Buffalo Commons drawing speakers of wide experience

Storytellers known across the country for their knack for spinning a yarn are slated for the Buffalo Commons tenth anniversary Storytelling festival, June 9-10.

All the events are free to the public except for two evening shows at the Fox Theater and storytelling college courses at McCook Community College.

"These people have spent years working on their craft," festival director Mary Dueland said about professional storytellers. " They can make you laugh one minute and cry the next."

Headlining this year's event is nationally known Ed Stivender, known to draw standing-room only crowds at other storytelling festivals.

Dueland saw Stivender at the Jonesboro National Storytelling festival this year and recalled how he was able to draw the audience in with his stories.

"He can tell a story that makes you relate to your own life," she said. "What happens is, you listen to a good storyteller and think, I can relate to that." A good storyteller reminds you about your own experiences, she said, adding, "We all have our own stories to tell."

The Buffalo Commons festival have always selected storytellers known for their craft, she said, with performers working specifically on delivery and timing for maximum impact.

As one of only three storytelling festivals in Nebraska- the others being in Kearney and Omaha -- McCook is unique in that their festival has always included music. This year, the FBW Express from Lincoln, featuring the fiddles and guitars of John Waker, Dave Fowler and Pete Blakeslee, will showcase their bluegrass and country-blues talents.

The festival begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Theater, with the "How the West was Won." The FBW Express will perform as well as Stivender and Matt Mason, who has been called "Omaha's master of slam poetry."

Tickets are $10 and available at the door.

Saturday begins at 9 a.m. with Mason at the High Plains Museum, followed by an up- close and personal view of the FBW Express and Stivender.

The Bieroc Cafe will host a "Old time Music Review" starting at 1 p.m., followed by "Farming is not for the Fainthearted" presented by Mary Ellen Goodenberger and Walt Sehnert. Area residents are invited to match their own farming stories with Goodenberger and Sehnert.

This portion of the festival has always been popular, Dueland said, with the Bieroc Cafe packed last year with a standing-room only crowd.

A Kid's Festival Saturday at Norris Park, starting at 1 p.m., will offer 8-10 stations of crafts available for youth up to sixth grade, coordinated by the Alpha Delta Kappa Women Educators and Southwest Nebraska Reading Council.

Storytelling in the Park will being at 2 p.m., with Stivender entertaining the young and young at heart, followed at 2:45 with Mason, the FBW Express and musicians from the MCC workshops and students from the Winds on the Buffalo grass camp.

"Witty, Wise and Winsome Tales" will show the audience why Stivender is the main attraction at the National Storytelling Festival each year, with The FBW Express joining him later on stage.

College courses will be offered this year at MCC, for storytelling and music making/songwriting, with partial scholarships available for youth. For more information or to register, contact Carol Stensvad at 800-658-4348, extension 8122 or 308-345-8122

"If you've never heard a storyteller, come just once," Dueland urged. "It is just amazing what they can do."

Buffalo Commons:

http://www.buffalocommons.org/docs/festival/current-fest.html