RANGELEY — Folklorist, storyteller, poet and writer Peggy Yocom will lead a free workshop, How To Recall and Tell Our Stories, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 29, at the Rangeley Library.

Participants will learn fun ways to mine their memories for stories and to encourage their relatives to tell stories that all will treasure. For adults and older youths, the workshop will be especially useful to people who want to remember past events, to write pieces that draw on memory, to research family history, to make family scrapbooks, and to have more tales to tell on cozy fireside evenings.

People who would like to  just to listen to stories are also welcome. The workshop is part of the Rangeley Library’s Tuesday Night series, viewable at rangeleylibrary.org/calendar.

“People can choose whether or not to share their stories in the workshop,” Yocom said, “but I’m sure people will recall stories they will want to tell others sometime.”

Participants will leave with new ideas, new stories and a handout on techniques and resources.

From 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, Western Maine Storytelling invites anyone who would like to listen to stories or to share a story to attend the Storytelling Swap at the Rangeley Library. Three members of Western Maine Storytelling will also be on hand with stories to tell.

Through its events, Western Maine Storytelling hopes to underscore the vital role storytelling plays in people’s lives. Research has shown that reminiscence connects strangers, strengthens the links between generations, and gives children a crucial sense of identity.

Yocom grew up listening to her grandparents’ stories in the Pennsylvania German farm country. She has been writing about the people of Rangeley, especially those families who work in the timber woods, since 1975. 

Both events are part of Western Maine Storytelling’s “A Community Celebration of Stories!,” a series of workshops and informal storytelling gatherings in four area towns: Livermore Falls, Wilton, Rangeley and Farmington, made possible by grants from the Maine Humanities Council and United Way of the Tri-Valley Area.

Organized in 2011, Western Maine Storytelling is a group of storytellers and story-listeners who present programs and support the art of storytelling in the region for audiences of all ages.

FMI: 207-864-5529; 207-864-3421, myocom@gmu.edu, westernmainestorytelling.org, margaretyocom.com.  

Peggy Yocom