Puppet Arts Theatre to bring "The Fisherman & His Wife" to Center Stage

Members of Junior Auxiliary of West Point are finalizing details for a production of “The Fisherman and His Wife” on Friday, Nov. 6, at Center Stage Auditorium.

The highly acclaimed Puppet Arts Theatre, a professional touring company under the direction of Peter Zapletal, will perform “The Fisherman and His Wife.” Zapletal is an award-winning puppetry producer and a former puppeteer and animator for Mississippi Educational Television. His television specials have been seen nationwide on PBS. Joining him on stage will be T. J. McSparrin, a professional actress and puppeteer who has previously appeared at New Stage Theater in Jackson and on Mississippi ETV. Jarmila Zapletal, a professional puppet maker and designer, created sets for the production.

“We are so thrilled to have Mr. Zapletal and Puppet Arts Theatre perform in West Point,” stated Allison Trolio, president of Junior Auxiliary of West Point. “It will be such a treat for the children to see the creativity in their work and the story is not only entertaining, it teaches a valuable lesson.”

“The Fisherman and His Wife” is a well-known fairytale from the collection of the Brothers Grimm, but the theme of greed and uncontrolled wishing for the impossible appears in many other stories across the world. In this adaptation, a fisherman catches a golden fish, “The Queen of The Sea.” At her request, the fisherman releases the queen, who then offers to fulfill any wish the he asks. The fisherman has no wishes, but his wife has many. Her greed increases, and the story comes with a surprising and satisfying ending.

“The Fisherman and His Wife” is set to the music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and performed with the puppeteers in the full view of the audience, manipulating very large hand puppets. The set consists of two large rotating towers constantly creating new performing spaces. Children from the audience join the professional cast on stage and perform with the puppets made by the company. The Greater Jackson Arts Council provided a grant to make this production possible.

Since 1968, Puppet Arts Theatre has brought exciting and memorable performances to its audiences and has thrilled children of all ages from Boston to Tampa and throughout the Southeast. The company is on the Performing Arts Touring Program of the Mississippi Arts Commission. The West Point/Clay County Arts Council generously provided Center Stage as the venue for Friday’s performances.

The 10:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. performances on Friday have already sold out, however tickets are still available for the 8:45 a.m. showing. Tickets, which are $5, may be purchased through any JA member. For more information, please call (662) 495-9247.

NMMC-WP Safety Fair

Members of Junior Auxiliary helped out at the annual Safety Fair, held recently at North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point. Each year, the hospital hosts the Safety Fair to provide children in the West Point/Clay County area with a fun-filled morning where valuable health and safety information is distributed to them and their parents.

New active members Tracey Dexter and Heather Blaylock work with the children in an arts and crafts project.

Projects Chair Cindy Watson, left, serves drinks and smiles.

Incoming•Outgoing Social 2009

Junior Auxiliary of West Point welcomed its new active members for 2009-2010 at their Incoming • Outgoing Social, held at the home of Vice-President Laura Yelverton. Pictured from left are Erica Turnipseed, Ashley Baker, Shannon Coker, Heather Blaylock, Jennifer Flannagan and Tracey Dexter.

Our outgoing members moving on to associate or lifetime status are, from left, Caroline Atkins, Andrea Jester, Alison Reed, Nicole McBrayer and Candice Miller.

Bestselling Author Richard Paul Evans speaks at Area Meeting

(Ridgeland, Miss.) – “Living a life of service” and “avoiding and resolving conflict” were the main messages members of Junior Auxiliary of West Point came away with from the area meeting of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries (NAJA) held recently in Ridgeland.

“We enjoyed the meeting and got so much out of it,” stated Allison Trolio, president of Junior Auxiliary of West Point. “These meetings not only provide us with resources and tips for running our chapter, they inspire us and give us great ideas we can actually put to use in our communities.”

Keynote speaker for the event was Richard Paul Evans who motivated JA attendees to be good volunteers and utilize five keys in making their efforts a success: divine recognition, forgiveness, risk, acceptance of adversity and love. Evans’ story of parental love and the true meaning of Christmas made history when his book became simultaneously the #1 hardcover and paperback book in the nation. Since then, more than eight million copies of The Christmas Box have been printed.

Author and professional speaker/trainer Janie Walters of Madison provided the ABCs for dealing with conflict in the presentation titled, “When Your Blood Starts Boiling, Don’t Let It Cook Your Goose!” Walters explained, “The ‘A’ occurs when something negative happens, the ‘B’ represents the thoughts you have about it, and the ‘C’ represents the philosophy that thoughts produce feelings.”

Walters encouraged her audience to intercept negative thoughts to prevent negative emotions. Similar inspiration can be found in her book, Blow a Bubble Not a Gasket!

NAJA hosts area meetings across the Southeast each year to offer training and assistance to the organization’s 101 Chapters. “The training events for our members and community leaders help strengthen Chapters and make them more of a dynamic organization in each of the community’s they serve,” said Christy Keirn, NAJA President. “This year one of our secondary topics of discussion was Conflict Resolution in which we provided tips to help our attendees both in their personal and volunteer life.”

Junior Auxiliary represents a serious endeavor on the part of women to be active and constructive community participants and to assume leadership roles in meeting community needs. The mission of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries is to provide support, resources, and educational, leadership, cultural, and healthcare training for NAJA members in order to optimize community service by NAJA Chapters. These educational meetings for members give them the resources to be better community volunteers.

The NAJA slogan is “Care Today – Character Tomorrow” and when teamed with the current focus of NAJA, “Healthy Children – Healthy Futures,” Junior Auxiliary Chapters all over the Mid-South are working to increase awareness of child health and welfare and how it affects the future of the child.

For more information on Junior Auxiliary of West Point, visithttp://westpointja.blogspot.com. For more information on NAJA, visit www.najanet.org.

JA Recording Secretary Jessica Lewis, President Allison Trolio, Kerrie Gentry and Vice-President Laura Yelverton attended the recent area meeting in Ridgeland. Author Richard Paul Evans, center, was keynote speaker.