While arranging heavy volumes in the bookcases at the Baker Branch Library, 12-year-old Lynda Stroud, a summer volunteer, peered through the bookcases to observe the puppet class that she had been too shy to join.

She was horrified to learn later that a friend had volunteered her to participate in the final part of the class –– the performance.

“I was the quietest person on earth. I said, ‘There’s no way I can perform. I can’t even stand in front of people and talk,’” recalled Stroud.

But then something magical happened. Behind the stage, hidden from the audience, Stroud found that she had the freedom and confidence to do silly things.

Stroud enjoyed it so much she and her friend began writing their own scripts and making puppets from scratch. Stroud’s mother made them a stage out of an old refrigerator, and they would load it in the back of the family station wagon and head to performances at other local libraries and birthday parties.

In 1975, at the age of 14, Stroud founded her own professional puppet business. After high school she left Bakersfield to attend UCLA.

“I must have gone through 50 different majors,” said Stroud. “What I really wanted to do was puppets, but it didn’t seem logical. What are the odds that you’ll be the next Jim Henson?”

While in Los Angeles, Stroud had the chance to work with well-known puppeteer Tony Urbano, who did puppets for many commercials and whose trademark puppets had purple or blue eyelids. He taught Stroud how to build puppets using hoop wire, foam and gaskets from auto part stores. She also experimented with marionettes.

With this knowledge in hand, she headed back home to Cal State, where she met her husband, Aaron. Both graduated with degrees in mathematics.

“Math came easily to me, and I found I could use it when designing puppets and measuring inches and circumference,” said Stroud.

Today, she and Aaron own The Stroud Puppets, a subsidiary of their computer programming company. They also have a 4-year-old daughter, Melissa.

Stroud travels throughout the state with a cast of hundreds of puppets in steamer trunks, putting on live shows suitable for children in preschool or older. Educational shows include “Kindness Kritters,” which promotes positive behavior and self-respect, and “Grandpa Jake’s Basement,” which promotes reading and the language arts. Entertainment shows include “Jungle Antics” and “How the Puppets Won the West.”

“I perform for seniors, too,” said Stroud, noting that a favorite character at assisted living centers is a six-foot long snake puppet wearing a boa that sings and nuzzles audience members. “Their eyes light up, they laugh and I see them find that inner child,” she said.

Stroud’s first session at Greenacres Community Center, suited for those age 3 to 8 and held Jan. 10 to 31, will center on the “Little Red Riding Hood” story. Participants will make five puppets (The Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Grandma, Mother and the Woodcutter) out of paper bags, construction paper and other material. They will study the script, be given parts and put on a performance at the end of the class for parents, grandparents and friends. Stroud makes a point to let the participants use as much of her professional equipment as possible.

“Kids feel so proud when they complete the workshop,” said Stroud. “It makes them feel like they can be creative and do something well without feeling stupid. They can be goofy and it’s OK.”

Though computer animation is quickly replacing puppets in television, Stroud doesn’t believe the live form will ever die out.

“Puppets can be used as a sort of therapy. Children will tell puppets things they’ll never tell a human. It gives them a license to communicate freely,” she said.

Children’s Puppetry
Greenacres Community Center
2014 Calloway Drive
Session 1: “Little Red Riding Hood”
Jan, 10, 17, 24, 31
Session 2: Nightmare in My Closet”
Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28
Session 3: Little Girl and the Gunny Wolf”
March 7, 14, 21, 28
Ages: 3-8
Mondays, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Four-week class fee: $39/$29 res. fee
Call 392-2010 for more information
For more information about The Stroud Puppets, call 398-3190, 1-800-PUPPET-5 or go to www.stroudpuppets.com.

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Last modified: October 17, 2004