Thanks, Danny!

Many, many thanks to Danny Jones for generously adopting FOUR dummies at convention! Danny chose Woody DeForrest, Jenkins boy, Reese boy, and Chip Martin. Here's a little bit about each of them.

Woody DeForrest was donated in 2002 by Helen Messick, widow of famed voice actor, Don Messick. Although Messick was famous for his many voices in animation, like Scooby Doo and Astro, he started out as a ventriloquist. Woody was made by J.C. Turner. On display in the main building, Woody has a hand puppet of Scooby Doo on his shoulder.

Jenkins boy is a great Frank Marshall figure that was used by Earl Jenkins. On his photos and in promotional materials, Jenkins goes by the name, "The English Earl." Jenkins sold this dummy to Mr. Berger in 1962 for $60. Jenkins bought the dummy new from Marshall in 1956.

Reese boy was donated by Wilda Reese in April 1976. Wilda Reese was the widow of ventriloquist Evan Reese. This beautiful Len Insull make dummy had more than one name. Sometimes Reese called him Tommy and sometimes he was called Elmer.

Finally, here's Chip Martin, made by Craig Lovik. This dummy was used and donated by Vent Haven Museum advisor Dale Brown. Purchased from Maher Studios in 1980, this was Dale's original Chip Martin, and Dale used it for about five years. It was a stock figure named Chester. This was the first of three Chip Martins that Dale has used and he wanted to donate Chip to VHM on the Detweiler's 30th anniversary with Maher Studios.