Before
Pat Malone began his story, he mentioned a book called
Inviting the Wolf In: Telling the Difficult Story by Loren Niemi and Elizabeth Ellis.
We have all heard them or read them or lived them. We don't often speak of them. Such stories can powerfully affect both Teller and Listener.
Pat then told his own
Difficult Story, one he wrote some time ago, never really intending to" Tell" . It is a gripping personal story of a tragic event in his childhood, the death of his little brother, David, and its lifelong impact.
Pat was about 8 years old, living with his family out on a remote Wyoming ranch where medical help was too long and far away. Loss and grief, confusion and fear, stowed away in a young boy's heart and mind. As a teenager, it remained there, magnified.
When he was a high school student, Pat discovered the works of Virgil, Homer, Dante. He recognized that his experience was not singular, that the classics referred exactly to his circumstance. Pat crafted a story evocative of Greek Tragedy that tells of descent into Darkness, the struggle to move up through the Hades of Grief and despair.
Thank you Pat, for your honesty and courage in powerfully telling your moving story. Pat has been a Spellbinder for 12 years and is currently telling stories to 5th graders at Dos Rios
It is always delightful to hear Chuck tell a story, because it's obvious how much he enjoys telling his tales! In this Appalachian version of the Three little Pigs, a sly Fox is the hungry villain.
This story is a bit of a prequel introducing the little porkers' southern Mamma who's done her best to raise those piggies up right ! After teaching them all she knows,she sends them out into the world,admonishing them to work hard and to come home on Sundays! Chuck does an expert "GULP"sound when the fox outsmarts two of the piggy brothers and chomps them on down. Thank you Chuck for being such an enthusiastic Spellbinder and for sharing this tale with us!
Janice Shepherd told her own adaptation of a story called "Bundles of Troubles, Bundles of Blessings" this is a German folktale which she found online at
Healingstory.org
The story is centered around a 13 year old girl of today's world who
just happens to be from Grand Junction and very much like many of Janice's student listeners. Janice includes many elements that kids can relate to and also gets a great plug in for the Teen Room at our new Library!
This young person is struggling with her own identity, with growing up, understanding herself and the world with all of its questions and mysteries. She asks her friend to help her understand, and the friend offers the wise advice that she must find the answers for herself. The girl does find the answer by way of a dream in which a mystical, magical woman teaches the girl to trust herself and her experiences and to know that her life is unique.
Thank you Janice for telling this story so creatively and beautifully.
Skill Development:
We also dedicated the last half hour of our Workshop to viewing the first segment of
The Art of Storytelling: From Parents to Professionals. The course is presented by Professor Hannah B. Harvey and promises to help us hone our storytelling skills. Quite a few MCS chapter members have purchased this set when it was on sale. If you missed the January workshop and want to view the first segment just
contact me and we'll try to arrange something.
Judi and Janice also had extra copies of their December activity handouts. It was a fun exercise in using all five senses to bring your listeners into the story! If I can get the electronic form of the documents from Janice or Judi I will share in a future newsletter.
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Submitted by Judi Sammons
Submitted by Mary Lou Palmer 
Chuck Kornman
The Board is currently doing some fundraising exploration in order to increase the financial support for our chapter that will subsequently lead to growing and improving our organization.
