April Storytellers event to feature food tales
The next Rochester Storytellers Night hosted by the Democrat and Chronicle will feature entertaining stories about food in our lives, told by people who live and work in the Rochester area.
The April 17, show starts at 7 p.m. at Comedy@The Carlson, 50 Carlson Road. Doors open at 6 p.m. The venue and bathrooms are wheelchair accessible. Free parking is in a lot across the street. ASL interpreters may be provided with at least two weeks notice.
Tickets are on sale now at https://storytellersproject.enmotive.com . The cost is $12. Food and drink will be available for sale.
Seven Rochester-area residents are scheduled to tell stories at the April show.
Pauly Guglielmo had a 15-year career in radio, most of it spent as producer and personality on the Brother Wease show, until left radio in 2020 to purchase a Bergen food production company now called Craft Cannery and his own line of Guglielmo’s pasta sauces. His story will travel from his hometown of Conneaut, Ohio, to his experiences as a Rotary exchange student in Italy.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and a few other Ontario County communities for the Canandaigua Daily Messenger, which also runs his Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He grew up in Webster, and will tell the tale of how a burger joint that’s still around today became his home away from home.
Doug Ackley was born in Boston and stands tall for Boston’s cuisine and sports teams. When he and his wife decided to relocate to Rochester around the turn of the Millennium, he decided to make his mark in an escapade that involved the city’s most famous dish. Ackley is Rochester Executive Director at Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc., where he has worked for the past 31 years.
Richard Gause and his family operate G&G Steakout II at 810 Genesee St. in Rochester, reviving a family tradition his parents had begun with the original G&G Steakout a few decades ago. Gause will share a story recollecting how as a child he observed -- and smelled and tasted -- his father’s barbecuing efforts.
Leah Stacy is the editor of CITY and a Rochester native who has melded storytelling and hospitality experience to produce several local events and media brands, including Rochester Cocktail Revival, Boomtown Table and upcoming web series The Moveable Feast. She’ll share her personal journey from growing up in a sober conservative environment to championing the food and beverage community.
Chris Lindstrom founded the Food About Town podcast in 2012 and was a storyteller at a D&C Storytellers Night in 2017. This time around, Lindstrom will tell a story about how he found a community through food.
Aretha “Ms. Tee” McLamore will return to the Storytellers stage for the second time. She owns Ma’ama Tee’s Cookin’ and Catering in Charlotte. She grew up in Rochester’s Bull’s Head neighborhood, but her tale will take the audience to France where her taste for adventurous food led her astray for the first time.
Be a teller at an upcoming show
The Democrat and Chronicle is looking for storytellers from all backgrounds who are willing to share their true, first-person stories at upcoming shows. Tellers will work with journalists to shape a 7- to 10-minute story around the theme of the night. Tellers receive between three and five hours of training in all. The next show will be:
Nov. 20: Holiday Travel TalesWe all have heard that getting there is half the fun. Is that really true, though, when we seek to travel to visit loved ones or friends for a holiday visit, or when they travel to visit us? We’re looking for stories of people in motion and all the heartbreak and hilarity they might have encountered along the way. Stories can intersect with any religious or secular holiday. It also could pertain to Independence Day or New Year’s celebrations from any culture. To pitch your story, email TracyS@Gannett.com. Include your name, age, place of residence and a few sentences describing the story you want to tell. The Rochester Storytellers Project team will curate the evening to make sure the tellers are diverse and that there’s a mix of stories that will result in an entertaining evening.