Our Hometown
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'Mary Jemison' will be in Clyde The Clyde-Savannah Public Library will be hosting storyteller Gretchen Murray Sepik, on July 31 at 7 p.m. She'll portray Mary Jemison, white Seneca woman of the Genesee. Dressed in deerskin and carrying a backpack basket, she will tell of her life and how she struggled to adapt to her new environment after she was taken from her Irish parents by the Shawnees at Marsh Creek. Mary will talk of her love of her Indian family and friends and her choice to remain with them even after she was offered her freedom years later. Mary is buried at Letchworth Park, which is situated on land she once owned. The museum at Letchworth Park has a section dedicated to the remembrance of Mary and a statue, erected in her honor, is located at the Council Grounds. Sepik was born in Mercer, Pennsylvania and was raised in the country. 'I guess I'm the result of my father's storytelling and my mother's imagination,' says Gretchen. Her father, Michael, worked in a mill and could tell the best stories about the Pennsylvania coal mines, railroads, and horses. Her mother, Jinny, was a singer and encouraged her to sing songs, learn nursery rhymes and she always had a box of clothes for Gretchen to dress up in. 'My mother was the greatest influence in my life and was responsible for guiding me toward my life's work. She was my best friend. Before I was old enough to go to school my mother would ask me each morning who I wanted to be for the day. I could be anybody.' Gretchen jokingly says that she never knew her real name until she started in first grade. 'I've always loved to play 'dress up' and by doing theatrical characterizations. I can play 'dress up' for the rest of my life.' Gretchen says her husband, photographer and designer, Walter A. Jakubowski, is her source of strength as he has supported her in all her crazy ideas, some successful and some not. He also suggest programs in which she should develop, including 'Mary Jemison' and 'Susan B. Anthony.' 'Walt is always saying things that make me laugh. I tell him I'm going to write a book entitled, 'The World According to Walt,' or 'How to Achieve a Waltered State of Consciousness.' He's my reservoir of ideas for material and program.' Ms. Sepik majored in dance at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she studied acting. She has performed with the Paddy Toon Modern Ensemble in Pittsburgh, with the Rochester Philharmonic's 'Phil Revue' and the mime troupe, Flash in the Pan. Gretchen studied with the Bottom of the Bucket, but, currently Garth Fagan Dance, and worked with the company as a rookie. Her dance career ended with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in the early eighties. 'My storytelling started when a teacher's aide asked me to come into her school and do storytelling. I was too shy to tell stories as myself so I developed Naomi Brown from the Blue Ridge Mountains to tell stories of Brer Rabbit for me. Storytelling helped my overcome my shyness.' Gretchen does her form of storytelling across New York State and into Pennsylvania and was the co-founder of the Flight of Fancy Experimental Theatre (F.O.F.) and is part of Young Audiences Rochester, Inc. and Young Audiences of Western New York, located in Buffalo. In 2004 she was honored by Young Audiences of Western New York for her work with young people and commitment to learning through the arts. She lives in Albion, New York with her husband, Walter, golden retriever Bud, and cat, Inspector Purroit, in an old 1830's cobblestone house full of antiques and curbside finds, surrounded by flower, herb and organic vegetable garden. 'I have a great love and respect for nature and I hope that through some of my storytelling I might be able to awaken that love in others. Along with Naomi Brown and Mary Jemison, Gretchen also portrays much loved children's author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter and narrates 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse,' Sal McMurray, an Irish cook working on a packet boat on the Erie Canal in the year 1840. Sal weaves Irish Folk Tales from the canal through her life's story based on facts about the canal. The audience learns as it laughs. Also on her list of programs is temperance leader, abolitionist and women's right activist, Susan. B. Anthony. 'I think storytelling is one of the most wonderful creative art forms because it allows each person to be who they are and use what talents they have to tell a story.' Gretchen believes that if too many restrictions are put upon a child or adult when doing storytelling then spirit of creativity is destroyed. 'If a person can sing, let them sing; if a person can dance, let them dance; if a person can juggle, let them juggle; as each storyteller weaves a story, their own unique individuality adds to the tapestry of the tale each person tells.' Copyright
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