PORT ANGELES — The Story People of Clallam County will kick off the Forest Storytelling Festival, an international conference of stories, on Thursday at Studium Generale.
The Forest Storytelling Festival will be on the Peninsula College’s Port Angeles campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Friday through Sunday.
This Thursday’s Studium Generale will host storytellers in the College’s Little Theater at 12:30 p.m.
The stories that will be told are appropriate for children and elders alike.
Admission is free.
Dennis Duncan, who has been a member of Story People for many years, has been telling stories in schools for more than 20 years. Thousands of children have heard his stories. He started telling stories to his own children and said he is still fascinated by the power of stories and that it still delights him to watch a group of children listen to a story.
“Stories are powerful. Kids need stories,” he said.
Born in Washington D.C., James the Obscure moved to Seattle when he was 5, He grew up during World War II, which he said was all-kinds-of-exciting for a kid, and has retired from a Seattle teaching position. Many of his stories come from ancient Norse and Celtic tales.
Port Angeles Fire Chief Ken Dubuc, a constant competitor in the annual Liars Contest, tells this tale about himself: Ken Dubuc was born on a commune in northern California. His parents encouraged him to explore all sorts of career opportunities. After failing miserably marketing his “Barbed Wire Dreamcatcher Kits for Kids,” he decided to go the lazy route and took several online courses in thoracic surgery.
“Excellent time management skills enabled Ken to juggle a packed surgery schedule with part-time NASA shuttle flights. Over the course of several months, Ken managed to amass a small fortune — a fortune he quickly lost investing in marshmallow futures. He now supports himself as a freelance life coach and professor of ethics. Ken is married to the very patient Teresa, and they share their life with two dogs and a ninja attack kitten.”
Don Bailey came to storytelling through Toastmasters International, an organization dedicated to improving speaking, communication and leadership skills.
After several years and many long minutes speaking to co-workers at Honeywell, he joined the Tale Weavers, a club that mixed Toastmasters and Storytelling. Bailey moved to Port Angeles upon his retirement from Honeywell and found the Story People.
Born in Minneapolis, Minn., Bailey earned a Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of Minnesota. He worked as a software engineer for Honeywell for 41.5 years and retired at the end of 2014.
His hobbies include science fiction literature, board games and card games. He lives with his wife and four cats.
For more about the storytelling fesitval, see www.clallamstorypeople.org.
For more information, contact Kate Reavey at kreavey@pencol.edu.
