THE BALLOON MAN

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Circus comes to Fort Pierre today, Thursday

from: capjouenal.com

Tue Jun 25, 2013.

By Justin Joiner

Features acrobats, elephants and many other acts

The Yelduz Shrine Circus, performing in Fort Pierre today and tomorrow, features a rare act, an elephant that can walk on a ball.

“One of our biggest features is the elephants,” Ringmaster Justin Loomis said. “We are very fortunate that we have three elephants here. We have the only elephant in the world that walks on a ball.”

The elephant was raised from a baby and has always had an interest in the ball.

“It was something she kind of did naturally,” Loomis said. “We had a ball in the pin with her that she always played with and wanted to stand on the ball so it worked out kind of well. It was easy to train her to do it, because it was something she wanted to do. She is 40 now and she has been doing it since she was a year old.”

In addition to the talented pachyderm, circus goers should also expect some tricks on the high-wire, a globe of death, talented acrobats and performing bears among many other acts.

Even those who attended last year’s circus performance should expect something different this year, Loomis said.

“If folks came to see the circus last year and they enjoyed it, they are really going to like the show this year,” he said. “We have a lot of new features. We try to keep the show fresh and change it up every year.

The circus is put on by the Oahe Shrine Club. Shriners are offshoots of the Masons and focus on helping children with medical needs, said Richard Decker, a past president of the Shrine Club.

Money raised from the circus goes to the Shrine Club, which distributes it to local causes as well as to help fund one of the organization’s main missions – its hospitals.

“The main reason the circus is so successful, first of all, it is a family venue, but all the money that we raise putting the circus on goes to the Shrine hospitals for children who may have needs, primarily orthopedic, but also cleft palate and burns and other things that come up,” he said.

Loomis said the hospitals are a wonderful cause.

“They don’t charge anybody a dime for the care there,” he said.