Circus supporters meet for annual convention in Grand Rapids
Katy Batdorff The Grand Rapids PressChairman of the Circus Fans Association convention, Jim Fry, and State Chairman for the Joel E. Warner Top No. 20, Wendy Robertson, put together their Convention Wheel in the hospitality suite at Crown Plaza on 28th Street SE on Thursday. The Circus Fans Association has 2,000 members nationally and are advocates for the circus its performers and their animals. The convention starts today in Grand Rapids.Posted on Grand Rapids News
on September 17, 2010 ACASCADE TOWNSHIP --
The circus isn't the only thing coming to town.
As Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey moves into Grand Rapids this weekend, 135 circus supporters plan to converge on the area to attend meetings, seminars and, of course, the circus.
Members of the Circus Fans Association will gather at the Crowne Plaza Hotel today through Tuesday for their annual convention.
They are just a segment of a varied mix of convention visitors in town this week, including judges, brides and members of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association.
The Circus Fans events will include a 200th birthday party for P.T. Barnum, a question-and-answer session with the nephew of a former president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, a discussion about animal safety, an auction of circus memorabilia and outings to area attractions.
About 2,000 members make up the association, which began in 1926. Members, who include doctors, lawyers, auto workers and retail executives, advocate for the circus. They fight to keep animals in the circus and provide a range of services for smaller circuses, including travel or medical assistance and meals.
The convention is held in a different city each year, with this year's stop in Michigan because President Pat Pagel is from Howell, said Jim Fry, the convention's chairman.
The event usually runs four to five days but was pared to three this year because of the economy, he said. Attendance also is a little lower, he said. Last year's convention brought in 175 people. About 135 are expected to this event.
Fry, who works in marketing and sales in Lansing, got involved in the organization 15 years ago after he learned his great-great-uncle, Joseph Warner, owned a circus in Michigan in the 1870s and traveled the world with the Barnum & Bailey circus before it joined Ringling Bros.
Fry said he always enjoyed the excitement of the circus. He once got up early so he could watch Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus unload its props and animals for a performance in the 1950s. In exchange for carrying water to the elephants, he received a free ticket.
"They had, not the best seats in the house, but tickets available, especially for kids who were helping out," he said.
On Saturday, a 200th birthday party will be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel for P.T. Barnum. The celebration will include food and drinks, as well as entertainment by the Circle City Sidewalk Stompers Clown Band from Indianapolis. Guests will watch a video presentation of Barnum's life, sing "Happy Birthday" and eat cake, Fry said.
A memorabilia auction Monday will include posters, books, videos and even an elephant stand or two, said convention spokesman Edward Limbach.
"The stuff comes out of the woodwork," he said.
The convention's "celebrity guest" is John Ringling North II, nephew of John Ringling North, president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in the 1940s and '50s.
He became a cattle rancher in Ireland but wound up getting back into the circus business -- he has owned Oklahoma-based Kelly Miller Circus for the past three years, Limbach said.
Much of the convention will include meetings and seminars covering such topics as animal rights to the inside life of a circus promoter, but the overall atmosphere will be upbeat, Fry said.
"We try to maintain that aura of the circus throughout the convention," he said. "All in all, it's very much on the light side."
E-mail Kaitlin Shawgo: kshawgo@grpress.com
As Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey moves into Grand Rapids this weekend, 135 circus supporters plan to converge on the area to attend meetings, seminars and, of course, the circus.
Members of the Circus Fans Association will gather at the Crowne Plaza Hotel today through Tuesday for their annual convention.
They are just a segment of a varied mix of convention visitors in town this week, including judges, brides and members of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association.
The Circus Fans events will include a 200th birthday party for P.T. Barnum, a question-and-answer session with the nephew of a former president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, a discussion about animal safety, an auction of circus memorabilia and outings to area attractions.
About 2,000 members make up the association, which began in 1926. Members, who include doctors, lawyers, auto workers and retail executives, advocate for the circus. They fight to keep animals in the circus and provide a range of services for smaller circuses, including travel or medical assistance and meals.
The convention is held in a different city each year, with this year's stop in Michigan because President Pat Pagel is from Howell, said Jim Fry, the convention's chairman.
The event usually runs four to five days but was pared to three this year because of the economy, he said. Attendance also is a little lower, he said. Last year's convention brought in 175 people. About 135 are expected to this event.
Fry, who works in marketing and sales in Lansing, got involved in the organization 15 years ago after he learned his great-great-uncle, Joseph Warner, owned a circus in Michigan in the 1870s and traveled the world with the Barnum & Bailey circus before it joined Ringling Bros.
Fry said he always enjoyed the excitement of the circus. He once got up early so he could watch Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus unload its props and animals for a performance in the 1950s. In exchange for carrying water to the elephants, he received a free ticket.
"They had, not the best seats in the house, but tickets available, especially for kids who were helping out," he said.
On Saturday, a 200th birthday party will be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel for P.T. Barnum. The celebration will include food and drinks, as well as entertainment by the Circle City Sidewalk Stompers Clown Band from Indianapolis. Guests will watch a video presentation of Barnum's life, sing "Happy Birthday" and eat cake, Fry said.
A memorabilia auction Monday will include posters, books, videos and even an elephant stand or two, said convention spokesman Edward Limbach.
"The stuff comes out of the woodwork," he said.
The convention's "celebrity guest" is John Ringling North II, nephew of John Ringling North, president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in the 1940s and '50s.
He became a cattle rancher in Ireland but wound up getting back into the circus business -- he has owned Oklahoma-based Kelly Miller Circus for the past three years, Limbach said.
Much of the convention will include meetings and seminars covering such topics as animal rights to the inside life of a circus promoter, but the overall atmosphere will be upbeat, Fry said.
"We try to maintain that aura of the circus throughout the convention," he said. "All in all, it's very much on the light side."
E-mail Kaitlin Shawgo: kshawgo@grpress.com
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