A mother and daughter in Belize work together to navigate the challenges of entering the country with an expired passport, a determined diver confronts the depths of the ocean swimming against sudden swells and learns some harrowing news the next day when she returns to the water. An artist wrestles with self-doubt and the meaning of success. And a woman on a wilderness adventure faces a grizzly bear encounter, wolves and swarming bees on her ordeal to get out and help with a family emergency.

In this episode of the Tell Us Something podcast, four storytellers share their true personal story on the theme “Close to the Edge”. Our stories today were recorded live in person in front of a packed house on March 26, 2024 at The George and Jane Dennison Theatre.

An expired passport throws mother-daughter vacation into chaos! Listen to their dramatic encounter with immigration and how they turned a mishap into an unforgettable experience. We call her story “The Trip of a Lifetime”.

Traci Sylte shares her story “The Trip of a Lifetime” 📷kmr studios

Traci Sylte is a civil engineer and hydrologist who has worked for the U.S. Forest Service for nearly 34 years and is currently the watershed program manager for the Lolo National Forest. She has a passion to maintain healthy watersheds, valley bottoms, rivers, streams, and wetlands. Traci is the product of two very loving parents. Her father taught her to operate a chainsaw and her mother facilitated dresses and piano lessons for her. The love of her life is her daughter, Becca, who is currently in her first year at the University of Washington. Traci continues to grow deeper in love with Missoula each year, because if one wants to learn to weave a basket with pink polka dots on a Tuesday, there’s someone probably doing it here. When Traci is not working, she is grounded by spending time with beloved family and friends, all things water, fly fishing, hiking, playing hockey with amazing Missoula women, fireside guitar serenades, sunrises, sunsets, all things music, and leaving things better than she found them.

Ren Parker embarks on what was supposed to be a relaxing dive off Catalina Island that takes a terrifying turn. After fighting for survival in a desperate ascent, Ren knows that she must get back into the water the next day, and is met with devastating news upon surfacing. Ren calls her story “Deep Blue”.

Ren Parker shares her story “Deep Blue” 📷kmr studios

Ren Parker is passionate about fostering a sense of community and brings that enthusiasm to all of her endeavors. Ren grew up in Hawaii and lived on sailboats that she restored on the Pacific Ocean for seven years. She gave up her nomadic ways and moved back to Missoula to be close to family and has been growing roots here ever since. Ren loves to dance and hike with her faithful dog, Poet, and spend time with her remarkable Missoula friends. She is a regular storyteller at the weekly storytelling event Word Dog, and hosts a weekly storytelling radio show on KFGM Community Radio where she is station manager. Her show is called Once Upon a Radio Wave.

Our next storyteller is Mark Matthews. Mark’s life takes a dramatic turn on a snowy night. He’s a struggling sculptor with seemingly nowhere to go. Listen to Mark’s story of passion, resilience, and rediscovery of the thing that he loves. Mark calls history “Thanks for This Wonderful Gift”.

Mark Matthews shares his story Thanks for This Wonderful Gift” 📷kmr studios

After earning a BA in literature in 1974 Mark began his artistic career as an aspiring writer and completed his first novel (unpublished) by 1981. During that period, Mark also became interested in sculpting and by that same year was devoting most of his time to making large wooden sculptures, mostly depicting dancers and musicians of all types. From 1982 to 1992 Mark exhibited his work in galleries in Maine, Washington, Montana, California and New Mexico.

In 1992 he stopped making art to concentrate on writing. After earning a Master’s degree in Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Montana, he worked as a freelance writer for scores of publications including The Washington Post, High Country News and Newsweek. He also wrote three nonfiction books published by the University of Oklahoma Press during that period.

In 2012 Mark returned to art full-time. Turning once again to sculpture he expanded his interest to include carving in stone, manipulating found metal objects as well as animal antlers. He also experimented with many different styles and techniques. Mark currently exhibits his newer work at the Roosevelt Arts Center in Red Lodge, MT and the Manifestations Gallery in Eureka, MT. Before moving from Missoula to Hysham in 2016 (because of high rents in western Montana) he regularly participated in showings at the E-3 Convergence Gallery on W. Main Street, and he also set up a sculpture walk at Shy Bear Farm in Arlee.

Mark returned to Missoula in 2022.

In 2018 he began to paint. His oil paintings are also currently on display at the aforementioned institutions in Red Lodge and Eureka. Being a creative writer and journalist, he tends to tell stories in his paintings, whether it be a memory of dancing in the past, a place where he has lived, an adventure he had experienced or of people he has known. Mark tends to work with vibrant colors in a representational style.

In the fall of 2023, he enrolled in the Golden College at the University of Montana to study painting with Kevin Bell and metal sculpture with Trey Hill. His first metal sculpture was displayed in front of the Art Building on the UM campus in April. He was also part of a student exhibit in the student gallery in the Art Building that same month. Next year Mark will be a volunteer worker for the Art Department and has been assigned a private studio on campus.

Although Mark has been living on the edge most of his life, he has continued to devote most of his time to making some kind of art. Even while experiencing two bouts of extended homelessness, he continued to make art. His motto has always been: “Artist make art; they don’t wait on tables.”

Mark also loves to dance. He has been a contra dance caller for the Missoula Folklore Society since 1991 and has traveled to schools across the state since 2009 introducing the magic of dancing to children of all ages as a presenter for Humanities Montana.

Listen to the epilogue of Mark’s story here:

https://www.tellussomething.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/03-Mark-Matthews-Epilogue.wav

Watch a short film showcasing some of Mark’s sculptures displayed in nature here:

In our final story, Kat Werner is stranded in Alaska, grizzly bears on one side, a father in crisis on the other. In the face of fear, and with the help of her hiking crew, a community rallied and shared burdens. Kat calls her story “The Arctic Pain Cave” Sensitive listeners be aware that Kat’s story discusses someone who has suicidal ideations. Please take care of yourselves.

Kat Werner shares her story “Arctic Pain Cave”.📷kmr studios

Kat Werner was a German high school exchange student in South Dakota — some of you might remember her last Tell Us Something story about that experience and meeting her husband there. She has called Missoula home for almost 15 years. Kat is a licensed clinical social worker and faculty member at the University of Montana School of Social Work. Things that fill her soul are: any outdoor or wilderness activity, traveling the world, genuine human connection, cooking and eating good food, and creating and checking off a good to-do list.

 

Our first storyteller is Erin Scoles, a mother, who watches in shock as a terrifying avalanche buries her young son. Strangers and community come together in Missoula to save lives amid chaos. Erin calls her story “Found”.

Erin Scoles is grateful to have lived such a full life. She’s given birth to 5 children, hitchhiked across the country, lived in a school bus before it was cool, endured huge loss, and loved big. She’s most proud of her Irish heritage and how badass & compassionate her kids are. Erin looks forward to the day when she can focus on just one project at a time and for her kids to finally and truly admit she’s the funniest person that they know.

Jen Certa shares her story about how a simple act of kindness helped eventually house an unhoused person, led to closure for a family, and reaffirmed her hope in humanity. Jen calls her story “Life, Death, and Teaspoons of Water”. Thanks for listening.

Jen Certa is originally from New York and accidentally began a love affair with Montana in 2009. She is a  social worker and currently works as a therapist with kids and families, which basically means she’ll help you process your feelings after she beats you at Uno. When not at work, Jen can most often be found traversing the trails around Missoula with human and dog friends, guessing people’s Enneagram numbers, and/or running late for something.

Next up is Jennifer Robohm. Jennifer recounts her 9/11 experience, witnessing the tragedy, offering help, and cherishing acts of unity amidst chaos and despair in NYC. Jennifer calls her story “As the Dust Settled”.

 

Jennifer Robohm moved to Montana from the East Coast to be closer to her twin sister and to have an adventure. That adventure turned into a life! Jen is a clinical psychologist who’s been teaching at the University of Montana for close to 20 years. She lives in Missoula with her partner, Nadia; her son, Jack, is a UM senior. Jen loves the Missoula community and the Montana outdoors.

Closing out this episode of the Tell Us Something, podcast, Linds Sanders recounts a series of encounters in which strangers share their deep grief with her, painting profound connections amid loss, teaching empathy, and illuminating the beauty in life’s small, poignant details. Linds calls her story “Peanut Butter & Peonies”

Linds Sanders is a Montanan who has a habit of saying “yes” to experiences that scare her such as saving house spiders, learning to rock climb, working with preteens, and–most recently–sharing a story at Tell Us Something. It’s much easier for her to pursue the passions she loves such as poetry, art, traveling, and spending time with friends and strangers alike. Currently, she is in graduate school pursuing a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an interest in grief work. She works as a counseling intern at Tamarack Grief Resource Center where she has the honor of holding close the stories of others.  Learn more about Linds on her website. You can also follow her on Instagram. Learn more about the Tamarack Grief Resource Center here. 

In this episode of the podcast, a child, traveling alone, encounters hotel trouble, a young woman begins her healing journey thanks to a sexual assault victim’s advocate, a woman recovering from open heart surgery finds respite with a gruff nurse and post-avalanche, Missoula unites.

Four storytellers share their true personal stories on the theme “The Kindness of Strangers”. Their stories were recorded live in person in front of a sold-out crowd on December 06, 2023, at The Wilma in Missoula, MT.

Steve Rosbarsky journeys alone to the Junior Nationals tournament in Minneapolis. The absence of parental guidance sets the stage for a misadventure leading to trouble at a hotel. Stranded without a coach, an unexpected savior, Martin Martin, rescues the young athlete from a precarious situation. A series of escapades involving hotel ice baths, wheelchair races, and rooftop pool revelry culminate in a disciplinary showdown with the coaches. Steve calls his story “Three Days, Two Coaches, One Martin Martin“.

Steve Rosbarsky was born and raised in Missoula Montana. He has two beautiful children, Lydia and Eddie. He is so grateful to his partner Gwen and the joy that he feels being the long-term parental type figure to Evani and Cecelia. Steve is also proud of his beautiful granddaughter Ronnie. He owns and operates a Taekwondo School here in Missoula. Steve is a sustainable project coordinator for Missoula Habitat for Humanity. He holds gratitude for all the moments this life has provided. Learn more about Steve at Missoula Taekwondo Center.

Maria Merkley’s traumatic encounter, guided by her sexual assault victim’s advocate’s support, led to resilience and empowered her to begin her healing journey. Maria calls her story “The Advocate”.

Maria LaDonna Merkley is a proud full-time single mother to her beautiful 18-month-old daughter, Sophia- LaDonna Merkley. Maria was born in Whitefish, Montana, and grew up in Hamilton, Montana, and has had the pleasure of calling Oregon, Arizona, and Washington states home. She is a full-time student at the University of Montana, working on her Bachelor’s degree with a major in Psychology and a minor in History, with a Secondary Education licensure. She hopes to share her love for traveling with her daughter and travel to all 50 states before Sophia is ten years old. Her long-term goal is to move abroad to live and teach anywhere there is a mild winter!

In 2020, Mandy faced heart surgery complications, feeling alone in a hospital amid COVID restrictions. Mandy tries to put on a brave face for her family and friends and her emotions and feelings build inside her to a fever pitch. A gruff nurse, Keith, changed everything with empathy, teaching her to accept help and cherish human connection. Mandy calls her story “Open Heart”.

Mandy Northcott is a mom, wife, pet parent, and general outdoors-loving 47-year-old woman.  She left the flatlands of Iowa for the mountains of Montana 25 years ago and hasn’t looked back. Mandy has been a farmer, tree planter, grocery store clerk, stay-at-home mom, and non-traditional student, and now works as a medical coder and biller. She loves hot springs, African drumming, dog walks, deadheading flowers, gazing at trees, and the quiet time in the morning before everyone else is up. Currently, you will find her on the weekends cold dipping in the Clark Fork River and Rattlesnake Creek with like-minded souls. You can find Mandy on Facebook.

Katrina Angelina Schull recalls a community’s resilience that shines post-avalanche. Strangers become neighbors, uniting in kindness and help, showing for Missoula’s strength to endure hardships. Katrina calls her story “Extraordinary Neighbors”.

Katrina Angelina Shull is a born and raised Missoulian who initiated Amplify Film Group in 2009 after studying at the University of Montana. She later worked as a news reporter for KTMF ABC|FOX, focusing on crafting impactful narratives in positive media. Katrina embraces projects with enthusiasm and enjoys aviation, hiking, fishing, and Jiu-Jitsu outside of work. Katrina is committed to visual storytelling, extending her efforts to creative copywriting, and has initiated Be the Light International, supporting communities in need through her team’s work. You can learn more about Katrina and her work at Amplify Film Group.

 

 

Our first storyteller is Ben Catton, a tall man in Chile who tries to connect with a Deaf grandmother, culminating in the around a parakeet cage. Ben calls his story “Periquitos”

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Ben Catton is Missoula born and raised but spent the majority of his adult life elsewhere, orbiting to Wyoming, Idaho, Wisconsin, Alaska, and Chile. In the midst of those orbits, he studied at the University of Montana to become a teacher and he has taught high school English and Spanish. Currently, he’s pursuing a Masters degree in Public Administration and is back at UM. He and his wife Jessie are doing their best to raise two kiddos to be silly, adventurous, kind, and curious. 

 

Next up is Ren Parker loves slow travel. She prefers buses and trains and one day finds herself on a train to Cambodia whose tracks end just across the border. Ren calls her story “Slow Travel”.

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Ren Parker grew up in Hawaii and lived on sailboats she restored on the Pacific for seven years. She gave up her nomadic ways and moved back to Missoula three years ago to be close to family and has been growing roots here ever since. Ren loves to dance and hike with her faithful dog, Poet. And spend time with her remarkable Missoula friends. She found her passion for storytelling this winter in a weekly open mic, Word Dog.

Next up is Abe Kurien shares his story of woe in which his Indian father mistakenly puts “Sugar Daddy” on the back of his van, thinking it means “one who gives candy to loved ones.” Abe calls his story “Middle East meets the Midwest.”

📷Donal Lakatua

Abe is married to his best friend and beautiful wife Bonnie who was the American Sign Language interpreter when Abe performed his story.They have 4 children and 2 grandchildren.  He has lived in Montana for the last 24 years after moving here from outside of Chicago, Illinois.Abe has worked for over 30 years in the Film and Television industry.  For over 10 years he has been the camera operator for Griz and Cats football games for the broadcasts on ROOT Sports, KPAX with Scripps Sports and the playoffs on ESPN.  He also worked on the TV shows 1883, 1923 and currently working as the [day lees] Coordinator for the show Yellowstone which is shot right here in Missoula, Montana. His motto is Keep Smiling and his goal is to leave everyone with a smile on their face after meeting them!

Closing out this episode of the podcast, Linda Grinde shares her story about a time she was Lost in translation: Invited to a disco by French speakers, and ended up breaking into her own hostel to get back! Linda calls her story “Dancer in a Strange Land or Disco Damsel in Distress”.

📷Donal Lakatua

Linda Grinde keeps trying to reinvent herself but just keeps coming back to another version of theater. She recently appeared in an multi-media memory piece – Intangible Objects – at the Westside Theater. Originally from New Jersey, she has a Master’s degree in theater and has danced professionally in New York and Germany, acted in and directed plays in London, Seattle, Dallas, Hawaii and all around Montana. Linda will be traveling to Thailand next year to, you guessed it, teach theater. “Thank you Marc and Tell Us Something for this chance to share a small chapter of my life.”

Our first story comes to us from Chris Hallberg who shares his story in which Dr. Steve, an American doctor, gives a Salvadoran patient a pizza cutter as a gift. The patient returns with a plastic baggie full of poop and a neon orange pizza cutter inside. Chris calls his story Pizza Cutter Medicine”.

📷Donal Lakatua

Chris Hallberg is a family medicine doctor who’s worked with patients in rural Alaska, Montana, the Caribbean, and Central America. He enjoys cooking, making music with friends, and poking around remote corners of Montana with his girlfriend Charlotte and their dog Sidney.

Our next storyteller is Philippa Crawford who leaves her busy life working at an ad agency in San Francisco when she falls in love with the man of her dreams. Phillipa calls her story “Love Found Home”

📷Donal Lakatua

Philippa Crawford is East Coast-born. She thrived for 8 years in London, enjoyed 10 years in the Bay area, and found a home in delicious Montana 35 years ago. She is a Tapping Practitioner and an Intuitive Coach. These days, she dares new experiences outside her comfort zone. She enjoys finding peace and fascination in nature, and animals, including reptiles and insects. Dancing is her go to along with her big, loving, extraordinary family.

In our next story, Richard Thornton hires a kid to capture an anteater, but the kid comes back with an unknown monster! Richard calls his story “I GET A PET”.

Richard Thornton grew up in Southern California and worked forty years in the TV and motion picture business, mainly as a Sound Boom man.

He is an Army veteran who served as a topographic surveyor, making maps in Ethiopia and The Great Southwest of New Mexico and Arizona.

After his stint in the Army, Richard went back to TV and movies, and during the actors’ strike of 1980, he and his wife came to Montana looking for a home, and after visiting a movie friend in Bigfork, during one of those idyllic September weeks, bought a lousy log house and
stayed.

A couple of years later he quit movies to work exclusively in TV – Sitcoms, commercials, TV specials, and the like – and began many years of commuting to L.A. to work.

Richard retired in 2005 in Kalispell, to live the carefree life of a sixty-three-year-old with three school-age daughters at home to raise.

Our final storyteller in this episode of the podcast is Nita Maddox who organized a mass naked bike ride in Missoula, MT, and received death threats because of it. It was, she says, “quite a lot.” Nita calls her story “Bare as You Dare!”

Nita Maddox is an adventurer in the world. She is a born and raised Montanan who lives a bit feral on planet Earth. She currently works as a social worker and hopes one day to be a published author.

This episode of the podcast features an interview with Rick White who shared his story in front of a sold-out crowd live at The Wilma on December 10, 2019. It was the last in-person Tell Us Something event before COVID struck. The theme was “Tipping Point”.

When I talked with Rick, we talked about the story that he told at The Wilma, about podcasting, his writing, his artist residency, and about storytelling.

Rick’s story, which I play after the interview, is called “Mister”.

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Read Rick’s interview with Open Air.

 

Watch Rick talk about his artist in residency below.

Listen to Rick read one of the poems that he wrote during his artist-in-residency below.

Read Rick’s written story “Mister” at High Desert Journal.

Check out Season One of the Freeflow Institute’s podcast.

 Charlene Brett takes her 2 children and 2 golden retrievers into the backcountry for a backpacking weekend and survives a terrible overnight thunderstorm. Charlene calls her story “A Backcountry Weekend Adventure”.

Charlene Brett is a K-5 teacher in the Bitterroot Valley and has been teaching music for 14 years.  She is a fan of the great outdoors and enjoys escaping into various high-mountain lakes in both Montana and Idaho in the summer to fly fish.  When not backpacking with her family (or her 3 “mom” friends – “Moms of the Traveling Backpacks”), you can find Charlene hiking on her property with her two female golden retrievers and her tortoise-shell cat …who thinks she is a dog.  On those cold Montana evenings, she enjoys working on 1000-piece outdoor image-style puzzles.

 

Jessie Novak is an indoor person who goes on an outdoor adventure with her sister Stephie in Lewis and Clark Caverns. Jessie calls her story Finding Joy. 

Jessie Novak is an art teacher, quadruplet, and enthusiastic dog mom. Growing up outside of Missoula with her 3 siblings and father, she realized that the only ways to control the chaos of life was living in a small town and teaching, so she decided to do both. She relocated to Billings, received her teaching credentials, and quickly moved to the other end of the state to a tiny town called Noxon. In a town where everyone knows everyone, she teaches K-12 Art, hikes, attempts to grow a large garden (when there isn’t 6 feet of snow), and spoils her fur-child Peggy Sue rotten.

 

Sydney Holte lands a student teaching gig in India and an unfamiliar green sauce causes her great gastrointestinal distress on her first day of student teaching. Sydney calls her story Green Sauce. 

Sydney Holte was born and raised in Minnesota and now teaches elementary music in Billings, Montana. She enjoys camping and fly fishing whenever she can with her husband, Jacoby. Singing and musical theater have always been a large part of her life as well. She loves canned goods, peeing in lakes, and drinking coffee before the sun rises. 

Our first story comes to us from Stephen Tucker. Stephen Tucker accidentally learns who his favorite cat is when his apartment complex catches fire. Stephen calls his story Midnight Mayhem. Thanks for listening.

Stephen Tucker is a third-grade teacher in the Bitterroot Valley with ten years of experience. As a teacher, he has a passion for science, technology, and coaching Lego Robotics. He is a lover of the outdoors and enjoys hiking and spending his days on the lake with his paddleboard. When he is not teaching or enjoying the outdoors, he spends his time watching way too much Youtube and indulging his unhealthy obsession with Taco Bell. 

Our next storyteller is Sandy Sheppard, who details her ordeal of becoming the 1st woman optometrist in Montana in the 1980s. Sandy calls her story “I Will Rise Up, or It Takes a Little Time.”

Sandy Sheppard was a Navy brat. She lived in oceans, bays, and islands. She is thrilled to now be living on the Clark Fork River! Who would have guessed that she would have landed in Missoula, Montana & would have stayed for 41 years! She believes that in her 1st 3 years, she may have been happier landing on the moon!!!

Jolyne O’Brien shares her story about what people never told her about the 4th trimester. Jolyne calls her story “No One Told Me, or, the Fourth Trimester.”

 

Jolyne O’Brien is a wife of one husband, a mom of two daughters and two sons, and a teacher of hundreds of children. Jolyne is a woman, a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, an aunt, and a close friend. She is an artist, a portrait photographer, and an incredibly creative writer. She is a human and simply cannot be summed up in five sentences.

Closing out this episode of the podcast is Candace Haster. Candace shares her story of deciding to have a baby and the process by which she did so with a kind sperm donor. Candace calls her story “Well, that’ll be interesting”.  Thanks for listening.

Candice grew up in Kansas City, MO, and moved to and fell in love with Missoula in the 90s. You can find her small-scale ceramic and paper artwork tucked into nooks and crannies around town, in the woods, and possibly in your neighbor’s pocket. She is a parent, a Scorpio, an avid cyclist, and way into tigers. Ask her questions, she loves questions.

Our first story comes to us from Devin Carpenter, who shares a verbal love letter to his grandmother, who taught him to be a good neighbor and to be bold. He calls his story “Mimi on my Shoulder”.

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Devin Carpenter is a Cali-Rado-Tanan who has lived in Pennsylvania and New York and is joined tonight by his Mom, Patty, and his Dad, Jeff…who do not know he is about to tell this story. Growing up on a military base and moving throughout his life has greatly influenced the way Devin sees the world and how he approaches relationships with others. Devin calls Missoula home and has been deeply involved in building communities through activism and social engagement since he first arrived here to start college at the University of Montana in 2008. Devin left Montana in 2015 to pursue a Master’s Degree in Higher Education at Penn State and found his way right back two years later to take on his current role as the Director of New Student Success at UM, where he serves as an advisor to the UM Advocates and mentors and transitions incoming students through a successful start of their college journey. In his free time, Devin is likely listening to his record collection, cooking a from-scratch meal in his kitchen, drinking a Shady at the (former) Kettlehouse Southside with his friends, dancing in the dark, or some combination of all four.

Sarah Black leaves her husband for another love and another life. Her parents hear the news with a lot of questions and a lot of grace. Though she isn’t as graceful when her spouse brings unexpected news to her, when she leads with love, she knows she’s hearing the news the best way that she can. Sarah calls her story “Lead with Love”.

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Sarah grew up in Helena, MT. After high school, she moved around several times and is happy to reside in Missoula and live closer to family. She is fascinated by wellness, art, the outdoors, social justice, storytelling, and all the ways they intersect.

Whitney Peper and his partner make compassionate choices to the news that there is a strange man under his mother-in-law’s bed. Whitney calls his story “The Right House”.

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Barron Whitney Peper is an award-winning architect based in Missoula who helps homeowners create new spaces and transform old ones in a way that welcomes nature, community, and health into our lives. He is also co-facilitating an emerging coalition of community members to support the city in reimagining how we can together address housing affordability, and he would love to talk to you about it.//
Barron Whitney Peper

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Cathy Scholtens hikes to Hope Lake in Montana with her best friend, where they work out their complex feelings for one another. Cathy calls her story “Friendship, Hope, and Wisdom.” Thanks for listening.

Living her best life amidst the beauty of the Bitterroot Valley, Cathy is an out-of-shape adventure enthusiast. She loves the mountains, waterways, back roads, and MOST people of Montana. When she first came to Montana in 1976, she saw the Milky Way in all its glory for the first time. The wonder and magnificence of the night sky continue to knock her socks off.

Cathy’s heart also lies with a ragbag group of friends and family — her “Family of Choice”. She remains forever grateful for the craziness, the love, and the laughter they bring into her life

Our First story comes to us from  Katie Condon. Katie shares her story about an unlikely neighborly friendship. It’s an ode to neighbors, to Fran the dog, and to the community.

Katie calls her story “The Bologna House”.

Katie Condon
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Katie Condon is a humanitarian at heart. She believes in the connection of all things. Katie is a lover of art and the simple beautiful things this life has to offer.

Our next story comes to us from Reid Reimers. Reid Reimers is recognized for his Montana accent during a trip to Vietnam and is then invited to a neighborhood family wedding.

Reid calls his story “Crashing a Wedding in Vietnam”.

Reid Reimers
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Reid Reimers was born and raised in Missoula and has a Master’s in Theatre from The University of Montana.  You’ve probably seen him hosting numerous events around town, running trivia nights, or strutting his stuff on the stage in local theatre productions, including The Rocky Horror Show. He has a deep love for other cultures and climes, which has taken him to almost 50 different countries.  Because he travels on a tight budget, he has to get creative on those trips, which often leads to unexpected adventures. He also teaches theatre to local kiddos, tends to his plethora of house plants, and recently became a puppy papa to an adorable sociopath named Dewey.

Pascaline Piquard
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Pascaline Piquard is the French Fulbright Grantee 2023 who is currently an EFL teacher in a public junior high school in Besançon in the east of France. Apart from teaching from Grade 6 to Grade 9, she is a mentor for English teachers-in-training and she is quite involved at her school (gardening club, choir, anti-bullying group, German promotion).

She has studied English Language and Literature, German, Italian, and French as a Second Language at the University of Franche-Comté and at Knox College, Galesburg (Illinois). She also has a master’s degree in International Education and Cultural Project Management (University of Lyon 2). She has worked as an EFL teacher in France in public high schools and at Besançon public hospital (hematology cancer and behavioral problems departments). Besides she has taught FSL and FFL in Canada at the University of Guelph (Ontario), at Fairview CBE school (Alberta), and in Jordan at the University of Amman.

She loves being outdoors, taking pictures, experiencing new adventures, traveling, and learning languages to meet people. She also enjoys having fun with friends, especially doing improvisational theater, dancing, singing, and cooking.

Of course, she loves her two sons, Gaspard and Guillaume, with whom she shared her story first.

Rounding out this episode of the Tell Us Something podcast, Kaegan Bonstein, a short king makes friends with a Native Hawaiian family on the beach and feels safe and comfortable in his skin.

Kaegan calls his story “Short King”  or “Out of the Head and into the Heart”.

Kaegan Bonstein
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Kaegan Bonstein is a lifelong performer excited to take a hand at storytelling tonight. He has twenty-five years of performance experience ranging from musicals to environmental theater to political demonstration. He is also a lifelong food service worker and energy practitioner. He’s very grateful to call Missoula home and for this opportunity.

Our first storyteller is Jim Harte.  Jim has always loved film, ever since he was a boy. When the distributors forget to send the second reel of “Wild in the Streets”. Jim gets creative in the way that he avoids giving refunds. Jim calls his story “More Than a Movie”

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Jim Harte has worked in the film business for 45 years. He was raised in New Jersey and majored in Drama at Ithaca College in Ithaca NY before moving to Manhattan where he received a BFA in Film and Television at New York University. He lived in Manhattan in the 1970s and 80s before moving to Rochester NY where he was a film editor for Eastman Kodak Company and an Archival Projectionist at George Eastman Museum. Since moving to Missoula Montana in 2021 he has acted in several films produced in Montana. His favorite storyteller is Jean Shepherd.

Abigail Gilbert has to borrow a car when she is traveling for her job in a super small town in Nebraska. She ends up accidentally stealing a car in the process. Abigail calls her story “The Keys to Success”.

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Abigail Gilbert is a professional actor, educator and director who originally hails from Duluth, Minnesota. She is proud to work at the Missoula Children’s Theatre as the Tour Marketing Associate and Social Media Specialist and at Studio M as a teacher and vocal instructor. On stage, she was most recently seen as Columbia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show Live right here at the Wilma and as Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods at the Missoula Community Theatre. She was recently voted Missoula’s Best Actor in the Missoulian’s “Best of Missoula 2022” contest. She would like to thank her mom, Lisa, and Miles for their support!

Next up is Regina O’Brien. Regina was unable to afford housing and was living in a tipi in the desert. Living in a tipi causes one to notice so many little things that others might miss. Regina calls her story “Little Things Aren’t Little.”

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Regina O’Brien put herself through college, working a montage of odd jobs for eleven years.  She graduated with two bachelor’s degrees, and eventually got a career with the federal government. After years of seeing people staying in positions they hated so they could have a secure retirement, having that security bled out by illness, death, or catastrophe, and feeling stressed out and ineffective in her own job, she quit. She got rid of everything that did not fit into her midsize pickup and started driving. Regina has been living around the edges of mainstream society ever since. Regina is a relative newcomer to Montana, and currently lives in Potomac and works in Missoula as a massage therapist.

Closing out this episode of the podcast, Jeremy N. Smith, in 7th grade,  walks around his teacher’s desk all day. The lessons he learned that day has lasted 30+ years. Jeremy calls his story “One Thousand Times”.

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Jeremy N. Smith is a journalist, podcaster, and author. He has written for The Atlantic, Discover, Slate, and the New York Times, among other outlets, and he and his work have been featured by CNN, NPR, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and Wired.

Jeremy is from Evanston, Illinois, but has lived the last 20 years in Missoula—except for last year, when he spent a family year abroad with his wife Crissie and daughter Rasa in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico.

His latest interest is skateboarding, and he is looking for someone to help teach him how to ollie.

Learn more and make contact at jeremynsmith.com.