Announcements

The Puppets will be performing for an American Association of University Women meeting at 10:00 AM on February 3, 2018 at the Poland Ohio Public Library. Thank you to all the good-hearted volunteers who will be coming to operate the puppets!

Five of the Poipus Puppets will be taking part in the 60th Birthday Party for the Trumbull Art Gallery in downtown Warren, Ohio. They will be at Courthouse Square Park from 11:00 AM till 2:00 PM on July 22, 2017 as part of an All Day Party sponsored by TAG and the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County, Ohio.

Join us April 27, 2013 from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. for Fun, Prizes, Inspirational Art Ideas, Puppet Performances and Certificates at the D.D, and Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center, Mill Creek MetroParks, Youngstown, Ohio. This Center is a part of the beautiful Fellows Riverside Gardens. We will be in the Weller Gallery at the Davis Center next to the Garden Café. This event will take place in conjunction with The Children’s Book Festival: Plant the Seed to Read. This year’s subtitle is “Dig into Reading”.

Six of the larger-than-life We Have Poipus Puppets together with a costumed character made to look like a puppet will be available for performances of a short play titled “Green Tidings!” Performances are scheduled for 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30. We will be seeking volunteers ages 6 and older from the audience to operate puppets to a pre-recorded soundtrack.

There will also be a Trash to Treasure Art Display of projects made from recyclables and non-recyclables.

The Children’s Book Festival and Puppet Performances are free and open to the public.

Puppets Undergoing Reconstruction

The manually operated larger-than-life We Have Poipus! Puppets are undergoing some changes in construction.  The mono-filament fishing lines, used to operate the mouths, are being replaced with a mechanism that will not break.  The Puppets will look the same and still operate the same.  The papier-mâché hands are being replaced with softer cloth hands filled with polyester.  The reason for this is to prevent accidental injury while operating the puppets.

In May 2009 we began exploring affordable ways to make the arms of the puppets work robotically.  After several trials using different kinds of small motors, students from Youngstown City’s Chaney High School and Choffin Career and Technical Center under the guidance of their teachers have found a way to achieve this!  Many thanks to the students and to their teachers Mark Robinson, Carrie Sinkele and Kevin Sinkele.

We are especially grateful to Lego Education North America for their help and discount on products.  We received a 40% discount from Lego on a $5700 purchase of servos and other items for a total savings of $2280.  Special thanks to sales representative Ivery Toussant for making this savings possible.

Special thanks also goes out to computer expert Nick Kachmar.  Nick’s insight into shortcuts and possibilities of the Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0 program together with the insights of Youngstown City Schools’ teacher Carrie Sinkele, has made it conceivable that the entire 32 minute We Have Poipus! Play can be made robotic and reproducible.  What seemed like an insurmountable amount of work, while still time consuming, now appears achievable.

Students from Youngstown City’s Kirkmere Elementary School took part in an entertaining impromptu program at their school using the We Have Poipus!  Puppets.  With only about 30 minutes of instruction, kindergarten and first grade students successfully operated the puppets for an assembly of kindergarten, first and second graders.  The students had a great time making the puppets come alive to a specially made recording.  The interactive program had a theme of stewardship which included anti-bullying, recycling and a mention of not to do drugs.

Kirkmere teachers Janet Donofrio and Becky Meredith made the arrangements with their principal Donna Cox Bing for the program to take place.  Local members of Delta Kappa Gamma, an International Society of Women Educators Promoting Excellence in Education made the recording and assisted with the program.  The Delta Kappa Gamma members were Mary Adams, Agnes Campanale, Rita Herchik, Fran Kachmar, Tresa Kurz-Hedrich, Linda Smith and Joyce Swierz.

Meet Father Time and join the other Puppets for Entertainment, Crafts and Fun at  First Night Canfield December 31, 2009!  We will be in the upper cafeteria of Canfield High School located at 100 Cardinal Drive, Canfield, Ohio. (Map & Directions)  Students will perform a skit at 6:00 P.M. and again at 8:00 P.M.  There will also be a display of art projects made from recycled materials and hands-on craft activities to make and take.  Crafts, which will be made from recycled materials, will include noise-makers and origami.

YMCA Afternoon of the Arts

The We Have Poipus Puppets will be taking part in the Afternoon of the Arts on October 10, 2009
at the Davis Family YMCA located at  45 McClurg Road, Boardman, Ohio.
This is a free event open to the public.  The Puppets will perform from 2:30-3:00 P.M.

There will also be a Re’ fuse and Ref’ use display of crafts made from recycled materials.

Re’fuse and Ref’use © 2007 is a We Have Poipus Stewardship Program that encourages No! to Drugs – Yes! to Green.