
Terry Visger – Storyteller
I began telling stories at a YMCA camp, where I worked as a “go-fer” and campfire coordinator. When I told a story I had heard as a child and saw sixty boys sitting still around the fire, hanging on my every word, I knew I had found magic! Later, as an elementary teacher, I began telling stories to my students and saw the educational value of stories. Years later, I would tell stories to my own children as we drove to town. I could do the entire Wizard of Oz, including songs, in that twenty-minute drive! Stories were fun – something to share with kids and my friends.
Then, I took a storytelling class, just to earn a few credits, and I was hooked! As I saw my teacher (and now close friend), Sara Slayton, weave her stories, I knew this was what I wanted to do “when I grew up.” I began telling stories to other classrooms in my school and had my first paying “gig” in Sparta, Wisconsin. It was great! That was in 2000 and I have been telling stories to a wide variety of ages and professions since that time. It has been a great ride!
I love stories of all kinds and truly believe the phrase from one of the stories I tell: “It is hard to hate someone once you know their story.” So, come on! Tell your story!!
I taught elementary children for many fun-filled years. I was then an adjunct instructor at Viterbo University, where I teach others to be teachers and I taught a semester at UW-L. I also did consulting work for JFK Associates. I am an active member for the Bluff Country Tale Spinners and am on the Board of the La Crosse Storytelling Festival, Northlands Storytelling Network and WISGET, a Wisconsin storytelling group. I am also a member of the National Storytelling Network.