By Jay Sowers

The Selma Times-Journal

Famous local author Kathryn Tucker Windham started the Alabama Tale Tellin’ Festival in Selma to give families a chance to come together and share a laugh, and the 35th edition of the festival is right around the corner.

Ann Thomas, Tale Tellin’ chairman said Windham saw the importance of events like this for the strength of families and communities.

“Kathryn believed there wasn’t anything more important than families who laugh together, and that is what the Alabama Tale Tellin’ Festival is all about, having a good time sharing stories, music and laughter,” Thomas said.

The annual event will take place Oct. 11-12 at the Carneal Arts Revive Building, located at 3 Church St. in Selma and will feature Donald Davis and Bobby Norfolk, along with music provided by the Dill Pickers.

For Davis, stories have been a part of his life as long as he can remember.

“I didn’t learn stories, I just absorbed them,” Davis said.

Davis grew up in western North Carolina, an area rich with Welsh and Scottish folktales and scary mountain lore.

Davis said stories have given him countless opportunities.

He learned that through stories, he could, “… safely dream any dream, hope any hope, go anywhere I pleased, fight any foe, win or lose, live or die.”

Davis said storytelling, “is not what I do for a living, it is how I do all that I do while I am living.”

The retired Methodist minister is also a prolific author and teacher of storytelling workshops and courses. He has chaired the board of directors of the National Storytelling Association and told stories at the Smithsonian Institution, the World’s Fair and numerous festivals around the world.

A native of St. Louis, Bobby Norfolk has spent more than three decades perfecting the arts of storytelling, acting and teaching.

The former National Park Service Ranger for the Gateway Arch is known for high-energy performances, lively animation and special sound effects.

Norfolk creates characters that come to life through stories and living history, which often features the African-American experience, sometimes with music and singing included.

The storyteller is also a three-time Emmy award winner as host of CBS-TV’s “Gator Tales,” a Parents’ Choice honoree and recipient of the National Circle of Excellence Award for storytelling.

The Dill Pickers, from the Birmingham area, play and sing a variety of music in an upbeat fashion that keeps the audience wanting more. The group, composed of both men and women, will add a few comedy routines in the mix providing plenty of entertainment to all in attendance.

The Tale Tellin’ event coincides with the annual Riverfront Market Day, held in front of the Arts Revive building on Water Avenue.

Admission is $15 per night for adults or $25 and $10 for students 12 and under or $15. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Butler Truax Jewelers and The Lily Pad on Broad Street.

More information on this and future events at Arts Revive can be found at the groups’ website, www.ArtsRevive.com, or over the phone at (334) 878-ARTS (2787).