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On Friday, Hills and Dales will be celebrating Fuller Callaway Sr.’s 153rd birthday at its Founder’s Day Celebration and Storytelling event.

During regular business hours, visitors will be able to enjoy complimentary tours of the first floor of the Callaway family home, walks through the historic gardens and fresh-squeezed lemonade by the Pool Terrace.

That evening participants in the the Donald Davis Storytelling Workshop will hold a public storytelling in the Pecan Grove at 7 p.m. This event is also free. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets.

Azalea Storytelling Director Kirsten Dunn said the storytellers are excited to return to the Pecan Grove for their seventh year.

“The Pecan Grove is a really nice place to be outside and have a lot of people gather for a good time. People will get to be amongst the beautifully manicured landscape of Hills and Dales and enjoy a nice story,” Dunn said. “It’s a welcoming environment and I am excited to be there for the first time. I think this is really nice pairing of events.”

Dunn said the event will welcome new and returning storytellers.

“People are going to enjoy getting to meet some new people and see some old faces as well. I think hearing about Fuller Callaway Sr. that will be very informative and lots of fun — plus getting to hear some stories from experienced storytellers and of course partaking in a community gathering will make for a fun evening,” Dunn said.

“Communing with each other is really important for the surrounding area. Everybody in the area gets to come by, see their friends and have a casual sit down with some light beverages out in the Pecan Grove.”

She said this year the class of storytellers includes 19 people, some local and some out of state.

“The event is only two hours long so everyone in the class may not be speaking. If they are, it might be a shortened version of their story. However, this is looking to be an incredible event and I can’t wait for our storytellers to share their stories with the community,” Dunn said.

For more information regarding these events, email info@hillsanddales.org or call (706) 882-3242.