SALINA – A 25-foot hand-batiked puppet of the Smoky Hill River — as well as Bartholomew the Frog, Bella the Beaver and Harold the Blue Heron — made a debut appearance at the Smoky Hill River Festival in June, engaging children and adults as roving performers highlighting the river cleanup project underway in Salina.

Scripts are being written so that the puppets, created by Anne Hoekstra and Tammy Jarvis, can perform in schools, teaching children in kindergarten through third grade about the river environment and the creatures who live there.

Grant funds covered the cost of materials for the puppets created for the Friends of the River Foundation. Additional funding came from the festival and the Salina Arts and Humanities Arts Infusion Program. A local donor has pledged funding to build additional puppets.