The First Fourth Fibbin' Contest is Coming Soon!

Get your tall tales, your lies and your BIG stories ready! Ripley, West Virginia, home of the biggest small-town 4th of July Celebration in the US is having a liars contest!

And there will be prizes too: $100 first place, $75 for 2nd, $50 for 3rd, and $25 for the Youth winner. So your young'uns can enter too.

This is guaranteed fun for the whole family. I'll be there as one of the judges, and might tell a tale before the contest starts. I am so looking forward to this!

I hope you can join us. Here are the rules and information about the contest:

‘Come all ye tall tale tellers, liars, prevaricators and stretchers of the truth’

7 p.m. Friday, July 3, 2015 Historic Alpine Theatre, 210 W. Main Street, Ripley, WV

 1^st Fourth Fibbin’ Contest

The Appalachian tradition of storytelling will be featured during this new event for the Ripley Fourth of July festivities, “The USA’s Largest Small Town Independence Day Celebration.”

Pre-Registration – email: Director@VisitRipleyWV.com, Ripley Convention & Visitors Bureau, 115 N. Church Street Suite 4, Ripley, WV 25271. Call 304-514-2609.

Event Day Registration – 6:00-6:45 p.m., July 3, 2015, Alpine Theatre

Admission: Free

Awards:  $100 1st Place; $75 2nd Place; $50 3rd Place; $25 Youth Award (17 & under)

Rules:

1. The event is open to everyone.
2. “Fibs” should be short, family-friendly stories lasting 3-5 minutes.
3. All contestants must register.
4. The order of telling shall be determined by drawing numbers.
5. No written materials or props may be used.
6. Judging will be conducted by a panel of 3 on the following categories: A. Technique (delivery, confidence and general stagecraft); B. Story Development (good use of the allotted time); C. Originality (new material or fresh handling of a familiar yarn); D. Effectiveness (in the judge’s opinion, taking audience response into consideration)
7. Judges will score the four categories on a scale of 1-5 for a maximum of 20 points. Final scores will not be given to contestants.
8. Judges will confer at the end of the competition to determine the awards. There will be no ties. Their decision will be final.
9. Fibs may be videotaped and displayed by the Ripley CVB.To process monetary awards quickly, winners must complete a standard W-9 form, invoice form and supply the Ripley CVB with Social Security numbers. Youth winners must have their own Social Security numbers and be accompanied by a parent when completing the forms.
10. Winners will receive award checks in the mail within four weeks of the event.

www.VisitRipleyWV.com             www.Ripley4thofJuly.us

News to Share

I've been slogging away on some applications and proposals today; very tiring day. But there is a little news on the storytelling front:

My CD Beyond the Grave will be listed with the West Virginia Book Company soon, allowing a much wider distribution and publicity. I will drop some off tomorrow and it should be listed on their website soon. I'm excited about this, and relieved. Promotion is time-consuming; while I will still be promoting and selling my CD wherever possible, it helps to have this larger outlet for sales. I will still be selling them myself, of course.

AND I have been asked to be a judge for the West Virginia Liars Contest! It's held during the Vandalia Gathering; this year it is on Sunday, May 30 at the Cultural Center in Charleston. I will have performance time onstage prior to the contest. If you attend Vandalia, please stop by and say hello. And get in the contest! It's fun and you just might win. The contest rules are here.

Did I mention earlier that I will be doing a workshop on using the old ballads as a frame for writing original stories at the WV Writers Conference in June? And also one on blogging--now that one will be easy! The ballad one is an idea I've had for a while, and there are actually several authors who have done this very thing. Sharyn McCrumb, for instance, writes the Ballad series featuring her character Nora Bonesteel, who is based on one of the old balladsingers from North Carolina. And Jane Yolen's Tam Lin come to mind, along with any written story of Robin Hood, who was a figure in ballads before he was in stories. I am reading my friend and fellow storyteller Gail De Vos' new book Stories from Songs: Ballads as Literary Fictions for Young Adults which is sure to be a good source of ideas for this session. Gail's book won a Storytelling World award this year, and small wonder. It's well researched and thorough.

Time to stop writing and start reading. Mr. Poe's biography is calling me, and I'm tired of thinking for now. Brain break!

Storytelling Friends

With storyteller Donna Wilson for today's Stories at the River's edge performances.

Often it seems like months go by that I do not see a single storyteller friend. This summer has been like that--without the capability to talk online with other storytellers, I would not have had contact with any of them.

So it was a fine surprise to be paged last Wednesday evening because a "man" had stopped by the library to see me. (I shouldn't have been there, but I stayed to finish up a few things.)

Turned out to be liar extraordinaire Rich Knoblich, who was in town for a conference. We had an hour or so to catch up over a glass of wine, and the time passed far too quickly. Rich placed second in the state's liar's contest this year--he's almost always in the top three. He told me that he has a book if his stories in the process of publication. I'll add a link here as soon as the book is available. It's certain to be a good read if his storytelling is any indication.

Tuesday evening storyteller Ilene Evans came to spend a couple of nights with us while she does performances and workshops in Charleston. We've had wonderful conversations, shared some ballads and caught up on the news in each other's lives.

Then I spent today with Donna Wilson of Middleport, OH, for the second day of our series Stories at the Rivers Edge. Today was my day to perform at Middleport and at Mason, WV. It was a wonderful day--good, diverse audiences, reasonable weather, and good company. It can't get much better, can it? And to top it off granddaughter Hannah was with me today.

This evening Ilene and I sat out on the deck and enjoyed the evening as we talked and talked about stories, storytelling, and ballads. She knew many Irish versions of the same songs I know, and the differences and similarities will always intrigue me.

A full day of stories and storytellers. Now that is living.

Storytelling Sources

I am sometimes asked for sources of stories by those who are interested in telling tales themselves. Where can stories be found? They're everywhere, in every place we travel and in every person we meet. They're in books certainly, but also online, in the local newspaper, in the classified ads, on the staff bulletin board.

How can these stories be found? By not only hearing but listening, not only looking but seeing, not only touching but feeling. And by asking questions and listening to the response. How often have you seen a TV personality ask a guest a question, only to continue to talk, interrupt and ask more questions before the guest has a chance to answer?

Many people seem to like the TV show called The View. I find annoying in the extreme as the stars of the show try to outshout each other in desperate efforts to get the most attention from the audience and the camera.

This past weekend at a farm auction I was standing by an older man and discussing the items being sold. I said I'd like to have the old wood ironing board, and he said he used to have one like it. He proceeded to tell me the story of the Coon and Possum Dog (read a version of it here), a tall tale that's been told in the mountains for years. I tell it myself, and that's why I wanted the ironing board. But here he was, telling the story as a current joke, and telling it well--he could be a professional storyteller, but I'd bet he doesn't even know there is such a thing.

He told me several more stories and jokes that afternoon, for the pure pleasure of sharing them. And I listened, for the pure pleasure of hearing the tales told so well.

Stories? They're everywhere. Listen--you may be hearing one right now.