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Blowing Rock Art and History Museum Launches Inaugural Fall Fables Series Starting Saturday, Sept. 27

Sept. 25, 2014. The leaves are starting to get a bit of red and orange in them, there is a crispness to the air and piles of pumpkins are appearing on the roadsides. In short, it is beginning to look like fall in western North Carolina.

And what better way to celebrate autumn in the High Country than by gathering up your children, getting together with friends or just heading over solo to the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (BRAHM) to hear mountain folktales?

BRAHM logoOn Saturday, Sept. 27, BRAHM will launch the inaugural Fall Fables series. Fall Fables is a three-part storytelling series that will celebrate the rich tradition of storytelling in the mountains. The series will be offered free to the general public and is suitable for children ages 5-105. Each event will feature a performance by a different storyteller.

On Saturday, Sept. 27, local storyteller Tommy Brown, who has been telling stories for more than 30 years, will present a program of Jack Tales: Jack and His Friends Find a Home in the Mountains. Jack Tales, known to many through “Jack and the Beanstalk,” are a long-standing story tradition in western North Carolina. Brought here by English and Scotch-Irish immigrants and famously told by Beech Mountain native Ray Hicks, Jack Tales follow the exploits of the young Jack as he encounters giants and finds himself in all sorts of fixes. They are at once entertaining and genuine pieces of mountain history.

On Oct. 5, at 1 p.m., Fall Fables will have a distinctively seasonal feel when Sherry Lovett, storyteller and chair of the Toe River Storytelling Festival, presents Hainted Yarns from Near and Far: Spooky Mountain Tales. The stories will be followed by “Creepy Crafts” at 2 p.m., where children will get the chance to create a seasonal craft in the Museum’s Education Center. Then, at 3 p.m., the town of Blowing Rock’s Halloween festivities begin!

The last installment in the Fall Fables series will be Passionate About Possums on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. This program will be presented by entertainer extraordinaire Rodney Sutton and will feature tales, tunes and songs about the state’s most famous nocturnal marsupial. Sutton is a musician and storyteller and is most well-known for his flatfooting and clogging talents. He was an early member of the world-renowned Green Grass Cloggers, and has traveled across the United States and Canada and throughout the British Isles performing, teaching and calling dances.

All three Fall Fables are sure to entertain and delight and there will be some opportunities for audience participation. In addition, admission to the Museum’s galleries will be free from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. on the days of Fall Fables.

For more information, contact Leila Weinstein, Educational Programs Coordinator, at 828-295-9099 ext. 3006 or leila@blowingrockmuseum.org.