Community Corner
Puppets Against Pollution: Performance Teaches Children About Environment
"Mariah's Amazing Puppets" entertained a crowd of youngsters at Kuschick Pavilion.
The Parks and Recreation hosted its third performer for their weekly Tuesday summer program of Children's Theater with the return of “Mariah’s Amazing Puppets” at Kuschik Pavilion on Tuesday.
Two puppet shows were performed which educated the kids on current environmental issues and how to keep the environment sustainable.
Mariah Newborne, from MI, has been a puppeteer since 1980. It started out as a hobby that turned into her assisting with local holiday shows after only a year. She spent her second year working with unprivileged kids and then started her own shows. Newborne now travels to inform kids about performing positive deeds through her puppet show.
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“Earth awareness has always been interesting to me and I wanted something educational for the schools,” Newborne said.
The 40-minute show is broken into three parts with the audience involved in each. Audience members learn facts about different puppets through a hands-on approach. Newborne then put on two multi-media performances about how to treat the earth while the audience sang along. The show wrapped up with volunteers being able to throw garbage into a designated net.
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Newborne has performed shows for the New Jersey Clean Communities Program since 1990, which is a statewide program that aims to help with litter issues through education and support of LEED grants. The Manalapan Clean Communities Program funded “Mariah’s Amazing Puppets” performance the previous two years with aid from state grants, but she has put on shows in Manalapan for over 15 years.
“I want the kids to learn and have a connection with the earth and environment,” said Newborne.
Newborne said she was pleased at the turnout for her show, especially since the balmy weather could have discouraged people from attending.
For more information or to book Newborne, visit her Web site or call 732-665-6643.
The next Night Recreation program is scheduled for July 25 at 6:30 p.m. with a performance by Zoom Entertainment.
