• Article Photo. Richard Elsenpeter, the manipulator, puts on a Marionettes show Monday.
    Richard Elsenpeter, the manipulator, puts on a Marionettes show Monday.
  • Article Photo. Summer Reading Program participants saw Marionettes up close during a puppet show Monday.
    Summer Reading Program participants saw Marionettes up close during a puppet show Monday.
  • Article Photo. Richard Elsenpeter explains how the stringed Marionette puppets work.
    Richard Elsenpeter explains how the stringed Marionette puppets work.
  • Article Photo. Area children learned of the history of the Elsenpeter Marionettes.
    Area children learned of the history of the Elsenpeter Marionettes.
  • Article Photo. The puppets await the show.
    The puppets await the show.

      Puppet shows are a fairly common event at public libraries, but the puppet show that took place in Vinton on Monday was a rare look at some of the earliest puppets of history.

     Richard Elsenpeter brought a collection of his hand-made Marionettes to Vinton as part of the Summer Reading Program entertainment schedule. Elesenpeter told scores of children and their parents how his great-grandfather began making Marionettes and performing with them around 1840, and how the tradition has continued for four generations of his family. 

     After presenting a fairy tale through puppets, Elsenpeter briefly explained how the puppets work, with their collections of strings that control the puppets' movements.