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Storytime

Revision as of 01:23, March 4, 2008 by Jlandsma (talk | contribs) (style)

This is an article about the tradition of reading tales to friends and children begun circa spring 2002. For information on the tale-telling in the Paresky Center informally known by the same name, see Let Me Tell You A Story.

Storytime is a tradition of gathering together to tell and listen to stories. The stories are usually fairy, folk, or modern bedtime tales, though this is usually of the host's choosing. The setting has evolved over the years, but always attempts to capture a milieu of innocence, usually in a cozy environment.

Presently, Storytime is an event for local children at the Williamstown Public Library organized and performed by Williams students. To join or attend, contact Ariel Heyman, '08, at <email>08aeh@williams.edu</email>.

History

Storytime began as the brainchild of Chris Holmes '03. There were some readings during the spring of 2002, but the tradition really got going during his senior year in fall of 2002, when he switched rooms with a friend in Currier so that he could have the second floor room whose window opened out to the balcony. From that ledge, he read stories regularly to members of a group of Odd Quadders and friends who would eventually become the Deviants. Chris or his close friend Jesse Dill '04 would usually choose the stories and listeners would spread sleeping bags and blankets and gather on the quad grass to listen, usually at night.

An event by the same name and in similar character was carried on by a group of friends, most from the [[1]], based in Mark Hopkins House in the Greylock Quad. Meetings were in the building's first floor common room and usually featured things baked by Jocelyn Gardner '05 and her helpers.

In fall 2004 and after, Storytime changed into a reading and performance for children at the Williamstown Public Library, led then by Lucy Thiboutot '05, who recruited her friends to read and play characters from children's tales. Quite many of the players and costumes were from the Elizabethans. Weekend mornings or afternoons were typical times. Rehearsal minimal. Props might include a giant stuffed dog serving as a noble steed.

Contacts

  • <email>08aeh@williams.edu</email>