Everyone has a story. Share Yours

Just over a year ago, I started going to the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center for the monthly open mic session for writers and poets.

I had been a reporter, columnist and feature writer at The Tampa Tribune for 35 years. I was still writing for the newspaper when it was sold and closed down in 2015.

Looking for a creative outlet, I tried writing a short, fictional story based on growing up in South in the 1960s. After I read it aloud at the open mic, a woman named Sandi Silver came up to me and said "you should be telling that story instead of reading it."

"What?" I said. "I didn't know that storytelling as a performance was an option?"

Thanks to Sandi, a professional storyteller who passed away earlier this year, I discovered this entertaining art form. I went to local and regional workshops. I competed in storytelling contests, including the Ft. Lauderdale Story Slam.

I managed to get invited to share a story at the Florida Storytelling Festival in Mt. Dora this past January. I have been to storytelling nights in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Gulfport. I developed folk stories to share at the Florida Folk Nights at the Old Key West Grille and Bar in St. Petersburg.

Now I will be hosting a monthly storytelling event, Night Tales, at the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center beginning Oct. 9 and continuing on the second Wednesday of each month. The Center is located at 706 2nd N in Safety Harbor. You can't miss Ellie, the big pink elephant in the yard.

I'm hooked on storytelling and I've been finding other people in the area who love storytelling.

Some of us are members of The Storytellers of Old Tampa Bay which meets on the third Saturday of each month at the St. Petersburg Library.

Storytelling is as old as civilization.

Long before the written word, people shared their history, hopes, fears, loves, triumphs, failures and more through the oral tradition of storytelling. Events, myths, legends and personal accounts were passed from generation to generation.

We still like to hear and tell stories. It's an art form that anyone can easily learn and all can enjoy.

You don't have to be a professional writer to create and tell your story. But the process can help develop creative writing skills as well as public speaking skills.

At the Night Tales event, to be held on the second Wednesday of each month, you get 5 to 7 minutes to tell a story. It can be funny, sad, inspirational, a mystery, a true event from your life - and sometimes a tall tale. The theme for October 9 is "What Scared Me!"

This can be anything from a trip to the dentist to a ghost story.

First-time storytellers are welcome and encouraged at the Safety Harbor Art & Music Center.

And you don't have to tell a story to enjoy someone else's adventure or misadventure. We have at least a dozen good storytellers in the Safety Harbor area who will share at Night Tales. Often, people attend a storytelling event as listeners become inspired to share a story.

Night Tales is a competition for adult storytellers with a prize going to the best story of the night. Admission is free and a $2 donation to the Art and Music Center is suggested for tellers. Signup begins at 6:30 pm. Stories begin at 7 pm. For more information about storytelling in the Tampa Bay area see my Facebook page, Walt Tales.