Ventriloquist Brings Puppet to Life

The ventriloquist, Ruthie Welch, and her dad, Gilbert Vining from the Big Hollow Vinings, a family among the town of Windham’s early settlers.

MAPLECREST - It is more than possible to believe in the imaginary - in fact it is impossible not to for Ruthie Welch, a virtually lifelong ventriloquist.

Welch recently performed her act with sidekick “Donnie” at the Mountaintop Extravaganza in Windham, hosted by the Living Faith Community Church.

Everyone could see, watching Ruth walk on stage, that if that thing she was carrying was human, it was certainly quite flexible, folded into the shape of a fluffy pillow, legs and arms flopping every which way.

And his face, when seated upright, was stuck in the same staring-straight-ahead expression, a bit creepy at first, almost as if made of stone.

None of that mattered when Donnie began talking the hind legs off a donkey as Welch enchantingly brought him to life.

He was real, all right. and Welch barely remembers a time she wasn’t making inanimate objects seemingly become living, breathing souls. 

In her hands it is hard to tell the difference. “I’’ll never forget this one elderly woman at one of my shows at summer camp,” Welch says, smiling.

“She said to me afterwards, ‘Isn’t that doll something. It says anything you want it to say,” Welch says - or was it Donnie saying it?

It makes no never mind. The two of them have been indistinguishable since before Donnie was even born from wood, plaster of Paris, glue and strings.

“I got my first puppet for Christmas when I was a kid,” Welch says, growing up as a Vining, one of the deepest set families in town, dating back generations in the outlying Big Hollow region of Windham.

She lived next door to the Living Faith Community Church in Maplecrest, a faithful member of the congregation, a spiritual connection still intact.

Welch, a 1977 Windham-Ashland-Jewett graduate, now lives in Coxsackie, returning to her roots in late December to entertain at the Extravaganza, held at the Centre Church in downtown Windham.

The appreciative audience applause following her routine could be heard out on Main Street, weaving Bible-themed stories with humorous and innocent observations from the chatterbox on her knee.

Remembering back to that childhood Christmas morning. Welch says, “I practiced all day in front of a mirror and put on a show that night for my parents and grandparents.”

Throwing her voice has been a non-stop delight ever since, getting a job in the salad room in her early teens at the old Sugar Maples Resort, a short walk from her house, to buy materials to learn the ancient verbal art.

Welch studied records and took lessons from the teacher (who happened to be in the area) of Shari Lewis, the beloved creator of Lamb Chop.

Legendary Edgar Bergen, the “father” of puppets Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, was an idol even as Welch carved her own path.

“I did oral history reports in school. My teacher, Sheldon Peck, loved them,” she says, gradually focusing on the Source of all sources. 

“My parents took me to churches all over the area. I was always oriented toward Biblical stories. I thought I might as well give Him credit. He gave me the talent to do this,” Welch says.

It makes perfect sense. Ventriloquism, in the beginning, was a religious practice, based in the concept of “speaking from the stomach,” noises purportedly emanating from the mouths of the unliving.

The guttural utterances were interpreted by the ventriloquist as speaking to the dead, foretelling the future.

Be that as it may, sharing the holy message is pay enough for Welch, earning a living over the years as an Emergency Room nurse, now specializing in Quality Improvement. 

Her spare time is spent with her 91-year-old dad, Gilbert, and with Donnie, recently introducing the blatherer to her grandchildren.

“They didn’t know I did this until I showed them a picture of me and Donnie,” Welch says, “We sang Jingle Bells for them.

“They freaked out and then, of course, they all tried to be ventriloquists. It was adorable. To do this, you have to become a believer. 

“When you are performing, you have to give off the vibe Donnie is real. It sounds crazy, but you have to believe you are talking to a real person.”

Who would ever suggest you weren’t?