Arts Array Program

606 State Street Gallery in downtown Bristol took part in a weekend celebration of the arts in Bristol. Ballet dancers presented a program in the afternoon. Many of the artists who have their paintings, sculptures, pottery, and jewelry on display and for sale were present throughout the day. 


Then at 6:30 Beaver Creek Storytellers presented a variety of stories by six members, Becky Vickers, Carl Jenkins, G. Lee Hearl, Sam Samuel, Mimi Rockwell, and Pat Musselman. Carl Williams served as M.C. for the very first time since joining BCS this year. 


Here's how we looked:

Becky Vickers impersonates the cat who thought she had "the advantage."

Carl Jenkins told a historical narrative of the last hanging in Mountain City, Tennessee

G. Lee Hearl accompanied himself on the auto harp as he sang two lovely songs. He later told a story about yellow and black dotted watermelons.

 Sam Samuel entertained as usual with some Chicago stories.

 Mimi Rockwell settled in to share a story about her father in recognition of Father's Day which is a week off.

Pat Musselman puts her "all" into demonstrating how Lazy Jack had to put the donkey on his back.

And last, but not least, thanks to Carl Williams for doing an excellent job as Master of Ceremonies.

That's all folks--come see us at

606 State Street Gallery on

the first Thursday of each month,

7:00 p.m.

Fibbers Fiesta, May 5

     When BCS was planning for a tall tales program on May 5 at 606 State Street Gallery, we realized May 5 would be the Cinco de Mayo celebration in the Hispanic culture that is becoming more and more popular in the U.S. So wanting to honor that, BCS decided to title their program a Fibbers Fiesta.
     Becky Vickers started the program off with her tale of the purple gorilla.

     Carl Jenkins, a former high school history teacher, followed Becky with a Cherokee story in honor of the many people in the Bristol area with Cherokee heritage.

     Our guest, Rebecca Myers, who recently moved to Bristol from Arizona sang two songs about Mexico and accompanied herself on the guitar. Rebecca has an amazing voice and was very entertaining and appreciated by the audience.

     Audience favorite, G. Lee Hearl, then entertained with a funny story about Sleepy Tom, an actual character who wandered from place to place in southwest Virginia, and did some horse trading from time to time.

     After a  break, stories resumed. Let me thank the Samuels here who so graciously provide refreshments at the BCS monthly events in their lovely gallery. Pat Musselman chose a Cherokee story also about two trees entwined together to become one. It's a touching story, and Pat told it beautifully.

     Mary Grace Walrath's tall tale was about her young cousin trying to hatch coconuts thinking they would hatch into baby mules. Funny story, Mary Grace, and very entertaining.

     Becky Vickers told a second tale that sounded "tall" but was, in fact, true. She provided evidence that truth can be funnier than fiction. To conclude the evening, Sam Samuel entertained with two tales about imbibing beer. Sam is an Apprentice Teller and did an excellent job. 

     And so concluded our Fibbers Fiesta. We'll be back at 606 State Street Gallery on June 2. Come hear us!

     

VASA Gathering

     I spent March 16-18 in Harrisonburg, VA at the Virginia Storytelling Alliance Gathering. It was held at the Massanetta Springs Conference Center. My friend, Molly Catron, from Afton, TN went along with me and charmed everyone she met. I was delighted to see Paul Conco who is an absentee member of BCS and now lives in eastern Virginia.


     Briefly, Michael Reno Harrell of Asheville was the Featured Teller on Sat. night along with Geraldine Buckley of Maryland and Ralph Chatham of Arlington, VA. Performing at the Friday night concert was Donna Will of Eastern VA, Lynn Ruehlmann from Norfolk, and Mac and Joan Swift of Staunton.


     A keynote address was given by Michael Reno Harrell on Sat. morning, followed by a story showcase by Linda Goodman of Richmond. In the afternoon, registrants could attend both workshops by Ellouise Schoettler of Washington, D.C., and Granny Sue Holstein of Sandy Hook, West Virginia.


     Many state organizations have annual or bi-annual conferences as well as the National Storytelling Network. I've always found them a lot of fun, community building, and a source of learning about the craft of storytelling.


     Following are a few of my favorite pictures that did not get included in the group I posted on my Facebook page. To see those, click on or copy the URL in the Link at the top of this page.

Mwizenge Tembo

Geraldine Buckley and Michael Reno Harrell

Mimi and Paul Conco

Linda Goodman

Gathering Audience

Michael Reno Harrell, Geraldine Buckley, Ralph Chatham

Tellabration! 2010

     A nice crowd showed up at the 606 State Street Gallery to attend BCS' 13th Tellabration! The admission was three cans of non-perishable food to be donated to some local food pantries. Pat Musselman was charming as always as she M.C.'d the program

     Carl Jenkins took the stage first and read the Tellebration! Proclamation which ends with "Let the stories begin!"


     Becky Vickers started the program off with her original story "Pecking Order." Becky has been telling for about three years now and her increased skill is showing nicely. Her stories come from her own experiences growing up in a rural-dwelling family. 


     David Claunch followed with a traditional tale that may be the original "fish tale" since it deals with a fish that grants wishes until they become too outrageous and the greedy recipient finds himself back where he started. David has a good repetoire of traditional tales since his courses at East Tennessee State University emphasized these.

David Claunch

     Pat  called Carl Jenkins back to the stage where he told several historical anecdotes that aren't found in a typical high school history book. Carl recently retired from teaching history. He is also a Civil War Re-Enactor as history of the Civil War is his passion.

Carl Jenkins

     Pat then introduced two special guests, who performed separately. A seventh-grade student with a very mature voice, Tori Bates Samuel, sang two songs acappela and with perfect pitch--quite impressive.


     The next guest, Johnny Garland, played some R&B selections on his harmonica which was a nice interlude to the storytelling. I'm sure the harmonica is the official instrument for R&B.

Johnny Garland

     After a short intermission, the storytelling resumed with Pat Musselman telling one of her Grandpa stories and the puzzling little critter who looked like a caterpillar with eight tiny hooves.


     Pat was followed by G. Lee Hearl, current Director of BCS, who accompanied himself with his guitar as he told an original rhyming story about "Hattie's Brew." He then told  tale about spending his 9th summer on his Uncle Simon's North Carolina farm. G. Lee writes all of his material and plays several instruments.

     I was excited to be the 5th storyteller and share the story about how my father won a movie camera, a projector, a portable screen, a big box of film, one roll in color, a Buster Keaton movie and a Mickey Mouse cartoon.


     Glenn Williams closed the program with an American fairytale by the author of The Wizard Of Oz about a glassmaker, a wizard, an heiress, and a pink glass dog. Quite a tale!


     And the stories came to an end--for that night. There will be no storytelling in December, but an Old Christmas program is planned for January 6, 2011. More details about that will be coming.






     

New Venues

Beaver Creek Storytellers has been trying out new venues through these months thanks to members G. Lee Hearl, Pat Musselman, and Carl Jenkins.


Several monthly performances followed by a business meeting were held at the Virginia Highlands Community College in Abingdon. Admission was free and a small audience attended.


An art gallery on State Street in Bristol, The Blowfish Emporium, held BCS performances for a month or two, but then discontinued.


For the past couple months, 606 State Street Art Gallery has hosted BCS on the second Thursday of the month, with performances starting at 7:00 p.m. Refreshments are served and admission is $5.00. Several of the new members have joined through this venue. I am hearing reports that it is working out well and will continue. 


Pat Musselman serves as liason for the last venue. I also want to recognize Carl Jenkins  for obtaining donations from State Street businesses for door prizes for BCS events, especially our Graveyard Tales. You have both been wonderful volunteers for our organization. 

Back At It

     My life has taken a different turn since I last wrote. My husband, Rocky Rockwell, entered the hospital mid-March and passed away on May 11. I have not felt like doing any storytelling or keeping this blog up to date.


     However, five months later, I'm beginning to feel the urge to get involved again so am planning to do a few events yet this year. I also intend to start posting once again to this blog. I'll begin by saying a few things about Rocky who was a founding member of the Beaver Creek Storytellers.
     I believe Rocky had been a storyteller all of his life. When I met him in 1974, I knew him as a first-rate conversationalist and teller of anecdotes, usually over a restaurant dinner table. On car trips, he would entertain me with tales of his past experiences in school and the newspaper business from which he had retired shortly before we met.
     We moved to Bristol in 1982 when Rocky got a job as a professor at Virginia Intermont College. We had never even heard of the Jonesborough Storytelling Festival until 1987 when friends came to visit; one of them had read something about it in a newspaper. She and I drove to Jonesborough to check it out and in the first tent we visited we heard Donald Davis. We were hooked and excited to share news of this fun activity when we got home and told our husbands.
     Rocky and I started attending the Jonesborough storytelling festival every year. We began to learn about its organization and other storytelling organizations. In 1996 we went to a storytelling event at a Jonesborough restaurant and by the end of that year we had joined lhe Jonesborough Storytellers Guild, a small local group that told stories once a week at the restaurant we had attended.
     Storytelling woke up our creativity and soon we were both writing and telling stories on stage. A year later, Rocky, G. Lee Hearl, and I started the Beaver Creek Storytellers in Bristol. 
     Rocky's passion for the Art of Story continued and he became a member of the Board for the National Storytelling Network and later for the Tennessee Storytelling Association. He was a featured teller for the Corn Island Festival in Lexington, KY; the Blueberry Festival, and the Great Oaks Festival in Mississippi; Sharing The Fire in Boston; and several other festivals and conferences in Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama. 
     Unfortunately, in 2004 Rocky was diagnosed with lung cancer and although he was cured it left him with severe COPD which, with other health problems that occurred, led to his death this year. With his illness, his passion for story waned, but it was never fully extinguished, and he was always ready to "talk story" when we hosted a visiting storyteller. 
     I'll finish this by telling a little anecdote about Rocky's last month. He was in a nursing home following his hospital stay, and one beautiful day the end of April, he felt good enough to get into a wheelchair and let me push him outside to breathe in some sunshine and fresh air. We discovered a little garden and about 8 people were sitting grouped together in a small pavilion. Some were patients and some were nurses aides.
     I pushed him into an empty spot and then began introducing ourselves and soon I was asking and answering questions. Rocky was clearly enjoying it all, but was not feeling up to talking. However, after a short while he leaned over to me and in a low voice said, "With another couple people, we'd have an audience." 
     That was our last delightful day. 


     Beaver Creek Storytellers will miss Rocky's ability to think clearly to solve problems, to be innovative, and to be a kind critic. Most of all, I believe they will miss his clever stories, all original, many of them humorous, but others touching the heart strings. Favorites were "The Hurricane," "The Last Shot Of the Civil War," "The Long White Shark," "JFK and The Camera," "The Adoption Story," "Jackie Mitchell," and "Old Age." 

Mimi Tells at Red Hats Lunch

Mimi Rockwell had a good time telling stories today for her Red Hat friends at their 8th anniversary luncheon. She told two stories, "Becoming Mimi" and "The Movie Camera." Then added the poem "When I'm An Old Woman, I'll Move In With My Kids."

About 50 women in purple wearing red hats made up the audience.

Mimi says, "No matter her age or whether she's eating peanut butter sandwiches or chicken salad croissants, women love eating and giggling together."

Together As A Group

This is to remind you who we are. Not all of us are here, but you can find all of us on our website http://www.bristolstorytellers.org/

Our next performances will be on July 26, Aug. 9, Aug. 23, and Sept. 13, all Sundays at 2:15 p.m. in the Kegley conference room of the Bristol Public Library




The above picture was taken following our Old
Christmas program on Jan. 6





This photo was taken following last September's Graveyard Tales. Watch for announcements about the 2009 Graveyard Tales on Sept. 26 behind Weaver Union School, next to the historic Weaver Union graveyard in Bristol, TN

General Meeting June 14

G. Lee called a general meeting for June 14 at the Bristol Public Library. Ten members attended--a pretty good turn-out for a Sunday afternoon.

G. Lee shared his plans which includes the Graveyard Tales performance on September 26. He intends to discontinue programs at Java J's and instead have regular performances at the library.
He hopes to get sponsorship from Friends of The Library.

He also has plans for conducting classes after the programs to invite the public to get more involved with our organization.

It was good to see everyone and have a chance to chat a bit.

Our New Director, G. Lee Hearl

 Our new Director of Beaver Creek Storytellers, G. Lee Hearl.

It was unanimous last Thursday night, May 21, when members of BCS voted in G. Lee as our new Director. G. Lee has asked Joyce Moore to stay on as Secretary and Pat Musselman to stay as Treasurer. Pat has agreed since some of the stressors in her life have resolved themselves and she wants to be as supportive of G. Lee as possible.

I have been asked to keep the website, http://www.bristolstorytellers.org up to date. Other than that, I plan to lay back awhile and give my attention to Rocky and my health issues. I will prepare a ghost story so I can participate in Graveyard Tales if called upon. My intent now is to refrain from any obligations unless I know I have a back-up who can substitute for me if at the last minute I cannot attend.

Doug Morrell and Terry Benz were the main storytellers at our Java J's program Thursday night.

Doug told a story about a dangerous curve he once lived on and all the cats that were "dumped" near his home just beyond the curve. Terry told two stories, one a ghostly story that involved Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone With the Wind, and a little boy who was having a joke played on him.

His second story took me back to my childhood as he told about The Lone Ranger. Terry put his radio voice to good effect as he imitated the radio announcer, and closing my eyes, I could pretty much re-live the childhood experience.

G. Lee closed the evening by playing a couple of songs on the auto harp and sharing one brief tale. 

The evening was a gentle closing to my 12-year reign as Director and an enthusiastic beginning to what we hope will be at least an equally long reign to our new Director. I will continue to keep up this blog but it will be subjective from my point of view and not be anything "official." 

Unexpected Changes

You can always count on change! The month of April brought changes to me, and therefore BCS, that were totally unexpected. 

First off, I got sick. Severe bronchitis, which is curable, of course. But the whole process provided a reality check, as well as obstacles, for my life, and therefore for the life of our storytelling group since I am the leader. 

Reality is that I have been the caretaker for not only BCS but also for my husband, Rocky; in the case of Rocky, for the past four years. Between the two, and two whom I dearly love, I am exhausted. Evidently, God had to pick me up by the scruff of the neck and shake some sense into my head. (S)He did that by putting me into a hospital bed, then allowing my scoliosis to hurt and handicap me like it's never done before. 

In a nutshell, I am now using a cane and supplemental oxygen when I exert myself.

Through trial and error, I am discovering "exert myself" means when I do housework, outdoor puttering, grocery shopping, and walking across a parking lot to get into a store or other building. Very unexpected changes!

All this on top of Rocky's COPD breathing problems and his struggle to regain his old strength and abilities. 

After much thought and emotional upheaval, I have decided that I must step down as Director of BCS. Members know this as of last week, and two of them have come forward to lead, in the case of G. Lee Hearl, and to assist, in the case of  Terry Benz.

G. Lee is a founding member of BCS and is no spring chicken himself. But he will bring common-sense direction, a wealth of experience, and a sense of entertainment that will help BCS continue to grow a following.

Terry is brand new to storytelling, perhaps an angel in disguise. He moved to Kingsport, TN in the past year and became attracted to oral storytelling. He has a radio background and has been writing stories for a very long time. He is retired and has plenty of time and more importantly, the desire to be of service. 

It's my hope that G. Lee will be able to use Terry as his "legs" and will do a great job. Becky Vickers has also agreed to take on the Treasurer's job, and of course, I will do whatever I can do to assist.

My day of resignation will be May 21, the day after tomorrow, and Java J's meeting that evening will be my "swan song." I was so afraid that the group would decide to disband, but now that G. Lee will take over, my fears are abated and I feel hopeful.

I'm also looking forward to continuing to have fun through storytelling! For awhile, at any rate, I will do only the things I can do spontaneously, and will not be scheduled without having a back-up available to take over if I can't make it.

I've served as Founder and Director since 1987, which is 12 years. I was hoping for another 5, but you don't put off CHANGE.  Mimi Rockwell

Java J's March 19

 I arrived at Java J's on time last night. Terry was already there; however, we found our space occupied by the Bristol Business and Professional Women's Org, too many to take on in a fist fight! :) Actually, they were very friendly and quickly admitted they had assumed they could have that space without checking first.

By 7:00 Leon had arrived. We bought coffee drinks and settled at a large Mission style round oak table a little ways away from where the BB&PWO had ordered food and spread out their papers all over the rectangular table that along with their chairs, took up our entire "telling space."

A guest, Carl Jenkins, a prospective member, joined us and we all decided to wait until just before our program was to begin and if we had an audience, we would ask the women to move. Well, it never came about. No audience, other than Carl, showed up so we carried on telling anecdotes and tales among ourselves at the round table built for four. 

Carl and Terry are both beginners, and since Leon and I are old-timers, we were able to answer a lot of their questions about creating and telling stories. Terry told a very entertaining story he had hoped to tell in front of an audience about Andrew Jackson's three duels. Jackson is a well-known figure and legend in this region due to having been a lawyer in Jonesborough for some time. Terry was open to comments and suggestions  from us as we gave him feedback.

Leon told an anecdote he had recently heard from his mother about a relative's childhood during the Civil War. Carl is a Civil War re-enactor and discussion moved into "Us (Confederacy) versus Them (Yankees)." Interestingly, two of us had been raised in Tennessee, and two of us moved to the area as adults after we had been raised in Indiana and New Hampshire respectively.

I expressed some feelings I had about being labeled an "outsider" and related some incidences of culture clash I had experienced during my 25 years of residency. (Terry has been here only one year.) Carl who is retiring soon as a high school history teacher talked about the reasons current Southerners won't let the Civil War die. He made good points about not wanting their cultural heritage taken away from them, and the history of "northerners" coming into the area to tell Southerners what they thought was a better way of doing things. It has now grown into a credo of "don't mess with the way I do things," or "mind your own business." 

When someone who is not a local speaks out about something they think is of national interest,

the local hears it as "I know how this should be done better than you do," and thinks his business, individuality, philosophy is being demeaned. The example I had given was my asking a neighbor to paint out some graffiti on his corner shop that I thought demeaned the whole tiny community we live in, and he refused saying if I wanted it repainted, I could do it myself. I saw myself as a concerned citizen interested in our community, and thought he was being obstinate and rude, while, Carl pointed out, my neighbor saw me as not minding my own business and telling him how things should be done. 

They said my approach was too straightforward and confrontational. I didn't think it was confrontational at all, although I will agree I was upfront with what I wanted. My colleagues last night suggested I should have pressured my neighbor through his church or a community group. Perhaps, but that is a piece of passive-aggresive-ness that I have tried to discard from my character traits.

Well, my discussion with the guys last night did help me to understand my neighbors better if I think about it. I did present some points, however, my friends eventually agreed with, such as "Southern" and "Yankee" qualities are not in the DNA but are ways of looking at the world. 

I'm amazed that as their Director I've lasted as long as I have with few disagreements. Perhaps because I've been ready to listen and to compromise.  My goal now is to mind my own business, and if, for the good of the group, I must mind their business, I find another way to approach and talk about the problem.

The problem BCS  now has is that the group is not supporting each other as well as they could. They don't attend  the monthly events if they are not scheduled to tell, and the feeling of a group community is not nourished until a Special Event when everyone greets everyone else like it's a family reunion. I'm hoping to help the camaraderie grow through the Story laboratories that are planned for this summer. We'll see. I'd love to put someone else in charge of the labs, preferably a Southerner who will know better how to motivate them. Hmmm, let me think about that a bit.