Duane and Floppy festival draws young and old to Capitol II

Nearly 100 fans took a nostalgic trip Saturday at the Capitol II Theatre in downtown Newton viewing classic clips at the “Duane and Floppy Film Festival,” paying homage to WHO-TV 13 children program icon Duane Ellet and his puppet Floppy the dog while raising funds for the United Way of Jasper County.

Newton was the fourth central Iowa stop this year for the Duane and Floppy festival, showing a 90-minute compilation of “The Floppy Show” and “Duane and Friend” which aired from 1957 to 1984. While the iconic intro music of the kids cartoon classic Loony Tunes echoed from the theater doors, Iowa broadcast historian Jeff Stein — who host the festivals around central Iowa — said he’s happy to see that Duane and Floppy are translating to a younger generation.

“What’s especially gratifying is how many different ages are here. When you see grandparents, parents and kids, we’re passing on something that three generations have been a part of,” Stein sad. “It’s something that really does hold up, even though the shows been off the air for nearly 30 years.”

Energy 106.7 personality and United Way chair Jamie Grout organized Saturday’s event. Jessica Lowe is the director of the United Way of Jasper County. As the theater doors closed Saturday, Lowe said volunteers tallied 97 attendees, and the film festival had raised $485 from ticket sales. Proceeds from the sale will be split evenly between the United Way and the Capitol II.

The local United Way chapter has a goal in 2014 to raise $363,000 to fund partner organization programs. But Lowe said events like the film festival not only bring in donations, but spread the work about the United Way’s activities in Jasper County.

“People are coming to see Floppy, and the residual is they’re helping out the United Way of Jasper County,” Lowe said. “It’ a great opportunity to speak about what the United Way is doing here locally, but its also a way to plug in to that fun childhood memory of Floppy. It’s a fun way to get the word out.”

Sitting on an aisle seat waiting for the show to start were Dawn Irwin, of Marshalltown, Michelle Modlin and Mendi Gammon, both of Newton. They said as “kids of the 70s” they were avid Floppy fans. Irwin said while on a trip to Arkansas when she was 4 years old, she didn’t understand why the WHO-TV 13 day-time favorite was not on at his usual time.

Modlin recalls making it a requirement for her grandmother and great aunt to summon her from playing outside with a phone call at 12:15 p.m. every Saturday to catch Floppy’s latest episode. And there was also the mandatory after school dose of Floppy.

“I was a bus kid, so I knew that if I got off on the bus stop and run all the way down the street, I could see the start of Floppy. The first cartoon was always my favorite because it was newer,” Modlin said. “He was funny, and he was so sweet. He always, always loved the kids jokes. I’ve went to see him twice in studio in Des Moines as a kid. It was very fun.”

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com