Families, kids ready for animals, acts at the annual circus
For 70th year, El Riad brings show to town
An aerialist from the George Carden Circus International will be at the El Riad Shrine Circus, performing today through Sunday at the Sioux Falls Arena. / Courtesy photoApr. 28, 2011
Written byJAY KIRSCHENMANN
Generations of families have been to El Riad Shrine Circus, this week celebrating its 70th anniversary of shows in Sioux Falls.
"People who came as kids are now bringing their own kids and grandchildren," said Rob Joyce, a publicity committee member for El Riad Shrine.
There are several shows at the Sioux Falls Arena starting at 12:30 p.m. today and ending with the final show at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Five-year-old twins Evan and Dylan Sager of Sioux Falls are just getting started with their circus tradition. Their mom, Amanda Sager, a fan of the clowns, began taking the boys three years ago.
"It's a family event - my husband Nate and I take them along with both sets of grandparents," she said. "The boys were asking to ride the elephant last year, but we haven't let them do that yet."
Along with snacks, the boys also get a toy from each pair of grandparents.
For The Love Of Children day care takes all 75 of their kids each year. It's doing it again this year, for the 10th time, said director Marsha Owings.
"We have parent chaperones who help, so it's a one-adult to two-child ratio when we go," Owings said. "The children love it, and it's definitely the animals that are the biggest attraction for them."
Each child brings $6 for a drink, a snack and for a toy that's $2 or less.
"Our adults have one child in one hand and another in the other hand," she said. "The Shriners send us free tickets, so we send the business sponsors a big thank you each year."
Shrine members work with area businesses that buy most of the tickets given to children ages 12 and younger, something the local group has done for more than 40 years.
"In today's world of the X-box and Internet, some kids have never seen a real live performance of any kind," said Pat Colbert, the local Shrine's potentate. "The El Riad Shrine Circus is music, dancing, plus all the acts we've come to expect at a circus, such as the tigers, the high flying trapeze and juggling acts. It's just great fun."
It takes more than 50 people from the Shrine's volunteer committee to put on the event, said Marv Lovro, circus committee chairman. Volunteers work more than 5,000 hours to help present the circus.
Circus performersThe traveling performers are part of the George Carden Circus International company, based in Missouri.
Elephants weigh about 8,000 pounds each. They were born in the wild, according to information on the Carden website, and have been trained since they were about 3 years old. Each now is about 40 years old.
Ringmaster is Audrey Michelle Alvarado. Her parents were hand balancers, and she was 6 years old when she first performed with them.
Alvarado toured with her family and performed various circus acts as a child. She later was an aerialist, trained animals with her brother and performed with elephants.
Also in the show is BMX bicyclist Karoly Zeman.
At age 12, Zeman was enrolled in a Hungarian circus school and soon started performing with a flying trapeze troupe.
He bought a BMX bicycle with his earnings and began learning tricks just for fun but soon became proficient on the bicycle. He since has won many international competitions and placed third in the World BMX Championships.
Watch for Zeman's unique double somersault, something a Carden news release said is not done by any other BMX bicycle performer.
"The circus is one of those things that we don't want people to take for granted," Joyce said. "It's such a great part of our Sioux Falls history that brings back those great memories but also makes new ones."
Generations of families have been to El Riad Shrine Circus, this week celebrating its 70th anniversary of shows in Sioux Falls.
"People who came as kids are now bringing their own kids and grandchildren," said Rob Joyce, a publicity committee member for El Riad Shrine.
There are several shows at the Sioux Falls Arena starting at 12:30 p.m. today and ending with the final show at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Five-year-old twins Evan and Dylan Sager of Sioux Falls are just getting started with their circus tradition. Their mom, Amanda Sager, a fan of the clowns, began taking the boys three years ago.
"It's a family event - my husband Nate and I take them along with both sets of grandparents," she said. "The boys were asking to ride the elephant last year, but we haven't let them do that yet."
Along with snacks, the boys also get a toy from each pair of grandparents.
For The Love Of Children day care takes all 75 of their kids each year. It's doing it again this year, for the 10th time, said director Marsha Owings.
"We have parent chaperones who help, so it's a one-adult to two-child ratio when we go," Owings said. "The children love it, and it's definitely the animals that are the biggest attraction for them."
Each child brings $6 for a drink, a snack and for a toy that's $2 or less.
"Our adults have one child in one hand and another in the other hand," she said. "The Shriners send us free tickets, so we send the business sponsors a big thank you each year."
Shrine members work with area businesses that buy most of the tickets given to children ages 12 and younger, something the local group has done for more than 40 years.
"In today's world of the X-box and Internet, some kids have never seen a real live performance of any kind," said Pat Colbert, the local Shrine's potentate. "The El Riad Shrine Circus is music, dancing, plus all the acts we've come to expect at a circus, such as the tigers, the high flying trapeze and juggling acts. It's just great fun."
It takes more than 50 people from the Shrine's volunteer committee to put on the event, said Marv Lovro, circus committee chairman. Volunteers work more than 5,000 hours to help present the circus.
Circus performersThe traveling performers are part of the George Carden Circus International company, based in Missouri.
Elephants weigh about 8,000 pounds each. They were born in the wild, according to information on the Carden website, and have been trained since they were about 3 years old. Each now is about 40 years old.
Ringmaster is Audrey Michelle Alvarado. Her parents were hand balancers, and she was 6 years old when she first performed with them.
Alvarado toured with her family and performed various circus acts as a child. She later was an aerialist, trained animals with her brother and performed with elephants.
Also in the show is BMX bicyclist Karoly Zeman.
At age 12, Zeman was enrolled in a Hungarian circus school and soon started performing with a flying trapeze troupe.
He bought a BMX bicycle with his earnings and began learning tricks just for fun but soon became proficient on the bicycle. He since has won many international competitions and placed third in the World BMX Championships.
Watch for Zeman's unique double somersault, something a Carden news release said is not done by any other BMX bicycle performer.
"The circus is one of those things that we don't want people to take for granted," Joyce said. "It's such a great part of our Sioux Falls history that brings back those great memories but also makes new ones."
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