2022 Susquehanna Folk Festival Liars Contest

About This Event:

Congratulations to Steve Seitz, who took top honors in our 2022 Liars Contest. And congratulations and many thanks to our other finalists too: it was a close contest!

Our 2022 emcee, Sheila Arnold, gestures joyfully as she tells a story. She is a Black woman with a short black afro, medium-brown skin and ample proportions. She has her arms spread wide and hands raised, her head back, eyes closed, and a wide smile as if she\'s telling about something glorious. She\'s wearing a loose tunic printed with large tropical hibiscus flowers and seashells on an abstract blue and green batik background. She\'s also wearing large round silver earrings and bright lipstick. — **Our 2022 emcee is master storyteller Sheila Arnold.**
"Ms Sheila" is a historic character interpreter, teaching artist and "Professional Imaginator" with a passion, vision and ministry of healing hearts, unifying communities and reminding people to share their stories.

Congratulations to Steve Seitz, who took top honors in our 2022 Liars Contest. And congratulations and many thanks to our other finalists too: it was a close contest!

The top three liars received cash prizes: $100 for first place, $50 for second and $25 for third. Prizes are thanks to a generous donation.

Thanks to all our finalists for a fun afternoon of complete balderdash. We appreciate all our applicants too!

Special thanks go out to our judges: JJ Sheffer, Mina Edmonson, Jim Lewin and Doug Henderson to a generous donor who provided the prize purse and to Tom Juengst, the Contest Committee, and all the folks who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this event a success.

Learn more

Congratulations to Steve Seitz!

After a career in the mental health field, Steve has entertained thousands of folks in churches, schools, and retirement communities in the Mid-Atlantic region via his and his wife’s Puppet and Story Works company. Steve, a recovering Pennsylvania Dutchman, tells stories as his alter ego, John Klump, an 85-year-old Pennsylvania Dutch farmer, his youth, home town, and his convoluted understandings of the Bible.

And to our other finalists...

Walt Belcher

A former newspaper reporter, Walt has been teller at the Florida Storytelling Festival 2018. He has told at events in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and South Carolina where he was a new voice at the 2022 Stone Soup Festival. He lives in Safety Harbor, Florida. where he hosts a monthly storytelling night at the Art & Music Center. See Walt Tales on Facebook and walt-tales.com

Dennis Boyne

Dennis is a seasoned storyteller, a winner of the Scranton Story Slam and Lancaster Story Slam. He is also the Executive Director of Lehigh Valley Story Slam. In addition, Dennis was a former member of the improv group Improvolution in New York. He is the past artistic director of Philemon Productions in New Jersey and the creative consultant for the New Jersey Public Theater.

Janel Behm

Janel is an award-winning storyteller from Ohio who currently calls the Gulf Coast of Florida home. She lives with her husband Dennis and their dog David and can often be found creating community around a campfire by sharing her passion for the ukulele and her gift of storytelling.

David Smith

Dave is very happy to be back telling stories to a live audience and plans to be Zoom-free by 2023. Dave is a video producer by day and storyteller by night, and is working on a World War II detective novel in between.

Ryan Roe

Ryan is a law student from West Chester, PA, and a family-friendly stand-up comedian. He's performed in comedy clubs, churches, and festivals around the country including being named "Best of the Fest" at the Burbank Comedy Festival in Los Angeles. He loves local storytelling shows and has won storytelling competitions such as The Moth in Philadelphia and the York Story Slam.

Gary Buchanan

Gary started storytelling in 2000 at age 50 when he placed third in the West Virginia Liar’s Contest. Over the years he has participated in storytelling events/liar’s contests in WV, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Our judges were:

JJ Sheffer

JJ is the producer of York Story Slam, York: Crafted, and several other arts & humanities programs in York County, Pennsylvania that focus on storytelling.

Mina Edmondson

Mina has her dream job: she is the director of Martin Library in downtown York, PA. She thrives on the energy of the City of York. Story Slams provide her opportunities to connect with her community.

Jim Lewin

Jim is the proprietor of the York Emporium, a used book and curiosity shop. He is a published author of four books and a number of science fiction short stories... assuming the bio he sent is true.

Doug Henderson

Doug is the Director of Everything's Fire, an independent film studio in York. He sees his career (whether directing, acting, or writing) as storytelling with a team, building a connection between the audience and the film.

The flying frog image is adapted from a WikiMedia image (Marsh frog Pelophylax ridibundus). Both the original image and this remix are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Susquehanna Folk Music Society