CARSON & BARNES IN BROOKSVILLE, FL

The crew spent two hours Saturday put up the one-ring circus at the fairgrounds. The traveling circus is getting high marks from spectators because there is only one act going on at a time, which lets the audience focus on one performance, organizers said
By TONY HOLT
Hernando Today
Published: May 15, 2010

THE CIRCUS COMES TO BROOKSVILLE, FL
BROOKSVILLE - They were pulling, grunting and coaxing each other like it was a game of tug o' war.
Other circus workers use elephants to help them hoist or raise the 50-foot tent.
Saturday's setup was done mostly by manpower - and a little help from machines.
For a year, local organizers were getting prepared for the two-day Carson & Barns Circus.
Two years ago, the traveling circus company made a stop in Spring Hill. A return seemed possible given the positive reviews. Last year, the Kiwanis Club of the Nature Coast nailed down a commitment.
"They told me the only place they did well (in Florida) was Spring Hill," said Pat Herrrmann, a Kiwanis member and one of the main local organizers.
The show will be the group's primary fundraiser for the year.
The process was long and exhausting. By the end of the morning Monday, Herrmann said she will be ready for a long sabbatical.
In the meantime, she is going to enjoy seeing the shows like everyone else in the audience, she said.
"We hear older people come and say 'I haven't been to a circus tent since I was a kid,'" said Herrmann.
That is why the circus had to come back and be bigger than ever. So many people living in the area have been deprived of the circus for most or all of their lives, she said.
"They knew how bad we wanted it," Herrmann said of Carson & Barns, "so they came."
In spite of elephants not participating in the tent-raising, there were still plenty of large animals Saturday morning at the Hernando County Fairgrounds.
Five hours before the first show Saturday, most of the four-legged participants were eating grass and resting the shade.
There were camels, elephants, goats, a zebra, small horses, dogs and a hippopotamus.
The live show also will include trapeze artists, motorcycles, clowns and other comedy.
Carson & Barnes began in 1937, according to its website.
The company boasts about having the "largest traveling zoo," which is open to the public the mornings prior to the shows. They can watch the animals arrive and be watered, cared for and fed.
The circus is sponsored by local civic and community service organizations and a portion of the proceeds remain in the communities it serves. In 2009, nearly $500,000 was raised for local hosts, according to the circus company's website.
The Carson & Barnes Circus is a one-ring show, which is unusual for a circus that size.
Herrmann said it is perfect for the audience.
"You always have one main act going on," she said. "It's one ring, so you can watch one thing at a time. They've been getting rave reviews about that. They're keeping everything simple."
Jim Lillie, of Spring Hill, was among the dozens of people who watched the workers setting up the tent Saturday morning.
"It was pretty interesting," he said. "I was surprised how much went into it. It took a lot of men to do it.
"Everybody seems like they're in sync," he Lillie continued. "I thought they couldn't get it done in time and then all of a sudden, they put the pieces together."
Herrmann said the circus was brought to Brooksville to provide enjoyment to a group of people who wouldn't otherwise get. It's a unique brand of entertainment she has long wanted to bring back to town.
"It is a way to get your mind out of the dreariness of life," she said. "It's a place where you can just smile and laugh for a couple of hours."
The circus will continue with two shows today - at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are $8 for children and $18 for adults at the gate.