If you’ve ever sat around the kitchen table after eating way too much of that crispy fried chicken mother cooked for Sunday dinner and dared not move because you might miss the rest of the story, sat around a campfire listening to a crackling fire listening to the tales of Uncle Joe who belted details while simultaneously cackling like a wet hen, moved an ear closer to hear grandpa as he reached to the very depths of his memory to get the story just right, then you should be here. Southern storytelling. Traditional and contemporary. Come to Young Harris, Georgia, and cackle like Uncle Joe.
Young and old will converge upon the campus of Young Harris College in the mountains of North Georgia to showcase Appalachian tales. You’ll meet Lyn Ford, David Holt, Josh Goforth, Doug Elliot, Andy Offutt Irwin and Sweet Sunny South, plus a mass of student storytellers eager to share their lives and laughs with you. Never experienced a storytelling weekend? Oh, my, are you in for a treat!
Why should you be there? Here’s what the young are saying:
Stories communicate our shared humanity, transmitting our history from one generation to the next. If young people don’t tell stories, then the history of our youth will only be told through the lens of wisdom. Something is lost if you don’t share you experiences as you have them. ~ Thomas Johnson, junior, Young Harris College
[Last year] . . . was the start of a new tradition in a building that has stood on our campus [Young Harris College] for 130 years. Everyone was in there just listening to all of the storytellers. There were people of all ages and from all different backgrounds together simply listening to stories. We all shared this moment together, and it was really cool! I think that is the whole purpose of stories anyway . . . to unite people and share who we are. ~ Maddy Elledge, senior, Young Harris College
We are excited to discover more stories, more tales, and more people who will remember and deliver snippets of their lives on stage through words and music. We’ll be there! We hope you will too. If you can’t make it, we’ll share every second with you, right here, in April.
Find out all information you’ll need to travel to Young Harris on April 1-2 here! See you there!  Â
Judy and Len Garrison are at home in Farmington, Georgia, just on the outskirts of Dawg country – better known as Athens. Len, an IT manager and photographer, and Judy, an editor, author and travel writer, invite you to travel along with them as they explore the best of the South. Email them at seeingsouthern@gmail.com. Visit their website at Seeing Southern, and follow them on Twitter at @judyhgarrison, @seeing_southern, LIKE them on Facebook and on Instagram.
