THE BALLOON MAN

Tough circus life a dream come true for some

Kelly Miller Circus entertained crowds at Bellbrook Middle School last week.

Katherine Ullmer/Staff WriterThe Kelly Miller Circus camels raced around the ring and then followed a command to stand still. Staff photos by Katherine Ullmer

.By Katherine Ullmer, Staff Writer

Thursday, May 26, 2011

SUGARCREEK TWP., Greene County, Ohio — Circus life is tough but “Lucky” Eddie Straeffer, musical director for the Kelly Miller Circus that came to town May 18 at Bellbrook Middle School, loves it.
He is not alone. Others?working with the one-ring?traveling circus from Hugo, Okla., proclaimed the same.
“I love it,” said Gustavo Perez, of Puebla, Mexico, who directed arriving circus vehicles and trailers?to designated spots on the parking lot in front of the school. His wife travels with him. “We’re a circus family,” he said. He’s been with the Kelly Miller Circus 20 years.
Originally scheduled to be on the nearby grassy field, the large, 40-foot high, 130-foot-by-120-foot?wide waterproof vinyl tent, which holds about 1,200 spectators, had to be raised on the asphalt parking lot because of recent heavy rains. Workers tethered the tent with chains, ropes and cables to their surrounding trailers and vehicles.
“It’s a good life. It’s an honest life, though it’s not easy,” said Sara Greene, 38, of New Hampshire, a self-taught aerialist, who also dances and rides elephants in the show. She’s been touring 15 years with several different groups. As a creative person, circus life “is a good fit,” she said. She brings along her 4-year-old daughter, who sometimes helps with the dog and pony practice. They live in a 26-foot trailer she drives to each show.

Touring is her first love. “When I left high school, I traveled for 10 years,” she said. To earn money she did odd jobs, farmed, and served an apprenticeship in theater work. “This is one of the few old-style shows,” she said. “It’s a tough tour, but it would be a shame to lose a show like this. We suffer, but we stick it out.”
Straeffer of Fort Pierce, Fla., serves as ticket manager and has been with Kelly Miller Circus five years. He said his longtime friend, John Ringling North II, phoned him and said he had just bought a circus and wanted to know if he would be a part of it as in days of old. “I ran away and joined his father’s circus 50 years ago,” Straeffer said. He stayed with it about a year, he said. A sculptor, Straeffer was superintendent of a historical museum when he retired, he said.
LeBrone Harris of Tampa, Fla., who sells tickets for the show, said it was always his childhood dream to join the circus. “When I was about 5 years old, I saw my first circus,” he said. “I fell in love with the idea.”
Practical as he was, though, “I earned a doctorate in accounting,” he?said. For 31 years, he taught at Florida State University and the University of South Florida in Tampa. After retiring, “I joined the circus and fulfilled my dream,” he said. “I like moving and meeting people. I enjoy the people in the show. It’s all family. We have our own school and two chefs (the fire eaters) who are wonderful cooks. We’re a self-contained city.”
“You’re not going to get rich,” he said. “People are in the circus just because they love the circus and love that life.”
The Kelly Miller Circus?travels seven days a week for eight months of the year, from February to October, moving and doing two performances?a day. The day before coming to the Bellbrook/Sugarcreek Twp. area, it had been in Sabina, Ohio, Harris said. That made for a quick trip here Wednesday morning, he said.
They had to skip a show in Tell, Ind., about three weeks before because of high water, he said.
Armando Loyal, a native Oklahoman and the elephants’ presenter, is part of a ninth generation circus family. He helped raise the Big Top’s main poles using one of the circus’s three elephants as children from Stephen Bell Elementary School, bused over for the occasion, gathered inside the tent to watch May 18.
Many shouted, “Hi, elephant!” and returned to see the afternoon or evening show, which had a Western theme and featured five tigers who sat up and leapt on command, a high-speed juggler, a lassoist who twirled ever larger rings, a father who tossed his acrobatic children into the air with his feet, two slap-stick trumpet-playing clowns, aerialists, two giant camels who raced around the ring together, lumbering elephants who performed tricks, fire eaters, dancers, performing dogs, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy and balloons. You could have your picture taken with a live tiger, ride an elephant, pony or camel, or have your face painted during the 20-minute intermission.
According to Dick Cost, chairman of the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Education Foundation that sponsored the fundraiser, the circus surpassed their expectations with attendance and performance. They sold 1,600 tickets and earned about $4,000 for the foundation, he said.