A Church Built For Parades

Memorial Day weekend is here! I dont know how we finally escaped the clutches of winter but it was not so very long ago. I have the pool nearly ready, getting the right balance of chemistry in the water all that remains to bring about peels of laughter when the kids jump in. Haying season is in full swing and I know my son will be very happy to cool off after a few hours stacking hay in the broiling barn loft.

I will be giving the invocation and benediction at this years Memorial Day Parade. The time I spent writing those pieces gave me a chance to reflect on the sacrifices made to secure all the joys and freedoms we share. How lucky we are to live here and now in this quiet place! It is my position as co-chair of the 300 th anniversary of my church that led me to be asked about the prayers at the Memorial Service. Our church is central to the founding of the town as a seperate entity. In 1710 those who lived in the village here were distraught by the dangers of crossing a sometimes wild river to get to church. The decision was made based on safety and distance to petition for a seperate town and church. Funds, a pastor, a church building and a parsonage all had to be arranged. In 1710 those 7 founding fathers pulled all the pieces together to begin a new fellowship here at Mansfield Center ( also called Ponde Place in that time) How wise they were to secure the safety of the people and settle in this quiet Eastern Connecticut hill country to make a place where families can live and prosper for so many years.

Part of that 300 th celebration is community outreach from our church. We brainstormed many different ways to let the community that has grown out wide beyond our village know that we are still here and serving. My idea was the 3 local parades. Memorial Day, July 4th Boom Box Parade ( that will take a whole seperate blog then) and Festival on the Green Parade. Those parades will move along by such a huge portion of the people who live in the area, so I knew a float would be a great way to reach out to them. Now to make our church recognized among the many that now dot the countryside here. It is an architechtural beauty and of such classic design as Norman Rockwell would paint. From those thoughts came the idea of a mini church to be built , paraded through town on three occasions, then put on the lawn of church for Heritage Sunday and finally auctioned off in the fall as a fundraiser! An all call was put out for recycled materials trying to make the project as "Green" as possible. We got some and bought more to make sure the base was very strong and solid since it would be shifted about so many times. Construction has moved slow. Our master carpenter Dave Little drew plans breaking the churches dimensions down to a manageable size and laying out the directives for builders. On several evenings we have gathered and begun the construction. Church members return today and tommorow for it is now "CRUNCH TIME" the parade 2 days away. We have more done than in these photos but a way to go. Today we must raise the roof! The steeple to follow and then paint. If the weather doesnt cooperate we will have to pull it into our barn for painting.

I am sure founding fathers faced far great tasks than to get to the parade on time! I am just amazed how quick the date is upon us and how quick we fell behind in the work on the mini church. I hope the membership is ready to pull out all the stops and get the church built on time. If all goes well we will bask in the glow of success on Monday afternoon and archive pictures of a wonderful Memorial Day at First Church of Christ Congregational Mansfield Center, Ct.

Lanes Stadium

The seats are filled and the fans are spirited as the double header settles in to game two. Having gone extra innings to break a tie it will be interesting to see who has the staying power as the two teams return to the field of story with their lineup.

First up to bat and able to deliver a homerun is Karen Chace, http://www.storybug.net/ she came up from the New Bedford Farm Team at the ArtWorks Gallery. Karen has been known to run amazing open mics, The Story Cafe, at the ArtWorks Gallery. http://www.artworksforyou.org/ Karen takes her stance and swings....... YES! On June 26, 2010 the Story Cafe features Naked hearts with Eshu Bumpus and Motoko Dworkin! http://www.motoko.folktales.net/ , http://www.eshu.folktales.net/ Now thats a home run ! Now there is a winning combination. So if you havent been to see one of these Story Cafe nights, what are you waiting for? The drive is pleasant, with a side trip through the maze they call Providence and soon enough back on track...recalculating... you arrive with plenty of time to meander the streets that were once home to an incredible whaling industry. Venture out early and stop by the Whaling museum or grab a bit of seafood!

Now back at the game the big screen flashing images of storytellers I see several who are planning to venture to the big league in L.A., a few warming up in the buill pen for the A-MAZE-ING Story Slam Sept 4 http://www.a-maze-ingstoryslam.ning.com/ and a rookie building a campfire and inviting people into the backyard. This team Storyteller has such diversity and depth they are sure to show the staying power to take a double header and make it work their way.

Now the rookie comes to the plate. Look what she is delivering ; Nightsongs; a Open mic on Thursday May 27, 2010 at 7 p.m. Held at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 138 Snake Hill Rd in Coventry Ct. here is a likely triple play. There will be good food, good music and Storytelling with Carolyn Stearns as this months featured performer of the evening! www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com The evening is sponsored by Song-A-Day Music Center in Coventry. http://www.songadaymusic.com/ Sign up for this event starts at 6:30 and the toe tapping music at 7. Just $4.00 gets you a seat and all you can hear! That money will be put to good work by the Knights group!

Storytelling a Team Sport

Red Sox or Yankees? Uconn or U. Tenn? Does it matter? Mass Mouth ( http://www.massmouth.ning.com/ ) or the Moth ( http://www.themoth.org/ ) no not in storytelling or really in sports. We can choose who we follow and root for, we just need to pick our game and be enthused. Put on your Storyteller t-shirt and become a fan of original entertainment. Let your friends know who you follow. Check out their webpages and make storytelling a prominent place in your life. Who's on your homepage? do storytellers rank their own column in your " Favorites", are we complaining that no one cares or listens but not doing our piece about cheering on the team?

Team Storyteller will be having lots of events through the rest of the year and I plan to support the whole team by promoting these venues and the people who bring their stories to homeplate batting for a homerun!

Here is one for the team and it looks like its going over the wall.....SPEAK UP! Spoken Word Open MikeEvery Wednesday 7 PM. Tatiana's Restaurant70 Market StreetLynn, MA 01901781-477-0700http://www.tatianasrestaurant.net%c2%a0/ ciao,Tony Toledo, SPEAK UP! hostJim's Big Ego Fan Club President, MA Division.PO Box 302Beverly MA 01915ToledoGoat@aol.com978-921-GOAT(4628)http://www.tonytoledo.com/

Next up at bat is Andrea Lovett and she swings and....The All Star Slam - Monday MAY 24th - 6:30 to 8:00PM in the Lecture Hall in the beautiful new Cambridge Public Library (Main Branch),cosponsored by StoryStream, Cambridge, a concert featuring 12 storytellers, each of whom will tell a 5-minute personal story; one of these tellers will win the chance to be the massmouth representative at the National Story Slam!!!
Windy City National Story Slam in Chicago - JUNE 13th, 2010, Sunday afternoon at Printers Row
For more information, check out - http://www.windycitystoryslam.com/wordpress/

With hitting power like that we can expect great things from Team Storytell in 2010 I'll be saving seats for a world series!

Song-A-Day

It is a very good thing I am not limited to a song a day for without music I wouldnt be happy. I sing in the barn and in the car ,while doing things around the house and yard, pretty near anywhere. I think that is why I was first drawn to the Song-A-Day Music Center in Coventry, Ct. http://www.http//songadaymusic.com My weekely outlet for my music is our Church choir at First Church of Christ in Mansfield Center, http://www.http//pages.cthome.net/FCCMansfield It doesn't matter to me what genre of music I'm singing, I like it all.

Song-A-Day Music Center sponsors an Open Mic once a month called Nightsongs. It is held at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 138 Snake Hil Rd. Coventry. This month it wil lbe held on May 27 a Thursday eve at 7 p.m. I am lucky enough to be the featured performer so I will be taking my stories and a little music to the event. If you can come out the donations collected at the door go to service work sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Group. Bring your instruments and sign in to be part of the lineup or where your listening shoes and come for the toe tapping music that will be offered up before and after my storytelling.

A-MAZE-ING Story Slam

Yesterday I drove the winding Boston Turnpike ( Rte 44) which boasts many improvements since George Washington traveled it. Finally turning off to the northeast I headed in the direction of Thompson , Ct. www.thompsonct.org I came up to the green now shaded by the ginat trees and went along one side past the library and congregational church so common on a New England Green. Taking a final right onto Quaddick Rd. I passed stately colonials and soon the land opened into the rolling meadows of a Connecticut farm. Fort Hill Farms to be exact and the Quintessential Gardens. www.forthillfarms.com I hadn't made the drive since last fall and was glad to see the tapestry of green fields and trees and owner Krisitn Orr just getting out of her car there to meet with me.

The meeting was a first planning session for The A-MAZE-ING Story Slam to be held Sept.4, 2010 at 1 p.m. We just knew this had to be a personal meeting to transfer our enthusiasm for the project into an actual plan of action and bring together my world of storytelling, www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com and Kristin's world of the annual Corn Maze. Actually our worlds overlap in that I come from a farm family as well www.mountaindairy.com and we have that understanding of farming, real food, all forms of agriculture and how many in the world are losing touch with these essential roots.

We spend a lot of time discussing logisitics and bounce from topic to topic with our ideas and energy building. Signs, internet, web links, prizes, who we know, how to get things done. The maze itself, and rain logisitcs and we have answers for everything! There is a wonderful greenhouse that will easily seat all who may come if the weather decides not to cooperate. There is the maze itself which won't be seeded until July 10 and my plan to be there to video tape that so all on Ning and Facebook etc can share in the excitement of the planting. ( it goes in late and stays up until November, that way it doesnt dry out) Come fall the maze will become feed for the cows of Fort Hill Farms www.thefarmerscow.com so the corn has purpose beyond family fun.

Next we walk the gardens, Quintessential Gardens tended with loving care by Kristin. There are the peace gardens, lavendar labyrinth, walled gardens, small and large gardens, bursts of spring color and shady retreats for a summer day. My camera catches many images to store for use in forth coming posts and sites.

Inspired by MassMouth www.massmouth.ning.com and in such easy driving distance of Boston, Providence and New London, Thompson is the perfect location to move the energy of Ct. Storytelling to the forefront while supporting Ct. Agriculture.

Save the date of Sept. 4, 2010 the Saturday of Labor Day weekend to come to Thompson for the A-MAZE-ING Story Slam. Better yet follow the ning,

( A-MAZE-INGstoryslam.ning.com ) facebook and or blog pages to learn about all the great things you can do in the Quiet Corner of Connecticut to make your Labor Day vacation perfect. There is a little something for everyone in the Quiet Corner. This is just like the seeds of the corn, lots yet to be revealed.

note photos from the 2009 maze

MyLITV.com - The Island Long Riders cowboy mounted shooting club Long Islands Best Videos Politics and Local News

MyLITV.com - The Island Long Riders cowboy mounted shooting club Long Islands Best Videos Politics and Local News

Here is a great look at what I do a lot of announcing for. There is a tiny segment where you can hear me. This is a great sport filled with great people. Will be back out there May 23-24 high noon Enfield Ct at the Round Tuit Ranch!

Geneology of a Storytelling

Aetna, of Hartford, Ct., the insurance giant, has a huge auditorium at the home office. Yesterday ( Saturday May 8, 2010) I brought my Connecticut Stories to the Aetna 39 rs, their Retiree Group. The theatre lighting, railed balconies, carpeted main floor and huge stage behind me made for the perfect setting for sharing old and new tales from Connecticut. To add to it I had my own sound man taking care of me up in the booth and it was wonderful to have the use of such a nice system.

The stage, the floor & balcony seating would make an incredible venue for workshops as it was for performance. It is a real theatre right in the middle of the huge Aetna building. The main floor is flat and they say often has table seating for lunch meetings etc. Yesterday they pulled the tables and had rows of chairs in a semi circle for my performance.
I was booked by the Aetna 39rs a retirees group. Two members had seen me last year at St Isaacs an E. Hartford church. There I did a civil war performance and was booked for this meeting. I was booked to St Isaacs by someone who had seen me at The Historical Society of East Hartford, like a geneology these booking trails. I think it is important that we nurture the thought, "who is watching me today?" Somewhere in every audience is someone just thinking that they could hire me for a venue they are in charge of or pass my info onto the person in their social or professional circle who books entertainment and educational workshops. I was ready at the end to speak with a couple of people who approcahed me and asked about just that possibility. Passing along my buiness card and assuring them they could find plenty of info on my website. I wonder how far I will be able to track this geneology of performance places. I think i will keep a log of it for curiosities sake and to show me where my work comes from. Word of Mouth is still one of the best business builders out there and all it costs is the time to develope a product ( story) that listeners can grasp onto and take with them in memories.

Friends of Rockville Library ( Ct. ) Turns out these friends are friends in so many ways. We shared a interest in Ct. History when I brought my show of Connecticut Stories to their meeting at Rockville Library on May 6, 2010. Once we had taken care of where cowboys got their look and a ghost in Natchaug Forest, we moved on to the Civil War native son Edward Whitaker of Ashford and slid easily from there to the open arms of New Haven Harbor. Speaking of open arms well thats how the evening was, like old friends ready to embrace, smiling and warm and welcoming, it was a easy group to share this collection with. In the end we visited a few minutes to learn that several of us have roots in my hometown of Coventry. I left when the sky was painted like a oil painters palette of color and the shadows growing bolder under the trees and the feeling that even on this perfect summer eve it was the stories not the fine weather that made us feel so at home with the Friends of Rockville Library. www.biblio.org/rockville/