Summary:

For the past dozen years, retiring judge Cloyd Clark has been more closely connected with the Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival than any other person. Among other things, Cloyd came up with the original festival theme: "A community's greatest gift is the evolving history of its people, their symbols, their enduring sagas."

When asked for his favorite story, he said, "One of my favorites -- and I have many -- is about the elder Fred Weber, who came to this area from Russia by way of Germany. The story was first told to me by Jean Kirkus, who had heard it from her late husband, the Rev. Eldo Kirkus of the Trinity Methodist Church in Culbertson. Rev. Kirkus had heard the story first hand from the elder Fred."

This saga starts with escaping conscription into the Red Army during the Bolshevik Revolution and ends with farming in Nebraska until 1994.

Cloyd once wrote, "We believe that, next to God and family, stories are our greatest treasure."

Subjects Covered: education, personal storytelling, storytelling festivals

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