Sonny Fenwick is an artist, an art car creator, a bubble performer, and a self-published author. He drew upon the creativity of his art car as a focal point for a series of children's books. The first in the series of adventure and learning books is "The Bubble Truck goes to the Moon."

Through his real-life adventures with The Bubble Truck, Sonny has had many wonderful experiences. He has traveled across America making bubbles at a wide variety of venues, including children's hospitals, pre-schools, art car shows, city-sponsored events, parades, and private birthday parties. He created his own publishing company, Happy Happy Joy Press, to get his message out to children. This puts Sonny is a different category from traditional authors. He has all of the responsibility of creating his books, from hiring an illustrator to creating the cover design to marketing them. Sonny feels this gives him more understanding of the life of a book.

Sonny is now sharing his knowledge with students during school visits. Believe it or not, many people never meet a writer until adulthood. Fortunately, times are changing. Students today have the opportunity to meet and talk with authors in their schools. Having a writer visit their school can open students' eyes to the realities of the writing process, the wonders of the world, and perhaps even to the possibilities of writing as a career. Sonny's visits may include talks on his writing process, the creation of an art car, or the science and art of bubbles. There should be scheduled time for the students to experience The Bubble Truck hands on -- that is, outside. The children will get to experience a truly one-of-a-kind creation.

Please email Sonny at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit his web site, The Bubble Truck, Your Next Party's Fun , to request a school visit.

Thank you.
Sonny

The MTeacher sends home a flier announcing auditions and is in charge of the overall administration of the night. Acts come in and perform in front of a panel of folks that decide if this is an "act" or simply 3 kids getting together and screaming into the microphone. There does have to be some order and sense of rehearsal for an act to get selected. We had some problems with inappropriate performances (lewd lyrics/inappropriate outfits etc). The acts are selected, and trust me if they have any structure--they're told that they are "in"...and then we hold a dress rehearsal the day before the performances so we can see outfits and watch body movements etc. The acts are then put in the music room and called to the staging area by 3 acts at a time to get ready to perform.

Now--It is a bit more sturctured than I prefer right now but I think the school decided to clamp down when there was obviously no parental involvement in some of the performances. Once it became very restrictive, the PTO went into a support role and the school took the lead-- with volunteers coming forward at the event to assist. It would have been difficult for a PTO member to tell another parent their child's act wasn't polished enough. That has cut down on attendence but the evening is still very nice and the kids talents are amazing. Some have really technical talents like instruments etc...and others take the time to really put together fun skits, comedy shows, magic tricks...so anyone who is really earnest can get into the show.

d

DLF, I am interested to hear more about your Talent Show! We did a Talent Show 2 years ago...fun, but not as many participants as we'd have liked. Last year's Talent show, 2 or 3 acts signed up, obviously not enough. How do you run your Talent Show and how does your music teacher fit in?

Hi! Over the years I've been involved in a number of fundraising activities, large and small. Our most successful in the k-3 school are: Halloween Party in Oct, Movie Night in January, School Dance in February, Bingo Night in March, Talent Show in April and end of year carnival and picnic!

How do we make money? Ask for donations from local merchants and charge for the refreshments. For example, at movie night, we pick a fun kids' movie and then work around a theme. We get free popcorn from the local movie theater, bag it and sell the bags, bottles of water and small cans of soda. Families come in their pj,s and sit on blankets on the floor. The district provides a projector and we show the movie on the school gym wall. Raffles work well too. Depending on the movie, cheap and easy toys can be purchased that go with the theme and then kids buy tickets for a chance to win.

Other ideas: sell candy at the school dance and during Bingo Night.

How we do it. For the dance, a student's dad has his own DJ business so he offers the music and light system for free. Bingo Night: we have an "old fashioned ball turner" and use a microphone to call the numbers. We also write the numbers on a large wipe off board. At each table are disposable Bingo sheets and a basket of crayons.

Our biggest fundraiser is our annual "Penny Carnival" done toward the end of the school year. We grill hot dogs (sell the dogs, chips and drink) and have games (sell 20 tickets for $1), etc. The raffle prizes are donated..and that's where we get most of the money.

Here's a Family Night idea that isn't money maker, but good for cold winter nights. For a reading night, have a local "celebrity" come and read the books. One year we had a local, well-known TV sports anchor (who happened to be a student's grandfather) come and read books to the families. We brought in an arm chair, table and lamp and set it on a rug in the gym. We turned out the lights. Everyone sat on the floor, it was very nice. I had found four interesting sports-related picture books for him to read. He got them about a week ahead of time so he could look them over. I got the books at the library so it was no charge. Afterwards, we had refreshments (cookies that families brought in..). Our family events only last an hour, so this worked out great. He also took questions afterwards about sports..

Another money maker: have a t-shirt design contest. I've done this every two years for many years. Introduce the student body to the contest by wearing a plain white t-shirt. Can be done during lunch periods. Tell them that it would be great to wear a shirt that showed school spirit, etc. Send home a flyer that introduces the contest and explains rules (if you have any). Set a deadline and watch the entries roll in!

The winner is: I again ask local "celebrities" to come and be judges. They include the principal, superintendent, bus drivers, crossing guards, firemen and police, and the most popular: high school cheerleaders!

Each entry is mounted on black construction paper and given a number. They are hung in the hallway. No one's name is on the front. The judges choose their top three favorites and majority wins.

The winner is announced during a family breakfast..and receives a framed copy of their entry and a free t-shirt. We sell t-shirts, sweatshirts in sizes for the whole family and tote bags...charge a little more than the t-shirt printer and make some money!

I'll stop now!

We hosted several fundraiser game nights in 2007-2008 with different schools raising a little over $10,000 for the schools we worked with.

If anyone needs specific information on how you can make this work as either a fund-raiser or just a free family night you can contact us at Gnome Games in Green Bay, WI.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pat Fuge
The Head Gnome

Thanks D--what a wonderful idea!!!!