While snow flies around many parts of North America, and sunny, warm skies beam down upon others, here, in Minnesota, we're huddled against cold, Arctic air with nary a snowflake in evidence. Due to the time warp nature of due dates, you are undoubtedly reading this message post-holidays (unless you're celebrating Chinese New Year). But as I write these words, Thanksgiving is past and we are sliding into a time when over 60 different religious and cultural celebrations of light, crying out against this season's umbra, are taking place around the world.

So what do Puppets and Light have to do with each other? Well, the obvious connection is the shadow show.

I think, though, a better overtone is the emotional and physical reaction the Puppet produces in an audience. Last night I attended a Puppet Slam at the University of Minnesota organized by my second son, Mike, as part of his senior project in Theater. Shadow shows did predominate the student productions. But the more relevant point here is the response by the large student audience who attended.

There was a Light in their eyes, in their voices, in their participatory enjoyment of the night's entertainment. Remember the wonder on the faces in your audiences, young and old, as they watch magic unfold before them.

We truly are a part of an Art form that has a mysterious yet accessible nature. An Art form full of Light-illuminating imagination, emotion, and the senses-whether the tale unwinding is tragedy or comedy.

The Light is a celebration of life and humanness, touching something deep within each of us and uniting us in that moment of commonality.

Kind of preachy, I guess. But I love this Art for that Lightness of Being we can bring in performance. Which is why I am a member of the Puppeteers of America (you knew there had to a plug here somewhere, right?). Ok, so we don't stand in air terminals, accosting tourists or handing out tracts on puppetry. Or, travel door to door to spread the good news of the Gospel According to Sarg. (Maybe a couple of you do.)

We do, however, have this vehicle started 70 years ago to promote the Puppet and all the joy it brings to practioners and audiences. Puppeteers of America began as a way to share knowledge, create a supportive camaraderie, and increase public appreciation of this marvelous Art form. We are richer for the existence of Puppeteers of America. And much like George Bailey's realization about his own life in “It's A Wonderful Life”, we would be the poorer without the PofA.

In our 70th year, I think it is time that we “toot” our horn a bit, about what this organization has been and is. Let your local community know about us. Bring in new members to share this Art and expand its appreciation. TURN ON SOME LIGHT!

Wayne Krefting, President

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THE ROSE ENDOWMENT FUND
Established by PofA in 1975 to honor
the fine performer and great friend of puppetry, Rufus Rose,
is opening the next cycle for awards January 1, 2007.

The first priority is to support the creation of NEW PROFESSIONAL PUPPET PRODUCTIONS. This includes shows, film-DVD-videos, slide shows and publications.

In the 2005 cycle, a number of shows supported by the PofA Endowment were recipients of PofA and UNIMA awards and received extensive newspaper coverage. Notable productions were Andrew Kim's Vertigo of the Sheep; Bobby Box of the Atlanta Center for Puppetry Arts' Ann Frank; Within & Without; Kevin Augustine's The Bride; Anne Sawyer-Aitch's Ala Deen and the Marvelous Lamp.

The Endowment only uses funds that are generated by interest. The growth of the principal through donations and memorial gifts allows for a greater return and therefore more support for new puppetry. Recently a great friend of puppetry and P of A, Lettie Schubert, bequeathed a generous gift to the Endowment in her will. Heather Henson recently gave a substantial gift to the Endowment.

I urge members to consider the Endowment as a place where a donation of any amount can go to the support of the art of puppetry.

Applications must be submitted by April 15th and grants are awarded at the national festival. All members of P of A are eligible for grants.

Please contact:
Endowment Secretary
Len Gerwick
184 Hildreth St
Marlborough, MA 01752
E-Mail Address

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POFA AWARDS NOMINATIONS
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 1, 2007

Every two years the Puppeteers of America gives awards in several categories, announced and presented at the National Festival.

The committee receives nominations from the membership. All nominations are carefully considered.
Nominations may be sent to:

The Award's Committee Chair
Gary Busk
3827 Westminster
Carrollton, TX 75007
Phone 972-492-5370
(For a response, please call 8:00-9:30 AM or 7:30-11:30 PM Central Time.)

PRESIDENT'S AWARD - given for outstanding contributions to the Art of Puppetry. This high honor is for lifetime achievement.

TRUSTEE'S AWARD given for service to the Puppeteers of America.

THE PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA AWARD recognizes contributions to puppetry by persons or groups not immediately involved in the field.

JIM HENSON AWARD FOR INNOVATION recognizes innovation in puppetry that is technological, dramaturgical or collaborative in nature.

GEORGE LATSHAW AWARD for accomplishments in writing and publishing in the field of puppetry.

MARJORIE BATCHELDER MCPHARLIN AWARD for contributions in the field of education.

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• The puppetry festivals are a few months in the past, but the memories are still fresh and some wonderful articles have shown up in the guild newsletters. Puppet Life, the newsletter of The Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry, included a great article on PuppetFest Midwest by Sharon Moyer and a wonderful piece on “Much Ado About Puppets” by Alan Cook and Christine Papalexis.
  
  
• President Michael Nelson wrote up a recap of “Much Ado About Puppets” for the newsletter of the San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers' Guild. Their newsletter also included a detailed article on Tony Urbano's marionette manipulation workshop at that regional festival written by Sharon Clay.
  
  
• Clearly the most prolific puppet fest reporter is Elise Handelman. Her write-ups on PuppetFest Midwest, the East Coast Supersonic Puppet Festival, and Celebrate the Puppet have appeared in the newsletters of the Puppet Guild of South Florida and the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York.
  
  
• We've still got a while to wait until the next national puppetry festival, Puppet Rampage 2007 (www.puppetrampage2007.org), but the guilds are doing a great job of filling the need for performances and workshops. For the October meeting of the Mile High Puppet Guild, Alice Szwarce debuted her one person “Hansel and Gretel”.
  
  
• The National Capital Puppetry Guild was treated to a performance in November. The Beale Street Puppets presented “Punch and Judy” with a cast of four; Ryan Bunch, Jill Kyle-Keith, Scotty Walker and Toby Walker (and no, Toby didn't play Toby. Toby played the baby and Scotty played Toby the dog.)
  
  
• At the Puppet Showplace Theater, the members of the Boston Area Guild of Puppetry took in a performance of “Everybody Loves Pirates” by the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers, Erik, Brian, and Robin Torbek, for their November meeting.
  
  
• In September, Artie Poore performed “The Life of a Pirate” for the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York. The meeting was held at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, thanks to director Bruce Cannon.
  
  
• The San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild had a double header planned for their November meeting. Herbert Lange's Fairytaletheater presented “Rumplestiltskin” and Lee Armstrong and Kamela Portuges lead a pre-show puppet manipulation workshop, “It's Alive”.
  
  
• The Puppetry Guild of Northeastern Ohio had a great workshop lined up for their October meeting. Nancy Sander was scheduled to present “Zing That Show”, a hands-on workshop on hand puppet schtick.
  
  
• The members of the Garden State Puppetry Guild had an interesting workshop in September. They did a make and take puppet building workshop with items purchased at local dollar stores. The finished products included hand puppets, table top puppets, marionettes and finger puppets.
  
  
• My own Twin Cities Puppeteers had a hands-on workshop in November lead by Karen Backes on moving mouth Styrofoam ball puppets.
  
  
• The Phoenix Guild of Puppetry did a hands-on workshop in October making skeletons from plastic milk jugs. The members pooled their jugs and completed two complete skeletons, which were delivered to Ed Rogers for his amusement as he was convalescing.
  
  
• The Chicagoland Puppetry Guild had “A Puppet Pot Pourri” for their November meeting, encouraging members to bring in their latest puppets, performances, publicity, or anything puppet related.
  
  
• The Puppeteers of Puget Sound had an especially interesting meeting planned for November under the title “Puppet Adventures Abroad.” Gene and Lynn Olson showed slides and talked about their adventures in France including seeing the amazing giant puppets of Royal de Luxe in “The Sultan's Elephant.” Elizabeth Luce shared her slides and stories of the Festival Mondial des Theatres de Marionnettes in Charleville, the world's largest puppet festival.
  
  
• The members of the Montana Puppet Guild had a treat in October. They got to meet Herb McAllister from the “Happy Herb and Froggy Doo Show,” a Montana television show for 22 years starting in 1955.
  
  
• The members of the Columbia Association of Puppeteers went to work in October and held a garage sale of the puppet making materials of the late Esther Heydt. The sale was scheduled for June, but the temps climbed over 100 so the sale was postponed.
  
  
• The Florida Suncoast Puppet Guild held a working meeting in November once again working the beer sales area of Tampa's Conga Caliente Festival.
  
  
• The members of the Indiana Puppetry Guild held a pizza lunch/meeting while they were together for Potlatch. Thanks to Klingel-Engle Puppets, the Mousetrap Puppet Theater and Peewinkle's Puppet Studio/Melchoir Marionettes for supplying the pizza.
  
  
• The remnants of the November newsletter of the Greater Houston Puppetry Guild arrived in a little plastic bag with the apologies of the US Postal Service. It appeared as though a large predator had mistakenly bitten half of the newsletter right out of the middle. From the partial sentences remaining, it appears that their annual puppetry festival was a huge success with 144 registrants.
  
  Well, we've reached the end of the mail again. If your news gets to me in one complete piece, I'll pass your news along to offer the other guilds ideas and inspiration. I can't wait to hear from you.

EUREKA!!
NANCY H.SANDER
1250 GRANGER AVENUE
LAKEWOOD, OH 44107
E-Mail Address

Greetings, Excellent Puppetpersons (and the rest of us, too)! At last, at last, here I am again. I just breezed in from New York and sat down to gather some tips around me while listening to the already unending Christmas songs of the season. And once again, I am preparing to head out for the Christmas rush. Many years I have said to myself, “Oh, no! Not Christmas parties! Do I have to?”

Of course, the answer is “yes,” but this year I am resolved to do it differently. This year is going to be a joyful celebration of the holiday. I am going to all the parties with not only the professional smile on my face, but with a genuine smile on the inside, just because it's Christmas, and I am going to add to their whole Christmas experience. I am going to make the parties happier, the children gigglier, the spirit brighter. Of course, this should be the attitude all the year round, but this Christmas, I am happy doing what I couldn't do last year: performing my silly Christmas show to all those silly and laughing children. Cool!

ONE FOR THE ROAD: The last time I wrote to you, I asked if anyone had some ideas of how to make life easier on the road. Marilyn Shroeder, of Delaney, NY, sent in a tip for those folks who are running the fair circuit. She says that she is always running in and out of her home and hastily packing to go back on the road. So she has duplicate sets of toiletries: one for home and one in its own satchel for the road.

ANOTHER FOR THE ROAD: Janet Senne, of Sandusky, OH gave me this tip long ago, and it is all too true. She said that, no matter how nice the folks are, they rarely remember to offer you some water after the show. Bring your own. I know this sounds so simple, but think back: how many clients came up with a drink after the final bow? Ten percent? I wish! And in summer, too!

WEB PAGE BUILDING: Oh, for heaven's sake: light bulb going on! I was talking to Janelle Reardon, of Fairview Park, OH, on the subject of web pages (by the way, no one can do business without one, so get one). She said that the trick to a successful web hit was to get onto the first popup page. People search for about two pages, max. So it is very important to name your page to as close to what people would type in as you can get. Why didn't I think of that?

THE CONSIDERATE PERFORMER: Dave Herzog, of Chicago, IL, suggests that when you go into a private home where there are hardwood floors or fine carpets, first lay down your own piece of carpeting that is exactly the size of your stage area. You will win the heart of your client who won't have to worry if you are snagging their antique Persian. He also says that a good performer should pick up every single piece of confetti or balloon shards that he/she has scattered about. He brings his Dust Buster for the purpose. That's the way to keep a client, David!

NEW GLUE GUN: Hey, everyone. Jump in your cars. Head for your closest Home Depot or Lowe's. Here it is! I received a note from George Latshaw, of Tampa, FL, who sent me a clipping on a new glue gun put out by Dremel. It has an on/off switch (at last!) so you don't have to yank the cord at the end of every session. It also claims to have a new “non-drip” nozzle (where have I heard that before?) and a protective shield to prevent burns. I'm hopeful. Dremel puts out great products. I use my Dremel Moto-tool for anything that has to be sanded or shaped. If you don't have a Dremel, put it on your “GottaGet List.”

WIG MAKING: Kathy Lyons, of Orono ME, pointed me toward a neat magazine for recyclers and especially for its fun website. The name of the magazine is Readymade. I went into its website (www.readymademag.com)and found out how to…oh, no! How to remove warts with duct tape! 85% effective, they say. But what if the wart is on your nose…? In any case, she found a great way to make a wig, either puppet or costume. She says to get a plastic net onion bag and cut it to the desired shape. Stretch this over a balloon and tape it down. Then take your yarn, double the strands and loop them under the webbing of the onion net, tying them with an overhand knot. Work from the bottom up until the desired thickness is obtained. You can then trim and style it.

MARIONETTE STRING: David Greenbaum, of Columbus, OH, tells us to use brown fish line instead of black. He learned this trick from a magician and swears that the string becomes almost invisible. Jim Kleefeld, of Avon, OH, also had a similar thought. He, a magician, said that you should take off white string, wrap it around and around a twice-folded index card and run a permanent brown magic marker back and forth across it. When you unwind it, it will look zebra striped which blends in with anything.

IN REVIEW: And speaking of disappearing, I was discussing this with Mary Sue Eckard, from Solon, OH and she reminded me of a very important point that sometimes is completely forgotten. She was doing a show that starred a white rabbit. When the rabbit passed in front of the white house in the scenery, it almost disappeared. It took a Guild critique session to alert her to the situation. She painted the house green and the problem was solved. Lesson learned.

TRANSPORTATION: Bryon Thompson, of Fort Wayne, IN, has just finished his construction of a Punch and Judy “Lazy-tongs” stage (or “fitup,” as we say in the trade). He said that he was able to fit absolutely everything into the large sized plastic golf traveling suitcase, purchased at Dick's Sporting Goods. Great for checking in at the airport. ( which reminds me: you should have seen the security guard commotion I created I when I put a wrapped life-sized Czech marionette through the X-ray; they thought I was “bringing Grandma home!”)

On that note, I will close. Folks, I need your tips; I really do. Don't hesitate to use the e-mail, but always identify yourself with the word, “Eureka” on the subject line. I have a lot of spammers who have gotten the words, “puppet, puppetmaking, and puppetmaster” passing through the spam blocker.

Nancy