CIRCUS DAY IN LINDEN, NJ...........

Pat Kelly to entertain at Circus Day in Linden

Pat Kelly, youngest son of famed clown Emmett Kelly, will headline Circus Day at the Historic Linden Depot Museum, 520 N. Main St. on Saturday. (Photo provided)

August 27, 2010 LINDEN -- Circus royalty will visit Greater Lafayette this weekend.Pat Kelly, the youngest and only living son of famed clown Emmett Kelly, will headline Circus Day at the Historic Linden Depot Museum, 520 N. Main St. The event runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. It's $5, $2 for ages 13 and younger. The price includes museum admission.Circus Day will be held outside of the museum, and Kelly will be donning his dad's old Weary Willy act. The sad, silent hobo clown image was ingrained in 20th century history, and the sweeping up the spotlight bit was a Kelly original.Pat Kelly, 75, lives in Peru, Ind., where the Kelly family had roots. Lafayette also was home to the Kelly family. Emmett's parents lived in Lafayette, and Sylvia Smith, Emmett's sister, lived at 814 S. 27th St. Emmett Kelly is buried in Lafayette at Rest Haven Cemetery, west side of Sagamore Parkway, next to his mother, Mollie Huton, and Smith. Emmett Kelly's nieces Roxine Emmert and Pauline Brassie lived in Lafayette as well. Emmett Kelly Jr., who was about 10 years older than Pat Kelly, went to Oakland Elementary School and attended Jefferson High School for one year.Emmett Kelly claimed Lafayette as his home in a 1954 article in the Journal & Courier. Kelly was quoted by reporter Jack Alkire: "I haven't had a stationary home since going with the circus," he said, "but since my parents lived in Lafayette about 25 years ago and my sister lives here now, I always claim it as home."Along with Pat Kelly's antics, Circus Day will feature jugglers and Cherokee knife throwers and whip crackers. A working calliope (steam organ) will pump out that familiar circus music.Gary Vierk, board president of the Depot Museum, said the circus and trains are linked by history."The trains are how the circus moved from town to town," he added.-- Tim Brouk/
Ticket prices range from $12-85 and can be bought online or via telephone.“The biggest thing is tickets are affordable, Roman said. “So come see the show because it is like nothing in the world and it really is ‘The Greatest Show on Earth.’”