Our Board

The History of the

West Michigan Puppetry Guild

Phase One (2007-2011)

The first meeting of the West Michigan Puppetry Guild was convened by Bill Henderson at the Red Barn Theater in Saugatuck, on the afternoon of Sunday, October 7, 2007. Bill—who moved to Michigan in 1994—found it inconvenient to drive three hours in order to attend guild meetings in Detroit or Chicago. 

For its first meeting, nine puppetry enthusiasts showed up. (Two others expressed regret that they could not attend.) Thereafter the new guild met regularly each month. At its second meeting each member made a scarf marionette. Programs at subsequent meetings covered such topics as storyboarding, ventriloquism, creating a color palate in an ice cube tray, mold-making, marionette construction/stringing, rehearsing, mask-making and many others. More enthusiasm was generated when the guild presented itself in a booth at the Saugatuck Arts Festival in 2008, and again the following two summers. In November 2011, Bill announced his resignation as secretary and passed the reins to other members.

Phase Two (2011 - 2024)

Mary Riley met Joanne Schroeder, President of the WMPG, who invited Mary to a puppet show in Saugatuck. She was looking at passing the torch and wanted the guild to continue. In 2015, the guild held formal meetings and puppeteers came together again. Kevin Kammeraad and Mary Riley worked on a newsletter and a logo. Membership stretched from Traverse City to Kalamazoo and all in between! We participated in Holland Tulip Time parades. On March 21, 2015 the village of Sparta declared “National Day of Puppetry.” A proclamation and bell ringing opened the first Tally-Ho! Puppet Festival.  The event continued in Sparta for 5 years with the help of entertainers who shared there talents in puppet making, shows, historical exhibits, and parade puppets. We came together in the grand tradition of puppetry.

Phase Three (2024 - ) 

Dawn Kasper was elected president of the West Michigan Puppetry Guild at an opportune moment when the group was eager to get things moving again! Erin Wilkinson, our Computer Goddess, helped facilitate creative productive meetings. We opened a bank account, set dues, wrote a mission statement, created a website and even started a new Facebook Group (WMPG Puppet Lab).

In November 2024, a record number of guild members participated in The Great Lakes Regional Puppeteer’s Potlatch. Michael Schwabe organized all the workshops. He and Larry Basgall performed their hilarious show—Lost in Storyland. Joe Emory ran lights and tech and—with help from his grandson, Cayden Grimshaw—performed a restored and revised Bob Brown’s show,The Reluctant Dragon. Jean Kuecher gave a lecture/demo on black light puppetry. Dawn Kasper displayed her first ever wood carving in the exhibit: a table top puppet named Pahtupita. Jon Allen Morgan—our new rising star—performed in the Potpourii.

We ended the 2024 year with a dinner party at Dawn’s house and a brand new logo created by Jason Yancey.