Thursday May 9th

 
April showers bring May flowers! 

**Do you have any stories about severe weather that you and your family experienced? 

**Did you have a garden when you were growing up?  What did you and/or your parents grow?  Any gardening disasters?

**What was your mother's favorite flower?  Why? 

**What was a sure sign that Spring was coming where you grew up?



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Once upon a time a long long time ago Mary Ann was born and raised in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  In her growing up years she found refuge in books and in the stories told by her grandmother.

 

She met her husband when she was in nursing school and he was in medical school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  She completed graduate school in Texas and in 1979 they moved to Grand Junction, Colorado where they raised their two children Sera and Matthew.

 

One interesting part of this story that may surprise all of us was the five year period during the Vietnam era when Mary Ann served in the Army Nurse Corp as a Captain.  As a Mental-Health Clinical Nurse Specialist she worked as the director of Bereavement Services for the Hilltop Hospice Program and later taught in the nursing program at Mesa State College.  Mary Ann has volunteered her time and energy in many programs over the years including the Catholic Outreach Day Center and in the Stephen Ministry Program.  The volition to serve continues today as Mary Ann and her husband journey to Ghana and are a vital part of Project C.U.R.E.  If you are curious about the work that is being done with this program just ask Mary Ann she would love to tell you about this passion.

 

Mary Ann is a wonderful, vibrant ball of energy with many interests including hiking, biking, kayaking and snowshoeing.  She has traveled to 50 different countries and loves to explore different cultures and languages.  She feels that getting out of our comfort zone, searching for new stories around each bend in the road ultimately helps all of us develop expanded perspectives and realize the sacredness of all life. 

 

Mary Ann joined the inaugural class of Mesa County Spellbinders in August, 2002.  Since then she has spun yarns in the third grade classes at Orchard Avenue, the second grade classes at Lincoln Park, Columbine, Appleton and the fourth grade classes at Tope and Appleton Elementary.  She also tells stories during summer school sessions and at special events in the valley.  She has been an active member of the Mesa County Spellbinder Board, as well as, participating at the National Level.

 

This amazing Spellbinder loves to share souvenirs and tell Folktales from other cultures and countries she has visited.     You can feel her eagerness to open new vistas for children and her enthusiasm is infectious.  In addition to listening to Mary Ann tell stories in the classroom you can also hear her Telling two stories on the Mesa County Spellbinders CD.

 

A couple of cherished memories included the day one little timid girl found the courage to give voice to the answer of a riddle that all the other children failed to solve.  The teacher later shared with Mary Ann that this simple event was an absolute breakthrough for this child and actually changed the way she participated in class from that day forward.  The second cherished memory




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Penny Stewart told a wonderful Irish ghost story, Mary Culhane. This is a very scary and a bit grisly tale that Penny recommends telling to older audiences.  It is a classic and one of my favorite Irish ghost stories.  Penny did a wonderful job of telling this tale of a young girl who goes to fetch her fathers blackthorn walking stick and meets an evil creature in the process. There are many versions of this tale.  The link above takes you to Marilyn Kinsella's version.  Here you can find a YouTube video of a telling by Selma Levi.


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The MCS Board of Directors meets the first Monday of every month to conduct business and discuss ways to expand and enhance our chapter.  We still have one opening on the Board to keep this in mind if you are inclined to help sustain our chapter in this way. 

Our Current Board members are:

Lois Becker, President & MC Library Liaison
Scott Fairbanks, Vice President
Jeannie Smith, Secretary & District 51 Liaison
Ingrid Bratz deLeland, Treasurer
Ruthmary Allison
Judi Sammons
Penny Stewart
Karen Hurst
Janice Koppang





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I hope you are either attending the Spellbinders Annual Meeting events and/or the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Festival at the end of the month! 

There are also some opportunities to attend events with Master Storyteller and Story Researcher, Kendall Haven.

Stories of neighborhood magic and reluctant heroes: Performance by Kendall Haven
Sunday, April 28th  3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Third Street Center, 520 Third Street, Carbondale, CO
Tickets $10 or $25 for a family of four

Kendall Haven will take you on a journey to the farthest reaches of your imagination.  An adventure for elementary students to graduate students; children to grandparents.  In the tradition of the finest one-man theater, Kendall Haven delivers high energy, animated, theater-quality performances. 

Artist reception following the performance
Sunday, April 28th  5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Tickets $10

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We hope you found some useful and fun things in this issue.  If you have any suggestions and/or submissions please send me an email!