Great Lakes Regional meeting report

Great Lakes Regional meeting

at the National Puppetry Festival

July 16, 2011 -- Atlanta, Ga.

Regional president Dave Herzog reported that the region is in good financial shape, with losses from the 2010 regional festival in Springfield covered by fund raising efforts at the last potlatch.

The next Potlatch will be the weekend of Nov. 4-6, at the Pottawatomie State Park near Algona, Ind. For those of you who have never gone, it is always there and always on the first full weekend of November. It also is ALWAYS a wonderful, wonderful time in a beautiful wooded setting on a lake. The Pokagon lodge is very comfy and has a great indoor pool. A potlatch (like a potluck) is about sharing, so performers and workshop presenters are not paid.

Recently, the P of A ruled that the Great Lakes Regional’s annual Potlatch IS a P of A sanctioned event, since the money is funneled through the region’s treasury. That means that elections held at Potlatch are valid.

Dave promised a regional newsletter to arrive via email in August. His email is dhpuppets@aol.com.

The next regional festival is all but officially approved by the P of A. It is scheduled for June 26-29 at the Howe Academy in Howe, Ind. It used to be called Howe Military Academy and the dorms as said to be Spartan but the site is expected to make this a very affordable festial. Plus, Dave says there’s a nice motel nearby, for those of us who’ve reached the brink of tolerance on sleeping in dorms (no word on whether these are bunk beds).

Scott Beam (freedompuppets@yahoo.com) will be the festival director. He worked closely with Guy Thompson on the festival that was held in nearby Shipshewana, Ind., in 2008.

Dave said that Corcordia Seminary in St. Paul is trying to woo the P of A back to that campus for the next 2 national festivals. Jessica Simon, a Chicago puppeteer, said there also is a proposal for a national to be held at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia.

The Chicago guild is hoping to sponsor a youth scholarship for future regional festivals.

Dave said guild members should be urged to join P of A and keep up their memberships.

A link to the guild website should be sent to the P of A webmaster.

The P of A site has a Puppet Places link. Peggy Melchior is in charge of it. (The last time I checked, the Hazel Green Opera House was on it. Is there any place else in Wisconsin that should be added?)

The Chicago Puppetry Guild piggybacked a Day of Puppetry with an Irish festival to great advantage. They highly recommend piggybacking a DoP with an existing event.

Other notes: Kat Pleviak organized a puppet slam in Chicago. And Ohio puppeteer Dave Greenbaum died in the spring.