Date: Fri 16-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Illustration: C

Location: A-9

Quick Words:

storyteller-Rayno-Grey-Horse

Full Text:

(feature on storyteller Joyce Marie Rayno, 2/16/96)

Storyteller To Tell Tales At Grey Horse Gallery

(with photo)

By Kaaren Valenta

Joyce Marie Rayno could live three lifetimes and never run out of stories to

tell.

From her repertoire called "Myths, Mysteries and Miracles," the professional

storyteller entertains audiences of all ages with stories drawn from folk

tales, fairy tales, Indian legend, mysteries and the classics.

She will be appearing at the Grey Horse Gallery in Sandy Hook from 2 to 3 pm

on Sunday, February 25, with a program designed for ages "1 to 101."

"I like all kinds of stories," Mrs Rayno said. "But I cannot tell a story

unless I feel it. The story has to have some kind of a message.

The mother of four grown children, and grandmother of five - with two more on

the way - Joyce Marie has been a professional storyteller for seven years. She

has already been commissioned twice, has told stories at the Connecticut State

Tell-A-Bration in 1990 and 1994 and was featured at the only First Night

celebration that Watertown held in 1991.

Yet about ten years ago she was anxious and almost housebound, afraid to

answer the telephone, terrified at the idea of speaking in front of a group.

Her anxiety had begun to overwhelm her.

"I had been home for 20 years raising a family," she said. "Now my youngest

child was leaving home, my first grandchild hadn't been born yet, and I

decided that I needed to go back to work."

She had tried to keep up her typing and shorthand skills but her first job

interview was unnerving.

"The typewriter was so different. I couldn't even figure out where the on-off

button was," she explained. "I realized that I might have to go back to

school, but if I did, I didn't know if I wanted to be a secretary again or

have a 9-to-5 job."

What she did want was to set her own hours, make good money and - most of all

- "do something that I'd love to do."

So she prayed about it and asked herself what she loved to do.

"I love to read, so I thought I'd like to work in a library or bookstore,"

Joyce said. "I got an application at the library, but on the way home the wind

blew it out the car window. I decided that God didn't want me to work at the

library."

Instead, she went to the bookstore in Southbury's Heritage Bazaar and asked

about employment.

"The clerk, a young woman named Elizabeth Merritt, told me there weren't any

openings [at the time], but then she asked me to go to lunch with her. During

lunch, she told me that no one knew she would be leaving in a few months and

that her job would be available."

That same weekend, Joyce Marie Rayno and her husband, John, were watching

television at their home in Southbury when they saw a program called The

Storyteller, which was produced by Jim Hensen, creator of the Muppets.

"I saw that program and knew immediately that's what I want to do - be a

storyteller," Mrs Rayno said. "I knew that if I didn't try, I would always

regret it."

She went to the Southbury Public Library to get books on storytelling and was

told she needed to order the book she was looking for through a bookstore. So

she went back to the bookstore, where Elizabeth Merritt worked, and soon

learned - much to her surprise - that Elizabeth was a professional

storyteller.

"She brought me to a storytelling group in Greenwich and to the state

conference," Mrs Rayno said. "From that time until late August, when she moved

to Missouri, she did everything she could to help me become a storyteller. She

made me believe I could do it."

"I feel that she was put into my life at that time for that purpose," Mrs

Rayno said.

Using the stories provided by Elizabeth Merritt as a base, Joyce Marie began

to develop her own programs customized for various audiences. Among the

programs are "Mother Goose Comes to Visit," "American Girl Dolls Tell Their

Stories," "Saints Alive!," "Ghostly Shadows and Shakes," "Connecticut

Folklore," "Have You Ever Seen a Leprechaun?" "Winsome Sit and Wisdom,"

"Stories From Around the World," "Fairytales and Fortitude," and "Love Makes

the World Go 'Round."

Her stories have many messages - inspirational, humorous, religious and

cultural - depending on her audience. She regularly performs at libraries,

schools, hospitals, child and adult day care centers, convalescent homes,

churches, senior centers, stores, parks and festivals.

Joyce Marie Rayno is a member of the National Association of Story-Telling,

the League for the Advancement of New England Story-Telling, and the

Talewaggers of New Milford.

Darryl Ifkovic, owner of the Grey Horse Gallery, located in the old post

office building in Sandy Hook, is sponsoring the storytelling session on

February 25. It will be held upstairs in the Dance Center. Extra parking is

available in the lot off Church Hill Road behind 100 Church Hill Road

Restaurant and other shops, with easy access across the footbridge. For

details, call the gallery at 426-1199.