By Sally Q. Smith

Office for Residential Services

Advent Christian Village

The 20th annual Live! At Dowling Park Artist Series at Advent Christian Village (ACV) will host tandem humorists/historians/storytellers, The Storytelling Sims, as they present Legends & Tales of Florida and Appalachia, on Friday, Feb. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Rumph Pavilion at Camp Suwannee. Light refreshments will be served following the performance. The Storytelling Sims will give two “mini-performances:” one on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m. at Dacier Manor and another on Friday, Feb. 29, at 10:30 a.m. at Good Samaritan Center. In addition, they will host a free workshop entitled “Gifts of Story: Weaving A Tale” on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 10 a.m. at the Harmony Center.

The Storytelling Sims, aka Wayne and Jane Sims, are a husband-and-wife team of “Tandem Tale Tellers” who have spent over 12 years sharing their unique talent with school, library, elderhostel, and retirement community audiences that they say they like to “Turn on to storytelling!”

Jane’s interest in storytelling was prompted by her career as a gerontology instructor who guided students as they gathered oral histories. Wayne’s interest evolved from his experience in radio broadcasting. The couple worked with the legendary storyteller and folk hero, the late Gamble Rogers, to put together a folk festival in St. Augustine. They attribute Rogers as being one of their major inspirations and also for bringing them together.

The duo has co-produced historical storytelling programs, some of which have been underwritten by the Florida Humanities Council for the Tale Tellers of St. Augustine, a storytelling guild they helped to establish in 1993. They are affiliated with several storytelling and folk organizations, including the National Storytelling Network, Florida Storytelling Association, North Carolina Storytelling Guild, Asheville [N.C.] Storytelling Circle, Florida Folklore Society, and Friends of Florida Folk (FOFF).

Currently, the Sims reside in both St. Augustine and Black Mountain, N.C. Legends & Tales of Florida and Appalachia is a combination of chronicles, folk humor and travel adventures - part of which will be told in the traditional Appalachian humor for which they are known.

Ticket prices for this performance are as follows: ACV Members: $12, Adults (i.e., non-ACV Members): $15, Students (ages 13-18): $4, and Children (ages 5-12): $3. Admission for children ages 4 and under is free. Tickets are available at the ACV Cashier’s Office, as well as in Live Oak at The Music Center and the Suwannee County Chamber of Commerce. Tickets may also be purchased at the door on the evening of the concert.

Live! At Dowling Park is pleased to welcome guests participating in the Reciprocity Program: North Florida Community College (NFCC) and Community Concerts of Lake City, Inc. NFCC requests that all reciprocating parties please call in advance to reserve their seats.

For additional information about this performance, please call Dick Grillo at 386-658-5557, or e-mail dgrillo@acvillage.net. Additional info about The Storytelling Sims can be found online at http://www.storyteller.net/tellers/sims.

Live! At Dowling Park is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.