Thursday, September 8, 2011

Culpepper & Merriweather Circus Performs in Pacific, Missouri


Raising the Circus Big Top

Just hours before the ringmaster cracked the whip for the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus performers to enter the big top, the tent crew drove 75 stakes into the Liberty Field site and secured lines to 16 quarter poles and two center poles. The Pacific Lions Club hosted the traveling show, complete with lions and a tiger, for four performances Sept. 2-3.

Sep 7, 2011.

By Pauline Masson, Pacific Editor

Circus workers early Friday began to set up the big tent for two days of circus performances in Liberty Field.
Just hours before the ringmaster cracked the whip for the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus performers to enter the big top, the tent crew drove 75 stakes into the Liberty Field site and secured lines to 16 quarter poles and two center poles.
The circus crew raised the 3,600-pound blue and white striped big top at 10 a.m. in time for the Friday evening shows. The tent is 120 feet long by 80 feet wide. It is 30 feet tall at its highest point and is divided into three sections.
The Pacific Lions Club hosted the traveling show, complete with lions, a tiger, horses, trapeze and high-wire performers. The circus performed for four shows, two each on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 2-3.
“They tell us we’re the only town on their 32-week season where they stay for two days,” said Stephen Flannery III, Lions Club president.
Bank Star, Citizens Bank, Reed Insurance and Omer & Associates sponsored the circus, which is a major fundraiser for the Pacific Lions Club.


Circus Big Top in Liberty FieldA flag flew above the bright blue and white striped Culpepper & Merriweather Circus big top set up in Liberty Field for the Sept. 2-3 shows hosted by the Pacific Lions Club. The 3,600-pound tent is 120 feet long by 80 feet wide, and 30 feet tall at its highest point. It is divided into three sections. Circus crews raised the big top at 10 a.m. Sept. 2 in time for the Friday evening shows.
Melanie Reeves, Labadie, and her two daughters Kinzie and Kylie, arrived at the park at 9:30 a.m. and were able to see the big blue and white striped tent go up. They also visited with Simone Dykes, trapeze artist, ringmaster and preshow tour guide.
“I wanted to bring my daughters to see the activities,” Reeves said. “I went on the Internet and saw there would be a pre-show tour.”
The Hugo, Okla.,-based traveling show tours from March to October bringing trapeze and high-wire artists, unicycles, clowns and a circus midway.
In Pacific, the circus had two sold-out performances at their last visit here.
“The funds will be used to aid with our major charity which is eye care,” Flannery said.
Pacific Lions assists with eye care or glasses, seeing eye dogs, the Missouri School for the Blind and people who need financial assistance.

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