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Thursday, October 11, 2001 Guild spins some spellbinding stories, tantalizing tall talesBy LYNN BULMAHN | News-Journal Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH — Even in the electronic age, the centuries-old tradition of storytelling still thrives in Central Florida. On Saturday nights, a group of "tellers" — the term for those who tell stories to crowds — get together to swap tales and socialize in the back room of local coffeehouses or at other locations. This local "guild," called the Sandcastle Storytellers, has met for about 13 years — and has yet to run out of tales to tell. Sandcastle Storytellers' President Peter Giachetti said people from all walks of life become involved with storytelling guilds like his. Most are what he calls polished amateurs, but a few make their living this way. "It just seems to be blooming," Giachetti said. The Sandcastle guild's roster lists 35 members. They come from Lake Helen, Longwood, Daytona Beach, Port Orange and Flagler County. They range in age from young teen- agers to retirees. Giachetti 's storytelling compliments his full-time career as a speech therapist with Volusia County schools. He tells stories every Friday to third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. Sharpening his storytelling skills with the Sandcastle guild allows him to hold the pupils spellbound. "You know you've got 'em with the gaze," Giachetti said. "Their little eyes are right with you. And every little gasp — you can make 'em gasp with a word." Past President Ray Gant said that storytellers draw abstract pictures for listeners' imaginations. "One of the things we do as storytellers is `Theater of the Mind,'" Gant said. "We use our minds." In one story, Gant relates a bittersweet memory. We see it through the eyes of a small boy in the 1940s. The men in his father's National Guard unit are called to war. As a man with children, Gant's father — the unit's commander — wasn't allowed to go. Some time after that, his dad is crying. The men had all been killed. When Gant finishes, there is silence. "It's just not for kids," Giachetti said. "Some of our stories are adult stories." The mood changes to merriment as another member springs up with a funny story. Stories come from the Seminole Wars and science fiction tales and some have twist endings and clever puns. Al Adkins begins his folksy spiel with a confession of sorts. "If I hadn't joined the Sandcastle Storytellers, I had fully intended to join a Procrastinator's Club," Adkins drawled. "But I didn't get around to it." He then tells on himself — how he'd meant to read a certain book in 1959, and just now got around to it. Jeanne Menter, a retired librarian, tells a children's tale of a young Lakota Sioux boy growing up. Giachetti recites Oscar Wilde's "The Prince and the Swallow." Eva Jones transforms herself into the very persona of a feline — a persnickety Siamese — as she relates "A Cat's Christmas." Her voice takes on a meow-ing tone, snarling and purring, as she performs. Not all of the stories come from books. Some members write — and then tell — their own tales. "We're front-porch tellers," Giachetti said. "We enjoy talking to people." HICI Special Report — Summer "Ho-hum" or Summer Fun: |
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