HAMILTON — Sunday's Great Miami Arts Jam! lived up to its name, as people of all ages came together to have fun, and make art and music.

        Squeals and giggles came from every corner of the Fitton Center for Creative Arts, where folks got to try everything from paper folding to instrument making.

        In the puppet studio, Lisa Spicer of Hanover Township held up her colorful sponge creation and explained, “You pick up a package that's got everything in it and follow the instructions. You put it together however you want.”

        Mrs. Spicer said she and her daughter were enjoying the event. “What's really good, too, is that it's free. There aren't enough things like this in Hamilton. Parents don't do stuff with their kids enough.”

        Her daughter Alecia, 13, has made puppets at school and was intrigued by the event's puppet workshop as well as by the performances of Madcap Puppet Theatre during the afternoon event.

        Representatives of the Fitton Center and WGUC-FM, a classical music station, said they were pleased with the turnout for their first co-sponsored event. The arts jam was aimed at families who enjoy the arts and want to introduce their children to classical music.

        Attendees filled the Fitton Center's plaza to hear the Great Miami Youth Symphony. Later in the afternoon, families flocked to the cen ter's auditorium to learn how to make “drumpets,” whimsical multipurpose instruments made from everyday objects, which children later played during a performance by the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Orchestra and Chorale.

        In the clay studio, Loveland residents Jeffrey Rappaport and his brother Alex took a break from their hand building activities to watch their mother, Gina Angiola, make a pot on the wheel. Master potter Gail Springer helped her shape and smooth the vessel.

        “She's always wanted to do the wheel,” said Ms. Angiola's husband, Hank Rappaport. “She's ready to shoot me, because she doesn't like to try new things in public, but I got her an appointment.”

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