We celebrate all kinds of things in this country; Birthdays, superbowls, mid-week happy hours and good grade-point averages. Many acknowledge and pay respect to a pivotal historical moment or sentiment, many are simply an exotic spice to dress up the bread and butter realities of everyday life. And then there are the moments when these two worlds collide; a celebration rooted in historical relevance that over time becomes…..well, whatever you want it to.

As I made my way through the sea of people to the StoryCorps booth at the gay pride celebration, I kept thinking ‘If I didn’t understand what this celebration is about, I would be mighty confused right about now’.

I didn’t realize until later that I, in fact, had no idea what the celebration is actually about.

A little backround: in 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar on Christopher Street in Manhattan. In response to this seemingly unprovoked attack, protestors rioted for several days after. This is widely considered to be the event that unified and accelerated the gay rights movement. But like so many other celebrations, it is easy to miss the historical implications of the day and focus simply on the excesses of the moment.

But in looking beyond the bright colors, far-out get ups and cheap beer lies a very real, tangible energy that has nurtured hope and provided community to so many. The gay pride celebration is no longer simply a commemoration of a single past event, it is a reminder to everyone that the future has more struggles in store on the road to equality. And it couldn’t have been a better place for StoryCorps to have been. If there were ever voices that need to be heard, they are the thousands upon thousands of people who were crammed into downtown San Francisco to celebrate the causes of justice, social equality and freedom of expression.

StoryCorps was lucky to have been a part of the gay pride festivities. Thanks to our partnership with the Contemporary Jewish Museum, we were able to reach out to a host of people in the LGBTQ community who would have never heard of StoryCorps otherwise. A big thank you goes out to all who came out in support of such a worthy cause.

StoryCorps is working to launch a new initiative, StoryCorps OutLoud (storycorps.org/outloud), in order to capture even more stories from the LGBTQ community. Be sure to make a reservation at our San Francisco StoryBooth and come tell your story!

Manischewitz jello-shooters anyone?

On Thursday June, 4th, StoryCorps participated in the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s first ever Oy Vey Thursday event. Outside the museum, in Jessie Square, event-goers danced to the all-gal old-time stylings of the Stairwell Sisters before enjoying the aforementioned signature cocktail and joining StoryCorps Facilitators to listen to some of our favorite clips. No kvetching occurred and a fantastic time was had by all!

Donna Rago has always been a caretaker. Whether it be taking care of her ailing aunt or raising her 3 boys or hosting 60 members of her extended family for Easter…Donna had it covered. So it has been a hard transitioning into letting others take care of her. Donna was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year.

Donna remembers the first time she knew something was wrong. It was during one of their annual Easter family gatherings and she was walking in from the garage with a plate of food. She looked down at her plate and had no longer had any idea what she was doing.

One of the hardest things for Donna to accept is that she can’t cook like she used to. Following directions is hard for her now and she can’t recall all the recipes she had committed to memory. Donna describes this loss like “having a beautiful garden that someone threw something on and killed everything.”

Donna’s condition is a challenge for Tony too. She is his best friend. She helped him through his battle with colon cancer a few years ago, and he wants to be there for her in the same way. They’ve been married for 44 years; Tony says it was love at first sight for him…indeed, they were married after a 5 month courtship. Donna giggles and chips in, “He proposed in early February and we were married in late February. We had to move up the wedding day because I was pregnant with our first son.”

Donna and Tony are still learning how to adjust with Donna’s condition.  They  travel less than they used to, and now a daughter-in-law hosts the annual Easter gathering.  Donna  feels fortunate that she has such a loving and supportive family who all live in the Bay Area, but it also makes the diagnosis that much more devastating for her.  She tears up when she talks about it, saying: “I just don’t want to miss anything!”

When Walter Kahn, 86, and his daughter, Marlita, entered our San Francisco StoryBooth, I had no idea of the tale that was to come. After the recording was completed, I joked that I wanted him to sell me the movie rights to his story!

Walter told the story of being in school in Belgium as World War II broke out. As a young Jew of 17, he knew that he needed to escape the territory that the Nazis controlled. In the south of France, after twice escaping prison camps, Walter met up with his brother and the two planned to escape to Portugal and safety. After connecting with a guide who would smuggle them through the Pyrenees, the young men made the perilous journey. Staying in caves, farms, and assorted safe houses – including a bordello in Barcelona – they narrowly escaped capture many times. As it turned out, they were the first passengers on an “underground railway” that would later spirit out downed Allied pilots, partisans, and other refugees during the course of the war.

Walter painted a vivid picture of his numerous travails and close calls on his journey to safety and freedom. It was easy to visualize his story on the silver screen.

Marlita had heard stories of her father’s adventures all her life, and was thrilled to finally record the telling of his tale so that future generations would hear them as well.

Well, whew! A lot of exciting things have happened here at the San Francisco StoryBooth since last we’ve blogged. There was the Teacher Development Workshop that we co-hosted with the Contemporary Jewish Museum’s Education Department, and an Oral-history Workshop for Teens, and then there was a Community Listening Event at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.

And, perhaps most exciting of all, there have been some new additions to our San Francisco team. Let me introduce Facilitators Frank Kingman, Eloise Melzer, and Lena Richardson!

Frank comes to StoryCorps following an over thirty-year long career as a locomotive engineer and conductor for the Southern Pacific Railroad and Amtrak. Originally from San Jose, California, Frank studied history, philosophy, political theory, and sociology at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He lives with his wife, Rhonda, in a designated historic district of San Francisco known as Dogpatch.

Hailing from Wisconsin with a degree in Anthropology from Middlebury College, Eloise has always been fascinated by the stories people tell and what lessons we glean from them. Eloise recently completed the radio program at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, an enriching experience that introduced her to many wonderful people and reinforced the power of storytelling in everyday life.

After earning a Masters Degree in Adult Education and Community Development in Toronto, Lena moved back to her native Brooklyn to spend a year working as a New York City-based StoryCorps Facilitator. Long-time readers of this blog might recognize her from midwest adventures such as this and this, not to mention serving as an accomplice to this wild and crazy act, here. Lena now lives in Berkeley, California, where she works as an acupressure practitioner and continues to study the healing arts. We are so thrilled to have her back!

We couldn’t be happier to welcome these folks to the StoryCorps family. Come by the booth and say hello some time!

I’ve always had a soft spot for quaint, little towns. Everybody knows one another, cars actually drive the speed limit and when you take a walk the sounds of nature aren’t obscured by leafblowers or jackhammers. As we pulled into Napa for our Door-to-Door recording at Adult Day Services (A.D.S.), I was overcome with a sense of tranquility I almost never experience in the busy streets of San Francisco. And it wasn’t just me. It seemed like every person I met at A.D.S. was as calm and friendly as could be.

And who wouldn’t be? The A.D.S. building was amazing- wooden ceilings that reached to the heavens, a beautiful garden, and a cafeteria that could house an entire army- not to mention the gym and designated movie-watching area. A place to make good friends, eat good food, and have a good time. The attitudes of the A.D.S regulars reflect their experience: they came up to the StoryCorps table talkative and curious, excited about the prospect of having their stories recorded.

(Sarah checking out the equipment)

“You mean to tell me I can talk about ANYTHING for 40 minutes?!”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“What if I wanted to talk about the hot chocolate they serve here in the cafeteria?!

“If that’s what you really want to talk about, then yes.”

“….because let me tell you, it’s AMAZING…”

Apparently the hot chocolate really was amazing, because nearly half of the participants either mentioned it or were on their way to get it. Unfortunately the full schedule of interviews didn’t allow much free time.

I’m not sure if it is the programs A.D.S. has set up or just the drinking water, but to have such genuinely happy and engaging people roaming in and out of your building all day is pretty special.

(Bob and Betsy Sweet)

Many thanks go out to The Adult Day Services Center for being such a gracious host, and to all the participants who made the trip more than worthwhile.

When I meet someone new and tell them what I do for work, there’s usually a moment in the conversation where they say something along the lines of, “That sounds cool, but what’s the point?”

I explain that there are a number of points–that StoryCorps provides the time and space for loved ones to sit down together and talk about their lives, that this often can be a transformative experience, that we’re creating an archive of American life in the 21st century, that we are collecting innovative content for public radio, that we are celebrating the lives and stories of everyday people.

Then, five times out of ten, the person will ask, “So, do people ever get into really big fights in the booth?”

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It is a very interesting experience listening to two people converse in a language you cannot understand. You must rely on hand gestures, facial expressions and vocal inflections to get the tone of the conversation. Laughter, of course, always helps. Usually when a StoryCorps interview takes place, a Facilitator will be jotting down notes from the conversation and asking pointed, insightful (hopefully) questions that allow the participants to really tap into long lost memories. The San Francisco StoryBooth’s Door-to-Door at the Mabini Day Health Center was different in that none of the Storytellers spoke any English.

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This week the StoryCorps San Francisco staff went out for our first Door-to-Door recording as part of the Memory Loss Initiative at the Institute On Aging, a senior day center in San Francisco. Our hostess, Tracy McCloud, was incredible – moving between multiple conversations and responsibilities with so much grace, competence, and kindness. She participated as an interviewer in one of our interviews and even treated us to a few dance steps when she led Jim, one of our participants, into the temporary recording studio we set up for the day. Jim and Tracy recently won the 1st Annual Dancing Contest at the IOA.

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Everyone one of us feels attached to the place(s) we grew up. Be it amongst the bustling city streets or acres of grassy farmland, a quiet ocean beach or a sandy desert stretch, the word “home” means more than simply a place to rest one’s head at night. For Wilson Wong, home is the Chinatown districts of Oakland and San Francisco.

Roy Chan and Wilson Wong

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