First local Storytelling Fest draws enthusiastic response

Wimberley’s first Storytelling Fest was a tremendous success, according to those who attended the event. An initiative of the Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance (WVACA), the Fest brought 14 storytellers to the stage of the Opera House at 7A Ranch for the day last Saturday. They performed before an audience of over a hundred, sharing stories that reflected the funny, challenging, and transformative moments in their lives.

“I attended my very first storytelling fest in Wimberley on 2/22/2020,” attendee Gayle Lawry said in a post to the WVACA Facebook page. “It exceeded my highest expectations including the venue, the talent, the organization, and the enthusiasm and acceptance for a newcomer like me. Thanks for the efforts of so many members and sponsors who made this happen. I’m already looking forward to the next time!”

Among the local storytellers, Dr. Patrick Cox, the original editor of the Wimberley View, told the story of the founding of the paper in the 70s and how it evolved into a highly awarded Texas regional newspaper. Local playwright, Monica Michell, shared her deeply moving story of Wimberley’s Memorial Day flood, and Michael Hannum, Superintendent of the Katherine Ann Porter School, amused and inspired listeners with the tale of his journey from a young student who loved art and hated school to an adult academic and school administrator dedicated to infusing creativity into public education.

Wimberley artist, Tim Leibrock, in his poignant double entendre, A Dying Art, told of his experience in Japan as an apprentice in the art of Kimono fabric dyeing, an art that is now sadly dying as the values and mores of society change. And Wimberley genealogist, Cindy Foreman, shared the harrowing story of her family’s Wizard of Oz experience with a rare tornado in Michigan when she was a small child.

Among the indigenous elders who joined the stage, nationally acclaimed headliner, Tim Tingle, who is also local to the Wimberley area, engaged and challenged the audience with stories of growing up on the Texas Gulf coast. Choctaw storyteller, Arron Pyle, a doctoral student at Texas State, punctuated his story drawn from Native American oral tradition with melodic interludes from his flute. Gifted Chickasaw storyteller, Amy Bluemel, educated listeners with a parable about “How Possum Got His Tail” and later, dressed in the regalia of her tradition, shared the fascinating story of the Chickasaw Migration.

The Storytelling Fest Committee was particularly grateful for the help and enthusiastic participation of several Houston storytellers, including NPR “The Moth Hour” Houston Grand Slam winners. 3-time winner Harwood Taylor participated on the committee and co-hosted the event along with committee chair, Chick Morgan. He recounted a wonderful tale from his youth about catching the Goodyear Blimp at the age of 12 and later moved the audience to tears with a deeply touching story about re-connecting with his father shortly before he died.

Among the Houston contingent, Dr. Hank Roubicek, creator and lead host of Houston KPFT 90.1 FM’s weekly primetime broadcast, So What’s Your Story?, also told an emotionally charged story about the influence on his life of his cherished grandmother and of the tremendous significance of his father’s watch. Guest co-host of the broadcast, Christie Gorman, had the audience laughing out loud with a story about Gay Kickball, as did her fellow Houstonian teller, Houston Moth Grand Slam winner Sneha Desai when she regaled listeners with details of My Bollywood Life.

Poet, storyteller and professor of genetics at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Michael Galko fascinated with his story of a chase for a bat in the house that resulted in some life-changing decisions. Jackie Ford, who is a frequent storyteller at The Moth in Houston where she has been a Story Slam winner and Grand Slam competitor, touched and inspired the audience with a heart-rending story about taking her deaf mother to the theater and another that called out the protocol-driven military for its inattention to headstone details of her mother and grandmother at the Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC.

In thanking speakers, sponsors and committee members at the end of the day, Chick Morgan echoed what was in the hearts of everyone in the room, “This was truly an amazing day of community in the true sense of that word – an honoring of our common humanity. We at WVACA are so proud to bring such cultural richness to our Valley and want to express our deepest gratitude to everyone involved.” For more information about the arts in Wimberley, visit www.wimberleyarts.org.