Daily Herald columnist Jim Slusher: Get ready for uplifting storytelling
Newspapers have an inherent appreciation for great storytelling, especially when the stories being told can uplift a community. Don Grossnickle, of Arlington Heights, hopes Friday night will be such a night.
Grossnickle, a retired administrator at James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates and permanent deacon at Our Lady of the Wayside Parish in Arlington Heights, knows a good storyteller when he hears one. He should. He has plenty of great stories of his own to tell. About helping an impoverished community in Uganda get a life-sustaining herd of cows, for instance. Or about his work with young men who lived with paralyzing injuries. Or about his own "miracle" of surviving a brush with congestive heart failure. Or, his latest venture in helping others, the challenges of engaging microbusiness partners in a project that brings health care and support services to communities in Uganda.
It's this latter topic he hopes to call attention to with Friday's "Thanksgiving Storytelling Fest 2022" in Barrington, Helping him will be five individuals with remarkable tales to tell, some that happened to them, some that they've told about others.
Wayne Messmer is one. Messmer, a professional storyteller and singer, was assaulted and shot in the throat, but survived and returned to an acclaimed musical career.
Kasia Janus is another. Janus was a 4-year-old preschooler when her father, uncle and aunt died as a result of the 1982 Tylenol poisoning case. At first shy about discussing the impact of the killings on her own life, Janus now has become open to sharing the memories of how she developed a daily routine to "choose happiness."
And three others have literally hundreds of stories to tell about notable people and events. Burt Constable was a Daily Herald writer for more than three decades whose "Suburban Stories" column described countless people and events with powerful insights into the strength of the human spirit. Erin Holmes, now communications director for High School District 211, is a former Daily Herald senior reporter who covered a broad range of suburban stories. And, as a Daily Herald correspondent, Eileen Daday chronicled the achievements and successes of suburban residents for more than 35 years.
Grossnickle is bringing these storytellers together for what he hopes to be an uplifting special pre-Thanksgiving program to help raise money for his Microfinance Alliance Africa Projects Foundation. "Thanksgiving Storytelling Fest 2022" will take place from 7-9 p.m. Friday at Campus Life Center, 150 S. Lageschulte St., in Barrington. The cost is $10. Walk-ins are welcome or you can register in advance at maapfoundation.org.
One beneficiary of the program will be the Microfinance Alliance Africa Projects Foundation Grossnickle founded to help vulnerable women and children get health care and build better lives in Ugandan communities.
Another will be the people who hear the inspirational stories that will be center stage in Barrington Friday night.
With the approach of Thanksgiving, the Daily Herald, too, begins several weeks of bringing you seasonal reports - including our annual "People To Be Thankful For" series - that remind us of how much beauty surrounds us even in the midst of so many ugly and dispiriting events that dominate the news.
Be prepared to be inspired.
jslusher@dailyherald.com