I thought I'd share a few photos from this week's storytelling. The weather stayed beautiful for the most part and the leaves were just at their peak of reds and yellows. With the rustic surroundings of the Mill, it was the perfect atmosphere for storytelling.
The kids arrived by busloads early in the morning and filed into one of two buildings, the barn or the West Virginia Building.
Here you can see how many children were packed into the West Virginia Building. And you can also see how beautiful this old building is with its woodwork and murals. This was taken before I got on stage and the kids were still getting settled in.
Here I am holding a Nehi bottle as part of my story about how I spent one whole summer searching for pop bottles so I could order a pair of coveted shoes from the Sears Roebuck catalog. The kids liked this story, and got appropriately grossed out when I told them about how I fell in love in 4th grade! So funny to hear them saying, "Eeew. Yuck!" And encouraging too. Kids haven't changed much, have they?
The second day in the barn. It was cold in there, but we warmed up once the kids got there and we started telling. My partner this year was children's author and poet Marc Harshman. I took the stage first and he followed me. I started us off with the song Old Dan Tucker--it has a chorus for the kids to sing and is just silly enough and imaginative enough to get everyone in a good place for story listening.
As you can see, the barn was pretty full too. Lots of warm little bodies--just what we needed on a cold wet morning. The sun came out later and warmed us up a bit, thank goodness.
The tellers four!
Sue, I wonder what Clark would think if he knew you were telling a story about him. How cute. My crush was on Tony Murray. Do you remember him and his brother David? Tony broke his glasses on a field trip and I saw his beautiful blue eyes. We were all so funny.
ReplyDeleteI do remember him, Debbie! I hadn't thought of him in years. I don't know what Clark would think, but he doesn't figure too much in the story, just the fact that I had a crush on him and then realized that he and I wore the same shoes, so I was wearing boy shoes. What a devastating moment! And how funny all these years later to look back at laugh at how earth-shaking that was. And how it drove me to collect so many bottles just to buy a pair of "girl" shoes I wanted. And those shoes were worn out in no time because they were so cheaply made--and I was back to wearing the Buster Browns anyway :)
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!! It was great seeing you again and hanging with the whole crew. I hope the saga of your brakes is over!!
ReplyDeleteIt is, Adam. Repaired and working perfectly, thanks to Larry.This family doesn't do garages and such. We prefer to fix things ourselves and in the process we end up with great stories :)
ReplyDeleteAW! I miss our storytelling festival - ok, not so much the festival as getting to hang out with everyone. That's my favorite part of any event we have. I can't wait to see you and the others in November - and I hope you can come by the house! It's all done now, finally, after two years!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Jason--getting to hang out with my storytelling friends is such a treat, but we seem to have fewer and fewer options.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see your house! When would be a good time to do that? before or after storytelling?