Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re all having a great spring. I’m just popping up in your inbox because I wanted to share two bits of great news with you.

The first great news is that we officially have a new home! March 21 will be our last show at the soon-to-be-late-great Roy Street Coffee and Tea. Our April 18 show will be at the Olive Way Starbucks just a few blocks down the road.

Huge thanks to the Ben the manager at Olive Way for reaching out to me and asking if I’d consider moving the show there. He’ll be at our March 21 show and it would be great if you could all come out to say hi and thank him for having us. He’s going out of his way to stay open late for us on the days we have our show there and that is huge. I I talked to a number of his staff while I was casing the joint and every single one of them was helpful and friendly. I think that says a lot about the management. I hope some of his baristas jump over the counter and tell their own stories one day.

So many people helped me research and scout out venues in person for this move, I wish I had a way to show you how much that meant to me. Not only did you send me recommendations, some of you drove out to those locations for me so I didn’t have to come up all the way from Olympia. Some of you offered cash to help offset expenses if we ended up having to rent a place. Some of you even offered your homes as a place for us to go. Can you think of another show where that would happen? Thank you all a thousand times over for your support over the last month. I really needed it.

The second great news is that we had two of our tellers on KNKX’s Sound Effect a couple weeks ago and I couldn’t be happier for Susan and Maryanne. Susan told her story at our show a few months ago, and Maryanne told hers at the annual NAMI Brain Power Chronicles show late last year. It’s still hard to find places to hear true, personal stories so I’m beyond grateful that Gabe Spitzer of Sound Effect runs the show that he does and continues to showcase stories from FGS. Sound Effect was one of my favorite podcasts before he ever heard of us so I have no ethical qualms about telling you all to subscribe to it 🙂

https://www.knkx.org/post/bus-ride-inspired-woman-thaw-seattle-freeze-now-shes-surprise

https://www.knkx.org/post/voice-never-went-away-so-woman-learned-live-it

Now if all that doesn’t make you want to come out to the show on the 21st maybe this clip from The Moth will. I just discovered this story and I already know it’s going on my list of stories to send people who ask me why I love storytelling so much. In fact, I think there might be a future FGS theme around this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJastvbJJWA

Take care, everyone.

Let me know if you have any questions

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com