Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:41:09 -0400
From: Hobey Ford <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] a welcome manifesto


You have offered great ideas and here is a different take.

Dear President Obama,

We are America's Puppeteers.  We are a vital part of every child=92s
life in America,
and the child in every American.  We are bringers of wonder
and magic.  We teach America's children to love literature, to read,
To know when to cross the street, to respect one another and otherwise
Make their lives brighter.  Sasha and Melea know us well. You may know
our shadow puppet brother Hanuman the Monkey King form when you lived
in Indonesia as a child.
We are the free programs at the  public library.  We are the assembly
programs at every school in America.  We teach to the multiple
intelligences through the arts, when schools scramble to teach to the
test
 We are in classrooms teaching the 21st
century skill of creative thinking and play.  We are the preservers of
America's veteran puppets, who taught, entertained, and uplifted your
parents and grand parents and your grand parent's parents.  We have a
Nnational organization called Puppeteers of America.
our own united nations of puppetry called UNIMA USA with our brother
and sister puppeteers from around the world but when we get together
there are only laughter and tears of Joy.  We teach tolerance and
courage, through the story of Harriet Tubman, and wisdom through the
folktales of  Native Americans.
We help children express themselves when their own words won't come.  We made
ET come to life, we live on Sesame Street, we brought Lion King to
life and saved Broadway, We are the animating soul of Howdy Doody,
Kukla Fran and Ollie and Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, We are the
balloon characters at the Macy's Day Parade.  We are the stars of the
opening of Olympic ceremonies, we foster children into the words of
Shakespeare, and we speak truth to power in the streets on Mayday and
helped America wake up to the horror of the Vietnam War. We are at bedsides
in children's hospitals.  We are among the oldest traditions on earth.  Our
ancestors rode the Silk Road with Marco Polo, entertained the royalty
of the old world, allowed the oppressed to laugh at their oppressors.
We lived in concentration camps and made our puppets from rags to
feign some joy for the children.  We are beloved around the world. We
bring joy!  We are American made!

But many of us have hit on hardtimes and  some are
scrambling to make ends meet. Puppet collections older than your
grandparents are in need of a good home.  But we will press on for  we
are vital to America's future.
You and your family can come visit our little family this summer at
our National Puppetry Festival in Atlanta.  We will treat you right
and you may need a good laugh by then as well.
Yours Truly,
The Family of American Puppeteers
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