With Halloween right around the corner, many people are looking for fun things to do. Some people may go to the pumpkin patch, others might get together and have scary movie marathons.
JRH Brewing hosts a storytelling event during the month of October each Thursday at 7 p.m. The storytelling event is held outside near the building’s patio around a fire place. Chairs are arranged in a circle, allowing the story teller to stand wherever they like when they speak.
“We actually just started it for the month of October,” owner Jill Henritze said. “We did our first week last Thursday; that was Tony Marr, and today we had Miss Judy Butterfly.”
Henritze said that the event started because she was thinking of something fun JRH Brewing might do through October that kids and adults would enjoy. She didn’t know of any other breweries that were doing something like this, so she contacted the Jonesborough Storytelling Center, and they gave her the name of the storyteller’s guild. After contacting them, the storyteller’s guild gave her the names of different storytellers. One of the storytellers who performed was Miss Judy Butterfly.
“I do all venues,” storyteller Judy “Butterfly” Farlow said. “‘Strong Women’ is one of my favorites. Holiday stories are some of my favorites.”
The stories Farlow told were Halloween themed and geared toward audiences of all ages. One story she told was about a little girl who was dared by her brother to go into a witch’s house. Another story she told was the Cherokee legend of how mosquitos came into existence. Farlow said that her favorite story was “Sisters,” a story about two witch sisters who discover they’re engaged to the same man. Once they discover he is going to con them out of their money, the two sisters team up to get their revenge.
“I hope that they liked it enough, they go hear other storytellers,” Farlow said. “Or pass it on, if they remember the story, tell it to somebody else.”
Farlow’s stories, and the outdoor setting, were enjoyed by many of the audience members.
“I like the enviroment,” said audience member Dallas Burton. “It’s outside around the fire pit; it just makes it a little more spooky.”
The storytelling events takes place at JRH Brewing in Downtown Johnson City at 7 p.m. on Thursdays and is free to the public.
