Storytellers surrounding the communities of Orrville and Safford are coming together in Orrville on the morning of Nov. 9 to tell tales. After lunch, there will be an invitation to walk through the community of old homes.

Coming together and remembering stories about the Orrville and Safford Communities has always been popular with the people who live south of Selma and a few miles on one side or the other of Highway 22. Sometimes these storytellers have swapped tales at community gatherings, and always at family reunions.

“Even today, when running into an old friend at the Orrville Farmer’s Market, the initial exchange might start with, ‘How are you doing?’ But only a short time after that, one or the other of the friends will say, ‘Do you remember what happened when we got together that night years ago?’ Both laugh and confess that they still think about all those adventures,” said Former Orrville resident and retired Professor of Mathematics at Georgia Tech, Jim Herod. “There may be a teenaged granddaughter standing nearby, listening attentively. ‘Let me tell you what your granddaddy did,’ one of the storytellers will say. No more excuse is needed to start recalling a tale.”

Sisters Melynda and Shannon Majors started a Facebook page titled “The Orrville/Safford Community Club.”

“It is no surprise that stories that happened in the expanded Orrville Community started appearing on that site,” said Herod who said he laughed with the storytellers and regretted with them that the stories were dropping off the bottom of the screen. He proposed the stories be saved.

People from all across the county have stepped in to lend a hand.

Cindy Yeager from Orrville/Marion Junction agreed to collect the stories. Jim Herod from Grove Hill agreed to organized them into a manuscript. And Julie Lyons from Selma agreed to design a front cover. Louvenia Lumpkin, Mayor of Orrville, has suggested the Town of Orrville may pay for printing, according to Herod.

“One story recalls that Carolyn Marshall Draughn, wife of a former President of Auburn University, grew up and met Ralph Draughn in Orrville,” said Herod. “One story recalls that the storyteller’s ancestors came to Dallas County as slaves. Another recalls that, after heavy rains, teen boys on school busses might have to roll up their pants legs and check to see if the flooded creek bridges were still standing. Not many people knew about the Safford séance sessions before the secret was let out in the developing manuscript called Memories of Orrville.”

Tales about the larger Orrville Community are still being added to the collection. “Stories are important for as the storyteller recalls memories, it is likely that there will be a reminder of who the storyteller was,” said Herod. “And, as the community reads these stories by their neighbors, perhaps they see afresh who they were. Maybe, they even see a little better what the community is today. Most important, these stories draw former residents a little closer to home and to each other.”