Stories from Elders Headline the 12th Rabbit Box Storytelling Session

The monthly Athens storytelling event Rabbit Box presents a special show for May: Silver Box -- Stories from Our Elders. The performance, with an impressive bill of notable elders in Athens, takes place on Wednesday, May 8th, at the Melting Point in downtown Athens.

This is the 12th Rabbit Box. "Living History" is the theme, with stories from 9 dynamic elders deepening our connection with the past while we hear about people and customs long gone.

For example, a lifelong Athenian (Mary Thrasher) describes the importance of rabbit boxes in her childhood. Another storyteller (Wanda White), who worked for Coretta Scott King, recalls what she experienced the day Dr. King was buried. The first woman tenured at UGA's Business School (Sandra Huszagh) provides a glimpse into the range of challenges she faced fitting in when she mentions, for example, that she wasn't sure whether to use the faculty restroom. A retired UGA journalism professor (John English) shares his memories of an odd and fleeting gathering on the UGA campus that earned Athens a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Other storytellers in the line-up include Ernie de Pascale, Joyce Downing, Millard Grimes, Reverend A.R. Killian, and Homer Wilson.

Several of the raconteurs are icons in Athens history. Reverend A.R. Killian served as a leader in the Civil Rights movement in town. His restaurant served as a meeting place for civil rights activists, and he risked his life so that the University of Georgia could become racially integrated. Homer Wilson and his family have played a major role in the development of African-American businesses in Athens, particularly Hot Corner downtown.

Rabbit Box provides a forum where anyone in and around Athens can share true stories from their lives. People who sign on to tell a story can receive help from coaches if they find keeping to the 8-minute time limit difficult or if they need to improve the story structure, strengthen their opening or ending, or practice working with a microphone. They must work without notes on stage, and they face an audience of more than 100 rapt listeners.

One of Rabbit Box's coaches, Mary Whitehead, is the special emcee for the Silver Box show. She is finishing her graduate certificate in Gerontology in UGA's College of Public Health and is a student in UGA's master's degree in social work program.

"One of the most important aspects of the storytelling tradition is elders passing on their stories to younger generations," Whitehead said. "Silver Box is a celebration of that tradition."

Another coach, Pat Priest, said, "Mary has work shopped this group's stories so that they've gone from good to great. I think this will be one of our best Rabbit Box shows ever -- funny and poignant and alive."

Tickets are $5 at the door and available online here. For more information, check out rabbitbox.org or find Rabbit Box on Facebook. .