CAMPFIRE
STORIES
(excerpts
from posts)
(If you want to retell any of the stories listed below, be sure
to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material
is not in the public domain)
1)
The Campfire Stories Handbook
http://www.isd.net/stobin/story/st-index.html
2) I just got a call to tell on for a Church Senior's Luncheon.
Their "theme" is around the campfire and they would
like me to tell campfire stories. My mind immediately goes to
ghost stories when I think of campfires and I don't think that
is what they want. These are 60 to 65 year olds. What would you
tell?
Response: You might want to do one
or two stories about the origin of fire - Grandmother
Spider Brings the Light or a coyote story. How about an
urban legend? I agree there are some seniors who don't go for "ghost" stories, but you can never tell. You might want
to see if they have old electric fire logs - nice atmosphere.
You can find them on line (e-Bay), if you want to invest in a
set for yourself. Or, you can soften the lights and use some indirect
lighting for effect.
Response: You absolutely cannot do
that without at least one ghostly story, not gory or jump or overdone,
but perhaps a local legend...something that makes the shadows
press a little closer. I'm thinking of the Hag
of Plymouth or some of the stories Kathryn Windham tells
that blend history with ghosts or unsolved mysteries.
Response: I
would include a lot of participation stories, especially with
songs in them which your 60-65 years olds would know--the kind
they might have sung around the campfire with girl/boy scouts,
campfire girls, etc. (Actually, these same songs are still sung
around the campfires!) One activity I have done a lot of around
the campfire is round robin stories--that would be fun.
3) My page on bonfire history-
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5567/firehist.html
a great custom but you need a bit of common sense. Perhaps alternative
light source set further back...but we need more bonfires as they
are truly much more spectacular than camp fires.
4) Another good jump tale I heard this summer is on my website.
Click on Tales then go to Vampire in the Taxi. The man telling
the tale certainly made his adult listeners jump!
richard@tellatale.eu
5) I want to add Marilyn's version of The
Whistling Zonaquas ( I can't spell it right now, drat!)
-- I heard Marilyn tell it in front of a lovely fire, and the
sparks just added to the ending!!!
Response: The story referreds to
is The Whistling Tsonaquas and it's
spelled phonetically since it's a NW Native Am. word. Therefore
there are several spellings. But there are a plethora of skeetter
stories out there. Not only are there many, many variations of
How Mosq. Came to Be, there are just
skeeter stories. Great for a pretend campfire in the middle of
the afternoon!
6) In the story Little 8 John, he
is a naughty boy and finally gets his comeuppance from Old Raw
Head Bloody Bones. That character is also in some other folk tales,
but I can't remember them off hand. I'll do a google search and
see what kind of bloody bones I can dig up.
7) Another thought after I signed off. At the Arch we often use "Sparks by the River." You could use the idea of the sparks to seque between stories.
Each spark being a different story. And the final spark could
be the sparks in the sky - a star story!
8) Elegant! and now that Marilyn pointed out the afternoon time,
I remember someone had a series of snapping, rustling participation
moves to make a pretend fire. the last movement was rubbing the
palms together for a sound which also warmed the hands, to feel
the pretend fire.
9) On Sunday I did my short camping stories gig at the church
seniors dinner. I told them the legend of The
Ghost of Jean Laffitte and then told them Trouble by David Holt and Don Mooney. They loved both stories. It was
a lot of fun. One elderly gentleman came up to me on his walker
and said, "Oh, you just took me back to my old boy scout
camp. I was a leader and the boys always asked me for scary stories
but I wouldn't tell them any. Finally one night I gave in and
told them the scariest story I could. Just at the end of my story,
in the pause before the punchline, a loon let out its cry. Those
boys were so scared they slept three to a tent that night. But
to this day they still come up to me and say that was the best
campout we ever had. Your stories were just like that for me today." I almost cried. What a sweetheart.
10) Here is a website of campfire stories:
http://www.squidoo.com/campfirestories/
Richard M. Germany 9/2/06
•••••
(This
web page updated 10/8/03; 9/2/06)
