Local Haunts and Creepy Costumes

It is almost here the creepiest day of the year.  After the costumed kiddies retreat to bed with  bellies full of candy. After the teens on the prowl have settled to tell of all the bravado they showed that night. Late when only the brave dare visit the streets then do the spirits of past Halloween's cruise the streets of town and the hallways of some of our scare inducing landmarks! Welcome to Halloween 2011, where will you hide?

                                        The Ghostly Tavern and Fiddlers, Coventry (CT) Historical Society
                                                   Haunted Tours Open again Friday Oct 29

                                                                                 
If you make it out of the woods stop by the fireside for Storytelling with Carolyn Stearns Storyteller. www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com  I grew up in Coventry and live nearby, I know what haunts the forest there, do you?

                                            Not Scared Yet? Want More Fun?
Halloween Night the Willimantic Brewing Company is  host  to VoiceMail a special edition of the monthly storytelling open mic. This month, on Halloween night at 7 p.m. Spooky Stories all open mic!  www.willibrew.com  Come early for dinner stay for the stories. 967 Main St. Willimantic, CT. Your host for the evening Carolyn Stearns Storyteller.

                                                            Carolyn Stearns Storyteller

 Don't think you are safe when the calendar changes to November for there are places that will always be thought of as haunted. Here are a few  if you dare look farther down the page!

                  Does the spirit of Nathan Hale still wander the family homestead in search of his hunting buddy and best friend Asa? Will the patriot who was hung by the British as a spy find peace in the forest that is his namesake?    Come to Coventry Connecticut to find out more.  Parking for the Historical Society Haunted Lantern Tours is here.

                                                                                                                                   
       Eastern Connecticut's Rail Trail through several remote areas and forests ( no rails and ties there it is a hiking trail) is home to a haunting by the Ghost Train. Listen for its whistle!

                                                                            
  Yes indeed this state forest is inhabited by a ghost of Mary E. Ask me about her visits when you come to  VoiceMail at WilliBrew on Halloween!

                                                                 
                          This is the second time I have captured a photo of her orb in the forest there!

Lastly a event coming up this winter inspired a day of video at the Old Tolland Jail Museum on Tolland (CT) Green. What fun creating these videos to promote out winter Campus Slammer.

                                                                            and another view

                                                                               
                               Wishing you all a Happy Halloween filled with fun and great stories!
for a previous blog on VoiceMail see: www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.blogspot.com/2011/07/willimantic-brewing-company-and.html

making a commercial break

I'm having fun making my own commercials. I use my Flip camera for video and a regular digital camera for still shots. Looking for something fun and catchy and connecting it into one of my projects is the quest. Going viral is the dream! I don't have viral quality material yet, I think it will be like hitting the lottery - right place, right time and just the right combination. I'm just having a good time coming up with creative ways  to get the word out!

Here is an example:

For  Campus Slammer ; inter-collegiate story slams in Connecticut, www.connstorycenter.com

                                                                       

Here is a link to a blog I did that had great stats due mostly to the video I took.

www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.blogspot.com/2011/07/artisan-breads-whats-story-here.html

A still shot - a summer special

       My goal this year is for every storytelling venue I produce or take part in to have  a video. Face Book and Twitter, even blogs get a lot more attention with a video attached.             So.....
LIGHTS - CAMERA - ACTION!                                         

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Boom Box Parade

            What does a town do when they can't get a band to march in their parade?

        Resort to good old fashioned Yankee Ingenuity! Kathy Clark did that 26 years ago in coming up with an outrageously simple solution. Everyone carry a boom box radio and the get the main St. radio station WILI  www.wili.com to play parade march music. That is the way it has been ever since.  It is a very eclectic bring whatever, all are welcome parade ever since and it draws thousands of viewers to a Main St decked out in 4th of July finery and a willing host to  the essential American experience.

            Ten deep at the sidewalks that fall back on open space the families of the region and beyond set up their space early in the morning to await the announcement it is about to begin. The parade has attracted National press coverage and unique local coverage as well. 2011 saw 4 newspapers print stories and pictures and three televison crews were on hand to film. It was a perfect July 4 with warm but comfortable sunny skies and a slight breeze, the crowds came out in droves. They were awaiting the annual appearance of regulars like the Fishheads and the Haggerosa Fire Co a family with an antique fire apparatus and more. They line up to cheer for little league players and Karate schools, kids on bikes and social programs. There a plenty of classic and antique autos including Mountain Dairy, our family farm. www.mountaindairy.com

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This year a new entry was the Connecticut Storytelling Center.  www.connstorycenter.org  I have been planning increased visibility for storytelling in my hometown and vicinity.  In adding a parade entry I knew 10,000 people would see the name and get a quick intro. I have been on the local radio a couple times, this is good follow up. This past winter both neighboring colleges, Uconn and Eastern CT. State University participated in Campus Slammer story slams. We are growing our own following person by person.

                                                                           
The video introduces my next  local piece. "VoiceMail" a open mic for storytelling held once a month will be hosted by this well known Main Street pub The Willimantic Brewing Company. You will see the camera pan the location in the old Post Office building.  With several awards for their specialty brews and delicious food  we are sure to have a good crowd for dinner and  stories in the Postmasters office will follow.  www.willibrew.com  Soon I'll be announcing the dates and getting all the social media publicity going and the local papers and of course radio. In the mean time we sure had fun with the Willimantic, CT. Boom Box Parade.  P.S. the parade puppy is a Wheaten Terrier named Lily, everyone loves a parade!

                                                                             

Report From the 30 th CT. Storytelling Festival

My Report from the

30 th  Connecticut Storytelling Festival and Conference

April 29, 30, May 1, 2011 at Conn. College New London, CT.

         Anticipation hardly covers the feeling of excitement  I feel when my car heads toward New London, CT. I know before long my brain will be swirling in a sea of story. That I will be swept away on a tide of spoken word is the  desire and is always satisfied. This year there was such a richness to the stories that stretched from teary drama to side splitting laughter. Back and forth we  went from one extreme to the other stretching my mind to absorb the images and emotions and music that poured at me. The Friday night concert of stories was so much fun, as was the Saturday morning tribute  concert.

At he lunch break there was a sharing room and I slid in with my plate and settled. I listened to quite a few relaxed and enjoyed the stories finally getting up near the end to share one when a lull had come.  I told a favorite horse story, I have a lot of those. Stories my horse experience helps me with to evoke the feeling of going for the ride, of hearing that mud suction the hooves in rhythmic pattern. My friend Kelly grabbed my camera and caught this picture of me mid story.

I attended the first afternoon concert to see Megan Hicks of Virginia and I loved her Stories from the Homefront. These came from memories of her mother, a young woman in the 1940's. The performance was brilliant! She shared the stage with Simon Brooks of New Hampshire and formerly of England. Here was a great balance as I laughed so hard at a couple of Simon's tales, well told and animated.

Then it was time for afternoon workshops.  I was sharing my new workshop titled; "My Web Presence is Dead and Other Fear Factors" It didn't take long for people to follow these "digital footprints" up the hall to the room I was in. I had a really nice group participate and we  used our 90 minutes to get an overview of the different social media platforms that can be used to spread the word about storytelling and  promote our websites, work, venues and events. The goal was to give people a layman's terms explanation and inspire them to try some new things after the workshop. 

We looked at simple websites, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs,You-Tube. Up on the screen everyone could see the examples of my pages we discussed content and key words and where to begin. We even had a web grow with in the room to make a visual representation of the World Wide Web and how things are found and move about. Workshop attendees were reminded that if I can do this so can they. I hope they have a little more courage to face the web and know they can always escape or send me an email question.

Saturday night brought the powerful main concert with Tim Tingle of Oklahoma followed by my Campus Slammer Showcase mic. We had 60 people in the showcase mic room and heard some very fun stories.  The Campus Slammer blog will have a report on that soon at http://www.anansihelps.blogspot.com/  Many thanks to my friend Kelly Trueb who came to all the Campus Slammers and helped out and was there behind the scenes at  the CT. Storytelling Festival working away.

        Sunday morning came and I was tired, but ready for more stories. We began with coffee which is always welcome!  Tim Tingle and Carol Birch shared the stage with a comparative between two tellings of the same story - a very interesting look at  the effects created by how and who delivers a story and the voices that they use to impart a story. There was a long question and answer time that covered a wide range of story details.

        When they were done the story triggering began. I was the first teller in the story triggering performance with my tale of the Angel of the Battlefield. At story triggering after each teller comments are made from the audience on what thoughts, memories or companion stories are evoked with the telling of the story. Being a Civil War story this  brought out many different view points and memories. 3 more tellers and sharing sessions followed mine. Then it was over, all to quick the air was still and the only stories left were those that kept me company in my mind on the ride home from the 30 th Connecticut Storytelling Festival.