Storytelling was a great success

To the editor:

What began on Friday as a rainy festival concluded Sunday with beautiful spring weather, lots to be proud of and a standing ovation. The Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival was a great success. The storytellers themselves, as well as many tourists, were impressed with the event, and what a rewarding experience it was to have it held in our historic downtown.

Thank you to Chuck Martin and Dr. Joel Rhodes for their vision and the extraordinary job they did organizing the storytelling festival. In addition, the Convention and Visitors Bureau staff and many volunteers were phenomenal. The Southeast Missourian, KFVS12 and WSIU Public Broadcasting provided great media coverage of the event, helping document its progress and success. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to bring this event to our city. It was an opportunity to highlight our community, bring in tourists and bring out our own citizens.

A storytelling festival is a family event with economic impact. This event has great potential for our community, and we just got a sweet little taste this year.

Thank you to the sponsors: Drury Hotels and Drury Southwest, Southern Convenience Stores, Shivelbine's and the Missouri Arts Council. You are helping make our community stronger with your sponsorship.

The story being told is that organizers are already looking at ways to tweak the festival for next year, so mark your calendars for April 3 to 5, 2009. There are more stories to be told.

MARLA MILLS, Executive Director, Old Town Cape, Cape Girardeau