Storytellers have message at library's Tellebration

It was a packed house at the Tellebration storytelling event Saturday at Comma Coffee. Rosey-cheeked folks hovered over steaming cups, absorbed in the stories told by several tellers.

Lynette LaFontaine told the story of a poor Japanese sailmaker and his wife Yukiko, who could weave the wind into her magic sails. Betty Hollman told the story of a girl who gave so many excuses she turned into a goose.

"Everyone had a different story and everyone had a different way of telling their story," said Danita Bayer, 10. "They should definitely do this again."

She came with her mom, Darla, dad, Chris and friend, Stephanie Kulla.

Seven storytellers took their turn on the stage, transporting the rapt audience to an old English graveyard at dusk, a green marsh full of white cranes, a marketplace in Burma where a fly lapped up spilled honey and to Carson City's own C Hill, where an old miner dug holes all day.

The event was organized by Cory King, youth services librarian at the Carson City Library. The Tellebration is an international event started in 1988 by the Connecticut Storytelling Center. King read a proclamation which said the Tellebration now happens "from Miami to Mumbai, Perth to Peoria, Texas to Thailand."

"I love the art of story telling," he said. "It's a way to pass on not just a good story and a good plot, but a message as well. With movies and television I think some of those things can be lost."

King, who went to librarian school in Indiana, had attended other Tellebrations before organizing this one.

"I was really impressed by (the Tellebration's) ability to reach out to adult audiences as well as kids," he said. "When I came to Carson City I didn't find much storytelling and I figured this would be a great way to get some going."

Although Lynette LaFontaine of Silver Springs told her story masterfully, taking the Comma Coffee crowd to feudal, coastal Japan, she called herself "strictly an amateur."

A registered nurse and wellness educator during the week, Lynette LaFontaine said she uses her storytelling skills at work.

"I incorporate a lot of stories into my teaching because it helps convey a lot of ideas and information."

King agreed that story telling is a timeless, proven means of communicating.

"Before the written tradition we had the oral tradition," he said.

King is taking a holiday break from his busy events schedule. He expects to organize another poetry night for teens around the end of December.

For more information about the Tellebration, go online to http://www.tellabration.org/.