Story tellers talk about independence and family
“Have you ever had a conversation with a opossum,” Terrell Shaw asked the room of 10 to 15 during A Time to Tell Monday night.
The local storytellers are sponsored by the Ridge and Valley Story Telling Guild and meet on the first Monday of every month in the upstairs of the Rome Floyd County Library. The group take turns sharing tales, tall and otherwise, during their 6:30-7:30 p.m. meeting time.
“The rules are you can’t take up the whole time,” Shaw said. “But we will put up with a lot.”
The theme for this month’s stories was “Independence”, and while some did stick to the theme, family also played a big part in Monday night’s stories. Shaw said it was quite normal for the group to stray from topic.
Buddy Autry kicked off the evening sharing a bit of his families history stretching back to the Revolutionary War. Autry said he can trace his ancestry back to Francis Marion, “The Swamp Fox” and his brothers who fought in South Carolina. Marion and his brothers inspired Mel Gibson’s character in “The Patriot,” Autry said.
Newcomer Larry Brown also shared an excerpt from his family history. In a box of inherited letters, Brown found the story of two Cherokee girls who traveled over 1,300 miles for their education. The two were daughters of a successful Native American trader, who were sent from their home in Alabama to Keene, New Hampshire, to be tutored by the Parker family. Brown’s great-great grandfather was brother to the tutor of the two girls, and he has written a three-volume series of books about his family history available at Dogwood Books.
Bob Harris was third to get up to the microphone and tell the story of a young man who served during World War II as a signalman for the U.S. Navy. Harris told of how the young man went from island to island standing watch for hours and sometimes days without rest. This young man was revealed to be Harris’ father-in-law, who shared his job in the military with him one night when they were on the phone. Harris commented on how honored he was to share his story with the group.
Shaw ended the night with a tale of when he and his wife moved into their first house and had a visit from an opossum during their first night. The story evolved into a bit of a tall tale as Shaw and opossum have a conversation of how the woodland creatures learned to play possum.
For those who want to hear a sampling of the groups stories, or wish to share stories themselves, Schroeder’s New Deli will be hosting the Seventh Annual Story Telling night on July 25. The event is from 7 to 9 p.m. and will be on the patio.
The Ridge and Valley Story Telling Guild also sponsors the Young Tales summer program at the library. The program teaches kids how to tell stories Shaw said, and the last show of the summer is on July 15.
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