In the News

“Beaver Tales” – A Unique Storytelling Event for Children and Families in Beaver

On Friday Sept. 24, 2010, story lovers of all ages will be treated to a second year of Beaver Tales – a storytelling event, the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation's gift to the community from the Blanche E. Shaw Memorial Fund. Four spectacular storytellers will share their craft and delight audiences of all ages:

In the morning and early afternoon all four tellers will be in the schools: Michael Reno Harrell and Kim Weitkamp will enrich the day of Beaver Area Middle School's seventh graders, while Andy Offutt Irwin and Charlotte Blake Alston will delight the third graders at Dutch Ridge Elementary School. At both schools, the storytellers will visit individual classrooms so as to relate on a personal level with their young audiences. At Dutch Ridge, the third graders will also be treated to a concert with both tellers.

Kim Weitkamp will entertain at a Storytelling luncheon at the Beaver Area Memorial Library at 1:00 p.m. The $10 tickets go on sale at the library in early August; only 30 tickets will be sold.

The big event will be the Ghost Tales, moved from the cemetery this year to the Gazebo in Irvine Park, so as to accommodate the anticipated crowd. Ghost Tales will start at 7 p.m.; bring your lawn chairs and be prepared for goosebumps! The rain location is Beaver Area High School Auditorium. The storytellers' books and CDs will be available for purchase.

About this year's storytellers:

Charlotte Blake Alston is a Philadelphia based storyteller, narrator and singer whose interest in literature, the oral tradition and the arts began in childhood when her father read to her works of writers and poets.  Charlotte breathes life into traditional and contemporary stories from the African and African American oral and cultural traditions.  Her solo performances are often enhanced with traditional instruments including the 21 stringed kora.  She brings her stories and songs to national and regional festivals, schools, universities, museums, libraries and performing arts centers throughout the United States and Canada as well as local and national radio and television.  She hosts New York's Carnegie Hall preschool concert series and has been a featured artist on Carnegie Hall's Family Concert Series since 1996.  She also performs with the Philadelphia Orchestra on their Children's, Youth, Preschool and Family concert series, having hosted their Preschool series since 1994, and has performed with the St. Louis and Cleveland Orchestras. She has been a featured teller at The National Storytelling Festival as well as a featured artist at both the Presidential Inaugural Festivities in Washington, DC and the Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Children's Celebrations in Harrisburg, PA.  In addition, she performs with her brother, world-renowned jazz violinist, John Blake, Jr . and his band . She has received numerous honors and holds honorary PhD's from Seton Hill and LaRoche colleges.

Michael Reno Harrell is an award winning songwriter, as well as a veteran storyteller and entertainer from the Southern Appalachian Mountains.  Michael's performances have been compared to his granddaddy's pocket knife: well worn and familiar feeling but razor sharp and with a point.  His brand of entertainment appeals to a diverse audience from programs for 4 th graders to a concert for a mixed audience.  Michael's recordings top the American Music Association charts year after year.  His original songs and stories have been described as “Appalachian grit and wit” but as his writing shows, his awareness is much broader than the bounds of his boyhood home or even Southern Experience.  Having toured throughout the British Isles and much of Europe, as well as most of the US, the songs he writes and the stories he creates reflect an insight into people's experiences that catch the ear like an old friend's voice.  He has been a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival and been Teller in Residence at the International Storytelling Center.  His recordings have for years received and continue to garner awards in Country, American and Folk circles.

Andy Offutt Irwin is an entertainer in the best sense of the word.  Andy is a storyteller, humorist, singer, songwriter, musician, whistler, walking menagerie of sound effects and dialects and so much more.  In storytelling circles, he is especially known for relating the adventures of his eighty-five-year-old-widowed-newly minted-physician-aunt, Marguerite Van Camp.  Andy began his career writing and directing shows with the comedy troupe SAK Theatre at Walt Disney World.  An arts educator, he is currently in his sixteenth year as Artist in Residence at Oxford College of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia where he was the 2001 recipient of the Clark Award for Exemplary Teaching.  Andy has presented workshops and residencies for LaGuardia High School of Art & Music and Performing Arts in New York (the FAME! School); City University of New York; Georgia College & State University; Atlanta City Schools.  He has been a featured performer/speaker at the Library of Congress/Viburnum Foundation Family Literacy Workshop.  Andy is a three time featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival as well as a three time Teller in Residence at the International Storytelling Center.  He holds a BA in Sociology from Georgia College & State University.

Kim Weitkamp is a sought after storyteller, humorist and musician sharing her original stories and songs at theaters and festivals throughout the United States. She has completed three audio collections, with two new CD projects being released in 2010, with one being her first CD for children. Kim has performed story vignettes for several radio networks, and penned numerous children's stories. For 15 years Kim used the art of applied storytelling as a youth advocate, working with at risk youth. Several years ago she turned to the stage, taking her love of humor and storytelling to a new level. The arts and storytelling community have embraced her casual, eclectic style. Her genuine care for the audience combined with her ability to relate results in a magical, hear a pin drop performance peppered with moments of raucous laughter. She is a commissioned artist through the Virginia commission of the Arts, serves as the National Youth Storytelling representative for Virginia and is President of the Virginia Storytelling Alliance. She is also the Founder of the Wrinkles Project, a national campaign to raise awareness of the national treasure that we possess in the form of life stories from folks within our elder communities. Her work in this area resulted in a nomination for the 2008 Governors Awards for the Arts.