Storytelling event will feature six youthful adventures
Wayne Evans makes it a point to avoid the easy feeling that comes from being in his comfort zone. One example: he regularly participates in the Rochester Polar Plunge.
"I like leaning into different experiences," he said. "I have decided I enjoy the feeling of being on the edge and not knowing what’s going to happen next.”
That's why he made the decision to become one of six storytellers who will share their true, first-person stories on stage at The Rochester Storytellers Project show on Wednesday, March 8. The theme of the evening will be the Adventures of Youth.
The show starts at 7 p.m. at Comedy@The Carlson, 50 Carlson Road. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at https://storytellersproject.enmotive.com/events/register/2023-rochester-storytellers-project. The cost is $12; a limited number of discounted tickets are available for $8.
Doors open at 6 p.m. Food and drink will be available for sale. The venue and bathrooms are wheelchair accessible. Free parking is available in a lot across the street.
Evans will recount some exquisitely uncomfortable moments he experienced within hours of landing as an exchange student in Finland at the age of 16. His response to those moments would come to shape his experience during his stay in Finland and throughout his life.
Evans, now 34, grew up in Maine and has lived in Rochester since he graduated from RIT in 2011. He currently works as an engineer for Xerox.
Evans will be joined by:
Genae Shields
Genae Shields remembers little about the glitz and glamour of the toddler beauty pageants she competed in as a child. But the now 22-year-old Rochester resident had a shelf full of trophies and medals in grade school, showing that she’d been a star.
“Everyone has a backstory and you never know what someone has experienced in their lifetime,” Shields said.
Shields was recently hired as the Growth and Development reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, after spending over a year covering Rochester’s neighborhoods as a Revisiting the Rochester Narrative fellow with the D&C.
Her journey with beauty pageants throughout her life would help shape the woman she’d become — and would ultimately contribute to her quest to love herself from the inside out.
Jack Peltz
Clinical psychologist Jack Peltz, 48, has traveled all over the world. As a young man, he and his girlfriend took a trip to Europe, channeling their shared interests of hiking and photography while backpacking through the Pyrenees.
Peltz will tell the story of one of those hiking experiences, when he embarked on a quest to capture the best shot. An ill-fated attempt at the perfect selfie would live in family lore for years to come.
Peltz grew up in Westchester County. He teaches at SUNY Brockport and lives in Rochester with his wife and two children.
Sonya Sampson
Sonya Sampson had a vibrant childhood growing up in Rochester's 19th Ward. Playing hide and seek, going to summer camp, foot races, and block parties were all highlights, but nothing compared to times with "Aunt Bert" and her magical daycare.
"It was a place where we didn't become friends; we became family," she said.
Sampson's most vibrant adventures at Aunt Bert's start with a blue station wagon and end with the story behind her lifelong nickname. Her story shows how community makes us who we are.
Mike Beinetti
Throughout his childhood, Michael Beinetti experienced the joys and challenges of raising many different pets with his siblings. Beinetti and his family enjoyed time with different critters — from iguanas and snakes to chinchillas, rabbits and guinea pigs.
Beinetti, a former paramedic of two decades and current sales professional, will share a tragic-yet-lighthearted story of woe about his favorite hamster Tucker. Family bonds and the importance of empathy and love amid heartache shine through in this charming hamster tale.
Beinetti and his wife, Carrie, live in Irondequoit with their five daughters.
Lynda Bell
Lynda Bell is an educator and youth professional. Her career has spanned more than three decades of guiding the work that supports adolescents through their developmental milestones and life transitions.
Currently retired, Bell will share her remembrances from her youth about the importance of putting memories in perspective as time goes by.
Bell is the mother of Democrat and Chronicle news reporter Robert Bell, who told his own story at Storytellers Night last year.
About the Rochester Storytellers Project
The Rochester Storytellers Project, which launched in 2017, is a series of live events that feature entertaining, compelling, true stories told by people who live and work in the Rochester area.
Live storytelling events have become popular over the past decade or so. What sets Rochester Storytellers Project shows apart is that journalists curate the shows and coach the storytellers.
The Rochester storytelling series was originally an extension of The Storytellers Project, which launched at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix in 2011. It is now run locally by the newsroom of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Be a teller at an upcoming show
The Democrat and Chronicle is looking for storytellers from all backgrounds who are willing to share their true, first-person stories at upcoming shows. Tellers will work with journalists to shape a 7- to 10-minute story around the theme of the night. Tellers receive between three and five hours of training in all.
The next shows will be:
The Games We Play, June 21: These stories could pertain to anything to do with sports, whether it would be competing on a team or playing pickup games in the neighborhood. Think about special times experiencing a big game: where you were, who you were with, what that experience meant to you. Board games and video games could also be an element. The games theme could also touch on relationships, be they friendships or romance.
Holidays, Nov. 15: Our 2022 holiday event was such a compelling evening that we are reprising the theme for 2023. Stories can intersect with any religious or secular holiday: Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, April Fool's Day, Passover, Ramadan, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and so on. It also could pertain to Independence Day or New Year's celebrations from any culture.
To pitch your story, email TracyS@Gannett.com. Include your name, age, place of residence and a few sentences describing the story you want to tell. The Rochester Storytellers Project team will curate the evening to make sure the tellers are diverse and that there’s a mix of stories that will result in an entertaining evening.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Storytellers Project event will feature adventures of youth
