THE BALLOON MAN

Circus entertains kids of all ages


 

Tomatito the clown takes on Mighty Jack, the Boxing Kangaroo in the finale of the Star Family Circus at the Knox County Fairgrounds Thursday. The circus has two more performances, at 4 and 7 p.m. today. (Photo by Chuck Martin)
By Chuck Martin,  Mount Vernon News
April 20, 2012
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio — This was no Ringling Brothers, but there’s something about a circus that appeals to children of all ages and the Star Family Circus, performing Thursday night and today at the Knox County Fairgrounds, was no different.


And the kids loved Thursday night’s performance, even without elephants, lion tamers or trained seals. Actually, the only animal performers were dogs and a boxing kangaroo.


But a clown, Tomatito (Little Tomato), kept the children laughing. Clowns aren’t subtle, and Tomatito’s whistles and exaggerated antics were right up their alley.


There was a variety of acts: A balancing act (the Rosales Family) on perch poles that rose into the building’s rafters, the Spanish Web (Darinka Abadilla), who performed on a rope hanging from the ceiling, Reyna Garcia and her performing dogs, Altiers Archers and a pair of young jugglers, Victor Abadilla and Gerard Rosales.


And that was in the first half. There were other acts as well (we wouldn’t want to give away everything), but the children enjoyed them all. As the jugglers were performing to a lively beat, a young boy, maybe three or four years old, could be seen dancing furiously on the edge of the crowd of kids around the performance area.


“Mighty Jack,” the Boxing Kangaroo, came out to the cheers of the children, who delighted in the “boxing” match staged with Tomatito. Jack won.


Children can be plenty vocal while the performance is going on, but ask them what they enjoyed and it’s like pulling teeth.


Benji Prez, 6, of Johnstown, said he was having fun and finally admitted the clown was his favorite part of the show, while his little sister, Kara, 4, liked her balloon. 
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