Submitted by
Beth Farrah, SMT Writer
Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Civil War history buffs and lovers of well-told tales will get a treat this month, as Oracle Award-winning storyteller and musician Beth Horner brings her show “The Silver Spurs” to the Tinnin Center at Three Rivers College, on Thursday, April 11 at 1 p.m. The performance will be free to the public.
A “remarkable tale of tender courage,” Horner’s act is based on the Civil War-era diary of Colonel Wesley P. Winans, Horner’s great-great-grandfather, and his exploits in Missouri and beyond. “The Silver Spurs” blends music, humor, and storytelling into an experience that is, by turns, both raucously funny and a quiet reflection on courage in a turbulent time.
“We’ve worked hard to get Ms. Horner and her unique storytelling style here to Poplar Bluff,” said Sherry McDonald, an Outreach Specialist for the Educational Talent Search program at Three Rivers. “It’s a great honor to have a nationally known storyteller like her perform for us, and we’re sure it’ll be a fun time for all ages.”
Horner has traveled nationwide as a storyteller and teaching artist since 1983, and is a recipient of the National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Oracle Award. She has performed multiple times at the National Storytelling Festival, on Live From National Geographic, at Miami’s International Art of Storytelling Festival, and most recently served as narrative consultant for NASA/Johnson Space Center’s Story Mining project for which she collected the stories of the scientists behind the Apollo Space Missions.
Horner says that her goal as a storyteller is to entertain and to encourage her listeners to dip into the wealth of their own imaginations.
“When you watch a story on television or in a movie theater, you see one person’s (the film maker’s) depiction of an image – of a monster, a prince, or an enraged tiger eating a buffalo chip! When you hear a story, you create that image yourself. When I’m telling stories to 50 different people, there are 50 different movies going on in the minds of listeners. Nothing is as powerful or vivid as your own imagination.”
“The Silver Spurs” is a performance appropriate for all ages. For more information on Beth Horner and her storytelling, visitbethhorner.com. For more information on “The Silver Spurs” at the Tinnin Center, call 573-840-9554.
Three Rivers College is committed to contributing to the quality of life in Southeast Missouri with quality, affordable higher education opportunities and community services that support and encourage the economic, civic, and cultural vitality of the region. For more information about college and workforce programs and upcoming events, visit trcc.edu.
