Program Description

SIMPLY GOURD-EOUS introduces the fascinating world of gourds to audiences of all ages.  These inedible, distinctly unique vegetable have often been described as “just plain old ugly.”  Through selected stories, we learn the history and folklore that surrounds this very useful vegetable/sometimes instrument/sometimes ladle/sometimes pot/sometimes decorative art.  As we see the gourd in a new light, we learn that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Longtime gourd fan and collector,  Cathy Kaemmerlen is also an actress/storyteller, who longs to share her fascination with “Lagenaria”  and “Luffas” and “Cucurbitas” with the rest of the world.  This is guaranteed to be a most “unusual” show about a most unusual subject--the plant that grows bottles.  
  
    Artist Bio

Cathy Kaemmerlen, professional actress, dancer, and storyteller, is known for her variety of characters, one-woman shows, and for her rapport with audiences.  A performer and “creator of shows” since she can remember, she has toured in schools coast to coast, since receiving a BA in English/elementary education from UNC-Charlotte, and a MFA in dance performance/choreography/theatre at the University of Wisconsin.  She tours through Young Audiences of Atlanta, the Georgia and South Carolina Touring Arts Rosters, Fulton County SAP, and has received numerous grants and honors, including Outstanding New Interpreter for her region with the National Association of Interpreters.

    Background on Art Form

Telling stories is an oral tradition, dating back to when mankind first developed a language or form of communication.  Storytelling is a universal way of passing down information to be saved and remembered for generations to come.  It is an interactive art form in which the storytellers’ passion for the story, material, and information, is passed on to the audience, who sorts through, interprets, stores, and synthesizes what is heard.

Prepare:

Teachers, please read this to your students.

Today we are going to have a program by actress storyteller Cathy Kaemmerlen who tells us about gourds, gourd folklore, gourd stories.  We will learn about gourds and maybe even get a gourd seed to plant before school is over.  We don't eat gourds, but artists make wonderful containers and art works with them.  They are called the plant that makes bottles.  There must be a fun story or two to tell about these plants who have been around for over 10,000 years and were our first eating utensils and pots.

Warm Up Questions to set the stage for engaging students:

What is a gourd?
Is it a fruit or a vegetable?
Do we eat gourds?
Do some cultures eat gourds?
What do we do with our gourds?
When do you harvest gourds?
Have you ever seen gourds growing in the fields or gourds as bird houses?
What do you think you would use a dried out gourd for?

Vocabulary to look at before and after:

calabash:  hardshelled gourd that comes from a tree
cucurbita:  plant of the gourd family that fertilizes by night, producing white flowers
ornamental:  type of small gourd grown for its colorful, decorative purposes
luffas:  types of gourds used in making sponges from the inner pulp
lagenaria:  plant of the gourd family that fertilizes by night, producing yellow flowers

Warm Up Questions for meeting the Georgia Performance Standards for "Listening/Speaking/Viewing":

Describe the perfect audience.
What are some of our class rules for being good listeners?
How do we show someone we appreciater their visit to our school or classroom?
How does being part of an audience help make you a good citizen?
What are some examples of bad audience behavior or attitudes?
How does a negative audience member effect your enjoyment of a show or performance?
How would this make the performer feel?
How do we want the performer to feel when they leave our school or classroom?

Reflect:.

Talk about whether or not anyone knows what a gourd is, or has seen one, or has grown one.  Where can you find gourds?  Can you eat them?  What can you make out of gourds?  In the fall, small ornamental gourds are readily available in the grocery stores.  Purchase some, and in your classroom, store them in a cool, dry place.  In a few months, the gourds should dry and miraculously turn into maraccas!  Note how the gourd changes colors when dried.  You can wash the dried gourd in soap and water and scrape with a brillo pad to loosen any fungus or rough spots.  CAUTION:  some gourds don’t make it this far and rot.  You’ll know which ones I’m talking about.  Look at gourds and try to imagine what they look like, as artists do who create Santa Clauses, roosters, pigs, penguins, cats, etc. out of them.  Dried gourds can be varnished, painted with acrylics, stained, polished, woodburned, or just left natural.  They’ll keep for a long time. 

Resources:

THE GOURD BOOK by Charles B. Heiser, Jr.
THE GARDEN OF GOURDS by L.H. Bailey
THE GOURD IN FOLK LITERATURE by Eddie W. Wilson
THE GREEN GOURD from Richard Chase’s GRANDFATHER TALES
THE GREEN GOURD by C.W. Hunter/Tony Griego
BOUKI DANCES THE KOKIOKO retold by Diane Wolkstein
GOSO, THE TEACHER adapted by Verna Aardema in her anthology MISOSO
FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD by Jeanette WInter
GOURD CRAFT by Carolyn Mordecai
FOXFIRE BOOK #10
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF GOURD CRAFT by Ginger Summitt
GOURDS IN YOUR GARDEN by Ginger Summitt
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF GOURD INSTRUMENTS by Ginger Summitt and Jim Weiss

You can visit the Gourd Museum and have a gourd day at Gourdcraft Originals, & Co. at 2319 Duncan Bridge Rd., Sautee, GA 30571 (706) 865-4948, closed January through March. Also known as GourdCraft Originals.

You can join the American Gourd Society, Inc., P.O. Box 274, Mount Gilead, Ohio 43338-0274, (419)362-6556 or 317 Maple Ct., Kokomo, IN 46902-3633.

Or join the Georgia chapter (dues $5 per year) c/o Jan Cash, President, 435 Pharr Farm Road, Covington, GA 30016-5657, (779)385-8412