2008 Year in Review

Bruiser to Make Debut Appearance at Paint the Town

Bob Aiken and his mask character Bruiser will be making their first appearance at Paint the Town, set for Saturday, Sept. 20.

A 1964 Morrison High School graduate who now resides in Colorado, Aiken is a puppeteer for the Cloud of Dust Theater, a company formed by Bob and his wife Kerry in 1980. The duo performed together until 1994 when Kerry took a job at Estes Park (Colo.) Public Library.

Bruiser, a life-size, rag dog puppet, is Aiken’s most popular character. Created in 1983, Bruiser has traveled to several state and county fairs, as well as other festivals. He also has appeared at both Northside and Southside elementary schools and at the Morrison Chamber of Commerce’s Halloween Parade.

“[Bruiser] seems to have a universal appeal,” Aiken said.

Modeled after the puppet Barkley on Sesame Street, Bruiser was created to be a part of Aiken’s normal puppet shows. But Aiken soon realized Bruiser was too large of a character to be just another part of the show.

“[Bruiser] was too big for the show, too powerful,” Aiken said. “To put him in a play with other characters, those characters would need to be life-sized too.”

With Bruiser being such a powerful character, Aiken said the focus often is on the dog itself and not the man inside the puppet, which is exactly the way Aiken prefers.

“I want people to pretend and to play [with Bruiser],” he said. “When you get right down to it, I want to get a laugh.”

And while some young children have apprehensions concerning Bruiser, Aiken does his best to win them over by not being too aggressive and trying to relate to them as a friendly dog.

Kids and other Paint the Town participants interested in meeting Bruiser can look for him roaming Main Street from noon to 1:30 p.m., as well as from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Paint the Town would not be possible without its sponsors. This year’s sponsors include: Exelon, Fitzgerald Pharmacy, CGH, Wells Fargo Bank, Sterling Gazette, Clinton Herald, City of Morrison, Altronic Coils, American Piping Group, American Products, Baxter and Woodman, Consulting Engineers, Blackhawk Lumber, Community State Bank, DQ Grill & Chill, Farmers National Bank, Happy Joe’s, Kohl’s, Law Office of William R. Shirk, 3M, Medical Associates, Moring Disposal, Pi Design, Inc, P&P Tool, Subway, Dr. William Simpson, Super Wash, Inc., THE National Bank, Waste Management, WSDR, WZZT, WSSQ radio.

A+ Self Storage, Climco Coils Company, Coplan & Buckwalter, PC, Karen Bramm Insurance, Ken Kophamer Realty, Law Office of Lester Weinstine, Mickley Insurance, Morrison True Value Hardware, Morrison Unit District 6, Pignatelli & Mertes, PC, Pop Graphics, Shawver Press, Sterling Federal Bank, Tegeler Accounting, US Cellular, Whiteside New Sentinel, Nelson, Kilgus, Richey, Huffman, and Buckwalter-Schurman, Northwestern Title, RC Smith/Scenic Stage Line.

by  Editor, theCity1.com
September 12, 2008