Stone Soup Storytelling Festival

[Links to recordings of the SSSF are included below. I hope you will watch them, and if you do I hope you will consider making a donation to the festival so that this great event can continue!]

I have heard of this festival for years. Then three years ago I decided to apply to tell there. I was thrilled to be chosen as a "New Voice" for the 2020 festival. I knew that several new voices at Stone Soup had gone on to appear in other festivals. This little festival in Woodruff, South Carolina, after thirty-odd years of events has become something of a testing grounds for storytellers from all over the country. 

Then came the pandemic. Ugh. Every thing shut down.

But Karyn and Tom Davies can't be stopped for long. With help from others I'm sure, these two got busy and planned "virtual" events when in-person events were impossible. They learned to use Zoom. They bought cameras and mics and cables and mixers. 

So we "new voices" were re-invited for 2021 and, from my own spare bedroom, I got to tell my "Prowler" story. I also entered the Liar's Contest and told my "Yellowtail" story. I placed third.

AND I was chosen as one of four new voices to return as paid "Featured Tellers" in 2022. That event finally occured IN-PERSON! Yay!

It was a long drive on Thursday. Apple maps expected the trip to take about three hours to get from Rome GA to Woodruff SC, but traffic was such that Sheila and I drove more than five hours. We arrived a little late to the opening reception. There was no time to even drive by our B&B to freshen up and leave off our luggage. What fun though! We  finally met Karyn and Tom in person, and Hunter McLeod and Emily Young, and Cora Newcomb. Not to mention my fellow featured tellers, Janel Behm, Laura Deal, and Jessica Robinson and several of the "new voices".

Among the new voices for this year were a few I already knew:

Natalie Jones is a friend and fellow Big Fibbers Contest winner. She also was a featured teller for our Big Fibbers Festival in 2017. 

Gwendolyn Napier has shared stages, physical and virtual, with me several times (Bear on the Square in Dahlonega GA and Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival in Blairsville GA, and some virtual Southern Order of Storytellers (SOS) events.

Gary Buchanan had been a contestant and finalist in our 2019 Big Fibbers Contest. 

At the reception we got to meet Walt and Debbie Belcher in person and enjoyed getting to know them. Walt won last years Liars Contest and is a wonderful teller and an interesting guy. 

I am not sure whether this picture with Walt and Debbie was taken in Friends Cafe on the south side of Muse 134 where we had breakfast each morning or the Humble Grounds coffee shop on the opposite side where we had our opening reception.

After the reception we headed out to the Air BNB that the festival had reserved for us and our housemates, Janel Behm and Gwendolyn Napier. 

Housemates: Me, Sheila, Janel Behm, and Gwen Napier

Janel in the living area of our AirB&B

Friday morning we were up early so we could have a good country breakfast at the cafe right next to the festival headquarters on Main Street. 

I took along an Eastern Kingsnake ("Dozer II") with me to Woodruff Middle School where I told my Yellowtail tall tale and showed off the snake. The students and staff at WMS could not have been more welcoming and attentive to my stories and I think I may have helped a few to have a new respect for the role these fascinating and sometimes beautiful creatures play in our ecology.

As always the kids loved the kingsnake. I'm on a one man campaign to convince folks that snakes are our friends! I think I have a few new fellows for my efforts. (Please overlook the ridiculous bandaged hand.) 

Cora Newcomb is a board member at Stone Soup, a wonderful storyteller herself, and my companion at the middle school. Cora told a great little story about her stuggles over freckles as a pre-teen and used the speckled tiger lily as a prop.

A teacher asked for a photo-op and some extra time for her small class afterwards and this group got a little extra up-close experience.

And the band teachers had a break and wanted to meet Mr. Kingsnake.

Karyn and Tom have created a intimate performance space at "Muse 134" a building at the heart of Main Street in little Woodruff. The Friday Night concerts were our first chances to perform there. At the first session I told a personal story "Un Hombre Sincero" about my first experience teaching a child who had no English. The late session was billed as a time for adult and ghost stories, so I told my favorite spooky tale "Lt. Wood's Jacket" my version of the old "phantom hitchhiker" tale.

We featured tellers were able to sit back and enjoy other tellers for most of the day on Saturday: two sessions of "New Voices", an amateur contest, and a liars contest. Then Saturday Night we had our biggest show. I had saved my signature story "The Prowler" which is about a 25 minute twofer that combines a true personal story with a humorous old folk tale. I had a ball. 

The Prowler

A final bow on Saturday night. L-R: Jessica Robonson, Janel Behm, Laura Deal, and Emcee Pat Patterson.

One of the joys of getting to be a featured teller at a place where I have not previously told was that I could pick out my favorite stories, ones that I am very comfortable with. That meant that I could relax and enjoy the stories of my fellow tellers, and I certainly did. Janel, Laura, and Jessica were each outstanding.

One of the great surprizes was the quality of the three winners in the amateur contest. All three were great.

The winners of the amateur contest.

I already knew enough about the "liars" and "New Voices" to know I'd enjoy those and I certainly did.

Here are links to all the festival programs  (Again, please consider making a contribution to the Stone Soup Storytelling Institute to help keep this unique festival going!):

Light the Fire - Hit Us With Your Best Shot! Late Night! Believe It Or Not Good Morning Woodruff! Amateur Open Mic New Voices I New Voices II Liars' Contest - Say What! Tall Tales, Whoppers, and Lies  Cabaret!