A POPULAR children’s entertainer from Dunfermline is to retire.
For more than 20 years, if you saw a kid laughing or with a beaming smile on their face at a party or gala, there was a good chance Bob Wightman was nearby.

As Mr Puffin the balloon man, he never left a venue without making sure every child had a sculpted balloon to accompany that beaming smile.

Unfortunately for Bob, he now faces hanging up his balloons due to ongoing pain in his hands.

He explained that his route into performing was rather unnatural.

Bob, 71, told the Press: “I joined the navy at the age of 15.
“Whenever we were in port, us younger guys were volunteered as entertainers for kids from local orphanages who came on board; I was quite good at it.

“After I left the navy, I had some terrible jobs, including working in a chicken factory. Luckily, a friend of mine was starting his own entertainment company and he asked me if I could do some jobs for him.”

His first paid job working with balloons was in Inverkeithing 25 years ago. 

Still learning his trade, he made a dog, sword, swan and flower from his balloons that day.

After realising a niche in the market for good balloons, he decided to take a course in balloon decoration and became a certified balloon artist.

He still recalls his first job fondly and expressed his sorrow at having to give up a career he has cherished. “My hands are too sore now and I can’t justify going through the pain barrier. I don’t feel my age but my hands are getting worse.

“Every job is different. I could be in an area like Gleneagles one day and then in the deprived areas of Glasgow the next. Those kids in Glasgow are just fantastic. They have barely anything, so if I can entertain them and make them smile with balloons then I’m happy.

“I will always have a balloon in my pocket wherever I go.

“I remember that there was a wee boy misbehaving and screaming at his mother in Asda at St Leonard’s. So, I blew up one of my balloons and made it into a dog and placed it on a shelf next to the wee guy without saying a word. He was almost stunned into silence. Balloons can pacify anybody.”

Before calling it a day, Bob will honour the remainder of his committed bookings for the rest of the year and at the start of 2018.