The Cat in the Hat visits The Big Read

Downtown Clayton was home to the Big Read last weekend. An event I regret to remark, I have been unaware of until this year. I'm only too sorry I've missed past events as the afternoon proved to be filled with fun activities and wonderful opportunities for the entire family! My first visit to The Big Read was spent disguised as one one of the best loved literary characters of all time, The Cat in the Hat! I did not take this responsibility lightly. I had volunteered to wear the costume as soon as the request arrived in my inbox, but honestly had no idea what this position entailed. I'd seen enough of characters parading down the streets, or the school mascot at sports events that I knew it looked fun and definitely wanted to try my hand behind the mask.

 The Channel 9 Booth was situated out in front of the Kids tents so there were lots of smiling and energetic kids to say hi to. The hour and 45 minutes spent as the Cat were a blast! As I'm already outgoing and friendly, having a large costume covering me brought out my inner kid. Skipping up and down Central St, waving at passers by, posing for photos with kids and adults, starting a can-can line, and bringing smiles to as many fair goers as possible just made the afternoon so special! A couple of younger boys were thrilled to see one of their favorite TV characters walking around and I suddenly became the receiver of regular hug attacks followed by a high pitched squeal of delight and a race around the near by tents, to return for another round. Hug, squeal, run! this pattern was repeated many times. It's a good thing he couldn't see my face as I had a hard time controlling my giggles.

Kids and Parents alike stopped by to check out our KETC guide, and pick up one of the fun Super Y tattoos or Cat in the Hat book marks we had available. Cat in the Hat had many visitors impressed that he was popular enough to have his own book mark.

Cat in the Hat spotted Corduroy, Madeline, Clifford and a few other childrens book characters chatting to excited kids.

 A Cats eye view down the street, next to our Channel 9 booth.

A brief pause in between photo opps. Mom's and dad's couldn't resist snapping several pictures of excited kids with the energetic Cat. Every now and then fun poses were even attempted.

Notice the stilt walker in the background? She played the ukulele and I had a blast dancing around for a small audience. A few kids even joined in! 

 Nearby tents were filled with kids working on a variety of fun craft projects. Decorating mini pumpkins, coloring in fun fall pictures, making journals, and much more!

 

 Even the heat was bearable once I became accustomed to taking smaller breaths to conserve energy and make the most of the smaller air hole in the costume head. My own kids had come along, and I was impressed that they managed to keep quiet about the true identity of the very popular Cat in the Hat.

 But I had to sneak in a couple of hugs and pictures.

 No one was too old for pictures with the Cat!

 Taking the time to decide whether this big Cat was approachable or not was frequent among the smaller guests.

 But the Cat tended to win them over in the end!

What a great way to spend the weekend! I can't wait till next year! I'll definitely be awaiting the next chance to spend some Dr Seuss time, and embrace my inner Cat in the Hat. You're never too old to stir up a bit of mischief! 

 Stay tuned for more from Channel 9! I've got loads to dish and I want you to be the first to hear! :D

Keep Smiling!

Clayton Art Fair

At this point apologies for the delay in posting this would be drastically understated. Unfortunately a busy schedule and stubborn internet service has me scrambling to find time and a place to sit down and write. But the recent visit back down to Clayton for the Big Read reminded me of what a great weekend the Art Fair turned out to be. So enough of my excuses for the lengthy silence and more about the fun weekend the kids and I had.

Friday afternoon couldn't come fast enough. After a long week at work I was literally bouncing in my seat by 2pm on Friday (partly due to my sitting on a yoga/pilates ball at work rather than an office chair). I was leaving early to grab the kids from school so I would make it into Clayton before traffic hit I-40, and hike the uphill mile to the Channel 9 booth all before 4pm. The mile hike is solely due to my own inability to find a good parking spot in down town Clayton and my deep rooted fear of parallel parking.  So, I choose the first available parking garage in the vicinity and then proceed to convince my children that the hike ahead of them really isn't as bad as it seems. Considering it was a Friday afternoon, and cooler weather had set in we were all in pretty high spirits. I couldn't wait to get to the booth and help set up. The kids had the backpack of toys to keep them busy, but spent most of our walk talking about how excited they were to help hand out KETC guides and Channel 9 kids club bookmarks.

Most of the set up was complete by the time we arrived. Jessica LaBozzetta and Matt Heulskamp had arrived early to set our tent, tables and equipment up. Two flat screens, video camera, and recording equipment were added to our set up this year. Nine Voices, the new Channel 9 Website forum for local residents to speak their mind on a variety of topics relevant to the St Louis region, made it's first public appearance! I have to say I was thrilled about the launch of this new web site, and the promotional set up that was provided at the fair. Fair goers had the opportunity to stop by and record a brief 1-3 minute video expressing their views on new ways to increase interest in the arts around St Louis. The camera was focused out of the tent on the passers-by attracting a good deal of attention and allowing the volunteers and employees to elaborate on this fantastic new site. If you're interested in checking it out hop on over to www.ninevoices.org, and have fun viewing the great videos that have already been posted.

The second flat screen was running a promotional video on repeat for Nine on Stage, one of my favorite programs from Channel 9. Being raised in an artistic family may have contributed to that though. Supplementing this video were the three drawings for tickets to upcoming concerts that anyone was welcome to enter. And anyone and everyone did seem to enter. 

The opening of the fair brought in large crowds, despite the jacket weather, cloudy skies and light drizzle that was dragged along with the descending evening darkness. Friday night provided the perfect setting for the videos, dark back drop, and bright reflective glare from the sun was absent. So from 4-8 I enjoyed talking with a variety of PBS supporters, people curious about the video they had suddenly walked through, and answering every kind of question you can imagine to the best of my ability. Clayton Art Fair always attracts some of the most colorful, outgoing, fun people I have ever met, and our central location was a great place to introduce them to, or remind them about Channel 9. I had a chance to meet a few more fellow volunteers as well who came in for the next shift before I left.

Then the "powers that be" decided I had enough experience to be a shift lead during Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours, which means I have the responsibility of "running" the booth with fellow volunteers, no Channel 9 staff in sight. It was fabulous! The weather was perfect, crowds were a little lighter, and I had a fantastic group of volunteers to work with. I got to know Dorothy and Tom Moore a mom and her son who came out to help me during our shift. We had lots of people stop by to enter for our drawings and plenty that were interested in upcoming programming, so our KETC guides went quickly. I was so grateful to see such a great turn out and the interest at our booth. An incredibly successful weekend from where I was standing!

There's a certain feeling of fulfillment derived from being out in the public eye representing an organization I am proud to support. And what a great way to get a better look at our gorgeous and diverse city! I can't wait until next spring and the Belleville Art Fair!

Thanks for tuning in and I'll be back again soon with an inside scoop on the Big Read. I had a great view on that event and it's coming at you from a very different perspective!

See you around the studio!