LEWISBURG (WVDN) – Carnegie Hall partners with the West Virginia Storytelling Guild to celebrate Halloween with These Haunted Hills: Ghost Stories and Folklore from Appalachia on Friday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. in Carnegie’s Old Stone Room.
Get your Halloween vibe on and enjoy an exciting night of spooky stories and spine-chilling tales presented by JoAnn Dadisman and Jody French-Burr of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild. Come early and try a signature Halloween cocktail using custom bitters from the Medicinal and Culinary Bitters class with Jan Darrah. This is a family-friendly event with spooky fun for all ages.
French-Burr’s life is surrounded by heritage, tales of history and nature. As a storyteller she shares these tales, hoping to inspire others to find their connections to people and place through stories. From writing her own interpretations of heritage tales and folklore through verse, Jodi often tells stories at locations where history happened, and the wildflowers grow. She also creates tales based on her own life experiences. Often using storytelling in her job as an interpretive park ranger with the National Park Service, French-Burr shares heritage whenever she can.
“Everyone has a story to tell, a history to be preserved,” she says. French-Burr is the founder of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild and the 2001 recipient of the guild’s Bob McWhorter Award.
A retired educator and active storyteller, Dadisman has been sharing stories about her beloved mountains for more than 50 years. Although she sees herself as an Appalachian teller, she also enjoys telling folktales from around the world and frequently presents programs that combine true stories with tall tales, myths, legends, and family stories seasoned for smiles and sometimes tears.
For almost two decades she and June Riffle performed as the Mountain Echoes, a tandem telling duo who promoted the culture and heritage of Appalachia, especially in their native state. These days, she is a solo teller who offers workshops and performances which weave memories and imagination through both oral and written traditions.
Dadisman is dedicated to preserving her mountain heritage and promoting an understanding of who we are as West Virginians. In 2011 she received the coveted WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Teacher of the Year award. She is also active in the West Virginia Storytelling Guild.
