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 Catch the Spirit of Appalachia is now in it's 4th year with "Stories of Mountain Folk" If you'd like to hear some of our programs, go to storiesofmountainfolk.com A New Program premiere's each Saturday morning! Everyone has a story. Some can write it down; for others to write is not in the cards. As a storyteller, I have come to value the wisdom I hear from people who rarely get an opportunity, or even want to speak in public, yet desire to tell their stories. Once a man came to my writing workshop who told me he had dyslexia and even though he could tell a good story, he doubted he could write it down. I asked him, “Why did you come to the workshop?” He said a friend had paid his way, and encouraged him to come at least once...and since he was retired, he had the time. During the workshop, I had everyone go to a spot in the house or outside, and write about an event in their lives. They had an hour. This fellow went outside to his truck, and wrote his story on its steering wheel. When it came time to read the writings aloud, I cannot tell you how proud I was of his story. At the time, I told him if he didn’t do something with his story, I’d haunt him the rest of his life! Today, this man has many stories published in magazines and has completed two books. He could communicate orally, and had the talent, all he needed to write his stories down was validation, encouragement and a safe place to open his heart. Heart. Telling a good story comes from the heart. There are many people who want to hear what you have to say. Look at what has happened with the internet! My Space! Facebook! and other such communicative outlets. When I was a child, I listened to the battery-operated radio, for we had no electricity. What a great time we had as a family listening to “The Shadow Knows,” “The Lone Ranger,” “The Arthur Godfrey Show,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch”...I could go on and on! For years, Catch the Spirit of Appalachia (CSA) has longed to showcase the wisdom, the talents, the uniqueness of those who live in the mountains. So far CSA has published 48 books. And now, Stories of Mountain Folk is in it's third year. Stories of Mountain Folk After three years of producing a 1/2 hour show each week, something wonderful has happened. The following is a news release that just went out in January, 2012: Hunter Library Partnership Will Result in Online Sound Collection Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC by Anna Fariello, Associate Research Professor Hunter Library, Digital Programs Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, a local not for profit. Founded in 1989 by the Ammons sisters— Appalachian storyteller, Amy Ammons Garza, and Doreyl Ammons Cain, a visual artist—Catch the Spirit has undertaken numerous community projects and events. The mission of Catch the Spirit is to hold “local memory in place by saving, by sharing, by passing on the remnants of local memory and local human community.” “The settlers of Western North Carolina carried a sack of creativity on their shoulders when they came over the mountains,” says Garza, “for they had to create a new life in the rugged terrine, becoming one with the environment as they moulded a new lifestyle. At night and at gatherings, they told stories that were passed down to each following generation…stories told in their own voice. Saving the voices of the mountain folk has been a long time goal of Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, for listening to the mountain folk as they tell their own personal stories evokes evidence of an unmistakeable wisdom and sense of place. The stories they tell of local customs—such as Decoration Day; planting by the signs; and cakewalks—reflect a life dedicated to, and celebration of, their beliefs, heritage and love of family and community.” Beginning in September 2008, CSA began “Stories of Mountain Folk.” a half hour radio show that aired weekly on local radio station WRGC. When WRGC closed down this fall, CSA teamed up with Hunter Library to preserve the recorded material. Over a three-year period, Amy Ammons Garza and Doreyl Ammons Cain recorded two interviews per week produced as a half hour weekly radio show. Interviews are with local people who talk about traditions, events, and memories of western North Carolina. Over 150 half-hour radio programs will be made available through Hunter Library’s Digital Programs which creates online access to regional material. The programs will be loaded into the library’s massive database to create a searchable and accessible collection. The Stories of Mountain Folk collection will be tagged with terms that will make the stories searchable via the internet. The library has uploaded collections on Horace Kephart, Civil War letters, regional crafts, Cherokee traditions, and travel in western North Carolina. These are collections of photographs, documents, and objects. The Stories of Mountain Folk will be the library’s first sound collection. “I cannot tell you how my heart leapt when this agreement was signed,” says Garza. “So many stories will be saved! Stories such as told by Cliff Harris, from Franklin, who shares about his childhood in Concord, NC in a children’s home, talking specifically about Christmastime; told by 96 year-old Gladys Hooper of her early days in Jackson County as she started her family and built a home from the pieces of the abandoned Blackwood Lumber Company; told by David Ammons about learning to "bottom" chairs from his Grandpa Tom Ammons on Cullowhee Mountain: told by Jack Brown Wiggins from Robbinsville about his father Walter who was a farm agent in Graham County in the 1930s & 40s…and discusses the flood of 1940 in Jackson County; and so many more! “With this collaboration of the procurement and archival of the voices of Western North Carolina, it will forever establish the story "roots" of a certain people and their "homeplace," and save it's ancestral tree to blossom forever.” You can listen to some of the stories here: http://www.storiesofmountainfolk.com/ Often, the wonderful old mountain stories are overlooked. They should be told to entertain, teach, record history, give us a sense of place—plus share our genealogy through the art of storytelling. The quality of life increases in communities where the arts are alive and where stories are told. The Power of Stories Telling a true story of personal experience is not just a matter of being oneself, or even of finding oneself. It is also a matter of choosing oneself. We are story, story is us. We communicate and experience life through stories every day of our lives. There is power in such stories. Catch the Spirit of Appalachia invites you to tune in and listen every Saturday morning. Phone: 828-631-4587. Websites: catchthespiritofappalachia.org or spiritofappalachia.org. |
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