Raconteurs- Samantha

Hello ,
We would like to start introducing our members by featuring someone every day or so. We hope you enjoy getting to know our group of young storytellers, and because I made the suggestion, I get to go first!

Samantha Huffman
Hello my name is Samantha Huffman; I am a secondary education major, focusing on English and Oral Communication which means I will be able to teach English theater and speech, as well as a minor in Folklore. I have been lucky enough to study at Fairmont State University where Ruth Ann Musick taught and her collections are kept. I have done my studying with Judy Byers a folkloric giant in her own right.
I have always had a love of story. My family raised me telling stories. After church on Sunday afternoons my family would meet for lunch, and we would just sit around and talk. More often than not this meant telling stories about days gone by and family members. These are times that I cherish and want to preserve for future generations.
I generally tell folk tales from Ruth Ann Musick’s collections, but I also tell many Welsh and English Fairytales, along with personal family anecdotes. This is what is generally in my ready story range. With our group we try to have all members create a repertoire that includes at least one folk tale, a personal story, and a tale that is directed to children and is family appropriate, then whatever else we want to tell.
I hope to soon add the Wife of Bath’s Tale to my repertoire; my plan is to tell it in the original old English first then in modern English after. Other members of the group have expressed interest in also telling tales from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and I hope to put together a presentation to take into schools.
The art of storytelling is something that many people don’t realize is still around. This is the reason I started the Appalachian Raconteurs. I wanted other students who are interested in telling to have a place to do so. I hope that in my time served as President of our guild I will be able to make this group an enduring thread in our community. We have been blessed with much support from the storytelling community, and we hope to continue to grow and flourish!