January 6, 2012
A storytelling tradition that's centuries old continues in Ithaca this weekend, with a Twelfth Night celebration on Saturday evening at the Unitarian Church. The community-run event begins at 7:30, and features stories, snacks, and merriment.
Danby resident Karen Thurnheer tells a story at a Twelfth Night celebration. Photo by Bill Mutch of Midcoast Photo Service, provided.In Ithaca, the tradition goes back "only" a little over three decades, as a way to mark the end of the holiday season on (or near) the "twelfth night of Christmas." Everyone who attends is welcome to tell a story, and many do. Organizer Phil Shapiro says "Most of the storytellers tell exactly one story a year in public, and that, of course, is at Twelfth Night."
Though the event has its roots in Christmas tradition, and takes place at a church, it's not a religious event, per se. (The church is just a convenient space to rent, say organizers.)
At some point in the evening, says Shapiro, the storytelling will be interrupted as it is every year, by "a band of travelling players who will regale the assembled multitudes with an outrageous Mummers' Play, part of an age-old tradition." Bob DeLuca, one of the longtime participants, passed away in October, but the tradition continues. DeLuca was an organizer of the Binghamton Morris Men, who've long served as Mummers, and was an actor in the Ithaca Shakespeare Company.
Organizers ask that attendees bring "a tasty treat to share, and a couple of bucks to share expenses." The Unitarian Church is at the corner of Buffalo and Aurora Streets in Downtown Ithaca.
