One of our longtime members, Gail Kearns, passed away unexpectedly in March. Gail was a member of our guild since 1989, and despite not being a full-time puppeteer (she was primarily an educator), she was one of our most active and supportive members.
She served on our board for many years in different positions, including Vice President and Recording Secretary. She rarely missed a guild meeting, driving in from Concord, MA, usually with a homemade cake in hand. She also hosted many of our summer meetings on her big screened-in porch, and welcomed us all like family.
Gail was also a prolific writer for our newsletter, and took copious notes at workshops and festivals she attended. She also volunteered at countless guild events and Day of Puppetry activities. Back in 2009, she organized a puppet-making project to benefit Peace Through Puppets, an organization that collects puppets for American soldiers overseas to give to children in war-torn countries. Gail cut and sewed 35 cloth hand puppets that we could all decorate. In more recent years, she started a legacy lecture series at our meetings, where longtime puppeteers could share their life experiences with others.
Gail was a generous and caring presence in our guild, and she will be greatly missed. We will share more memories of Gail at our guild meeting on Sunday May 16th. Details have been sent to all our members. If you are interested in joining, contact John Lechner – john (at) fablevision.com.