Inland Valley Storytellers Past Events

Tellabration! ™ 2023

November 11 at 2:00 PM Zoom Joint Tellabration! ™ 2023
Inland Valley Storytellers of Southern California with the Asian American Storytellers in Action of Northern California

This was the 4th annual Zoom Joint Tellabration! ™. This time Inland Valley Storytellers joined Asian American Storytellers in Action of Northern California on Zoom. The live Zoom event was on Saturday November 11 at 2:00 PM. Zoom attendance was free. Click here to see details about Joint Tellabration! ™ 2023.

Click here to see the YouTube video of the Joint Tellabration! ™ 2023.


November 18 at 7:00 PM
Tellabration! ™ 2023

The 21st annual Tellabration! ™ concert produced by the Inland Valley Storytellers was held at the Claremont Folk Music Center (220 Yale Avenue, Claremont) on Saturday November 18, 2023 at 7:00 PM. Admission was $20 and 40 tickets were sold. Click here to see details about Tellabration! ™ 2023. . Due to technical difficulties caused by human error, there is no recording of the stories. Sorry about that.

Tellabration!™ 2022

Click here to see details about the 20th annual Inland Valley Storytellers Tellabration!™ 2022 that was November 19.

Click here to see details about the 2022 joint Tellabration!™ that was November 20.

Tellabration!™ 2021

Click here to see details about the 2021 joint Tellabration!™ that was November 14.

Click here to see details about the 19th annual Inland Valley Storytellers Tellabration!™ 2021 that was November 20.

Tellabration!™ 2020

Click here to see details about the 2020 joint Tellabration!™ that was November 10.

Click here to see details about the 18th annual Inland Valley Storytellers Tellabration!™ 2020 that was November 20.

17th Annual Tellabration!™

The 17th annual Tellabration!™ concert produced by the Inland Valley Storytellers was held at the Claremont Folk Music Center on Saturday November 23, 2019 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 84 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories by Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Glenn Grant, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, Stephanie Townes, and John St. Clair. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Jayne Sjodin for general set up and clean up. The 84 tickets sold and 95 people in attendance were both new record highs for a IVS storytelling event.


Storytellers from left to right are: Adrien Lowery, Nick Smith, John St. Clair, Angela Lloyd, Glenn Grant, Stephanie Townes, and Ron Chick. Ron Evans also told a story but is missing from this photo.

2019 Spring Concert

2019 Spring Concert produced by the Inland Valley Storytellers was held at the Claremont Friends Meeting on Saturday April 27, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 30 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories by long time Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Nick Smith, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, and John St. Clair. Glenn Grant and Stephanie Townes performed for the first time in an IVS concert. Special thanks go to the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Jayne Sjodin for general set up and clean up.

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16th Annual Tellabration!™

The 16th annual Tellabration!™ concert produced by the Inland Valley Storytellers was held at the Claremont Folk Music Center on Saturday November 17, 2018 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 79 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories by Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, and John St. Clair. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Jayne Sjodin for general set up and clean up.

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35th Annual Southern California Storyswap Festival

On April 28, 2018 Inland Valley Storytellers hosted the 35th Annual Southern California Story Swap Festival, an all day (9:00 AM to 4:00 PM) gathering of storytellers from all over Southern California. There were 25 paid all day participants, 4 all day volunteers from Inland Valley Storytellers who attended some of the events when they weren't preparing and serving food or cleaning up, and 10 paid attendees who came for just the end of the day storytelling concert. The events of the day included an hour of small story swap groups, 3 different 90 minute workshops (detailed below), lunch served, 60 second stories, storytelling group reports on activities, and an end of the day storytelling concert with a representative teller from 7 different storytelling groups.

A) Karen Rae Kraut - Storytelling Techniques with Pizazz!!
This workshop explores vocal and movement techniques that will add color and variety to your storytelling. We will also work with tools for using the space on stage that gives your storytelling "size" and the ability to create setting in the imagination of your audience. Please bring in a story you know well that has at least two settings.

B) Nick Smith - History-Telling
How do you take a piece of history and turn it into a tellable tale? Nick Smith will offer you some options and suggestions for ways to do that, and for where to tell those stories once you have them in a tellable form. This will be an interactive workshop, so if you bring ideas with you, especially if you've found newspaper or magazine articles, we will work with those.

C) Michael McCarty - Storytelling Goes to Prison
I'm in year four of giving my STORY CREATION WORKSHOP in California prisons as part of the ARTS IN CORRECTIONS program. Inmates have embraced the power of story and there is a demand for storytelling in prisons, reentry programs and juvenile facilities. Find out what it's all about and learn to do the do. ;-)

Tellabration!™ 2017

The 15th annual Tellabration!™ concert produced by the Inland Valley Storytellers was held at the Claremont Folk Music Center on Saturday November 18, 2017 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 70 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories by Inland Valley Storytellers members Karen Rae Kraut, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, and John St. Clair. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Jayne Sjodin and Rhoda Huffman for providing the table for the drinks as well as general set up and clean up.


Adrien Lowery ............................... Karen Rae Kraut


Nick Smith .......................................... John St. Clair


Ron Chick .............................. Ron Evans

2017 Spring Concert

The 2017 Spring Concert was held on April 22 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 14 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. It was sad that so few people were present to hear such fantastic stories. We will never schedule storytelling on the weekend of Earth Day again. Inland Valley Storytellers members Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowrey, Nick Smith, and John St. Clair told stories. Special thanks go to the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility, Chris St. Clair for coordinating the refreshments, and the many IVS members who contributed food and drink.

2016 Tellabration!™ Concert
The 14th annual Tellabration!™ concert, which was held on November 19, 2016 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a success!! 50 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. Special guest storyteller Antonio Sacre joined Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, and John St. Clair. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world cookies and Jayne Sjodin and Rhoda Huffman for providing the table for the drinks.

Antonio Sacre

2016 Spring Concert
The 2016 Spring Concert was held on April 2 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 32 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowrey, Nick Smith, and John St. Clair were joined by guest teller Aunt Li-Anne Rowswell. Special thanks go to the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility, Chris St. Clair for coordinating the refreshments, and the many IVS members who contributed food and drink.

Aunt Li-Anne

2015 Tellabration!™ Concert
The 13th annual Tellabration!™ concert, which was held on November 21, 2015 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 73 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. The Folk Music Center donated $12 to IVS to support storytelling. Thanks Ellen! Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, Penelope Mann, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Barbara Rugeley was the emcee. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world cookies and Jayne Sjodin for providing a table for the refreshments.

2015 Spring Concert
The 2015 Spring Concert was held on May 16 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 29 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. John St. Clair and Angela Lloyd shared the emcee duties. Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowrey, Nick Smith, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Special thanks go to the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility, Chris St. Clair for coordinating the refreshments, and the many IVS members who contributed food and drink.

Tellabration!™ 2014 concert
The Tellabration!™ 2014 concert, which was held on November 19, 2014 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 80 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. It was a very responsive audience. The Folk Music Center donated $20 to IVS to support storytelling. Thanks Ellen! Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, Penelope Mann, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Angela Lloyd and John St. Clair shared the emcee duties. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world cookies.

2014 Spring Concert
The 2014 Spring Concert was held on May 17 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 47 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. John St. Clair and Angela Lloyd shared the emcee duties. Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowrey, Patricia Snow, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Special thanks go to the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility, Chris St. Clair for coordinating the refreshments, and the many IVS members who contributed food and drink.

Tellabration!™ 2013
The Tellabration!™ 2013 concert, which was held on November 23, 2013 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 83 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. It was a very responsive audience. Jeff Gere from Hawaii was our guest teller. Inland Valley Storytellers Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, John St. Clair, Nick Smith, Ron Chick, Ron Evans, Adrien Lowery, and Penelope Mann also told captivating stories. Angela Lloyd and John St. Clair shared the emcee duties. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the intermission refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world cookies.

Guest Teller Jeff Gere

2013 Spring Concert
The 2013 Spring Concert was held on April 6 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 39 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. Patricia Snow was the emcee. Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Nick Smith, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowrey and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Special thanks go to the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility, Chris St. Clair for coordinating the refreshments, and the many IVS members who contributed food and drink.

Tellabration!™ 2012
The Tellabration!™ 2012 concert, which was held on November 17, 2012 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 70 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. It was a very responsive audience. Two people even anonymously donated a total of $30 to IVS to support storytelling. Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Nick Smith, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowery, Penelope Mann, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Angela Lloyd and John St. Clair shared the emcee duties. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the intermission refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world cookies.

2012 Spring Concert
The 2012 Spring Concert was held on May 12 from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 32 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. Patricia Snow was the emcee. Guest tellers Barbara H. Clark and Joe Herrington joined Inland Valley Storytellers members Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Chick, Adrien Lowrey and John St. Clair telling captivating stories. Special thanks go to guest tellers Barbara H. Clark and Joe Herrington and the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot drinks and out of this world chocolate chip cookies.

29th Annual Southern California Story Swap Festival
The Inland Valley Storytellers hosted the 29th Annual Southern California Story Swap Festival on April 28, 2012. This was an all day event from 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Karen Rae Kraut, Nick Smith, and Angela Lloyd led workshops in the morning. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the food and many IVS members contributed lots of great food. A special thanks goes to the five people (John St. Clair, Chris St. Clair, Jayne Sjodin, Rhoda Huffmann, and Charlie Young) who volunteered the whole day and helped make the day enjoyable for all.

Tellabration!™ 2011
The Tellabration!™ 2011 concert, which was held on November 19, 2011 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 51 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. It was a very responsive audience. Inland Valley Storytellers members Patricia Snow, Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Nick Smith was the emcee. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the intermission refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world chocolate chip cookies.

2011 Spring Concert
The 2011 Spring Concert was held on April 16 from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. 41 people paid to hear a wonderful variety of stories. Patricia Snow was the emcee. Guest teller Steven Henegar joined Inland Valley Storytellers members Penelope Mann, Sara Truitt, Angela Lloyd, Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Chick, and John St. Clair telling captivating stories. Special thanks go to guest teller Steven Henegar and the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility. Many IVS members contributed goodies for the intermission refreshments.

Sisters in Song and Story
The Sisters in Song and Story concert was held on January 16 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse. There were 35 paid attendees who enjoyed the combination of stories and songs shared by Angela Lloyd, Nancy Schimmel, and Olga Loya.

Tellabration!™ 2010
The Tellabration!™ 2010 concert, which was held on November 20, 2010 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 65 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. It was a very responsive audience. Inland Valley Storytellers members Angela Lloyd, Nick Smith, Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, Brenna Kelly, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Patricia Snow was the emcee. Special thanks go to the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the intermission refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world chocolate chip cookies.

2010 Spring Concert
The spring 2010 concert, which was held on April 24, 2010 at the Claremont Friends Meetinghouse, was a great success!! Inland Valley Storytellers members Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Evans, Ron Chick, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Special thanks go to guest tellers Leslie Perry and Marilyn McPhie as well as the Claremont Friends Meeting for letting us use their facility (and Ron Evans for making all the arrangements to use the facility). As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the intermission refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. Also as usual Paul's chocolate chip cookies were out of sight!


John St. Clair with guest tellers Leslie Perry and Marilyn McPhie at the 2010 spring concert.

Tellabration!™ 2009
The Tellabration!™ 2009 concert, which was held on November 21, 2009 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! 55 people paid to listen to an amazing variety of stories. An additional 5 children were admitted free. It was a very responsive audience. Inland Valley Storytellers members Patricia Snow, Nick Smith, Karen Rae Kraut, Ron Evans, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Special thanks go to guest teller Jim Cogan, who told a fascinating tale full of history and humor, and the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. As usual Chris St. Clair did a great job coordinating the intermission refreshments and many IVS members contributed goodies. A special thanks goes to Paul Bublin for providing the hot chocolate and out of this world chocolate chip cookies.

2009 Spring Concert
The spring 2009 concert, which was held on May 9, 2009 at the Claremont Forum, was a great success!! Special thanks go to guest teller Joe Herrington and the Claremont Forum for letting us use their facility again this year.

Tellabration!™ 2008
The Tellabration!™ 2008 concert, which was held on November 22, 2008 at the Claremont Folk Music Center, was a great success!! Inland Valley Storytellers members Patricia Snow, Nick Smith, Karen Rae Kraut, Breena Kelley, and John St. Clair told captivating stories. Special thanks go to guest tellers Angela Lloyd, Liebe Gray, and Ross Altman and the Claremont Folk Music Center for letting us use their facility again this year. An extra special thanks goes to Karen Rae Kraut for being an awesome storyteller under duress.

Storytelling Workshop with Angela Lloyd
June 21, 2008 from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM at The Claremont Forum
Participants in the workshop had a good time. Thanks to Angela for doing the workshop with us.

2008 Spring Concert
The spring 2008 concert, which was held on April 26, 2008 at the Claremont Forum, was a great success!! Special thanks go to guest teller Padraic Keohane and the Claremont Forum for letting us use their facility again this year.

There were other prior events which are not listed here. The Inland Valley Storytellers started producing concerts with the Tellabration! 2003 concert at the Claremont Forum. We have been producing at least two concerts per year since then. The Tellabration! concert is always the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the Claremont Folk Music Center and the spring concert is in either April or May at the Claremont Friends Meeting facility.

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