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He grew up listening to the old-timers who gathered at his granddaddy’s store spin yarns, whittle away at the truth and stretch some stories until they turn into downright lies.

So, with his background in story listening and his pleasure in the telling of a good story, it was not surprising that he felt a strong sense of pride when the Alabama Farmers Cooperative agreed to be one of the sponsors of the first Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival held in January at the We Piddle Around Theater in Brundidge and at the Trojan Center Theater at Troy University in Troy. The festival featured nationally acclaimed storytellers Donald Davis, the dean of storytelling, and Andy Offutt Irwin; regional teller B.J. Abraham and local personalities Brent Holmes and Shelia Fayson Jackson.

Andy Offutt Irwin

Strother is just as excited, if not more so, about the fact that Donald Davis and Andy Offutt Irwin will be back at the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival on Jan. 25 and 26, 2008, along with nationally acclaimed storyteller and seventh generation ballad singer, Sheila Kay Adams.

"I’m just proud that the Pike Farmers Co-op was a part of this first storytelling festival and is a part of it being a continuing success," Strother said. "I’ve always enjoyed storytelling but it was on a more personal level. I had never been to an event like that and I wasn’t sure what I was going to see. I thought it might be something like Jerry Clower or preaching or something inbetween. I just didn’t know."

And, Strother said he wasn’t sure that he was going to like sitting among a lot of people and listening to somebody stand on stage and tell a story.

"But, when I came out of the theater that night, I knew that I would be going back if I ever got a chance," Strother said. "I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed anything any more.

"And I’ll tell you, that Andy Irwin took me right back to my growing up days with my Aunt Pearl and her lady friends. When he told stories about his Aunt Marguerite, I could hear Aunt Pearl talking. He had that old Southern ladies’ way of talking down pat."

Strother said he is proud to see the art of storytelling making a comeback in South Alabama.

"That used to be our only form of entertainment. There were a lot of young people at the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival and they were having a great time," he said. "Everybody enjoyed it. My mother went with me and she absolutely loved it. We just all enjoyed it to death."

Rhonda Deese, from the Pike Farmers Co-op in Troy, attended the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival with her husband. She, too, had never been to a storytelling festival and she, too, will go again, "absolutely."

"I’m already looking forward to the next one," she said. "Storytelling is our history. Some of us have lived the stories that we hear and it is a way for us to remember those days. Many of the stories that were told at the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival were relevant and others were just fun and entertaining.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it and think that storytelling is something that we will continue to enjoy. Now, that more people know and understand what it is, it will keep getting more popular.

"Storytelling is something that all ages can enjoy and learn from. Storytelling is good family entertainment."

Both Strother and Deese said the Pike Farmers Cooperative and storytelling go hand-in-hand.

"Oh, we hear a lot of stories at the stores," Strother said, laughing. "People stand around and talk and tell stories and that’s kind of what the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival is."

Strother said those who make up the audience of a storytelling festival should be inspired to go home and tell their own stories.

"That’s how we keep personal histories alive," he said.

Jaine Treadwell is a freelance writer from Brundidge.