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The Thomasville Library will be holding its End of Summer Party Friday at 1 p.m. This marks the official end of the children’s and young adult programs that the library had this summer. The highlight of the party will be the appearance of "The Balloon Lady," who performs a show that is constantly successful at inflating the spirits of audience members of all ages.
“The Balloon Lady is marvelous,” said Lori Tart, who heads the children’s department at the library, “and the show is absolutely free.”
Tart said that the Balloon Lady tells stories and illustrates them by twisting balloons into appropriate shapes. She does it with a wit that makes her stories truly entertaining.
The Balloon Lady is actually named Donna Pruett. Pruett, who is a native of southern California, received her higher education at Humboldt State University in the northern region of the Golden State, where she earned a degree in theater arts.
“I studied comedy and mime and that kind of stuff,” Pruett said.
Upon her graduation from Humboldt State in 1983, she moved to New Orleans. That’s where she began to develop her unique skills of entertaining with balloons.
“I’ve been twisting for over 20 years,” Pruett said, not referring to the dance. “I didn’t find [this method of entertainment]. It found me.”
After a couple of years in the Big Easy, the young entertainer found her way to Denmark, where she did some teaching. She then went on a 10-country European tour. After a year and a half on the east side of the Atlantic the unique artist returned to her native land. This time she moved to Charleston, S.C., where she met her husband. Eventually, the Pruetts moved to his hometown of Ronda in the North Carolina mountains.
These days, Pruett travels throughout North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, performing her entertaining and educational shows. She does a lot of Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Target store openings for Pepsi-Cola. She also performs for chain restaurants, including Chick-Fil-A and Outback. She also performs for country clubs and other private venues.
A big break in Pruett’s summer business occurred when she performed for some state library conferences in North Carolina. Her act was a hit with librarians from Manteo to Murphy. She now does about 57 public library shows during the summer.
“The libraries, along with Pepsi, has kept me on the road for the last seven weeks,” Pruett said over her cell phone, while traveling on a mountain road west of Asheville. “It’s the way I feed by kids, so it’s a good thing for me.”
Pruett, whose husband died five years ago, has a daughter Jennifer, 18, who just graduated from high school, and a son, Lewis, 14.
“In my show, I talk about some authors and I do a little bit of magic with some comedy and music involved,” Pruett said. “It’s a high-energy, well-rounded type of program.”
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or reid@tvilletimes.com.