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As I stood before the couple of hundred students from grades 1-5 in the packed cafetorium, I mustered every ounce of energy I could draw upon. The vigor of these 200 plus youngsters bounced through the air like an electrical charge. My colleague, storyteller Carrie Sue Ayvar and I were there to present our program, Florida’s Past: True and Tall Tales. In today’s fast-paced and rapidly changing world, history is not a sought-after subject for students, and it becomes an increasingly difficult one for teachers to tackle. Carrie and I have used our talents as storytellers to make history jump off the page. Our efforts have brought much reward. Just look at the word “history.” Hyphenate it and you have “Hi Story!!” What is history, after all? – the stories of humankind throughout the ages.

There we stood, opening with a song I wrote, a kind of chant and cheer,

Way down south in sunny Florida/You might find an alligator in your yarida/Ghosts and pirates in the Everglades/And a “cracker” from Jacksonville down to Dade/Give me an F–F, L–L, ORIDA HOORAY–ORIDA HOORAY!

After warming up the audience with this participatory song, we went into our tales of Ponce De Leon searching for gold, silver, and the Fountain of Youth; Jonathan Dickinson and the amazing stories from his detailed Journal about shipwreck, the Spanish, “Nickaleers,” and old Florida; pirates whose constant raids upon Florida’s coasts ultimately caused Spain to sell Florida to the U.S. — cheap; readings of a mosquito attack while herding cattle written by Patrick D. Smith in his book, A Land Remembered;the so-called eighth wonder of the world: the building of the Key West Railroad by Henry Flagler; an intriguing folktale of Angelina and the Little Magic Man in which the children ultimately save Angelina by telling her the answers to three questions about Florida; the inspirational tale of how Mary McLeod Bethune warded of raiding Klansmen by having her students sing hymns in the dark as the Klan brandished their torches; and ending with the story of Brother Monday, ”The Great Florida Alligator Conjure Man.” In between, a kazoo announcing them, we offered some fascinating facts as “Florida Fun Facts,” such tidbits as: In 1958 a first and only college of its kind was established in St. Petersburg, Florida — a Clown College! Or “Do you know what Mosquito County’s name was changed to? — Orange County because of all the scrumptilitious, healthy, juicy Florida oranges growing there by then (not to mention that Orange County might draw more tourists than Mosquito County.)

The stories and readings of segments of books are interspersed with songs I wrote such as the pirate song: From Estero to The Keys/Marco Island to St. Pete/Boca Grande to Tarpon Springs/Florida’s pirate history sings. And, after asking the audience who knows how many counties there are in Florida today, the “Florida Counties Rap” reveals the names of all 67 counties: There’s Jackson, and Jefferson, named after presidents/And Lafayette, French pirate, whose life at sea was spent…

The children sit, mouths agape, as we tell our tales, and they heartily join in when asked to do so. Comments from teachers and evaluation sheets sent to us by students and teachers alike, tell us that we are succeeding in making history what it truly is — stories: and stories are something we all remember.

I firmly believe that humankind cannot build a humane future without understanding the past. We must excite our youth – and the teachers who teach them – about history. There is no doubt that drama, storytelling and all the Arts play a major role in accomplishing this.

I stood upon that stage today, the Florida humidity and heat plus the spotlights causing me to sweat uncomfortably. We had our high quality PA system for amplification. Still, we had to compete with the din of pots and pans in the kitchen as lunch was prepared for the 10:30 first shift and, on top of that, the racket made everytime the air conditioner kicked in. Momentarily thoughts entered my mind of roadies, limousines, dressing rooms (versus hiding behind the curtains or going to the Teachers Lounge to get into costume), and not having to arise at 4:30 in the morning in order to leave before the onslaught of major traffic. “Oh, to be famous. Oh, to make mega bucks, not what the school budget provides…”

And then I looked at the faces in the audience. I thought of these youngsters, plagued with so much empty-headed junk offered in the media today. Here Carrie and I stood upon the stage offering genuine history through our true and tall tales: tales that make children’s jaws hang open in wonder, their eyes widen in amazement, their hands clap along, their questions inspired by the show boil over and make them want to hear and see more.

What the Hecky? Hecky was my father’s name, and his story is told in my memoir about him, Rudolph, Frosty, And Captain Kangaroo: The Musical Life of Hecky Krasnow — Producer of the World’s Most Beloved Children’s Songs. When he was Director of Children’s Records at Columbia in the Golden Age of kid-disks, he offered quality educational entertainment to youth when records were the primary form of entertainment for youth. I have followed in his footsteps, just presenting my offerings in different venues that include noisy cafetoriums filled with the scent of years of overcooked broccoli permeating the air while mingling with the smell of McDonald’s fries. It makes me feel good to do what I do – a mitzvah (good deed that is its own reward) done and done well. History has come alive, and the children love it!

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.