The Tamiami Tale Tellers will present “Stories By Heart” at Tellabration 2025, a celebration of the art of storytelling for adults, teens and school-age children. The Tamiami Tale Tellers, a local storytelling guild and member of the Florida Storytelling Association, has presented Tellabration locally for 30-plus years. This year it will be held on Saturday, November 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Peace Community Church, 17671 Pine Ridge Road, Fort Myers Beach 33931. Admission is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted to support the use of the venue.
Tellabration is an annual event held the weekend prior to Thanksgiving in communities across the USA and in many other countries around the world. Our performance will feature eight storytellers who will perform a variety of stories, some funny, some poignant. Marilyn Graham will be our emcee. The other tellers will be Lisa Leonhardt, Mary Charles, Janice Beever, Lynn Jaffe, Mary Lou Williams, Joel Ying, Pamela Minton and Jackie Byers.
Tellabration is the result of a dream of J. G. Pinkerton, who envisioned an international festival as a means of building community support for storytelling and of providing storytellers with a way of sharing their love of the art form with the community. The first event was launched in1988 by the Connecticut Storytelling Center. By 1997 there were Tellabration events on every continent except Antarctica. The tradition continues to the present day.
Storytelling is not reading aloud, but making the story come alive for the listener through verbal imagery, vocal variety and all the tools of the actor’s trade.
The Tamiami Tale Tellers, an informal group of tale spinners, hold monthly meetings on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m., at All Faiths Church on McGregor Boulevard. The meetings are free and the public is welcome. Call (239) 849-7666 for more information.
