Eno 'creatures' puppet parade on way

HILLSBOROUGH -- Dozens of paper butterflies, a giant dragonfly, snake and even a tick will take to Churton Street on Saturday for the first "Creatures of the Eno" handmade puppet parade.

The Hillsborough Arts Council held several workshops this summer to teach participants how to walk on stilts and get started on their papier mache creations.

Some were led by Paperhand Puppet Intervention, based in Graham, whose giant puppets have become familiar at local outdoor events and at UNC-Chapel Hill's Forest Theatre.

Elizabeth Haughton, 16, found she was a natural on stilts at one of the workshops. The junior at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics spent a recent Sunday afternoon working on her blue heron puppet. Her stilts will be the bird's legs.

"It's really interesting to notice how you move on them," Haughton said. "It's slower and more elegant."

Mark Donley of the Arts Council and Chapel Hill mural painter Michael Brown helped Haughton bend flexible reeds to reinforce the bird's body. Donley has created a giant river bass, and Brown also has worked on a colorful dragonfly for the parade.

While they worked on the heron, Bruce Wilks spray-painted his giant cardboard tick a short distance up the driveway.

"The tick is the alpha in the woods," Wilks said of his parade choice. "It's the only animal I know that you can flush down the toilet, and they'll come back."

The parade will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, starting at the intersection of Churton Street and Margaret Lane and ending at the Burwell School.

To participate, register with the Hillsborough Arts Council at www.hillsboroughartscouncil.org or by calling 643-2500.