Garden Tour is Hot

Saturday's sweltering heat didn't stop our community from checking out this year's Garden Tour and Tea. I was set up at the Tea site which is generally the last stop on tourists' bill. A glass of tea was certainly a treat after visiting the first 6 gardens in the warm weather. Even though the hot sun was a conversation topic, I definitely heard more about how lovely the other gardens on our tour were. The ladies (and gentlemen) had a blast from what I could tell. It was a great event for everyone. While we haven't totalled out exactly how well the fundraiser has done for us, Garden Tour was a success nonetheless. I'll post pictures as soon as we come by them. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to get some shots. We hurriedly preparing so that everything was perfect when guests started showing up. So, if you or anyone you know has pictures from the event, please email me at hillaryhalbig@kykob.org and with your permission, I would love to post them here for everyone!

KOB Puppeteers Stand for Children

Today, Community Education held the annual Stand for Children Day this morning on WKU’s South Lawn. The event sponsored by the Bowling Green Kiwanis club offered dozens of booths of activities from face painting to corn-hole. Kids that visited our booth were offered coloring pages and temporary tattoos. Some children even enjoyed checking out our puppets, Nam and Melody, up close. Check out some pictures.

Balloon animals across from our booth

Priscilla hands out coloring pages

Cuddling with Nam

Stand for Children Chairperson, Anne Grubbs, engages with the kids

Scouts Learn Green Lessons

Yesterday, I travelled with the troupe to Warren County's Girl Scout Day Camp. The theme this year is Red, White, Blue, and Green. As a part of the theme, the troupe performed two short Life Lessons programs about the environment in addition to a Problem Solving performance. The first of the Life Lessons programs addressed the importance of recycling. The second installment of the program posed a point that even the adult campers might not have known--dusting light bulbs (while turned off and cool to the touch) can save energy! Here are some shots from the performance.

Garden Tour Coming to Your TV

As we rapidly approach Garden Tour and Tea, the first of our 3 event fundraisers, we're starting to promote the event. In the next couple weeks, expect to see and hear Debbie and myself all over your local media. Debbie is in the process of scheduling these interviews to promote the June 20th fundraiser.

Also, Stacy and Regina will be gearing up with the puppets to shoot our PSA with WBKO. Production crew from the station will be in our office tomorrow, so expect to see the kids very soon!

If you're interested in purchasing tickets for Garden Tour and Tea, visit the website at www.kykob.org under the Donate tab to purchase via PayPal, call our office at 842-2259, or stop by one of the following locations.

Schott Gardens
Fern Runners
Riley's Bakery
Warden & Co.
MacKenzie's

Ticket price is $20 preceding the event and $25 on the day of. Don't forget that to fill out your ticket stub for a chance to win (season) tickets for Orchestra Kentucky or the Bowling Green Western Symphony Orchestra.

KOB Funded for Louisville Performances

Thanks to the Cralle Foundation, KOB will be travelling to Louisville in 2010 for 9 performances in the area. The Cralle Foundation, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky has approved the grant of $4,656. Requested funds cover the cost of 3 round trips, lunches for 3 puppeteers for 3 days, educational teacher packets, preparation, set-up, and performances. Schools will be given the opportunity in the fall of 2009 to choose a date and topic for our troupe to perform. With over 20 topics to choose from, school administration can assure their students receive the information and services they need. And all of this is no cost to the schools thanks to this grant.


On another note, this is the first full grant proposal that's been funded since I've been writing with KOB. It feels awesome!

Puppets Perform for Kiwanians

Wednesday, we all travelled with Debbie to the Kiwanis Club of Bowling Green's lunch meeting. As acting president, Debbie brought our troupe to the meeting to involve the members of the club. As Kiwanis often sponsors our Child Abuse Prevention Program as a part of our Adopt-a-Puppet fundraiser, we like to give a demonstration of the work that those dollars support. This meeting featured a vignette in which we took volunteers from the club to perform as an experiement. The Kiwanians were good sports and stepped up to the stage. After the Kiwanians showed their efforts, our puppeteers performed the same vignette to demonstrate the dedication and work that goes into the performance style of Bunraku. Here are some shots from the meeting.

Kiwanians try out the Bunraku puppets

Celebrating after a highly praised effort

KOB to Perform for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Students in July

Coming up this summer on Wednesday, July 8, the KOB troupe will be performing the water safety show for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing students as a part of a summer program sponsored by First Baptist Church Deaf Ministry. This particular day will start out with a performance by our troupe before the students head out to swim at a local pool or park.

The summer day camp aims to continue learning for Deaf children while they are out of school. You can find more information at their website at: http://kysigningsummer.blogspot.com