THE SPARKLEBERRY FAIR
FROM: HAL GUYON



Hi Guys,
   Kathy & I took the grands to The Sparkleberry Country Fair here in Columbia yesterday, had a great time and the weather was perfect. This fair is really more like the old county type fairs I remember as a kid, with collections of antique cars, tractors, and agricultureal equiptment & demonstrations.

There were 2 large petting zoo`s with camels, giraffe, buffalos, llamas, and every kind of farm animal you could think of. There were two stages with different shows every half hour, skydivers, and displays from local fire & police depts. They had about 50-60 craft & display booths and probably 30 or more local food venders. 

 The Amusements of America Carnival played the fair again this year with, I think I counted right, 22 rides and a good number of games and food joints. Rides included, Giant Wheel, Fireball, Music Express, Bumper Boats, Tornado, Bump Cars, Mardi Gras Glass House, Dark ride, Tilt a Whirl, Bonzi, Swings, Rocking Tug, Fun House, Gravitron, 4 Kiddie Umbrella Rides, Bumble Bee`s, Flying Elephants, Merry Go Round, Frog Hopper, & Bungee Jump. 

Amusements of America winters in Florence, SC and everything looked really good and freshly painted. I saw 2 generator trucks operating and a 3rd not running, a good number of bunk houses and 2 office semis. 

 

 

 

 Tickets were $1.00 each or 24 for $20.00, the carnival will be open all this week with POP hand stamp nights on weeknights. This fair is one of the highlights of spring here in Columbia and it gets bigger & better every year, any of you close by should try to make it next year. Attached are a few of the 50+ pictures I took.

                                                      Hal Guyon 

 

~~FROM: BROOKE EVANS~~

RINGLING SEAT WAGON MODEL

BUILT BY BROOKE EVANS

KING BROS CIRCUS
(ACME CIRCUS OPERATING CO,)
1966 SEASON--CONCESSION DEPT.
FROM: BOBBY COX


MIDWAY

"CANDY WAGON"

BOBBY COX

CONCESSIONS MANAGER--C.J. MATCHETS

MIKE RICE & "YOGI"

"YOGI"

MIKE RICE & :"YOGI"

 

JAUNITA

 

BILL PRICKETT VISITS--
CIRCUS PAGES
PEKIN, IL--APRIL 18, 2012
~~ALL PHOTOS BY BILL PRICKETT~~

Here are some of the photos I took 4-18-12, of Circus Pages in Pekin,Il.  These go with my "story previously sent"

 Yolanda, Jim Pages, Figi, Bibi (Yvinson Acero)  

 Daisy and Bambi

 Daisy getting her bath   

 Chicken dinner for 5 lions and 2 tigers 

Bambi, Frieda, Jorge Pages

Daisy, Kayla Earhart, Bambi, Freida and Jorge

BILL PRICKETT VISITS--
CIRCUS PAGES
PEKIN, IL, APRIL18, 2012


Cat truck 

 Bibi, Yvinson Acero 

Camels & ponies enjoying the grass  

 Ashley, Joe,Sr.,Freida Pages, Aaliyah (4) Frisco 

  Figi and Yesenia Pages

Some of the 12 Earhart dogs 

 

. Jorge Pages and Joe Frisco,Sr.


~~ALL PHOTOS BY BILL PRICKETT~~

CLEM O'JEVICH

JEWELRY STAND

e 

Check it out at the

Winchester Apple Blossom Festival!

Cole Bros. Circus

Published on Apr 25, 2012 by Power955RockyMt

The Cole Bros. Circus put on a great show two nights in a row at Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount!!

Culpepper & Merriweather Circus 

When: Wednesday, May 09 2012 @ 05:00 PM EDT - 06:30PM 

Event Type:  

Where: Old Silver Creek High School Grounds

Jamestown, OH  

Description: America's Favorite Old-Fashioned Big Top Circus is Coming to Town!

Thanks to the sponsorship of The Jamestown Lions Club, Culpepper & Merriweather Circus, America's Favorite Big Top Circus is coming to Jamestown, Ohio on Wednesday, May 9th at the Old Silver Creek High School Grounds with two scheduled performances at 5:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Now in its 28th edition, C&M Circus has become internationally known for quality family entertainment. This authentic One-Ring, Big Top Circus has been featured on National Geographic's Explorer TV series, Entertainment Tonight, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Arizona Highways Magazine. It has also been featured on the A&E Special: Under the Big Top and most recently, On the Road with Circus Kids, a Nickelodeon special featured on the Nick News Program.

Bring your friends and family out circus morning to watch as a familiar place in your town is transformed into a bustling Circus City. Activity swirls around the grounds as animals are unloaded, the Big Top is erected, and rigging is prepared for performances later in the day. Enjoy the magic and tradition of the American Circus with your family and create memories that will last a lifetime. 

Between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. so come watch the raising of the Big Top, then stay for the FREE Tour. This presentation offers a unique face-to-face opportunity for families, schools, and interested community members to meet and learn all about the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus family and includes a walking tour of the circus grounds. Learn interesting facts about our performers, the history of our show and the different species of animals in our Circus Family. In this presentation we will also address topics such as hygiene, grooming and the veterinary care all of our animals receive.

In recent years the Tent Raising and Morning Tour has become a popular program for families and interested community members. It is presented in a way everyone, young and old can learn many interesting facts about the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus Family and now we have a brand new tent! This is a special part of Circus Day that should not be missed.

On circus day, our performers bring the magic of the circus to life in each 90-minute show. This year's lineup includes an All-Star group of performers and entertainers that include Miss Simone and her amazing single trapeze, Miss Lana's Feathered Friends, Miss Paulina on the Web, The Arlise Troupe on their wild and crazy unicycles, Angel Perez with juggling, The Silverlake's sizzeling whips, Karina and her hoola hoops, The Perez Russian Swing. This year we are trying something new with animal acts. Every few weeks a new act will be contracted out. All with original music written by the talented, Matt Margucci from Los Angeles, California. Our performers are sure to amaze, delight and entertain audience members of all ages beyond your wildest imagination.

High atop Chang at the Cole Brothers Circus of the Stars

Published on Apr 2, 2012 by bobnatalerealtor

My live broadcast from High atop "Chang" a 32 year old Female Asian elephant this morning at the Cole Brothers Circus of the Stars in Myrtle Beach

Afghan hounds inspire trip to circus

Elmiran learns more about act that will be at First Arena this week

 

Susan Sheryll Zoppe is seen in a publicity shot with one of her trained Afghan hounds and a Persian cat. Zoppe's act will perform Tuesday and Wednesday at First Arena in downtown Elmira

FROM: Elmira, NY Star Gazette
by: Sue Hamlin
Apr. 28, 2012
I did a double take last year when I saw a TV ad with Afghan hounds jumping through a hoop. The circus was coming to town and those glamorous dogs were a featured act!
Off I went to the First Arena and met up with Billy Martin, ringmaster, general manager and vice-president of the Royal Hanneford Circus. Martin hails from Olean.
He put me in touch with Susan Sheryll Zoppe, who has a fabulous act with six Afghan hounds. Coming from a circus family, Zoppe's love for the Afghan hound began as a teenager.
She got her first dog, then another and another, and put her act together. Over the years she has used a total of 40 Afghan hounds in her act, each one a precious and beloved member of her family.
As the dogs age, Zoppe gives them easier tricks to do, but keeps them until they die of old age.
Zoppe has never bred a litter of Afghan hounds. She purchases young dogs just under a year old from well-known, respected breeders around the country.
The dogs must have a very stable temperament to deal with the crowds and noise of the circus.
read more at:
http://www.stargazette.com/article/20120428/NEWS01/204280319/Afghan-hounds-inspire-trip-circus?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Royal Hanneford Circus in town for 3 shows next week
from: Elmira Star Gazette
Written by
John Cleary 
Correspondent
Apr. 25, 2012 
The Royal Hanneford Circus will give three performances next week at First Arena in Elmira. Shows are planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday and 3:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday.


The circus' annual visit is a fundraiser for the charitable activities of the Kalurah Shrine.


The Hanneford Circus traces is history of performance to Edwin Hanneford, a juggler who performed for England's King George III in 1778. The Hanneford family first began performing as a traveling troupe in the early 1800s, and by 1903 was calling itself the Hanneford Royal Canadian Circus. That show was purchased by John Ringling and incorporated into the famous Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. Members of the family continued to perform in that and other circuses.


In 1975, Tommy Hanneford reorganized a traveling circus, renamed it the Royal Hanneford Circus and began a tradition of teaming with local Shrine Temples for fundraisers.


Hanneford died in 2005. The circus is now operated by his wife, Struppi Hanneford, who gained fame as a tiger trainer, high-wire walker and, under the name Princes Tajana, Goddess of Flight, an innovative trapeze artist.

Cole Bros Video

Elephant was following circus order: witness


 

Mila the African Elephant at Franklin Zoo. Photo / File
By Michael Dickison
from:  nzherald.co.nz
Saturday Apr 28, 2012
A witness to the fatal accident at Franklin Zoo says the elephant was triggered to kneel down, crushing her keeper, by what appeared to be a misinterpreted circus command: "down".


"Put me down, Mila," the keeper, Dr Helen Schofield, was heard saying as she patted the elephant's head.


Mila obeyed by going down on her knees - crushing Dr Schofield.


"The elephant didn't attack the lady. The elephant was in a circus mode. It was following commands," said the zoo visitor, who did not want to be named.


He said the elephant had seemed to him to have acted as if she were performing a circus trick.


Dr Schofield, Franklin Zoo's owner and director, was killed on Anzac Day after two years' nursing the animal with the hope of getting her into an overseas sanctuary.


Authorities and animal welfare groups are now working out the future for the elephant, who was born in Africa before being taken into zoos in London and Honolulu.
read more at:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10802023#

PICADILLY CIRCUS
JACKSON, MI
From:  Jackson Citizen Patriot-MI.com
April 28, 2012



 Sean Proctor | MLive.com Children play with circus balloons during intermission for the 4:30 show of the Piccadilly Circus Saturday afternoon at Optimist Ice Arena. Motorcycle daredevils, circus clowns, aerialists, a petting zoo, face painting and a live elephant, among other acts, entertained families and people of all ages.
 

In 1891, Richmond hosted the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’


 

In the late 19th Century, traveling circuses were the most popular entertainment in rural America, and the Ringling Bros. show and its elephants were at the head of the class. Ringling visited Richmond in 1891, one of two circuses in Ray County the same week. (Library of Congress photo)
from: richmond-daily news
By Linda Emley
April 29, 2012
Richmond, Missouri--In 1882, five brothers traveled around the state of Wisconsin and performed juggling acts and skits in small town city halls. They used the name Ringling Brothers’ Classic and Comic Concert Company.
On May 19, 1884, they joined forces with Yankee Robinson and took their one-ring circus act across the Midwest. The Yankee Robinson and Ringling Brothers Circus was short lived because Yankee died while the circus was in Jefferson, Iowa on Sept 4, 1884. But as they say in the land of show biz, “The show must go on” and it did because the Ringling Brothers Circus became one of the largest circus acts in America by the late 1880s.
It took teamwork to run a circus and each brother had his own duty. Alfred was in charge of advance publicity and put up colorful animal posters to advertise the upcoming circus; Al was in charge of the acts; Charles was the show producer and manager; Otto took care of the money, and John was in charge of transportation. The youngest brother, Henry, did not become part of the show until Otto died in 1911.
read more:
http://www.richmond-dailynews.com/?p=10224