2026 May 15-16, Shoals Frontporch Storytelling Festival

Day 1: Friday, May 14, 

Melissa Foster did the opening, introducing each and every storyteller, beginning with Johnny Fowler. 

Eric Kirkman had a death in the family and had to travel out of town. He was to be our first teller, so Johnny Fowler stepped in to take his place. 8:55-9:25

Donald Davis followed with childhood stories. 9:25-9:55.

Next up was Jennifer Armstrong telling Folk Tales, along with singing and music, 9:55-10:25 

Next is Bil Lepp with his tall tales about traveling. 10:25-10:55

We have a twenty-minute break from 10:55 to 11:15 

My friend and I walk around the block and take a restroom break. The theatre is cold, so we need to warm up.

I bought a Diet Coke and a bag of M &M peanuts in the snack bar. 

Back inside, we listen to Dolores Hydock tell a story about WWI, 11:15-11:50.

We break for lunch from 11:50-1:50PM. 

We decided to walk to Mugshots on Court Street. We both ordered hamburgers. I ordered a Bishop Burger with Mayo, Mustard, Onions, Pickles, Lettuce, and tomatoes with sweet potato fries and a cold glass of iced tea with lemon. 

We return from lunch to listen to Johnny Fowler tell stories and play several musical instruments from 1:50-2:20 PM.

Next up is Tom Gordon, a storyteller from Centerville, TN. Tom tells a story about growing up with different women in his life.  One of the stories he told was about his first love in elementary school. He was playing baseball, and the girl he liked was watching. He hit a home run and ran all the way to home plate. When he looked up at his girlfriend, she was out cold because he had swung his bat after his hit and had hit her with it. 

Another story was about his first kiss, and he had closed his eyes only to kiss her on the nose, causing a bruise on her nose. The last story was his first date, and he was stopped by a police officer for speeding. 

Next up was Bil Lep 2:30 -3:00

Dolores Hydock talked about things she didn't know about the Statue of Liberty. Celebrating 250 years of our great Country. You can read the history of the Statue of Liberty on Wikipedia. 3:20-3:50

Jennifer Armstrong told folktales that incorporated musical instruments. 3:50-4:20 

Donald Davis was our last teller of the day with his funny stories of growing up. 4:20-5:00.

We dismissed for dinner, and hubby picked me up, and we went home.

Day 2: Saturday, May 15:

Once again, Melissa Foster introduced the tellers, beginning with Johnny Foster.

Johnny told stories and incorporated music in his stories with audience participation. 9:00-9:30 

Next up was Donald Davis and the story of the two-car family, 9:30-10:00 

a twenty-minute break for the restroom and to walk around town. 10:00-10:20 

Next was Jennifer Armstrong, who told folktales and incorporated music with audience participation, 10:20-10:50.

Next was Dolores Hydock, 10:50-11:20.

Dwight Henry talked about his dad in WWII and his visit to the house where his dad stayed in France. 11:20-11:50

Bil Lepp finished the morning with his tall tells 11:50-12:00

Break for lunch 12:00-2:00. My friend and I ate lunch at Lost Pizza.

We both ordered a pizza and a drink.

I ordered a Hippi Pizza with cheeses, spinach, roma tomatoes, artichokes, green peppers, yellow onions, and black olives on a garlic buttered crust.

After lunch, we walked across the street to the  Arts Alive Festival located in Wilson Park, spilling over into the Florence Library and in front of the Church of Christ. 

We returned to the Shoals Theater for the final portion of the storytelling. 

Donald Davis began the storytelling at 2:00-2:30 

Next up was Johnny Fowler, 2:30-3:05

Break from 3:05-3:25

After the break, we continued with Jennifer Armstrong 3:25-3:55

Next Dolores Hydock 3:55-4:40 

Bil Lepp finished the day with his tall tales from 4:30-5:00.

Hubby picked me up, and we headed home. 

He stopped at the Chinese restaurant in Killen and bought a plate of food and some soup, egg rolls. 

I am not a fan of this food, so I ate a hot dog. 

The end of Storytelling until May of Next year. 

 

2019 Shoals Front Porch Pop-up & Storytelling Festival

Shoals Front Porch Storytelling Festival 2019 

March 5, 2019, 11:30–1 P.M., 2019  Dolores Hydock Through the Back Door ~ The Music that Bridged the Bayou. Mardi Gras luncheon, Sheffield Public Library, Sheffield, AL

May 6, 2019, 2–3 P.M., 2019  Dolores Hydock Helen Keller Library 511 N Main St. Tuscumbia, AL 

Literary Treason: the Writings of Bess Streeter Aldrich 

This program looks at the life and work of Bess Streeter Aldridge, a Nebraska Writer of the 1930s who accomplished what a few others did:

While she raised her family as a single mother, she had a successful, self-supporting career as a female writer during the first half of the 20th century.

The program describes her early life and later career success, and includes a reading of "Jundo Swans," Aldrich's funny and touching short story, which serves as a reminder that there.

It's no disaster like an elementary school play, and no friend as crucial as your best friend when you're ten years old.

May 16, 2019, 10–11 A.M. Dishing the dirt Cypress Lake Golf & Tennis Club 1311 E Sixth St. Muscle Shoals, AL Sponsored by Muscle Shoals Public Library Tickets are $5, including a light brunch before the program call 256-386-9212 

Whether you've got the greenest thumb since Johnny Appleseed or you managed to kill a rock garden, you'll enjoy these stories about Mother Nature, Frederic the French Yard-Man, and people who grow philosophy as well as phlox on their little piece of earth. 

May 16, 2019, 4–5 P.M. Pop-UP Concert with Josh Goforth, Florence-Lauderdale Public Library

350 N Wood Ave, Florence, AL  

 Storyteller, ballad singer, and multi-instrumentalist Josh Goforth is a native of Madison County in western North Carolina. Situated deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this area is renowned for its preservation of unbroken ballad and storytelling traditions brought by early Scots-Irish and English settlers in the mid-17th century. It was also fertile ground for the rise of American string band music played on fiddle, banjo, and guitar. Proud to share his Appalachian heritage with audiences near and far, Josh Goforth draws from each of these wellsprings. Join us for a FREE pop-up concert with Josh at 4 P.M. on Thursday, May 16, to kick off the Shoals Storytelling Festival!  

May 17, 8:45 A.M. – 5 P.M. (with lunch break): The Shoals Storytelling Festival featuring Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, Bil Lepp, and Josh Goforth

8:50-9:00 Welcome

9:00-9:30 Bil Lep

9:30-10:30 Josh Goforth

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-11:30 Dolores Hydock

11:30-12:00 Donald Davis 

12:00—2:00 Lunch

2:00-2:30 Josh Goforth

2:30-3:30 Bil Lep

3:30-3:50 Break

3:50-5:00 Donald Davis (Went home at 5 P.M.)

5:00-7:00 Dinner 

7–9 P.M.–Storyteller Showcase with Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, Bil Lepp, and Josh Goforth

May 18, 9 A.M. – 5:15 P.M. (with lunch break): The Shoals Storytelling Festival featuring Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, Bil Lepp, Eric Kirkman, and Josh Goforth

9:00-9:30 Donald Davis 

9:30-10:30 Eric Kirkman

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00 Dolores Hydock

12:00—2:00 Lunch

2:00-2:30 Bil Lep

2:30-3:00 Josh Goforth

3:00-3:50 Eric Kirkman 

3:50-4:15 Break

4:15-4:45 Dolores Hydock

4:45-5:15 5:00 Donald Davis (Went home at 5 P.M.)

5:15-7:00 Dinner

7–9 P.M. – Performance with Firekid, Dillon Hodges, and Heidi Feek

For the past two days, I have enjoyed spending time with my friends at the Shoals Theater Storytelling Festival.

On Friday, we had lunch at Legends (I think everyone did). I enjoyed a plate of fried okra, fried shrimp, and Jack Danial's apples. 

Saturday, my friend and I had lunch of white cheese dip, chicken, and feta. We topped it off with a cup of their complimentary ice cream.

On Friday and Saturday, we enjoyed listening to the following entertainers
Josh Goforth, Bill Lepp, Donald Davis, Dolores Hydock, and Dr. Eric Kirkman.
Josh Goforth is a multi-talented storyteller who utilizes a variety of stringed instruments to accompany his ballads and stories.
His stories included friends and relatives, many about his tobacco chewing and his refusal to take the shortcut to hard work, particularly his grand-paw.
Bill Lepp's, believe it or not, Paul Bunyan tall tales!
Donald Davis's school days growing up and his jokester father.
Dolores's stories included a white cat (Huck), a black cat, a speckled cat, and a one-eyed cat, and the lessons she learned from them.
Audry Williams shares her side of the fame story.
Dr. Eric Kirkman sings and uses musical instruments to tell the African American influence on American music.

Thursday Pop-up Shows 

Cypress Lake Golf & Tennis Club, Dolores Hydock shared stories about "Dishing the Dirt from the Garden," and we were served ham, sausage biscuits, fruit, pastries, muffins, orange juice, coffee, and water. There were door prizes.

Florence Library's Josh Goforth played the guitar, banjo, and fiddle, sang ballads, & told stories about life in Madison County, North Carolina.

The storytelling festival has come to a bittersweet close, and I look forward to it next year.

2016 Saturday, May 21, UNA Front Porch Storytelling Festival @UNA

Arrived early and got a seat in the front row.

9:30-10:00 We listened to Geraldine Buckley, who talked about her life in Spain and giving spirits to a bunch of nuns.

10:00-10:30 We listened to Tim Lowry 

He talked about teaching Russian Immigrants and Gullah children English & their use of punctuation. 
He told us about how he introduced the Gullah children to the older Russians.
He told us about how a Russian woman changed the life of one of his students, and how he went from hating school to wanting to learn. 

10:45-12:00 We listened to Dolores Hydock tell her experience with meeting Doctor Ruth & Kathryn Tucker Windham.

12:00-1:30 lunch

We ate lunch-I brought two peanut butter crackers, an orange, a banana, a box of cranberries, and bottled water.

My friend and I had a couple of women from Colorado sit with us.

They had traveled from Colorado, stopping in Arkansas to visit a friend, and then traveled to Florence to listen to the storytellers. They were staying at Express Holiday Inn.

They had been to every show, including the evening events.

They were traveling to Birmingham, where one of the women was flying to Chicago. The other woman was driving to Atlanta to visit family. She was giving the car she was driving to her grandson, then flying home to Colorado.

Dolores Hydock joined us for lunch. I gave her a peanut butter cracker and a box of cranberries. Another woman gave her some fruit. We had a great time getting to know one another.

1:30-2:00 We listened to Geraldine Buckley talk about hitchhiking in Canada

2:00-2:30 We listened to Minton Sparks use Bayou singing to tell a story about her grandmother. She was accompanied by John Jackson a guitarist.

2:30-3:00 We listened to Bil Lepp talk 

Both my friend and I had to leave during the 3:00 P.M. break.

I had to be at my grandson's wedding at 5:00 P.M.

2015 May 16 What door do I use?

A funny thing happened to me today
At the performance center, I had to go to the restroom
I was not sure where it was and asked my friend sitting next to me
She said I don't know,
But when you find it, let me know.
I open the double doors leading outside the performance center
The restroom was straight
In front of me.
I used the restroom and started to return butt, but I was not sure which door I came through.

I tried the door in front of me. It would not open!
I looked at the two kids sitting next to the door and said,
"Did I come through this
Door?"
The 2 kids had this puzzled look on their faces.
I tried the door again.
I looked back at the 2 kids and said, "I guess u have to use the latch
to open the
Door.!
As I walked inside, they probably
said,
"What was wrong with that woman!"