Cole Bros. Circus to roll into Bristol

Friday, June 29, 2012

By STEVE COLLINS

STAFF WRITER

BRISTOL – Somewhere about midnight Friday night, arge trucks will begin pouring into the former mall site downtown hauling pieces of the Cole Brothers Circus of the Stars packed up after its evening show in Willimantic.

As quickly as workers can make it happen, the trucks will be unloaded, gear moved around and a massive red and yellow striped big top tent will rise along North Main Street.

By morning, circus officials told the city, the major work to get ready for Saturday’s shows should be done.

City Public Works Director Walter Veselka said the tent will be placed parallel to the road toward the site for the former Discount Food Outlet.

The Cole Brothers circus, which holds shows up and down the East Coast and as far west as Louisiana, bills itself as remaining “faithful to the tented tradition of presenting wholesome entertainment in a friendly atmosphere” that makes children and adults feel welcome.

The circus includes clowns, a human cannonball, tigers, elephants, acrobats, magicians and more.

Public parking will be in the lot between the Laurel Street entrance and Riverside Avenue, he said.

The circus plans to park its trailers along the rear of the fenced-in section where the mall once stood and to pen its elephants in front of them.

The ticket booth will be in that same area, officials said.

Animal rights protesters are expected to have a peaceful demonstrations nearby at 3 and 6 p.m. Saturday, trying to convince people not to patronize the circus because it uses wild animals. They say the circus has a record of mistreating its animals, a charge the circus denies.

The traditional circus, whose roots reach back to 1884, last came to town in 2000, when its elephants helped set up the large canvas tent on the former General Motors factory parking lot on Chippens Hill for a Rotary Club fundraiser.

A bevy of choices for circus fans

John Mahoney
Photograph by: John Mahoney
By Kathryn Greenaway
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE
June 29, 2012
MONTREAL - The circus is coming to town.
 \The Montréal Complètement Cirque festival gathers companies large and small from here, Germany, Britain, Sweden, Finland and France, and it all begins with a parade on Wednesday.

Members of the circus community in full regalia, plus decorated vehicles of various sorts set out from the corner of St. Denis St. and Ontario St. at 6:30 p.m. and head to Place Émilie Gamelin.
Ticketed shows begin the next day with productions targeting the young, the hip and the very grown-up.

You like big spectacle? Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna is under the big top in Old Montreal throughout July. Perhaps adult cabaret tickles your fancy? La Soirée from Britain is at the Olympia, beginning July 6. Maybe musical circus tricks are your thing? France’s Les Triples Croches bring Klezmer-inspired circus shenanigans to Studio B at Édifice Guy Gagnon in Verdun, also July 6.
foto

 

SITC12 / for Summer in the City Magazine: (UNDATED) -- The 7 doigts de la main circus production Sequence 8 will be performing at MontrÈal ComplËtement Cirque (MCC).
 (Photo: Courtesy of MontrÈal ComplËtement Cirque)
Today’s circus world has moved beyond the simple ta da! More and more contemporary circuses are intersecting with theatre, music, dance and technology to tackle clear themes, be it the forging of intense friendships, the painful destruction of relationships or the unexpected distortion of one’s reality.

Montreal’s 7 doigts de la main opens the festival at Tohu with Séquence 8, a new creation about the nature of intense friendships forged as young adults and how the actions of others help shape us as individuals.

It’s the 10th anniversary for the company, and Séquence 8 is its eight production. It features eight performers in their early-20s who have been friends for quite a spell and was created during a residence at McGill University’s Moyse Hall.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/bevy+choices+circus+fans/6862398/story.html#ixzz1zH3qlPKk

Circus gets nod, despite protests in Wilmette

BY KATHY ROUTLIFFE kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com
from:  wilmette.suntimes.com
June 29, 2012
WILMETTE — The Kelly Miller Circus will return to Wilmette this September as part of a Wilmette District 39 Educational Foundation fundraiser, despite objections from residents who say the village shouldn’t condone the use of wild animals, especially elephants, as entertainment.

Wilmette trustees granted the foundation’s special use permit request at their June 26 meeting, agreeing with village attorney Michael Zimmerman that the permit was purely a land use issue, and not connected with the suitability of animal use in circuses.

Nor does the village’s animal control act cover circuses, Zimmerman said.

That meant the board had to focus on whether bringing the small circus for a one-day stand on school district land near its Locust Road headquarters would negatively impact neighbors, Trustee Alan Swanson said. He was satisfied that it wouldn’t, he said.

What’s more, Swanson told the audience, “I’m sufficiently convinced of the fact that this is a closely regulated operation. It doesn’t mean they’re perfect, but it does mean they’re closely regulated.”

The foundation has brought the circus in as a fundraiser five previous times on an biannual basis, the last time in 2010. And, as she has on prior occasions, Isabella Street resident Valerie Chalcraft begged the trustees not to approve the permit.

Chalcraft, an animal behaviorist, said trustees should consider the cruelty of elephant training – using bullhooks that leave scars on ears and legs, and chaining the animals – as well as the stress that circus animals undergo. Circus animals also represent a danger to onlookers and trainers, she said.

She noted that last year, three Kelly Miller circus tigers escaped their enclosures, and that the federal agriculture department had previously cited the organization for having rusty cages. She told board President Chris Canning she’d attended the circus and seen wounds and chains on elephants, although she acknowledged that she hadn’t seen elephants being wounded while in Wilmette.

Chalcraft was one of several village residents who wrote the village to protest the circus. Another, Greenleaf Avenue resident Virginia Grossman, also spoke at the meeting. The former school psychologist said opponents’ issues were not specifically with the Kelly Miller operation, “but with this type of archaic entertainment.”

Foundation representative Tracy Kearney assured the board that they had thoroughly checked out the circus, including the way it treats its animals. Its elephants are not chained, she said, and they don’t perform every year, instead being able to spend off years at a 400 acre Oklahoma facility.

However Kearney promised to check to see if it was bringing tigers to the Wilmette performance, since Trustee Bob Bielinski noted that the list of animals in the request didn’t include them.


Canton’s Henry Bahre Recalls 1944 Circus Fire
“People Were Going Crazy.”


This Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey poster hangs in the entry way to Henry Bahre's real estate office in Canton.
Credit Sylvia Cancela
from: canton-ct.patch.com
By Sylvia Cancela
June 30, 2012
There were 300 men, women and children from the Farmington Valley at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Big Top Circus on the afternoon of July 6, 1944.
Nine of the 300 — witnesses to one of the worst circus fires in the history of the industry — would perish that day. Five more would survive with terrible burns on their bodies. Many more would get out alive.
Jean and Henry Bahre were two of those survivors.

Henry Bahre at 82.
Credit Sylvia Cancela
About Town asked Henry Bahre, now 82 years old and owner of Henry J. Bahre Real Estate in Canton, for his recollections.
AT: Do you still have memories of that day?
HB: My memories are still pretty vivid; actually perfect. I went to the Circus that day with a relative, Mr. George Tezinge. His wife was my mother's sister. He had come up from New York to visit and asked if my sister Jean and I would like to go to the Circus.
AT: The Herald reported that you were at the Circus with several other young people from Canton
HB: No, the rest of the people who were there from Canton weren't sitting with our party. It was just Mr. Tezinge, me and my sister Jean who sat together.

 

Animal cages trapped many trying to escape.
Credit The Herald, July, 1944.
AT: When did you realize there was a fire in the tent?
HB: All of a sudden, we saw that the east side of the tent was on fire. We were sitting on the west side of the tent, on the 10th row in the bleachers.
I can still see it today. The fire was going up the tent and widening out as it went up. Then, it hit the paraffin and went flying up the side of the tent.
read more at:
http://canton-ct.patch.com/articles/canton-s-henry-bahre-recalls-1944-circus-fire#c

Photo: Circus Vargas comes to town
Circus Vargas' shows at the Madonna Inn run Friday through Fourth of July

 

By Joe Johnston
 The blue-and-yellow tent of Circus Vargas has gone up in a field at the Madonna Inn.
By Tribune staff | newsroom@thetribunenews.com
June 29.2012
The blue-and-yellow tent of Circus Vargas has gone up in a field at the Madonna Inn, with the first show starting tonight and performances continuing through the Fourth of July. The company bills its shows as “circus with a touch of Broadway.”
Showtimes are: 8 p.m. today; 2, 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Monday; 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; and 2 p.m. Wednesday.

PALISADES FAIR



CODY The 15 Year Old Rescued Timber Wolf

Published on Jun 29, 2012 by ledburnerss

The only traveling Wolf Show On earth. At Palisades Fair June 21- July 4th 2012 at West Nyack NY. They keep them in NC and Windham NY.

We got to go in the main cage with one of the 4 month old Pups and

then into the trailer with the big wolves in their cages. Very cool after our experience with the 2 timber wolves 10 feet away from us in the backyard and all our coyote encounters.

Animal rescuer brings wolves to Palisades Fair, some saved from illegal fur farms

 

Benna Sandlofer with Cody, a timber wolf, part of the wolf show at the Palisades Fair at the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack on Thursday. Peter Carr/The Journal News
Written by
Kristina Nikolaj
from: lohud.com
Jun 30, 2012
Mike Sandlofer, an animal rescuer with a show at the Palisades Center Fair, has a simple philosophy.
“God created animals, we have to respect them,” he said.
Sandlofer has worked with animals for 42 years. He has brought some of them to the fair in Lot J outside the mall, which runs through July 4. All of the animals on display were rescued.
Some are wolves. Sandlofer said they’re hard to train because it takes years to earn their trust. “Wolves are very special animals,” he said. He has 10 of them. Two were rescued from Hurricane Katrina, five cubs came from West Virginia, and three from Ohio. The wolves from West Virginia and Ohio were rescued from illegal fur farms, where the animals are killed for their coats.
“Wolves are very cautious animals,” he said. “Their natural instinct is not to trust. It took us years to form this bond. We have to let them know that we care for them to build trust.”
One of the wolves is named Cody. Sandlofer calls him the “hero wolf.” Cody was born at an illegal fur farm in Minnesota and was sold to a sanctuary in Ohio, then sold to woman in Seattle, then sold back to the sanctuary. There he was cared for by a handicapped woman, who, while walking Cody, fell into water when a bridge broke. Sandlofer said Cody could have run off but instead jumped in and pushed the woman to shore, saving her life.
This is the first time that the wolves had traveled to Rockland County. The show travels to state fairs around the country with the mission of educating people about animals. Sandlofer also hopes to raise enough money for fencing around sanctuaries in South Carolina and Windhym, N.Y. The wolves will be placed at the sanctuaries after the fairs.
“Its all about caring for them, animals have needs and we’re not the only ones on earth,” said Sandlofer.
The fair opens at 4 p.m. weekdays and at 1 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and July 4.
“You can come and not ride any rides and still have a good time,” noted Ron Weber, the fair manager.

The Circus – review
Lucy Mangan on a gently melancholic look at the death of a traditional circus
Lucy Mangan
The Guardian
Friday 29 June 2012
This is a proper show: a ring full of sawdust, sparkle, plate-spinning clowns, horses and ponies trotting with dogs on their backs – and then, in case such earthbound glories aren't enough, high, high above, sequinned trapeze artists wink and glitter, and high-wire acts lace the air.

We go behind the scenes. "Lotta shit for a Shetland," grins Amanda Sandow, glittering artist by night and horse trainer by day, now tracksuit-clad and shovelling away gamely to clear the boxes of equine effluvia. The big top takes eight hours of hard labour to put up, and the generators go off at midnight to save fuel.

The Circus, ITV1's new documentary series, is a gentle and gently melancholy look at Paulo's Circus, one of the few remaining traditional setups left in the country – if not, it appears, for terribly much longer. Kenny Darnell is the paterfamilias. His family have owned Paulo's for around 200 years. He has three sons. Kenny Jr is married to trapeze artist Teodora (Teddy) and does the wheel of death act. "He was always a climber," explains his mother, who hasn't been able to watch his act since he fell 30ft and smashed his leg to bits aged 14. Patrick, AKA Patchy the clown, is 18 and delighted with the way life has worked out. "I get paid to be me! What could be better?" They had to let him sleep in his clown clothes when he was little, says Mum. And Leigh is the ringmaster, but always had his nose in books as a child. Now he is engaged to a veterinary nurse and dreams – literally – of being a security guard.

But audiences and takings are down every year. Kenny Jr and Leigh are beginning to pull away; by the end of the episode, Leigh has found the courage to tell his father that he will probably only give it another year before he starts a settled life with his fiancee. "I'm not going to stop you from doing whatever you want," says Kenny Sr. It's the best he can do as the wink and glitter of the future slowly fades.

Circus will perform at Pony Village this week

By Tim Novotny, The World
from:  theworldlink.com
June 29, 2012
NORTH BEND — The circus is coming to town, with a traditional “big top” tent going up at the Pony Village Mall for shows on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 3 and 4.
 The American Crown Circus and Circo Osorio will perform two shows each night.
 Frank Osorio says the circus has been in his family for five generations and brings with it some entertainers from all over the world, including a chair balancing act from the Moscow State Circus, a trapeze artist from Argentina, and master magician and illusionist Roberto Carlos Osorio.
 The only things you won’t see are the big animals, like elephants and tigers.  Frank Osorio says properly caring for thse animals creates quite an expense, so for economic reasons the circus tours without them.  That’s not to say you won’t see any animals. Osorio says one of their acts, not to be missed, features a miniature dancing horse.
 All of this is also expected to add a little Independence Day holiday boost to the Pony Village Mall.
 Mall marketing director Bonnie Hayes says they’ve been trying to get a circus to stop by for years, after getting numerous comments from shoppers reminiscing about the circus visits of their youth.  “The mall is a community center, so we try to bring in things that the community wants,”
So she was pleasantly surprised when this particular circus made contact with the mall and asked if it could stop and perform on its way to Portland.
“They called us and we’re just happy that they did,” said Hayes.
 “This will bring people out,” she added. “And hopefully go to the mall to eat, or go to the movies afterwards, or go shopping.”
 Show times are at 5 and 7 p.m.  Tickets are $16 for adults and $5 for children 11 and under, though a number of free children’s tickets are available at stores inside the mall and around town, limited to two per family.
Read more: http://theworldlink.com/news/local/circus-will-perform-at-pony-village-this-week/article_ce7e600e-c23f-11e1-a1d3-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1zH0DdxKy


 

A LITTLE LAUGH

TO START THE DAY!

FROM JIM ELLIOTT--
HOXIE BROS CIRCUS
--1974--
FEATURING
THE GREAT BOBBY GIBBS
PART III



IT'S DINNER TIME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iowa State Fair :30 Commercial 2012 - "IT'S FAIRLICIOUS!"

 

 

 

Circus Smirkus performers ready to hit the road

from: wcax.com

Updated: Jun 28, 2012

By Gina Bullard

Craftsbury, VT---

Felix Adler Days set for Saturday

 

In this Herald file photo, Kaleb Carter gets a feel for Felix Adler Days by donning his multi-colored wig.
By Katie Dahlstrom Herald Staff Writer
June 28, 2012
CLINTON — Children, along with their parents and grandparents, can enjoy a day of face-painting, carnival games and pony rides at the Children Discovery Center’s 23rd annual Felix Adler Days.
 The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Discovery Center, 332 Eighth Ave. South.
 While activities cards will cost $5, there is no admission charge.
“That’s one of the great things about this event,” Discovery Center Director Margaret Kuhl said. “Parents and grandparents can come enjoy the day and don’t have to pay to get in.”
The event celebrates Felix Adler, a Clinton native and famous clown from the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. Felix Adler Days started in 1989, the year Adler was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.
 In addition to special events such as a petting zoo, inflatables and clowns, the regular Children’s Center exhibitions will be open all day.
 The River City Municipal band will open the event, dancers from the Carousel School of Dance will perform at 10:30 a.m. and interns from the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre will perform at 2:30 p.m.
 According to Kuhl, last year, nearly 1,500 guests attended. In anticipation of a larger crowd, Kuhl said she is still looking for volunteers to staff the event.
“We wouldn’t have the Discovery Center without the volunteers, sponsors, donors, members and guests,” Kuhl said. “This is a celebration of all the people we are grateful to who make the Center.”
Those interested in volunteering or who want more information should contact the Discovery Center at 243-3600.

Circus Vidbel Back in New Canaan This Weekend


The tent where Circus Vidbel will perform is standing on the field outside Saxe Middle School.
by Melvin Mason
from:  dailyvoice.com
NEW CANAAN, Conn. – The circus is back in New Canaan.
Circus Vidbel is back in town, set to entertain the young and young at heart Friday and Saturday under the big top now standing
Susan Vidbel, the circus’ owner and a third-generation circus performer, said she’s happy to be back in New Canaan for a third consecutive year. “It’s great,” she said as she and her crew helped to set up the tent. “It’s become something of a second home for us.”

 

Susan Vidbel, owner of Circus Vidbel, plants a flag atop the tent where the circus will take place this weekend.
This year’s show has a western theme, meaning there will be plenty of dogs and horses, along with the high-flying and colorful action. The circus performance is a fundraiser for programs at the New Canaan YMCA and helps pay for scholarships and allocations made by the New Canaan Kiwanis Club.
 Show times are 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets for Circus Vidbel are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Kids under age 2 are free. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the New Canaan YMCA, TD Bank New Canaan, Baskin Robbins on Main Street and Karl Chevrolet on Elm Street.
 

Hartford Circus Fire Theme Of New BookMichael Down's 'The Greatest Show' A Collection Of 10 Tales


 (Courant file photo / May 24, 1974 )
The Hartford circus fire on July 6, 1944, is believed to have killed 168 people and injure 700 more among the 6,000 or more trapped, burned and trampled in the blazing Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey tent.
By CAROLE GOLDBERG, Special To The Courant
 from: courant.com
The Hartford Courant
July 1, 2012
It was stunningly hot and humid that morning, the way Hartford feels when summer gets stuck in the Connecticut Valley, and my dad made a fateful decision.
"It's just too hot. We're not going," he said, even though he'd already bought tickets. I was nearly 3, too young to understand what I would be missing, but they tell me I cried anyway.
My dad disappointed me but very well may have saved our lives. It's believed that 168 people died and about 700 more were injured among the 6,000 or more trapped, burned and trampled in the blazing Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus tent on July 6, 1944. The disaster permanently scarred many survivors — and the city itself.
That's my circus fire story. Many who had family in Hartford then have one to tell.
Michael Downs has 10.

 

Michael Downs will give a free talk about "The Greatest Show" on Friday, July 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford. (Michael Downs / June 28, 2012)
Downs, 47, a former Courant sportswriter and now an assistant professor of English at Towson University in Maryland, has just published a collection of 10 related stories called "The Greatest Show" (Louisiana State University Press, $23). Not every story focuses directly on the fire, but its aftermath affects all the characters, beginning with the grim days of burn-ward recovery and lasting for decades to come.
He will discuss and read from his book Friday, July 6, the 68th anniversary of the fire, at 5:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain House in Hartford.
read more:
http://www.courant.com/features/books/hc-mike-downs-0701-20120701,0,6139621.story

Ringling Bros. circus is ‘Fully Charged’ this weekend in Oklahoma City

 

Brian Crawford Scott is just the 36th ringmaster in the 141-year history of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. Photo provided
BY BRANDY MCDONNELL
from:  newsok.com
June 29, 2012
Brian Crawford Scott had never been to the circus when he auditioned to join the one known as “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

By the time he saw his first three-ringed extravaganza, the San Jose, Calif., native had been hired as the ringmaster of the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum

“I never went as a kid. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But I was excited for it. I saw some videos and clips on YouTube of old ringmasters and I thought, ‘That’s something I can do,’” he said in a phone interview from New Orleans.

“I got the opportunity to go and see the other productions of the circus that were ... running at the time, so that kind of gave me a little head’s up. But for the most part, it was just trial by fire.”

As “Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey: Fully Charged,” the latest edition of the venerable institution, electrifies Chesapeake Energy Arena this weekend, Scott, 25, is tasked with keeping the audience plugged into the spectacle.

“As the ringmaster, I feel like it’s all about being the link between the audience and what they’re seeing,” he said. “Aside from that ... Ringling Bros. ringmasters are now also singers. So I get the opportunity to sing and perform alongside these really awesome acts.”

While many Ringling Bros. performers are raised in the circus life, Scott’s parents worked in the software industry in the San Francisco Bay area. In high school, a friend asked if he wanted to audition for a school play. He got a part and discovered he enjoyed performing.

After graduating with a degree in musical theater from the University of Northern Colorado, Scott moved to New York City to pursue a show business career. Less than a year later, he was working as a waiter and performing in local productions when Ringling Bros. held ringmaster auditions.

“My mother was funny because she knew I was going to the audition, and she was very enthusiastic and she was trying to be a good mother and not blab and talk too much about it. ... And then when I told her, she was ecstatic,” Scott said.

“My father didn’t know about the audition, and after the audition, it was only two days later that I signed the contract. ... So I called him up after I’d already gotten the job and said, ‘Hey, Dad, so how’s it going? Oh, good. Well, I’ve got some good news: I’m gonna leave New York and go join the circus.’ ... He was like, ‘You’re gonna do what now?’ But they’re both very proud of me.”
Read more: http://newsok.com/ringling-bros.-circus-is-fully-charged-this-weekend-in-oklahoma-city/article/3688279#ixzz1zB6KKOqq

The Zerbini Family Circus rolls into Cranford

 

from: nj.com/cranford
June 28, 2012,
The Zerbini Family Circus rolled into Cranford on June 26 and will be in town through June 28. The circus includes acrobats, aerial artists, animal trainers, ponies, jugglers, daredevils and clowns.
Photographer Jim Occi was there on June 26 to capture the fun.
Zerbini circuses date back over a century ago. The original circus began in France but the family also owned circuses throughout Europe and Africa. The Zerbini Family Circus has been traveling through the U.S. since 1992.

Showtimes are at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. each day at Hillside Avenue School.