Published 8:26 pm Sunday, February 2, 2025
By Sarah Stultz
The biannual storytelling event benefiting local charities will return on Saturday to the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center, this time with stories centered around the theme of “Better Together.”
The Story Show dates back to 2015 and features local writers, or writers with local ties, all creating stories about the same theme, said co-producer Jeremy Corey-Gruenes.
Co-producer Janelle Koepke said they had talked about many different themes for the event and came up with “Better Together,” deciding that the proceeds would go to support the Freeborn County Community Promise Scholarship through Riverland Community College.
The scholarship is an initiative that allows high school graduates in Freeborn County to attend the college tuition-free. While in college, the students will learn about career opportunities in the community, and the hope is they will stay in the community to work after graduation.
Corey-Gruenes said the fact that many community businesses and organizations are making that scholarship possible fit well with the theme.
The class of 2024 was the first class to utilize the scholarship, and this fall there were 66 students at Riverland Community College from Freeborn County, said Koepke, who is also the dean of institutional advancement at Riverland. That is up from an average of 45 students over the last five years. The college offers over 100 programs for students.
“A lot of students that we have heard from are saying this is amazing,” Koepke said. “Even if they’re considering transferring to a four-year degree, it’s helping with the cost of education.”
The Story Show will be broken down into two acts with musician Jeff Reinartz starting out the night with music 15 minutes before the start show. Then, four writers will present their stories, and there will be an intermission with more music by Reinartz before the final four writers present.
This year’s storytellers are Corey-Gruenes, Jim Troe, Katherine Eliason, Apryl Gorton, Jens Lange, Deb Rohne, Scott Pirsig and Taylor Klocke.
“For me what I love about the story show … we have a diversity and variety of ages, storytellers of different ages and life experiences,” Corey Gruenes said. “Yet the stories are ones that everyone can connect with.”
The producers send out a call for submissions in the fall announcing the topic, and they also reach out to others they have in mind who could write a good story on the topic. Once the writers turn in submissions, the producers give them feedback, which they incorporate into their stories, and then one week before the actual event, all of the writers and producers get together and read their stories and get more feedback.
“By the time we get to the show it really feels like a group effort,” he said.
The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center. Student tickets are $5, and adult tickets are $15.
Corey-Gruenes said if people are interested in hearing what the event is like before coming, they can search for a podcast called “The Story Show.”
The other producers are Jenny Corey-Gruenes and Shane Koepke.
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