WAXHAW – On the evening of Saturday, June 25, 2022, the Museum of the Waxhaws presented Historic Waxhaw Stories and Folklore to the community. The museum hosted the event and the best storytellers in the town sat down and gave one of the best presentations the museum has hosted. During the event, Joyce Blythe and Melvin Faris sat down in true southern-style white rocking chairs to tell stories of the town and folklore to entertain all.
Over the course of the evening, the audience had a wonderful chance to hear stories from Melvin and Joyce, personal stories of their childhood memories of the town along with amazing folklore stories that have been shared from generation to generation. As the two sat in their chairs, rocking together and engaging you could just see the audience bringing the stories to life in their minds. Even though the event is set up in a presentation style The most wonderful part of the experience for both the audience and the presenters is to see the experience come full circle. This truly was a night that the magic came alive in the museum. During the presentation, a slide show was shown behind the place where Joyce and Melvin sat, the show displayed pictures of the town and correlated with stories that were being told. Nothing brings a good story together better than pictures. After the presentation guests were shown a “then and now” program. The program gave a glimpse of what the Town of Waxhaw from many years ago looked like and then showed a picture of the exact spot in town now. It was also a huge hit with everyone in the crowd and brought the whole experience together.
“When people hear the old stories of Waxhaw, they become their stories too. So, through storytelling, we build and connect our community. We hope that by sharing our folklore, people can get a glimpse of Waxhaw’s former close-knit community and true small-town charm. And Melvin and Joyce are the best Waxhaw storytellers around!” Kris Morefield, Board President of the Museum of the Waxhaws commented on the event. The museum was very grateful for the turnout of the event. The audience had lots of faces that they have been greeted with before, but during this event, there were also many new faces. It is always nice to see new faces join the crowd to learn about the history of the town. Over the years the town has seen alot of growth and having those new faces and families come in and learn about what a small town that Waxhaw used to be and how it has grown is wonderful. The stories that are shared are then able to be shared with their friends and family whether from the area or not, it allows the history to stay alive. That is one goal of the events, is for the history of the town and the folklore to live on from generation to generation.
After the “Then and Now” and at the end of the evening, Melvin presented Joyce with a movie poster from the Waxhaw Movie Theater. The movie theater in town is now the location of Provisions. The movie poster was for the 1950 Roy Rogers movie, Bells of Coronado. From start to end the evening was full of smiles, stories, and success.
For upcoming events like this one please visit http://museumofthewaxhaws.org/ and for more information on events around town and history please follow The Museum of the Waxhaws on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/museumofthewaxhaws/.
