The Bethany Beach Cultural & Historical Affairs Committee will host a special presentation by storyteller Ed Okonowicz:  Yarns, Tall Tales, & Bold-Faced Lies.  This program will transport the audience to days gone by spent in the country store, post office, or barbershop creating and exchanging tall tales, groans, and embellished yarns just to pass the time.  Attendees will hear accounts of regional jokes and anecdotes as told in true Okonowicz fashion.  According to one anonymous participant:  If you’re interested in learning something useful or depressing, stay home and watch the evening news.  But if you want to belt out some robust laughter, go hear this program. Nobody with any sense dares tell these silly tales in public anymore.”
 
Ed Okonowicz is the author of more than two dozen books on Delmarva and Maryland folklore, oral history, regional culture, crime, and ghost stories. A Delaware native, he presents storytelling programs throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.  His freelance feature stories for newspapers and magazines earned him the title of “Best Local Author” in Delaware Today magazine's Readers' Poll in 2005. After retiring from his editor position at the University of Delaware, he spent years teaching courses in folklore, storytelling, talk radio, and feature writing.   He continues to write for Stackpole Books, and he presents programs on a wide range of topics throughout the year.
 
Since 2005 the Bethany Beach Cultural & Historical Affairs Committee has been sponsoring cultural events during the off season.  Topics of interest run the gamut from shipwrecks and treasures to music and historic tales. All programs are free and open to the public.