THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9511290112
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
``Teach us to choose our stories so wisely and to tell them so well that the story will be remembered long after the storyteller is forgotten.''
- National Story League Collect
The Norfolk Story League will be giving a Christmas gift to South Hampton Roads that's as old as the holiday itself.
Maybe even older.
The 42-year-old organization dedicated to the art of storytelling will hold holiday story sessions this weekend in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth, said William Blake, the group's president, who is a Chesapeake resident and teaches English in a Portsmouth public school.
Blake said the idea was the brainchild of five-year member Jacqui Birt of Virginia Beach.
Birt not only came up with the idea but was instrumental in organizing the sessions in the three South Hampton Roads cities.
``I thought this would be a good idea, and since it was my idea I decided to go out and arrange it,'' Birt said. ``We really love telling stories and perpetuating the art. And what better time to tell stories than during the Christmas season?''
Before computers, videos, television, radio, books, newspapers and even the written word, storytelling was the way people all over the world found entertainment, wisdom, learning, laws, history and culture, Blake said.
``That's how learning and culture spread throughout the world,'' he added. ``And this country has a rich storytelling tradition, too. Let's face it, everybody likes a good story told well. Besides, educational research shows that storytelling has direct links to reading, writing and an increased motivation to explore the spoken and written word.''
``The storyteller was one of the most revered people in a village,'' Birt added. ``The oral tradition is rich and varied.''
That rich and varied tradition will enlighten this holiday season when groups of three storytellers from the Story League visit churches in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Portsmouth along with a nursing home at the Beach.
``This is a good way for us to give back to the community,'' Birt said. ``It should put people into the mood for the season. This weekend is the first Sunday in Advent, and that's a perfect time.''
``Consider this as our Christmas present to the area,'' Blake added.
Birt and Blake said the stories told this weekend will run the gamut from tradition and secular to religious and sacred, all with a Christmas theme. The sessions at each church will be free and open to anyone who has a hankering to get into the holiday spirit.
Each of the sessions will see the participation of three tellers who will either offer one 15-minute story or two brief ones.
Blake said the tellers at each site will be experienced longtime members who all know their way around a yarn, tale, fable, parable or moral lesson.
Even though the organization is called the Norfolk Story League, a session will not take place in that city this year.
``We were running out of tellers,'' Birt said. ``There are many other events taking place over the area and that has taken many of our other members away.''
But the league will participate at a Norfolk Catholic school children's party and will offer a storytelling workshop open to the public on March 23 to take place at the Kirn Memorial Library in Norfolk.
The Norfolk League was formed on July 23, 1953. Its charter president was Mary West Crocker. Its four remaining charter members are Charlotte Bolton, Florian Harrington, Cameron Keene and Virginia Williams.
The National Story League, of which the Norfolk branch is an affiliate, began in 1903 in Knoxville. It was started by teachers who gathered at the Tennessee city for a convention.
``These teachers just wanted to perpetuate the oral traditions,'' Blake said.
Currently the Norfolk Story League has more than 40 members, who hail from all of South Hampton Roads' cities. It meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at Pruden Lounge on the Virginia Wesleyan College campus.
Blake said the league welcomes any and all people interested in spinning yarns.
``There's room for growth in our organizations,'' he said. ``We're not just open to little old ladies. We have lots of male members and encourage anyone, no matter what age to join us.''
Blake said just because the group is called the Norfolk Story League doesn't mean it is exclusive to Norfolk. It travels all over the area, offering stories to church groups, nursing homes, Scout groups, civic leagues, schools, museums, libraries and any other group or place wishing to hear stories told well.
The group has appeared at the Air and Space Museum in Hampton, the Virginia Marine Science Museum, the Hunter House and the Roper Home.
One of the best things about the league, Blake said, everything it does is free.
``We never charge for our services,'' Blake said. ``We do it because we love to tell stories.'' MEMO: More information on the Norfolk Story League and the weekend events is
available by calling 497-7941 or 484-5959. Requests for a storyteller to
appear at a club or function can be made by calling 423-4326.
ILLUSTRATION: AT A GLANCE
[For a copy of the schedule, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB