Detroit Story League – Newsletter – November 2011

Greetings Leaguers,

What a weekend we had! A fantastic Tellabration following by an entertaining November meeting.

Tellabration:

· 96 paid attendees. $465.75 Silent Auction profits. Over 50 items were donated by League members.

· A huge thank you to our two Barbaras – Clark and Shapiro for the countless hours they put into making this event a success.

· Thank you to the Music Sisters – Marilyn and Sharon for organizing and running the Silent Auction.

· Thank you to Josie for saturating Livonia with Tellabration flyers.

· Thank you Sue Simon for the lovely, delicious treats after the stories.

· Thank you to Andy Feldstein for his maestro-ing.

· Thank you to our fabulous tellers: The Fabricators – Ami D and Milli P, Loretta Vitek, Nola McDonald, Barbara Schutzgruber, and with great humility to share the stage with such accomplished storytellers, me, Judy Sima.

· Thank you Alma for inputting all of the attendees into a computer file so we can invite them back next year.

· And, especially, thank you to all the Story League members who gave their support Friday night,
passed out flyers, brought their friends, brought and bought Silent Auction items (we ran out of tables
 to put the items on), sold and took tickets and welcomed guests. Everyone had such a marvelous
 time that we had to shoo them out at 10:00

Meeting

· Hostesses Milli Stennis, Ami Jackson, Doris Cooney provided fruit, vegetables, and cheese to Friday night’s left over desserts for a more delicious fare with our sandwiches.

· Storytelling: Maestro Linda Day did a wonderful introduction of each teller base on mistaken information that this month’s theme was “Street Signs” rather than “Street Lights,” but we were entertained with anecdotes for the Linda’s life as well as the storytellers.

Ed Frowine continued his mesmerizing story of his Grandpa’s attic that took us all in and left us with
 an “ooooooh!” The Fabricator Milli P and Ami D had us in stitches with their original story for two
 voices “Street Lamps” – those of you who were not there missed their Lampshade attire, also original! Judy Sima told a new story for her, “The Hunter” from a picture book by Mary Casanova.

Judy Sima’s workshop on Critiquing and Feedback was railroaded with a four part Readers’ Theater production on Coaching presented by the Parent Tellers.

· 23 members present, two new members, two guests

· Members voted to give our webmaster, Toni Isaac an Honorary Membership.

Welcome new members

· Rosie Chapman (a.k.a.) Miz Rosie

Rosie Chapman received her bachelor’s degree in English with a Theatre minor from Bluffton
 University, Bluffton, Ohio and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in
 addition to a with a master’s degree in art education with an art therapy concentration from Wayne
 State University, Detroit. Rosie is a featured performer who involves her audiences in the dramatic, energized storytelling experiences of unfamiliar as well as familiar multicultural folktales, fairytales
and life stories. Relating in the oral tradition, always engaging the audience, Rosie sometimes accompanies the stories with songs and instruments. Her one woman shows, in costume, of Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Madame CJ Walker, Marian Anderson or the African Queen
 Mother thrills audiences of all ages. Rosie has performed, and held storytelling workshops, in such diverse locales as Australia, Germany, Scotland, Ghana and Senegal, West Africa. In the U.S.A. she has performed and exhibited throughout Michigan, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

In addition to, and conjunction with her storytelling presentations, Rosie has held exhibitions, written
 articles, and had numerous publications in the field of doll art. Some of her biographical books and sketches are Dollmaking as a Transformative Process and Black Dolls Bold Proud and Beautiful. Rosie
 is also a regular contributor to Art Doll Quarterly.

Miz Rosie is associated with the Detroit Association of Black Storytellers (President), Michigan
 Council for the Arts, Heartland Arts Fund, and the Michigan Art Therapist Association.

· My name is Christine Renee Begle, Chrissy for short, and I have a twinkle in my eye and a song in
 my heart. I currently work in daycare with 2.5-year-olds and I have worked in daycare for about
 10 years now. I tried elementary school teaching, but I just enjoy daycare better. I majored in
 Language Arts, so several of my speech and drama classes fed my story-telling abilities! I first saw a story-teller when I was in high school and she came to the preschool class that the high school
 students taught as part of a child-development class. I have a good memory for stories and songs,
 and so from watching the story-teller, I learned the story “The Gunni Wolf,” and it’s my best story
 that I tell most often. The children at the daycare would always ask me (after I told “The Gunni Wolf”),
 “Tell us another story, not with a book, with your mouth,” and so one day, on the spot, I told,
“The 3 Little Pigs,” and since then I’ve told several fairy-tales, “not with a book, but with my mouth.”
I joined the Detroit Story League to enjoy hearing others tell stories and to sharpen my own skills.

• What I’m thankful for: I am reminded at every meeting at every event, the Detroit Story League members are like many hearts beating as one. Everyone helps and pitches in with enthusiasm and
   vigor, and they do their jobs well without having to be coaxed or reminded. I’m thankful to have you
   all in my life – Have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, and good food!

December Meeting

Farmington Branch Library; 23500 Liberty. Hosts: Doreen Lawton, Andy Feldstein, Linda Day. Maestro: Marilyn Flam. Storytellers: Doreen Lawton, Nola McDonald. Special guests – impromptu storytellers from Detroit Association of Black Storytellers.

Judy Sima

www.JudySima.com

Judy@JudySima.com

248-644-3951
Storyteller - Author - Teaching Artist