FARMINGTON — Myrna Vallette wanted to learn to pass on some stories from her life to her children in an entertaining way that would keep their interest.
Such as when she was in her early 20s, living in Arizona, and became lost in the desert all alone.
“It was dark,” she said. “There were no houses for many, many miles around. I had to get myself out of this predicament.
“I listened to the sounds. I knew to stay away from cactus and to watch where I put my feet because of snakes. I used the skills my father taught me to survive in the desert. That’s what I wanted to convey to my children. Don’t panic, be aware of your surroundings. This helped me keep my cool and rescue myself,” she said.
Learning to tell the tale called for vivid descriptions and colorful language, similar to a good book or short story.
Vallette, and others, learned much about the art of storytelling from Phyllis Blackstone, a professor of early childhood education and literacy at the University of Maine at Farmington during a course sponsored by the Gold Leaf Institute.
“It may seem like a story is going in circles, but it all comes back to the main point,” Vallette said.
Blackstone said she became a storyteller when she was a first-grade teacher.
“When kids were antsy, I’d say, ‘Once upon a time …’. In 15 years of classroom teaching, storytelling became my preferred teaching tool,” she said.
Blackstone and others have organized the first annual Western Maine Storytelling Festival set for the weekend of Aug. 5 and 6 at various venues in Famington.
As a teaching tool and as a form of conveying information, Blackstone believes our brains are wired for stories.
“As we’ve evolved, we had stories through the generations,” she said. “Everyone has stories, but they must be delivered in an organized way; sentences must be completed, a sequence must be followed.”
Nationally known storytellers Jackson Gillman and Michael Parent are expected to participate in the weekend festival. Gaylon “Jeep” Wilcox of Rangeley is also a headliner. Local storytellers will provide some of their stories, as well.
Parent, who is originally from Lewiston and now lives in Portland, is a former teacher. He has found that enthusiasm is important in the classroom and with storytelling.
A decent plot and characters he cares about, along with the right kind of details, make for a successful story, he said. And, providing details for a sense of place that make the listener feel that place, is important to any story.
“The only reliable barometer I have is if I enjoy a story and it’s involving, gripping, funny and grabs me in some way, it’s likely to grab other people,” he said.
Parent said even people with short attention spans will listen to a story.
Being face to face with listeners, even 500 of them, provides a source of communication that has been changed by the onslaught of technology.
Gillman, who lives on Mount Desert Island, said that among the elements of a good story is being able to invoke images in other people’s minds and to engage them in the tale.
An engaging storyteller must “give them enough to appeal to their interests and enough of a scenario and plot line to create their own movie in their heads,” he said. “Regardless of how jaded people may think children are, you can’t kill basic human interest and appeal if the right story is told at the right time.”
Very few people hear live people, he said. Even the telephone is becoming displaced by email and other Internet-based forms of communication.
But storytelling has recently come back in vogue.
“If you live long enough, it’s in and out of style,” Blackstone said.
She believes that although current technology is complex, people are no better at communicating.
“Something is missing — relationships,” she said. “Yes, we’re communicating to a point, but are we relating?”
Storytelling conveys folk tales from many cultures, gives examples of wisdom and truth, and provides a means for passing along family and personal stories to children, she said.
The festival will take place in various venues, including the University of Maine at Farmington Amphitheater, Meetinghouse Park and the Farmington Public Library. The event is partly funded by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine Arts Commission, Farmington Public Library Director Melanie Coombs said.
The state’s two other storytelling guilds, the Bar Harbor Loons and the Portland Maine Organization of Storytelling Enthusiasts (MOOSE) are also expected to take part in the festival, Blackstone said.
For a schedule of events, go to: http://www.wmsfestival.org/Schedule_of_Events.html.
How ’bout them apples
By Michael Parent
Special to the Sun Journal
A man traveling through the Maine countryside stopped at a small fruit stand and bought some apples.
When he commented that they were awfully small, the farmer replied, “A-yuh.”
The man took a bite of one of the apples and exclaimed, “Not at all flavorful, either. That’s the worst apple I’ve ever tasted!”
“A-yuh,” said the farmer. “Lucky they’re small, ain’t it?”
Ice-out
By Jackson Gillman
Special to the Sun Journal
As lovely as it can be to live lakeside in Maine, there are acoustical drawbacks, no thanks to the combustion engine. If it’s not bad enough to be bombarded by powerboats of all sizes, decibels
and yahoos throughout the summer and shoulder seasons, once the ice is thick enough, the snow machines destroy any semblance of winter peace.
A notable exception to this auditory pollution is the otherwise dreary mud season. That’s the lovely window of quiet when snow machines can’t be supported and the boaters dare not navigate the ice floes.
It is the first day of “ice out.” From our lakeview window, we have been watching the remaining islands of ice shrink and drift toward our shore. I have come down with my daughter on my shoulders to enjoy this blessedly peaceful time of year.
The water is utter calm. All along the shore, the ice has been reduced to a perimeter of what resembles Slush Puppies, but with no artificial coloring, just the rainbow reflections of the sun shining through the floating crystals.
I love that my daughter instinctually gets quiet at times like this, taking in all the sights, and the bird sounds delightfully highlighted by the eerie wails of the freshly arrived loons. Ah, just like Maine’s logo: “The way life should be.”
So, imagine my dismay on the very day of ice-out, to have the peace shattered by the whine of the first motorboat plying the newly opened waters. Damn those infernal machines. Such a tranquil moment ruined.
Can’t we have this day without the roar of an engine? The boat goes by but takes any sense of serenity with it. The calm of the water is now broken by its rippling wake. But what’s this?! Ice crackles as each wake reaches the slush.
It is a lovely delicate tinkling that moves along in a wavelike rhythm — a chorus line of Tinkerbells is running along the shore playing little glockenspiels with their fairy wands. My daughter zeroes in on the crystalline chimes as well and smiles with me as we share a peak moment.
Just as a snowmobile can sometimes create the perfect cross-country skiing conditions, the boat that I was cursing a moment ago has brought a silver lining.
If we remain patient and receptive, even at the most unlikely times, we can let ourselves revel in the magic that comes chiming in.
The first Western Maine Storytelling Festival will be held in Farmington on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 5 and 6. The festival will feature some of the region’s best artists. For more information, including venue locations and how to buy tickets, go to http://www.wmsfestival.org or email info@wmsfestival.org
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