'm a late,

LATE bloomer.

Like many of us, some of my earliest memories

involve searching out stories. From the first

influences of "See Spot run!" to Dr. Seuss to

The Hardy Boys, I begged to be taken to the

library and lost myself in the bookshelves. I

think the first stories that I found truly life-

changing were Lewis Carroll's "Alice In Won-

derland" and "Through The Looking Glass."

For me, all of 10 years old, Carroll's tales cre-

ated a far better world than the miserable

childhood I was actually living. Not long after

that, Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

came into my life and expanded my horizons

in yet other directions. Stories have always

given me great comfort.

At age 29, fresh from a painful divorce, I be-

gan two years of spiritual studies in New

Hampshire with a Native American shaman

who was noted for his storytelling, especially

for children. I was duly impressed by his ability

to get the little ones to sit quietly, listening

wide-eyed to his traditional tales. By this time I

was writing songs, short stories and poetry, but

was not yet ready to absorb his advice about

the power of the spoken word.

Paul, the musician, backstage,

during performance of The Whipping Man at

The Kaleidoscope Theater

17

thing about this near-death experience totally

wiped out any remaining fears I had about public

speaking. Now the main problem I have is know-

ing when to shut up! Both my original tales and

my stage mannerisms appear to be getting wilder

and wilder. I end up asking friends after perform-

ances, "Did I overdo it? Was that too over-the-

top?" So far, nobody's run screaming from the

room so I guess I'm still within acceptable limits!

To wrap things up, here's something I wrote

some years ago on a 3 X 5 card that still sits on

my kitchen table:"Through the ancient art of sto-

rytelling we weave words, we teach one another

and we learn from one another. We laugh, we

acknowledge our humanity, we realize that oth-

ers have the same foibles we do, thus growing

into a better understanding of the world. As we

become more empowered we create our own

stories, our own myths - and hopefully we begin

to heal, and to grow in heart, mind and spirit."

Paul McAuliffe is a musician, songwriter, storyteller and autism advo-

cate living in Panama City Beach, Florida. He is currently performing

original music for a production of the Post-Civil War drama "The

Whipping Man" at Kaleidoscope Theatre in Lynn Haven, FL. He also

provides occasional flute and/or drum accompaniment for Gypsy

Parvana Belly Dance Troupe of Panama City.

big part of my programs. People began saying I

was a natural storyteller, but at first I just

shrugged it off. Eventually I developed a pro-

gram called "Flutes & Storytelling" that I really

looked for-

ward to

sharing

with peo-

ple. Being

just an

overgrown

child any-

way, I

worked out

a program

for kids that would keep even 1st graders in-

terested for extended periods of time.

I think it was about five years ago that I experi-

enced The Bay Storytellers at an event and

enjoyed them immensely. Somehow I ended

up being asked to play my wooden and bam-

boo flutes between stories at a few of their

shows, and slowly started telling an occasional

short tale of my own. Over time I got more in-

volved - and more enthusiastic - in the storytel-

ling side of things. This was due in large part to

the patient mentoring of Pat Nease, Wayne

Garrett and Judy Cooley, three wonderful and

highly accomplished tellers that I'm now proud

to call my friends. Telling tales has become

such a part of my life, I can't imagine not being

involved in this craft for the rest of my days.

In May of 2013 I had a two pulmonary embo-

lisms that nearly put me in the ground. Some-

Paul, the storyteller, performing A Christmas

Carol at a Bay Storytellers Concert at Floriopolis.

18

18 How to Start a Guild By Madeline Pots

Say you are smitten with storytelling, or story lis-

tening. You decide you want to start a storytel-

ling guild.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

You will need a couple of enthusiastic persons

who are willing to do the work of getting things

started. Have a meeting and decide what you

would like your group to be. What are the goals

of your group? It doesn’t have to be complicated,

but you should have some idea of your purpose.

Discuss how often you would like to meet and

how you would like the meetings to run. It is

good to delineate responsibilities and determine

a leader or facilitator. Once you have figured

these things out, you will need a place to meet.

THE MEETING PLACE

There are lots of places to hold meetings … in

someone’s home, a community center, in a club

room, a library room. Unless someone volun-

teers space right off the bat, one of you or all of

you will have to do some leg work and fact find-

ing. You want to have a space that is private

enough that you won’t disturb other people or

be distracted by goings on around you.

(Personally, I love libraries. They have good facili-

ties, parking and are generally responsive to sto-

rytelling.) Consider accessibility and cost. Will

you charge dues? What are the benefits of mem-

bership? Determine a regular time and place for

your meetings and be consistent.

GET THE WORD OUT

Have something you can hand out that has all the

pertinent information – who, what, when, where.

Distribute your flyers in bookstores, libraries,

schools, offices, coffee shops, social media and

talk it up. Email anyone you think might be inter-

ested or supportive.

THE FIRST GUILD MEETING

Don’t be disappointed if you only have a few par-

ticipants. A guild will grow with time and consis-

tency. Have a structure to your meeting. This

should include introductions and business mat-

ters, but remember the reason people join guilds

is to tell stories and listen to stores. Depending

on the time allowed for your meeting and num-

ber of participants, you may consider having sug-

gested time limits to stories. It’s nice to set aside

some time at the end for socializing and maybe

some refreshments.

19

Start an email list to be used exclusively for guild

related communications. Put someone in charge

of that.

WORKERS & MEMBERS

In any group you will have a core of members

who do the lion’s share of the work. The more

you can involve each member, the better your

guild will be. Be receptive to ideas, but also

keep the purpose and welfare of the guild your

primary concern. You can grow and still main-

tain your direction. Make it fun.

With time, new opportunities will present

themselves. Stay in touch with storytelling do-

ings by joining the state organization; FSA in

Florida, and the National Storytelling Network.

Consider special events such as guild perform-

ances, workshops, and excursions.

Speaking from my personal experience, my

whole storytelling career began with joining a

guild and is supported by the friendships I have

made within the guild and enhanced by the

opportunities that come about through the

guild. The benefits of participation far out-

weigh the work it takes to start a storytelling

guild.

Editor’s note: Individual storytellers and guilds

have membership options with FSA.

Membership means support, educational op-

portunities, discounts, and the growth of our

community. Go to http://flstory.com/

membership/join-or-renew/ for information

and individual and guild memberships with the

Florida Storytelling Association.

Madeline Pots was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She

has been a vital part of the arts in Central Florida where

she has lived since 1972. She has been a performing

musician, songwriter, recognized craftsperson and a sto-

ryteller. She performs at festivals and other events.

Storytellers of Central Florida is one of many Florida guilds that has

grown because of mutual commitment and respect. Their dedication

to the art of storytelling has seen this group through highs and lows

20

20

House Concerts? Yes, indeed!

This year, look for house concerts featuring :

Geraldine Buckley Melinda Munger Andy Offutt Irwin

With more in the works!

If you would like to be a house concert host,

or, if you would like to be considered as a featured teller,

Contact

Linda Schuyler Ford at StoriesHeal@gmail.com

Robin Schulte at RobinsTales@gmail.com

I wish to send a HUGE thank-you to those folks who donated books for our

festival Story Store.

Pam Azar for her collection and the friends of Betsy Heyba for their

donation on her behalf. And a MONSTER dose of gratitude to Jim and

Susie Mittlestadt who filled our tables and worked like stevedores to help

us get the store set up and open for business in record, if sweaty, time.

We love you all.

-Melinda Munger and the Story Store team