Thursday, November 14, 2013

Brevard Festival 2013

My husband and I spent a recent weekend in the North Carolina Mountains, at Brevard. We were there for the Brevard Storytelling Festival and were a part of the volunteer team.  Angela Lloyd and Bobby Norfolk were the featured tellers. Our three regional tellers were Alan Hoal, Dorothy Kirk and Donna Marie Todd who represented the NC Storytelling Guild. NC storyteller Gwenda LedBetter served as MC. What a grand festival!
Angela, left      Bobby, above                                                                                                                                             
The Transylvania County Library hosted the festival and served as co-sponsor. For the seventh year, the NC Storytelling Guild teamed up to co-sponsor with them. It’s a joy for our organization to work with their Friends of the Library and library staff.

There was an eclectic mixture of stories from the five storytellers. I traveled back into history with comic, Bobby Norfolk and visited mystical places as Angela Lloyd wove her whimsical stories. Donna Marie Todd held me in stitches as I learned ‘how not’ to prepare food in a concession stand during a high school football game. I identified with Dorothy Kirk as she told how she discovered her true voice. Closing out the final session, Alan Hoal carried me back to my teen movie-going days with his hilarious and sometimes frightening experience at a triple feature horror movie.     
Donna  Marie, above                                                                           Dorothy, above                    
                                                                                                               
We are like family and rarely see one another, other than at storytelling gatherings. As is the usual custom, Guild members and storytellers spent the weekend at a local hotel. This was an opportunity to have a “reunion of sorts,” to visit, have fun, strengthen our friendships, and to catch up and learn from one another. 

After many goodbye’s Sunday morning, my husband and I spent time with two good friends. We had lunch near the hotel, followed by a leisurely walk around town on a beautiful sunny day. Colorful leaves twirled past as we wandered from shop to shop. By late afternoon a cool wind set our teeth to chattering which sent us in search of hot coffee and dessert. This tasty treat turned out to be our dinner, filled with laughter and fellowship. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Alan, above                                                   Donna Marie, Sylvia and Lona, above

Hope to see you next year at the Brevard Festival.