Linda Francis of Piney Flats weaves a tale during a recent 'Tellabration' by the Beaver Creek Storytellers at the Bristol Public Library. (Photo by Michael Owens/Bristol Herald Courier)
*** This story was published Nov. 24, 2008 in the Bristol Herald Courier. ***
BRISTOL, Va. -- Few people can pass up the chance to hear a good story. On the other side of that dialogue are those who can't pass up the chance to tell one.
The Beaver Creek Storytellers, of Bristol, Tenn., Va., are among those who love to spin a good yarn about anything. It doesn't have to be fiction. And it doesn't necessarily have to be fact. Sometimes, there's a smattering of both. All that's needed is a listener.
At the Bristol Public Library on Sunday, there were tales of a witchy woman living in the Appalachian woods, how a group of piglets escaped a snake's belly, and how God made dragonflies from the unwanted parts of other insects.
They were told as part of a worldwide storytelling celebration called a Tellabration, held the weekend before Thanksgiving. Sunday's concert marked the 11th celebration for the Beaver Creek Storytellers.
"There's been storytelling ... from as soon as man could speak 'Hey guys, I saw a great big mammoth today,'" said group director and professional storyteller Mimi Rockwell.
Tellabration was created in 1988 by nationally known storyteller J.G. "Paw-paw" Pinkerton as a way to spread the gospel about the profession. Pinkerton, of Stamford, Conn., died Nov. 5.
On his Web site, Pinkerton described his stories as a hodge-podge of Biblical tales, folktales and personal experience.
Though truth is not essential, say the Beaver Creek Storytellers, enthusiasm and a well thought out spiel are a must. That's what it takes to move up from being the average spotlight hog to a professional storyteller, called for at parties, schools, libraries and churches.
"It's performance storytelling," Rockwell said.
Piney Flats, Tenn., professional storyteller Linda Francis got hooked by the Appalachian frontier stories of family members. Her grandfather told them. Her father told them. And now, so does she.
"I felt like, if I didn't share them, then they would be lost forever," Francis said.
Sometimes, Francis throws a little song and dance in between the tales. Others raise eyebrows, scrunch noses, and pout like their characters. Some storytellers just remain seated and stick to the tale.
"We all have stories in us, we just need to find someone to tell them to," said storyteller Becky Vickers, of Bristol, Tenn.
