Natural Bridges LLC, an Ohio-based, full-service Puppet Production
Company is looking to add several more puppeteers to our staff. We
are currently undergoing some changes and are in the process of
lining up a variety of paid jobs in Ohio and other states. Our
company is growing and we need enthusiastic, dedicated, career-minded
puppeteers to come on board and work with us on a number of projects
both in Ohio and other states in the US, as well as a project that we
are really pushing for overseas.

We currently will be accepting resumes by email at:
President thenaturalbridgesd dot or by regular mail at: PO Box 30688; Cleveland, Ohio 44130-0688. Once
we have established a list of available puppeteers, we will be
contacting those that we'd be interested in auditioning. No date has
been set just yet for auditions.

Natural Bridges LLC uses NB Puppets in TV commercials, trade shows,
live-stage shows and other projects, and to be an NB Puppeteer you
must be able to work with mouth-style puppets, be comfortable working
in close quarters with another puppeteer, and can perform both male
and female characters.

Thank you.

Kirk L Maynard
Natural Bridges LLC
PO Box 30688
Cleveland, Ohio 44130
Phone: 1-888-866-4877
Web: www.thenaturalbridges.com

Did you get your gorgeous t-shirt from the Pacific Southwest/Pacific Northwest
Bi-Regional Festival? If not, you can buy one now! Email me, and I will
send you a digital photo of the colorful logo designed by Elizabeth Luce.
Pinocchio is blissfully enjoying the afterglow of a puppet show.
The setting is the Pacific Northwest (pine trees, salmon, Shakespearian garb....)

I have medium, large and XL sizes. Fabric is 100% cotton. Choose
between a sparkling gray or a bright medium blue fabric.

I will mail the t-shirt to your home.

Mary Decker

Fairyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration and BBQ happen TOMORROW -- Saturday.

Schedule of events:

11:00 "The Wizard of Oz" performed at the Storybook Puppet Theater.

12:00 "Puppet Circus" performed by Randel Metz at the Fairyland Plaza
(near the gift shop).

12:00 to 3:00 Arts and Crafts (Make a Puppet) for kids.

1:00 DEDICATION CEREMONY -- The renovated theater and the NEW
workshop will be dedicated to the honor of Lewis Mahlmann. Be there
for the ribbon cutting!

1:30 Vagabond Puppets perform at the Emerald City Stage (located
across from Storybook Theater).

2:00 "Puss 'n Boots" performed by Nick Barone Puppets at the
Storybook Puppet Theater.

2:30 "Magic Mushrooms" (tabletop puppetry) performed by Lewis
Mahlmann in the very small Fairyland Chapel.

3:00 SFBAPG Business Meeting.

4:00 "The Wizard of Oz" (see 11:00).

4:30 to 5:00 Strike Puppet Exhibit and general clean up.

5:00 FAIRYLAND CLOSES and the public leaves. In order to be allowed
into the BBQ, you MUST be in the park before 4:45. You will have a
tough time getting in after 5:00.

5:30 "The Man Who Had to Mind the House" performed by Randal Metz.

6:00 BBQ dinner served. Champagne toast.

Hello Guild Members,
August 25 is the deadline for sending your newsletter submissions to your new newsletter editor, Jeff Pidgeon. Articles, reviews, tips, classifieds, calendar items, summer puppet travel encounters/adventures, puppet photos, etc. can all be sent to Jeff at jeff pixar dot com and at jeffpidgeon mac dot com (it helps him to get the info at both addresses.)

ANOTHER DEADLINE: Today, August 16, is the official deadline for letting Mary Decker ( marydeck earthlink dot net or call her at 650 361-131O) know if you are planning to attend the guild/Fairyland catered BBQ on August 26 (of course, you can always come and not eat at the BBQ, but the food people need to have numbers.) A large number of guild members have already signed up for this historic event celebrating the oldest continuous puppet theatre in the US! Come join us and have a great puppet celebration with your fellow guild members. (for more info on the event, see the August newsletter.)

Sha Sha Higby has a free performance collaboration August 20th at
Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco: 2006 Yerba Buena Gardens
ChoreoFest from 1:00-2:00pm. It will be a fabulous collaboration as
each performer unveils their work.

Program participants:
Sha-Sha Higby
Soul Force Dance Company- (Micaya)
Fellow Travelers Performance Group (Cynthia Adams and Ken James)
Carmen Carnes Dance Ensemble with Anak Swarasanti-gamelan
Curated by:Brechin Flournoy
Sha Sha also has workshops in making forms in Japanese lacquer and
goldleafing them .Choose from the following dates:August 27th,
September 10th September 17th,check websight
http://www.shashahigby.com under workshops

--
Sha Sha Higby
P.O. Box 152
Bolinas,CA 94924
phone/fax 415-868-2409
http://www.shashahigby.com
shasha shashahigby dot com

Hello Guild Members,
August 25 is the deadline for sending your newsletter submissions to your new newsletter editor, Jeff Pidgeon. Articles, reviews, tips, classifieds, calendar items, summer puppet travel encounters/adventures, puppet photos, etc. can all be sent to Jeff at jeff pixar dot com and at jeffpidgeon mac dot com (it helps him to get the info at both addresses.)

ANOTHER DEADLINE: Today, August 16, is the official deadline for letting Mary Decker ( marydeck earthlink dot net or call her at 650 361-131O) know if you are planning to attend the guild/Fairyland catered BBQ on August 26 (of course, you can always come and not eat at the BBQ, but the food people need to have numbers.) A large number of guild members have already signed up for this historic event celebrating the oldest continuous puppet theatre in the US! Come join us and have a great puppet celebration with your fellow guild members. (for more info on the event, see the August newsletter.)

Saturday, August 26 is Fairyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration and
BBQ! Have you made your reservations yet? If not, contact Mary
Decker: marydeck earthlink dot net or 650-361-131O.

Schedule of events for next Saturday:

11:00 "The Wizard of Oz" performed at the Storybook Puppet Theater.

12:00 "Puppet Circus" performed by Randel Metz at the Fairyland Plaza
(near the gift shop).

12:00 to 3:00 Arts and Crafts (Make a Puppet) for kids.

1:00 DEDICATION CEREMONY -- The renovated theater and the NEW
workshop will be dedicated to the honor of Lewis Mahlmann. Be there
for the ribbon cutting!

1:30 Vagabond Puppets perform at the Emerald City Stage (located
across from Storybook Theater).

2:00 "Puss 'n Boots" performed by Nick Barone Puppets at the
Storybook Puppet Theater.

2:30 "Magic Mushrooms" (tabletop puppetry) performed by Lewis
Mahlmann in the very small Fairyland Chapel.

3:00 SFBAPG Business Meeting.

4:00 "The Wizard of Oz" (see 11:00).

4:30 to 5:00 Strike Puppet Exhibit and general clean up.

5:00 FAIRYLAND CLOSES and the public leaves. In order to be allowed
into the BBQ, you MUST be in the park before 4:45. You will have a
tough time getting in after 5:00.

5:30 "The Man Who Had to Mind the House" performed by Randal Metz.

6:00 BBQ dinner served. Champagne toast.

PUPPET EXHIBIT: Fairyland's 50th Celebration will feature a Puppet
Exhibit! Please bring your best puppets to the Exhibit by 10:30 a.m.
so Randal Metz can add them to the Exhibit.

PUPPET STORE: There will be one table dedicated to the sale of
puppet-related items. If you have anything you want to unload, please
contact Mary Decker: marydeck earthlink dot net or 650-361-131O.

DOCENTS NEEDED: Randel Metz asks if anyone in the Guild is willing to
be a docent for an hour or two during the event. Your job would
entail taking small groups of public through the new workshop.
Basically, you would do an extremely simple tour, keep your eyes
things, and then escort the group of people out the door. It's an
easy job. If you can help, please contact Randal Metz at
510-569-3one44.

Change of plans!! Do not send your RSVP for the August 26 BBQ to
Michael Nelson. Send it to Mary Decker: marydeck earthlink dot net or
650-361-131O.

Michael and Valerie Nelson are up to their eyeballs trying to move
out of the house they have occupied for 23 years.... and their
brains and bodies are taxed, to say the least. They would appreciate
it much if you would send your reservation for Fairyland's 50th
Anniversary BBQ to me.

Also, let me know if you are bringing a puppet to display at the
Exhibit, or if you are bringing stuff to sell at the little Puppetry
Store.

Thanks,

Mary Decker
marydeck earthlink dot net
650-361-131O

Special SFBAPG event Saturday, August 26! Fairyland's 50th
anniversary party! Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime Guild event.
There will be shows all day long and after the park closes, there
will be a BBQ party for the Guild, hosted by Children's Fairyland.

PLEASE MAKE A RESERVATION IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE BBQ. Fairyland
needs to know how much food to prepare. Email or call Mary Decker: marydeck earthlink dot net.

If you would like to sell puppet-related stuff during the event,
contact Mary Decker: marydeck earthlink dot net.

The Storybook Theater at Children's Fairyland is the oldest, ongoing
professional puppet theater in the United States. The theater was
built in 1956 and was originally designed by Williams Everritt,
Lettie Schubert, Ralph Chesse and Wolo. Now, 50 years later, a
wonderful new workshop has been erected and the original theater has
been expanded. Come check it out!

More wonderful Regional Fest t-shirts are available for you to buy!
They are 100% cotton, high quality, and sport the same Pinocchio that
was on the 2002 Asilomar t-shirts. The difference is that this
Pinocchio is in Shakespearean garb, surrounded by pine trees of the
Pacific Northwest.

I have ordered 20 more t-shirts and they will be available at the
Puppet Faire event on August 26 at Fairyland. To guarantee yourself
a t-shirt, email me now to pre-order. Of course, you may wait until
you arrive at Puppet Faire to decide what you want, but there are no
guarantees that your size or color preference will be available then.

Sizes available now: XL, L and M. Fabric colors are either blue or
grey. Price is $19.

Mary Decker
marydeck earthlink dot net

Dear Guild members,
Your August Newsletter is online, prepared for you by our new newsletter editor, Jeff Pidgeon. You will notice that this month the newsletter has been loaded onto the website in 10 files of one page each, so to get the whole newsletter you must download all of the files. The newsletter can be found at http://sfbapg.org/newsletter.htm - Many thanks to Jeff for taking on this important job and for doing so well with his first newsletter!

SFBAPG GUILD DISCOUNT FOR WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE. Magical Moonshine is offering a limited number of guild discounts to this workshop. Join us for 2 days of puppet making and show creation, and then come and watch the show on Friday (and perform your workshop created act at the Napa Valley Opera House.

Here is the deal: You sign up for the workshop for $50.00 (which is an already heavily subsidized rate). The $50.00 includes a ticket to the show on Friday (normally $25.00) and Magical Moonshine will give you a rebate of $25.00. Your total cost for 2 days masterclass workshop and performance at the world class Napa Valley Opera House: $25.00 (after rebate). We will offer this deal to the first 5 guild members who sign up.
NOTE: THE OPERA HOUSE DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT THE GUILD REBATE, SO CONFIRM THE REBATE WITH MAGICAL MOONSHINE'S MICHAEL & VALERIE PERSONALLY BEFORE YOU SIGN UP WITH THE OPERA HOUSE. Call us on our cell phone as we are leaving for the Tacoma Much Ado About Puppet Festival this weekend. Cell number: 707-363-4573. To sign up for the workshop at the $50.00 rate contact Evy at the Opera House at evy nvoh dot org - Call us with any questions: 707-363-4573.

RARE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A SHOW WITH MAGICAL MOONSHINE, TO BE PERFORMED AT THE NAPA VALLEY OPERA HOUSE AUGUST 11: In the past many of you have asked about MMT puppet workshops offered for adults. Magical Moonshine will be performing our Cirque du Café at the Napa Valley Opera House on Friday, August 11. We had proposed a 2 day workshop at the opera house for Aug. 9 & 10 where participants would work with us to create a set of circus performer puppets and create an original and eclectic circus show to be performed before our show Friday night. I had stipulated that the lower age be limited to age 10, but had set no upper limit on the age, envisioning the workshop as being mostly for adults. For some reason the opera house staff put an upper age limit of 15 years on the workshop which was not my original idea. As of now no one has signed up for the workshop which starts in little over a week. The opera house has now told me that I am the last word on the ages allowed, so I ask those of you who are interested (of any age) to contact me as soon as possible. The Opera House is providing a huge subsidy for the workshop so that the participant cost is only $50.00 for the two days and includes admission to the evening show on Friday (a $25.00 value for adults!) It is a great deal and will be a fun and creative adventure into the mysterious and wonderful world of puppetry. Do join us. Details of the workshop as well as the Cirque du Cafe performance are below.

*Join The Paper Pyramid Workshop With Magical Moonshine Theatre...Part visual art, part performance art-

Wed., August 9 & Thurs., August 10, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Café Theatre --$50 inclusive fee (workshops and ticket to the 7 p.m. show on Fri., August 11)

Workshop participants will team up with Michael and Valerie Nelson, 25 year veterans of Magical Moonshine, to create large scale puppets that can perform various circus acts. Michael will teach participants his easy-to-make but very expressive, newspaper Bunraku puppet technique and workshop puppeteers will learn how to bring the large puppets to life, creating amazing, humorous and fantastical circus acts that defy gravity and perhaps even common sense. Participants will take home their creations when the workshop is over. There will be a workshop performance (dress rehearsal) at 2 p.m. on Thursday for the participant's and families and friends. The workshop group, dubbed "Paper Pyramid" will also perform on Friday, August 11 as part of the Magical Moonshine show. Space is limited to 14. No previous experience necessary. For workshop information, email mail magicalmoonshine dot org -

The show: Magical Moonshine Theatre with accordion virtuoso Steve Ventrello in Cirque du Café

Friday, August 11, 7 PM --$25/$15

To buy tickets at the Box Office call 707-226-7372. Magical Moonshine Theatre brings big thrills with their tiny circus to the Opera House Café Theatre during Cirque du Café. Set under the "little top," a circus tent built on a special table, Cirque du Café features MMT's take on familiar circus acts, including the parade of the elepots (tea pots become elephants), acrobats (do not miss the Cordials of Steel and the Flying Olivas), and Signore Pepperoni, the pizza cutter unicyclist, performing feats of mystery on miniature equipment. Opening for MMT will be participants of the Paper Pyramid Workshop (see below.) For more info check http://magicalmoonshine.org/calendar.htm

Dear Guild Members,
Here is your chance to put in your 2 cents worth on what you would like at a Puppeteers of America National Puppetry Festival. The email text below is from the Marketing Director of the 2007 Festival. Click on his email link below to let him know you want to participate and give input, or email me directly at mail magicalmoonshine dot org -
Happy August,
Michael Nelson, President SFBAPG

> Dear PoA Friend,
>
> The 2007 PoA National Festival is putting together an email and postal
> database of puppeteers and puppet arts advocates. We need your help. The
> goal is to inform your guild members directly about the exciting
> opportunities at our upcoming festival. More importantly the festival
> committee WANTS TO HEAR FROM THEM and learn what innovative performances,
> workshops and activities they would enjoy at a festival!
>
> Talk to your guild members. See who wants to begin a personal dialogue
> with the festival staff. Please forward that guild membership contact
> list (Of course only those who would want to be on a festival information
> list). We promise that email addresses will be used no more than once a
> month and postal addresses will be sent 2-4 mailings in the next year for
> official festival business only. Emails will also have a "Take me off
> your list" Option on every one.
>
> If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me. Please help
> us make this upcoming festival--Your Guild's Festival.
>
> I look forward to hearing from all of you.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jim Hammond brammond
> earthlink dot net
> Marketing Director
> 2007 Puppeteers of America National Festival