Storytelling Project – Museum of the Sierra

Photo courtesy of the McDonald Family

Calling All Storytellers: Creek Fire Storytelling Project

Dear Community Members, we want YOUR stories.

The Resiliency Fund is committed to honoring the historical legacy of the Central Sierra region by collecting community stories of the Creek Fire–and the unique histories that precede it– and preserving those stories through the Central Sierra Historical Society. In time, we hope to find physical ways to display these as a comprehensive Creek Fire exhibit that could include museum displays, a website collection of stories, interpretive kiosks placed throughout the community, a formal oral history project and/or a book.

Visit our Community Stories section to read a sampling of what has been submitted so far.

We are collecting stories of places (homes/cabins/businesses etc) before and after the Creek Fire, and/or of your experience during the Fire itself.

We are preserving written stories and photos as well as recordings of stories and interviews. If you would prefer to be interviewed, or would like help recording your story, please contact us.

If you choose to record your story with Zoom or record with Otter Ai, you can email us a recording, we will transcribe it and send it back to you for approval. The free versions of Zoom and Otter Ai will work for this.

August 2022 update–Our Storytelling team is in the process of creating a printed book of community stories about the Creek Fire! Please submit your stories by the end of September 2022! Stories submitted after this deadline will still be added to the digital collection but will likely not be included in the printed book.

Need help getting started? Try one of these prompts:

Tells us about your home/cabin/property/ranch/business’s past—What is your family’s story, how did your relationship with this place come to be? You can share snapshots in time, one story or a few this is flexible—you know what is special about your home and experience and what it is that you want to share.
What was your experience during the Creek Fire itself? Were you evacuated, searching Facebook from afar, etc.?
Tell us about your home today, post-Creek Fire: What is its status? What do you see from your land? What are the feelings in your heart. What stories do you want to share now?
Image based stories—if you have a great photo or photos, write about the before and after of that photo? How did this come to be? Or, what is this place like now?

We want to see your story, please do not feel confined by these guidelines. We do ask that stories about places include information about both the place in the past and in the present.

Contact [email protected] with questions

For each entry we ask that you include the following information:

Storytelling Program

Name(Required)

First Last

How would you like to be credited if we publish your story:(Required)

Same as above

Annonymous, location

Other:

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Date Written(Required)

Are you are a parent or legal guardian submitting on behalf of a minor under the age of 18?(Required)

Yes

Name of the author (if recognition is desired) or indicate anonymous with age of child if not:

Story & Photos

Story(Required)

Photos

Drop files here or

Max. file size: 50 MB.

If your story and/or photos exceed these amounts, please contact our Storytelling Task Force at [email protected]. You can attach your document to the email in word form).

Places & Artifacts

Is this story about a place or artifact?

Yes

Year that the home/cabin/ranch/property/business entered the family:

Neighborhood or general location of the home (exact address not needed):

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.