The next issue is membership. Every mem-ber of PofA probably knows someone who loves puppetry but does not know about PofA and what it offers. We need to be ad-vocates for PofA, especially those of you connected to colleges and Universities.Let us know your thoughts and ideas and if and how you?d like to help.

Lastly, I would like to thank Jeff Cornett, Lee Bryan and all the staff and volun-

teers who came together to make a truly great National Festival in Atlanta.Look for the Festival DVD around Febru-ary 2010!It is an honor to serve you.

Anna Vargas, President

Executive Committee Board of Trustees

PresidentAnna Vargas - anadpuppet@yahoo.com

Vice PresidentJames N. (Pix) Smith - pix-p-of-a@puppetry.orgSecretaryPeter Zapletal - peter@mspuppetry.com

Trustees:Nancy Aldrich - njaldrich@gmail.comMary Decker - Don Kruszka - kamdonk@peoplepc.comJohn Lewandowski - j.lewandowski@madcappuppets.comSteve Meltzer - steve@puppetolio.comJohn Scollon - puppetgnomes@msn.com

Greetings to you all.

Before I begin my spiel, I’d like to give credit where credit is due: to Wayne Kreft-ing, who has served as our president for the past three years. He has tackled difficult issues with patience and diplomacy, striv-ing to build consensus wherever possible. It is because of his hard work, as well as that of my other colleagues on the Board, that I inherit a board with a strong sense of cooperation and good will. Thank you, Wayne, for all you’ve done and continue to do for PofA..

As Wayne departs, the Board welcomes John Lewandowski of Madcapp Produc-tions, Cincinnati, Ohio. This board has representatives from the North, South, East and West of the country and we welcome your thoughts and ideas. Please feel free to contact any one of us with your concerns.

In his last letter to you, Wayne stated that, even with the difficult economy, the overall financial health of the organization is sta-ble. Membership is down somewhat, but not out of line with past ups and downs. However, we could not give as many schol-arships this year as we would have liked to and we’ve had to tighten our belts a bit. I would like to address these situations.

Several months ago, the membership was asked to fill out a survey about Playboard. Roughly 350 (out of 1400) of you respond-ed. Our main objective was to find out how important Playboard is to you and how to find a more cost-effective way of getting it to you. At present, about 280 of us receive Playboard exclusively on line. PofA would save approximately $1100 per issue (times 5 issues) if we were to go completely elec-tronic. According to your responses, many were not ready to go completely electronic, preferring to receive a paper document in the mail. The Board reviewed the results and the possibilities, as well as our finan-cial constraints and acted. The Playboard that you have before you will be the last to be mailed out in this form. The next issue of Playboard will be found at the back of the Puppetry Journal. The number of Playboards will be reduced to 4, coming out quarterly in the Journal. Playboard will continue to be available on our PofA website. (www.pup-peteers.org) This action will save the organization print-ing, mailing and postage charges in future. Eventually, an all-electronic Playboard may become the norm, but not until we have a consensus.

We on the Board are hoping that this sparks conversation among you all as to how Play-board can better serve your needs, and that you will contact us with your ideas.Thank you to all of you who helped us by completing the survey.

The next step for PofA is to raise supple-mental funds. A Development Committee has been formed, consisting of myself, Trustee Pix Smith and Janet Bradley (Bud-get and Finance chair). Development, is, by nature, a growing, cultivating process. Last year, we implemented an Annual Fund appeal, in addition to our Scholarship Funds and the Rose Endowment for new works. The Annual Fund was established to supplement the daily workings of the organization and last year, through the generosity of our membership, we received $5800 in gifts. This was a help, as member-ship was down by 200.This year as a mark of our dedication to PofA, the Board of Trustees has pledged 100% participation in the Annual Giving. We ask you, when you renew your mem-bership, to consider a donation to any of the 4 funds. If everyone gave even $1 extra, that would add $1400 to the pot.We will be pursuing grant money later, to fund special projects like the Festival DVD and sponsoring puppet troupes to perform at festivals and increasing our Web pres-ence, but funders always want to see the level of participation of the membership; not how much money they gave, but the number of people who gave. I would ask at this time for each one of you to consider giving whatever you can to this organiza-tion that we all love so much. Thank you in advance for your support.

L A Y B O A R The NEWSLETTER OF THE PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA DP .. .

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. . .Editor: Fred Thompson 26 Howard Avenue New Haven, CT 06519-2809

July - August 2009

Playboard

Stuff

President’s MessageEureka!!

Greetings, All of you who are still travelling a different route to…ah…I was going to say “wealth,” but let’s say “happiness” instead…I am again writing from Upstate New York where I am in the middle of Summer Reading Club. And, as usual, mail is slow so I am experimenting with Puppet Hub. For those who are not a member of Puppet Hub yet, get yourself signed up to one of the best puppet resources on the Internet today. Sign up at www.puppethub.com I posted a question: “If you had one bit of advice to give to a ‘newbie,’ what would it be...and ‘Don’t quit you day job’ doesn’t count!” And this is what I got: Jim menke, of Buffalo, new York, wrote: “Read every puppet book you can get your hands on. Even the simplest can have some great advice. Watch good videos and not just Muppets. Talk to experienced puppeteers and see as many live shows as possible. Look at all the great tutorials on puppet sites. Take acting classes, learn the basics of scenery construction as this will help in stage construction. Open your mind and fantasies will unwind. Even after 50 some years, I am still learning.”wYohming, of DerBYshire, uniteD kingDom added: “Try everything you can with every material you can lay your hands on. Don’t be scared, just give it a go and don’t give up if it doesn’t work perfectly first time! Remember it’s supposed to be fun so don’t take it, or yourself, too seriously. Tell all your friends and family what you’re doing; they can be a wealth of encouragement and inspiration. Get out there and live a little; great experiences make good creations!” Dave rozmarYnowski of south BenD, inDiana lends his practical advice: “Invest in a GOOD sound system. You can have great puppets, stage and story but if the sound is crackly, muffled or not loud enough, the performance will bomb. I suggest the Fender Passport 150 or 250. I use the 250 but the 150 will do the job very well. They are a great investment.” DaviD C. herzog of ChiCago, illinois, returns to the theoretical: “Learn all you can about the history of puppetry , study the work of the masters: Bil Baird, Burr Tillstrom, Sharie Lewis, Rufus and Margo Rose, Martin Stevens, Marjorie Batchelder, Walton and O’Rouke, and so many more. Get your hands on copies of Marionettes by Edith Flack Ackley; The Puppet Theater Handbook

by Marjorie Batchelder; The Art of the Puppet by Bil Baird; The Puppet Theater in America by Paul McPharlin; Marionettes. A Hobby for Everyone by Mable Beaton. See the films Lili, Being John Malkovitch, I am Susanne, Artist and Models, and Turnabout.Join the Puppeteers of America, and a local Guild. If possible attend a National Festival or a regional Festival. See as many shows as you can. See all kinds of theater from Broadway Musicals to community theater. Get a college education. Sing in a choir, learn an instrument, study some music theory, take a dance class. And NEVER EVER STOP LEARNING. One more thing, attend PuppetFest Midwest and take a master class from one of the greats like Phillip Huber, Paul Mesner, Luman Coad, et al, and read A Pair of Cockeyed Optimists. The Puppetry Career of Bob And Judy Brown. Read the last Chapter first, then go back and read the whole thing. Then read the last chapter.riCk morse, of flint, miChigan, contributes: “Never, EVER take a paying gig until you are as proficient as or better than your competition. That includes birthday party shows! Be sure your show is age-appropriate. Preschoolers will not appreciate ‘Dr. Faust’ no matter how much you love it. Listen to your audience’s reactions to the show. If you lose their attention, adjustments are in order.” BraD lowe of lake orion, miChigan, says: “Never book a puppet show gig before your show is complete, puppets are constructed and you are ready for performance. It is not wise to use the already booked show as a deadline date to complete your show. You don’t want to go on with wet paint and you do want to be called back to perform in the future. mark segal of Cheltenham, PennsYlvania wrote: “The mostimportant influence for me (as a young actor 33 years ago before I ever did a puppet production) was going to my first National festival 1976. The festivals are like recharging stations (at least for me). Also think being a member of all the possible organizations - P of A and Unima and guilds - can be benefical, as well as being on Pupcrit and PuppetHub. One of my guiding rules (besides there are no rules) is.... if it works it is right. Actually I have a lot of rules - that all can be broken.”

Now there’s a lot to ponder, Newbies…and oldies alike. Nothing like a refresher course! What would you say? Let me know.

Nancy NANCY H. SANDER1250 Granger AvenueLakewood, OH 44107

puppetmaster@puppetswithpizazz.com

I love the summer; I get my puppet transfusion at festivals.Did you ever say to yourself I think I’ll quit this bit and try

something else? Then off to a festival and the world spins again. Old Shows, new shows, old friends, new friends, old ideas, new ideas and your mind is in a new mode.I warn you that this is a view column. Every now and then I feel that I am going to pack it in and then I go to a festival. My first festival I went to because I wanted to see what other puppe-teers do. I got hooked because I discovered it was like a puppet transfusion. I came back revved up and ready to finish the un-finished shows, ready to try new clays, new writing techniques, new stages, and new scenery ideas. I have never understood why people didn’t go to festivals. What a great place to get re-charged. I am still recovering from two weeks of puppetry. I first went to the PuppetFest Midwest in Trenton, Missouri, run by Debbie Lutzky Allen and Peter Allen. A godsend to me. For years I would go to a festival wanting to go to a weeklong class. Years ago I had the joy of taking a weeks workshop on mari-onettes with Jerry Hartnett, of Lanark Village, Florida. Guess who was in my class? A young teenager named Philip Huber, of Cookeville, Tennessee. In California I took a class with George Latshaw. What a joy. At Puppetfest Midwest, folks have had the privilege of attending week long classes with Paul Mesner, Kansas City, Missouri, Pam Corcoran, Stevens Point, Wiscon-sin, Drew Allison, of Charlotte, North Carolina and Monica Leo from West Liberty, Iowa, as well as a brilliant shadow class with Jim “Nappy”Napolitano of North Haven, Connecticut.

I am suddenly aware there are other festivals going on all sum-mer. Sandglass, in Putney, Vermont and The O’Neill, in Water-ford, Connecticut and sundry colleges that offer courses in pup-petry, all varying in content and price. If you can ‘t make one try for another. My secret is I have a part time job at a school. Bad pay but I pilfer away as much money as I can and as long as I am doing the cooking I trim the budget. It works.

Next year think about it - there will even be some regionals to choose from. It helps you to focus again to think puppets all day and of course there are the Nationals every other year. POINT OF VIEW…. I think they should be every year in one place.)

At the National this year in Atlanta I took Paul Mesner’s work-shop on getting permission for using published material. His information about getting in touch with the author was invalu-able. Paper marionettes with Christopher Hudert, of Rich-mond, Virginia was great for anyone doing a kid workshop. I took the workshop on education Judith O’Hare of Reading, Massachusetts offered, and you can‘t write her great ideas down fast enough.Shows at the festival were standouts. Tanglewood Marionette’s Anne & Peter Schaefer of Ware, Massachusetts gave a beauti-ful performance of ‘The Dragon King.’ A rollicking Punch done by two performers, Estelle Charlier & Romauld Collinet of the Compagnie La Pendue of Herbeys, France. It was an unforget-table experience the real fun of Punch. I thoroughly enjoyed all the performances. Not that I liked them all. Heather Henson of Orlando, Florida presented a beautifully done “Panther & Crane,” a visual jewel, and there was a rather morbid but fas-cinating show, “Bride”by Kevin Augustine’s Brooklyn, New York Lone Wolf Tribe.All this is only a touch of the Festival scene. I rejoice that old friends like Pat Lay Wilson, Seal Beach, and Jackie Marks, Her-mosa Beach, California, ended up as my roommates. Fortu-nately Pat brought along “ Charlotte Sofia “ a classic Potpourri piece. You know the world is right when you see Bernice Sil-ver, New York, New York doing her puppets and making us all have that warm family feeling. Seeing old friends and making new friends is what it’s all about. Many of the puppeteers I have known for 35 years and some I know are brand new to the fold. If you didn’t get to go this year, plan ahead for next year. You won’t regret it.

People on the move. Wayne Martin, Boston, Massachusetts really keeps me informed on what he is up to. He is per-

forming at a Folk Festival with his marionette variety show. Penny Jones, also of New York New York, did The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, (a puppet musical) on Governors Island off lower Manhattan. She mentioned a great downpour in which the Pup-peteers got drenched but not the puppets. Pat Soltess now of Washington is doing china painting . Puppeteers always have soo much talent beyond their puppetry. Maureen Schiffman of Novi, Michigan was a guest puppeteer on Christian cable TV. Also in Michigan, the Detroit Puppet Theatre, Igor Gozman, Director, received a $10,000 Grant from the Erb Foundation. I say, “ That’s the way to do it.”I’m still in recovery from puppets. Hope you all are doing well and ready to write and let me know what you are up to for the fall. All you people I talked to at the Festivals ….E MAIL ME, Thanks for all you do to keep us going. M‘El

As President of the Twin Cities Puppeteers, I’ve been try-ing to schedule a planning meeting to work on ideas for

guild meetings and other events for 2009-2010 guild year. I sent out an email notice with a possible date. Diane Rains replied that she would come to the meeting . . . for a brown-ie. OK, I sweetened the pot. There would be brownies at the meeting. Steve Mark replied that he would like a glass of milk with his brownie. OK, brownies and milk, but that’s where I draw the line.Paul Eide chimed in that he was thinking ice cream . . . and ca-shews . . . and Wild Turkey (bourbon). Wayne Krefting (whose alternate identity is an 18th century voyageur who apparently has email) replied that he prefers rum punch with his wild poultry. Shari Aronson was feeling marginalized as a non-sugar eater and put in her request for pretzels. Steve Mark figured out that he couldn’t make the meeting and wondered if he could get his brownie and milk “to go”. That’s pretty much how we get business done in our guild. It may take us a while to get to the point, but it’s always interesting getting there. Next up my wife Kathy and I need to figure out the menu for our guild picnic.

• Linda Mason may have the answer for us. She hosted a June picnic for the Cincinnati Area Puppetry Guild. Their menu included veggie and non-veggie hot dogs and hamburgers, a good selection to keep everyone happy.

• The newsletter of the Detroit Puppeteers Guild asked and answered their own rhetorical question: “What’s more fun than a DPG picnic? Nothin’!” Their picnic was hosted in July by Diane and Marty Boatman. As an added bonus, Brad Lowe showed up with the Oakland County Puppet Mobile to per-form.

• The prize for best picnic location should go to the Connecti-cut Guild of Puppetry for their annual potluck lunch at the O’Neill Theater Center in June. Not only is it a lovely location just a stone’s throw from the shore, but it’s a buzz with pup-pets at the end of the National Puppetry Conference. After their lunch and a brief meeting, they take in the performances created at the conference.

• For a bit more upscale dining, you could have headed to the west coast. The Orange County Puppetry Guild had their in-stallation banquet in June. They started with appetizers, then dined on a chicken dinner with all the trimmings. To finish the evening on a high point, Nancy Mitchell’s Minikin Puppet Productions performed “Madam Zelda’s Puppet Circus.”

• Not to be out done, the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry took a fantasy trip to the tropics for their Hawaiian themed installa-tion banquet in August. Their guest entertainer for the event was ventriloquist Jay Johnson. Jay recently won a Tony Award for his one-man Broadway show “The Two and Only”, but he may be best known as the ventriloquist on the classic televi-sion series “SOAP.”

Kurt HunterGUILDCONNECTIONThe

KURT HUNTER5918 W. 39th Street

St. Lois Park, MN 55416HunterMarionettes@earthlink.net

M’EL REUM827 Milwaukee Street

Denver, CO 80206puppetreum@estreet.com

FAX (303) 393 - 1367

• Food is certainly one of the things that brings guild members to-gether, but it’s not the only thing. For instance, the San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild had a puppet movie night in June at the Vallejo Music Theatre. The event featured special guest Ernie Fosselius, creator of the classic “Hardware Wars,” a wonderfully funny and creative spoof of Star Wars. He also screened his new-est film “Plan 9.1 From Outer Space.” As an added bonus, new guild member Robin Stevens, who moved to the Bay Area from Great Britain, showed some clips of his own. He worked in Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth,” and was one of the founding principals for “Teletubbies.”

• The National Capital Puppetry Guild had big plans for Au-gust with a Day of Puppetry at the Bowie Center for the Perform-ing Arts. The line-up looked great with Bob Brown performing “Clowning Around” and Jill Kyle-Keith presenting “Dig Those Dinosaurs” plus six workshop slots.

• Joanne Schroeder reports that the West Michigan Puppetry Guild has been working on a marionette project. Each member was doing a part in creating six marionettes to sell at an art fair in June. As the work progressed and the hours added up, the price kept climbing.

• An announcement from Elly Leaverton for the June meeting of the Puppeteers of Puget Sound offered no specifics, just an in-triguing clue about the workshop to be presented, a link to a photo of “Tony’s Mouse,” a beautiful little partially completed rod or table top puppet.

• Before I run out of space I must mention that the Willamette Valley Puppeteers received their Puppeteers of America charter at the national festival in Atlanta in July. Congratulations to Rozy Weatherby, Doris Hicks, and everyone else who made it happen.

• Congratulations also go out to Lee Armstrong. The San Fran-cisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild awarded her the President’s Award for Outstanding Service for her many years of service to the guild in many different capacities.

• A big Thank You goes out to Kristin Charney, editor of the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry’s newsletter “Puppet Life.” Their newsletter is always a treat to read, beautifully laid out with lots of photos and lots of news. The Summer ‘09 issue marked the end of her tenure and it was a great issue to go out on. Greg Veneklasen will be taking over the position.

Well, that’s the bottom of a somewhat thin stack of summer news. I’m sure the activity and news will pick up as we

move into fall. I’m not sure what my own guild will be planning yet, but I’d love to hear what you have planned.

M’el reuM

REUM-...with a view.

Membership RenewalsThe Puppeteers of America membership year runs from September 15 through September 14.

By now, you should have received an email notice reminding you that you can renew online, or your paper renewal form may have arrived in the mail. If you have already renewed, please disregard either notice. PLEASE renew as early as possible. Only the dues payments recieved in this calendar year can be used to determine the budget for next year. Early receipt of your dues also ensures that none of your Puppetry Journals will go missing. The SUMMER issue will be your last issue if you do not renew in time. Thank you for your cooperation.

Puppeteers of America 26 Howard Avenue, New Haven, CT. 06519-2809 Membership@puppeteers.org (888) 568-6235