5/5, Saturday. The last day of this story telling festival organized by Washington County Library. I didn't know about this festival until 2 days ago, yet, it's already the 14th annual event.The final event showcased the winner of the student winner Evelyn Elston (a high school senior on her prom night - a story of summer camping at Detroit Lake with her father), adult slam winner Kristin Olsen-Huddle (a story about the tattoo on her butt), followed by 3 professionals: Habiba Addo (story of the importance of remembering), Rick Huddle (various stories and a song), Geraldine Buckley (a story of a family luncheon with high spirited sangria and the story of her father's funeral). I really en first one, the high school girl, who left promptly after her presentation to go to her party; as well as the last one. Geraldine Buckley's story is smooth and flows so naturally that it draws you in. The other 3 are good story tellers, but the stories feel crafted.
I enjoyed this evening. However, the location is inconvenient (in Sherwood, only 1 bus line which runs every 50 minutes, far away from Portland, no cell reception in the theatre). The organizers have loose sense of time, everything drags longer than they should. There's even a 10 intermission, which turned out to be 20 some minutes. I caught the very last bus home, had to wait a long time.
