The Friends of Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site have announced that the 30th Annual Not Just for Kids Storytelling series will occur at the Erie Canal historic site.
Award winning storytellers from the region will perform tales to intrigue, legends to compel, and stories that illustrate how we are all connected as human beings. The series is open to the public and is meant for all ages. It runs on Sunday evenings at 6 pm from July 31st to August 28th outside the Schoharie Crossing Visitor Center.
Eileen Mack and Claire Nolan will begin the series on July 31st with a set of stories they call “Blessings of Trees & Earth: Stories Honoring the Natural World.” These tellers are from the Capital-Region with years of experience engaging audiences of all ages.
On August 7th, Lale Davidson will perform “Folktales and Family Tales: Quaking Bogs, Fairy Queens, and Mystery on the High Plains.” This program combines Irish fairy tales about chasing corpses through quaking bogs with true family tales of mysterious lights on the high plains in South America, taken from her realist novel, Blue Woman Burning. She’ll also tell stories from her collection, Strange Appetites, published by Red Penguin Books.
August 14th, Tim Van Egmond will present “The Eye of the Beholder,” a program of tales about epiphanies of beauty and insight. Including folktales and a personal tale, these stories have shifts in perspective like this, openings for the mind and the heart that lead to new understanding.
Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation, Perry Ground has been telling stories for more than 25 years as a way of educating people about the culture, beliefs, and history of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. Ground will be at Schoharie Crossing on August 21st with “Stories from the People of the Longhouse.” This presentation is filled with traditional Haudenosaunee legends that have been told for hundreds of years. These stories teach about the beliefs, customs, and history of the Haudenosaunee people.
Concluding the series will be The Storycrafters on August 28th. Barry Marshall, and Jeri Burns, PhD have been working together as The Storycrafters since 1991 and have been the recipients of the National Storytelling Network’s “Circle of Excellence” Award. They believe in the time-tested wisdom of traditional stories and share that wisdom with today’s audiences.
This series is free and open to the public. The Schoharie Crossing Visitor Center is located at 129 Schoharie Street in Fort Hunter. For information contact the Schoharie Crossing at (518) 829-7516 or email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov.
Photo of Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site provided.
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