Azalea Storytelling Festival

If you were unable to join us for Stories in the Garden this year, OR if you want to listen to the stories again and again, please follow the link below to enjoy storytelling by Norton Dill and our own Mary Ellen Taylor. https://vimeo.com/gpsstudios/review/472871284/3b2f54517b

Due to the threat of inclement weather, Stories in the Garden has been postponed until Sunday, October 18. We hope you will join us next weekend for this wonderful event. If you’re unable to attend in person, we invite you to attend virtually as Hills and Dales Estate will be broadcasting the event live on their Facebook page! For more information, call 706-882-3242 or email [email protected].

The 9th Annual Stories in the Garden is less than two weeks away! This past summer, Hills & Dales representatives sat down and talked with this year’s featured storyteller, Norton Dill, about his path to becoming a storyteller and his creative process. Here are some of the answers he gave. How did you get into Storytelling? I spent three years following Kathryn Tucker Windham and producing a documentary film about her. After being with her, seeing and hearing her perform, I b...ecame quite interested in storytelling. I was just mesmerized! I filmed her at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. There she introduced me to Donald Davis and other nationally known tellers. After we finished the video, she invited my musical/theater group, The Dill Pickers, to perform in Selma, Alabama at a festival she started, the Alabama Tale Tellin' Festival. We played there every year until in 2011, we returned to Selma and played at her memorial service at Church Street United Methodist. How do you develop your stories? You have to have a beginning, middle and end. You have to set up your story and develop the setting. Have a zinger for the end! Most great stories have a rise and fall. Pacing and changing emotions help. What are some lessons you’ve learned from storytelling? People are hungry for authentic, true storiesstories of all forms. I have learned that there is so much value in our family stories that can be easily lost. If stories are not told generation to generation, they are easily lost. It is important to learn your family stories! You can learn more about Norton and hear some of his stories at this year’s Stories in the Garden on Sunday, October 11, from 2pm to 4pm in the Pecan Grove at Hills and Dales. If you are unable to attend in person, we invite you to attend virtually as we'll be broadcasting the event live on the Hills and Dales Facebook page. In case of rain, the event will be postponed until Sunday, October 18th at 2:00 p.m. For more information on this event, please call (706) 882-3242 or email [email protected]. We hope to see you there! #hillsanddalesestate #historichomeandgarden #visitlagrange #lagrangesocietyforperformingarts #lspa #azaleastorytelling #storytelling #nortondill #storiesinthegarden #familyfun

Norton Dill will be the featured performer with stories and music. Mary Ellen Taylor will be the local teller and Allen Keeble the emcee.

Tonight, the workshop participants told stories behind LSPA on the Thread. We all enjoyed 4 wonderful stories! Thank you to everyone that listened both in their chairs and in their cars!!

Workshop participants shared stories in the Pecan Orchard at HIlls and Dales. After the performance for the community, the workshop participants continued working on stories, enjoyed a Talent show and music of Norton Dill.

2020 Donald Davis Workshop Participants: front row: Steve Tate, Natalie Jones, Pepper Hagebak, Neecy Ridge & Carol Cain second row: Allen Dyer, Lynn Nesbitt, Jane Owen Cunningham & Trish Davis third row: Mary Ellen Taylor, Charlie McCoin, Larry Ninas, Don Davis & Donald Davis

More pictures from the 2020 Donald Davis Storytelling Workshop...COVID edition!

The Donald Davis Storytelling Workshop began this weekend and will be held the entire week at Hills and Dales. Everyone is practicing safe distancing and wearing their masks. The twelve participants have already begun telling stories and are preparing for 2 shows for the public. The first opportunity to hear these stories will be Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the Pecan Grove at Hills and Dales. The second opportunity will be Friday night at 7:00 p.m. behind LSPA on the Thread. If the spaces fill up, there will be a chance to listen to the stories on the radio. These storytelling opportunities will be cancelled in case of rain. Please plan on wearing your masks and bring a chair or a blanket.