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these clowns are serious
Astoria’s Cloaked Ambassadors
By Kate Giese
If you have lived
in Astoria, you know the
Astoria Clowns – a bunch of
local guys who give up a lot
of weekends with their families
to promote their city,
clad in full clown regalia. For
well over 50 years, they’ve
been traveling the length
and breadth of Oregon
and Washington, delighting
crowds with
their zany antics at
parades—the Astoria
Regatta, Portland
Rose Festival,
Seattle Seafair
and Pendleton
Roundup to name
a few.
Photos: Dinah Urell
According to Larry Berg (aka Motormouth) no
one is quite sure how the AC got started. One story
is that some local merchants were planning to have
a float in the 1955 Astoria Regatta parade. That
didn’t pan out, so they settled for walking in the
event dressed in clown suits that somebody had laying
around. The rest, as they say, is history.
Berg, a former project manager for a construction
company, has been 17 years an Astoria clown. “It’s
for the kids, the older folks, the smiles,” he explains.
“The AC is one of the area’s most diverse groups.
Where else would you have a 21 year old and an
80 year old in the same club?” While it’s true that
doctors, lawyers, construction workers, business
owners and various other occupations and ages
are represented in the AC, no women are allowed.
A few females have been made “honorary clowns”
but strictly on a temporary basis—coastal pianists,
Colleen Simonson and acclaimed accompanist Betty
Jane Phillips (who recently passed) both played the
calliope at different times.
Astoria native Bill Landwehr (aka Stubby) has
been a clown for about 15 years. “You do it for the
fun it,” he says. “You do it for the kids.” He claims
there’s no special training involved, and newbes get
help with their make-up and costumes from the
veterans. Today, the AC has roughly 20 members
and is actively recruiting new clowns. Becoming
another potential Emmett Kelly in Astoria isn’t that
easy, however. Someone has to sponsor you and the
other members must vote you in. Like many civic
groups, the AC has bylaws, a charter and members
meet monthly.
Explains Landswehr, “Many (newcomers) think
they’ll love being an Astoria clown. They’ll put in a
year or two, make a few events and then bow out.”
It is a huge commitment. This year, just appearing
at Tacoma’s Daffodil Festival means doing four
parades in one day, starting at 10:15 am and going
until late in the day with no break! Tacoma, Puyallup,
Sumner and Ortig Washington all have parades
for the festival. The AC has a total of 20 parades on
its schedule for the year.
The AC raises money for various good causes in
the community. These include scholarship programs
at all the high schools in Clatsop County; donations
to the X-mas basket program every year; and playing
in a Special Olympics Kids regional basketball
tournament (where they always lose.) All AC money
comes from a single event…
the
annual Crab Festival where the
guys man a food booth serving
up tasty crab and shrimp
melts. The word is they make
a bundle—enough to do
good works AND take care
of expenses like insurance,
car repairs, etc. “Balloons
are expensive,” complains
Landwehr.
When it comes to
the funny stuff, the
AC come up with
their own gags. “We don’t
read books on it,” laughs Landwehr.
Some guys are really inspired when it comes to
this… like one-time clown Newt Smith. “He was a
great clown… a short stocky guy with a real gift,”
Landwehr remembers. Berg recalls an especially
silly gag involving parade horses. While the parade’s
going, a clown runs over with a can of shaving (or
whipping) cream and puts a dollop on every horse
dropping encountered; another clown then comes
by and puts a cherry on top! Most
often the members
ride bikes in
parades. Member
Rod McCauley is a
good mechanic and
keeps the group’s
unicycles, bikes that
pull apart and bikes
where the front wheel
operates independently
of the back wheel in
good working order. He
keeps a couple little clown cars running as
well.
13 aug11 hipfishmonthly.com