Becky Vickers Tells "The Advantage"

The photo is of Becky Vickers telling her original story "The Advantage," at the Bristol Public Library on Sunday afternoon on Aug. 9. The story illustrates Becky's philosophy that sometimes a disadvantaged "critter" (the family pet) might need a little help in order to obtain justice.

Becky also told "Pecking Order" which is a tale of a wife who finds out just where she stands in the priorities of her husband, Rooster Willey.

Mimi Rockwell was the other storyteller (that's me)! I told about my two names, one given at birth and the one chosen as my storytelling name.

I chose my 2nd story because its setting is a county fair held around the courthouse square. I'm always reminded of that fair at this time of year because of the Appalachian Fair that is always held every August in Gray, TN between Kingsport and Bristol.

And I had time for a 3rd story so I chose the scary tale of Esmeralda, a story I first heard from a West Virginia storyteller I met at a Festival when I first moved to this area. I've forgotten the name of the teller, but the story remains vivid.

And that's an important point to make--it's the story that's important and not the storyteller!

A small audience turned out and only a few BCS members were there probably due to vacations and the beautiful outdoor weather following many weeks of rain and cool temps.

But Becky and Mimi enjoyed themselves just the same since they both tell stories "just for the fun of it." It was good practice for our Graveyard Tales that will be coming up.

G. Lee Hearl, BCS Director, also played guitar and sang one of his original songs, "The Ceiling Fan."

All three storytellers write original stories. Becky bases hers on true incidents from her youth growing up in East Tennessee. I often tell about my Hoosier heritage, but really have a variety of stories I have either created or adapted. G. Lee says he enjoys getting older because he can enjoy his second childhood all over again as he reminisces about his own youth as well as many of the SW Virginia characters he has known.

The next performance in this series "The Art Of Story" will be on Aug. 23.

Storytellers are yet to be named.