RISING STARS Mckinney Storytelling Guild's Charlene Winger-Bearskin Charlene Winger-Bearskin, educator, consultant, and storyteller is a member of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma whose ancestral home was the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy in western New York. Over the years she has actively listened to and collected the oral traditions of the Seneca. She tells the stories of her native heritage, as well as those of many other traditional and indigenous cultures around the world. Charlene holds a Masters Degree in educational psychology, and has recently retired and moved to McKinney, where she has become a favorite teller in the McKinney Storytelling Guild. Contact Information charwb@newdirections-na.com Richardson/Plano Storytelling Guild's Ann Marie Newman A high-energy teller with a performing arts background, Ann Marie has been joyfully telling tales for 12 years. She loves incorporating character voices, facial expressions, body language & audience interaction into her stories for listeners of all ages. Ann Marie has performed her tales at community events, storytelling festivals, libraries, schools, churches and various other venues, most of which were in Florida where she lived with her family before they relocated to the fine state of Texas in the fall of 2005. Contact Information annstoryart@sbcglobal.net San Antonio Storytellers Association's Larry Thompson Larry Thompson has been telling stories for 15 years. However, if you ask his mother, she'd say he's been telling stories for nearly 40 years. He specializes in Full-Contact storytelling ? offering the audience a chance to participate in the fun. Larry tells cowboy tales, folk tales, home grown tales and guarantees to make you smile. With campfire tales, both chilling and not-so-chilling, his outdoor performances have been enjoyed by children and adults from Texas to Georgia. Contact Informatin lthompson@rfdinc.com Mesquite Stroytellers of Abilene Bob Caffey Married 48 years to Barbara Wright Caffey High school sweetheart five children four daughters one son; 15 grandchildren, & 5 great grandchildren. Graduated high school from Sidney High, Sidney TX in 1957 Graduated College BS Physical Education and Business from Texas Wesleyan, Fort Worth, TX 1971 Marketing Education Teacher & coach. I retired after 31 years at Comanche High School. Prior to Storytelling I was in Toastmasters for 15 years Member of Mesquite Story Tellers in Abilene Texas for the past 6 years past president Contact Information bcaffey@cctc.net Central Texas Storytelling Guild's Ben Benford Ben Benford - Poet, Writer and Storyteller. Ben draws from his native Texas African American roots to tell folktales and personal stories. He is a University of Texas at Austin graduate. Ben is a member of Tejas Storytelling Association and Central Texas Storytelling Guild. Contact Information laurabenford@sbcglobal.net Back to the Tellers Tarrant Area Guild of Storytellers Susuan Koskelin Susan Koskelin - has been a teacher and/or librarian for more than 25 years. She has taught in Alabama and Maryland as well as Texas. With degrees in Special Education, Music, and Library Science, she has worked with all levels and all ages of students. Knowing that music is not only loved by students but is also a way of teaching, she uses her harp to entrance students along with telling stories to them. She worked for two years with the Ft. Worth ISD as part of the M.U.S.E. Grant (Museums Utilizing Storytelling in Education). As well as storytelling she makes media presentations to schools on the Alamo, Black Cowboys, World War II, Log Cabin Village, and more. Contact Information: srkoskelin@charter.net

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