STAR CIRCUS DATE, LANCASTER, OHIO

The Star Family Circus comes to the Fairfield County Fairgrounds on Monday to perform for local residents. Two action packed evenings, Monday and Tuesday, included ariel acrobatics, animal performances and other feats during the show. (Eagle-Gazette file photo)


Circus fun returns to Fairfield County
BY MICHELLE GEORGE • The Eagle-Gazette Staff • April 1, 2010
LANCASTER -- A boxing kangaroo. A motorcycle daredevil. A father-and-son clown act.The Star Family Circus comes to the Fairfield County Fairgrounds on Monday to perform for local residents. Two action packed evenings, Monday and Tuesday, included ariel acrobatics, animal performances and other feats during the show. (Eagle-Gazette file photo)Those are just three of the acts residents can expect to see Monday and Tuesday when the Star Family Circus rolls into town at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds.
This isn't the first time the circus will make a stop in Fairfield County -- in fact, Lancaster is one of the biggest stops on the annual circus route, said owner Kathy Garcia.
"Lancaster for us is huge; it's probably the biggest town we like to do," Garcia said. "We build our audiences by going back to the same towns year after year."
The show will make a stop in Lancaster for two nights before moving on to Chillicothe and Circleville. Garcia said her Florida-owned circus visits numerous county fairs in the fall and about 130 towns in the spring and summer.
Garcia said she's found people enjoy her family-friendly circus as well as its reasonable admission price. There are acts featuring everything from dogs to monkeys to a young woman who is suspended above the ring by nothing other than her hair, she said.
She added her circus is all about making the audience feel like they are actually a part of the almost two-hour show.
"Kids get to sit up close and feel like they are a part of it," she said. "They really absorb the experience and have a better time that way."
Garcia said she typically has two types of shows that she does throughout the year. Smaller cities get shorter shows featuring only some of the acts. Bigger cities, such as Lancaster, get to experience the full-length show.
She said she loves the experiences she's had with the circus and enjoy seeing the audience, young and old, take in all the entertainment.
"When I was 2 years old, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life -- I feel very lucky," she said. "So many people just see their job as a job, but not me."