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HEROES FOR SAFETY™
News 2002 This page features items of interest to S.M.I.L.E. Clowns. These can be resources, new products, or anything new to educational characterization. Check this page often for updates. You can also view news
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MACC Conference BrochurePam "Sparky" Moody has announced the Mid America Characterization Conference will occur May 1-3, 2003, in Des Moines, Iowa. Sparky has lined up a top notch list of instructors - including S.M.I.L.E. President Mark Ruffennach! For more information, please download and print the following file. Please note that you need the free program Adobe Acrobat 5.0 to view and print this file.
Election ResultsThe following people were elected to the 2003 & 2004 S.M.I.L.E. Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting of the S.M.I.L.E Conference. This Board will take over on January 1, 2003.
S.M.I.L.E. At Festival of ClownsSeveral members of the S.M.I.L.E. Organization attended the 2002 Festival of Clowns presented by the Luv Clowns of Mesa, Arizona. The event featured professional clown Don "Homer" Burda and his clown partner Ringling Brothers Clown Leon "Buttons" McBride. A highlight for the S.M.I.L.E. Clowns was the appearance of Scott Reed's 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Kibbles. She did a quick clown bit (no, it wasn't called Kibbles n' bits). Mrs. Kibbles did mention, "I knew one day Scooter would go through the roof - mark my words!" We have the reunion picture of her with Scooter.
Left to Right: Scooter with his 3rd grade teacher - Mrs. Kibbles. Below is a picture of the S.M.I.L.E. Clowns who were in attendance the first night.
Left to Right: Mary, Bruce Mark, Buttons, Patty, Debbie H., Homer, Debbie and Scot Congratulations to Patty Meagher and the Luv Clowns for another outstanding Clown Conference! (Posted 10/10/02)
Comedifest 2003 AnnouncementAngel Ocasio has announced that the new Comedifest 2003 website is now up and running! Comedifest will be held from February 28 to March 1, 2003 in Portland, Oregon. It will feature Steve Kissell and Karen Bell. Comedifest Executive Director Angel Ocasio is one of the premiere clowns in the U.S.A.! He is a graduate of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College and a former performer with the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus. In addition, he was a Lead Instructor at the 2001 S.M.I.L.E. Conference. He designed Comedifest to be a unique teaching conference that will improve the clown skills of every attendee in a friendly and cooperative way! Comedifest would be a benefit to any S.M.I.L.E. Clown! (Posted 8/1/02)
Magical Round TableThe third quarterly training in the Metro Phoenix area was held on July 18, 2002 in Scottsdale and was called Magical Round Table. We started out by a lecture on comedy and magic by professional magician and comedian Bob Kubota. Bob shared his thoughts on both subjects.
Bob Kubota demonstrates a double split fan with a deck of cards. (Photo by Carrie Abts) Following Bob was a short lecture on magic and safety and then we shared some safety magic. Both Mark Ruffennach and Bruce demonstrated some routines.
Top Left: Jeannie demonstrates the needle thru balloon Top Right: The Pishkee's girls develop a mental connection Bottom Left: Lisa assists Bruce with the Linking Rings Bottom Right: Dan, Dodie and Hector help Mark with a mouth coil routine. (Photos by Carrie Abts) At the conclusion, there was an actual magical round table when people examined some different tricks and created safety routines for them. Thanks to Bob Kubota and the 20 people who attended! (Posted 7/22/02)
S.M.I.L.E. Keynotes for Louisiana Clowning For Safety conferenceScott Reed and Mark Ruffennach from the S.M.I.L.E. Organization were the featured and keynote instructors of the 2002 version of the Louisiana Clowning for Safety Conference, held in Alexandria, Louisiana on April 26-28, 2002.
Left: Scooter and Officer Billy Club present to the Conference (note Billy is wearing a REAL English Bobby's helmet!) Right: Conference attendee Danielle A. gets the hang of juggling. Since returning from Louisiana, Mark and Scott had shared many strange and wonderful stories! In particular, they continue to chant "Do the Gator!" They also mentioned feeling very patriotic during dinner one evening and getting the rest of the restaurant to join in!
Most of the class demonstrates their new found puppet skills! (Photo by Mark Ruffennach) A highlight of the Conference is when S.M.I.L.E. Member and Louisiana native Mike Parent proposed to his girlfriend as a skit in class. He even used a change bag to produce the engagement ring!
Do you think Mike is asking if anyone has seen his "Ring, Ring, Ring?" Mike is in the middle of his magical proposal! (Photo by Mark Ruffennach) Thanks to everyone who attended and to all the great S.M.I.L.E. members in Louisiana! We hope to see y'all at this year's S.M.I.L.E. Conference!
The entire group at the Louisiana Clowning For Safety Conference (Photo by Mark Ruffennach) (Posted 5/10/02)
Ruffennach Gets New Police CarS.M.I.L.E. President Mark Ruffennach had to retire his Scottsdale Police Car - a Z-28 Camaro. His PD bought him a new car - a PT Cruiser! Check it out!!
(left) Buck L. Upp and (right) Little Billy in front of the new Scottsdale Police Department's PT Cruiser - complete with the old style single red light on top! Yes, it's a real police car. (Photo by Mark Ruffennach) UPDATE: The Scottsdale Section of the Arizona Republic newspaper ran a story on Mark and the PT Cruiser on May 8, 2002. Check out the article by searching the Arizona Republic website for "PT CRUISER" and "POLICE" (Posted 2/16/02)
Puppet Training: Learning While Having Fun!The First Quarterly S.M.I.L.E. Training for Troupe #1 (Metro Phoenix) occurred on February 14, 2002 in Scottsdale, Arizona and was called "Your Hand Is My Hand". The all day training was on the topic of puppetry and featured instruction by Debbie Henry, Scott Reed, Mark Ruffennach and Bruce Wall.
Instructor Debbie Henry demonstrates puppet manipulation (Photo by Carrie Abts) The training began with a review of safety messages that can be applied to puppets. This was followed by Debbie Henry reviewing how to manipulate puppets. At the conclusion, S.M.I.L.E. President Mark Ruffennach and one of Debbie's puppets lip synched a duet of the Sonny and Cher classic "I've Got You Babe". Check out the picture of Mark as Cher below.
(Photos by Carrie Abts) After lunch, Bruce and Debbie demonstrated some safety puppets. This was followed by the creation of puppet skits that were performed for the group while a photographer from the Scottsdale Tribune took pictures! Thanks to our instructors and to everyone who attended the training! Our next training (by popular demand) will be on creative clown skit development (Posted 2/16/02).
Funny Paper Publishes 9-1-1 Wave!The Funny Paper Magazine - for family entertainers - has published Scott Reed's 9-1-1 Wave clown routine in the December 2001 issue! The 9-1-1 Wave was originally published in the Winter 2000 issue (Volume 2, Issue 1) of the "Put A S.M.I.L.E. On Your Face™" Newsletter. The powerful message in such an easy routine has been very popular with members. It's the routine that S.M.I.L.E. members most often cite as one they picked up from S.M.I.L.E.! It has also been announced that the quarterly magazine will become bimonthly starting in March of 2002! Best of all, the subscription price will only increase from $20 to $25 - what a deal! Thanks to Chris Van Krieken for publishing the routine! (Posted 1/1/02)
S.M.I.L.E. at the Fiesta Bowl ParadeThe S.M.I.L.E. Clowns were the guests of Terry Ricketts and APS at the 31st Annual Fiesta Bowl parade in Phoenix! Representing S.M.I.L.E. was Barbara Brice, Clif McKenzie, Patty Meagher, Billy Reed, Scott Reed, and Bruce Wall.
Left to Right: The patriotic S.M.I.L.E. Clowns at the Fiesta Bowl Parade - Buck L. Upp, Popsicle, Lotus, Patty O'Patches, Scooter, Bo with Malcolm above (who is looking the wrong way!) The Fiesta Bowl Parade is one of the largest college bowl parades in the US. The grand marshal for this year's parade was Arizona Diamondback baseball player Luis Gonzales. Luis was the guy who hit the game winning base hit during Game 7 of the baseball World Series. He was also nice enough to pose for some pictures with the S.M.I.L.E. Clowns! (Posted 1/1/02)
Left to Right: Fiesta Bowl Parade Grand Marshal (and Arizona Diamondback baseball player) Luis "Gonzo" Gonzales talks to Patty O'Patches while Popsicle gives the Gonzales children some clown noses - with Mom's permission - at the start of the 31st Annual Fiesta Bowl parade! (Photo by Bruce Wall)
Presto Magic Has the Bound 3rd Volume of the S.M.I.L.E. NewsletterThe 3rd Bound Volume of the S.M.I.L.E. Newsletter was released at the Conference and it's now available at Billy's Bargain Barn on this website, or at Presto Magic Studio in Tempe. Barry Schor, the proprietor of Presto Magic Studio in Tempe, Arizona has been the exclusive Magic Dealer selling the first and second bound volumes of the S.M.I.L.E. Newsletter "Put A S.M.I.L.E. On Your Face™." These first two volumes are nearly sold out. Only 25 copies of the 3rd Volume were made and they are not expected to last long! Barry has been a true friend to S.M.I.L.E. by helping with lectures at Conferences and trainings, tours of his shop during the last Quarterly training of 2000 and great advise to S.M.I.L.E. members who shop at his store. Presto Magic is also one of the finest used magic stores in the country! If you sign up for his e-mail catalogs and used magic lists, you can get a lot of information on items (tricks and books) you may be looking for! Barry can be reached at pressmagic@earthlink.net. (Posted 1/1/02)
Axtell Expressions Offers Orangutan and Gorilla PuppetsAxtell Expressions has added Orangutan and Gorilla Puppets to it's line of incredible looking Ape Puppets! These are available in the Professional Latex Apes size (32") for $399, and the Vinyl Amazing Apes in three sizes: Small (19") for $39.95, Medium (24") for $69.95, and Large (32") for $149.95!
(Photo courtesy of Axtell Expressions website) The Professional Latex Chimp puppet has been a favorite of both Mark Ruffennach (Flower the Chimp) and Bruce Wall (Louie the Monkey) of the S.M.I.L.E. Organization since 1998. When Axtell introduced the medium size 24" chimp in 1999, it sold out at that year's S.M.I.L.E. Conference in 2 hours! (Posted 1/1/02)
Cinders from the 1999 S.M.I.L.E. Conference with her Axtell chimp puppet
Assorted News
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Copyright © 1999 - 2008 by the S.M.I.L.E. (Safety Message In Life Education™) Organization.Please contact the S.M.I.L.E. Organization using the form on the BOARD page of this website.Last modified: August 15, 2008. |
