Many stories to be told at Uwharrie festival

by Erica Benjamin

The Uwharrie Storytelling Festival will be from 1-7 p.m. Oct. 1 in the fellowship center at Central United Methodist Church, 172 N. Second St., Albemarle. Admission is $5 per person. Storytellers include:

Sheila Kay Adams

The 1998 North Carolina Folklore Society’s Brown-Hudson Award winner, Sheila Kay Adams, will be the featured storyteller at this year’s Uwharrie Storytelling Festival.
Adams is also the recipient of the Lee Smith award for her continuing positive portrayal of Appalachian culture and received the 2009 Ragan-Rubin Award for excellence in literature.
Adams is known for her award-winning accomplishments on the five-string banjo using the drop-thumb style, the guitar and as a songwriter and ballad singer.
Adams’ written works, rich in Appalachian historical fiction, include “Come Go Home with Me” and “My Old True Love.”
Adams’ film credits include serving as a consultant and extra in “Last of the Mohicans” and as a singing and dialect coach in “Songcatcher.”
Prior to her career as an internationally-known musician, storyteller and author, Adams was a school teacher in Madison County for 17 years.
Susan Sharples, who had previously attended workshops by Adams, decided to contact her via the Internet.
“I took a chance and went to her Facebook and left a message,” Sharples said, adding that she was pleasantly surprised when Adams replied and agreed to participate in the festival even though she hadn’t been involved in the storytelling scene for a while.
“It was just a fluke. We are so fortunate,” Sharples said.
The addition of Adams to the presenter lineup has drawn interest from residents in surrounding counties.
“Putting Sheila Kay’s name out there has really made a difference,” Sharples said.
In addition to telling tales at the festival, Adams will conduct two workshops for the public — one on storytelling and the other on playing the banjo.
The storytelling workshop will be offered from 10 a.m.-noon, followed by the banjo workshop from 1-2:30 p.m. The banjo workshop will be a combination of demonstration and hands-on experience.
The cost for the storytelling workshop is $20 to be paid at time of pre-registration and the banjo workshop is $15, also paid at time of pre-registration.
 

Georgette Edgerton
 

Like many children, Georgette Edgerton of Badin grew up listening to stories.
“My mom was a storyteller. My aunt is a storyteller,” Edgerton said.
Her mother, Edgerton said, told ghost stories.
One particular story told by her mother, the tale of the phantom hitchhiker, served as a cautionary tale.
“We didn’t go to a lot of places after hearing that story,” Edgerton said.
As she got older and began to pass the tales on to her nieces, Edgerton realized she had a knack for telling stories.
“I had their undivided attention,” Edgerton said.
Edgerton became familiar with books and albums by noted storyteller Jackie Torrence of Granite Quarry. Torrence, Edgerton said, helped pique her interest in telling tales.
Tales, Edgerton found out, could also be used as a teaching tool.
Edgerton has been teaching for 20 years and is currently a science teacher at Stanly Academy. She frequently uses one of Aesop’s fables in her graphing lessons.
“These high school kids actually listen to the Tortoise and the Hare,”Edgerton said, adding that she has them graph the events in the story.
In addition to telling stories at family events and in the classroom, Edgerton also reads to children at the library and tells biblical stories at local churches.
Some of her favorite tales are the stories of Br’er Possum and Br’er Snake by Torrence and the biblical stories of Ruth and Naomi and the story of Joseph. Each, Edgerton said, has its own moral.
Br’er Possum and Br’er Snake speaks of not looking for trouble, Ruth and Naomi deals with the empowerment of women and the story of Joseph encourages people to not give up on their dreams, Edgerton said.
Among her favorite writers are James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes.
“I read anything inspirational,” Edgerton said, adding that she enjoys all types of genres including mysteries, poems, and both fiction and non-fiction works.
“I’m a fanatic reader. That’s my hobby,” Edgerton said.
Edgerton, who has three daughters, says although her children are now grown with kids of their own, they have never outgrown hearing her tell a good story.
“My children will periodically call me and say, ‘Mom, just tell me a story,” Edgerton said.
Edgerton will make her return to the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival this year and will bring with her a selection of tales from her favorite authors.
“I’m going to tell some of Nelson Mandela’s favorites, some from Jackie Torrence and African folktales,” Edgerton said.
Edgerton, 55, lives in Badin with her husband, Ervin Edgerton. They have three daughters and three granddaughters.
 

Melanie Holles

Some stories have been passed down families through generations — others are more recent. Whether written down or told orally, they serve as a way to preserve family histories.
Melanie Holles regrets not growing up with any family tales.
“I feel like I’ve lost out on a lot of family history,” Holles said.
“I’ve had to ask relatives rather than have them tell me.”
Although she didn’t grow up listening to family storytellers, Holles has taken up the mantle of storytelling herself.
Holles, who is director of Stanly County Public Library, frequently reads to older individuals.
“I read to adults at the CARE Cafe and have done readings at nutrition sites throughout the county,” Holles said, adding that she has done so for 10 years.
The stories Holles likes to tell are the ones which can bring back memories to her audience — whether it’s the memory of sitting on the porch during a hot summer day or one of riding a bicycle for the first time.
“It’s wonderful what stories can do for older people. It really brings them out,” Holles said, explaining that as she tells a tale, there is frequently a back and forth dialogue between her and her listeners.
The people she reads to are the ones who suggested the selection of Fred T. Morgan stories she will present at the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival.
One in particular was recommended by the people at CARE Cafe.
“There’s one about naked turkeys. That’s all I’m going to say about it,” Holles said.
As a native of South Dakota who moved to Stanly County 12 years ago, immersing herself in local stories helped her to understand more about her new home.
“Since I'm not a native of Stanly County, hearing Fred’s stories and hearing other people’s stories helped me learn about the county,” Holles said.
The decision to incorporate the stories of the late Fred T. Morgan into the festival was an easy one, Holles said.
“We like the festival to be local. He was one of the best story collectors of local stories,” Holles said.
In addition, as a newcomer to the storytelling scene, Morgan’s tales have helped Holles make the move from one of the planners of the festival to storyteller.
“It’s an easy way for me as a beginner to tell someone else’s story,” Holles said.
“I tell stories to people but it’s more just conversation.”
Even with today’s technology, storytelling holds an important place in society, Holles said.
“It’s a good way to learn about and remember what has happened. It’s a good way to keep family connected,” Holles said, adding that it also keeps history exciting.
Holles lives in Albemarle with her husband and four cats.
 

Heather Ross Miller
 

Accomplished writer Heather Ross Miller, who was the featured speaker at last year’s Uwharrie Storytelling Festival, will once again take part in the festivities.
Last year the festival took place Oct. 30 and Miller, in keeping with the holiday theme, shared Halloween poems about the town of Badin.
“This year I will share more Badin stories, some comic, some eerie,” Miller said.
Miller comes from a prolific family of writers known in some circles as the “Writing Rosses of Stanly County.”
Her father, Fred Ross, his older brother, James, and two younger sisters, Eleanor and Jean, were all published writers with numerous books and other written works to their credit.
Some of Miller’s earliest memories of hearing stories come from that special time spent with family.
“I grew up in a storytelling family and often listened under the table at family gatherings,” Miller said.
“I heard all the best gossip there.”
Miller soon followed in her family’s footsteps and also became a writer with more than a dozen books to her credit. Miller’s works include fiction, poetry and a memoir.
Her most recent book, “Lumina: A Town of Voices,” was published in May.
“It is a collection of story-poems based on Badin, the aluminum-smelting town where I grew up,” Miller said.
Miller carried her love of writing into her professional life, having taught creative writing and literature at Pfeiffer University, The University of Arkansas and Washington and Lee University. Although she has since retired from teaching, she still teaches one literature or creative writing class per year at Pfeiffer University.
“As a teacher and a writer, I think stories are a lively part of our folk culture. They ‘tell’ us exactly who we are,” Miller said.
Miller shared the importance of preserving stories for generations to come.
“I hope to go on telling and writing stories in many different forms as long as I can.”

Susan Sharples

Susan Sharples comes from a family of oral storytellers.
Growing up she enjoyed the tales told by her family members and neighbors and eventually, she became a storyteller herself.
As an educator she would frequently incorporate stories into her lessons.
“I had used storytelling in a lot of my teaching,” Sharples said.
When she retired from the teaching profession three years ago it freed her up to actively begin pursuing her love of storytelling.
“I told my children I would be a storyteller when I retired,” Sharples said.
Sharples can frequently be seen telling stories at book clubs, the senior center and at rotary clubs.

During the month of March, which marks the birthday of Dr. Seuss, and in the fall, she reads to students at various schools around the county.
“I like to do some ghost stories in the fall,” Sharples said, adding that she also enjoys telling down home stories and local tales.
Storytelling, Sharples discovered, was her passion.
“I’ve always enjoyed it. I sort of found myself being the keeper of stories for the family,” Sharples said.
As a native of the Morrow Mountain area, Susan Sharples grew up with and became interested in the local stories.
“There’s a richness in the history of Badin,” Sharples said.
“Badin was started differently from other places. It was a very rough place in the beginning,” Sharples said, referring to when Badin was first established by the French in 1913.
Similar to the late Fred Morgan who brought interest to the tales of the Uwharries and whose stories she will share at the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival, Sharples is also working on keeping the local legends alive by putting them down in written form.
“I’m working on compiling stories from the area,” Sharples said.
Sharples, who was on the storytelling committee last year, said that despite the weather, the 2010 Uwharrie Storytelling Festival had a good turnout.
“For the first time we felt like it was really successful,” Sharples said.
One of the things they found out when doing the festival last year was that many people were under the impression that the festival was just for children.
“These are not children’s stories. They aren’t fairy tales,” Sharples said, adding that there will be a special section set aside for children’s tales.
This year, Ken and Theresa Hunsucker of Keystone Pottery have created plates stamped with a leaf, USF and the date. These plates will be given to each of the storytellers as a thank you gift.
“We felt it was something tangible and something that represents the Uwharries,” Sharples said.
“We felt pottery was something unique to this area.”
Sharples hopes that the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival will continue to grow in the years to come and eventually expand to a weekend festival.
“We’re fledgling. We’re only just starting,” Sharples said.

Matt Steed

Oral narratives always played a significant role in Native American cultures. They not only taught important lessons, but also served as instructional tools by explaining why things are the way they are and to provide amusement.
Matt Steed, a native of Greensboro now living in Albemarle, is a member of a group of Cherokee preservationists.
“Our goal is to preserve the culture as it was,” Steed said.
As a young boy living in Greensboro, Steed had many Native American friends and would frequently participate in powwows as a Fancy Dancer. Fancy Dance, which started in the 1920s, is a favorite among young people and features intricate footwork and elaborate costumes.
His identity never came into question.
“I never asked the question whether I was Indian or not,” Steed said.
It wasn’t until just before his grandfather’s passing that a family secret came to light.
“My grandfather told my mother in secret that we were Cherokee,” Steed said, explaining that his grandfather was the son of a Cherokee man and a white woman.
The revelation led Steed to dig further into his family’s history and his extensive research of Native American history.
“It’s like my hobby,” Steed said.
Steed has continued to be involved in the Native American community through powwows and other social gatherings, as well as through his business, Seven Gables in Albemarle.
One section of his shop is devoted to furniture restoration while the other half is filled with his Native American style art. In addition to dream catchers, jewelry and dance regalia, Steed also sells hand-crafted flutes. Flute-making and playing is a hobby he picked up after purchasing his first flute on the Navajo reservation.
Steed incorporates his love of flute music with his storytelling.
As part of the Uwharrie Storytelling Festival, Steed will tell tales from his Native American heritage to young and old alike.
“My target audience is pretty much everybody,” Steed said.
“In a lot of the stories there’s a literal translation and a non-literal translation. You have to take the story as a whole.”
Steed likes to give presentations about powwows and Cherokee tribal culture to students. He believes that children need more exposure to Native American culture other than what they see in movies and popular culture.
“My goal is to dispel myths about Indian culture in general,” Steed said.
“We’ve held onto the image so long of natives being stupid, of being renegades with no structure,” Steed said.
“That’s the complete opposite. That’s what I try to convey.”
Steed believes that storytelling still has an important place in today’s society.
“I enjoy technology but I don’t like the fact that it’s taken over. It’s consuming our lives when we should be focused on other matters. It steers us away from things which are meaningful,” Steed said.
“Storytelling is a way of getting back to asking questions about who we are.”
 

STANLY NEWS AND PRESS - Sunday, September 25, 2011