George West Story Fest
Saturday, November 5, 2005

On Friday, I left for George West, Texas, which is about an hour north of Corpus Christi. Mapquest said it was a 4 hour drive but I made it in 3 hours and 15 minutes. I was a featured storyteller at the George West Story Fest, along with Tim Tingle and Tom McDermott, both fine storytellers and friends of mine.

Friday night, I went to a Chuck Wagon dinner. It was my first! I didn't know that the dinner was being held at the fairgrounds in the area where they show animals. There was a dirt floor. I was dressed like a city girl with a skirt and open toe sandals. Everyone else was wearing cowboy boots and closed-toe shoes. I kept having to shake the dirt and gravel from my sandals. It was pretty comical.

The beef was cooked in kettles over hot coals. It was authentic chuck wagon food. There was a silent auction and a live auction. It was fascinating to listen to the auctioneer. He rattled off so fast I could barely keep up with him. After meeting and greeting and seeing many of my fellow storyteller friends (DeeCee Cornish, Mel Davenport, Mary Grace Ketner, and Donna Ingham), I decided to get back to my hotel for rehearsal and rest.

On Saturday morning, I checked in at the festival. There was a hospitality room set up for us with drinks and food. My first set at 11:00 a.m. was at the First National Bank tent. I did a set called "Teacher's Gifts" and told how "How Anansi Shared Wisdom with the World" and my story called "The Teacher's Gift," a personal story of my relationship with my 7th grade English teacher and how much she impacted my life. It was a touching story and many members of the audience were wiping tears away.

I then had a lunch break and decided to eat festival food: roasted corn and barbecued beef on a bun. After lunch, I had a 1:00 p.m. set at the storytelling theater (the chapel of a funeral home). Since I was in a chapel, I decided to do my set called "Matrimonial Bliss." I told the true story of my wedding, which was a hilarious disaster. Then I told "The Magic Pot," a tale from China about how a pot changes a married couple.

Right after, I was scheduled to tell at the TCA tent at 2:00 p.m. and there, I shared my "Jambalaya" set. I told "The Cajun Cornbread Boy," "Brer Rabbit and the Peanut Patch," and "The Fifolet," a spooky story about a ghostly spirit that haunts the bayou.

During the course of the day, I found out that I made many new fans. It was wonderful to hear how the stories I told impacted my audience. There were several people that began following me from stage to stage to listen to me tell. It felt wonderful. Kids were following me around and asking for my autograph. It was so sweet. One woman told me, "We were going to leave at 6:00 o'clock tonight but after hearing you, we decided to stay another night so we could hear you tell ghost stories."

I had a big break in the afternoon and decided to go shopping (using all my travel money!). I bought Eliana and Soleil some new purses and jewelry. I also bought my mom and I bath and body products from a company called "You." Their scents and products were so fantastic that I bought their entire line and made friends with the ladies who started the company. The products are all homemade with natural ingredients. I sent many people to their booth.

At 6:30 p.m., I was in an olio (where storytellers perform back-to-back and are given an allotted amount of time) with Tom McDermott and Tim Tingle. I told "Mrs. Poule and Mr. Roach" with a lot of audience participation. There were tons of kids in the audience. The crowd loved the story and we had a lot of fun together.

At 8:30 p.m., it was time for ghost stories. I was number 3 in the line-up (Tom McDermott, Tim Tingle, me, Dee Cee Cornish, Mark Babineau, and Donna Ingham - Doc Moore was the emcee). I had kids who wanted to sit next to me - they were all around me. I made lots of little friends. When it was my turn to tell, I told "The Heebeegeebee Man," a jump tale with fun audience participation. It was great to hear the other tellers and I feel humbled that I am such good company.

It was a wonderful festival and I am so glad I was invited to tell there (Thank You and Big Hugs to Myra Davis and Becky Allen). George West is called "The Storytelling Capital of Texas." The festival is wonderfully organized and fully supported by the community. It seemed that everyone in the town and surrounding towns was at the George West Story Fest.

My night ended with dinner at Dairy Queen with Dee Cee who regaled me with the story of how he met George W. Bush as a child (his aunt was a maid at GWB's parents' house).

I loved being a George West and hope to be invited back one day.

Until next time...

Warmly,
Dianne