WSU Storytelling Karen J. Ashton Award

2026 Recipients

---

Shanna Tobin

I wear and have worn many hats in the community but my favorite one is the Weber Storytelling Festival. I was invited to join the committee in 2005 after serving as the Festival vendor for a couple of years while I was the owner of Wisebird Bookery. I am the only member of that 2005 committee who has not yet retired from the committee.

The next year Ann Ellis took over as chair and the Festival moved from fall to spring of 2007. The Treehouse Museum and Davis Conference Center were added as venues. I sold the bookstore in the fall of 2007 but stayed on the committee as the vendor facilitator.

In 2010 Publicity and Community Outreach were added to my job title. The next year I invited Sallee Orr to join me for the 2011 Festival. She is the second longest serving committee member.

Over time vendors and publicity were managed by other committee members but Sallee and I continued to serve the Festival as Community Outreach specialists, primarily reaching out to Head Start and assisted living centers in Weber and Davis County. Last year we launched “Golden Tales: Especially for Seniors” in partnership with Weber County Libraries, bringing storytelling to all five of the Weber County Libraries. This year we expanded that program into Morgan and Davis counties.

The other hats I currently wear are wife (51 years married to Kerry Tobin), mother of 6, grandmother of 17 and great-grandma to 1. My husband and I are in our 5th year as volunteers with MyHometown Ogden. I am in my 3rd year as President of the Weber Far South Company of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and as such serve on the Board of Directors for the Weber County Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum. I have been a member of the NUHope suicide awareness and prevention task force almost since its inception. I belong to three book clubs, managing one of them, and love to engage with people in the community.

The Weber Storytelling Festival has been one of the vehicles that has helped me navigate that course. I treasure the experiences, associations and friendships that have grown through my years on the Committee. I am humbled and honored to be a recipient of the Karen J. Ashton Award for 2026.

---

Sallee Orr

My love for storytelling began 30 years ago when I attended my first Weber Storytelling Festival—which also happened to be the very first Weber Storytelling Festival event. It was held on a very wet lawn at WSU on a cold, drizzly day, under a white tent with a microphone. That experience sparked a lifelong passion. I have attended the festival every year since, making storytelling a cherished tradition.

When the festival introduced “Bedtime Stories” with cookies and milk, my family embraced it wholeheartedly, beginning our family tradition of evening stories at the Egyptian Theater. Today, my husband, daughters and grandchildren continue the tradition, often traveling to attend the festival as an extended family.

In addition to my dedication to storytelling, I served on the South Ogden City Council from 2007 to 2023, where I gained valuable experience in community outreach and collaboration with governmental entities in the Ogden area. After years of being a familiar face at the festival, Shanna Tobin invited me to serve on the Weber Storytelling Festival steering committee. I love being part of the Storytelling Festival—it is one of the highlights each year to work with the committee and help expand our outreach to the community.

Each year our outreach grows, and we touch more people through the wonderful world of storytelling. I truly believe in the power of a good story, and I hope everyone will take the time to enjoy one—because they just might find themselves coming back year after year, just like me.