Buckle up, you’re in for some feelings.

Previously you may recall my article about a local series of events entitled ‘Story Night’. It finally has a new and permanent home at The Taphouse here at Catamount Glass in Bennington. I managed to rope some friends into going with me, on February 16th. It was worth it. This time around there were 13 storytellers and a crowd of over 50. The theme for the evening’s stories was “It wasn’t me.”

The first story blew everyone out of the water. An older gentleman from Russia told us about how he survived as a child refugee during World War II. He survived, but his friends and family were separated from him; some were even less fortunate. He is not the same little boy that was separated from his loved ones – but in Europe and Syria he says he sees a reflection of himself in those fleeing the Middle East and the ongoing civil war(s).

Another story is one we may all relate to a little easier. This story was about being a summer camp counselor. The counselors decided to go out drinking one night; they all called the story-teller “chief” like the kids did at camp whilst they were out drinking. What they did not know is that the bar was a local hotspot for Navy and Coast Guard. After a few hours of being called “Chief So-And-So” another man, who said he knew “Chief So-And-So’s” father from way-back, started paying for Chief’s and his friend’s drinks.

What none of the drinking party realized, after a $200-plus tab racked up, was that this was an expensive error of mistaken identity. “Chief So-And-So” was neither a Native American nor a Chief Petty Officer in the Coast Guard. Worse, the man that the kind patron thought was Chief’s father was just a common last name – neither he nor his father had ever served in the military. Upon realizing that he was in this pickle, he tried to get his friends to leave before they were found out. The drinking party was never found out, managing to escape before detection – so for one night he really was the Coast Guard’s youngest ever Chief Petty Officer in the Coast Guard.

“It wasn’t me” was a fun theme. It swayed from the serious to the funny. If you are interested in future Story Night events, you can follow them on facebook. Because it’s a local event in town, the event creators are now looking at getting a special shuttle service from both Bennington College and SVC for upcoming Story Nights. Otherwise, you can find Story Night every third Tuesday of the month at 7pm at The Tap House.