Storytelling festival continues today at the County Historical Museum.

BY MARK SHEPHARD

Truth Correspondent

BRISTOL -- As in life there is always just enough time to tell a story at the Bristol Hills Storytelling Festival.

Storytellers have been making the world go round since the human race learned to communicate orally, and at the swapping grounds at the Elkhart County Historical Museum in Bristol Friday night, the rule of "there are no rules" was apparent.

Joan Girton of Bristol, who has been involved with the festival for the 20 years that it has celebrated the art of storytelling, and entertaining listeners -- yes, you have to be a good listener to enjoy a good story -- went on to say that the folks gathered in a circle at the swapping ground inside the museum "come and try to share a story" that they want others to hear.

"These people are waiting to hear the pros and they would like to try their hand at it," said Girton.

"There's all kinds of stories" said Girton, who told her first story in 1964 after taking a storytelling class.

True stories, high-joke stories and fairy tales such as the ones Aleta Ellsworth of Elkhart likes to tell are all part of the mix.

Ellsworth, a first-grade teacher at Harrison Elementary School in South Bend, said that as a child she loved reading and always dreamed of becoming a writer.

"I don't remember the first time I heard it, but I was just mesmerized," said Ellsworth of the first time she listened to a storyteller as an adult.

"Your heart just feels right when you're telling" a story, said Ellsworth.

The Rev. Donald Morgan, pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ, used humor to narrate plots concerned with moral values in two stories that he told to the room of about 20 listeners.

"Telling stories is a wonderful way to teach children to visualize things, because with TV they're used to seeing the image and their imagination isn't used to creating the image, so you actually have to teach them the process of how to visualize before you tell the story, and once you do they're fascinated with it," said Ellsworth.

The festival continues today. The admission is free for the swapping ground storytelling from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Featured storytellers -- including Donald Davis, Lyn Ford, Beth Horner and Bil Lepp -- begin at 7 p.m.