Tuesday, November 30, 2021

 


Holiday Greetings:  We are blessed with two holiday stories filled with memories from two of our seasoned Florida tellers: Katie Green, who lives in Dunedin, and Cheryl Floyd, who lives in Deland:


Making Memories

By Cheryl Floyd

 “With the holidays coming, I was thinking of my childhood and all of these wonderful memories came flooding back.”  I received those precious words in a text message from my daughter recently, of course, the note made me smile.

 I was close to her age and very busy with family and career when my mother passed away. We lived a thousand miles from her and didn’t have cell phones with video chats. Times are changing so quickly, let’s not take for granted the technology we have to stay connected even if we can’t be together in person.

My mama made holidays special with foods she served only once a year: divinity candy, fudge, and pies with pecans from my Grandparent’s tree, fruit salad with maraschino cherries, lemon and chocolate meringue pies. Oh! Also, she made the best banana pudding with vanilla wafers. What treats do you remember from your holidays?


We celebrated Christmas with all our relatives at my grandparents’ home in southwest Louisiana when I was a child. Santa miraculously arrived on their front porch while we shot fireworks and played in the backyard. Presents covered the living room floor.  I have no memory of gifts I received the year I was eight, but will never forget my cousin giving his girlfriend an engagement ring on the nose of a large stuffed, white toy poodle. We all knew the ring was there, but sadly all she could see was the poodle she unwrapped until Mike said, “Look, Marie, doesn’t it have the cutest nose?” We all cheered and clapped as she cried tears of joy after finally spotting the ring.

My husband and I celebrated Christmas Eve 2015 at our home with our oldest daughter and grand girls here in town before heading to Texas the next morning to visit with our younger daughter and extended family.  As we exchanged gifts our daughter shared a very special story of how she would remember us when we are gone. My husband wiped tears from his eyes and told her that story was the best Christmas present she could have given him. We didn’t know that one month later he would be gone, through an accidental death. The story lives on.

Many times holidays bring sadness because loved ones are no longer with us or they are too far away for a visit. Why not put together a collection of stories of your own holiday memories to share with loved ones; or add an extra line or two of memories to that greeting card. Do you have holiday food traditions? Want to give a treasured gift? Write down a recipe with a memory story on a keepsake card. Share them with friends or family this holiday season and ask others to share a memory or two from their family traditions. Our shared stories connect us.

Healthy, happy holidays for your soul, from my home and heart to yours.

Cheryl Floyd, Speaker/Storyteller and Life Coach is a graduate of East Tennessee State University Storytelling Program. Her career includes over thirty years in education, publishing, coaching, public speaking and writing.  Cheryl is also a gardening and butterfly enthusiast. Cheryl is a southern girl with her early traditions steeped in her Cajun Louisiana roots and the lyrical power of the language permeates her storytelling style.  Learn more atwww.cherylfloyd.com



Our second story is from Katie Green, who will be one of the Fringe tellers at the 2022 Florida Storytelling Festival, Jan. 27-30 at the Lakeside Inn in Mt Dora.

Keeping Family Traditions

Telling stories about our lives is to value our existence and rekindle our love and appreciation for each other. We tell stories about events that are important to us, and, in this way, define our values and re-create our existence.

By Katie Green

When I was a child, Christmas was a time of travel. No matter where we lived, my parents and I went to my grandparents’ house in southwestern Virginia. In December, we traveled to Meadowview, Virginia by train from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Long Beach, California, or Houston, Texas.

We rode in a Pullman compartment with beds that were pulled down out of the walls by the porter. Meals were taken in the dining car, where tables had white linen cloths, heavy silverware, and a small bouquet of flowers.

During the Korean War, there were many soldiers on the train from Texas to Virginia. I remember how polite and handsome they were in their Army or Navy uniforms; how happy they were to be going home for the holidays.

Times were different then. People trusted each other. I remember falling asleep leaning against a soldier while my parents drank coffee, smoked cigarettes, and chatted with other travelers. The soldier sang me to sleep with a popular song containing my name: Nancy with the Laughing Face. (Back then, I was known as Nancy Kate.)

It was dark when the train went through Birmingham, Alabama. My mother pointed out the colored Christmas lights on the small houses next to the railroad tracks. She told me that the Christmas spirit of love was in everybody’s homes. It was not about how many toys Santa brought.  

Christmas at my grandparents’ house was always special. My mother had 5 siblings, and they were usually there with their families. They came from as close as Galax, Virginia and as far away as Pocatello, Idaho. The extended family filled the old farmhouse. We decorated the fir tree with colored glass balls, strung popcorn, and tinsel. Then we sat back to watch the new, candle-shaped bubble lights. We were warmed by the coal-burning fireplace while we listened to Christmas carols on the big, upright static-filled radio in the corner. The evening ended with everyone singing Silent Night together.  Grandma would say, “That song always makes my eyes leak.”

The years go by quickly. My husband and I are now the grandparents. These days travel is more difficult.  We are happy to have friends and family gather at our home at Christmas to make music, sing songs, and tell stories.  I hope that our children and grandchildren will have fond memories of the holidays and that their stories will continue the tradition.


Katie Green is one of the founding members of the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling (LANES). Katie has performed and presented workshops at National Storytelling Network, Sharing the Fire, Connecticut Storytelling Festival, Three Apples Storytelling Festival, Hans Christian Andersen Storytelling Center, Friends General Gathering (Quaker), and hundreds of libraries, schools, and museums.  She is a member of the Florida Storytelling Association, Storytellers of Old Tampa Bay, NEST. and the National Storytelling Network.  

Learn more at: 

Katie Green Storyteller Home (katiegreenstories.com)

 



Friday, November 5, 2021

 THE ORLANDO STORY CLUB:  STILL GOING STRONG   

As we slowly emerge from the COVID days of virtual storytelling, this month’s blog checks in with the long-running Orlando Story Club which held an in-person November slam on the 3rd and is gearing up for the year-end “Slam Championship” on Dec. 8. 



Launched in 2014, the Orlando Story Club doesn’t require membership.

Tellers (experienced as well as beginners) just show-up on a Wednesday night about every other month to join in a friendly, relaxed competition.

 Listeners also come for the entertainment, guided by hosts/producers Bobby Wesley and Danielle Ziss.

Currently, the Club is meeting at CityArts Orlando, a restored historic building on 39 South Magnolia Avenue in downtown Orlando. Prior performances were at The Abbey, a small downtown theater.

“Before COVID we would get anywhere from 35 to 65 or more in attendance,” says Wesley who has co-hosted these story nights for more than five years. For much of the lockdown in 2020-21, the Club went virtual. 

Bobby Wesley


Wesley, a marketing consultant, is also a storyteller who told at a Moth concert in Brooklyn in 2020.

The Moth was the inspiration for the Orlando Story Club. Back in 2014 film producer Robin Cowie (“Blair Witch Project’) had moved to Orlando and was looking for a place to share stories. Cowie has said that he enjoyed Moth performances in Los Angeles and was frustrated that there was not a similar venue in Orlando, so he helped start one. 

Wesley says that the Orlando stories are just as good as any heard from a Moth stage. These stories range from true, serious, and often dramatic, accounts to some that are amusing and sometimes hilarious.


Every Orlando Story Club night has a theme. The Nov. 3 theme was “Cutting My Teeth.”

Tellers enter by dropping their name in the story hat. Ten are drawn at random. Each storyteller is given a flexible 5-minute chance to impress the audience. Three non-telling volunteers are picked as judges, ranking tellers from zero to 10. The top 3 tellers take home prizes such as gift certificates for dining at local restaurants.

Wesley and Ziss also have fun with the short storyline “zingers,” inspired by the theme. Audience members can jot these down on note cards and toss them in another hat. “It’s a lot of fun to ad-lib on the spot,” says Wesley.

On the Nov. 3 night, there were eight tellers, including first-timers Lisa and Lindsey.

Lisa told of how she overcame her fears and learned to face life’s challenges after jumping off a four-story building in a controlled- harness as part of a charity fundraiser. Lindsey impressed the judges with her account of how she coped with a seizure that robbed her of her memory.

Among the regular returning storytellers was Jesse, who got laughs and sympathy when he told of his struggle to cook the perfect meal for his girlfriend. And a young man named Logan told a funny and heartwarming story of overcoming a childhood injury that made learning to ride a bicycle an enormous challenge.

                                                    Danielle Ziss

“The thing I love best about this is how open people are when they get on the mic,” says Ziss. “It creates a connection that you don’t get out of every day, casual meetings. People will share things here that build a connection that you don’t get anywhere else.”

She says that most nights it’s like a rollercoaster with some stories being pure silly and fun while others that are raw and emotional. 

 Past tellers at The Orlando Story Club include members of the Florida Storytelling Association such as Robin Schulte and Madeline Pots, both        active with the Storytellers of Central Florida.

Madeline is a two-time Slam Champion of The Orlando Story Club and has written about her Orlando experiences in a previous FSA blog.  

She will be  among the featured tellers at the upcoming Florida Storytelling Festival in Mt. Dora (Jan. 27-30).

Wesley served as host of the festival’s slam in 2020. Ziss will be hosting at the next Festival in January.

There is a $5 donation requested to attend The Orlando Story Club’s slams with the proceeds going to charity. For more information about the Club’s year-end battle of winners on Dec. 8, visit the group’s Facebook page or website: Orlando Story Club - Downtown Arts District


Among the tellers at the Nov. 3 Slam:  Lindsey, Lisa and Jesse

Story by Walt Belcher