Changing the World, One Pop at a Time

/ Made in St. Augustine Festival/
Changing the World, One Pop at a Time

In the early months of 2010 Stephen DiMare was working in Montana for a winter at the Lodge at Big Sky and flew home to St. Augustine for a friend's wedding. On the flight he pitched his idea for a coffee shop to the (random) nice woman sitting next to him. She told him that what he needed in his coffee shop were ice pops, gourmet ice pops in the Mexican style. Stephen listened as she explained that paletas (Spanish for ice pops) could contain anything from cucumbers to fresh pineapple to jalapeños.

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Morgan Kelly Uses Puppets to Unlock the Imagination

/ Made in St. Augustine Festival/
Morgan Kelly Uses Puppets to Unlock the Imagination

Puppets come to life when Morgan Kelly combines the visual with performing arts.

Kelly discovered puppetry while she was studying theatre in undergrad. She said she remembers a moment about 15 years ago when she thought puppetry would keep her endlessly curious. And it has.

However, Kelly’s interest in puppetry dates back to her childhood when she would bring objects to life using her imagination. Maybe she just didn’t call it puppetry at the time. 

Kelly began formalizing her passion when she studied Theatre at Marlboro College in Vermont. She then solidified her specialty with a graduate degree from New York University in Educational Theatre. Her graduate work taught her ways to share her skills with kids in schools and different educational settings. Kelly loves watching the kids connect with puppets as she says they seem to understand them the best! 

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