Orem • Ed Stivender believes that when it comes to telling stories on the spot there are no mistakes, only a multitude of plot lines to choose from. A good harmonica and a peacock feather won't hurt your effort, however.

"The trick of the harmonica is to use it as a chance to figure out what happens next," Stivender, a storyteller and author, told his class of 22 earlier this week.

"Balancing a peacock feather is the quintessential experience of improvisation," he explained after class. "That's because you balance it, whether on your hand or nose, in response to a multitude of factors arising from your own body and the space of the room."

Students in his story-improvisation class at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival wove tales both wacky and poignant out of such disparate elements as fairy-tale fragments, body language and popular phrases.

Adding plot lines one by one, workshop participants craft the story of a duck, a single mother to three ducklings, who travels to the center of the Earth to win a ping-pong tournament. A silent tableau based on "Billy Goats Gruff" leaves everyone grave and pensive.

Stivender is one of 12 renowned storytellers taking to stage and workshop rooms at locations throughout Orem at the 21st annual festival, which runs through today.

Part of the festival's message is that elements of story are neither mysterious nor inaccessible. They are, instead, the low-hanging fruit of everyday life.

Ben Stutts, of Indianapolis, who heard about the festival while traveling on business in Ogden, put it this way: "The nerves will pass as you talk," he said. "The story will find its way."

Last year, the festival attracted about 26,000 people, and organizers are expecting even more this year. It has grown into the second-largest known festival of its kind, smaller only than the National Storytelling Festival held in Jonesborough, Tenn.

The festival's history is itself something of an improvisation. You could call it the event that built a library — or at least a new wing of the Orem Public Library. It was founded in 1990 as a fundraising event by Karen Ashton, the same Ashton family name behind WordPerfect. And the call of story has proved so magnetizing the event has continued growing years after the library construction was completed.

And organizers still have big plans. They hope to partner with local historical and genealogical societies to build a "Center For Story" at the Orem Library that will record and archive stories in the style of StoryCorps segments broadcast on National Public Radio. "We're a festival that gives back to the community, with plans to keep on giving back," said RaDene Hatfield, secretary of the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival's executive committee.

The vast majority of the festival's funding comes through private foundations and corporations, with a little help from the city of Orem for event coordination, Hatfield said.

The Orem festival was criticized by two U.S. senators late last year as a boondoggle, after it received $15,000 in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, part of the Obama administration's stimulus package. It was listed No. 70 among 100 other projects and organizations deemed wasteful by senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

"Everyone loves a good story, and some will even pay to hear one. Some even prefer to have others pay for their stories, such as at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Utah," the December 2009 report stated. "Festival founder Karen Ashton gauges success not by job growth, but by growth in storytelling."

Ashton said the report ignored the festival's educational value, through its performances and workshops for Utah students. In addition, the city of Orem used the federal funding to pay for part-time positions for its arts programs.

"The festival can stand up to that kind of ridicule because we've been very careful in the way we use our money," Ashton said. "We perform a valuable service for the community, and work hard for funding we have."

Jim Strickbine and his wife, Anita, a grocer and retired teacher who have driven from their Colorado home 17 years in a row to attend the Utah festival, said the senators' pointed criticism was far too sharp relative to the money involved.

"Stories may be one of the only ways we might see peace in this world," Anita Strickbine said. "Once you know another person's story, you can't fight them. Those poor men are mistaken."

bfulton@sltrib.com —

Timpanogos Storytelling Festival

When • The 21st annual festival continues today.

Where • 58 N. State Street, Orem Public Library and locations throughout Orem

Info • $8-$20; call the Orem Public Library at 801-229-7436 or visit www.timpfest.org for more information.