THE BALLOON MAN

Greers Ferry clowns around

 

By Gary Mays
The Sun-TImes
Posted Apr 06, 2012


Greers Ferry, Ark. — 
Under The Big Top in Greers Ferry last Friday night two circus performances were held. If you didn’t attend you must have heard the laughter for miles. Young and old came to town to see the circus sponsored by the Greers Ferry Chamber of Commerce.  The circus performances were led by two ringmasters in each showing, Simone Key and Natalie Cainan-Chandler. They presented the performers, spoke to the audience, and generally kept those in attendance laughing, oohing and awwing.

Greers Ferry Cub Scout Pack 173 presented the colors and led the pledge of allegiance to begin the show. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Lance Wright.

All the performances took place in one ring. The tent was big measuring 140’ by 100’.  The West Side School children were allowed to walk over to a field next to the school and watch them erect the tent getting the excitement started early. Acts inside the tent included, two aerial acts, one was a trapeze act with Simone (a trapeze act with no net…ooh, aww) and the other was the Amazing Angel Perez. Perez was catapulted 30’ to 40’ feet through the air into a net. The Amazing Angel also juggled pins and rings in another performance.
There were two clowns who got into the act. Skeeter came to town before the circus and greeted customers at Sonic. DJ the Clown performed several skits with audience participation before the show of 1-1/2 hours came to an end.

A double fisted crack whipping Mel Silverlake snapped his way through his act using Simone as a model holding several items as Silverlake cracked the bull whips to slice and dice everything but her.

Other performers included a brother and sister act riding unicycles, they were; Paulina, Lana and Noah Dykes with big sister Simone.
Other performers included a brother and sister act riding unicycles, they were; Paulina, Lana and Noah Dykes with big sister Simone.

After Lana jumped off the unicycle, she’s responsible for training the birds, dogs, snakes to join in the fun. Lana performed with white pigeons who rode on a mini-Ferris wheel. Natalie worked with five dogs in her act, the dogs rode in wheel barrels pushed by dogs and one climbed a 12’ foot ladder and jump into Natalie’s arms.

A crowd favorite was Paulina with two horses, one small horse running between the legs of one large horse. Both horses stepped onto a platform after their show as bow and thank the crowd for the applause.

In another performance, Professional Hooper Karina Perez performed one act with hula hoops; she made it look easy using up to 25 at once.


Many children watching the show said it was their first time to see a circus and many adults said the same. For many adults they reminisced about their first circus and wanted to attend this one to bring back some good memories. Culpepper and Merriweather circus entertained over 1,700 in two showings. Their promise was to create memories that can be shared for a life time. And they delivered. Next time the circus comes to town, don’t miss it.