May 3, 2020
By: Bill Conger
From the Smithville Jamboree to intoxicating tales of moonshine in the area, the 15th Annual Dot’s Storytelling Day was held May 2 online. Due to the restrictions from the COVID-19 virus, the event was conducted over a zoom conference meeting with the theme, “T & T: Tales and Tidbits.” Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, Oscar and Mary Boyd now of Alabama, Susan and Jerry Hinton, and Bill Conger shared stories.
“The quality made up for the quantity,” said Susan Hinton, co-founder of the storytelling event. “We had really interesting stories, and this year we talked a lot about the Jamboree and how it got started. There were a lot of interesting stories today that I did not know, so I’m going to have to write some things down.”
“We talked about how the Jamboree has supported civic organizations through the years and how much money it brought in. One interesting story Oscar told about he was going to a restaurant, and they would not take any money from him. He said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘We’re watching you on TV right now’. He also told about some well-known entertainers in Russia, and they had their chance of going anywhere in the world, and they chose to come to Smithville to perform.”
The idea for the event came from Dot Tittsworth who started the event with Hinton in 2005.
“I was the skeptical one. I said I just don’t think it will go over, and she said, ‘I really believe that people in Smithville have just as many interesting tales as they do in Jonesboro, TN, where the national storytelling is held.”
Money raised from “Dot’s Storytelling Day” benefits Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a book giving program that donates to children from birth to their first day of school. Anyone who would like to make an additional donation may drop it off at County Mayor Tim Stribling’s office in the DeKalb County Courthouse.