THE BALLOON MAN

Circus performer clowns around with vets at Loma Linda hospital

Army veteran Marvin Berk, 82, of Yucaipa tries a juggling trick under the direction of circus clown Billy Murray at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Hospital in Loma Linda on Thursday. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus sent the clown for a visitation. The circus will be at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in August. (GABRIEL LUIS ACOSTA/Staff Photographer)

KRISTINA HERNANDEZ, Staff Writer

Posted: 06/23/2011

LOMA LINDA - While living in Florida for 30 years, Ron "Cowboy" Stevenson remembers watching performers from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus practicing their acts on the sands at Key West. On Thursday, a little piece of those Florida memories came to Loma Linda as a circus performer entertained patients at Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center.

Laughter and excitement flowed through the Debi Stelman Center as the patients - including Stevenson - interacted with circus clown Billy Murray. "I just loved the circus and loved the circus act for years and years," said Stevenson, who served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1968. "The circus used to come down to Key West every year and we'd all go to to the island and see them perform outside by the sea."It was ... something to look forward to every year. And it was a surprise for them to show up and perform for the disabled vets."

Thursday's performance was planned to promote the circus's upcoming shows at Ontario's Citizens Business Bank Arena and to give veterans a chance to see something special.

Murray showed those in the crowd how to juggle and balance a peacock feather on the palm of their hand. "When I walked into the room, everyone was quiet and shy, and I had to use magic to get people out of their shells," he said, "but (toward the) end of my program, everybody's mood changed."

The hospital is looking for other entertainment for veterans. Interested parties can call the hospital's volunteer services department at 909-589-6011. For more information on the circus's dates in Ontario, visit www.ringling.com