On Oct. 1, storytelling
favorites Jeff Hamilton, Ed “Moose” Duke, and
Randy Rayfield will return for the 2011 Uwharrie
Storytelling Festival. This year’s event will be
at Central United Methodist Church, 172 N.
Second St., Albemarle. Storytelling will begin
at 1 p.m. and continue until around 7 p.m. Food
and beverages may be purchased beginning at noon
and continuing throughout the event.
See www.uwharriestorytelling.com for complete
information about the Uwharrie Storytelling
Festival.
Jeff Hamilton
Jeff Hamilton, will be remembered from last
year’s storytelling festival for his version of
Cinderella (Rindercella) about the girl who
“slopped her dripper” (dropped her slipper).
Another of Jeff’s favorite stories is The Three
Little Pigs (Pee Little Thrigs). Hamilton loves
to tell stories in “Spoonerism” form when the
first letters of words in some phrases are
intentionally switched for comic effect.
“I particularly like spoonerisms because they
are so entertaining and they bring back memories
of sitting in front of the TV with my parents
watching Archie Campbell on ‘Hee Haw,’ ” he
said.
A few years ago, Hamilton took a storytelling
class with Sheila Kay Adams, the featured
storyteller for this year’s Uwharrie
Storytelling event.
“The most important thing I learned was how
critical it is to capture your family stories,”
he said.
“Fortunately, my mom wrote down some of her
stories before she died. Those stories are
priceless, and now they live on with her
grandchildren. If we don’t capture the stories
of our parents and grandparents, then when they
are gone, the stories are gone as well. Those
stories are valuable and can be saved by simply
using a digital voice recorder.”
Hamilton has always been fascinated with
stories. So much so that he majored in English
in college.
“When I was preparing for my dissertation in
graduate school, I was immediately drawn to
narrative research which focuses on research
subjects and the stories they tell,” he said.
During his 25 years as a teacher and
administrator Hamilton has found that, “You can
learn so much about a person’s perspective and
interpretation of life events through the
stories they tell.”
He is vice president of instruction at
Montgomery Community College in Troy.
In addition to telling stories, Hamilton likes
to be in stories, which is why he enjoys
performing with the Uwharrie Players.
“It’s an opportunity to be someone else for a
little while.”
He has portrayed Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey,” and
Boolie in “Driving Miss Daisy,” as well as Ray
Bud in “Dearly Departed.”
“I’ve enjoyed all of these roles, mainly because
it challenged me to get in the head of another
character and try to imagine what made them
tick,” he said.
Ed Duke
As a member of the Uwharrie Storytelling
committee, Pat Bramlett recalls receiving a
phone call last fall around mid-night as plans
were being made for the first Uwharrie
Storytelling event. The call was from Ed “Moose”
Duke, a storyteller from Moore County. When Pat
hung up her husband Chris wanted to know who in
the world she was having so much fun talking
with at midnight. Pat proceeded to tell him she
had been listening to a man tell stories about
an opossum named Dude who came to live with a
guy named Ed “Moose” Duke.
It turns out that Duke had heard about the
Uwharrie Storytelling Festival and wanted to
participate. Duke and his stories about his
opossum, Dude, and other stories were so popular
that Ed Duke has been invited back as a
storyteller for the 2011 Uwharrie Storytelling
Festival.
Duke will lead off this year’s storytelling
event starting at 1 p.m. He has performed his
storytelling magic at events throughout North
and South Carolina and also in Tennessee. Ed has
been called a professional liar, storyteller,
and humorist. For his adult audiences he
specializes in stories of the mills and hills of
the Carolina Piedmont.
“My stories are collected by living and they are
told from the heart,” he said.
From 2:30-4 p.m. he will be one of several
storytellers who will perform during the
concurrent “Children’s Tales” segment of the
Uwharrie Storytelling Festival. Duke will be
doing what he loves best, telling stories to
children and young people about his opossum Dude
and an interesting collection of other animal
friends that have been part of his family.
Duke loves to watch the children as they enjoy
hearing about adventures he has shared with his
animal friends. According to Ed, “a laugh lasts
a few seconds, but a good memory may last
forever.”
Randy Rayfield
A police officer, director of a county emergency
service, head of a 911 EMS services program, and
a corporate trainer – Randy Rayfield has been
all of these. As a corporate trainer, he used
“war stories” to illustrate his teaching points
and to make the training more interesting. Now
Rayfield is a storyteller, writer, and catfish
cook whose greatest pleasures are storytelling
and napping in a hammock.
Rayfield appeared during the 2010 Uwharrie
Storytelling Festival and will be on stage again
during this year’s event. He is a member of the
NC Storytelling Guild, the SC Storytelling
Network and The National Storytelling Network.
He is a participant in the Rocky River
Storytelling Guild, the Story Spinners of
Laurinburg, Storytellers Guild of Charlotte, and
the Clemson Area Storytelling Guild.
“I have been telling stories all my life even
after being told not to by my momma,” he said.
When asked how he would describe himself,
Rayfield said, “I am a self-proclaimed
intellectual and philosopher — a perceptive
thinker who synthesizes ideas from across
disciplines to formulate views with valid
backgrounds and unique perspectives. I am also a
catfish cook and writer who is just waiting to
be discovered as the 21st century Mark Twain.”
His stories are a mix of personal experiences
and recollections, along with observations of
everyday things and slight exaggerations.
Rayfield claims to be the teller of Tall Tales
and Short Truths.
Three men, three different styles, their stories
will be as varied and fascinating as the men who
tell them. One thing they all have in common,
their love of storytelling.
