Tellabration storytelling next two Saturdays in Cleveland, Fort Payne - Nov. 15, 22

Two groups in the region are scheduled for Tellabration, a worldwide celebration of storytelling held each November since 1988.

According to the National Storytelling Network (www.storynet.org) in Jonesborough, Tenn., Tellabration events typically are timed on or near the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Tellers in Fort Payne, Ala., will adhere to that schedule with a Tellabration session on Nov. 22, coinciding with Native American Heritage Weekend at Little River Canyon Center. Tellers in Cleveland, Tenn., will get a bit of a jump-start with a Tellabration session this Saturday, Nov. 15.

Admission is free to both events, though donations are welcome.

• Saturday, Nov. 15: The Cleveland Storytelling Guild will start its Tellabration at 7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 433 N. Ocoee St. in Cleveland's historic downtown district. Seven local and regional tellers will share some of their best stories, ranging from folk tales to tall tales to personal stories appropriate for all ages.

For more information, contact Judy Baker at 423-479-7887 or email her at tellone@bellsouth.net. The Cleveland Storytelling Guild website is www.tennesseetellers.org.

• Saturday, Nov. 22: This daytime storytelling session will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. CST in the Little River Canyon Center, 4322 Little River Trail, NE (between mile markers 14 and 15 on Alabama Highway 35 within the Little River Canyon National Preserve).

This year's tellers are Finn Bille, Joe Estes, Danny Turner, Lee Piskorz, Jenny Whitman, Karen Kennedy and Renee Morrison, whose story topics will range from talking dogs to possum hunts to growing up in the South.

The Native American Heritage Weekend will include an afternoon pottery workshop and demonstrations of early tools and weapons, held throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, call 256-782-5697, email rmorrison@jsu.edu or visit www.canyoncenter.org.

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