If you go
› What: Ocoee Story Fest, featuring Tim Lowry.› When: 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5.› Where: First Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, 433 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland, Tenn.› Admission: $5 per person, $15 per family maximum.› Email: tellone@bellsouth.net.
South Carolinian Tim Lowry, known for droll wit shared in a Southern drawl, will be the featured entertainer when the 21st Ocoee Story Fest is held Friday, Feb. 5, at First Presbyterian Church in Cleveland, Tenn.
Sponsored by the Cleveland Storytelling Guild and the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland-Bradley Chamber of Commerce, Story Fest is a night of family fun listening to tall tales and local lore.
Lowry, a storyteller for 15 years, has been featured at 20 festivals across the South, including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn. He grew up in Southeast Kentucky where he learned to tell stories from Appalachian folk "who spun yarns and told tales to entertain, teach morals and pass along local history," according to his website.
He studied drama in high school and toured the East Coast in 1987 with a drama school from Greenville, S.C. After earning a degree in theater, he taught English language arts for five years before leaving the classroom in 2000 to become a full-time storyteller.
Judy Baker, Story Fest chairman, says Lowry will present a 90-minute show.
"I anticipate a lot of it will be funny," says the Cleveland Guild member, "and our shows are always appropriate for the whole family."
To make the storytelling fun affordable for families, the Guild caps family admission at $15; otherwise admission is $5 per person.
Before Friday night's appearance, Lowry will visit Cleveland schools to entertain schoolchildren. Those performances are funded by the Arts in Education committee of the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland-Bradley Chamber of Commerce.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.