TELLICO VILLAGE — The Tellico Community Playhouse is hosting a special guest at its session on April 25.

Master gardener and seed saver John Coykendall will be coming to Tellico Village to speak with those in attendance. Coykendall comes from Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn.

The Tellico Community Playhouse Director of Studio 212 Debbie Mayberry talked about Coykendall’s guest appearance.


“He is a really entertaining storyteller,” Mayberry said, regarding Coykendall. “He collects rare and endangered seeds and will tell us about his many stories over the years.”

Coykendall’s guest appearance is the latest event in Tellico Community Playhouse’s mission to build up storytelling.

“This year, we started our storytelling initiative,” Mayberry told The Connection. “Tellico is just the right place for storytellers. There are stories everywhere here.”

Bo Carey was a Storyteller at the Tellico Community Playhouse

Coykendall will join other people who have come to the Tellico Community Playhouse for storytelling.

Loudon County native Bo Carey spoke to the group back before this and told Christmas stories.

Mayberry added: “He [Carey] entertained us with his guitar and we had a wonderful time listening to his stories. Then, we listened to stories from the people that were in attendance because that’s the beauty of this whole program.”

Storyteller Initiative Goal, Future Events

Mayberry talked more about the goal for Studio 212’s storytelling initiative and what kind of people should join in.

“We are trying to reach people who like to listen to and write about stories,” Mayberry said. “We also want to find people who want to become storytellers. Our sessions are all centered around Appalachian customs.”

The Tellico Community Playhouse director also talked about plans for the future of storytelling sessions for Studio 212.

“We hope to have a ghost story session at some point in October,” Mayberry stated. “There is another fun one we want to do called a ‘liars contest.’”

The Tellico Community Playhouse event with Coykendall guest-speaking is Saturday, April 25, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event is at the Tellico Community Playhouse on Lakeside Plaza in Tellico Village. It is free admission to the public and you can sign-up by visiting tellicocommunityplayhouse.org/programs/storytelling-initiative.