The Great American Story A Story Telling Competition in Park Rapids, Minnesota

The committee that has organized the Great American Story storytelling contest in Park Rapids the past four years decided to put the event on hold for 2020. The decision was made prior to the current COVID-19 situation so in hindsight it seems to have been the right call.

When a decision is made on what the future holds for this event – whether it will be in the same format or evolve into a storytelling festival or some other kind of presentation – the information will be posted here.

Heartland Arts (formerly the Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council) thanks all the amazing storytellers who have participated as well as our sponsors and the Region 2 Arts Council for their support.

Nicolle LaFleur of Snellman won the title of Great American Storyteller at the conclusion of Saturday night’s storytelling contest at Calvary Lutheran Church.

She received a check for $1,000. In the first round she entertained with a charming story about raising their first child in a household that included both sets of grandparents and the challenges of successfully negotiating cultural differences among them.

Other storytellers were Maeve Bolton of Park Rapids, Noel LaBine of Andover and Donna Marie Todd of Black Mountain, NC. Todd won second place and was awarded $500. Bolton and LaBine each received $250.

In addition to the two rounds of storytelling, Richard Rousseau, St. Paul, also engaged the audience as ballots were being counted. Rousseau is Minnesota liaison for the National Storytelling Network and recently was presented with the Network’s prestigious Oracle Award. Rousseau and project coordinator Steve Maanum shared duties as emcee. Lori Goulet Reich provided music while the audience was being seated.

Heartland Arts (formerly Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council) sponsored the event with funding provided, in part, by a Region 2 Arts Council Grant through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund passed by Minnesota voters on Nov. 4, 2008.

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The lineup of finalists for the Great American Story storytelling contest recently changed from those previously announced.

Finalists, who will be participating in the storytelling contest. are Maeve Bolton of Park Rapids, Noel LaBine of Andover, Nicolle LaFleur of Snellman and Donna Marie Todd of Black Mountain, NC.

Of the four original finalists, Joe Jekot of Chicago died and Mike Speller of Crest Hill, IL, withdrew.

The live performance is scheduled at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at Calvary Lutheran Church, Park Rapids. The four will tell their winning stories and the audience will vote for the top two. Those two will be given a prompt and tell an impromptu story. The audience will vote again, and the winner gets the title. And the prize money: first prize of $1,000, first runner-up $500 and the other finalists $250.

Master Storyteller Richard Rousseau, St. Paul, will serve as emcee and once again entertain while ballots are being counted. Rousseau has been an active participant in the Midwest performance community for the past 50 years as an actor, director, playwright, and as a storyteller. His interest in storytelling was prompted by a desire to engage his audience without the aid of scripting or rehearsal. For more than 25 years he has been refining his craft in a wide variety of settings in Minnesota and across the country. Rousseau is one of the founders of the Northstar Storytelling League – predecessor to Story Arts of MN – and is currently the Minnesota liaison for the National Storytelling Network. In July, he was presented with the National Storytelling Network’s prestigious Oracle Award at the National Conference in Fremont, CA. The award recognizes Rousseau’s artistic excellence as well as his contributions to the vitality of storytelling in the North Central Region.

Arrive early and enjoy listening to Lori Goulet Reich singing and playing folk, country, blues and traditional music.

“We scheduled the inaugural Great American Story for the weekend of Park Rapids Art Leap,” says Paul Dove of Heartland Arts. “After a day of enjoying driving from studio to studio, we wanted an event where locals and visitors could sit, relax and listen to a good yarn, told by amateur and professional storytellers.”

In addition to the “We acknowledge and thank local and regional businesses and organizations who donated to the Great American Story,” says Steve Maanum, coordinator. “Their support and a grant from Region 2 Arts Council made this event possible. We hope this event supports our determination to make Park Rapids an interesting place to live and an entertainment and cultural destination.”

Tickets will be available at the door: $10 per person; kids 18 and under free. For more information, go to www.thegreatamerianstory.org.

This activity is sponsored by Heartland Arts (formerly Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council) with funding provided, in part, by a Region 2 Arts Council Grant through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund passed by Minnesota voters on Nov. 4, 2008.

Last spring, Heartland Arts (formerly Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council) issued a call to Minnesota storytellers to submit a 10-minute recorded story for competition. Storytellers responded, judges selected the top four and those finalists will travel to Park Rapids to determine who earns the Great American Storyteller title. And who walks away with $1,000.
The live performance is scheduled at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at Calvary Lutheran Church, Park Rapids.
Finalists are Joe Jekot of Chicago, Noel LaBine of Andover, MN, Donna Marie Todd of Black Mountain, NC, and Mike Speller of Crest Hill, IL. The four will tell their winning stories and the audience will vote for the top two. Those two will be given a prompt and tell an impromptu story. The audience will vote again, and the winner gets the title. And the prize money.
Master Storyteller Richard Rousseau, St. Paul, will serve as emcee and once again entertain while ballots are being counted. Rousseau has been an active participant in the Midwest performance community for the past 50 years as an actor, director, playwright, and as a storyteller. His interest in storytelling was prompted by a desire to engage his audience without the aid of scripting or rehearsal. For more than 25 years he has been refining his craft in a wide variety of settings in Minnesota and across the country. Rousseau is one of the founders of the Northstar Storytelling League – predecessor to Story Arts of MN – and is currently the Minnesota liaison for the National Storytelling Network. In July, he was presented with the National Storytelling Network’s prestigious Oracle Award at the National Conference in Fremont, CA. The award recognizes Rousseau’s artistic excellence as well as his contributions to the vitality of storytelling in the North Central Region.
Arrive early and enjoy listening to Lori Goulet Reich singing and playing folk, country, blues and traditional music.
“We scheduled the inaugural Great American Story for the weekend of Park Rapids Art Leap,” says Paul Dove of Heartland Arts. “After a day of enjoying driving from studio to studio, we wanted an event where locals and visitors could sit, relax and listen to a good yarn, told by amateur and professional storytellers.”
In addition to the first prize of $1,000, first runner-up receives $500 and the other finalists receive $250. “We acknowledge and thank local and regional businesses and organizations who donated to the Great American Story,” says Steve Maanum, coordinator. “Their support and a grant from Region 2 Arts Council made this event possible. We hope this event supports our determination to make Park Rapids an interesting place to live and an entertainment and cultural destination.”
Tickets will be available at the door: $10 per person; kids 18 and under free. For more information, go to www.thegreatamerianstory.org.
This activity is sponsored by the Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council with funding provided, in part, by a Region 2 Arts Council Grant through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund passed by Minnesota voters on Nov. 4, 2008.

Author Will Weaver will lead a storytelling workshop from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 27 at the Park Rapids Area Library.

The workshop will give attention to “overlooked” stories, ones that people don’t feel are important, but which actually have value, certainly to the teller but perhaps having local and regional historical value as well.

“We all have those stories,” Weaver says. “My goal in the workshop will include identifying the ‘what next’ with such stories – how to get them into recorded or written form so that they endure.”

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council is sponsoring the free workshop as entries are being accepted for the Great American Story storytelling contest to be held in September. “We hope workshop participants might consider entering their stories in the contest,” says Steve Maanum, who is coordinating this year’s Great American Story. He was a finalist in the 2016 contest and the winner in 2017.

Weaver grew up on a farm near Park Rapids. Thanks to some great English teachers he took an interest in writing. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in English, and met his wife Rose, in a Shakespeare class. They headed to California where he completed his Master’s in Creative Writing at Stanford.

His short story collections and novels are well known to local readers. Red Earth, White Earth, Weaver’s debut novel, was published by Simon & Schuster and produced as a CBS television movie. A Gravestone Made of Wheat won awards, including the Minnesota Book Award for Fiction. The title story was produced as the independent feature film, Sweet Land. Sweet Land: The Musical debuted in early 2017.

Weaver has also written several successful novels for young adults, including Memory Boy, which  is used widely in schools across the United States, and in 2016 was produced as a full length opera by the Minnesota Opera.

In addition to writing, Weaver also taught creative writing and literature at Bemidji State University, where he and Rose live on the Mississippi River. He still writes full time and travels widely, speaking at schools and conventions on all matters related to writing and reading, literature and literacy.

For the past two years Weaver has served as a judge for the Great American Story contest in Park Rapids where the first place storyteller will receive $1,000. The second place storyteller will receive $500 and each of the other two finalists will receive $250.

For entry information and rules for the Great American Story, please go to www.thegreatamericanstory.org. Entries no more than 10 minutes in length may be posted online or recorded on a CD or flash drive and mailed. Entry fee is $10. Entries must be posted on the website or, if mailed, postmarked no later than June 28.

The workshop and storytelling contest are made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota, through a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council is sponsoring the fourth annual Great American Story contest for oral storytellers.

Stories are now being invited from Minnesota storytellers. Judges will narrow the selections to four finalists who will perform the best-told stories at an event Saturday, Sept. 28 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Park Rapids.

Audience members have commented: “Park Rapids is such a thriving artistic community … Bravo!” “Sharing something from the heart and making it real make for a powerful art.” “It takes a special person to tell stories and keep us interested.”

At the public performance, the audience will vote to select the top two storytellers among the four finalists. The two semi-finalists will be given a prompt and tell a 10-minute extemporaneous story. The audience will then select the winner.

First place storyteller will receive an award of $1,000. Second place will receive $500, and each of the other two finalists will receive $250. Lodging arrangements will be made if needed.

Entries no more than 10 minutes in length may be posted online or recorded on a CD or flash drive and mailed. Entry fee is $10. Entries must be posted on the website or, if mailed, postmarked no later than June 28. Finalists will be notified Aug. 19.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council serves as an umbrella organization for 16 arts and cultural organizations in the greater Park Rapids area. Representatives from these arts groups, along with individual arts project champions, meet monthly to coordinate arts calendars, share information and incubate interest in new arts projects. PRLAAC also maintains a website – www.prlaac.org – and sponsors successful projects including Art Leap and Noon Hour Concerts.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota, through a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Sue Searing of Minneapolis won the title of Great American Storyteller at the conclusion of Saturday night’s storytelling contest at Calvary Lutheran Church.

Searing received a check for $1,000.

The audience chose the winner after an initial round of storytelling by the WonderWeavers duo of Tina Rohde from Eden Prairie and Colleen Shaskin of Minnetonka, Paulette Friday of Alexandria and Rose van der Berg of Bloomington. The WonderWeavers won second place and were awarded $500. Friday and Van der Berg each received $250.

In addition to the two rounds of storytelling, Richard Rousseau, St. Paul, also engaged the audience as ballots were being counted. Rousseau is Minnesota liaison for the National Storytelling Network. Mike Carroll served as emcee and presented the awards.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council sponsored the event with grants from the Northlands Storytelling Network, Itasca-Mantrap Roundup Funds and a a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council funded by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.

For more information on the Great American Story, go to thegreatamericanstory.org.

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Last spring, Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council (PRLAAC) issued a call to Minnesota storytellers to submit a 10-minute recorded story for competition. Storytellers responded, judges selected the top four and those finalists will travel to Park Rapids to determine who wears the Great American Storyteller crown. And who walks away with $1,000.

The live performance is scheduled at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22 at Calvary Lutheran Church, Park Rapids.

Finalists are Paulette Friday of Alexandria, the tandem team of Tina Rohde of Eden Prairie and Colleen Shaskin of Minnetonka, Susan Searing of Minneapolis and Rose van der Berg of Bloomington. The five will tell their winning stories and the audience will vote for the top two. Those two will be given a prompt and tell an impromptu 10-minute story. The audience votes again, and the winner gets the crown. And the prize money.

Master Storyteller Richard Rousseau will once again entertain while ballots are being counted. Rousseau has been an active participant in the Midwest performance community for the past 50 years as an actor, director, playwright, and as a storyteller. His interest in storytelling was prompted by a desire to engage his audience without the aid of scripting or rehearsal. For more than 25 years he has been refining his craft in a wide variety of settings in Minnesota and across the country. Rousseau is one of the founders of the Northstar Storytelling League – predecessor to Story Arts of MN – and is currently the Minnesota liaison for the National Storytelling Network.

This year’s emcee will be Mike Carroll, a long-time resident of Park Rapids. He is now retired from 35 years with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and focuses on family, friends and community projects. He is an active member of the Park Rapids Lions and Northern Light Opera Company community theater.

Arrive early and enjoy listening to Lori Goulet Reich singing and playing folk, country, blues and traditional music.

“We scheduled the inaugural Great American Story for the weekend of Park Rapids Art Leap,” says Paul Dove of the Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council. “After a day of enjoying driving from studio to studio, we wanted an event where locals and visitors could sit, relax and listen to a good yarn, told by amateur and professional storytellers.”

In addition to the first prize of $1,000, first runner-up receives $500 and the other two receive $250. “We acknowledge and thank local and regional businesses and organizations who donated to the Great American Story,” says Steve Maanum, coordinator. “Their support and a grant from Region 2 Arts Council made this event possible. We hope this event supports our determination to make Park Rapids an interesting place to live and an entertainment and cultural destination.”

Tickets will be available at the door: $10 per person; students 18 and under free. For more information, go to www.thegreatamericanstory.org.

    This activity is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council funded by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council is sponsoring the third annual Great American Story contest for oral storytellers.
Stories are now being invited from Minnesota storytellers. Judges will narrow the selections to four finalists who will perform the best-told stories at an event Saturday, Sept. 22 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Park Rapids.
Audience members have commented: “Park Rapids is such a thriving artistic community … Bravo!” “Sharing something from the heart and making it real make for a powerful art.” “It takes a special person to tell stories and keep us interested.”
At the public performance, the audience will vote to select the top two storytellers among the four finalists. The two semi-finalists will be given a prompt and tell a 10-minute extemporaneous story. The audience will then select the winner.
First place storyteller will receive an award of $1,000. Second place will receive $500, and each of the other two finalists will receive $250. Lodging arrangements will be made if needed.
For entry information and rules for the Great American Story, please go to www.thegreatamericanstory.org. Entries no more than 10 minutes in length may be posted online or recorded on a CD or flash drive and mailed. Entry fee is $10. Entries must be posted on the website or, if mailed, postmarked no later than June 30.
The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council serves as an umbrella organization for 16 arts and cultural organizations in the greater Park Rapids area. Representatives from these arts groups, along with individual arts project champions, meet monthly to coordinate arts calendars, share information and incubate interest in new arts projects. PRLAAC also maintains a website – www.prlaac.org – and sponsors successful projects including Art Leap and Noon Hour Concerts.
This activity is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council funded by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the State’s general fund.

Steve Maanum won the title of Great American Storyteller at the conclusion of Saturday night’s storytelling contest at Calvary Lutheran Church.
Maanum, who is from Park Rapids, received a check for $1,000.
The audience chose the winners after an initial round of storytelling by finalists Maanum, Emily Mathew from Bemidji, Carol McCormick from Plymouth and Jan Smith from Clitherall. Mathew won second place and was awarded $500. McCormick and Smith each received $250.
In addition to the two rounds of storytelling, Richard Rousseau, St. Paul, also engaged the audience as ballots was being counted. Rousseau is Minnesota liaison for the National Storytelling Network. Bruce Bolton served as emcee and presented the awards.
The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council sponsored the event with grants from Itasca-Mantrap Roundup Funds and a Region 2 Arts Council Grant through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund passed by Minnesota voters on Nov. 4, 2008.

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