June 25 – 27, 2025 | 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Register here
Event Dates & Times:
June 25th: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
June 26th: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
June 27th: 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Puppet Parade 5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Join us and local artist Debra Fisher for three days of puppet making and community connection at Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture (PMRCAA). The vision for the series is to create a bevy of bee puppets that can be paraded around the 4th Friday Artwalk and the Community Celebration which opens the Big Ponderoo Festival. The bees will be joined by the sun goddess and salmon puppets from last year’s Festival.
All puppet-makers are encouraged to participate in the Big Ponderoo opening festivities which begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 27th. Afterwards, PMRCAA will collect the bees and safely store them until next year’s event. We hope you will join us making a statement about how art and music are the pollinators for a rich cultural community.
Series Overview:
June 25th – Session1: Construct the puppets and let them dry overnight
June 26th – Session 2: Paint the puppets and attach their wings
June 27th – Session 3: Finishing touches!
June 27th Puppet Parade and Big Ponderoo Community Celebration Schedule:
5:00 pm: Meet at the Sisters Fire Hall across from the Village Green to gather for the puppet parade. The volunteers will gather in the fenced area behind the community room. Enter through the gate on Washington Ave, not through the building.
5:10 – 5:30 pm: Puppeteers will parade around Hood Avenue during the 4th Friday Artwalk.
5:30 pm: Puppeteers will parade back to Village Green and officially open the gates for the community celebration.
6:00 – 6:15 pm: Once the gates open and music starts, the puppets will parade once more through the event, weaving among the crowd.
6:30 pm: Return your bees to the Sisters Fire Hall community room across from the Village Green Park.
Please register if you can join for both the puppet construction sessions and the Big Ponderoo Community Celebration on June 27th at 5:00 p.m.
About the Instructor:
Debra Fisher has loved making things since childhood. She discovered the magic of masks when a local theater asked her to make two masks for Eugene Ionesco’s Macbett. As the witches came on stage, there was a collective gasp from the audience! She was hooked and has made masks and costumes ever since. As a freelance artist Debra has balanced her career as a costumer, working artist and teacher for over 30 years. She has worked for The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center for the Performing Arts and Magic Circle Theater. Debra specializes in costume props, hats, helmets, masks, armor and footwear. She is an OPB ArtBeat alumni and an Oregon Arts Commission grant recipient for innovative and collaborative youth programming. Debra has traveled extensively as a teacher for the Oregon Arts in Education, sharing the arts with thousands of students and teachers throughout the Northwest.
Cost: Free
