Storytellers from Tennessee and Georgia will take the stage at the 14th annual Iris Festival, which will be held here on Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18, in downtown Greeneville.

The festival hours on that Saturday are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

On Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m., and on Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m., visitors will be entertained by some of the very best storytellers around, according to a news release from the Greene County Partnership, sponsor of the festival.

The storytellers will be focusing on Andrew Johnson in conjunction with the 2008 Bicentennial Celebration of President Johnson's birthday.

Storytellers will include Larry and Gayleen Kelley, of Chuckey, Kate Agmann, of Greeneville, Jan Cribbs of Decatur, Ga., and Brian A. Ricker of Greeneville.

The news release noted that Larry Kelley "has a knack for opening up the world of storytelling for people."

"Once folks discover the joy of listening to his well-crafted stories, seasoned with humor and delivered from a heart filled with the love for people, they not only know Larry, they know storytelling."

The release stated that Kelley has 15 years of experience as a storyteller, teacher, and workshop presenter, as well as "a huge repertoire of personal, historical and inspirational stories."

According to the release, his wife, Gayleen, fell in love with the art of telling stories in 1996 and performs regularly in churches, schools, nursing homes, and at storytelling festivals.

In September 1999 she won second place in The National Storytelling Competition in Hillsboro, Ohio.

Kate Agmann started telling stories at age six when she realized that her answers to "What happened at school today?" just weren't getting the response she wanted, according to the release.

She was born and bred a Texan, and stories were a way of life for her "and as much a part of family dinners as chicken-and -dumplins," the release states.

Her favorite stories are the ones that come from her large Texas family, according to the release, but her love of the arcane "sometimes unearths a story that just has to be told."

Jan Cribbs tells stories that touch the heart and tickle the funny bone, the news release says.

Not "born with a silver spoon in her mouth," the release says, Jan remedied that "obvious" oversight at the age of eight by winning a statewide contest and a set of silver grapefruit spoons for her original story, "How Grapefruit Came to Florida."

Jan tells a wide range of stories with themes from healing to adventure and romance to just plain fun.

With a master's degree in storytelling from East Tennessee State University, she is a professional freelance storyteller, storytelling coach, and workshop leader.

Brian Ricker is a Greeneville native who "was bitten by the theater bug in elementary school and has been involved in community theatre ever since," according to the news release.

Having been in more than 12 local theatrical productions, he might be recognized from such recent Theatre-at-Tusculum productions as "Oliver," "Guys & Dolls," and, most recently, "The Apollo of Bellac."

He recently received the Theatre Arts Award from Tusculum College, where he is a student pursuing a degree in film and broadcast.

The storytelling sessions will take place on the lawn of the first Andrew Johnson Home on College Street, directly across from the Andrew Johnson Historic Site Visitor Center.

The schedule for Saturday, May 17, is as follows: 11 a.m., Larry Kelley; 11:30 a.m., Gayleen Kelley; noon, Jan Cribbs; 12:30 p.m., Kate Agmann; 1 p.m., Brian Ricker; 1:30 p.m., Larry Kelley; 2 p.m., Gayleen Kelley; 2:30 p.m., Jan Cribbs; 3 p.m., Kate Agmann; and 3:30 p.m., Brian Ricker.

Performances on Sunday, May 18, will be by Jane Cribbs, 1 p.m.; Kate Agmann, 1:30 p.m.; Larry Kelley, 2 p.m.; Jan Cribbs, 2:30 p.m.; Kate Agmann, 3 p.m.; and Gayleen Kelley, 3:30 p.m.

Major sponsors of this year's festival are Funville, The Greeneville Sun, News Channel 11, Takoma Regional Hospital, Wal-Mart Super Center and WGRV/WIKQ/WSMG.

For more information on the festival, contact the Greene County Partnership at 638-4111.