Drawing from St. Paul’s Landing Pad theme, executive director Diane Ellis says she came up with concept of having local businesses showcased through the eyes of an alien puppet and with the helping hand, quite literally, from puppeteer Braden Campeau the idea took flight.
With an end to pandemic restrictions and more people out and about, Ellis said the chamber is focusing efforts on helping local businesses get back on their feet after months of uncertainly by trying to get as many people into as many local businesses as possible in as many ways as possible.
“People come here because of the Landing Pad, you can’t get away from that, so I thought wouldn’t it be fun,” says Ellis, adding so far it has been exactly that and T.U.G is receiving a warm reception wherever he goes.
Ellis said an unexpected but particularly fun side of this campaign is how T.U.G. is capturing the attention of children who want to see what he’s up to and make their parents watch the clips over and over again.
Between now and the end of August, Ellis is hoping T.U.G. will have made the rounds of at least 50 businesses in the community, but she’s hoping for even more than that. There is no charge to businesses for T.U.G.’s out of this world appearance.
The chamber has teamed up with chambers of commerce in Smoky Lake and Elk Point for the campaign, so T.U.G. is also on the road travelling to those communities to showcase businesses. This is one of several projects made possible through a federal funding initiative to support and promote local shopping. The St. Paul chamber will receive $29,998 to support a variety of business promotions in its area.
As his handler, Campeau videos T.U.G’s visits to local businesses capturing images of the business and staff and sharing them with viewers. T.U.G. then leaves behind his business card hidden in plain sight. This is where a Shop Local Contest comes into play, with shoppers encouraged to seek out T.U.G.’s calling card. Once they find it, they can add the store’s name to a list. After completing a list of 20 businesses that T.U.G. has visited over the course of the summer, participants can submit it to the chamber by Aug. 30 for a chance to win a prize valued at $250.
Campeau has been building puppets for three years and has taken on this project with the chamber through his business Campiwoda Companions Studio, which, among other services, makes custom puppet companions.
He says T.U.G. hails from the imaginary planet Vraksmah-7 and the story goes something like this: “He happened to be coming through our solar system, when a solar flare knocked out his navigation. He happened to scan earth, find out we had a landing pad and now he’s hanging out in St. Paul visiting and exploring the town while he waits for his ship to get repaired.” There’s no word on which repair shop got the job.
Campeau is excited to be a part of a project centered around promoting hometown businesses.
“He’s becoming a growing body in St. Paul, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”
