Posted on Friday, February 25, 2022
Storyteller Carol Cain’s entire life has been filled with tales.
“As a child, I had a very rich Barbie doll life and baby doll life,” she said. “I was always creating imaginary stories for myself where I was a famous singer, drove a turquoise Corvette and was married to Davy Jones of the Monkees.”
A native of Hogansville and a 1982 graduate of LaGrange College, one of Cain’s favorite things growing up was family reunions.
“While the other kids were out playing, I would stay near the front porch or on the stoop of my great-grandmother’s porch and listen to my great aunts and grandmother talking,” she said. “I loved hearing stories about my own family. Some of them have even made it into my work.”
Cain will be sharing some of those tales as a featured teller during the 25th annual Azalea Storytelling Festival on March 4-6 at Callaway Auditorium. Ed Stivender, a favorite of ASF fans, will serve as emcee. The college is one of the event’s sponsors.
National artists Kevin Kling, Josh Goforth and Donald Davis will join Cain on the Callaway stage. She said she feels honored to be in their company.
“I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to be on the same stage as them,” she said. “They are the kindest people in this business.”
The actual 25th anniversary of the festival was last year, but the pandemic quashed that observance. The ASF committee was determined to make this year’s event special.
One of the highlights will be the return of beloved storyteller Donald Davis in his 11th year on the Callaway stage. He appeared at the first festival and is considered the “Dean of Storytelling” around the world.
“Donald was instrumental in getting Azalea off the ground,” Cain said. “He advised founders Pat Gay, Evelyn Jordan and Joyce Morgan as they formed a committee to organize that first event.”
Cain also served on that organizing group in 1996.
“I had a long-term relationship with (the late) Pat Gay, the children’s librarian at LaGrange Memorial Library,” she said. “I did summer reading programs for her and would sometimes meet storytellers when she brought them to town. They fascinated me.”
Cain was teaching high school theatre at the time and was a supporter of the library, making her a perfect candidate to serve on the planning group.
There was just one problem – she had no idea what she was doing.
“I was on a committee planning an event that I had absolutely no idea what it was or what it would look like,” she laughed. “It wasn’t until the first night of that first festival that I went, ‘Oh! That’s what it is!’”
That night marked the beginning of her storytelling journey. The ASF group also scheduled a weekend workshop with Davis, and Cain was invited to attend.
“Donald is ‘The Man’ in the storytelling world and I was a bit starstruck, but my whole world opened up that weekend,” she said. “All of a sudden, there was an opportunity to find stories that I knew I had inside of me, but I’d never had a way of letting them out. I uncovered a new appreciation for and discovery of an art form I didn’t even know existed.”
Davis took Cain under his wing and helped nurture her talent, inviting her to his weeklong storytelling workshop on Ocracoke Island, encouraging her as she started telling at events around the country.
“I don’t know if there is a word more special than mentor,” she said. “He’s one of my biggest cheerleaders.”
Cain hopes to premiere a story this year that has ties to the college.
“I was at one of Donald’s workshops on Ocracoke,” she said. “He’ll throw out what he calls ‘cues’ to jumpstart our memories and stories.”
That particular day’s cue was “Tell us about somebody who made a difference in your life.” That was all Cain needed.
“I said, ‘Y’all – let me tell you about this professor I had,” she said. “The words just started spilling out of my mouth as I told them about Doc Estes.”
Dr. Max Estes was Cain’s theatre instructor at LaGrange College. Davis approached her after the session and said, “You know that’s a whole story, don’t you?”
She’s been working on a story about her time as a theatre major at LC and hopes to have it ready for March’s festival.
Looking back over the past 25 years, Cain is proud of the festival’s accomplishments.
“This is a chance for us to say, ‘Look what we’ve done,” she said. “We’ve been able to grow local tellers, giving them opportunities to perform at ‘A Taste of Storytelling’ and ‘Stories in the Garden. We now have tellers in our community who are actually traveling to festivals themselves.
“The festival is a wonderful legacy for us all.”
Festival concert times are 7:30 p.m. Friday; Saturday, 9:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and 9:30 a.m. Sunday for sacred storytelling and music.
For a list of storytellers and to buy tickets, visit or email info@lsparts.org.
The Black Student Union will host its third annual Ebony Ball at 7 p.m. Thursday at Del'avant downtown. Admission is $10 for the public and $5 for students, faculty & staff. Formal attire in shades of nude, black, brown or white is requested; masks are required. Deadline for buying tickets is 2 p.m. Wednesday. For more information, contact Dazia Potts at dpotts@kongtiao11.com.
Save the date for the formal inauguration of Dr. Susanna Baxter, 26th President of LaGrange College, at 2 p.m. April 22 in Callaway Auditorium. More details coming soon.
Saturday is Preview Day for prospective students and their families. Please extend the famous LC welcome to our visitors.
Ash Wednesday is the traditional beginning of the Lenten season, a time of repentance and preparation for the Christian celebration of Easter. The Rev. Dr. Adam Roberts, Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life, will hold an Ash Wednesday service at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Chapel. It will feature prayers, scripture readings, devotional reflection and the traditional “ash cross” marking.
February’s 3D Journeys lecture will feature Dr. Greg McClanahan, Professor of Mathematics, who will explore “Triple Play: Mathematics, Baseball and Board Games.” This free event will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Callaway Auditorium.
Join First Gentleman Mark Huffman for a virtual book discussion of “Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts” by Brené Brown at 1 p.m. via Zoom April 6. An in-person event will be at 5:30 p.m. April 19 in Beason Recital Hall.
Mark your calendars now for Oct. 7-9, Homecoming 2022.
Check LC Connect for Virtual CE events and instructions. For in-person events, all COVID guidelines apply.
THROUGH MARCH 22
THROUGH MARCH 26
Young Alumni Lecture Series: Darius Jordan ’17
SUNDAY
Paint the Rocks
5:30 p.m., Residential Quad
BSU Lighting Ceremony
7 p.m., Residential Quad
Men’s Basketball
The Panthers (16-10) advanced to the semifinals of the USA South Tournament for the first time since 2017 with a 65-62 win at Maryville on Tuesday. Bershard Edwards led LC with 20 points, while Kyle Brown added 19. Brown was the USA South Player of the Week for the second straight week.
Women’s Basketball
The Panthers (15-10) had their season end with a 79-57 loss at Piedmont on Tuesday in the USA South Tournament quarterfinals. Breonna Glover had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jada Brown also had 11 points.
Baseball
The Panthers are 7-0 to start a season for the first time since 2003 after beating Emory 7-4 at Cleaveland Field in Williamson Stadium on Tuesday. Joe Ruth had two hits and two RBIs. Freshman Jorge Fragoso was the USA South Rookie of the Week.
Calendar
(Please note that schedules may change due to circumstances beyond our control. Please check www.lagrangepanthers.com to confirm. Bold games are home games.)
Friday (Today)
Saturday
Sunday
Wednesday
1 – Lee Davis
Maranah Sauter
3 – Molli Newman
8 – Adam Roberts
9 – Melanie Rushing
13 – John Head
William Paschal
14 – Laura Faulkner
28 – Jasen Jonus
Jack Slay
Bobbi West-Stemple
If your next stop after graduation is professional school, remember that LaGrange College faculty advisors can help you choose an undergraduate program of study, choose the right postgraduate school, help with the application process and prep for the seemingly endless number of interviews.
Short-handed Scots bumped from USA South Tournament – The Daily Times (Maryville, Tennessee), Feb. 23, 2022
Taste of Storytelling offers preview of 25th annual Azalea Storytelling Festival – LaGrange Daily News, Feb. 15, 2022
No links available
LaGrange College’s Kyle Brown named USA South Player of the Week for second straight week – LaGrange Daily News, Feb. 23, 2022
LaGrange College’s Fragoso selected as USA Rookie of the Week – LaGrange Daily News, Feb. 23, 2022
Category: College, Students, Community, Arts and Culture, Events
Keywords: storytelling theatre
