A Note from the President

Hello, my friends,

Summer is coming soon although the weather still seems like early Spring. I like the heat. I want the heat. Where is the heat?

When I was a child, summer lasted forever. Summer meant going to the swimming pool, checking out books at the library and riding a bike anywhere I wanted to go.

Now that I am old, summer goes by so quickly. I want it to last forever, but it cannot. One of the things Covid 19 has taught me is to enjoy the outdoors when it is hot and when it is cold. The outdoors is my friend. I have done so much this year outside whether it is hot or cold. For now, though, I want the heat.

Summer for MO-TELL means there will be a Liar’s Contest. Yay!The Liar’s contest is coming up in July. We have changed the application deadline from June 1st to June 10, so you have a little more time to send us your entry. Take the challenge and tell your lie for us this Summer.

Keep telling stories and I hope to see you soon.

Joyce Slater

President, MO-TELL

“Stories make us more alive,more human, more courageous, more loving.”

– Madeleine L’Engle

MO-TELL Member of the Month: Sharon Taylor, a.k.a. Tangles

I turned 75 last year and I officially retired from the corporate world. I had some ideas about what I wanted to do with my life. In September of that year, I decided to restart an old family entertainment business that features balloon twisting, face painting, magic and storytelling. Of course, I cannot possibly do all these things at every event at the same time. Magic would be a birthday party thing while company picnics and festivals would be more appropriate for balloons and face painting. Storytelling would be more for senior citizens and if schools and libraries were open to storytelling then that would be great!!

And then COVID-19 hit. But I still have hopes that I will get this all together and do well in the next year or two! As far as other stuff about me, I square and round dance. I enjoy reading and I am a beekeeper. We have 5 dogs (100 pound each or more) and 3 cats. I got married 5 years ago to a great guy who drives an18 wheeler and is not home too much (a day or two every 2-3 weeks). We live on about 2 acres of trees outside of Neosho, MO. I am originally from Dallas, so I have no problem entertaining in the 4-state area. I like to travel so an hour or an hour and half from the house is just fine with me to entertain a group!

When Jennifer (the children’s librarian at Joplin public library) in 2000 met me she talked about storytelling. I went to a RAPS (River and Prairie Storyweavers) meeting. It was intriguing. As a magician I always made up my patter, so storytelling seemed to be a natural extension of that. Why did you decide it was important to be a member of Missouri Storytelling? How can MO-TELL improve? Example: members, newsletter etc. Well I think being a member of any professional group is a must. There are workshops and mentoring opportunities at these groups that I want to take advantage of to better my skills. I am a card-carrying magician with the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) and have been for almost 25 years. The networking is important. MO-TELL and RAPS can provide that same kind of networking. I am expecting to earn part of my living in this field. As far as to MO- TELL improving, right now it looks good but I’m a newer member still.

The RAPS tellers like Joyce Slater, the Kuntz’s, Steve Otto and Jim Two Crows Wallen in the KC area to mention some have had a strong influence on me. Also, Nancy Shelton in Springfield has made an impression on me. I have listened to Doug Lipman, Barbara McBride Smith and many others from the Oklahoma conferences back 20 years ago.

Story of the Month: They Don't Make'em Like That Today

by Gary Kuntz

When I was teens and early 20’s I enjoyed working on my car. Unlike many of my contemporaries I wasn’t looking to maximize performance but instead did whatever I could to maximize fuel efficiency. I saw in the car magazines an advertisement for a particular type of spark plug that was guaranteed to increase my mileage by 20%. I installed those on my car and could tell a difference. Then I read about an oil additive that said it would give a 18% increase. I started using that in my car. Next was an article from a leading aerodynamics specialist on what parts to buy to reduce drag. That added another 15% benefit in town and 22% benefit on the highway. Then there were the special tires that added another 17% and the gasoline that was good for another 10% of fuel savings.

That was an 87% improvement in fuel economy which was pretty good, but I knew there was more efficiency to be had. Then I saw the ad for the special carburetor that the oil companies and government wanted to ban and keep hidden. It said it could produce up to a 40% fuel savings. I never could adjust it to get more than a 30% savings but with all the other improvements that added up to a 117% savings. Which brought up the problem that eventually caused me to get rid of the car. Every 150-200 miles I drove I would have to stop and drain off the surplus savings from the gas tank and it just became too much of a hassle to do that responsibly all the time.