A group of oratorically gifted Islanders will offer up their best homespun stories — some funny, others heartfelt — at Vashon’s Tall Tales Festival Saturday night.

The event was first organized by Islander and mother Leslie Enzian three years ago in an effort to “keep storytelling alive in our community,” she said. The event has gotten stronger and livelier each year.

“I think storytelling is a fabulous way to connect community in a non-electronic, face-to-face way,” she said. “Storytelling allows us to share our unique experiences with others and offers an opportunity to relate collective truths in a fun, memorable and meaningful way.”

Storytellers include Steffon Moody, known “for telling outlandish tales with an underlying universal message,” Enzian said; Crista Walker in a debut performance with a comical story about how it is better not to hold things inside; Cindy O’Brien and Drew Middlebrooks, who will take a humorous look at a misunderstanding between two people, and others.

The event, which will be emceed by Stacey Hinden, is a fundraiser for the Vashon Wilderness Program, which teaches children how to track, identify native plants, build a primitive fire and other outdoor skills.

Enzian said she organized the fundraiser because of her deep appreciation for the wilderness program. “This program has offered the most meaningful education my two children have experienced in that it has enabled them to feel at home in, and a part of, nature,” she said.

The Tall Tales Festival will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Havurat Ee Shalom, at 15401 Westside Hwy S.W. Tickets — $8 per person or $18 per family — are available at Vashon Bookshop or Books by the Way. An optional soup-and-bread dinner will be held for $5 before the event at a nearby home. For dinner tickets, call Leslie Enzian at 567-5748.

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