HUGO ARTICLE PART 2

The man on the flying trapeze has his swings set up in his yard.
There's even a retirement home for elephants at the Endangered Ark Foundation, a 120-acre sanctuary for 26 elephants started in 1993 by Byrd's parents, DR and Isla Miller.
Retired showpeople like Dudley Hamilton, 81, meet for breakfast at The Circus Diner, where vintage circus memorabilia cover every available surface.
"Circuses are like the military. Everybody retires at their last posting," said Hamilton, who spent 25 years as an advance booking agent. "I was a Depression baby who was always fascinated by circuses. I still am, so this is a good place to be. There's about 100 retired circus people here. You won't find that just anywhere."
With circus roots going back nearly seven decades, the town also has a place of honor for departed acts, a section of the Mount Olivet Cemetery dubbed "Showmen's Rest." Stone elephants mark the circus section, and colorful epitaphs are carved into ornate monuments.
Big John Strong's towering tombstone says the former circus owner was "The man with more friends than Santa Claus."
Circus manager Ted Bowman's headstone succinctly sums it up with: "There's nothing left but empty popcorn sacks and wagon tracks -- the circus is gone."
Hamilton is still here, but his monument is in place and inscribed with: "May all your days be circus days."