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NOVEMBER 4TH DAY OF PUPPETRY

by Karen Backes


The Day of Puppetry was held on November 4th, at the Spirit of Hope Church.
Our guests were members of the church, and our "Puppetry Family Fun Day" was
a gift to them. Kurt and Kathy Hunter, members of the church, were busy
getting everything set up for the afternoon event. Tom Davis and his large
old fashioned man marionette (one of the many marionettes he's been working
on over the last several years), directed our guests to the Fellowship
Hall. As they entered, Andy Hayward's large puppet display was arranged on
two tables. It was very nice and colorful with different types of puppets.
Edna and Bill Garrison served donuts and cider for the afternoon. Around
1:30 PM, Kurt welcomed the guests in the Hall. He asked each workshop
leader, for the first set of workshops, to give a quick description of their
workshop, and the children and parents went to their favorite one.

Diane Rains' "Make your own shadow Puppet" was held in the Thou Art Room.
Jean McCarthy's "Puppets on Hand" was held in the Parable Productions Room,
and Mary Ellen Kruger helped. Paul Eide and Wayne Krefting's "What is a
Puppet? was held in the Fireside Room. Karen Backes's "Make Your Own Hand
Puppet" was held in the Father Abraham's Arcade Room, and Becky Brom and
Helga Burroughs helped. Bil DeLong brought the newly finished sign for
the Father Abraham's Arcade Room, and we all thought it looked great! It
was a busy first hour with puppet making, and even some performing in Jean
McCarthy's workshop.

Around 2:30 PM, Kurt asked the second set of workshop leaders to speak on
their workshops, and the group was off to another one. Brenda
Noyed's "Blacklight Puppetry" was held in the Sanctuary, and her Living
Hands Puppet Team gave a great performance. Laura Krentz's "Storytelling -
Interactive Puppet Performance" was held in the Fireside Room. Kurt and
Kathy were busy with their "Make Your Own String Puppet" in a room off the
Fellowship Hall.

By 3:30 PM, everyone was heading to the Fellowship Hall, where chairs were
set up for the Performances. Stu Janis was setting up his video camera, for
the big event. Kurt Hunter's marionette stage, and Wayne Krefting's hand
puppet stage were up front.

Paul Eide and Otis Rabbit (operated by Wayne Krefting), were the emcees.
Kurt performed with his wonderful marionettes while Kathy was in charge of
the music. Diane gave a demonstration on shadow puppets, and operated them
on a shadow screen, as we commented on their beautiful colors. Paul Eide
and Karen Backes performed Red Riding Hood (puppets made by Paul) A number
of people said it was funny, but that's because the show is always different
when those two perform it. Becky Brom brought out her Freddy the Frog, and
delighted the children. Rene Daffer gave a quick talk about how she has
repainted and been using Mildred Mitton's marionettes. Aunt Milly was
Rene's great aunt, and she would be happy to see Rene doing a great job with
the characters. Diane Rains operated her Punch and Judy characters from the
hand puppet stage, while Paul Eide stood by and interacted with them. That
rascal Punch was up to his usual tricks, and we all laughed as Judy told him
a thing or two.

After the show, our TCP Members along with Brenda's Puppet Team, went up
front and stood as a group, for the video camera and a few snapshots. We
all had a wonderful time, and who knows, we may just do it, again, sometime!

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