Regina Marscheider is celebrating 30 years of entertaining audiences across Hampton Roads with the help of her creations--her puppets.
"The mission of Spectrum Puppets, is to bring joy and happiness and entertainment to children and their families," Marscheider told NewsChannel 3's Kurt Williams at a recent rehearsal.
Marscheider, the founder of Spectrum Puppets, has also created a special program using puppets to teach children how to recognize and prevent child abuse.
"So I think it makes them see that, all of sudden it makes them say, 'Wow! I'm not the only one and yes, I can tell somebody,'" says Marscheider.
Sometimes, that will happen following a performance.
"For example, we went to a parks and rec and did a show there. We had two police officers there and a little girl after the show said, 'Is this a good time to tell?' I'm like, 'Yes it is.'"
That little girl's complaint later led to an arrest. Over the years, there have been many Marscheider says.
"We put over 154 child molesters in prison or we helped do that. Thousands of children have prevented abuse because they learned to look for the signs and how to tell," she says.
This is why we presented Marscheider with a NewsChannel 3 People Taking Action award, plus a $100 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank.
"You know it's nice to be acknowledged, it really is-- thank you very much."
