ULSTER COUNTY FAIR, NEW PALTZ, NY OPENS

Popular Ulster County Fair is now open for six-day run

Shantal Parris Riley • Poughkeepsie Journal • August 3, 2010
NEW PALTZ — The gates at the Ulster County Fair opened at 4 p.m. and the first day of the six-day event will run through 10 p.m.

Organizers will be looking to the sky today, hoping for weather better than last year for the fair.

Gates open to the 123rd Ulster County Fair in just a few hours. The event takes place at the county fairgrounds site on Libertyville Road in New Paltz and runs through Sunday.

Ulster County Fair Office Manager Suzanne Britsky said she is looking for sunny skies this week."We're hoping it stays dry," Britsky said. "Last year, we suffered about four days of monsoon weather."The National Weather Service is forecasting highs mostly in the 80s for the remainder of the week, with a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms most days."Normally, our attendance is about 45,000 to 50,000 people," she said. "We'd like to break a record this year."

Admission is $15 for children and adults. Children 4 and under get in for free.

However, a number of discounts are being offered.

The first of which is the "Carload Night" tonight."It's $40 a carload," Britsky said. "There's no limit to the number of people who can be in the car, as long as they are safely buckled in."It has been very successful. The combination with the fireworks makes it a very popular night," she said.

Highland resident Mark Jackson remembers taking his kids on Carload Night."When my kids were little, we would pack the car with kids on Carload Night," he said. "I think the Ulster County Fair is really one of the better deals, as far as county and state fairs go.

"Corrine Shields, 17, from Marlboro, goes to the fair every year."I don't really like the rides. I like the animals," she said. "There's a lot to look at.

"Discounts also are available for seniors."We have Senior Citizens Day on Thursday," she said. "Seniors get in free before 4 p.m.

"Britsky said there are discounted rates available for recreational day camps on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Among the events is a petting zoo, master gardener demonstrations and truck races. Fireworks are scheduled for 9 tonight.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100803/NEWS01/8030328/1006

CARSON & BARNES.....

Circus City is on the way to Michiana!
Aug 03, 2010 2:15 AM EDT
Posted By: Elishah Oesch
"Circus City" is coming to Michiana! When Carson & Barnes sets up circus morning, it is circus history and magic, transforming the show grounds into "Circus City USA". The general public is invited free, and early birds can watch, as the first units of the caravan begin arriving about an hour after dawn, Tuesday morning, August 3rd across from Borkholder Dutch Village, in Nappanee.
Over two dozen types of exotic and domestic animals, featuring a large traveling zoo, are unloaded, fed, and watered, and made available for viewing. Adding to the excitement, is the final and most popular experience of all, as humans, elephants, and technology work side-by-side to erect America's most spectacular and largest circus Big Top.
Dutch Kitchen will be offering up a breakfast special for those watching the circus magic. Junior Anderson, owner of Dutch Kitchen, is excited about the circus coming, and has agreed to offer breakfast specials the morning the circus arrives. Dutch Kitchen will also be open the evening of the circus, according to Anderson, offering a Chicken & Meatloaf buffet from 4 - 8 p.m. for just $9.95. The buffet includes dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy, chicken noodles, green beans, corn, salad bar, dessert bar, an even a drink!
The all new 74th edition of the Carson & Barnes Circus, bringing almost one hundred performers and animals to Borkholder Dutch Village, will put on two shows Tuesday: 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
According to sponsor and local promoter Ron Bedward, owner of Michiana Promotions, a portion of the proceeds of the circus will be used to help fund and promote Nappanee's Second Saturdays. Bedward also encourages circus goers to get their tickets in advance, because "folks can save alot of money!"

CASUAL CAL & SERGE CORONAS TEAM UP

Urban-themed circus comes to town
By Michael Buettner (Staff Writer)
Published: August 3, 2010
PETERSBURG, VA - Fresh from a triumphant tour of the Caribbean, Casual Cal's Bumpin' Big Show Circus rolls into town this week.
The urban-oriented circus is a joint venture of Atlanta-based Big Top Circus, led by Calvin "Casual Cal" Dupree, and Circus Hollywood, a Bradenton, Fla.-based operation owned by fourth-generation circus impresario Serge Corona.
Dupree gained fame as the ringmaster of the UniverSoul Circus, founded in 1994 by music and theater promoter Cedric "Ricky" Walker. Like UniverSoul, the Bumpin' Big Show features mainly African-American performers and draws on urban culture and experience to entertain and uplift audiences.
Front man Econuel Ingram said one difference between the Bumpin' Big Show (also known as Big Top Circus 2010) and UniverSoul is that "D.C. gets UniverSoul, Richmond gets UniverSoul, we wanted to give to a community that doesn't get much of that quality of shows."
But despite the updated style, the circus will offer the traditional attractions, from animals and acrobats to clowns and magicians.
One crowd-pleasing act is a group of motorcyclists who perform in the "Cage of Death." Also on hand are Persian horses, Parisian dogs and plenty of music and fun.
The circus' run here starts officially on Thursday and continues through Sunday at Petersburg High School, but there's a free preview for children today, starting at 11 a.m., at Vernon Johns Junior High School on Homestead Drive.
Ingram said the circus also is looking to hire people locally to help set up and run the shows - part of the company's goal of giving something back to the communities where it performs. If all goes well, he said, "We want to make this an annual event."
In addition, the circus will donate $1 of every ticket purchase to the Petersburg School System. And another way of giving back is a Military Night on Saturday - usually the circus' biggest night - when patrons with military ID cards will receive a discounted ticket price.
Showtimes for the Bumpin' Big Show are 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; noon, 4 and 8 p.m. on Saturday; and 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children. For information, call 894-5566.

FAREWELL TO THE FAIR....

DON'T FORGET CLICK ON EACH PICTURE TO ENLARGE & READ!

OCEAN CITY, MD...

OC Boardwalk performers draw crowds, tips

Acts range from puppeteers and musicians to artists

By Susan Canfora • Special To The Times • August 2, 2010

OCEAN CITY -- Bugs Bunny danced on the Boardwalk the other night, long gray legs kicking high as he moved in an exaggerated way.
"I think it's a favorite cartoon. Kids like this cartoon bunny. He is very friendly and he's very beautiful," said Denis Novokreshchenov of Russia, lifting Bug's head for a moment to make eye contact.

He is among dozens of street performers entertaining on the Boardwalk as passersby toss change and bills into their tip jars."Hey, you're a good dancer," somebody called to Bugs, and he beamed."Yes. Thank you," he called.

Street performers who show their driver's licenses at the City Clerk's Office, pay $7 and get their act approved, receive a permit allowing them to perform until the end of the calendar year.

They may not provide a service such as polishing fingernails or -- and somebody really wanted to -- whitening teeth.Because art is subjective, they are not asked to audition, said Kelly Allmond, deputy city clerk."If they think they're good, that's all that matters," she said.

Neither do they get fingerprinted or undergo a background check, so parents should carefully watch their children and not let them run up to the performers alone, she said.

This year, 349 permits were issued, fewer than the 450 last year."We are busiest issuing permits during Senior Week and the Fourth of July weekend," Allmond said.

One recent evening, a man balancing his toddler son on his shoulders approached a young woman twisting balloons into various shapes at the south end of the boardwalk."Is it free?" he asked. The little boy's eyes were wide, watching the balloons."Uh-huh," the woman said, but he put $5 in her tip container anyway.Most people tip, some generously.

Cellist Elizabeth Howse plays in her bare feet, often near the intersection of Somerset Street on the west side of the boards. The college student, studying music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, also has a job at a resort jewelry store. She makes as much on tips playing for four hours on the boardwalk as she does working 20 hours selling jewelry.

READ MORE AT:http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100802/NEWS01/8020304/OC-Boardwalk-performers-draw-crowds--tips

WORLD OF WONDERS.....(LANE TALBURT)

Perception is often not reality, as sideshow "talker" Mike Vitka has discovered through his experiences on the World of Wonders.

Family clowns around
Circus act brings laughs to Fredericksburg Fair

NoJoe the Clown
Joey Thurmond as Nojoe the clown balances a 12-foot ladder during a show at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair yesterday. Thurmond, of Atlanta, performs his Nojoe's Clown Circus act with his wife, Jamie, and son Tyler, 17. Photos by MIKE MORONES/THE FREE LANCE-STAR
8/2/2010
BY SARA MITCHELL
No one really has a fear of clowns, asserts Joey Thurmond."They just haven't met the right one yet," the creator of Nojoe's Clown Circus, a national traveling clown act, said.
More than 100 people had no qualms yesterday afternoon about watching Thurmond and his wife, Jamie, and son, Tyler, perform in their one-ring circus at the Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair. In an interactive half-hour show, the family joked around with one another and the audience.
At one point Tyler, 17, told a woman she needed to make her own balloon animal, much to Thurmond's disapproval."We've got a good crowd," Thurmond said, "and we want them to like us.
"Indeed they did.
The crowd nearly doubled as Tyler juggled fire and Thurmond balanced a shopping cart above his head. After the duo performed its slapstick, "Miss Jamie" performed her twirling act with Hula Hoops and steel squares and cubes.The act is award-winning as well as unique. Thurmond and Tyler are the first father-son duo to receive the Clown of the Year award from Family Entertainers of Atlanta, where the act is based. Thurmond won it in 2008 and Tyler, the youngest-ever recipient, won it a year later. "It's very honorable to have your peers think that much of you," Thurmond said before the 4:30 p.m. show. But clowns are not universally loved.One woman came up to Thurmond asking to take his picture so she could send it to her mother, who hates clowns. "I'm glad you used my face to creep out your mom," Thurmond said after smiling for the camera. After the show, another teenage girl refused to come near the trio because she's scared of clowns."Thank you, because I'm kinda scared of teenage girls," Thurmond joked. In reality, he hopes he can reverse the negativity that popular culture has given clowns. "Clowns in general are such a giving, accepting and loving personality," Thurmond said.
The fear of clowns is generally seen only in North America, and he thinks people actually fear the attention brought upon them by the clowns and the surrounding audience. The trio will finish up in Fredericksburg tomorrow.
For the fearless, the group signs autographs and poses for photos after the shows. And that's why Thurmond travels 11 months out of the year with his wife and son. "I get to go to a magical place," he said. "I get to walk into that circus ring every day."

RINGLING HOSTS BLIND CHILDREN TO A TOUCH & FEEL CIRCUS

Cho, 5, tentatively feels the nose of a pony. Dorothy was one of about 15 blind and visually impaired children from the Blind Children's Learning Center who visited the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Thursday. Parents and siblings also got to feel the costumes, animals and props ahead of a visit to the show. Maya Graves, 4, smiles as she's lifted into the air by Fantasy Troupe member Cristian Anghel. "I want to do it again," she said, as soon as her feet touched down on solid ground. Her older brother and younger sister get to watch the show, so for Maya to experience the circus tactilely gives her better knowledge of what's going on, said her mother. Maya was one of the students who visited the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.TEXT BY ELYSSE JAMES, MIGUEL VASCONCELLOS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Katelyn King, 4, tries out a dirt bike with help from her mother, Kim. "It's amazing. It's a wonderful experience for them to get their hands on and to feel the animals and get up close, especially for the kids with visual impairment,” Kim said. The lights and sounds of the circus really grab at Katelyn's attention and draw her into the experience, Kim said.

Matthew O'Toole, 4, rides a mini dirt bike with help from Paulo Cesar, who rides the bike in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show. Matthew smiled and held tightly to the handle bars as Cesar rolled the bike foward, making engine sounds. During the show, seven motorcycle riders perform in a Globe of Steel.

Fantasy Troupe member Marius Oraca helps Maya Graves, 4, push down on a teeter board used during the circus show. Children ages 3 to 10 from the Blind Children's Learning Center got to feel their way through the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Thursday.Dorothy Cho, 5, feels the side of a pony. Cho said later that the ponies loved her. She was able to touch their ears, nose, eyes, mane and tail as she pet the miniature horse held by presenter Victoria Zsilak. Cho joined other blind and visually impaired children on Tuesday during the Blind Children's Learning Center visit to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

NICOLE CORONAS AT THE DELAWARE STATE FAIR...

Aerial chiffon dancer Nicole Coronas performs with Circus Hollywood Saturday.

(The News Journal/GARY EMEIGH)

LAST DAY AT THE DELAWARE STATE FAIR...

Delaware State Fair ends run with smaller crowd

Riders aboard Alpine Bobs joined thousands at the final day of the Delaware State Fair today. (The News Journal/GARY EMEIGH)

By DAN SHORTRIDGE • The News Journal • July 31, 2010

The end of the state fair today meant the start of a new life for two Smyrna kids.That’s “kids” as in newborn goats, who came into the world around 2 p.m. today in stall138 in the fair’s goat barn.

They’re heading home today with proud owner Gabrielle Virdin, 13, who stood by showing off her new charges and explaining the birthing process to a group of amazed onlookers oohing and aahing over the tiny babies.

There also were some ewwws - at the sight of the nanny goat chewing on the afterbirth.“That’s natural for her to do that,” Gabrielle explained to one young boy. “There’s a lot of protein, too.”But despite the fascinated gathering in the goat barn, crowds generally were scarce on the final day of the fair.

By late afternoon, not even the prospect of a steady breeze and cool temperatures -- with a high in the mid-80s -- was enough to pull huge numbers of people through the gates, as dark, heavy clouds loomed overhead, threatening storms.The weather has been a persistent problem for this year’s fair, with fairgoers suffering through an intense heat wave on opening weekend, forcing organizers to start the carnival later than normal.

But fair officials still expect this year’s attendance to be overall higher than 2009, said Danny Aguilar, its assistant general manager.Exact attendance numbers won’t be available for some time as the gate numbers have to be audited, he said.“The hot weather affected our early-on numbers, but we’ve been showing … to be ahead of 2009,” Aguilar said.
If there were huge crowds this year, Dakota Lewis hadn’t seen them. The 17-year-old from South Carolina camped out in a vendor booth the entire week, hawking balloons and plastic ninja swords for his cousin‘s novelties business. The big-selling items, he said, have been “clacker balls” and inflatable football helmets.But there hasn’t been a booming trade, he said.“It’s been really slow,” Lewis said. “When it’s busy, every five minutes someone’s up here. It hasn’t been like that at all.”
Veteran fairgoers agreed the crowds were smaller this year than last.“I’m surprised it’s not that busy,” said Michelle Shivick, 39, of Newark. Raised in Camden, she’s been attending the fair off and on for the last three decades, but on Saturday afternoon, she was sharing a chocolate-and-vanilla-swirl ice cream cone with son Dalton, 2. “I though there would have been a lot more people here today.”

read more at:http://www.delawareonline.com/article/201007312110/NEWS03/100731017

THE SKINNY GERMAN JUGGLE BOY

THE 20th CENTURY'S P.T. BARNUM

Ward Hall, dean of American sideshow 'talkers,' explains how he entices fair patrons into the "World of Wonders." Videotaped at New Jersey State Fair at Meadowlands and at Hall's home in Gibsonton, FL, by Lane Talburt.

SUNDAY FUNNIES!

RINGLING 1976 (FROM MIKE NAUGHTIN)

COLE BROS VIDEOS

Kellam Bermudez narrowly escapes serious injury after being shot out of cannon on Cole Bros. Circus in early summer 2010..Lane Talburt



Circus fans and city officials bring Cole Bros. Circus to Meriden, Connecticut, for two-day stand in summer 2010. Lane Talburt

FROM SOUTH AFRICA...

Dazzling circus with a contemporary twist

JUGGLING ACT: The seemingly simple practice of hula-hooping is ramped up several notches on the difficulty scale, finished off by Janna Roukhmanova's unfaltering smile But by blending theatricality with eye-popping feats of human endeavour, a modern-day indoor circus, such as Le Grand Cirque, still offers fun by the bucket load.

Aug 1, 2010, By CHRISTINA KENNEDY from: timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes

There's no smell of sawdust, nor are there any forlorn, flea-bitten lions jumping through hoops.

A massive hit during its previous season at the Joburg Theatre, this thrill-a-minute circus is back with a new edition: Le Grand Cirque Fantazie. Slick and spectacular, glitzy and fast-paced, it is a dazzling fiesta of action-packed entertainment.
Spearheaded by executive producer David King, the UK showbiz whiz who brought us the hit productions Spirit of the Dance and The Twelve Tenors, it is no wonder the show has been successful.

BALANCING ACT: Strong man Tang Guocheng keeps fellow muscleman Su Wu afloat Pictures: MARIOLA BIELA

It was a treat to witness the sheer, unbridled awe of the underprivileged children who saw the show free on Mandela Day. It showed that no matter how much gadgets and gizmos creep into our lives, there's still no substitute for the raw power and immediacy of a live show.

In the case of Le Grand Cirque, it's certainly a case of show business meeting the Big Top.
It blends deftly choreographed circus routines with dramatic classical music, pulsing lighting effects, exquisite costumes and a touch of pizzazz to produce pure dynamite.
And there isn't an animal in sight.
This show is all about the human animal as we marvel at how these specimens of Homo sapiens push themselves to the limits of endurance and ability.
Bending, tumbling, contorting, balancing, soaring - it is clear they are not only stretching themselves physically, but mentally, as well.
Imagine the concentration required to perform dangerous stunts in front of 1000 people every night.
Most adults and children will not be bored for a second .
Almost every act is a showstopper, from the gravity-defying grace of the acrobats and the sexy hula-hooper in her hot pants to the clever neon-lighting illusion. The bells and whistles that make this a visual and aural banquet are mere embellishment, because at the show's core is the incredible artistry, skill and pursuit of perfection of the mainly Asian cast.
In fact, one of the most striking acts is a model of simplicity, in which two men, clad only in white shorts, are framed in muscular silhouette as they undertake breathtaking feats of strength, balancing and poise.

THIS WEEK IN MICHIGAN HISTORY

People, animals die in circus train collision

ZLATI MEYER from: freep.com

Twenty-two people, three camels and an elephant were killed when two circus trains collided near Durand on Aug. 7, 1903. A 22 car train collided with a 16-car train, both carrying the Wallace Brothers Circus, as they began their trip along the Grand Trunk Railroad to Lapeer County for the next performance, according to the Durand Union Station Michigan Railroad History Museum.

Initially, 23 people were assumed dead, but rescuers later found a man pinned under the wreckage.Approximately 40 people were injured. Area doctors and local residents raced to help. A hotel was transformed into a hospital.The circus owner estimated $20,000 in losses.

Less than a month earlier, the Wallace Brothers train had crashed, prompting a member of the circus to say, "I'm through with show business. This is the second wreck I have been in with this company, and the next time it will be the undertaker that will get me, not the hospital."