A Note from the President

Hello my friends,

This is going to be a wonderful year for MO-TELL. The Liars Contest is in person for the first time in three years. Zoom has brought us through the pandemic but what we’ve really needed is to see each other face to face and laugh and hug and share stories. I hope to see you in Pacific, MO in July for the Liars Contest whether you are a teller, a listener or a dancer.

There will be a silent auction, t-shirts, buttons, food, a chance to meet up with friends and tell a story. We’ll have Ragtime and World’s Fair 1904 history. There will be a workshop, a story swap, and time to enjoy each other and our stories.

The deadline for your Liars Contest entries is June 1. I wouldn’t lie to you.

You have less than a month to create a whopper that will win you the prestigious title of Liar of the Year. The rules are on our website, www.mo-tell.org and in this newsletter, but if you have questions, send me an email. ( joyceslater20@gmail.com )

The MO-TELL board will pre-entertain you with a few lies in our June 10 show on Zoom.

Keep your stories alive,

Joyce Slater

President of MO-TELL

“Facts, opinions, and value statements push people apart, stories bring people together.”

– Chuck Matthei

MO-TELL Member of the Month: Jean Hatfield

Jean has been involved with storytelling since 1985 which is when she took a class in Puppetry and Storytelling for her Masters degree in Library Science. She has had a lifelong love affair with books which explains why after she retired from a library career, which included being a school librarian then working for the public library, she went back to work part-time, in a library. She said that it’s the books and the stories they hold that keeps her returning to the library.

Though she characterizes herself as more of a story listener than a storyteller nowadays she continues to be staunch supporter of storytelling. She said she joined MO-TELL because that is one of the ways she could continue to support storytelling today. Her favorite types of stories are the traditional tales: Folktales, Fairytales, Nursery Rhymes, and stories from Classical Literature.

When asked about the future of storytelling she said she was worried about a lack of cultural literacy today. That today’s children are not being told those traditional tales by their parents. She said especially lacking are nursery rhymes which are important because they can engage a child’s imagination at a very young age.

While storytelling faces many challenges today from a world that oftentimes seems too busy to listen to a story, with continuing supporters such as Jean it will continue to be an important part of our future.

MO-TELL Member of the Month: Karen and Mike Potts

During a visit to Uncle Remus’s house in Atlanta and after listening to stories about Brer Rabbit, I turned to my husband Mike and said, “I can do that.” He laughed and said, “I knew you would say that.”

I found a storytelling class was being held at UMSL and after hearing that registration for it had already closed, I begged (yes, begged) and hearing the desperation in my voice, was admitted to the class! I also loved it so much, I took it 3 times.

I found tellers each have a “style,” some telling very calm, some loud, one sitting in a chair telling softly so the kids had to listen quietly to hear her, and it worked!

After hearing January Kiefer, I found my “style”I went to a storytelling class at St. Charles Community College with Sue Hinkel and was fascinated how stories developed.

Mike and I love listening to tellers, watching how their bodies, hands and facial expressions also tell the story. It’s like a whole package.

Being involved in MO-TELL has been a great experience for both of us and we’ve made many friends and watched many, many wonderful performances. The auctions, selling tellers resources, meeting the “Best of the Best” and hosting events have been so much fun.

So, the next time you’re hearing a story, all you have to do is sit back, close your eyes and allow yourself to be taken to a very special place. Perhaps it will be on a ship, on a stormy night with the sky bright with lightening all around you, or walking through the woods, your feet crunching the old, dried leaves under your shoes and seeing new plants poking up for the new springtime sunlight.

Where will your next story take you?