By Patricia Wadsley
FLEISCHMANNS — 19 degrees, ice on the roads, snow on the ground, darkness long descended —but you’d never know it by the packed house and convivial atmosphere on a recent Thursday night in Fleischmanns’ inviting bar/restaurant The Print House.
Every table was filled, and patrons lined up two deep at the bar. Friends and families had gathered to see each other, chow down on platters of foodstuffs like heaping prosciutto flatbreads, and to hoist a glass or two— as well as being treated to the the very first of a series of the Catskills own spoken word events, “The Frog,” conceived and hosted by Katherine Wandersee.
“The Frog” features regular folk—from all walks of life- telling personal stories about memorable events in their lives.
“It’s not fiction, and not poetry,” stresses Wandersee, a Roxbury dweller who juggles medical writing with spoken word events and a bit of stand up comedy. “You don’t have to be polished or a professional.”
The stories are sometimes sad, some happy and some uproarious. Wandersee got the idea from “The Moth,” a copyrighted spoken word event which has swept the nation and now has spread to six continents.
“But this is the Catskills,” says Wandersee. “We do things differently here and we love frogs. We look forward to their little croaks to herald the first sounds of spring. So we are calling our spoken word events, “The Frog.”
Wandersee lined up five story tellers, herself included, and three surprise open mic guests, who signed up at the last moment. Each person took the corner stage under the glow of amber lighting —an area in which Print House features live music on other nights. There was no theme for this starter to the Frog series, so Wandersee told speakers, it’s “A Free-for-All.”
All eyes were fixed on the first speaker Jason Frome, who manages Pine Hill Lodging and is also a volunteer fireman in the Arena fire department. He spoke about his first night on the job at the fire company—a night that landed him in the hospital.
Walter 2Shirts—who describes his background as someone who “outwitted the draft by enlisting in the United States Army” told a story about his service in Vietnam-an inside view of a period rarely told.
Patricia Gonzalez, a nurse for forty years, told her story about her on the job hospital run-in with a bare butted US president. And Amy Randall a special ed teacher at Delaware Academy, told a hair-raising story about a sheep mercilessly slaughtered by a neighbor’s dog.
Wandersee’s story was about a horrible first job. Hers was in a cheese restaurant in Wisconsin. But a horrible first job —that’s a story everyone can relate to!
It truly was a get-to-know your neighbor night. People stuck around to talk to each other and make new friends—and it seemed they knew a lot more about each other! Kenneth Strickland, an impromptu speaker who’s an IT specialist in Woodstock summed up the night. “I was expecting performance,” he said. “But what I found here is community. “
If you’d got a story you want to tell, don’t hesitate! Contact Wandersee at catskillsfrog@gmail.com. The next Frog event is February 24. And the theme is “Life Transitions.” Another story we can all relate to!
These folks had stories to tell at the Frog. Left to Right: Nelson Strickland, Katherine Wandersee, Rob Greenawalt, Patricia Gonzalez, Jason Frome, Jeff Entin. Photo by Damian Catera.
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