Memories of Elder Stone

By Mary Grace Ketner

  The other day I was cleaning out my garage, which included going through a file cabinet that I hadn’t opened in years, and I came across a poem written by Elder Stone, a beloved storyteller and a longtime member and faithful leader in SASA. Elder called the poem “SASAfied,” and it goes like this: Have you ever had the urge to tell a story, true or tall? It just stays below the surface waiting for a wakeup call. You’ve been SASAfied!  Do your friends call you a liar when you pass along some item? That you’ve picked up in your reading and you’ve added infinitum? You’ve been SASAfied!  Do you listen to another spin a yarn or tell a story? Taking notes of every sentence to reuse at a future soiree? You’ve been SASAfied!  Do you quote from Scott Fitzgerald? Dobie? Poe and maybe others? Or even from the classics like the Karamasov brothers? You’ve been SASAfied! When you are in a crowd of three expounding on things dramatic, do your companions realize that it’s just automatic? You’ve been SASAfied!  But don’t worry if there is no cure for your extreme condition. Just relax and open up, and further the tradition. For you have a malady that I guess we all suffer. That story just must burst forth; you haven’t any buffer. The Good Lord will not castigate if you should stretch the truth, or embellish someone else’s tale and add to it forsooth. So jump in and tell your story, don’t ever run and hide, You’re in the best of company since you’ve been SASAfied!

You can see Elder loved SASA, and SASA loved him back. When we first met him, he had retired after 22 years in the air force, and retired again after working for the San Antonio Parks department. We got to know his wife, Jeannie Belle, and we actually came to know his daughter Sheryl and his son R.B. as well. Besides SASA, he volunteered at the Guerra Library and at the Air Force Museum, and he was very active in his church.

 We’ve been without Elder since 2015, but we have lots of memories, and what WE remember most is that Elder was just always there for SASA. He came to meetings early to be sure the chairs were set up right. He had that thankless job of treasurer for a decade. He always came to Tellabration! Whether he was telling that year or not, and he’d find some way to help. He participated in our other little sets around town and even at the Texas Folklife Festival. One year he was our Rising Star at the Texas Storytelling Festival.

 Elder had created the fictional town of Brownwater, Texas, and populated it with some wild and crazy characters. There would be cats flying through the air around the Katzenheimers household, and that preacher at the Heavens to Goodness Church and that couple Ella and Sam who owned the Sam and Ella Cafe. Then, at Christmastime, he’d always retell his sweet story about a little mouse. Marvin? Was that his name? He’d pitch his voice high and talk like a little mouse.

 In the ‘90s, Elder started a tradition that lasted a dozen years or so: Stories Galore! Once a month on a Sunday evening he would host a story circle of his own. It started out in a coffeehouse on Avenue A, but that closed, then he migrated to a bar on St. Mary’s Strip, but that closed, then to a B&B on the Riverwalk, until it close—Elder always said he was good at closing things down. It found its final home at the Commander House, a City Senior Center, which is still there—though right now it’s closed for renovation. Each month he would have a featured teller for a half hour or so, then an open story circle. And I bet you have some memories of the way he closed those meetings.

 It went something like this:

 "We hope you come back next time, but if you can't, don't worry about it. Because in life, there are only two things to worry about, whether you eat, or whether you don’t. 

 Now when he got to the part about “two things to worry about,” we’d all mumble  something like, “Yeah?” Or “What are they?” Or what do you mean. And when he gave the two options, we’d nod and agree and say, “Oh, yeah!” Or “That’s right!” Or “Amen!” So let’s try it again, and you do your part!

 Just remember, in this life, you’ve only got two things to worry about (What’s that?): whether you eat, or whether you don’t eat. (Oh, yeah!)

 And if you can eat, there’s nothin’ to worry about, but if you don’t eat, you’ve only got two thing to worry about: whether you’re well or you’re sick.

 If you're well, there is nothing to worry about, but if you're sick, you’ve only got two things to worry about, whether you live, or whether you die.

 If you live, there is nothing to worry about, if you die, you have only two things to worry about: up there, or down there.. 

 If you go up there, we know there is nothing to worry about, and if you go down there, you'll be so busy shaking hands with your old storyteller friends, you won't have time to worry!”

 Elder Stone, I don’t mean to be passing judgment, but I hope you’re talking  with all your old storyteller friends, because I intend to join you one day myself, and I want to be part of that story circle.