Carol had a way of combining business with the warmth of friendship. When Bits ‘N Pieces’ production of Beowulf was invited to a National Puppetry Festival at the University of Connecticut, it was Carol who said “go” and provided the truck to do it. Our performance was so well received then, that the company celebrates it’s 32nd season this year…with the marvelous giants puppets of Holli Rubin. Jerry and Holli met at that same conference in Connecticut and you could say it was instant puppet love. Thank you Carol!

Working with Carol, the Arts Council and the schools, Bits N Pieces created a dozen new shows that toured throughout the elementary schools. Hand puppets, marionettes, and rod puppets were all used as the shows got bigger and bigger. The restored Tampa Theatre opened and Bits ‘N Pieces created their internationally known Giant Puppets. Every time the company started to grow in another direction we would seek out Carol for advice and guidance. Carol helped keep the company on track: classic educational value, good written teacher’s materials, truth and seriousness to the goal. One day when talking to Carol about the importance of the giant puppets, she remarked, “Well you know, I never asked you to make giant puppets. That was something you had to do. I still love your small puppets too.” And so our traditional theatre PuppetWorld Playhouse was started in Dover, Florida in a school bus. Any day now the bus is giving birth to a building, and Carol will be smiling at this newest addition to Tampa’s educational theater scene.

Holli and I are a product of Carol Peckett’s ideals for an Arts In Education Program. The best aspects of our company--the things that people comment on and take notice of--come from the priorities she valued. In over thirty years of local and international creation we’ve never yearned for artistic acknowledgement. And the most important thing we see is she has trained us well to help lead children to a better world.