Oh, the stories they can tell

ROCK ISLAND - Stories for all ages will be featured during the first Quad Cities Tellabration! event, an evening of storytelling that will take place Saturday, November 18 at Singing Bird Nature Center in Black Hawk State Historic Site, Rock Island. The event is free and open to the public, and will run from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.  Sponsors are the Celtic Heritage Trail of the Quad Cities, Black Hawk State Historic Site of Rock Island, and The Riverboat Development Authority.

 

Tellabration! features the following area storytellers:

 

Bev Heintz of Park View, Iowa, who has been telling stories professionally for all ages since 1984, is currently a language arts teacher at North High School in Davenport. She is past president of the Riverbend Storytelling Guild, and a member of both the Northlands Storytelling Network and the Network of Biblical Storytellers. Heinz holds a master's degree in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University and a bachelor's degree in Speech Communications from Ohio State University.  Bev's stories always come from the heart. She delights in eliciting the ‘awe' from her audiences whether she's telling riddle stories or romantic tales. She loves to find the twist in a theme and paint the picture with her words. Bev has two storytelling CD's to her credit:  "Homemade" is a collection of original family stories that reflect Midwestern life during the ‘60's including tributes to her parents; and "Chapter and Verse" is a live recording of a biblical concert Bev produced and directed.

 

Duffy DeFrance of Muscatine, Iowa provides storytelling programs as well as workshops on puppetry, creative dramatics, and storytelling. Duffy's storytelling programs include "Stories from Granny's Attic" done in character as Granny Rutabaga, as well as original, folk, true, ghost, humorous, inspirational stories, American Indian folktales, tall tales and Pioneer songs for audiences of all ages. Duffy has performed stories and conducted storytelling and puppetry workshops all over Iowa, the Midwestern states, Ohio and Texas.

 

Steve Marriott of Bettendorf, Iowa performs stories and poems in a narrative manner at a variety of community events throughout Illinois and Iowa. Steve is employed as an engineer at the Rock Island Arsenal.

 

Heather Nobiling of Moline, Illinois, an up-and-coming storyteller, mother of two, health professional student with a passion for the stage and tickling folks' funny bones, tells small and tall tales, ghost stories, fables, true and inspirational stories.  Theatrical by nature and trade, and recently engaging in improvisation, she may entertain as her gypsy character Aislinn, with stories she's uncovered throughout her nomadic journeys. 

 

Joe Nobiling of Moline, Illinois, a seasoned musician on guitar, fiddle, banjo and mandolin, performs stories that delight folks of all ages, intertwining music in between and within his stories, American Indian legends, tall and short tales, Celtic and original stories, fiddle tales and tales about fiddlers. Joe has performed for civic community events and celebrations, private, house, and backyard parties, schools, libraries, living history events, nature centers, campgrounds, themed and Celtic events, and museums throughout Illinois and Iowa. Joe holds a Bachelors Degree from Goddard College in Web Design, Programming and History along with an Associate of Arts degree in Music, and an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Commercial Art. He is employed as an Information Technology Specialist with the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Tellabration! is a worldwide benefit evening of storytelling. It creates a network of storytelling enthusiasts bonded together in spirit at the same time and on the same weekend.  Tellabration! originator J. G. Pinkerton envisioned this international event as a means of building community support for storytelling. In 1988 the event was launched by the Connecticut Storytelling Center in six locations across the state, and has since expanded worldwide.