CADIZ, Ky. - The art of storytelling offers a creative outlet for individual expression, a vehicle for sharing history, and a tool for bringing learning alive. For these reasons and more, Lake Barkley State Resort Park is hosting the first annual Barkley Tales Storytelling Fest at Barkley Lodge and throughout the Trigg County community from Wednesday, Oct. 29 to Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008.
The event will kick off as master storytellers Jay Overton and Dr. Robert Valentine take the Barkley Tales Festival into the schools, appearing in seven classrooms from Wednesday, Oct. 29 to Friday, Oct. 31 to teach, inspire, and empower more than 200 of Trigg County’s youth with storycrafting and demonstration. Several of these students will have the opportunity to share their stories -- and their families, the pride of seeing them perform in the public eye -- on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008, at Barkley Lodge.
Barkley Tales continues with “Community Storycrafting and Demonstration” at John L. Street Library on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 7 pm. Overton and Valentine will entertain and amuse young and old alike with their stories while offering tips and tricks on the craft of spinning tales. This program, and all of the Barkley Lodge events, are free and open to the public and are co-sponsored by a Trigg County Schools service learning grant and Skippers Boatique of Cadiz.
On Friday, Oct. 31, Valentine will continue his tradition of spooky storytelling as part of downtown Cadiz Safe Night from 5:30-6 pm. For the remainder of the weekend, all events will take place at Barkley Lodge, including the 6:30 pm Haunted Story Trail, with multiple storytellers offering more family-friendly tales in the Halloween spirit. At 8 pm, the festival will journey into musical storytelling as Dan Knowles, Storyteller with a Banjo, spins his rhythmic yarns.
Barkley Tales continues at Barkley Lodge throughout the day on Saturday, Nov. 1, beginning with familiar tales in “The Stories We Love” at 9 am and a Storycrafting Workshop at 10 am. Trigg County son and historian Jim Wallace will offer tales of local lore and olden days in “Stories of the Lakeland” until lunchtime. As is true throughout the year, Lake Barkley’s restaurant, Windows on the Water, will be offering home cooking three meals a day.
After lunch on Saturday, a handful of Trigg County’s students will share their tales in “Students of Stories,” hosted by Jonathan Lodge at 1 pm. “Animal Tales” follows at 2:30 pm with critters and creatures for family fun. Barkley Tales offers a choice at 4 pm with a Storycrafting Workshop, “Stories of History,” by Dr. Valentine and the “Story Swap,” a chance to hear stories from the neighborhood and maybe tell your own!
Saturday evening Barkley Lodge hosts “America’s Storyteller – A Visit with Mark Twain,” featuring Dr. Robert Valentine with Jay Overton. Barkley Tales continues on Sunday with a 10 am “Story Church,” offering nondenominational stories of inspiration, and a wrap-up of Storycrafting at 11 am in “What Can You Do with Your Story?” For more information on Barkley Tales Storytelling Fest, other upcoming events, or general information about Lake Barkley State Resort Park, call 1-800-325-1708.
Lake Barkley is the largest state resort park in Kentucky and features a lodge, cottages, the Windows on the Water Restaurant, a seasonal campground, 18-hole golf course, fitness center with indoor pool, marina, fishing, tennis courts, hiking trails, gift shop, and recreational and nature programming. The Park is located at 3500 State Park Road in Cadiz. From I-24, take the Highway 68 exit west toward Cadiz.
Lake Barkley and other state resort parks are offering lodge rooms for $50 a night Sunday through Thursday with a coupon that’s available on the web site through Dec. 30, 2008.
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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 53 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $317 million to the economy. For more information on Kentucky parks, visit our Web site at http://www.parks.ky.gov.