(Photos by Felicia R. Black)
The fourth annual “True Stories” delivered an afternoon of entertaining tales to a packed crowd of more than 125 in the Tikvat Israel social hall on Nov. 13. About 75 congregants and 50 visitors were treated to 10 of the best professional and amateur Washington, D.C.-area storytellers. More than half of the audience had been to a previous “True Stories” event, a testimony to the entertainment value.
John Melmed, chairman of the “True Stories” event and a key member of Hopeful Communicators Toastmasters Club, said “The show is clearly building a core of storytelling fans, eager to watch this burgeoning art form.”
Each storyteller shared award-winning true stories, averaging 5-10 minutes in length, that transported the listeners to a different time and place. Their anecdotes had audience members laughing, tearing up, gasping in surprise and picturing beautiful hair curls, sailboats and an enterprising fortune teller.
This popular fundraising event is a joint effort of Tikvat Israel and the Hopeful Communicators Toastmasters Club, which meets at 8 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month in the shul’s Flax Library. The club is open to new members. Contact Melmed at .
