Hey gang, this just came across my desk via the NJ Puppet guild. ya know, for al the NEW Jersey puppeteers who live SO close to San Jose. Anyway, Enjoy!!
--Matt
The Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose will present its Legacy for Children Award 2003 to Sesame Street Puppeteer Caroll Spinney. 20 tickets are available at a discount price for Puppeteers of America members only. See Below for details.
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> Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose to present its Legacy for Children Award 2003 to Master Puppeteer Caroll Spinney Thursday, January 30, 2003 6:30 p.m. at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel
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> SAN JOSE, CA – Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose announced today that it will present its Legacy for Children Award 2003 to Caroll Spinney, perhaps best known to generations of children as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Spinney joins a prestigious group of recipients of the Legacy for Children Award since its inception in 1999: “Mister” Fred Rogers; The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; and Rob Reiner and the I am Your Child Foundation.
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> Spinney has devoted more than 30 years to being the “man inside” these beloved characters. A member of the original Muppets cast and recruited by Jim Henson, Spinney has performed at 123 Sesame Street, the fictional New York City neighborhood, since 1969. More than 10 million U.S. children tune into Sesame Street each week and thousands more in 148 countries throughout the world to learn the alphabet, their numbers, and some of the “hows” and “whys” of the world in which we live.
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> Named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress in 2000 (joining Bill Cosby and Barbra Streisand), Spinney has been a puppeteer since he was eight years old. Jim Henson, who was working with Joan Ganz Cooney and the Children’s Television Workshop to develop characters for a new educational children’s television show, saw Spinney perform a combined puppetry and animation show at the Puppeteers of America Festival in Salt Lake City in 1969. Henson persuaded Spinney to join the cast of Sesame Street, which premiered later that year.
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> Spinney has earned four Emmy Awards, two Gold Records, and two Grammy Awards. Sesame Street has won numerous awards for its groundbreaking work in using the power of media to help children their highest potential. The Museum’s Legacy for Children Award honors his lifetime commitment to and remarkable achievements in supporting the cognitive, social and emotional development of young children. Spinney reports, however, that his greatest accolades come from the children who watch the show and send care packages of bird seed and letters to Big Bird, thanking him “for being their friend!”
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> The Museum will present the award to Spinney at a dinner event at the Fairmont Hotel on Thursday, January 30, 2003. For ticket information, please call the Museum’s Development Manager, Debbie McKenzie, at (408) 298-5437, ext. 202 or contact via email at
dmckenzie@cdm.org. Funds raised from this event will support the Museum’s free and reduced admission programs and special educational initiatives for low-income children, families and schools. Event expenses are underwritten in part by the generosity of Adaptec.
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***Special note: Big Bird will not being flying west with Caroll Spinney. No character appearances will be made at the event.***
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> Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose is the largest children’s museum in the west and rated among the top 10 children’s museums in the United States (Child Magazine, 2002) and in the top 12 science museums in the world (London Observer, 2001). The non-profit museum has welcomed over 4 million children, families and educators since opening its purple gates in 1990. It is the proud recipient of the National Award for Museum Service 2001 bestowed by First Lady Laura Bush, the only award in the United States that provides national recognition for museums that make exceptional contributions to their communities. More information about the Museum and the Legacy for Children Award event can be found on its Web site at
www.cdm.org
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Individual tickets are $250, for more information call (408) 298-5437 ext. 202 or visit
www.enroll-me.com.
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Special Discount 20 seats are available for the discounted price of $150 each for Puppeteers of America members only. If you are a P of A member and would like to reserve a seat please contact Patrick Johnson at 818-782-0476 or
rockgoblin@hotmail.com with your name, contact information, and P of A membership number.
) Plus the event is more about Caroll, not those two.
Hybrid Mode
