Gleaning Facebook: Youth Storytelling Concert

Since 2015 I have dreamed of getting an opportunity to show off our outstanding young storytellers on the national level. We had hoped that might happen at the 2020 National Storytelling Conference in Decatur Georgia, but then came Covid 19. BUT instead these great young tellers will participate in the first "Virtual" NSN Conference. I hope they will have lots of support from the Rome area folks who have helped us with the Debby Brown YoungTales Storytelling Clubs since 2015!

You can attend this event right in your living room or den anywhere on God's green Earth that has internet connections!

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Direct link to the ticketing for this event ONLY.

Click on the link below (or copy and paste it into your browser) THEN scroll WAY down to

"YES Youth Spotlight Performance - $ 10.00"

Please remember

#1 these kids will really entertain you!

#2 the ten bucks goes toward the mission of the National Storytelling Network. It's the primary national organization of storytellers and does great work to promote the preservation of the art of oral storytelling.

https://storynet.org/virtual.../package-registration/

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Here's the poster for the event---

Tagging 46 supporters of YoungTales.... (I know I'm gonna kick myself for all the ones I've left out!)

Comments

Anne Wallace

i am so proud of our Georgia youth...all excellent storytellers who are keeping storytelling going into our future. Kudoohs go to them and their mentor storytelling teachers to include Esther, Terrell, Anne, Adra, Chetter and Karin Amino for arranging this for our youth. (And just a touch of family pride..that's my grandson in lower right corner of photo.)

Terrell Shaw

Direct link to the ticketing for this event ONLY. 

Scroll way down to "YES Youth Spotlight Performance - $ 10.00"

https://storynet.org/virtual.../package-registration/

Sherry Norfolk

I know they'll do you proud!

Gleaning Facebook: Young Bards

Juliana Washington won the 2017 Debby Brown YoungTales Storytelling Competion. She will be a featured teller in the National Storytelling Network's pre-Conference Youth Spotlight Performance, Saturday May 30, 2020 at 5 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.storynet.com.

Sara Grace Abernathy won the 2018 Debby Brown YoungTales Storytelling Competion. She will be a featured teller in the National Storytelling Network's pre-Conference Youth Spotlight Performance, Saturday May 30, 2020 at 5 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.storynet.com

 

YoungTales Show

What a great time I had at the final YoungTales Summer Show of 2019! We had FOUR kids show up ready to tell stories. I had invited our 2018 YoungTales champ, Sara Grace Abernathy to come share a story, and she had a brand new one from her trip to the beach. Then Sophie, who was only a second-timer at YoungTales, made her storytelling debut. She and her audience loved it! Andrew Neal who had been a part of the YoungTales team at East Central wowed us with his spooky ghost tale from a trip to Chickamauga. And Polly Abernathy, not to be out done by her older sister, told a story of her own. We had a good time singing the story song, “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”. Then I told an old standby folk-tale “The King’s Cat”. We talked about the “bones” of that story so the kids could go home and re-tell it. And finally Sara Grace closed things out with a reprise of her hilarious personal story I call “Twunk!”

Folks this was a wonderful experience for these talented young tellers and for their listeners! Y’all give me some ideas for finding a larger audience for these kids next summer.

Gleaning Facebook: YoungTales Summer Shows

Monday morning! 10 am till 11 am. Great stories aimed at middle grade kids (Third through sixth), but younger and older kids will enjoy it too. Everyone welcome. Some of the storytellers will be kids themselves.

Y'all come!

Mon, Jul 15, 2019

2019 YoungTales Summer Shows - Rome, GA

Gleaning Facebook: Bil & Andy, Not Mr. John This Time

 From John Paul Schulz:

March 5, 2019

Taking the living room to the schools.

Our Ridge and Valley Storytellers group is bringing two of the best story performers in the nation to entertain and teach storytelling at most of the local elementary schools.

Here’s a sweet story that answers a child’s question about a local storyteller. I take care of the flowers for a client who has horses. I go there in the afternoons every now and then to check the flowers and I often run into Hayley who sees to the needs of the horses (physically and psychologically). Haley has two daughters and a son. I’ve watched the daughters, Fern, (5), and Finch, (3), grow into lovely young ladies who always have a greeting for “Mr. John” (that’s me). The girls are delightful. The little boy is too young yet to recognize my brilliance. I’m sure he and I will be good buddies one day.

The other day, I got a message from Hayley on Facebook: “Fern asked if the famous storyteller who is coming to see them at Model Elementary is Mister John.” And here’s the answer:

“Please tell Fern that Mister John will not be one of the story tellers but that Bil Lepp and Andy Irwin will be there to wow them with a story or two. And Fern, I guarantee that you and your friends will truly love the show. You’ll laugh and you’ll go “awwww!” Both of the storytellers will be at Model on Wednesday, March 13. You are in for a treat!”

And for the adults, the Ridge and Valley Storytellers is bringing you a wonderful storytelling festival called “The Big Fibbers Festival” on March 15 and 16. Mark your calendars. Details will follow tomorrow.

--John Schulz

My good friends Fern and Finch with their new little brother.

Gleaning Facebook: John Schulz on Youngtales Again

 From John Schulz

February 17, 2019

Finding the living room

The first part of November, I started a series of living room posts by quoting Emmy Lou Harris who said, “With radio, television, and other intrusions, we have lost the living room, where people would gather to tell stories, sing songs, and gossip.”

I’ve been in search of the living room for four months now and I find pieces of it in a lot of places.

This is the fifth year that Ridge and Valley Storyteller members have presented their storytelling clinics in local elementary schools. The clinics finish with a contest. The winners from each school this year will present their stories at the Rome City Auditorium on March 16 from 2:00-4:00. The afternoon event is free of charge.

Here are a couple of testimonials for the program: (borrowed from the website)

“My students have a difficult time with written expression. They have wonderful stories inside, but struggled to get them out. By learning how to be verbal storytellers, they became stronger storytellers as well as writers.”— Katie Chappell, Fifth Grade Teacher, Anna K. Davie Elementary, Rome City Schools

“I was able to participate in the Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival and observe the student experience of the YoungTales Storytelling Program. To see the [young tellers] in action and to see them excited and eloquent was amazing.”— Kanute P. Rarey, Management Consultant/Storyteller, Hayesville, NC.

And now we learn that “The living room is where you make it.”

Gleaning Facebook: North Heights YoungTales Club

Rome City Schools put these pictures of the YoungTales Storytelling Club at North Heights Elementary, under the leadership of "Miss Jane" Cunningham.

 

Gleaning Facebook: From Rome City Schools

This is part of our wonderful YoungTales Storytelling program that will culminate in the Debby Brown Storytelling Competition during the Big Fibbers Storytlling Festival in March. We are so thankful for the support from Rome Council for the Arts, the Sara Hightower Library, the Chiaha Guild, the Coosa Valley Credit Union, and other sponsors and donors who have allowed us to expand this program to thirteen schools.

Our schools this year are -

Fourth Year of Participation:

Armuchee Elem.

Berry Elem/Middle

West End Elem.

Third Year of Participation:

Naomi Elem.

Second Year of Participation:

Anna K. Davie Elem.

Johnson Elem.

Model Elem.

Montessori of Rome

North Heights/Main Elem.

West Central Elem.

First Year of Participation

East Central Elem.

Garden Lakes Elem.

Saint Mary’s Catholic

Local storyteller Jane Cunningham has been visiting the ASPIRE program at North Heights to help students learn the art of storytelling.

Gleaning Facebook: YoungTales Summer Show

 We had a great time with two outstanding student storytellers this morning. We had an enthusiastic room of kids from preschool through eighth grade and adults. Our storytellers included:

• Terrell Shaw (ta-dah!), There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly!

• Jane Owen Cunningham who had trouble with that bubblegum!

• Michael Rios, West End Elementary with his hilarious tale of sugar and salt.

• Mary Elena Rivera Kirk who dressed a pig for church!

• Courtney Hutcherson, Armuchee Middle who could NOT keep those ducks out of the garage!

• Gary Greene who remembers Superman and Mister Mxyzptlk.

• and Mary Elena Rivera Kirk, again, who gave us a story to take home with us.

Thanks to everyone who told, everyone who came to listen, and to everyone who helped spread the word to get us a good audience!

One more show! Monday July 17! Keep spreading the word.

YoungTales Summer Show

 Y'all find us an audience for these great kids! Please share if you are in Northwest Georgia! 

(Thank you for 30 shares on Facebook!)

Gleaning Facebook: YoungTales

 Spread the word! The first of our summer YoungTales storytelling shows will be next Monday, June 12, at 10 a.m. --- mostly stories by and for kids.

Come hear Griffin Girard, Juliana Washington and other great young storytellers.

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Invite any kids you know to the YoungTales Summer Show to hear some great young storytellers, including the fellow below. Griffin Girard has two hilarious tales of his adventures on hunting trips out west with his dog and an uncle.

We'll alos hear from several other tellers including the 2017 YoungTales champion, Juliana Washington.

Come hear Griffin Girard... 2016 YoungTales Story competition Silver Award winner. Griffin tells two great dog stories about hunting out west with his uncle and dog.

Gleaning Facebook: Juliana Washington, YoungTales Champ

Juliana Washington (pictured here) of West Central Elementary, Rome, GA, won the 2017 Debby Brown Young Tales Story Competition with a dramatic re-creation of the dialog that resulted between herself, her mom, and others when she got locked out of the house.

Michael Rios of West End Elementary had the audience laughing out loud at his families bi-lingual reactions when he mixed salt instead of sugar in the batch of cookies. Michael took second place.

Emalee Collins of Armuchee Elementary told the hilarious tale of when her mother, as a child, got a pencil eraser stuck up her nose. Emalee was the third place winner.

In all twelve finalists competed last Saturday for the 2017 Debby Brown Young Tales Story Competition during the Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival.

Griffin Girard’s adventures with Uncle Stew and Kenai the dog continued in a very smelly way. Griffin attends Berry College Elementary and Middle School.

Main Elementary’s Corey Chatman and Shailyn Ketterer gave an unusual joint performance speaking alternately.

Other finalists included:

Sara Grace Abernathy, Johnson Elementary

Samuel Fricks, Berry Elementary and Middle School

Matthew Keaton, Naomi Elementary of Walker County

Zack Lester, Montessori School of Rome

Chloe Littlejohn, West End Elementary

Gregory North, Anna K. Davie Elementary

Elijah Webb, Naomi Elementary of Walker County

Debby Brown Young Tales Storytelling Clubs were organized in ten Northwest Georgia schools this year. The clubs each met at least six times to hear stories modeled by professional storytellers Jane Owen Cunningham, Bob Harris (Beverly M. Harris), Mary Elena Rivera Kirk, and/or Terrell Shaw; practice telling folktales; and begin constructing their own personal narratives based on items from their “trouble" lists. At least one young storyteller was chosen from each school for the competition.

The Big Fibber Storytelling Festival, including the Young Tales competition, is presented annually on St. Patrick’s Day weekend by the Ridge & Valley Storytelling Guild with sponsorship from the Chiaha Arts and Crafts Guild, the Coosa Valley Credit Union, the Sara Hightower Regional Library, 100 Black Men of Rome & Northwest Georgia, The Greater Rome Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Chieftains Museum.

Photos by Tony Pope

Gleaning Facebook: Terrell in V3 Magazine

 From my sister Joan Turpentine's Facebook:

Nice to see this pic of Terrell Shaw along with a good article in NWGA's magazine, Fire and Ice, about the Young Tales program teaching youngsters the art of storytelling through the Ridge and Valley Storytellers Guild

Gleaning Facebook: Big Fibbers

From Tony Pope:

At Big Fibbers finale. I like this one the best!

 

Howard Smith

Are you at some Republican rally.... just guessing by the signs

Terrell

Maybe we could sell our posters to the Trump campaign?

Howard

And, invite one of his spokespeople to participate in the professional category next year.