STRATES SHOWS SET UP, ORANGE COUNTY FAIR #2 (STEVE KEELER)

STRATES SHOWS SETTING UP AT ORANGE COUNTY FAIR #3 (STEVE KEELER)

Circus Una Motorcycle Thrill Show

Circus Una Motorcycle Thrill Show

Friday, July 16, 2010

Evan Witek The Muskegon Chronicle

Sara Young climbs up to a motorcycle on a tightrope for the Circus Una Motorcycle Thrill Show at Bike Time on July 16th, 2010. (Evan Witek/The Muskegon Chronicle)
Una Mimnagh, right, and Sara Young, left, perform in the Circus Una Motorcycle Thrill Show at Bike Time on July 16th, 2010. (Evan Witek/The Muskegon Chronicle)

Spectators watch the Circus Una Motorcycle Thrill Show at Bike Time on July 16th, 2010. (Evan Witek/The Muskegon Chronicle)

SUNDAY FUNNIES

KELLY MILLER CIRCUS SOUVENIER STAND

KELLY MILLER CIRCUS ELEPHANTS 2010

CIRCUS VIDBEL CONCESSIONS 2010

GRACIE HANNEFORD AT WHALOM PARK (FROM MIKE NAUGHTON)

CARSON & BARNES CIRCUS IN PORTAGE, OHIO

Ringing in the weekend: Plenty of fun with circus, horse show in Portage

A Habitat For Humanity family, Millie Shlusher and kids Tracie and Dakota, rides an elephant into the circus ring.
By Mike Sever
Record-Courier staff writer
Horses and elephants, aerialists and riders were the stars of entertainment this weekend.
Children young and old got a rare experience Friday as the Carson & Barnes Circus presented two performances at the Randolph Fairgrounds.
And the 51st annual Charity Horse Show started Friday and continues today and Sunday at Sunbeau Valley Farm in Ravenna Township with hundreds of horses and riders.
The first Carson & Barnes trucks rolled into the Randolph Fairgrounds before daylight Friday, loaded with equipment and animals.
By 8 a.m. the four framework piers for the massive 50-foot-tall big top were up and local residents were arriving to watch the action.
“We’ve been to a circus before, but we never saw one set up,” said Jamie Bristau of Aurora. She and her daughter Emma, 2 1/2, were watching the elephants, and later pet a camel.
“It’s so cool. We got to see a hippo,” said Michaela Wise. She was watching the action with friends Ashley Smithberger, Anna DeAngelis and Rylie Clause, all of Randolph.
Gianni Damicone, 3, watched intently as the red-and-blue big top went up.
“He’s been to the circus before, but this is his first big top,” said his grandmother, Diane Damicone.
When the show opened, children of all ages watched wide-eyed as the Fernandez family performed death-defying feats on the “Double Wheels of Fate” and “Franchesca” spun masses of hula hoops.
Performing dogs, high-wire aerialists and “Alex” the clown kept audience members smiling and on the edge of their seats.
Carson & Barnes, one of the last circuses to perform under a big top tent, is marking its 74th anniversary. The family-owned circus is based in Oklahoma and includes performing artists from around the world.
Friday’s two performances by the Carson & Barnes Circus were sponsored by Habitat for Humanity of Portage County. Proceeds go to support Habitat’s mission of building affordable housing for families.
Guest ringmaster for the early show was Janet Esposito, Portage County auditor and a Habitat board member.
The early show opened with Lindsay Durdel, 16, of Aurora singing “God Bless the USA.” Durdel is a member of the Singing Angels, a Cleveland-area youth chorus with some 250 members.
Others pitched in to help Habitat put on the circus, from Southeast High School football players directing parking to the Portage County-Randolph Fair Board donating use of the fairgrounds parking lot.
“The community has really supported us,” said Barbara Oswick, Habitat circus co-chair. This is the third time Habitat has sponsored the circus appearance.
The horse show continues at noon today and 11 a.m. on Sunday at Sunbeau Valley Farm west of Ravenna.
Admission is $5. Children age 12 and younger enter free.There is no charge for parking.
The event raises money for the Hattie Larlham Foundation, Ravenna Lions and the Questor 4-H group.

CARSON & BARNES CONT'D

A Circus performer uses long lengths of cloth to dance in the air.

Alaynah Kendrick, age 4, of Ravenna, watches a circus performer prepare for her act behind the scenes.

Janet Esposito as quest ring master introduces the circus!

Franchesca performs with a slew of Hoola Hoops at the Circus

How street it is, for kings of the fair as producers get lion's share from cookie-cutter fests

Mort Berkowitz (above) of Mort and Ray Productions and Todd Berman (below) of Clearview Festival Productions, oversee a large percentage of the city’s street fairs.
BY Erin Einhorn DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
They are the kings of New York's street fairs.
Just three men control nearly two-thirds of the festivals that clog city streets with vendors peddling cheap T-shirts, gyros and sunglasses.
They're a favorite target of griping New Yorkers: the noise, the traffic, the loss of sales for local stores.
Mayor Bloomberg recently banned more fairs beyond the 321 operating every year, and a think tank just skewered them for promoting an endless loop of slushies and shlock.
Maybe that's because the companies crank out more than 200 of the annual fairs like cars off an assembly line:Joseph Giovanni's Mardi Gras Festival Productions ran 77 of the city's largest, most-profitable Manhattan fairs last year, taking in $2.6 million from vendors, city records show.Todd Berman's Clearview Festival Productions ran 106 fairs across the city, including many outside Manhattan. He took in $2.3 million from vendors.Mort Berkowitz's Mort & Ray Productions focused on fewer fairs - just 22 last year - but his portfolio includes the mother of them all: the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. He grossed $1.2 million from vendors.

They say their critics are snobs.
"It's all a bunch of bogus nonsense," said Arthur Tisi, who helped Giovanni found Mardi Gras 31 years ago. "Hundreds of thousands of people love street fairs."
The czars argue the fairs put people to work and add life to the streets."That's very much the yuppie attitude - 'We don't want to close the street. We don't want shopping on the street,'" Berman said. "The streets belong to the neighborhood and to New Yorkers."
And the fairs belong to the producers.
The city collects 20% of proceeds - about $1.6 million a year - but that's far less than the $4 million spent on policing the events.
"It just may be something we can't afford," Bloomberg said earlier this year.
Nonprofit groups that sponsor the events collect a very small cut of the proceeds, documents show.
"[The three companies] are a huge part of the problem," said Jonathan Bowles of the Center for an Urban Future, which has issued several reports critical of street fairs. "They just want their cut. They don't have much interest in what happens in the neighborhood."
Two of the companies insist they're trying to make fairs more diverse. Berman said he offers discounts to artists, while Berkowitz says he always recruits face-painters for kids and gives booths to local organizations.
But Mardi Gras makes no apologies for its cookie-cutter fairs. It even offers package deals to vendors who work multiple fairs on a "buy 20, get seven free" basis.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/18/2010-07-18_how_street_it_is_for_kings_of_the_fair_producers_get_lions_share_from_cookiecutt.html#ixzz0u20ICouE

PERU AMATEUR CIRCUS READY FOR FESTIVAL

If kids keep learning tricks like this one at the Peru Amateur Circus, they actually stand a chance at joining the real circus.
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Peru Amateur Circus in Peru, Indiana, trains kids ages seven to 21 in all things Big Top, including trapeze and walking on the high wire.
After months of tireless work, current students are showing off what they’ve learned tomorrow (Jul. 17) through July 24 at the Circus City Festival.
They’ll be performing 11 shows that feature high-flying stunts through the air, including a six-person pyramid on the high wire.
Although the stars are "just regular kids," spokesperson Christina Cawood says their performances are on par with professionals.
They’re so good, in fact, that many students later run away and join real circuses or work as stunt doubles.
Regardless of whether they make the circus their full time gig, Cawood says the students also learn life skills they can apply to other professions.
© Copyright 2010 Wireless Flash News Inc

BIG APPLE NEWS...

"Grandma" (Barry Lubin)

Big Apple Circus gains approval from zoning board; coming to Manville

By PAMELA SROKA-HOLZMANN • STAFF WRITER •

July 15, 2010 MANVILLE — Jugglers, aerialists, acrobats, animals and clowns are headed to Main Street.About 150 members of the Big Apple Circus will be taking their show, "Dance On," to the Rustic Mall off South Main Street twice a day, five days a week from Thursday, Sept. 23 to Monday, Oct. 11. The tour's 33rd season will make its debut here.

The circus Wednesday evening gained unanimous approval from the borough's Zoning Board of Adjustment for temporary use on private property. The Borough Council previously had granted approval."It's very exciting," Scott O'Donnell, vice president and general manager of the Big Apple Circus, said following the meeting. "We're very happy to be back in Somerset County."The circus had been presented with a challenge when it decided to move its usual springtime event for more than 10 years at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater to the fall. The fall timeframe conflicted with the Somerset Patriots minor league baseball team's playing schedule, borough Administrator Gary Garwacke said.read more at:http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100715/NEWS/100715051/Big-Apple-Circus-gains-approval-from-zoning-board-coming-to-Manville

MOTORCYCLE THRILL SHOW...

Una Mimnagh, a circus performer for 20 years, and Sara Young of central Pennsylvania met on myspace.com. They've been performing together ever since.
Motorcycle thrill show: Girls and bikes 'a good combination'

Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 8:07 AM Brielle Vance The Muskegon Chronicle
Circus Una will make crowds gasp at this year’s Bike Time as the female duo
Contributed photoUna Mimnagh, a circus performer for 20 years, and Sara Young of central Pennsylvania met on myspace.com. They've been performing together ever since.roars through the air at Steel Horse Station.
Watch with amazement as the two women work together to balance a motorcycle on an inclined high wire while a steel trapeze hangs below.
Una Mimnagh, a circus performer for 20 years, and Sara Young of central Pennsylvania met on myspace.com two years ago and have been performing their stunt show together ever since.
Mimnagh said she began working in lighting for a circus, but later began working as a trapeze artist. She started working with motorcycles six years ago, and bought a bike to start her own act three years later.
“It was just supposed to be a summer job and it lasted the rest of my life,” she said.
“This will be our first time at Bike Time and we’re really looking forward to it,” Mimnagh said. “This is our third summer at bike rallies. We love bike rallies. The crowds are great. They love girls and they love bikes. It’s a good combination.”
As a finale, the duo will complete a 360-degree revolution around the wire.Friday’s performances are scheduled for 1, 3, 5, and 7 p.m. Saturday’s shows are set for 11 a.m., 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. Sunday’s acts will be at 1 and 3 p.m.
For more information about this act, visit circusuna.com.

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ FAIR.....

Passaic County Fair has many activities planned

Friday, July 16, 2010 Clifton Journal

WOODLAND PARK —

The seventh Passaic County Fair opened July 14 and will continue through Sunday, July 18. The fair is situated on Garret Mountain overlooking southern Passaic County and beyond. Friday hours are 5 p.m. to midnight. The weekend hours commence at 1 p.m. On Saturday the Fair will close at midnight. On Sunday, the Fair will close at 9 p.m.

Sixteen different food choices including ethnic and standard foods are offered at the expanded food court. The vendors set their own prices for the food they serve. The library tent run by the librarians of Passaic County will be especially interesting to the little ones. State inspected carnival rides will attract persons of all ages. Animal lovers may experience an entire tent housing animal shelter groups with their charges, circus performers, pony rides and children's games will attract parents and children to participate.The County Sheriff's Department, the County Prosecutor's office and the New Jersey National Guard will demonstrate techniques, equipment and arms that protect us all year long. An Army Blackhawk helicopter is scheduled to fly to the fair grounds.

The Sheriff's EMT unit will be present and the Sheriff's CERT team will assist in car parking. Free busing is available to the Fairgrounds. Craft vendors, private businesses and non-profit organizations will display their products and tout their services.

The County will bring in some of its heavy equipment for inspection by all; especially for the tax paying public. The County tent will exhibit various information and services of its many Departments.

A chainsaw carver will demonstrate his skills.

Many other features, too numerous to cite in this article, will help make the Fair a pleasurable and exciting experience. So come to the Fair in the pride of the summer.

Free entrance to fairgrounds except for a $4 fee per car parking charge. No limit to the number of passengers in each vehicle. Visit www.passaiccountynj.org for more county fair information.

from northjersey.com