Circus group serves up daily thrills
STAR FAMILY: Daredevil stunts among veteran performers' offerings at Jefferson County Fair
By GABRIELLE HOVENDON, TIMES INTERN, THURSDAY,
JULY 15, 2010
COLLEEN WHITE / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES, Estrella Morales performs acrobatics while suspended by her hair during the Star Family Circus & Thrill Show on Wednesday at the Jefferson County Fair. The family-owned act, which made its Watertown debut in 2000, is appearing at the fair all week.When he's not doing aerial stunts blindfolded atop a spinning wheel or riding a motorcycle around a steel globe, the King of the Sky and Motorcycle Daredevil goes by the name Oscar Garcia.
Mr. Garcia is a member of the Star Family Circus & Thrill Show, a free daily show performing at 3:30, 5:30 and 8 p.m. at the Jefferson County Fair all week. The circus group emphasizes the "Thrill" part of its name throughout its show, performing one stunt in which two motorcyclists drive at high speeds inside a small steel cage and another in which a young woman, suspended by only her hair, gyrates in midair with a flaming hula hoop around her waist.
The group also lives up to the "Family" aspect of its name with the core of its show, which features five members of the third- and fourth-generation Garcia family.
"You have to like this business to stay in it," said Mr. Garcia, who began working in circuses and carnivals at the age of 6 in his native Tijuana, Mexico, and has since performed across North, South and Central America. "It's in our blood."Mr. Garcia's wife, Kathy M. Garcia, is a native of Reading, Pa., and also has been traveling across the country with circuses since she was young. In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia met while working in a trapeze act with a Shrine Circus.
Though at the time neither spoke much of the other's language, they soon married and began creating the acts upon which their Star Family shows are based.
Mr. Garcia is a member of the Star Family Circus & Thrill Show, a free daily show performing at 3:30, 5:30 and 8 p.m. at the Jefferson County Fair all week. The circus group emphasizes the "Thrill" part of its name throughout its show, performing one stunt in which two motorcyclists drive at high speeds inside a small steel cage and another in which a young woman, suspended by only her hair, gyrates in midair with a flaming hula hoop around her waist.
The group also lives up to the "Family" aspect of its name with the core of its show, which features five members of the third- and fourth-generation Garcia family.
"You have to like this business to stay in it," said Mr. Garcia, who began working in circuses and carnivals at the age of 6 in his native Tijuana, Mexico, and has since performed across North, South and Central America. "It's in our blood."Mr. Garcia's wife, Kathy M. Garcia, is a native of Reading, Pa., and also has been traveling across the country with circuses since she was young. In 1981, Mr. and Mrs. Garcia met while working in a trapeze act with a Shrine Circus.
Though at the time neither spoke much of the other's language, they soon married and began creating the acts upon which their Star Family shows are based.
COLLEEN WHITE / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES Celeste C. Garcia performs with one of several dogs Wednesday in the Star Family Circus & Thrill Show
This year marks the family circus's third year at the Jefferson County Fair, where the variety of acts in past years' shows proved a big hit among fairgoers.
"They've been very well-received by the public, and they don't have exactly the same show every year," said Robert D. Simpson, president of the Jefferson County Fair. "They're good to work with and it's something different."
The Garcia family typically employs other families to augment their acts for one or two seasons. This year, the show includes Estrella and Lisa Morales, distant cousins of the Garcias.In addition to death-defying stunts, the show also offers canine tricks, a children's hula-hoop contest, multiple costume changes and lively music during each of its half-hour shows.
Though the brevity of the performance might leave spectators wanting more, Mr. Simpson said its short duration keeps fairgoers from losing interest and wandering off.
"Unlike a family act, a full-fledged circus show is really expensive and long," he said. "Two-hour shows don't lend themselves well to a county fair."
From a young age, the three fourth-generation Garcia children have played a part in the family circus, traveling up and down the East Coast and into Canada to perform for 10 months of the year. Celeste C. Garcia, Mr. Garcia's daughter, explained that the constant travel as well as the steady changes in the show's repertoire continue to provide an exhilarating sense of the unknown for her.
"It has its ups and downs, as everything does," she said. "You could say it's hard driving everywhere, but I love to see new places. It's pretty exciting."
Miss Garcia, the show's ringmaster, leads the dog act and is learning how to perform the motorcycle act as well. Now in her 20s, she was only 13 when the Star Family Circus & Thrill Show made its debut at the Jefferson County Fair in 2000 and only 3 when she first appeared onstage.Next month, a fifth-generation Garcia will be born into the family to Miss Garcia's younger sister, Reyna. Miss Garcia said she anticipates raising any future children of her own in the circus tradition, ensuring the survival of the Star Family Circus & Thrill Show for years to come.
"I'll always have some part in it, and I want to raise my kids in it," she said. "This is gonna be my life forever."
And as for Mr. Garcia's future plans? When asked, the performer seemed to find the idea of retiring or adopting another line of work inconceivable.
"It's my life," he said simply. "It's what I love to do."
In addition to the circus, today's fair also features performances by Two by Two Zoo as well as a variety of livestock and 4-H competitions during the day, a celebrity milk-off at 7 p.m. and the Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby preliminary at 7 p.m. The Reithoffer Shows Inc. midway opens at noon and offers discounted rides until 6 p.m.
For more information, including a detailed fair schedule, visit the fair website or call the fair office at 782-8612.
from The Watertown, NY Daily Times
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