St. John’s United Methodist Church in Hegins to feature ventriloquist at Rally Day Program on May 5
St. John’s United Methodist Church, Hegins, is extending a special invitation for it’s Rally Day Program at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
Marian Gehman, ventriloquist, will delight the congregation, keeping childrenon the edge of their seats.
Both children and adults are amazed at the variety of characters she uses in her shows: from soft-sculpture puppets to a life-sized ostrich to a talking drawing board. Her audiences love to laugh along with the humorous stories and songs she shares throughout her shows.
Gehman became interested in ventriloquism when she was 8 years old. Her mother purchased a ventriloquist figure, and she began practicing on her own. Soon she was invited to present shows for birthday parties, churches and senior citizen groups. She continued this hobby throughout high school.
It was during her college career that Gehman found this talent quite useful. She used it for presentations and during her student teaching assignments. She received her bachelor’s degree in special and elementary education and a few years later earned her master’s degree in elementary education. She was a public school teacher in Pennsylvania for 11 years. She used puppets in her classroom to teach, encourage, and relate to her students.
No longer a full-time teacher, Gehman devotes herself to her family and her growing ventriloquist business. She performs at a variety of venues, including school assemblies, Artist in Residence programs, festivals, churches and private and corporate events.
Gehman used her gift of ventriloquism to reach out to families during the coronavirus pandemic: she sent out birthday wishes to kids and adults in quarantine, taught virtual ventriloquism lessons to children interested in the craft, started a YouTube channel called Chatting with Chester, and was featured on 6ABC News as “The Virtual Ventriloquist.”
St. John’s, located at 601 E. Main St., can be reached by calling 570-682-9187. For more information, visit the church’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066799921389.
