We had such a wonderful night of storytelling on Saturday... and a wonderful pot-luck meal as well! We could not have had a more varied and entertaining group of stories tied together with emcee Bob Harris's anecdotes.
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Severo Avila
opened with a tale of his friend --- Georgia-girl Brandy --- who mangles the king's English and patriotically lavishes praise for service to country by our brave men in uniform... even when the uniforms turn out to be Delta uniforms. | |
Rev. Nanci Hicks
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We learned our new dynamic pastor at
Trinity United Methodist Church
Rev. Nanci McNeil Hicks has a bipartisan heritage: Prohibition AND White Lightnin'. Grandad McNeil poured out the whiskey the doctor prescribed while Granddad Lee was storing moonshine behind the matching Mason jars of green beans and pickled peaches. AS a college kid she was looking forward to Thanksgiving with family, but her parents invited all to the table ---- Fred the toothless, smelly, homeless man; Brick the eighty-year who had lost her sister and was alone; quiet Katherine celebrating her first sober holiday, and Isabella the Rich's pastry chef who was lonely and self-destructive --- reminding Pastor Nanci (breaking a biscuit) that the Lord also invites all to the table. | |
Raymond Atkins
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Rome's resident writing phenom, novelist
Raymond Atkins
, had the room rocking with his misadventures "Riverwalking". He painted some hilarious images for us: Webb's Texaco where you can buy all sorts of things except gasoline; The Coleman cooler of the days provisions left sitting on a picnic table upstream; the raft plastered immovable on a rock in midstream; the the rest of the family, aboard the suddenly freed raft, riding the rapids around the curve and out of sight of Ray standing chest deep in the Hiawassee. | |
Dr. Clemontene Slack
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After a brief intermission, Sojourner Truth (Dr. Clemontene Slack) appeared to deliver her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech. Eyes glistened around the room, much as they must have in 1851 at the Akron Woman's Convention. I had the privilege of portraying a Civil War photographer alongside Clem Slack as Sojourner Truth in a production of The Civil War, the Musical. Later she presented the speech for my students at Armuchee Elementary School. What an amazing and touching performance.
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Rev.
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Finally one of Rome's greatest raconteurs, Rev.
William S. Davies
took us on a "drone" tour of his childhood haunts around Barbourville, Kentucky: US 25, the La Resista Corset Factory, the brickyard (baptismal) ponds (a poor boy's Six Flags), Frog Level, Dogtown, his dad's grocery store. We met the likes of Uncle Grant the Serial Repentist and Harv Heard whose severed arm was stored in Dad's meat cooler till it could be buried with the rest of Harv.I hope we can get each of these great tellers back many times in the future to storytelling events hereabouts!
Remember our coming events:
• Monthly Time to Tell informal storytelling circles on the first Monday (usually) of each month at the library. (December 3, 2018 is next)
• The Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival, Rome City Auditorium, March 15 & 16
• (Festival Finale) Sacred Tellings, Trinity United Methodist Church, March 17
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