white tops spring 23 lo w wrapper

Vol 96 • No 2 • Spring 2023
RIDE ’EM, COWBOY!
Señor Jahir Aguiar

2 White Tops

The official publication of the
Circus Fans Association of America
OFFICERS
Jack Dean, President
jack7880dean@gmail.com 941-270-0640
Timothy Noel Tegge, President Elect
timothytegge@yahoo.com 608-356-2375
Patricia Stevenson, Vice President
pat_stevenson@verizon.net 443-388-1822
Daniel J. Kleintop, Immediate Past President
djkleintop@gmail.com 757-647-2179
TRUSTEES
Beverly Abderrahman To 4/30/25
bwazzan@yahoo.com 702-262-6090
Niles “Buddy” Calhoun To 4/30/27
nilescal@aol.com 601-366-4378
Bruce Hawley To 4/30/25
bhawley@optonline.net 203-375-9711
Priscilla Johnson To 4/30/25
circuswert@yahoo.com 845-454-1860
John Peters To 4/30/25
jmpeters@bellsouth.net 561-758-8586
Fred Pfening III To 4/30/25
fpfening@pfening.com 614-323-5361
Jackie Kannegieter To 4/30/27
jackgator@hotmail.com 712-461-1919
Mike Melssen To 4/30/27
mmdedbq@aol.com 702-416-1289
Christine Schreiber To 4/30/27
circusfarms@yahoo.com 352-222-0214
April R. Zink To 4/30/27
aprilzink@aol.com 352-262-3455
APPOINTED OFFICERS
Maxine House, Secretary/Treasurer
mahouse@verizon.net 201-723-6384
Samuel Patrick Smith, White Tops Editor
editor.whitetops@gmail.com
Larry Sayler, Finance Committee Chair
larry.sayler@greenville.edu 618-699-8382
Fr. Richard Notter, Chaplain
ren132@aol.com 419-351-9035
Fred D. Pfening III, Historian
fpfening@pfening.com 614-323-5361
White Tops Submission Deadlines
Magazine Production
SPS Publications, Inc.
Editor
Samuel Patrick Smith
editor.whitetops@gmail.com
Post Office Box 787
Eustis, Florida 32727
Graphic Design
Jessica Friend
Creative Consultant
Tim Tegge
Editorial Advisors
Jan Biggerstaff
Maxine House
Tim Tegge
Copy Editors
Rose Cardenas
Lauren Jurgensen
Advertising
editor.whitetops@gmail.com
Back Issues
Pete Adams • 941-378-9596
circusp@comcast.net
News, articles, and photographs
To send stories and photos for use
in The White Tops magazine, please
email to editor.whitetops@gmail.
com If photos are too large to email,
send the files to editor.whitetops@
gmail.com through WeTransfer.com.
You may submit as many stories and
photographs as you wish.
Publisher
Circus Fans Association of America
©2023 Circus Fans
Association of America
The White Tops (USPS 683000)
(ISSN 0043-499X) is published
quarterly for CFA members: $50 per
year (U.S.) and $75 (foreign): and
youth members $30 (U.S.) by Circus
Fans Association of America, Inc.
Known office of publication: 450
Secluded Oaks Trail, DeLand, FL
32724-3417 with additional entry
at Jefferson City, MO. Periodicals
postage paid at Jefferson City, MO
and additional entry offices.
Summer – July 15, 2023 • Fall– October 15, 2023
Winter – January 15, 2024 • Spring – April 15, 2024
Submit articles and artwork to editor.whitetops@gmail.com. Articles should be
submitted as Microsoft Word documents. Photos ( JPEG, TIFF, or PNG formats)
may be emailed or, if too large, sent through wetransfer.com.
CONTENTS
2 CFA’S Star Performers, 2022–2023
4 President’s Corner Jack Dean
4 Sammy Smith—New Editor, Old Friend
Dan Stapleton
5 Secretary/Treasurer’s Message Maxine House
6 Zerbini Family Circus Maxine House
10 Lewis & Clark Circus Maxine House
12 Tent #122 Banquet Pete Adams • Mary Fritsch
14 Tanbark Topics William B. (Bill) Hall III
17 Follow the Arrows Timothy Noel Tegge
18 Dailey/Tegge Tent #180 Attends Carden International
20 Circus Ring of Fame Induction
22 Circus Hollywood: Florida State FairMaxine House
27 Tent #137 Picnic Dan Stapleton
30 Showfolks Tent #122 March Meeting
32 Williams Earns Guinness World Record
33 Richard Snowberg: A Tribute
Bruce “Charlie” Johnson
36 Caballeros Score Golden Elephant in Spain
Alex Smith
38 Leigh Ketchum: Showfolks Tent #122 Speaker
39 Big Cat Habitat Pete Adams
40 Mileposts
42 Dusty’s All Star Circus Maxine House
44 It’s Time to Register! Pete Adams
45 Convention Schedule of Activities
46 Membership
47 We Had an OLLI Good Time! Jan Biggerstaff
48 Edith Johnston Memorial Fund Report James Fry
49 Convention Corner
50 Remembering Buckles • In Memoriam
Kent Kawata • Jan Biggerstaff
51 Book Review Bruce “Charlie” Johnson
53 CFA Board of Trustees Minutes Maxine House
54 Wedding Bells in Las Vegas Maxine House
56 Good Day, Bad Day John Moss
57 Checkerboard Laughter (poem) Danise Payne
58 Remembering Ringling’s Clown College
Ron Severini
62 Pictures from the Past Samuel Patrick Smith
OUR COVERS
Front cover: From out of the Wild, Wild West rides Mexico’s
“King of the Cowboys,” Señor Jahir Aguiar. In the time-honored
tradition of Mexico’s legendary charros, Jahir (pronounced Yah-eer)
enchants audiences daily with his rope-spinning expertise in the
ring of the Royal Hanneford Circus. His routine generates tremendous
applause wherever he appears. PHOTO BY TIMOTHY NOEL
TEGGE
Back cover: Nothing beats a cool dip on a hot and humid Florida
afternoon. Here, two-year-old Carlene Poema Rios bathes in bigtop
style while the circus sets up around her. PHOTO BY CATHEY
POEMA RIOS
Spring 2023 3

President's Corner
By Jack Dean
Greetings from Sarasota, Florida!
On May 1, I took over as President of CFA with a
lot to learn and accomplish over the next two years. On July
10, we start our 2023 convention in Sarasota, Florida. Pete
Adams and I have been working hard to give Circus Fans a
wonderful convention with lots of exciting events and speakers. The convention runs
from July 10 through July 13. I hope to see all of you there.
I feel that an important part of my presidency is CFA membership—retaining
our current members and attracting new members. During the pandemic everything
came to a stop, but now is the time to rebuild. My job as president is to listen to our
members’ needs and ideas. We are working
on taking credit cards to make it easier
to join CFA and renew memberships.
We have a great new team and White
Tops editor and publisher, and I think it
will become a much better magazine.
Please feel free to contact me at any
time by email at jack7880dean@gmail.com
or call my cell phone at (941) 270-0640.
May all your days be circus days.
Sammy Smith—New Editor,
Old Friend
By Dan Stapleton
President of Hoxie-Couls Tent #137, Orlando, Florida
I
’ve known Sammy nearly half a century, ever since I moved to Florida in the 1970s.
He was a young whippersnapper back then, sure, but he was beyond his age as a
writer and editor. For example, at fifteen he published his first book. Since then he has
edited twenty books by other authors and written eight himself. He has also overseen
the publication of more
than 30,000 pages for
magazines.
Over the years, we have
had many mutual friends
in the world of magic, including
a few who became
legendary, and we have
worked together on several
biographical projects. In
addition to his experience
as an editor and publisher,
Sammy is also a performer
who brings class and sophistication
to the magical
arts. He’s a wonderful family and children’s
entertainer.
He is presently the editor of the
world’s largest monthly magicians’ magazine
in circulation, The Linking Ring,
which cuts the poor fellow’s life short
each and every month as he rushes to get
the 160-page publication into the hands
of nine thousand magicians worldwide.
Such is the life of an editor. So, natch,
I thought he needed more on his plate,
to help stunt his growth even further,
when I suggested him as the new editor
of White Tops. Oddly, the masochist
accepted the task. So, let’s all help the
new guy out and give him strength. If
he succeeds, we will all benefit from the
colorful growth of the CFA—something
that every one of us wants.
4 White Tops

Secretary/Treasurer Notes
By Maxine House
April, May, and June are crucial months on the CFA calendar.
April marks the end of our strange but symbolic fiscal
year; the “First of May” marks the beginning of the new year with a new slate of
officers biennially.
The last issue of White Tops presented the list of six candidates and their resumes for
the six open trustee seats, as well as the candidates for the offices of president-elect
and vice president—a full slate. One hundred and six members mailed their votes out
of the approximate six hundred possible voters. Naturally, all of the listed candidates
were winners! The new listing for the Board of Trustees 2023–2025 is printed on
page 3.
The rest of the CFA members probably thought there was no real need to vote. But
there was: it was a chance for them to voice their opinion on changing the name of our
magazine from White Tops to CFA Big Top.
Of all the voters, six chose not to give an opinion, but merely voted for the officers.
Of the remaining one hundred and two voters, forty-three said yes to the change,
while the other forty-nine said no. Most of the former made no comments. But I
read a few such thoughts as, “Sound idea for good reasons!” and “Change is good.”
The nays were more adamant: “There are many big tops, but only one White Tops!” or
”I’m a traditionalist,” or “It’s an insult to the Founding Fathers of
CFA!” It would seem to me that more fans are inclined to keep
the name White Tops.
But one thing might not have been clear to members—this
was merely a poll! Only the Board of Directors can decide on a
name change. Any change of name probably would involve a bit
of legal work, including a revision to our periodical permit for the
magazine. You may be sure that that Board will be addressing this
question this year—probably at the convention in Sarasota.
A positive result of the election and poll is that more fans have
already paid their 2023–2024 dues than in other years! I have recorded
many Ringmasters, Equestrians, and Producers who gave
extra dues money to CFA. A special thank you to each of them. Those
who gave extra dues during the last fiscal year are listed on page
2. Also published in each White Tops are the names of members
who have given donations beyond their dues to CFA (see page
46). Another thank you!
Feel free to contact me by phone or email if you have any questions
about your dues.
In April, the financial committee, led by Larry Sayler, spotted
a shortfall between CFA’s income and its expenditures. The bulk
of CFA money is spent on the publication of White Tops, but
in no way did the committee want to cut back on that! After
many phone calls and much emailing, board member and finance
committee member Buddy Calhoun moved that, “the NCPS give
$4,000 annually to CFA, earmarked for use of the educational
aspects of White Tops, or whatever name it has.” This motion is
strictly in keeping with the mission of
NCPS: “To develop, promote, and advance
information and knowledge for a
better understanding of the American
circuses.” This is exactly what many articles
in White Tops do. The motion was
seconded by Jan Biggerstaff, and the
Trustees passed it on April 25. I immediately
implemented it.
The finance committee will be working
on the 2023–2024 budgets for CFA
and NCPS. By the time you read this,
the new budget will have been formulated
and approved by the Board. Larry
will report on it in the summer issue of
White Tops.
I hope you are having a great circus
season—we’ve enjoyed many here in
Florida. I also hope that I see many of
you at the Sarasota convention.
Spring 2023 5

Zerbini Family
Circus
Eustis, Florida • February 21, 2023
By Maxine House
PHOTOS BY MAXINE HOUSE AND SAMMY SMITH
We arrived at the Zerbini lot, located on the Lake County
Fairgrounds in Eustis, Florida, well in advance of the evening
performance. With us was the new editor of White Tops, Sammy
Smith, and his wife Laurel. They enjoyed the evening and both have
subsequently joined CFA!
The Zerbini family was highly visible on the lot, but they had time
to greet us warmly. Alain, the founder and owner of the show, had
recently undergone knee surgery. In great spirits, he was sitting in a
wheelchair on the midway. He had big news for us: his son Julian will
be taking over the management of the show! In fact, Alain and his wife
Letty would be leaving that very evening for their home in Myakka
City, Florida. Proud and happy, Alain was ready for retirement.
The lot was set up as usual with a ticket wagon, concession stand,
pony ride, and a bounce house. Letty was at the front door of the tent,
taking tickets and selling tickets for the midway attractions. Julian was
all over, preparing for the evening performance. His wife Darinka has
taken the year off from performing to help her husband with the concessions.
Alain’s daughter Melody and her husband Gustavo Ramirez
still work in advance of the show.
As usual, there was only one performance for the day, at 7:00 p.m.
The tent only had plank bleacher seating along the two long sides of
the tent. However, Alain graciously provided us with folding chairs.
Bardo Garcia, the new ringmaster from Texas, replaced Julian.
Looking the part, Bardo deftly announced and guided the performance.
Top: Jennifer Luna presents her Spanish
web routine. Middle: Ringmaster Bardo
Garcia visits with Maxine House at
intermission. Bottom: Fernanda Maya
presents her quick-change act.
6 White Tops

Top: A giant polar bear and comical clown antics delight the crowd. Bottom left: Julian Zerbini. Bottom right: Audience reaction was strong throughout the
show.
Spring 2023 7

PERFORMANCE
The show opened with Ronorica Christian’s slack wire
act. He nicely incorporated both unicycle riding and juggling
into his routine.
Alex Bender from Venezuela followed with hand balancing.
Then he ended his act with a chair-stacking routine,
putting six chairs into a unique configuration.
Daniel Luna presented six dogs in the show’s Canine
Review. This was his first year with the act that Darinka
Zerbini once managed.
Andrew Obadilla used an interesting variety of items in
his foot juggling display.
Miss Fernanda Maya followed with the quick-change
act—always a crowd pleaser.
The coloring book pitch broke up the action.
Julian put four miniature donkeys through their paces.
Then entered the young clowns, brothers Andy and
Randy, who spoofed a boxing match.
Julian was then back with four liberty horses, which was
a nice contrast to the donkeys.
Light-up souvenir swords were offered for sale before
Miss Maya’s trapeze act.
The clowns returned “wanting to dance.” They get volunteers
from the audience. Of course, one of them became
the stooge.
INTERMISSION
The show reopens with Spider Man. The masked performer
climbed the rigging and dived into an airbag. The
kids loved it.
Miss Jennifer Luna presented her Spanish web routine.
As a cleanup crew, the clowns swept the ring as a huge
spider descended from a box suspended above the ring.
The audience saw it, but not the clowns. Mayhem ensued.
However, this allowed Andy and Randy to then sell red
clown noses for one dollar each.
As the final act of the show, Pedro Luna performed
his rolla bolla act. He was followed immediately by a
yellow Chevrolet entering the tent—no, it was actually a
Transformer Robot. The kids loved it! Truly a great ending
for this circus.
All the staff immediately began teardown. The next day
they would be playing in another town. I hope fans in the
east can catch this traditional one-ring family circus!
Top: Bottom: Alex Bender, six stacks high.
8 White Tops

Top left: JP and Maxine after a fun evening at the Zerbini Family Circus. Top right: Andy and Randy with Ringmaster Bardo Garcia entertain with their
comedy boxing routine. Bottom: A rousing ending to the show.
Spring 2023 9

Lewis & Clark
Circus
Lake Helen, Florida – March 12, 2023
By Maxine House
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
We hadn’t seen or reviewed the Lewis and Clark Circus for White Tops since March
of 2017, but we had two chances this season. We took them.
Allowing two years off for the pandemic, this small, tented show has remained under
the ownership and management of Vandier dos Reis. It opens in Florida and tours
Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and as far north as New York. Its Facebook page is
quite informative about its activities and route.
However, there are changes. The performance is now presented on a stage with a
grey curtain serving as its performers’ entrance. No longer bleachers, but folding chairs
provide seating in a semicircle in front of the stage. It’s the same tent, but now it’s
riddled with small holes. What must it be like inside on a rainy day?
When we visited the show, the work and performance were completely done by
eight people, all but one of whom were Brazilians! Several young women, waiting for
their government approval to perform, helped to sell tickets and run the concessions.
Vandier is still waiting for several more performers to arrive from Brazil.
The performance begins with the First
of May American Ringmaster, Maks
Turner, welcoming the audience with
the typical “Are you ready…?” The clown
(Vandier) interrupts him, hauls in a colorful
“blob,” and dumps it on the stage.
When the Maks and the clown leave, the
blob (Welington Silva Romeiro) expands
and comes to life as two figures who perform
a delightfully imaginative series of
dances based on the music being played.
The audience, especially the children,
love it and giggle their approval.
What follows is a series of traditional
circus acts: hula hoops, aerial hoop (both
by Gabriela Medeiro Frasao), rola bola
(Andre Vinicius Machado Saleti), acrobatics
Maks Turner), chair stacking
(Guilherme Medeiro Frasao), and juggling
(Wil Romanto). Guilherme also
struggles to put a “zebra” through its
paces, but no cooperation there.
What really holds the show together
is the crazy clowning of Vandier. Using
a lot of audience volunteers, he gets the
audience—especially the kids—completely
into the gags. He has no problem
getting these volunteers to come
on stage. They love it, and their parents
are ready with their cell phones to take
pictures. Because Vandier uses a mic, his
Left: A child from the audience is trying to get the zebra to behave. Right: After Ringmaster Maks Turner announces that one of the scheduled acts can’t
appear, he takes off his Ringmaster coat and performs a pleasing acrobatic act.
10 White Tops

Top, left to right: Vandier at the sound board.
Before the show, four of the performers greet
us. Left to right: Andre Machado Saleti, Vandier
dos Reis, Guilher Frasao, and Gabriela Frasao.
Middle, left to right: Gabriella on the lyre.
Guilherme Medeiro Frasao’s chair act.
Right: The main entrance of the tent. The van to
the left is a combination ticket wagon and concession
stand.
accent adds to the comedy. The audience
leaves the tent after an hour-and-a-half
show, which includes an intermission,
well satisfied with their circus.
The tickets cost twenty-five dollars for
adults. Children can enter for free with a
coupon. Some concessions are available,
run mostly by the performers, of course!
After four days in Lake Helen, the
troupe headed north. We wish for them
a successful season.
Spring 2023 11

Seventh-Generation Circus Performers
Speak at Tent #122 Banquet
PHOTOS BY PETE ADAMS
Tina Winn “Galaxy Girl”
By Pete Adams
Tina Winn, Galaxy Girl, is a seventh-generation circus performer. Her family
comes from England and her circus heritage dates back centuries. Her grandfather
performed his circus before Queen Victoria at Balmoral Castle in 1895. Her
father came to United States in 1955 with his bareback riding troupe, the Dorchesters,
after completing a seven-year contract at Blackpool Tower Circus in England where
he won three gold medals for his bareback riding skills. He was contracted by the King
Brothers Circus. Since his dream was to move to America, he brought his family and
all the horses by ship to the United States.
Joining the troupe was her father’s sister, Auntie Lilly, as well as her uncle, Billy
Stebbings, with their children John, Anita, and Carol. They later opened Stebbings
Royal European Circus and purchased the Polack Brothers Circus in the 1970s. Also
in the troupe was her sister Pom-Pom, who took over the Polack Brothers Circus
elephants for over a decade. She later also handled the Gatti-Charles elephants and
presented the Toby Tyler African elephants, where she met Vincent Van Duke. For
thirty years they’ve had Vincent Van Duke’s lions and tigers, and they still live here
in Sarasota. Her sister Vivian was into bareback riding and later went on to perform
the Boxer dog act. She performed on every major variety television stage show in the
country and even performed on Broadway in Broadway Follies. Last but not least,
her sister Stevie Coronas with Circus Hollywood—along with her children and her
husband, Serge—have a large traveling circus and petting zoo working fairs and shrine
circus all over the United States.
After her father retired the bareback riding act, he went on to do Scott’s unrideable
mule, a one-of-a-kind comedy act that has never been duplicated. He is a Sarasota
Ring of Fame inductee.
Tina was born in 1964 on the Polack Brothers Circus and started performing at the
age of four. She spent the next twenty years performing with her sisters in a unicycle
Left to right: Tent #122 President Jeanette Williams presents a certificate of appreciation to Johnny
Rockett and Tina Winn. Johnny Rockett and Tina Winn, speakers for the Tent #122 banquet, have
been creating circus acts since 2009.
act. Tina performed in many family acts,
but her dream was always to be a trapeze
artist in the 1980s. She married into the
Winn family and started doing daredevil
acts such as the motorcycle on the wire
and the side for life. They went on to
create the sky master sway pole act with
towering eighty-foot poles which they
performed in venues all over the world,
including Germany, France, Mexico
City, Disneyland, Disney World Epcot
Center, and Canada’s Wonderland. The
act also went to Japan with the gold unit
and performed here in the United States
with the Ringling Blue unit. They even
opened for the rock group Kiss, and they
were always reaching for new and better
acts. In 1991 while performing for
Ringling Brothers, they decided to purchase
the Centron Motorcycle Platform
Act, a state-of-the-art rigging from her
cousin Christine Fossett and her husband,
David Chabira. David went on to
be rigging coordinator for all Cirque du
Soleil shows.
Tina, of course, always liked to reach
for bigger and better heights. In 2000, a
gentlemen named Bruce Anderson contacted
them to purchase his aerial high
act which was something over a hundred
feet at the time. She was not sure this
was something she wanted to do, and
stated that it’s not the performing part—
but it’s a major set up. This aerial apparatus
had over thirty-four guy wires, was a
hundred and twenty-seven feet tall, and
is fifty-five steps to the top. It takes six
hours to set up and four hours to disassemble.
Tina was proud to say that it’s
the world’s highest traveling aerial stunt
show and that it was performed at every
major state and county fair. It included a
seven-year engagement at the Big E.
12 White Tops

Since 2009, Johnny and Tina have been creating and working
on new shows and circus acts. Along with his Johnny Rockett
character, they produce Cycle Circus Live, one of the largest action
Sports FMX and BMX shows on tour. They perform with a
great team. One of her very favorite performers is her daughter,
Ashley, who is an eighth-generation circus performer. Ashley is
performing the aerial platform act and her hula hoops act at the
Florida State Fair.
Tina then introduced Johnny, who builds and fabricates all of
their equipment and who she believes is an amazing entertainer,
as well as one of the most talented people in the industry. They
have just returned from New York where Johnny has been the
headliner at the Big Apple Circus for the past two seasons.
Johnny Rockett
By Mary Fritsch
Johnny Rockett was born John Daly. His great-grandfather
came to the United States from Ireland, performing in vaudeville
and then moving to the circus. Johnny is a seventh-generation
Memorabilia was on display for Johnny Rockett’s presentation.
The cake of
appreciation!
circus performer whose father and grandfather were both
clowns—they all had the same path, born into the circus.
Johnny had no choice as a child. He started as a two-year-old
when he was pulled out of a suitcase in a comedy act. His
childhood was the circus and he was in every show.
Johnny did comedy trampoline, break-away bikes, and
learned how to build apparatus from his father and another
great comedian, Smiley Bailey, who could build things
from nothing. Johnny was homeschooled and did not have
much formal education. All his education was in the field of
entertainment.
Johnny worked on Garden Brothers for twenty-one years
and said that he learned a lot from them. He described them
as a classy circus who had only the best of the best performing
with perfect costumes and apparatus.
When Johnny met Tina Winn, he said that he was the luckiest
man. “Johnny Rockett” was a joint effort between Tina and
himself. They brought FMX to the American circus—with the
best FMX riders in the world—at his Florida State Show.
Then the pandemic struck. Entertainment was the first hit.
Johnny said it was a weird time for him, and a scary time for
circus folk in general. He didn’t know what to do with himself.
Johnny found hope when Nick Wallenda had a daredevil rally
in Sarasota, where he and Tina both performed.
Johnny next performed with Big Apple, but was devastated
when it closed. Luckily, Nick Wallenda bought it and
Johnny was once again a headliner for the Big Apple Circus.
Unfortunately, the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant hit during
rehearsals. This meant that the performers had to be tested
twice a day—and that Tina and Ashley couldn’t be with him.
But this year, the Big Apple Circus was sold out. Johnny and
Tina were in the Macy’s Day Parade and everything is great.
The only problem is that Johnny gets his audience so excited
and loud that people from the nearby office buildings have
filed noise complaints!
Daredevil Johnny admits that he finds it scary and unnerving
to set up Tina’s one-hundred-and-twenty-foot sway pole,
especially in windy weather. In Johnny’s opinion, Tina is the
greatest female daredevil in the circus. We in CFA Tent 122
think that Johnny Rockett is one of the greatest daredevils
himself, and we enjoyed having him and Tina as our speakers
at our 2023 banquet. Thank you, Tina and Johnny.
Spring 2023 13

Tanbark
By William B. (Bill) Hall III
Topics
60th
Tanbark: shredded bark from
which the tannin has been
extracted, used to cover circus
arenas. Tanbark Topics: starts
year next issue!
CASSELLY CROWN
Worth watching—more than once! Widely acclaimed for acrobatic flips and feats
with his family’s performing elephants and bareback riding horses, as well as for
competitive dance triumphs, Rene Casselly, Jr. and his Pax de Trois riding act won the
top gold clown award at January’s 45th Monte Carlo International Circus Festival.
We have seen two videos of the prize-winning creation: one for 12:03 minutes and
the other for 13:09—time well spent if you want to see a different best in circusdom.
A video of Casselly’s Monte Carlo exploits appears under his name in the acts/
artists category of www.circopedia.com.
The award-winning format began with the twenty-six-year-old Casselly initially
spotlighted within a darkened circus ring. Subsequent spots showed him flanked by
two women artists: his blonde sister Merrylu and brunette acrobat Quincy Azzario.
The trio then engaged in what appeared to be the start of an adagio acrobatic routine.
But then the proscenium curtain parted, revealing two large, handsome, side-by-side
Percheron (white/black spotted) draft horses that circled the ring in
a slow, measured gait.
Casselly, who balanced with one leg on each of the back-padded,
constantly moving horse tandem, was the understander for a series of
lifts and carries with his female partners. Stunts included a two-high
feet-to-head (Azzario on top), then Merrylu in a head-to-head with
her brother, finalized by a three-high with safety-harnessed Merrylu
as top mounter.
For the act’s finish, Casselly, standing on one horse’s cushioned
rump, used the bucking rear movements of the horse as his takeoff
impetus into a double back feet-to-feet somersault on the rump of
the same moving animal. For their prolonged bows, the performers
offered a brief, novel, and well-choreographed adagio routine, adding
an effective and novel close to their first-class attainments.
In the aforementioned acts, Casselly displayed a nimble, free-wheeling
flair not usually seen in circus rings. That may occur because he
incorporates dance steps into his moves, perhaps the result of being
a winning contestant on Let’s Dance, a dance competition television
series produced live in Cologne, Germany, Casselly’s native country.
Partnered with Kathrin Menziger, they were first place winners in
2022 for the fifteenth season of Let’s Dance.
Casselly Riding Act at Monte Carlo, 2023. CHRIS
BERRY PHOTO
In his historical review of the Monte
Carlo festival published last March,
Raffaele De Ritis wrote of the Casselly
feats, “At least two tricks never witnessed
in circus history: a three-high balance on
two horses and a double (back) somersault
on horseback.” From Italy, De Ritis
Wesley Williams and Kenneth Feld, April 2023. CHRIS BERRY PHOTO
14 White Tops

is an author, circus historian and stage/
entertainment director.
Casselly’s bareback act was added as a
special attraction for Germany’s Circus
Krone from March 22 through April 16.
Quincy Azzario and her sister, Katy,
previously performed together as the
Azzario Sisters in a stellar acrobatic balancing
act. Katy is married to British big
cat trainer Alexander Lacey, a Ringling-
Barnum Circus headliner for eight years
with his big cage mix of African lions
and tigers. Reports had Quincy leaving
the Casselly act after Monte Carlo.
FUTURE FEST
Monte Carlo’s event will next occur
in 2024 from January 19 - 29, and will
include the festival’s New Generation
youthful performer competition within
that time span. The winner of this year’s
young artists’ vying was Russian slack
wire whiz Ameli Bilyk.
KRONE KUDOS
With family ties to the ownership
and management of Circus Vargas, the
Flying Tabares trapeze troupe is working
abroad this summer after having
been a featured performing staple for
several seasons with the aforementioned
California-based big top show. Tabares
flyers are currently in the “Stars in the
Manege” themed program of Germany’s
Circus Krone, which launched its 2023
tent tour on April 8. (Vargas’s new production
is billed as “Bonjour Paris, The
City of Lights,” and hosted by former
Ringling-Barnumite Jonathan Iverson,”
who bills himself as “the last circus
ringmaster.”)
Also in the Krone lineup is the
Danguir Troupe, offering a multi-person
high wire cadre (including a presentation
of a seven-member pyramid aloft),
as seen with Ringling-Barnum into
2017, and a double space wheel thriller.
The Danguirs won a silver clown (second
place award) at this year’s Monte Carlo
festival.
ALEGRA ACES
A 2022 gold clown winner at Monte
Carlo, the Tunzianis of double-wide
trapeze flying fame, and spotlighting
quadruple mid-air somersaulting
Ammed Garcia, are with Cirque du
Soleil’s Alegria production, now playing
Japanese dates. Alegra will be in Osaka
from July 14 through October 10, within
a Morinomiya big top, and will use an
Odaiba tent in Tokyo from February 8
through June 23. Tunziani performing
credits include Ringling-Barnum and
the Big Apple Circus.
RINGLING REVIVAL
Heralding a “reimagined” return of
The Greatest Show on Earth, Ringling-
Barnum—after a six-year, ownership-imposed
hiatus—is showing something
drastically different for the resurrected
animal-free, no-clowns circus
well before the initial musical drumbeat
at Bossier City, Louisiana on September
29.
That applies to the fifty-city show
route, which debuts with four performances
on a three-day weekend: a 7 p.m.
curtain-raiser on Friday; stagings at 2
and 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 30,
and a 2 p.m. wrap on Sunday, October
1, all at the Brookshire Grocery Arena.
After that stand, Ringling heads to
Cleveland, Ohio and the Rocket
Mortgage Fieldhouse for seven shows
from October 6 - 8 (one Friday evening;
three Saturday formats at 11 a.m., 3 p.m.,
and 7 p.m.; and 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday.
The remainder of Ringling’s early route
consists of Friday-through-Sunday runs,
offering seven performances within that
time frame. Unlike prior years, there are
no stands beyond a three-day weekend.
Also ahead are the Fiserv Forum
at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October
13 - 15; PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, October 20 - 22; Heritage
Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, October
27 - 29; and the Allstate Arena, Rosemont,
Illinois, November 3 - 5.
FELD FUNDS
Kenneth J. Feld, president and chief
executive officer of Feld Entertainment,
Inc., parent company of the Ringling-
Barnum Circus and other live shows,
was listed among American billionaires
by Forbes business magazine in April.
Ranked at number 1,072 in Forbes’ annual
listing, Feld, seventy-four, had a net
worth of $2.9 billion, higher by $600
million from 2022.
Florida press accounts reported that
Feld’s listing was higher than former
US President Donald J. Trump, hip-hop
mogul Jay-Z, TV personality Oprah
Winfrey, and famed investor Warren
Buffett’s right-hand man at Berkshire
Hathaway, Charlie Munger.
Headquartered at Ellenton, Florida,
Feld Entertainment’s live show roster
(besides the circus) includes Disney on
Ice, Monster Jam, and others.
VAZQUEZ VIBES
Having used Italy’s David (“Clown
of Clowns”) Larible as its prime funster
for the past three years, Vazquez Bros.
Circus again looked abroad for comedy
with this season’s touring big top edition.
That choice was Housch Ma Housch, a
Ukrainian-born comic but a resident of
Germany since 2020. At birth in 1972,
his name was Semen Shuster.
Housch’s current castmates are the
Ukraine’s versatile, high-energy Bingo
Troupe of dancers, aerialists, and acrobats,
and a returnee from recent Vazquez
programs; India’s Hasan Ansari and
his Mallakhamb pole gyrations; a teeterboard
group from Mongolia; Pavel
Valla Bertini, a unicycling act of Czech-
British origin; and a pair of turns from
Chile, single trapezist Camila Palma and
the Reyes Brothers, high pole jugglers.
Back in his native Europe, Larible premiered
his own show, Laribling (Larible
Eando) with a three-week run starting
February 10 at Teatro Circo Price in
Madrid, Spain.
Spring 2023 15

FL!P FEATURES
Vazquez’s smaller unit (an eighthundred-seat
big top) has returned
for a second successive season with a
slightly altered title. Flip Circus is now
Fl!p… (an exclamation mark replacing
the “i”) and began its 2023 tour with
a March 3 through March 20 visit to
Yonkers, New York. Following were
additional stands in the New York
metro area—Staten Island and Lake
Grove, Long Island.
Ringmaster Arthur Figuerosa’s introductions
are directed to another
Bingo Troupe: Italians Stiv and Roni
Bello, billed as “Siblings of Silliness”;
Mexico’s solo trapezist Carolina
Vazquez; Colombia’s Duo Vanegas,
aboard the rotating Wheel of Steel;
Super Tumblers from the USA; the
three Bello Sisters, Italian acrobats;
and a live band.
unicycling “One Wheel Wonder,” but
Wesley Williams—this summer at the
Circus World Museum in Baraboo,
Wisconsin (Tanbark Topics, Winter,
2023)—is making a remarkable recovery
from his serious performing accident
that occurred in October 2021.
His comeback from a fall off a towering
unicycle while performing in Madrid for
the Spain’s Got Talent telecast resulted
in five operations, eighty-three stitches,
body insertion of two metal plates and
thirty-five screws, and being sidelined
for more than seven months.
Williams will be in the cast of the new
Ringling-Barnum edition, whose July
1 rehearsals at the Feld Entertainment
complex in Ellenton, Florida, required
the youthful artist to win a release from
a contracted summer big top season at
the Circus World Museum (CWM) in
Baraboo, Wisconsin (Tanbark Topics,
Winter, 2023). Two young artists in his
place, said CWM Executive Director
Scott O’Donnell, are hand-balancer
Ian Laidlaw, a graduate of the Sarasota
(Florida) Sailor Circus, and juggler-unicyclist
Christian Videla.
Williams won his Ringling pact after
being seen by circus producer Kenneth
J. Feld in performances last January at
the Monte Carlo International Circus
Festival.
HAMID HANDS
Unlike some circus producers who
have crafted animal-free formats
(the PETA—People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals—animal activists’
effect), Hamid Circus didn’t cave,
based on four-footed attractions when
the show began its 2023 season in
February for a Midian Shrine presentation
at Salinas, Kansas. The lineup
included three Asian elephants from
the Carson & Barnes Circus herd,
handled by Tim Frisco; the dogs/
pigs act of Hans Klose; Colleen Pages’
six dromedaries (four performing,
and two used for ride concessions);
and the Cowboy Ponies of the Alex
Petrov clan. Producer/President James
M. Hamid, Jr. proudly noted that
subsequent dates included the Arab
Shrine Circus at Topeka, Kansas, “Our
eighty-third consecutive year there!”
MEDICAL MENDING
You would probably not know it
as you see him whirling around as a
16 White Tops

APPROVING ABSENCE
A unit of Carson & Barnes
Circus Asian elephants was cancelled
from an expected appearance
with the Irem Shrine Circus at the
Kingston (Pennsylvania) Armory in
mid-April due to pressing health issues
facing Terry Frisco, the pachyderms’
presenter, according to show
and sponsor sources. Frisco was
undergoing medical care that required
him to remain at his and the
Carson & Barnes quarters in Hugo,
Oklahoma. Producer of the Irem
staging was Billy Martin, of Billy
Martin Presents (Tanbark Topics,
Winter, 2023).
CHANGING COURSE
Now in our sixtieth consecutive
year of authoring this column, we
found that John and Mardi Wells
and their team were the best and
most professional editors experienced
over those six decades. Thus,
we were truly sorry to learn of the
contretemps that abruptly ended
their White Tops affiliation and dedicated
service (for details, see CFA
Secretary Maxine House’s minutes
of a special January 7, 2023 Zoom
meeting by CFA board members
and other interested parties).
As your columnist, we have the
privilege of offering personal views
that should not be in accounts by
those of an objective news reporter.
So—we feel the Wells’ dismissal
was overblown, and could have been
settled in a less contentious manner.
We could offer more, but let’s keep
it there for now.
Best wishes for editorial success
and CFA support to our new editor,
Samuel Patrick Smith, and his SPS
Publications staff. For us, initial
contacts have been reassuring and
productive!
You may contact Bill Hall by email
at billhallevents@verizon.net.
Anything but invisible
in a bright red tailcoat,
audience members often approach
me—usually during
intermission—with any number
of questions about circus
life. A rather common query
is. “How long does it take to
get all of this stuff [referring
to the entire layout of riggings,
props, and physical equipment] set up?” With a
slight chuckle, the answer I usually quip to ‘towners’
is “as long as it takes.” I will then elaborate that if we
have three days to make the jump and set up, it takes three days. If we have only twelve hours
to tear down, load out, travel to the next lot or building, set up and be ready for a morning
show, then that is how long it takes.
As recently as only last week and as frequently as, well, just about always, it seems everyone—crew,
lighting and sound techs, concessionaires, and performers alike—are often racing
to the finish line to get ready for the first show in each new town. Life gets in the way:
everything from grocery shopping or doing laundry to repairing something power-driven.
Miraculously, it always seems to come together in whatever amount of time allocated, and
when that next whistle blows—ready or not—we are unquestionably “ready.” What then follows
is a spectacle that we call a circus. The public never once contemplates that something
today may be slightly off or completely missing from yesterday’s ritual.
The circus is a well-oiled machine … and flippantly, that machine is often about two quarts
low. As scrupulous as they need to be, its cast of characters—from the most daring of young
men and women, to those who follow the animals with a shovel—are immersed in organized
chaos on a daily basis, often skating through life in sequins and feathers at breakneck speed
by the skin of their teeth. Not without exception, for example, I am frantically writing this
column less than forty-eight hours before its editorial deadline, while waiting to board a plane
and then while flying through the air from last evening’s closing performance in Dickinson,
North Dakota, to Wilmington, Massachusetts, where I open tomorrow at noon. It is business
as usual, and all part of the mayhem—and the romance—of being “with it.”
We are forever at the mercy of the not-always simple logistics of “making the jump.”
We trust in God, mechanics, tire manufacturers, weather forecasters, and twenty-four-hour
hash slingers stationed at fuel stops wedged between points A and B. We set out each day of
each season gambling on everything falling into place whenever the time comes and wherever
the road leads us next. Only occasionally are we slightly amazed that we have again “pulled
it off.” And we always do. Showpeople—REAL showpeople—certifiably live by the clichéd
sentiment that “the show must go on.” All true professional artists—be they circus performers,
night club entertainers, or rock stars—pretty much vow to live by this code. This is what we
do, and this is how we do it: THAT is what keeps it fresh and exciting.
We do our designated jobs to the best of our abilities, taking for granted just how competent
our abilities actually are. We camouflage any absent components and thereby allow us the
opportunity to achieve our goal, which is to entertain the public and to send everyone home
with a smile on their faces at the end of the day. Everybody wins.
I would imagine that many members of our beloved CFA get tangled in similar disarray
recurrently, trying to balance their personal schedules to accommodate professions, families,
and hobbies, all of which include goals that need to be set and achieved.
Since we’re all meeting ourselves coming and going anyway, why not add a few hours a
week to help our organization grow? We can recruit new members or reconnect with those
who may have let their membership lapse. We can become more active in CFA leadership by
running for offices, assembling committees, assisting with the editing of our magazine, and
helping with annual convention preparations. Any and all of these can better prepare us for
action when that whistle blows.
The time is now to set and focus on agendas and meet our goals. Whether circus professionals
or fans/enthusiasts, our mission is essentially the same. A happy ending amongst the chaos.
Spring 2023 17

Dailey/Tegge Tent #180 Attends Carden International
By Timothy Tegge
PHOTOS BY ROBERT HARMEL
Members of the Dailey Bros./Timothy Noel Tegge Tent #180 attend
the Garden International Circus. From left to right: Vicki Bell, Nicole
Zimmerman, Ted Friend, and Bob Harmel.
Four CFA members from the Dailey/Tegge tent attended
the March 7 evening performance of the Carden International
Circus, located at the Brazos County Expo Center in Bryan,
Texas. Although Carden had been booked for two days of
double performances, the March 6 shows were cancelled a few
weeks earlier due to a scheduling miscommunication with the
expo center. Attending from the tent were Bob Harmel, Ted
Friend, Nicole Zimmerman, and Vicki Bell. The members report
that it was a very entertaining show in spite of the venue’s
limitations (especially lighting), and that the good crowd was
enthusiastic throughout.
Human acts included hair-hang, hand and foot juggling,
aerial ballet, a human cannon ball, incline motorcycle on the
wire, a double wheel of death, a very entertaining team of six
female contortionists from Mongolia, rope jumping, a display
of entertaining dance moves, and some amusing clown
acts. Animal acts included a pair of elephants, eight camels,
a number of domestic cats, and—for the first time—a pair
of performing buffalo. Pre-show and intermission rides were
provided on elephants, camels, and ponies.
The conclusion consisted of a parade of national flags, featuring
all human performers and one of the elephants, with a
theme of “in spite of differences, we are all one in the circus.”
Carden International has performed in Bryan for many
years, under the rubric “Ben Hur Shrine Circus.”
18 White Tops
Yosa Garner’s performing buffalo appears
in the United States for the first time.

Top: Carden Circus elephants Betty and Janice perform under the direction of Florin Moreau. Bottom: All cast members enter the ring for a final bow at the
finale of the Garden International Circus.
Spring 2023 19

Induction 2023
From the Awards Program
Photos courtesy of the Ring of Fame Foundation
The Thirty-fifth Annual Circus Ring of Fame was held under the Circus Sarasota
Big Top on February 4, 2023, under the direction of William W. Powell, Chair
of the Board of Trustees for the Circus Ring of Fame Foundation, Inc. This year the
honor was proclaimed for the Alexis Brothers, Reverend Father Jerry Hogan, Peggy
Williams, and Jeanette Williams with a full house attending the show. In addition,
Daniella Arata and Annaliese Nock were honored with the Generation NeXt Award.
Joseph Dominick Bauer was the Ceremony emcee with special comedy guest Chris
Allison.
The first inductees were the Alexis Brothers, Marco and Paolo Lorador, who are
amazing hand-to-hand balancers and part of a multi-generational circus family from
Portugal. As teenagers in 1979, they appeared in the Cirque de Demain Festival in
Paris winning the Gold Medal, and in 1990 won the Silver Clown Award at the Monte
Carlo Circus Festival. They made their United States debut in 1984 with Ringling
Brothers and Barnum & Bailey. The Alexis Brothers were featured with numerous
shows here and abroad, thrilling millions of fans—including Queen Elizabeth II and
the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. They have performed for nearly thirty
years at Cirque du Soleil, where their unique style makes them one of a kind.
Father Jerry.
Reverend Father George G. Hogan
was the next inductee. Affectionately
known as “Father Jerry,” he was ordained
in 1974 and served in the Archdiocese
of Boston. He was assigned to the
Circus Ministry by the US Conference
of Catholic Bishops in 1990. For nearly
thirty years, he served as National Circus
Priest, celebrating life’s most cherished
moments—births, baptisms, first communions,
confirmations, weddings, and
memorial services—with the greater circus
community, being a friend to all and
stranger to none, regardless of religious
affiliations. His favorite project and
lasting legacy is the Showfolk’s Winter
Quarters in Seffner, Florida, a site he
Alexis Bros.
20 White Tops
Peggy Williams.

Annaliese Nock Slide.
Danielle Arata.
founded that offers affordable housing to
retired show people. Father Jerry is the
first Minister of Faith inducted into the
Circus Ring of Fame.
Peggy Williams was the next inductee
who was a performer, director,
manager, and educator with RBBB for
over forty-eight years, and became the
role model for all women in the circus
industry. She was the first female
clown college graduate, class of 1970,
to appear with the Greatest Show on
Earth, apprenticing with the legendary
Lou Jacobs. In 1982 she became the
Assistant Performance Director of the
Blue Unit and in 1988 the Performance
Director of the Gold Unit tour in Japan.
An educator at heart and a University of
Wisconsin graduate with a speech pathology
degree, she became Ringling’s
first Manager of Education Outreach,
creating circusworks.com, a virtual teaching
tool incorporating circus themes into
many subjects. Teachers across America
use it to develop their own curricula.
Peggy was inducted into the Clown Hall
of Fame in 1998.
Jeanette Williams was the next inductee
and represents the eighth generation
of Germany’s Circus Williams
Family. She came to America when her
mother Carola brought all of their animals
to RBBB to open their second unit
in 1969. She worked an eighteen-horse
liberty act, and still favors performing
and presenting horses. Jeanette had
her own circus from 1990 to 1993 and
created an ongoing international talent
agency for circus artists in 1991, which
garnered her world-wide recognition
and respect. She was a judge at numerous
circus festivals and a recipient of the
Ringling Museum Celebrity Award.
Jeanette is instrumental in preserving
endangered species, including cheetahs
at the Columbus Zoo and the first white
tigers at a safari park in Germany. Her
daughter Caroline Williams and grandson
Dominick Williams Bauer represent
the ninth and tenth generation of her
performing circus family.
As part of the celebration’s
performance segment, the
two NeXt Generation designees
each presented an act of
their own. Daniella Arata performed
a hand-balancing and
contortion act culminating in
a remarkable bow and arrow
shot using her feet alone.
Annaliese Nock—who is the
“dare daughter of thrill acts”—
presented her sway pole act
high in the tent with a finale
of a remarkable slide for life
headfirst from the top of the
pole to the arena floor.
William Powell.
Jeanette Williams.
Spring 2023 21

Circus Hollywood
Florida State Fair Tampa, Florida • February 16, 2023
By Maxine House
One day isn’t enough to visit all the
circus attractions on the 2023
Florida State Fair, but we tried! Arriving
when the gates opened at 11:00 a.m., we
quickly got a Visitor’s Guide which listed
the events and the times of performances.
Unhappily there was much overlapping
of show times; happily, we could see
our first show in fifteen minutes!
HOLLYWOOD RACING PIGS,
11:15 a.m.
Crystal Coronas Welde has been presenting
this act at the fair many times a
day for many years—same format, but always
different. Her sister-in-law Lletsira
Coronas, as well as her niece Arriana,
assisted her. Each pig always has a joke
name like Bruce Springswein. Crystal
confessed that she’s had to change some
PHOTOS BY JIM COLE EXCEPT AS NOTED
names because the kids didn’t catch the
joke! With a bleacher right in front of
the racetrack, it’s a great place to sit for a
while, cheer on the pigs, and maybe win
a prize!
THE FLYING ROYALS, 12:00 p.m.
Not far away, we spotted the one-ofa-kind
towering rigging of The Flying
Royals with the American flags on top
of the four supports. Each column was
guyed out to several huge, black concrete
blocks.
The show began with ringmistress
April Brown Chodkowski welcoming
the audience. She and her husband
Justin are the founders of The Flying
Royals. She introduced the first act, Paul
Schimmel, with his juggling and Diablo
act in the arena in front of the bleachers.
When April kept urging him to “go
higher,” he climbed a ladder to a platform
fifty-five feet up and dove onto a
large, inflated bag.
April then performed a pleasing cloud
swing, followed by Bendy Kate with her
acrobatic act. Lianna Ashton did two
acts, foot juggling and hula hoops. All
the acts were high quality.
But the crisscrossing trapeze act is The
Flying Royals signature act. Although
such a trapeze act had originally innovated
in the 1950s and tried again in the
1990s, it has not been performed in the
last twenty years. With one main catcher
( Justin Chodkowski) there were three
other catchers (Paul Schimmel, Daniel
Ponce, and Lukas Weinbach) and three
fliers (April, Rachel Ransom, and Maile
Hove). Using three platforms, the fliers
turned ninety degrees to return to another
catcher. One move has the flier
going over a catcher who is holding two
bars!
Originally from Santa Barbara,
California where they had a trapeze
school, Justin and April’s group have
toured all over the world and have also
performed on America’s Got Talent. This
was their first visit to the Florida State
Fair. I hope they return next year!
Arriana, Crystal, and Lletsira Coronas between performances of the Racing Pigs. PHOTO BY MAXINE
HOUSE
22 White Tops
CYCLE CIRCUS LIVE, 1:00 p.m.
Right across the road from the Flying
Royals, Johnny Rockett along with eight
other performers presented his freestyle
motocross production (FMX). First a
loud opening with six cyclists racing
around the front area on bicycles and
motorbikes. Then Tina Winn, a 2022

The setup for Cycle Circus Live. PHOTO BY MAXINE HOUSE
inductee to Sarasota’s Ring of Fame,
welcomed the audience and introduced
the circus acts: a lyre act and the
“Monster Motor Ball,” more often called
the “Globe of Death.”
This was followed by Johnny’s signature
act: the Cyclotron. Johnny rode
a motorcycle around a large, elevated,
round platform, propelling a long beam
ending in a bar holding Tina! She executed
several acrobatic maneuvers. The
highpoint was when Johnny’s cycle levitated
off the stage along with Tina!
Then came the bikes. First, three bikers
performed many amazing jumps off the
front ramp. This was followed by three
motorcyclists flying off the bigger back
ramp. The audience responded loudly to
the jumps, including several falls.
The performance moved quickly,
and it was soon time to go to the next
production.
Cristian Bilea takes his bows.
The Coronas sisters: Arriana (top) holds Fabianna.
CIRCUS HOLLYWOOD, 2:30 p.m.
Circus Hollywood is the show that
we come yearly to see, owned and run
by the Coronas family from Bradenton,
Florida. Serge and Stevie Coronas, along
with their three children and spouses,
produce a first-rate circus every year. It
travels from Florida all the way north to
New England. They usually play at fairs,
but often enough at Shrine dates. The
Florida State Fair was the second date of
their 2023 season and the first one with
their new production, “Rock Stars.”
Performed in their yellow and blue circular
tent, the show provided bleachers
on three sides and ringside chair seating.
Two large television screens flanked the
performers’ entrance to give information
about the show, such as the names of
each act. Best of all, Circus Hollywood
provides air-conditioning! Concessions
are also available.
The show opened with the clown
Rulito (Cristhian Videla) trying to sing
a rock song, but having trouble with
the wire to his microphone. A clever
gag, executed well to the delight of the
audience.
Spring 2023 23

Lletsira (Siri) Coronas and her beautiful camels.
Ringmaster Devin Chandler opens the show.
The Ringmaster, Devin Chandler, took
over singing “Are you ready to party?”
and the audience on cue loudly responded,
“Oh, yeah!” We were off to a rousing
start as the performers poured into the
ring for a lively charivari.
Junior Neves, who was already in the
ring, continued with his fast-moving
juggling act. He was followed by Rulito
who chose three people from the audience
to play in a “band.” One volunteer
always became the stooge—much to the
audience’s delight.
After the magic wand pitch, Christian
Bilea presented his chair-balancing
act. A member of the Coronas family,
Christian has been on the show for many
years and his various acrobatic skills add
much to the show.
The Coronas Sisters, Arriana (age
sixteen) and Fabianna (age fourteen),
have now been performing on the show
for about four years. “My, how they
have grown!” From a basic acrobatic
act, they have developed into spectacular
performers. Trained by their mother
Lletsira, they performed on a double trapeze
with some amazing catches!
While the ring was being prepared for
the camel act, the two Jumbi Stilt dancers
pranced around the walkway. Their
music adds much to the act and the audience
appreciated them.
The final act of the show was Princess
Lletsira and her four beautifully groomed
white camels. She led them through a
pleasing set of maneuvers. The curried
hair from these camels spins into cashmere
soft yarn!
As they left the ring, the whole cast
returned for a final bow. The happy audience
left slowly to enjoy more of the fair.
ADRENALINE, 3:30 p.m.
The thrill show Adrenaline was also
easy to spot with its two sway poles,
its “Wheel of Wonder,” and its high
wire rigging. Annaliese Nock, dubbed
“Daredaughter” by her father Bello,
Drummer Rulito (Christian Videla). The drums are part of the “rock” opening.
24 White Tops

The Circus Hollywood tent.
performed on all three apparatuses for
a true shot of adrenaline for the audience!
Assisted by Channing Gross and
Raymond Silos, she began with the traditional
crossing poles on the sway poles,
and then on to the wheel, and finally
up on the wire. Interestingly enough,
Bello—whose act was set up nearby—
was there to check the guying on the
wires and to take movies! Annaliese is
truly following in the family tradition!
WET AND WILD, 5:00 p.m.
In a peaceful lake-like setting with
many food stands nearby, we could catch
a bite to eat and watch from a picnic
table Bello Nock’s imaginative Wet and
Junior Neves with his fast-moving juggling act.
Annaliese Nock on the Wheel.
Cristhian Videla as “Rulito” captivates the audience
from the beginning.
Spring 2023 25

The Flying Royals.
Paul Schimmel dives from fifty-five feet into a large air cushion.
Wild show. Bello had bought a Corvette and
converted it to a powerboat! He used it at the
opening of Wet and Wild to drive to the raft
from which he emceed his water show. What
followed was a series of unusual water vehicles—one
of which shot the performer into
the air on a column of water. Bello’s patter
added much to the production.
6:30 p.m.
After catching Circus Hollywood’s last
performance of the day at 5:30 p.m., we
called it a day. We still hadn’t seen the One
Man Band, the Fireguy, Otter Adventure,
Extreme Dogs, Farmyard Follies, or the
Giraffe Menagerie! But we ate some great
food and left satiated. With free parking and
lots of bargains on ticket prices, the Florida
State Fair is a true bargain for a circus fan!
Maybe we should spend two days at the fair
next year.
Only paid members of CFA will receive their summer issue!
Contact Maxine House at mahouse@verizon.net with any questions. Thank you!
26 White Tops

Circus Fans Flood Zimmerman and Blackwelder
‘Circus Compound’ for Tent #137 Picnic
By Dan Stapleton
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR AND OTHER ATTENDEES
Just two weeks before our picnic—scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, April
23—we were a little worried that only ten attendees from Central Florida’s Tent
137 had signed up. Should we cancel?
Then again, we also know that people often procrastinate—maybe they would show
up after all.
Members and organizers John Zimmerman and Paula Blackwelder rented the big
tent and chairs and had to figure how much food (and drinks) to order. Now, this
was more than just a CFA event. We invited all circus enthusiasts with the hope that
some attendees would join the CFA. Two weeks later, one hundred and twenty people
joined in on the fun, sun, food, and circus entertainment located at the home and
“circus compound” of Zimmerman and Blackwelder. That’s twice as many attendees
as we had hoped for!
The full trapeze set-up was amazing, and there was no shortage of flyers for our
attendees to “ooh” and “aah” over. Even Julianna Richards, one of the stars of the new
Ringling show, was there to demonstrate her skills while high in the air.
Many more wonderful entertainers dazzled the crowd on that perfect sunny afternoon.
Former Cole Bros. Ringmaster, Chris Connors, stepped in to announce the
acts. As usual, he did a great job announcing not only the acts, but also the raffle
numbers for the many winners of circus-related prizes donated by various attendees.
Funny-man Chris Allison was next followed by Miss Juliette on silks. John and
Paula presented a tight and funny low-bar trapeze act. Then there was Skylar Williams
(contortionist), Dan Stapleton (magician), Zoe Bovio (aerial hammock artist), Brian
David and Jamie Ryan (comic flyers with a touch of trapeze hilarity) and a few others
high on the platform bar.
Left: Magician Dan Stapleton escapes from solid steel chains. Right: Amber and Faryln Stapleton welcome
guests.
Top: John Zimmerman and Paula Blackwelder
opened their home and circus compound
to attendees of Tent #137’s picnic. Bottom:
Ringmaster Chris Connors keeps the show
moving.
Spring 2023 27

Enjoying the big hammer strike.
Ellie Zimmerman provided the music. There were two
huge funny mirrors inside the tent, as well as the big High
Strike (Big Hammer) game donated by CFA club member
Bill Hall. Author and circus painter Dave Letterfly was on
hand to autograph and sell copies of his new book Speedy-
Hurled Through Havoc. Even incoming CFA President Jack
Dean and Secretary-Treasurer Maxine House were there.
Dan and Faryln Stapleton held court at the picnic entrance
strong-arming attendees to “donate” what they could to
help offset the picnic expenses, while Marcus Makar wrote
the name tags.
When none other than the entire Flying Robins trapeze
troupe showed up, we were graced by circus royalty. Wow!
There’s not enough space to list all the names of those
who helped make this event a huge success, but Grelle
Perez spent most of the day preparing the food. Special
mention to Debbie and Steve Beasley (and others) for assisting
the many hours of set-up and break down.
We are planning our next circus picnic for 2025. (We
need a full year off to catch our breath!) Hopefully, this will
take place at the Zimmerman circus compound again. Did
I mention that one hundred and twenty people showed up?
Yikes!
28 White Tops
Top: Julianna Richards, star of the new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
Circus. Bottom: Contortionist Skylar Williams.

Top, left to right: One hundred
twenty people attended the
picnic—twice as many as we
hoped for! Attendees at the
Tent #137 picnic had plenty
of good food to enjoy.
Middle, left to right: Paula
Blackwelder and Zoe Bovio.
Miss Juliette.
Bottom, left to right: The
Flying Robins trapeze troupe.
A perfect day for a picnic.
Spring 2023 29

Jeanette Williams Speaks on Cheetahs
at Showfolks Tent #122 March Meeting
By Mary Fritsch
President Jeanette Williams called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. Evi Kelly-
Lentz led the Pledge of Allegiance. Since every member had been sent a copy of
the February Treasurer’s Report, Debbie Gallegoes made a motion to accept it, which
Wayne Scheiner then seconded. The motion passed.
President Williams said our February banquet was very successful. It was held at
the Shriners Club in Sarasota. The people were great to work with, the food was good,
and the lovely flower arrangements provided by Jerry Stanley and Lynn Schinkel
looked beautiful on the tables. Our speakers were Tina Winn and Johnny Rockett,
who were very informative and fun. Forty-four people attended the banquet and everyone
seemed pleased with how it went.
Jeanette then introduced some guests: Roganna, Chuck Sidlow, Tina Winn, and
Becky and Kirk Kilpatrick from Nebraska. Also, Allen Rebbernick—the son of Willy
Rebbernick—who was known for chimpanzee acts. They came
from Austria and are one of the oldest circus families.
Donna Scheiner then showed us an article about the new
Circus Train Car Museum that just opened in Venice. Their
hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday from 10:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m.
We ended our formal meeting to next enjoy a delicious potluck
dinner, with Shirly Adams giving the blessing. We thank
Jerry Stanley and Lynn Schinkel for the meat and a sweet
potato casserole as well as all of the decorations. The floral
plates, napkins, and flowers in vases made every table colorful.
Other members brought side dishes and desserts. The food
was very tasty, so the thirty-eight people who attended this
meeting ate well.
We were supposed to have an auction that night, but it was
postponed since several people involved in the auction were ill.
In its place, we hosted a regular raffle instead. Debbie Gallegos
sold tickets and Jeanette called the numbers. We made $130.
Thanks to everyone who helped with the dinner and the raffle.
Since we had originally planned to hold an auction, we did
not have a speaker planned. However, since we had time, we
called upon our gracious President, Jeanette Williams, to be
our speaker.
Jeannette Williams and Her Cheetahs
Jeanette said cheetahs are not like other animals. They have
no claws and chirp like birds. They are easily distracted, so it
can be difficult to keep them focused when they are in the ring.
The children’s spinning and light-up toys fascinated them so
much that they would just stare at the toys.
The first time Jeanette saw a cheetah,
she was younger and attending a
Siegfried & Roy show. That’s when she
knew she had to have cheetahs. She did
get two very small cheetahs that were six
months old and not related to each other,
which she named Kissi and Kamaty.
They came from Africa and Jeanette
trained them, on a leash, to sit and jump.
At the time, there were no cheetah acts
at any circus. Often, other cats would be
performing, with a cheetah or two just
sitting.
Jeanette Williams and her Cheetahs. PHOTO FROM HER PERSONAL COLLECTION.
30 White Tops

Because cheetahs are endangered animals,
it took Jeanette two and a half years
to get a one-of-a-kind license from the
USDA. She had them ride with her on
liberty horses for her act. The cheetahs,
which could jump on and off horses,
rode on a chariot seat while horses pulled
the chariot around the ring. However,
Jeanette never felt that the cheetahs were
correctly displayed—it was hard to show
them off when there were elephants in
the next ring, for example. She wanted
to demonstrate the cheetahs’ speed, but
couldn’t do it inside one ring. Jeanette
asked to use all three rings so she could
show how fast they could run to catch
a frisbee, but was turned down. No one
understood how different cheetahs were
from other animals in the circus. Jeanette
decided she’d had enough when one of
the cheetahs was poisoned.
Jeanette sent them to Jack Hanna in
Columbus, Ohio. Female cheetahs do
not go into heat. Evidently, after a kill,
the female cheetah gives off a highpitched
sound which attracts the male
cheetahs. If you have several male cheetahs
and several female cheetahs that
don’t like each other, nothing happens.
Jeanette’s cheetahs, Kissi and Kamaty,
had always liked each other but never
had babies. Jack gave Kissi and Kamaty a
great, open place to live.
Jack called Jeanette one day to tell her
she was a grandmother—Kissi had just
given birth to six babies! Jeanette flew
to see them but was warned not to go
inside the enclosure with a new mother
cheetah present. She went inside anyway
and Kissi greeted her with kisses. This
story had a happy ending. The next one,
not so much.
It seems someone wanted to breed
white tigers. The only male he could find
was a three-legged one, so he bought it.
He also had a female and had Jeanette
go on a plane to Germany with these
two tigers, which were worth fifty thousand
dollars. It was journey with a long
layover. They did get to Germany, but
unfortunately during mating the threelegged
tiger gave too big a love bite on
the female’s neck and killed her. So ends
the story. That’s circus for you!
Attention, Tents and Tops!
Send reports of your meetings and special events for publication in White Tops to
editor.whitetops@gmail.com. Keep the excitement going by sharing your good times with other CFA members in these pages!
Spring 2023 31

Williams Earns Guinness World Record
for ‘Tallest Rideable Unicycle’
You may have seen Wesley Williams riding one wheel high above the crowd on
a number of talent shows, from America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent to
The Gong Show. The Weston, Florida native known as “The One Wheel Wonder”
has made a name for himself around the world as one of the kings of unicycle performance.
And who else on earth can say that they ride the Guinness World Recordscertified
“World’s Tallest Rideable Unicycle”?
Since February 2020, Wesley Williams has held the world record for the “Tallest
Rideable Unicycle” at twenty-nine feet and one inch. On December 29, 2022 in
Stuttgart, Germany at the Weltweihnachts Circus in Stuttgart, Germany, Wesley
broke his own world record with a new “Tallest Rideable Unicycle” that measured a
whopping 31.9 feet! Truly a breathtaking stunt—and not for the faint of heart.
Although no one else had attempted to challenge his original 2020 world record,
Wesley said, “I am always striving to do more and take things to the next level. If
that means breaking my own records, so be it.” Wesley says he wants to use this record
to prove to others that nothing is impossible. Last October, Wesley suffered a
performance accident where he fell more than twenty-seven feet to the floor while
performing on Got Talent España in Madrid, Spain. This unfortunate event sidelined
Wesley for over seven months and required five operations, two metal plates, thirty-five
screws, and eighty-three stitches.
Following a lengthy recovery, Wesley Williams made a grand return by performing
at the largest Christmas circus in the world: the Weltweihnachts Circus in Stuttgart,
Germany. The program’s organizers,
Henk and Elisa van der Meijden of
Stardust International and the World
Christmas Circus, welcomed Wesley to
their event by calling him “an act you
will never forget! Everybody falls in love
with his unique skills, charismatic personality,
and thrilling act!”
Directly after this engagement Wesley
Williams will head to the academy
awards of the circus industry, Festival
International Du Cirque De Monte
Carlo in Monaco. Wesley Williams -
The One Wheel Wonder is not only
appearing at the 45th Edition of the
world famous Festival International Du
Cirque De Monte Carlo but is a featured
attraction along side multiple time previous
Main Prize Clown Award winners,
Rene Casselly, Kris Kremo, Alex Giona,
and others in the talented line up of the
world’s best! Williams
says, “It is one of those
things that seem unreal.
It is every circus
performer’s dream. I
used to tell my mom
growing up “Mom, do
you think I can perform
in Monte Carlo,
one day?” Now my
time has come and I
am ready to give my
absolute all. I have
waited all my life for
this moment!” Wesley
continues to “Ride
Above All Odds”
around the world and
most will agree he is
“The Wheel Deal.”
32 White Tops

Richard Snowberg
December 23, 1941–March 19, 2023
A Tribute
By Bruce “Charlie” Johnson
Even though he never performed in a circus himself, Richard Snowberg (December
23, 1941–March 19, 2023) had a profound influence upon the art of clowning, including
circus performances. He was the founder and director of Clown Camp where
over five thousand people from around the world have studied the art of clowning.
Clown Camp began in 1981. It took a hiatus following its program in 2010. During
those thirty years, more than two hundred and ten people served on the Clown Camp
staff. That includes an impressive group of clowns with circus experience who taught
there at least once. They are Brenda Ahern, Kenny Ahern, Mark Anthony, Deon
Aumier, Don Burcell, Earl Chaney, Ruth Chattock, Terry Davolt, Barry DeChant,
Karen DeChant, Greg Desanto, Karen Desanto, David Heim, Jim Howle, Lou
Jacobs, Bruce Johnson, Jackie LeClaire, Gene Lee, Frosty Little, Tricia Manuel, Leon
McBryde, Jeff McMullen, Vince Pagliano, Tammy Parish, Arthur Pedlar, Michael
Polokov, Steve Rancatore, Mark Renfro, Wayne Scott, Chuck Sidlow, Steve Smith,
Huel Speight, Jimmy Williams, and Peggy Williams. Since Clown Camp resumed
operations in 2016, Joe Dieffenbacher, Gregory Parks, and Sean Emery have also been
on staff. (My apologies to anyone who I left off this list.)
For many clowns, Clown Camp provided the first opportunity to attend classes
taught by circus clowns.
In 1986, Dean “Bo Dino” Weiss was scheduled to be on the Clown Camp staff.
He died that winter. His family donated some of his props to Clown Camp. They
were auctioned off. Richard was the World Clown Association President Elect. He
donated the money raised to the WCA to begin the Bo Dino Scholarship Fund, the
first scholarship for the study of clowning.
Brenda Johnson had been a Clown Camp participant and a Blue Vest Volunteer
assisting the program’s instructional staff. She was in the first group of six Bo Dino
Scholarship recipients. She used that to help pay her expenses attending the Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. After she graduated, she toured with the
RBB&B Circus Blue Unit from 1988 to 1989. She married Kenny Ahern after they
finished their circus tour.
For other participants, Clown Camp was a stepping stone to circus appearances.
Some of them eventually joined the RBB&B Circus clown alley. Jennifer Edgerton
was a Clown Camp participant before she became the Carson & Barnes Circus boss
clown in the 1990s. Some Clown Camp participants have appeared as guests in the
Milwaukee Shrine Circus and other circus productions.
In 1986, Clown Camp co-hosted a weekend training program for members of the
International Shrine Clown Association.
Richard had not planned on becoming a clown. He received his undergraduate
degree in physical education from Illinois State University in 1964. He completed his
doctoral degree in educational media at Indiana University in 1971.
Richard was hired by the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse in 1975. He taught
media classes in the education department. Roger Grant, another professor at UW-L,
invited Richard to an adult Halloween party. He decided to go disguised as a clown.
Richard Snowberg, Mark Anthony, Leon
McBryde. PHOTO BY ROGER GRANT
His sister sewed him a costume. He
stuffed a few magic tricks into his pocket
so he would have something to do. He
intended it to be his only performance.
However, by the end of the evening he
had been booked to entertain at three
birthday parties.
He created a Whiteface clown character
named Snowflake. He joined Clowns
of America and the Midwest Clown
Association to try to get as much training
as possible. Since there were no other
clowns in La Crosse, Richard had all the
work that he could handle. His wife,
Jan, and his sons, Eric and David, also
became clowns. Performances became a
family event.
Richard also did not intend to create
the world’s largest training program for
clowns. In 1980, he taught a one-nighta-week
clown course through the university’s
continuing education program.
The students of that course were the
founding members of the Coulee Clown
Club.
A newspaper wrote an article about
the course. The article was reprinted in
the Three Ring News, published by the
Midwest Clown Association. Soon the
university began receiving letters from
people throughout the Midwest asking
if a condensed course could be offered.
They explained that it was too far to
travel to the University once a week.
The university asked Richard if he
could create a one-week course that
Spring 2023 33

Richard Snowberg and Lou Jacobs. PHOTO BY
ROGER GRANT
would be called Clown Camp. It was
held during the summer of 1981. The
participants stayed in one of the campus
dorms and the classes were held in
the same building. Richard invited five
clowns that he had met at conventions to
join him in teaching the classes. Richard
intended for that to be the only time that
Clown Camp would be offered. However,
the participants had other plans. He said
that he should have gotten suspicious
when they presented him with a plaque
thanking him for organizing the first
Clown Camp. When he concluded the
final session, nobody left the room. He
told them that he did not have anything
else to say. They told him that they were
not going to leave until he promised
Bruce Johnson, Maureen Brunsdale, Richard
Snowberg, and Arthur Pedlar (seated) at the ISU
Milner Library. PHOTO BY MARK SCHMIDT
34 White Tops
that he would organize another Clown
Camp session for the following summer.
Richard directed Clown Camp programs
in La Crosse for thirty years.
Clown Camp was not limited to that
location. Realizing that not everyone
could travel to Wisconsin to spend a
week taking classes, weekend Clown
Camp on the Road programs were offered
in many locations in the United
States. In 1995, Clown Camp expanded
with a second weeklong program in
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. That
program continued for six years. Clown
Camp sponsored two clown summits in
Scotland, and held an at sea program on
a cruise ship. Weeklong programs were
also conducted in Japan in 2005 and
Singapore in 2010. Although not officially
Clown Camp programs, Richard
organized a group of Clown Camp staff
members to teach and perform at the
2004 Clown Around the World Festival
in Singapore. A smaller group of instructors
then went to Malaysia to teach
classes there.
Wherever Clown Camp was held,
Richard would frequently schedule a
panel discussion by staff members with
circus experience. I joined Kenny Ahern
and Jim Howle on those panels many
times. Richard liked having me participate
because I could provide the point of
view of someone who had toured under
canvass. Jackie LeClaire, a second-generation
circus clown was part of the
panel a few times. He would tell the participants,
“Don’t worry too much about
your makeup. My father taught me if you
make a mistake just smile a little broader
and dance a little faster.”
Richard scheduled a special event several
times at Clown Camp. While “Cecil
B. DeMille’s Greatest Show on Earth”
was projected, Jackie LeClaire would
provide a narration. Jackie had appeared
in the film and was a friend of many others
in the film. It was fascinating hearing
his experiences during the films production
and his stories about his friends.
Many of the Clown Camp classes were
directly circus related. A very popular
class that was offered more than once
was Jim Howle teaching participants
how to perform the boxing act. There
was always at least one juggling class.
Richard established a relationship
with the Circus World Museum. Often
a trip to Baraboo was included in the
week of instruction. Clowns had the
opportunity to perform on the museum
grounds. I appeared there in 1986 doing
atmosphere shows. I returned several
other times doing strolling entertainment.
One year Piet Nortje, from South
Africa, and Tokyo Mad, from Japan, put
together an excellent act while at Clown
Camp. Richard arranged for them to
perform the act as guest stars in the
Circus World Museum Big Top show. In
2016, Maggy (Saeko Ushiyama), a clown
from Japan, appeared as a guest star in
the Big Top show. She had auditioned
while at Clown Camp and Kenny Ahern
coached her in making her act appropriate
for the circus ring. The following
year I was selected to represent Clown
Camp as a guest star in the Big Top. I
recreated a routine that I had performed
while touring with the Carson & Barnes
Circus and the Funs-A-Poppin’ Circus
in the early 1980s. As soon as I entered
the Circus World Big Top and smelled
that elephants had been there, I immediately
felt at home.
Although the opportunity to perform
was exciting, the main purpose for the
Baraboo trips was that Richard wanted
the Clown Camp participants to learn
about circus history.
When a trip to Baraboo was not part
of the official schedule, it was sometimes
offered as an extra fee alternative the day
after Clown Camp. When a trip was
not offered, Richard would sometimes
organize carpools. One year he knew
that Carole and I had rented a car to go
to Baraboo. He asked if we would take
a clown from Japan with us. In 2019, I
took Edmund Khong from Singapore
to Baraboo. He got his start as a clown
attending classes during a Clown Camp
program in his country. He has become
an outstanding entertainer. When we
visited the Circus World Museum

Jackie LeClaire and Richard Snowberg. PHOTO BY ROGER
GRANT
Library, we saw a copy of Clowning
Around magazine with his photo on
the cover announcing that he had been
named the World Clown Association
Clown of the Year.
There is a memorial bench on the
Circus World Museum grounds in recognition
of his contributions to the art
of clowning.
Richard’s contributions extended beyond
Clown Camp. When he began
clowning there was very little literature
available on the art. He wrote six books
to fill that gap. He was a leader in the
Caring Clown movement, and his book
on that subject gave increased credibility
to that specialty.
Richard believed in the importance of
clown history. He also believed in recognizing
the efforts of others. The day before
the 2014 World Clown Association
Convention in Chicago, Richard invited
me to be part of a carpool to visit the
circus collection at the Milner Library
on the Illinois State University campus.
We were accompanied by Arthur Pedlar,
a clown from England who, like Richard,
was an International Clown Hall of
Fame inductee.
After Maureen Brunsdale gave us a
tour of the circus collection, we sat down
to talk. I said, “My wife, Carole,
has told me, ‘When, not if, you
die, my children won’t know what
to do with your treasures. So, you
had better find a place to send
them.”
Richard started laughing. He
said that his wife, Jan, had been
telling him the same thing. Arthur
was also laughing. He said that his
wife, Val, had said the same thing.
Each of us had brought a potential
donation to see how Maureen
would respond to them. We were
encouraged by Maureen’s enthusiastic
response to each item.
While we were talking, Mark
Schmidt was spreading circus
posters out on the tables in the
reading room. Maureen explained
that a graphics class was coming
in that afternoon to study them. She
said that they try to integrate the circus
collection into the school curriculum as
much as possible. During the tour, she
had pointed out their set of circus ledgers
that the accounting classes study.
She said they always get excited when
they realize that one was cooked to hide
the profits.
On the way back to the hotel we talked
about our visit. We were impressed that
the items in the collection were not just
shelved and forgotten. We also liked the
way that the items were organized and
protected. For example, there was a complete
set of Clowning Around magazines
bound in hard cover. All three of us had
written columns for that publication. We
all agreed that was an excellent place to
donate items.
Arthur donated his collection of
European circus posters to the Milner
Library.
I have donated some items from my
own archives. (I have also donated
some items to the International Clown
Hall of Fame and to the Circus World
Museum.)
Richard had donated some items to
the International Clown Hall of Fame.
He decided to donate his Clown Camp
archives to the Milner Library. Richard
also donated his personal director notebook
with additional information on
each program, and an extensive collection
of photographs. Richard’s correspondence
with significant staff members
is included. There are letters from
Lou Jacobs and Mark Anthony. There is
a copy of the resume that Jackie LeClaire
submitted when he was on staff for the
first time.
Richard and Jan, his wife, met while
they were students at ISU. They attended
the 2018 Circus Fans Association
Convention which was held in Normal/
Bloomington. They joined the CFA at
that time. Richard was tickled that his
name tag identified him as a First of
May. He said that it had been a long
time since anyone had referred to him in
that manner.
Richard battled a variety of medical
conditions for decades. When a medical
condition meant that he could not
wear makeup near his eyes, he retired
his whiteface character. Jim Howle
helped him with a makeup design for an
Auguste character called Junior. It was
not obvious that there was no makeup
near his eyes.
When it was announced that Richard
had entered hospice care, over one hundred
people left tributes on the Clown
Camp Facebook page. The overwhelming
consensus was that what people
remembered the most about Richard
was his kindness and his gentle soul. He
had quietly worked behind the scenes to
encourage and support many people in
making their own contributions to the
art of clowning. He often referred to
the Clown Camp programs as a family
reunion. He created that feeling of acceptance
and inclusiveness. Many of us
feel fortunate to be part of that family
of friends.
The Snowberg family has asked that
memorial donations be made to the
Milner Library Circus and Allied Arts
Collection.
Spring 2023 35

Caballeros Score Golden Elephant
at Spain Circus Festival
By Alex Smith
The Flying Caballeros recently made circus world history at the Eleventh
International Festival of the Golden Elephant Circus of Girona, Spain. The fifth
generation of this talented family etched their names in the record books on March
4, 2023. Most would agree that the circus community as a whole should take pride in
their accomplishments, but especially after the tumultuous times felt by artists around
the world.
Circus fans on the West Coast, especially in California, should be quite familiar
with the Caballeros. For over twenty years, they have toured the state (now in two
units) continuing not only the trapeze, but also the circus tradition. They set the performance
standards high in the competitive Southern California market, with excellent
production values and two brand-new, lavish big tops. They rise to the Herculean
challenge of show management in addition to the flying trapeze discipline. This is
of no surprise to those who have been fortunate enough to know them since their
pre-Ringling and Circus days in the eighties on shows like Bentley Bros. and Carson
and Barnes. It was while touring with these circuses that word of Rueben Jr.’s successful
Quadruple Somersault to father Rueben Sr. caught the attention of Kenneth Feld.
The Greatest Show on Earth producer wanted to bill another flying act capable of the
quadruple somersault alongside their own headline flying act, the Flying Vazquez,
who were consistently performing the same feat. In 1988, they achieved greatness
when they succeeded at simultaneously catching the quadruple somersault alongside
the Flying Vazquez. These were the first two quadruple somersaults, caught simultaneously,
in history.
While the flying trapeze has faded in prominence with mainstream audiences, the
difficulty, agility, and years of training (along with the intangibles of performing and
the genetics needed to perform at such a level) have not. Fortunately, the Caballeros
have segued into show ownership and have not swayed from their signature act, as
many others have. On this evening in Spain, the offspring of Rueben Jr.—Marco
Antonio (Catcher), Rueben the III, Gunther, and Anru (Luis Caballero’s son)—
stepped into the ring with their usual goal of executing a superb performance.
Luis Caballero admits they went in with the goal of achieving a single quadruple.
“We always want to perform well of course … but we said, hey, if we catch one, great!”
Luis is not being modest. In addition to
success, their family has endured failure.
They’ve mentored the next generation in
pre-performance situations to “not dwell
on the task at hand.” They’ve designed a
strategy so that nothing interferes with
their sons’ performances. To keep their
minds from obsessing, the family accompanies
them and talks, laughs, and plays
games while at the hotel awaiting their
time above the ring. They don’t expose
them to comparisons or to competition,
or set expectations.
On performance night, the brothers
and cousins of the fifth-generation
Caballeros climbed in the air as they
have done so many times before. As their
family, including patriarch Don Rueben,
The Caballeros. Left
to right, standing:
Judith, Marco Antonio,
Maximiliano Sbalttero,
Luis, Rueben Jr.,
Rueben Jr. III, Gunther,
and Anru. Kneeling:
Luis Alberto, Nikita.
36 White Tops
Top, left to right: Gunther Caballero, Rueben Caballero III, and
Judy Caballero. Bottom: Catcher Marco Antonio Caballero,
Rueben Caballero Jr. III, Gunther Caballero.

The Flying Caballeros make history in Girona, Spain.
watched from the stands, they delivered a stellar routine to the crowd
of roughly twenty-three-hundred people with Marco “Hands of Steel”
Antonio catching members Judy and eleven-year old Nikita.
The first to attempt the quad was Rueben Caballero III, who connected
and brought down the house. This was only the beginning. Next up
was fifteen-year-old Anru Caballero, who first achieved the quad at age
twelve (always thought to be too young an age to realistically achieve such
a feat), succeeded at the second quadruple. The electricity in the crowd
was palpable at this point, and only elevated when it was announced that
Gunther Caballero would attempt a third quadruple. Gunther boldly
swung into the record books as his brother Marco Antonio caught him
upon completion of his quadruple. Noted circus critic Gaspar Altamar
described the magic moment: “The ovation of enthusiasm, joy, expressed
in the hands and faces of the audience was endless.”
The Flying Caballeros achieved three quadruple somersaults, performed
back-to-back by their bloodline of brothers and cousins. One
can only imagine what the post-performance adrenaline rush was like
on this special evening. At the conclusion of the event, the Caballeros
would be awarded the Golden
Elephant. CFA members can
take pride that the Flying
Caballeros achieved the impossible.
Hopefully this momentum,
along with the return
of Ringling and the many
smaller family shows beginning
to sprout, infuse some
voracity and propel the circus
community in a positive direction.
To say this younger circus
generation has experienced
adversity is an understatement,
yet they continue and excel.
Thank you, Caballeros—and
congratulations.
Middle photo. Front: Rueben Caballero Jr. III. Back: Marc. Above:
Don Renato Fernandes, Rueben Caballero Sr., Luis Caballero.
Spring 2023 37

Leigh Ketchum
Guest Speaker for Showfolks Tent #122
April 2023
By Mary Fritsch
PHOTOS BY PETE ADAMS
Tent President Jeanette Williams introduced our guest speaker for April, Leigh
Ketchum, whom Jeanette has known for forty years. Leigh is a talented musician
and the owner of Sarasota Box Office.
Leigh began his speech by looking around before saying, “I think I know most of
the people here tonight.” He first joined the circus in 1976 while he was in college in
Illinois. Later, Leigh went with Carson and Barnes.
Someone once told Leigh’s partner, Dusty, that he had been mean to a performer in
his circus—but Dusty is probably one of the calmest, nicest guys around. Back in the
day, D.R. Miller would have put someone down on the ground if they dared ask for a
raise, said Leigh. No gentle handling of performers back then.
Leigh was last on the road with the Clyde Beatty Circus. (He also worked as a night
clerk at the Red Roof Inn, a job he hated.) The Clyde Beatty musicians were fired
because they wouldn’t drive trucks, wanted more money, and were rowdy party guys.
In 1997, Johnny Pugh asked Leigh if he could use a 386 Windows PC to make digital
music. Leigh thought synthesized music sounded awful. However, when Johnny
offered him a high price he agreed to do it, even though he didn’t own a computer.
There were only Leigh, a trumpet player, and a drummer. Leigh wrote a lot of music
between January and March to meet his target of sixty new musical compositions.
They made it two hours long and added the sound of an audience to the background.
Tent #122 President Jeanette Williams presents Leigh
Ketchum with a certificate of appreciation
Shows wanted royalty-free music
because they otherwise had to pay
licensing fees to the American
Society of Composers, Authors,
and Publishers (ASCAP). So,
Leigh wrote original music for
shows. People would come with
their songs and play them, but
Leigh was able to use the Shazam
mobile app to detect if the music
was original or not.
When he first met John Ringling
North, Leigh found him to be a
short little cowboy with stubble.
He told John, “You are a sorry disappointment,”
but they ended up
becoming very good friends.
Leigh started the Strawhouse
Ticketing website, where he sold
tickets online. His first clients were
the Walker Brothers. More clients
Leigh Ketchum speaks to members of Tent 122
at the April meeting.
were soon to follow—and it wasn’t long
before he was selling from home. Leigh
decided that customer service was of
the utmost importance because there is
always a phone number to call, not to
mention emails and online chats. Today,
their customer service department employs
four people and the company has
since changed their name to Sarasota
Box Office.
During his speech, Leigh also showed
us posters from some of their clients’
shows: Royal Hanneford Circus, Cirque
Luc Dalia, and Dusty’s Circus.
Leigh is the co-owner of Dusty’s
Circus with his partner, Dusty Sadler,
and told us some fun stories about him.
When Dusty was on Jeanette Williams’
Circus, for example, Dusty would be in
the audience making himself up as a
white-faced clown as the audience trickled
in. He still does this today at his own
show, Dusty’s Circus.
Dusty’s Circus is a success and now
has six dancers from England, who perform
with alligators and snakes. Their
mixed animal act includes a blue fox
that pushes a baby carriage around with
a polish chicken. If you want to know
more, you’ll have to attend one of their
shows!
Leigh’s best quotation from the
speech? “You can’t swing a dead cat in
this town without hitting a Wallenda.”
Thanks, Leigh, for a fun night.
38 White Tops

Registration for the CFA Convention includes a Visit to
the
Big Cat Habitat
By Pete Adams
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
visit to the Rosaire Big Cat Habitat is scheduled for Thursday,
A July 13, the last day of the 2023 CFA Convention. You will have
loads of fun spending an afternoon with the big cats and a variety of
other animals. Lunch will be available for purchase on site. The Big
Cat Habitat is an ever-growing large animal rescue in Sarasota. The
non-profit attraction was founded by Kay Rosaire in 1987 and is the
permanent home of dozens of exotic animals. Arriving at noon will
allow you time to buy lunch and be ready for the first show, the bird
show, in the air-conditioned performance building at 1:00 p.m. This
will be followed by the main performance of handling large exotics at
2:00 p.m. during which Kay or her son Clayton will present several
of their exotic animals in the big cage.
Before the visit ends at 4:00 p.m., you will have ample time to see
the bears and three large indoor/outdoor housing complexes for the
tigers and many smaller animals. There is even a petting zoo and the
opportunity to feed the bears and tigers from a distance.
The Rosaire Big Cat Habitat includes an ever-growing
animal rescue with dozens of exotic
animals.
Spring 2023 39

Mileposts
40 White Tops
DEBORAH
CHAPMAN
Deborah Chapman
of Sarasota,
Florida passed away
on March 29, 2023.
Born in Blackpool,
England, she enjoyed
an amazing
career as an aerialist
and excelled in other
circus arts as well. Deborah performed
at numerous circuses, nightclubs, and
cruise ships in both the United States
and abroad. Most will remember her
jungle-themed single trapeze and
loop-walking act for which she won the
prestigious Trophee Louis Merlin at the
Monte Carlo Circus Festival.
After retiring from show business, she
led a quiet life with her beloved border
collies, Willow and Oreo, and five
equally beloved parrots. Preceding her in
death was her father, Danny Chapman,
her mother, Joan B. Rickey, her former
husband and best friend, Tom Green,
and her sister, Michele Chapman. She
leaves behind her sister, Stephanie
Dubsky, her half sister and brother, and
several nieces and nephews. She wished
not to have a service. May she rest in
peace. Submitted by Stephanie Dubsky
DAGMAR BEAVERS
Dagmar Beavers, 74,
of Myakka City, Florida,
passed away peacefully at
her home on Center Ring
Ranch on Easter Sunday,
April 9, 2023. The circus
community and the Sarasota-Myakka
music world
lost one of their most colorful
and generous spirits.
Dagmar Mootz Beavers
was born in Munich, Germany, on October
1, 1948. She made her debut on stage
in a comedic wire act at age six. In 1958,
her family immigrated to the U.S. The
trio toured with numerous circuses in
the U.S. and then with Circo Atayde in
Mexico. This started a lifelong love affair
with Mexico. Rudolf gave himself the
nickname “Pedro” and the trio became
known as The Pedrolas, touring Mexico
with a complete show. Dagmar was so
enchanted that she returned to Mexico
for four more years, after her parents retired.
In 1962 The Pedrolas were booked
to perform their aerial cradle act in the
MGM movie Jumbo starring Doris Day
and Jimmy Durante. Dagmar was featured
in a speaking part with Doris Day.
In 2017, The Pedrolas were inducted into
the prestigious Circus Ring of Fame.
Dagmar grew up harmonizing with
her musical parents, and at sixteen, began
playing the guitar, a second passion that
would last a lifetime. She performed locally
with “Hot Sauce” and “The Instigators”
and later with her husband, Bill
Beavers. Dagmar also worked solo at
private events and at O’Learys.
In the early 1960s, Dagmar’s parents
purchased land in Myakka. With the
help of friends, they built a traditional,
all-wood home on the property entirely
with their own hands and ingenuity.
Dagmar’s design, material sensibility,
and decorative touches made it uniquely
beautiful and welcoming. She lived there
for the next sixty years.
In addition to Dagmar’s career as
a circus performer and musician, she
achieved Second Degree Black Belt in
karate, became a U.S. citizen in 1994,
and returned to school to earn
her high school diploma in 2013,
at age sixty-four. She faithfully
served Showfolks of Sarasota and
the Big Cat Habitat for decades,
setting up events and documenting
them extensively in photographs,
thus creating a valuable
cultural record.
Dagmar leaves behind a multitude
of loyal, loving friends everywhere—in
Myakka, throughout
her circus family and all around the
music world. A memorial service for
Dagmar was held at the Big Cat Habitat
on May 7, 2023.
CATHERINE
HANNEFORD
CARDEN
Catherine Carden,
57, of Springfield,
Missouri, passed away
peacefully at home,
surrounded by family,
on Tuesday, May
9, 2023, following a
courageous three-year
battle with pancreatic cancer. A beloved
circus performer, she was the first of two
children born to George Jr. and Victoria
Hanneford. Catherine leaves behind
her husband of twenty-one years, Brett
Carden; sons George and Cash; brother
George Hanneford III, and a cousin,
Nellie Hanneford-Poema. Cards can be
addressed to the family at 3901 West
State Highway 0, Springfield, Missouri
65803. In lieu of flowers, donations
may be sent to www.pancan.org. A celebration
of life will be held in the fall,
in Springfield, Missouri. PHOTO BY
TIMOTHY NOEL TEGGE
RICHARD CZINA
Richard Czina, 88, of Sarasota,
Florida, died Sunday, March 26, 2023.
Richard Czina (pronounced zeena) grew
up in Floral Park, Long Island, where
he obtained a diploma in technical electricity
from Sewanhaka High School.
In 1955, he earned a bachelor’s degree

in electrical engineering from the Pratt
Institute in Brooklyn.
Although Richard had
a stellar career as an
electrical engineer with
IBM, he was anxious to
pursue his various interests.
He built a forty-foot
sailboat on his farm and,
on the day after his retirement in 1987,
he sailed from Vermont to Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida. He lived on the boat for
eight years while teaching electronics at
Broward Community College and ITT
Technical Institute. Then, while building
a log cabin in Boone, North Carolina, he
had an opportunity to train at a number
of wildlife sanctuaries across the country.
His other interests revolved around
animals and photography. In 2000, he
worked at Disney’s Magic Kingdom as
a street photographer. After moving to
Sarasota in 2004, he volunteered at Pelican
Man, Mote Marine, The Big Cat
Habitat, Sailor Circus, and Circus Sarasota.
He was a dedicated digital photographer
and freely shared his skill with all
his volunteer organizations. His circus
and wildlife photos have been published
in a number of magazines, including
some front covers. His videos of Sailor
Circus shows have earned thousands of
dollars for their program. Richard Czina
was a member of CFA as well as the
digital photo club, DIAMAGE, and was
renowned for his animal preservation efforts
and circus photography.
VERN MENDONCA
Vern Mendonca, 88, of Redding, California,
passed away
on April 19, 2023,
following a long illness.
A CFA member
for over forty years and
a circus fan for more
than eighty, Vern became
CFA president
in 2008. Vern led a
varied and colorful life. He was a postman,
orchard farmer, and even a parttime
teacher on the Carson & Barnes
Circus. Vern and his wife Conni were
frequently seen at CFA conventions. For
many years, he emailed his circus chats
(“Circus Vern”) to fans. Vern is survived
by his wife Conni, daughter Julie, sons
Shawn and Anthony, and several grandchildren.
Cards may be sent to Conni
Mendonca at 1000 Greenbriar Court,
Redding, California 96003.
RICHARD
SNOWBERG
Richard Lee Snowberg,
81, of Denver,
Colorado, died March
19, 2023. He held
I.B.M. number 26402
and had been a member
from 1974 to 1994.
He grew up in West Bend, Wisconsin,
as well as the towns of Valparaiso, Indiana
and Elwood, Indiana. In 1960, Rich
graduated from Sterling High School
in Sterling, Illinois before receiving his
undergraduate degree in physical education
from Illinois State University
in 1964. He was the top-ranked player
on the Illinois State University tennis
team. Rich taught physical education in
Illinois for three years before pursuing
a doctoral degree in educational media
at Indiana University. He completed his
doctoral degree in 1971 and was hired
as an assistant professor at the University
of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Later,
the University of Arkansas hired him to
launch their educational media program.
In 1975, he returned to Wisconsin as
an associate professor at University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse (UW-L), where
he taught media courses and supervised
their campus media center until his retirement
in 2000. Rich liked to incorporate
magic into his university lectures
and developed a clown character named
“Snowflake,” which he performed as for
years at parties, celebrations, and hospitals.
He also wrote six books on the
subject of clowning and later founded
the “Clown Camp” adult clown training
program. Rich spent thirty years as the
Clown Camp’s director. He was elected
three times as the President of the World
Clown Association, where he organized
international clown training programs
in Scotland, Singapore, and Borneo.
In 1999, he was inducted into the International
Clown Hall of Fame. He is
survived by his wife of fifty-seven years,
Janice (Tobler); sons Eric ( Jennifer) and
David (Michelle); grandchildren Blaise
and Lena; sisters Karen (Ron) and Jean
(Rick); and brothers-in-law Jack (Beth)
Tobler and Jerry (Barb) Tobler.
EDWARD WESEMANN
Edward L. “Ed” Wesemann, 97, of
Hampshire, Illinois,
passed away
May 2, 2023. He
was born May 1,
1926, in Burlington,
Illinois, the
son of Edward G.
and Ida (Plote)
Wesemann. He
was a 1944 graduate
of Plato High School and then drafted
into the U.S. Army during World
War II. On October 24, 1953, he married
Marnie H. Daly at St. Peter’s Evangelical
Lutheran Church in North Plato.
They lived in the home they built since
1955. Ed was a active, lifelong member
of the St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church. He served as secretary on
the local school board for sixteen years
and volunteered at the Elgin St. Joseph
Hospital for thirty years. He was a life
member of the Hampshire VFW Post
8043, serving as Commander, Trustee,
Chaplain, and Service Officer. His hobbies
included playing the piano accordion,
collecting, and restoring vintage
John Deere Two- Cylinder tractors that
he took to parades and shows. He was
a dedicated circus fan, belonging to the
Circus Fans Association of America for
over fifty years. Survivors include daughter
Carolyn (Dale) Hartmann of West
Bend, Wisconsin; son Philip (Dana)
Wesemann; grandchildren Mark (Carol)
Hartmann, Josh (Cat) Hartmann, and
Lance Hartmann; and great-grandchildren,
Montgomery, Sabrina, and Carter
Hartmann. He was preceded in death by
his parents, brother Alvin, and his wife,
Marnie.
Spring 2023 41

Dusty’s All Star Circus
Civic Center, Sanford, Florida
February 1, 2023
By Maxine House
PHOTOS BY JAMES COLE
Dusty Sadler’s All Star Circus, now in its second season, is a delightful show. It travels around the southeastern United States for
a rather abbreviated spring season.
The show plays at indoor venues like the Civic Center in Sanford, Florida, where we caught it. It was not an ideal location, providing
a stage and an area in front of the stage for a ring. The lighting was quite poor in this setting. But the laughter and responses
of the children at the performance we saw showed that it didn’t matter! With six performers plus a ringmaster, the show lasts an
hour and a half with a twenty-minute intermission.
Dusty himself opens the performance with a brief history of his show and an explanation of his name. It seems that as a young
performer in Fort Stockton, Texas, he was hot and thirsty. When a concessioner gave him a drink, she dubbed him “Dusty.” The
name stuck.
The show’s clown, Mr. Robb (Zaiser), interrupts Dusty and immediately captivates the audience with his antics. The ringmaster,
Renaldo Calienes, quickly takes over and the performance begins.
On the stage, Sebastian Videla presents his fast-moving juggling act. Sebastian, now in his late teens, has been performing in
circuses since he was a child. He and his older brother Cristhian stooged in their father’s clown act for many years before creating
acts of their own.
Left to right: Ian Ladlow, Sebastian Videla, Dusty Sadler, Alec Bryant, and Mike Duff. Right:Alec
and Daniela Bryant in classic costumes for the chair act.
42 White Tops

Sebastian Videla.
Ian Faranel follows with his pleasing
hand-balancing act. Ian started his circus
career on Sailor Circus and has performed
all over the world.
Then, moving to the ring area below,
Mr. Robb entertains with his “Guess
where the ball is?” under the cups routine,
juggles the cups, and climaxes by kicking
each cup into the air and catching them
with a cup. Most impressive.
Ian Faranel’s hand balancing.
Daniela Bryant performs a pleasing
Spanish web act before the twenty-minute
intermission.
Interestingly enough, during the intermission
most of the performers are
working concessions. Daniela is doing
face painting, Sebastian is selling popcorn,
and Robin Best is working the souvenir
stand. The other men work props.
Renaldo and Mr. Robb.
Mr. Robb opens the second half of
the show with his trained dog. This is
followed by Robin Best’s single trap act.
Although the trapeze hangs very low, the
moves Robin makes are pleasing.
A typical chair act is presented by
Alec Bryant, assisted by Daniela. Their
matching costumes should be noted.
Mr. Robb returns for a final appearance,
this time juggling books. The kids
love him!
Sebastian ends the show with his spirited
unicycle act. His tall L-shaped bike
makes for a good ending. Dusty joins
the cast on the stage for the finale.
After some more dates in Florida,
Dusty’s All Star Circus will head north.
Dusty currently has his 2023 route
booked through early April in Alabama,
Georgia, South Carolina, North
Carolina, and Virginia. Check his website
dustyscircus.com for specifics. Visit it
if you can.
Spring 2023 43

It’s Time to Register!
By Pete Adams
Convention Co-chair
For those of you who have already registered for the CFA Convention taking place
from July 10 to July 13, 2023, thanks for doing so.
But for those who have not yet registered, it is TIME because we need to know
how many are attending. Open registration is available until June 10, 2023, at the rate
of $175 per person. Late registration is $200 and walk-in is $210.
The only change we have made from our original schedule is that the seminars and
meetings, as well as the banquet, will be held at the Showfolks Club on Lockwood
Ridge Road. This will actually be a better fit and experience for all of us.
As our plans indicate, we have a complete day at the Ringling Museums including
a reserved seat for the 2:00 p.m. performance of the Summer Circus Spectacular
sponsored by Ringling and the Circus Arts Conservatory. We will also spend an
afternoon at Kay Rosaire’s Big Cat Habitat and an evening at Sailor Circus Academy
for a show. There will be seven seminars led by Dan Stapleton who will host us
through all of our events. The guest speakers include Heidi Herriott, Barry DeChant,
Jennifer Lemmer-Posey, Monica Welde, Peggy Williams, Karleen Griggs and
Jeanette Williams. Our banquet speaker is Dolly Jacobs, the co-founder of the Circus
Arts Conservatory. In addition, we will have our opportunities for socialization and
our famous circus auction, as well as sales
and vendor tables.
Please plan to join Jack Dean, our
President, and all of us as we celebrate
the heritage of circus in Sarasota and
welcome visitors from around the nation.
With this issue of White Tops, you
will find the Registration Form, the
Full Schedule of Activities, and information
about the host hotel, Sarasota
Waterfront Ramada. Please share this
data with your circus friends. You do not
have to be a member of CFA to attend
our convention, although we do hope
you will join once you have been to one
of our exciting get-togethers.
Thanks in advance!
Notes for Coming to the
2023 CFA Convention
Due to non-functioning air-handling units in
the ballroom, which is separate from the hotel,
and their inability to repair it before our CFA
Convention, we have moved all seminars and
social activities, including the banquet, to the
Showfolks Club of Sarasota located nearby. The
Ramada Hotel is a separate operation from the
ballroom, and their air conditioning is fine.
Also, remember that if you are limited in steps,
you may request a first-floor room at the hotel.
There is no elevator to the second floor. Please
contact the hotel directly with this need.
If you have any questions, please call Pete Adams
at 443-745-4980, or email circusp@comcast.net.
44 White Tops

Schedule of Activities
Circus Fans of America Convention 2023
Sarasota, Florida • July 10–13, 2023
All activities are at the Showfolks Club Unless Stated.
Transportation between events is on your own. Schedule Subject to Change
Mon 7-10-23 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Board of Trustees Meeting/NCPS Meeting
Following
10:00 a.m. Sales and Display Room Set Up Time
12:00 p.m. Board of Trustees Luncheon
12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Registration, Sales & Displays Open
3:00 to 3:45 p.m. Seminar #1 – Heidi Herriott
3:45 to 4:00 p.m. Break
4:00 to 4:45 p.m. Seminar #2 – Barry DeChant
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Welcome at Showfolks Club – Dessert Party
Cash Bar Available
Tue 7-11-23 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Membership General Meeting
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Past President’s Circle Luncheon and Meeting
(Pay on Own) Outback
2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Seminar #3 – Jennifer Lemmer-Posey
2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Seminar #4 – Monica Welde
3:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Seminar #5 – Peggy Williams
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sailor Circus Show at Sailor Circus Arena
Wed 7-12-23 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Day at Ringling includes:
Original Circus Museum
Tibbals Learning Center
Bayfront Gardens and Grounds
Original Art Museum
Searing Wing for Special Art Exhibits
Asian and Modern Art Wing
Glass exhibits in Visitor’s Center
Ca’ d’Zan Admission Optional Fee $10
2:00 p.m. Summer Circus Spectacular 2023
Historic Asolo Theatre
3:15 p.m. Group Photo w/ Summer Circus Artists
Visitor’s Center of Ringling
5:00 p.m. Legacy Members Foundation Dinner
Anna Maria Oyster Bar
7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Annual Circus Auction
Thu 7-13-23 9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Seminar #6 – Karleen Griggs
9:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. Break
10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Seminar #7 – Jeanette Williams
12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Kay Rosaire’s Big Cat Habitat Admission Included
Food available on site for purchase.
6:30 p.m. Happy Hour Cash Bar Available
7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Banquet – Dolly Jacobs Reis – Guest Speaker
9:30 p.m. All Over and Out
Spring 2023 45

Membership
New Members
Samuel Patrick Smith, #11852
800 South Ave.
Eustis, FL 32726
Laurel Smith, #11852 F
800 South Ave.
Eustis, FL 32726
David Merrick, #11853
69 Williams Street
North Adams, MA 01247
Joe Simmons, #11855
454 High Tide Lane
Daytona Beach, FL 32124
Theresa Simmons, #11855 F
454 High Tide Lane
Daytona Beach, FL 32124
Reinstated
Alex Acero, #11033
2713 8th Ave W.
Bradenton, FL 34205
Michael McGuckin, #7993
96 Merino Drive
Huntsville, TX 77340
Richard Flint, #4653
1 Middleton Court
Baltimore, MD 21212
Randy V. Jackson, #11621
2707 Sandarac Lane
Fort Wayne, IN 46815
Kelly Leeth, #11721
8054 Linda Lane
Guthrie, OK 73044
Noell Everhart, #11403
9914 Ridge Hill Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89147-8411
Hans Klos, #11038
4811 Bee Ridge Rd. #129
Sarasota, FL 34233
Hugh McGaughty, #5656
10080 Evade Drive
St. Louis, MO 63126-1107
Address Changes
Louis E. Sather Jr., #11771
821 Oak Street
Baraboo, WI 53913
Janeen Wilds, #9613
10415 S 10th St. Apt B5
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
William R. McCullough, #6159
96 Lost Creek Cove Rd.
Lineville, AL 36266
Sarah Chapman, #10390
401 River Road. Apt. 103
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
Robert Reed, #10525
7367 McSmith Lane
Dayton, OH 45414
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5000 Queen Philomena Blvd.
Apt.127
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6631 Greer Rd.
Knoxville, TN 37981
Donations
From Helen Nelson #11275
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in memory of Barbara A. Goodall,
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46 White Tops

We Had an OLLI Good Time!
By Jan Biggerstaff
What do retired circus performers do to stay out of trouble?
With Bill Biggerstaff not able to travel and the days
seemingly going on forever, I needed something to jazz up my life.
Something to get the blood moving again—like hearing the start
of my music for the act. Like noticing the jump tonight was through downtown San
Francisco. Something exciting, but doable.
Something stirred inside my head when I saw a notice online to register again for
OLLI. OLLI (short for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) is an event for senior citizens
that is held here in Las Vegas and sponsored by the University of Nevada. In the
past, OLLI has offered classes from Globalization and the New World Order, to the
Life and Works of Mark Twain, to a Ukulele Workshop, to What Makes China Tick?
There are usually a hundred different classes offered five days a week. I had sporadically
participated in some of the classes in the past, where I enjoyed the camaraderie and
information in an informal setting. Today, there are over a hundred and twenty-five
OLLIs across the country. Their classes are often taught by retired professionals in
their field, with no tests, no grades, and no prerequisites.
There it was—an opportunity to “jazz” up my days. Teaching a class about the
History of the Circus would be just the ticket. As a performer, the history of the circus
has never held a real interest. So, I would be “teaching” a subject that I would first need
to research. Then I would need to find a way to get that information to the class that
shows the joy, excitement, and history that has enthralled lovers of the circus over the
years.
I was an acrobat. I could do a wonderful cartwheel and a better bow, but public
speaking was not at the top of my list of accomplishments. Actually, I was terrified to
stand in front of a microphone and speak.
After finding historical information on the computer, I was told to go to PowerPoint
(whatever that is) and compile the lesson, then transfer the file to a flash drive (a
what?) to bring to the class. So, this was already looking like a challenge—but a
doable challenge. If other people could do it, then so could I.
Checking in with another CFA Board member about my tentative plans, Bruce
Hawley put me in touch with Lynn Duncan in South Carolina. He was teaching a
class at his local OLLI. With his good ideas, a wonderful cartoon, and support, I filled
out the application to teach the class in the fall and got started.
Beverly Abderraham, a co-conspirator and CFA Board member who has always
been eager to join me on an adventure, signed up to be a co-teacher. Then one of our
circus performer cohorts, Barbara Warkmeister, joined us as well. With nine ninety-minute
classes to fill, I began with a John Polacsek’s PowerPoint about the History
of the Circus in Nevada, which he had used at our 2016 convention. From there, we
added Women in the Circus and continued down the syllabus, making many changes
as the weeks came and went. We had the most fun during the class discussions, when
we answered questions about our lives in the circus. It was so interesting to learn about
our circus history. As we watched that history unfold, we felt just as amazed as our
classmates.
Luckily, I had loads of handouts (clearing out some of Bill’s collection) including
posters, tickets, and even boxes of Cracker Jacks for the class about Circus Concessions.
Several circus movie clips and circus music tapes rounded out our class. The last class
brought in Bev’s kids to talk about what it was like being a kid on the circus. Also
featured that day was Mark Smith, a past
Ringling Clown and now a wardrobe
master on the strip, who was a big hit.
We made sure that brochures for CFA
and CHS were available at each class,
along with benefits and information
about both organizations. Explaining
the animal situation to them with, “I
didn’t know that,” or, “That’s where the
money goes,” was fully discussed.
OLLI was a great opportunity to bring
the positives of the circus to our friends
and neighbors. You, too, can do this.
Look into your local OLLI and share
the love of the circus with the over-fifty
crowd. They have the time and interest to
learn, and are most often the age group
that really appreciates the circus. And be
certain to hand out those brochures!
Spring 2023 47

EDITH JOHNSTON
MEMORIAL FUND REPORT
In 1994 the late Edith Shrimplin Johnston directed in her
will that a percentage of her remaining Teacher’s Retirement
Pension funds be donated to CFA. She enjoyed life as an avid
fan of the circus and named a few other circus-related organizations
and charities to receive donations. The CFA Trustees
at that time elected to establish a fund in her name and incorporated
it as a non-profit Trust organization, within the CFA
structure. The purpose of the Edith Johnston Memorial Trust
Fund (EJMTF) was to provide grants to circus youth and
educational-related organizations, from the profits generated
from the invested principal.
Two years ago the fund was successfully moved to an independent
corporate status, as the Edith Johnston Memorial
Fund (EJMF), thus establishing it as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit
corporation with the Internal Revenue Service. That has allowed
for all donations to the fund to be deductible contributions
on the donor’s annual income tax report. More importantly
for the fund, it is not being taxed on the capital gains
of the principal, so it provides more available funds for the
grants.
With the above change in our tax status, very little change
was made in the day-to day maintenance of the Fund. Morgan
Stanley will continue to guide our account. They have done
an exceptional job of advising over the years. However, the
financial health of our holdings reflects the losses seen in the
stock market this past year.
This wrapper of this issue of White Tops carries the application
for requesting grants. Those requests will be due by August
31, 2023. As in the past, requests will be reviewed individually,
qualified, and evaluated for purpose and need. Under the new
Bylaws evaluations will be made by members of the EJMF
Board of Directors. That Board will consist of Tim Bessignano,
Jan Biggerstaff, Jim Fry, Diane Jones, Pat Stevenson, and John
Wiler. Additionally, Dan Kleintop, Immediate Past President,
and the new CFA President Jack Dean, will also participate in
those evaluations. Secretary/Treasurer Jan Fry will collect the
responses from the individual Directors, including Dan and
Jack, and return the collective results to the Directors for final
approval. Awarded grant payments will be sent out before the
end of the year.
Last year we drew from our principal holding and awarded
the largest total grant payments ever. Based on lower earnings
during the past year, grant funding will be more moderate for
2023.
James Fry
EJMF Chair
April 16, 2023
LEGAL NOTICE
EDITH JOHNSON MEMORIAL FUND
CALENDAR YEAR 2022
January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022
ASSETS
Investments $ 215,844.94
Money Market Fund 40,111.01
TOTAL ASSETS $255,955.95
LIABILITIES
Liabilities 0.00
TOTAL LIABILITIES $0.00
EQUITY
Unrestricted Equity $255,955.95
TOTAL EQUITY $255,955.95
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $255,955.95
DISTRIBUTIONS
Grants: EJMF $8,000
Pretzel Man 1,050
Morgan Stanley Serv. Chg. Expenses –
2021 Taxes 20
CPA 1,500
Legal Fees –
TOTAL DISTRIBUTIONS 10,570.00
VALUE OF INVESTMENTS
TOTAL End CY2021 $ 296.557.52
End CY2022 $255,955.95
Supporting the circus and performers for over 22 years
with Immigration Services - Green Cards and Visas
1277 N. Semoran Blvd, Suite 106
Orlando FL 32807
407-206-1973

To arrange your room
for the CFA convention
at the Ramada Inn
Sarasota
7150 N. Tamiami Tr
Sarasota FL 34243
The link at the Ramada Inn in Sarasota for the
CFA Convention from 7-9 to 7-14, 2023 should
now work by simply calling their reservation number,
941-203-6439. It was tested today and worked
fine.
The group rate is $85 per night plus 12% tax. If
you cannot climb stairs, please ask for the first floor.
The two story building does not have elevators.
Pete Adams, Past President
Circus Fans Association of America
Convention
Corner
CIRCUS FANS ASSOCIATION
July 10–13 • Sarasota, Florida
Ramada Inn – 941-203-6439
WINDJAMMERS
July 11–16 Baraboo, Wisconsin
Ho Chunk Casino – 800-746-2486
CENTRAL STATES CIRCUS SOIREE
August 18-20 • Baraboo, Wisconsin
Clarion Hotel – 833-456-0746
CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
August 24–27 Normal, Illinois
Hyatt Place 309-454-9288
WORLD CLOWN ASSOCIATION
March 18–22 • Orlando, Florida
Avanti Palms Resort – 877-821-3010
CLOWNS OF AMERICA INTERNATIONAL
May 13–17, 2024 • Niagara Falls, New York
Sheraton Niagara Falls
www.mycoai.com
Spring 2023 49

Remembering
Buckles
By Ken Kawata
Exactly when I first met William
“Buckles” Woodcock I do not recall.
It must have been in a behindthe-scenes
area in a circus. We would
chitchat as he swept around elephants
with a push broom. Back in Baraboo,
Wisconsin, on one summer day, I took
Joan Embery, a colleague from San
Diego, to see Buckles’ act. Immediately
she noticed that he never hooked elephants
with his ankus. Voice command
and body language would do the job.
At Lincoln Center in New York, my
wife Jean and I went to see Buckles
during his Big Apple days. “He is out
buying groceries—just wait,” we were
told. He soon returned and to our surprise
and pleasure he sat down at a table
with us for roughly two hours of shoptalk.
That was the moment I wished I’d
had a tape recorder. Ouch!
When I met him again in Baraboo, his
health was already deteriorating. Then I
saw Barbara. “You and I go back a long
way,” she said and kissed me. I did not
even realize that Barbara knew my name,
and as a wave of emotions unexpectedly
struck me, I had difficulties holding back
tears.
In Memoriam:
William “Buckles” Woodcock, Jr.
William “Buckles” Woodcock, Jr.,
born February 26, 1935, died March
2, 2023 leaving a void in our circus industry.
A son to elephant man William
Woodcock, Sr. and animal trainer Sarah
Orton, Buckles was working his father’s
elephant, Anna May, by age eighteen.
Buckles married Barbara Ray Williams,
and with their children Shannon and
Dalilah, and Barbara’s son Ben, all performed
at one time with Anna May.
Over the many years, Buckles was renowned
for his patience and undying
love for his animals. A true legendary
performer, he worked in practically all
major American circuses. His lasting
legacy included his popular Buckles
Blog which was the go-to blog for circus
and especially elephant news, history,
and photos. His passing—along with
that of his close friend, the legendary
John Herriott—highlights the changing
of our industry. It will never be the same
without them. —Jan Biggerstaff
Editor’s Note: An in-depth article
on Buckles, Barbara, and Anna May is
scheduled for our summer issue.
50 White Tops

Book Reviews
Want to review a new book or even an old classic you have recently discovered? Submit
reviews to editor.whitetops@gmail.com. All White Tops submissions are subject to editing
for clarity and length.
Clown: The Physical Comedian
By Joe Dieffenbacher
Available on Amazon
Review by Bruce “Charlie” Johnson
There was a panel discussion by representatives of youth circuses and circus schools
during the 2015 Worldwide Circus Summit. During the question-and-answer
session, they were asked if they taught clowning. Their response was, “We would like
to, but we don’t know how.”
Joe Dieffenbacher’s Clown: The Physical Comedian is the solution. It is a complete
curriculum for teaching the art of clowning to a group of students.
Joe uses an experience he had while acting at a Renaissance fair with his troupe,
the Abbots of Unreason, to explain his approach. As he tells it, Joe began sweeping
the stage to remove any debris that could be hazardous during their performance. As
people gathered to see the show, he began to improvise his interactions with them. He
realized that this preshow, “was played by me with the same back-and-forth, collaborative/competitive
aspects of a game. And treating it as a game allowed me and the audience
to open up to one another and create a flow that my partners and I enjoyed for
the next forty-five minutes. It was one of the best shows we had that year and opened
my mind up to an understanding of clowning that went beyond jokes, gags, comic
bits, or funny business. The clown’s objective was not simply to satisfy his ego or seek
approval by making the audience laugh, but to find ways of uniting them through play.”
His approach reminded me of something Randy Pryor, my juggling coach, once
taught me. Randy said, “Our job is to create an atmosphere of play and invite the
audience along.”
Joe teaches this same concept. Using theater games and other exercises, he leads his
students to discover playful interactions with their environment, props, other entertainers,
and the audience. The ultimate goal is to form a connection with the audience.
He uses games at the start of each class. This is meant to help students get acquainted
with one another, as well as to introduce them to a series of games that serve as
physical, mental, and emotional warmups. While most of the games require a group
of participants, he recommends that his students frequently repeat a series of solo
exercises to help them develop their technique.
The next several sections cover quite a bit: learning how to identify and use the possibilities
one’s environment offers during a performance, learning how to handle props
and use them as inspiration, applying the performer’s curiosity and inspiring that same
curiosity in the audience, and how to perform as a solo clown, a clown duo, a clown
trio, and as a participant in a clown ensemble. Whenever a smaller group of students
is performing, the other students act
as an audience for their peers. In some
cases, they provide feedback after a presentation.
Sometimes the students will
build upon what they have seen others
perform. At other times, the students
behave as an active audience so that the
other students have an opportunity to
experience using their new techniques
while interacting with their audience.
Joe recommends that every student,
even those who think they will always
perform with partners, learn to perform
solo bits. These solo skills create better
group performances. Joe uses his experiences
with clown trios as examples. After
he left the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Circus, he joined Mark Renfrow
and Bob Schiele to form the Abbots of
Unreason and begin touring Renaissance
Fairs. Their strong solo juggling skills
helped them to develop ball and club
passing routines. Working on those
routines revealed how they could work
together in other types of routines.
Joe says he also recommends solo
skill development because there will be
moments when a single person needs to
take the lead. He encourages solo clowns
to learn to perform with others, because
solo clowns never actually perform
alone: they interact with their audience.
In essence, the audience is their partner
in every performance. Some of his games
Spring 2023 51

are designed to develop skills that are
transferrable to audience interactions,
while others specifically involve interacting
with an audience. That playful approach
to audience interaction has been
the key to my own success as a clown.
Joe is very thorough and suggests variations
and different approaches for each
game. He also provides hints for how
the class director can make the experience
more effective. Likewise, members
of the AYCO will appreciate that Joe
consistently explains safety concerns in
his directions for setting up the games.
For example, when a chair is used, he
suggests checking to verify that it is sturdy.
He also suggests checking to make
sure a wooden chair does not have any
splinters.
At the conclusion of each section, Joe
describes the lessons behind each game
in order to help both the director and the
students understand and appreciate their
relevance. He also explains the inspiration
behind the games. Some are his own
variations on known theatrical games.
Some are based on games and exercises
he learned in classes that he has taken,
or that friends who teach clowning has
shared with him. Others are his own
original developments.
I graduated from California State
University-Long Beach with a bachelor’s
degree in Technical Theater, so I had
played some of the theater games before.
Joe Dieffenbacher and Dan Griffith
spent some time working together as
co-directors of the Clown Conservatory
in San Francisco. I have participated in
some of these games during one of Dan’s
intensive classes. I have also taken classes
from Kenny Ahern, a good friend of Joe’s,
who used similar games. While I have
not played the majority of the games in
Joe’s book, I know from personal experience
that the ones I have played are an
effective method for learning.
I’ll use something from my own career
as an example. Many of the games
fit into a category that I will call “follow
the leader.” In 2017, a busload of
Clown Camp staffers and participants
were visiting Baraboo. In celebration
of the decades-old link between Clown
Camp and the Circus World Museum,
I was invited to be a guest star in one
performance of the CWM Big Top
show. I did a solo routine based on an
act that I had performed when I toured
with the Reynolds Family Showcase
Theater in 1987. I greatly enjoyed returning
to being under a Big Top with
a circus routine that I had performed
thirty years earlier. As the show was
ending, I was standing out of the way
near the performers’ entrance. Just as the
cast was entering for the finale, Steven
Daniel Copeland grabbed me and said,
“Join us. Just follow along.” I ran into the
ring with the others. The theme that year
was the 1960s and the finale was a dance
number. I didn’t know the choreography.
However, because I had done the “follow
the leader” theater games so many
times, I was able to watch the others
using my peripheral vision and join in on
the dance. Joe advocates not just doing
something, but playing with the associated
emotions. Joe also says to keep it
real. Another concept in Joe’s book is the
level of emotional display. I knew that I
wasn’t supposed to upstage the permanent
cast, so I kept my reactions subtle.
However, I started out by playing with
the frustration of not knowing what to
do. Then I transitioned to the feeling of
pride that I had been accepted by this
talented cast as a temporary member of
the group. I wouldn’t say that the finale
was my best performance ever, but I truly
enjoyed having the opportunity. It would
not have been possible if I hadn’t taken
classes that used the types of games Joe
describes.
As an individual reading the book, I
benefited from Joe’s introductions and
explanations. He crystalized some concepts
for me by describing some things
that I had observed from my own experience
but never tried putting into words.
Something that I found particularly
useful was Joe’s description of the
five elements of a performance. It was
something that I have used, but hadn’t
formally identified. Joe’s explanation will
allow me to more consciously utilize
the opportunities they present. I won’t
reveal the five elements here because
I think it is an important part of Joe’s
book. However, I think that any circus
act can benefit from considering them.
After the game section, Joe explains
how to take what you’ve learned and turn
it into something that can be performed.
He recommends that students take notes
about what they see and experience because
they can review those notes later
to discover a spark for a routine. Joe’s
solid advice for devising new material
includes tips for turning that material
into an actual performance. There are
consistent reminders and ideas for how
to better connect with your audience.
I think that a flaw of many clown curriculum
courses and books is that they
mainly focus on teaching makeup design,
makeup application, and costuming.
Clowns look good when they graduate,
but they don’t know how to entertain an
audience. Joe devotes just six of 262 pages
to the subject of clown appearance because
he wants students to avoid focusing
on that before they develop and understand
how they naturally play. This allows
them to evolve their appearance around
their character rather than the other way
around. Otherwise, they might lock into
a specific style of performance based on
how their clown character looks.
Although Joe directs his book at
clowns, other performers can use many
of the lessons to help them connect with
their audiences. Anyone who performs
as a group can apply his curriculum on
working together and supporting each
other as an act.
Joe has an impressive background. He
is a graduate of the Ringling Bros. and
Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He
has performed in the circus, and with
trios in the United States. He currently
lives in Europe where he performs solo
in festivals. I have seen some videos of
52 White Tops

his amazing performances in those settings.
In addition to his work with the
Clown Conservatory, Joe spent eight
years as a resident faculty member of
the Dell’Arte School. He has worked as
the physical theater director for many
stage productions, including productions
at Shakespeare’s Globe. In that role he
taught actors how to add physical comedy
to existing scripts.
I met Joe when we were both working
as staff at Clown Camp, a program that
Dr. Richard Snowberg founded in 1981,
located in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Over
five thousand students have enrolled
in the Clown Camp program to study
clowning through that program, and I
have enjoyed Joe’s Staff on Stage shows
whenever he has participated in one.
During the last three years of his life,
my father Bruce L. Johnson participated
in Clown Camp. My father was not a
clown, but he was a great supporter of
clowns. He loved the art and learned
a lot about it. He was one of my most
important sources for feedback. The second
year that Dad was at Clown Camp
was the first time that Joe was on staff.
It seemed like Joe and I were usually
teaching at the same time, so I didn’t
have the opportunity to attend many of
his classes. However, Dad went to some
of Joe’s classes and had several conversations
with him.
The following year, when Dad was
considering returning to Clown Camp,
the first question he asked me was, “Will
Joe be there again?” When I told him
that Joe was listed as a staff member, he
immediately decided to return in order
to spend more time with Joe. I can’t
think of a better endorsement.
I wish that everyone had the opportunity
to spend time with Joe and to see
him in performance. Reading this book
is the next best thing.
For anyone involved in teaching
clowning or other circus arts, this book
is an invaluable resource.
CIRCUS FANS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Board of Trustees Meeting on Zoom
Minutes of the Meeting • January 7, 2023
President Dan Kleintop called the CFA Board of Trustees meeting to order on Zoom
at 8:05 p.m. EST. A quorum was reached with two members absent. The board was
joined by two past presidents and the chairman of the finance committee.
In attendance were board members Dan Kleintop, Jack Dean, Jan Biggerstaff, Buddy
Calhoun, Bruce Hawley, Priscilla Johnson, Fred Pfening, Chris Schreiber, Pat Stevenson,
Tim Tegge, and April Zink, and appointed member secretary/treasurer Maxine House.
Guests included past presidents Pete Adams and Peter Wagner and the chairman of the
finance committee, Larry Sayler. Board members Bev Abderrahman and John Peters
were unable to attend. Vanessa Gagne had recently resigned as vice president.
Having greeted those assembled and given an invocation, Dan got to the first item of
business, a request for interview by the Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a video about
the recent signing of the Big Cat Public Safety Act into law. After a brief discussion, it
was decided to pass this along to Heidi Herriott who has an animal blog, and to some
of the animal trainers still in the business. Dan will draft a letter and send Maxine a
copy for the records
We then moved to the main reason for this meeting—the caption on the cover of the
October–December issue of White Tops. Dan said that he got feedback ranging from
“No big deal” to sheer anger. A long discussion followed with everyone expressing their
opinions and suggestions. Multiple solutions were offered.
Finally Jan Biggerstaff moved that “CFA terminate John and Mardi Wells’ agreement
of publishing the White Tops effective immediately and that a $2,000 stipend be paid
to the Wells upon release of all materials, including electronic, that are owned by the
Circus Fans Association and upon signing a provided release.” This was seconded by
Tim Tegge and passed with one abstention.
The discussion continued as to how to implement this. Dan volunteered to contact the
Wells the following morning. Dan will also write the apology to the Hanneford family
and the announcements for CFA members and for the CFA website and FaceBook. The
board will preview it. Fred Pfening, who lives near the Wells, volunteered to pick up the
materials from them.
In the meantime Jan and Tim will “cobble together” a supplemental issue of White
Tops. The suggestion to change the name was dismissed because it is of historic importance
to CFA as it reaches 100 years. Jan noted that there is plenty to put in that issue,
what with the change in editorship and the impending CFA elections.
Tim, Jan, and Maxine will print labels to cover the caption on remaining copies and
to send labels to the libraries who subscribe and already have their copies.
The impending elections was the last item on the agenda. We are behind schedule on
this. Five directors are up for reelection. All of them agreed to rerun. On May 1 Jack
Dean will move up to president. However, despite ads in White Tops, we lack candidates
for the offices of vice president and president elect. No one on the board wanted the job.
The search will go on.
Jan reminded the board about the new CFA brochure that she has designed and
recently sent to them. She asked for and got the board’s approval to print it.
At 10:04 p.m. EST the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Maxine House
Executive Secretary/Treasurer
Spring 2023 53

Wedding
Bells
By Maxine House
In Las Vegas
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FAMILY
Christian Stoinev married Sonia Perez in Las Vegas, NV, on
March 17, 2023, at a service attended by about seventy-five
of their families and friends. But the special guests were Percy and
Milo, the two chihuahuas who currently perform in Christian’s
hand-balancing act. In fact, they and their predecessors have performed
all over the world. Their most common venue recently has
been halftimes at NBA games!
Christian is the oldest son of Ivan Stoinev, an acrobat from
Bulgaria who joined the Blue Unit of Ringling in 1978 with the
Kehaiovi troupe teeterboard act renowned for the seven man high.
In 1987, he met Mariza Atayde—an aerialist on Circo Atayde
Hermanos—in Mexico. They married in 1988 and Ivan rejoined
Ringling for the Japan Farewell Trip of Gunther Gebel Williams.
Maritza was a show girl aerialist and worked with the elephants.
Christian was born in 1991 and his brother Christopher was
born in 1999. The boys grew up on circus lots—Ringling and later
the Big Apple Circus—learning gymnastic skills from their parents
from babyhood onward.
I met Christian in 2006 when he was a freshman in the One
Ring School House on the Big Apple Circus. At that time,
Christian was already performing a solo hand-balancing act with
Scooby, a Russian toy terrier, that Ivan had trained.
When Christian graduated, he went to Illinois State University.
His parents also left the Big Apple and took the job with the
Gamma Phi Circus at ISU. Thus, Christian could continue his
circus activities as he attended college. In the summers, he worked
such places as Circus Sarasota and the Tommy Bartlett Show in
Baraboo. He and Scooby even appeared on America’s Got Talent
twice and made it to the finals! By then, a chihuahua named
Prince had joined Christian’s act as an understudy.
As Scooby neared retirement and Prince took over the role,
Christian trained another chihuahua replacement, Percy. He has
since added Milo. One of the latter two dogs is always a part of
Christian’s act.
Sonia with Percy and Milo.
After graduating from college with a degree in communications,
Christian has pursued a career in performing.
Besides halftime performances at NBA games and other
sporting events, he performs at Spiegelworld’s Atomic
Saloon Show in Las Vegas, his new home. In fact, that’s
where he met Sonia four years ago. Their relationship continued
to grow and he proposed in Paris with the Eiffel
Tower in the background.
The rest is history, as they say. We wish him and his bride
a wonderful life together. In the meantime, you can follow
Christian, Percy, and Milo on Facebook!
54 White Tops

WANTED!
Circus Memorabilia of all types!
Posters – Paper – Photos
Wild West – Sideshow – Wardrobe
FREEDOM AUCTION COMPANY
941.725.2166
WWW.CIRCUSAUCTIONS.COM
Top: The bride and groom with Percy and Milo. Bottom: Christian with
his parents.
Spring 2023 55

Good Day, Bad Day
Good Day
“Call,” your wake-up time, is later than usual, at 6:30 a.m. The morning is cool and
dry. After some conversation and coffee at the cookhouse window, you go to your vehicle
and prepare for the rather short twenty-five-mile trip to the next town. A nearby
city provides a variety of radio stations to accompany you on the drive. The morning
is clear and bright. The arrows that guide the circus convoy are intact and easy to see.
You arrive in the new town before 8:00 a.m.
Word spreads across the lot where local circus fans are providing coffee, orange
juice, and doughnuts for the arriving circus employees. This event is not to be missed!
More conversation and coffee are enjoyed as you notice the mechanics arriving on the
lot. There were no breakdowns this morning, and necessities such as power and water
will all be on time.
After straightening your room the circus has provided, you make a few phone calls
and discover that you have a strong cell phone signal. You hear the generator start in
the distance, and show-provided electricity is turned on promptly at 9:00 a.m.
You decide to walk downtown and are pleased to see large crowds gathering for this
morning’s tent raising. The day promises to be financially good for the circus. After
some necessary shopping, you return to the lot at 11:00 a.m., just in time for lunch in
the cookhouse. The workers have just finished erecting the tent and seats. All props
are in place, and the performers’ entrance stands proudly behind the forty-foot ring.
The combination of freshly cut grass and big top vinyl are becoming a familiar smell.
After lunch, you practice a new act in the big top. One hour a day, five days a week,
you practice and hope to have a new act ready before the year is over. A nap follows
practice and then a shower in preparation for the day’s two performances at 4:30 and
7:30. You are pleased to discover that today’s water pressure is unusually strong.
The shows are well attended, and the audiences are not afraid to show their appreciation
for the performers. Tonight’s dinner in the cookhouse is one of your favorite
meals. A warm, dry day gives way to a cool, dry night. The generators are silenced
after the show, and all you can hear are the horses grazing nearby. A favorite book
is enjoyed by battery-powered light, and you are soon fast asleep before 11:00 p.m.
Bad Day
By John Moss
Today’s call is early. An eighty-mile trip means it comes at 5:30 a.m. Heavy rains
the previous day created a sea of mud, and last night, following the 7:30 performance,
large farm tractors pulled the show vehicles to a nearby paved parking lot. This bizarre
ritual of chains connecting John Deere green to circus red and yellow continued into
the early morning hours. You patiently waited in the cab of a circus pickup truck,
unsure if you should be inside your room while it is being towed. At 2:00 a.m., your
“sleeper” arrived in the parking lot with its exterior covered in mud.
After just three hours of sleep, you hear the diesel truck engines outside coming to
life one by one. As you are falling out the door of your compartment, you realize you
did not put your steps down when the sleeper arrived a few hours ago. “I will remember,”
you said to yourself just hours ago. Limping away, you go in search of coffee. A
myriad of mud-covered circus trucks are scattered across a large wet parking lot. This
is not the orderly layout that you are accustomed
to on dry mornings. You have
difficulty finding the cookhouse, and
when you do, you see steam rising from a
large dark puddle outside the door. That
would have been your coffee had you
arrived just one minute sooner. “You’re
too late!” yells the cook as he secures the
steps and door for the morning’s journey.
You set out to find the vehicle you ride
in each morning. It is not in its usual
place, either. The rain begins falling
again, and before you can find your vehicle,
you are thoroughly soaked. Eighty
miles in the rain is two hours of wet
clothes, windshield wipers waving, and
the defroster on high. During the drive,
you pass a disabled circus vehicle on
the side of the road. A raised hood and
smoke coming from the engine tell you
that the breakdown is serious. Twenty
miles further, you pass your sleeper. It too
is on the side of the road with a blowout.
It’s nothing major, but show mechanics
will be late getting to it because of the
previous, more serious breakdown.
After a few wrong turns due to missing
arrows that were blown down in
the wind and rain, you arrive in that
day’s town and join the entire fleet of
mud-covered trucks in a Walmart parking
lot. You learn from others that today’s
lot is under water. Circus officials and the
local sponsor are desperately looking for
another location. Of course, the sponsor
has failed to arrange for the required secondary
lot because the weather had been
perfect until yesterday.
A nearby McDonald’s cannot understand
the sudden line that forms and
the many languages being spoken within
that line. Circus employees wander
into the Walmart and return with bags
of food, clothing, and housewares. The
cookhouse manager, realizing that the
56 White Tops

day’s schedule will be hectic, fills four
shopping carts full of provisions and pays
a four-figure bill in cash. As cashiers are
kept busy, a fuming Walmart manager
roams the parking lot in search of the
one in charge. It’s futile. He walks away
defeated, threatening to call the police
if the caravan of trucks is not moved
immediately.
Rumors spread that the shows may be
canceled, and you begin to envision a day
with no shows, which hasn’t occurred in
nine weeks. Further rumors are that advance
ticket sales are good, and the circus
cannot cancel. An ideal lot has been
found—the paved parking lot behind
the local high school. After another hour
of waiting, you learn that one official
with the school system will not give the
needed approval. It is believed that the
official is an animal activist.
Another hour passes, and you learn
that the trucks will soon be leaving for
an abandoned rock quarry three miles
outside town. You have yet to see the
mechanics or your sleeper arrive. At
11:30 a.m., you arrive at the quarry.
Workers are frantically driving in stakes,
and everyone is in a hurry. Your sleeper
arrives at noon and is last in line behind
a long column of performers’ trailers.
Most of them have no show power because
piles of debris on the new lot have
caused a very unusual layout. When you
try to take a shower, you discover that
the freshwater storage tank is empty, and
like the electric cables, the water hoses
will not reach your sleeper.
This is Saturday, and the first show is
scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., just forty-five
minutes away. A bucket bath will
have to suffice.
At showtime, you discover that the
running order of the show has changed
due to the large rocks littering the circus
grounds. This makes being on time
difficult, and you cannot hear the show
music from your sleeper at the end of
the long column. Show music is your
measurement of time while the show is
underway.
During the 5:30 performance, word
spreads that the show will move on to
tomorrow’s town immediately after the
show. More rain and difficult traffic were
expected. At 8:30 p.m., you leave the
quarry en route to the next town. After a
few more wrong turns, you arrive in the
new town just behind the mechanics.
Surprisingly, the lot is not too bad. It
has sustained the rains that have been
falling for the last two days. At 11:00
p.m., you crawl into bed and realize that
your day started three towns ago. Three
towns ago? Yes. Although you performed
in only one, the day has encompassed
three towns. You are exhausted.
That is a bad day! You’ve been warned.
In spite of the bad days, most of us cannot
imagine a life lived anywhere else
other than the circus.
John Moss is a former Ringmaster on
the Carson Barnes, L.E. Barnes, and Kelly
Miller circuses, and the Box Office Treasurer
on the Big Apple Circus. This essay was
sent to new performers with no tent show
experience who were considering a year of
working “under the Big Top.”
Checkerboard Laughter
By Danise Payne
I played with zeedonks and danced with pachyderms in a once-upon-a-dream.
There was a man shot from a cannon,
A woman three feet tall,
And those who hid faces in cream.
I walked a wire suspended in air and swung from a bar on a self-imposed dare.
I lived on a train—a beautiful train—and travelled to and fro.
These are the facts as I lived them.
Oh, how I loved it so!
Pack-away thoughts and portable words.
Checkerboard laughter and polka dot birds.
Oh, woebegone me.
Unbind the trapped yearning of a faraway goal.
Loose the freedom buried within my soul.
Denise Payne toured with Ringling's red and blue units, plus five other circuses.
She is the author of the memoir Elbows in My Ears.
Spring 2023 57

Circus clown props shown at the RBBC Clown College.
By Ron Severini
It was said, that when Mr. Irvin Feld and his brother Israel Feld purchased
“The Greatest Show on Earth” in 1967, there were only thirteen circus
clowns remaining in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ clown
alley. It was jokingly quipped that those thirteen clowns could professionally
fall down, but it was questionable if they could get back up again. This
remaining group of clowns averaged sixty-five years of age. The future of
the American circus clown was in jeopardy. With the new Ringling owners
having future plans to quickly grow their circus, including adding a completely
new second touring unit, something had to be done to perpetuate
the art and craft of circus clowning.
A brilliant new idea was created and put into place. As a result of brainstorming
between the Felds and several of the remaining veteran circus
clowns, a training program was crafted and put in place. With the help
and support of master clowns Otto Griebling, Lou Jacobs and Bobby Kay,
as well as another wonderful veteran tramp clown, Danny Chapman, the
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College was established. It
held its first session in the fall of 1968. These veteran master clowns became
Clown Alley: the Blue Unit in 1976.
the first instructors at the college. This world-famous
program was considered by many as the ultimate
clown boot camp.
Clown College was established as a tuition-free
program, so any interested American candidate
could apply without concern of affordability.
Applicants needed to submit an extensive application
form, designed specifically to give the
admissions directors a clear understanding of the
applicant’s psychological well-being, interests,
health, seriousness, and previous experience. Live
open auditions were conducted along the circus’
annual route. These auditions were an efficient
way to generate interest in the Clown College as
well as aid the admissions representatives in meeting
the candidates in person. The public relations
coverage was also fabulous and helped to spread
awareness about this new
clown training program and
the circus in many of the cities
where the circus was appearing.
Now, with this new opportunity,
interest from both male and
females swept across America.
Young adults having a sincere
interest and desire in running
away and joining the circus as
a clown could actually apply.
As many as six thousand applications
were received annually
by the enrollment office. It was
established that there would be
a maximum of sixty students
accepted each year, and one
session per year would be conducted.
The competition was
fierce. An applicant’s chances
58 White Tops

Blast from the past: The RBBB Clown College Class of 1982 poses for their graduation photo.
of acceptance were one in a hundred. The
program started off as an eight-week
program and eventually grew to a full
eleven-week intensive course of study.
Classes were conducted six days a week,
eight to twelve hours per day. The program
included classes in basic clowning,
the teaching of traditional clown routines,
circus skills (acrobatics, juggling,
stilt walking, and unicycle), makeup,
costuming, and all facets of visual comedy
from Chaplin to Keaton and the
Three Stooges to Warner Bros. cartoons.
Most of all, the program was devoted
to the creation of new clowns and new
clown gags that could eventually be incorporated
into the Ringling shows. In
a sense, Clown College acted as a think
tank for clowning at the Greatest Show
on Earth in terms of comic material, as
well as clever new makeup designs, costuming,
and character definition. For the
students, the ultimate goal was to secure
a year-long circus contract upon graduation.
Contracts were only offered to the
funniest and the best of the students.
The Clown College program was in fact
an extended audition for the Greatest
Show on Earth. Audiences of varying
ages were invited in to experience the
final graduation performance, as well as
media photographers, TV cameras, radio
interviewers, and newspaper interviewers.
This was all to prepare each graduate
awarded a season-long contract to be
ready for real life on the circus.
Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey
Clown College ran for thirty years
(1968–1997). It produced some of the
greatest circus clowns to ever perform
within the show in the latter part of the
twentieth century. Some graduates stayed
as a clown for many years, while others
were promoted to alternate positions
within the company. Some found that
clowning just wasn’t for them, and they
left after their one-year commitment
was completed. It was a show business
milestone. Some of the more illustrious
alumni include Penn Jillette (from Penn
& Teller); theatrical comedic genius Bill
Irwin; Academy Award nominated actor
David Strathairn; Murray Horwitz, the
creative force behind the hit musical,
Ain’t Misbehavin’; Steven Glover, better
known as Steve-O from MTV’s Jackass
fame; Oscar-winning makeup artist
Spring 2023 59

Steve LaPorte; and the list could continue
for many pages. The program eventually
catapulted the careers of many other
very prominent artists in show business,
including producers, directors, writers,
set designers, as well as comedy jugglers,
comedy magicians, and stand-up comedians.
It is certainly a highlighted item
on every alumni resume!
In its heyday, there were as many as a
hundred fifty clowns employed annually
by Ringling projects around the world.
This total included thirty clowns on the
Ringling Red Unit; thirty clowns on the
Ringling Blue Unit; twenty clowns on
the Ringling Gold Unit in Japan; twenty
clowns at Ringling Bros. Circus World
in Haines City, Florida; twelve clowns
performing at music and circus festivals
around the country; thirty clowns
appearing in the summer months at
Disneyland’s Circus Fantasy; and twenty
clowns returning to teach at Ringling
Bros. Clown College each fall.
I was lucky enough to be accepted as
a student and a graduate of the 1971
Ringling Bros. Clown College. In 1978, I
became the very first graduate to become
the Clown College’s Dean and Director.
Clown College was originally located in
Venice, Florida, the home of Ringling
Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s winter
quarters. When Ringling Bros. left
Venice in the 1990s, following a dispute
over the local railroad, Clown College
moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin, home
of the Circus World Museum, which is
Top: Clown legend Lou Jacobs teaches “levitation.” Bottom: The inimitable Otto Griebling instructs
students in the art of fancy footwork.
First Clown College diploma, 1958.
Bev “Rebo” Bergeron teaches at Clown College,
November 1982.
60 White Tops

Below: On a break from unicycle
class. Right top: Warming up—
and clowning around—before
class. Right bottom: A full house
awaits their next Clown College
lecture.
Clown College bus.
Above: Detail of artwork from the
1973 Clown College diploma.
Below: Detail of text from the
Clown College diploma.
located on the site of the original Ringling Bros. Circus’
winter quarters. Clown College eventually relocated to
Sarasota until it closed in 1997. Its deans were Mel
Miller (1968), Bill Ballantine (1969–1977), Sandy and
Ron Severini (1978–1983), Ron Severini (1984), Steve
Smith (1985–1995), Rob Mermin and
Dick Monday (1995), and Dick Monday
(1996–1997). In 1988 and 1989, there
was also Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Clown College Japan, located in
Tokyo. Clown College was known as the
greatest visual comedic training program
ever developed in the twentieth century
to find and train funny men and women
in the ancient and honorable art form of
clowning and visual comedy.
Irvin Feld died in 1984, and the
College passed into the hands of Irvin’s
son, Kenneth. Kenneth Feld became
the producer of the Greatest Show
on Earth, and ultimately the CEO of
Feld Entertainment. Ringling operated
Clown College through 1997, when it
eventually closed. During those thirty
years of operation, it graduated a very select
group of only 1,400 students. If not
for Mr. Irvin Feld’s original idea, there
would never have been a Ringling Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.
As I have always said, Mr. Feld was a
man with limited eyesight but amazing
vision! As far as I am concerned, all the
graduates of Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey Clown College, as well as
Clowning in America, owe an enormous
debt to this visionary! He absolutely
loved clowns and loved Clown College.
He always worked tirelessly to make the
program the greatest it could be!
Ron Severini is the author of Ringling
Remembered: Through the Eyes of a
Circus Clown, from which this story is
excerpted, with additional photos from Mr.
Severini’s collection. You can find his book on
Amazon. For more stories, visit his blog at
www.theSeveriniCompany.com.
Spring 2023 61

Pictures
from the
Past
The Mighty Haag Circus is shown here in a circa 1936 photograph with Fetaque Sanders (1915–1992) atop the camel near the center of the scene. Sanders
later became the leading African American Magician in the United States, retiring to his home in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1958. He joined the troupe on the
advice of another Black magician, Leon Long (Leon DeLeon), who told him the circus would round out his show business education. The management of
Mighty Haag Circus put a turban on the light-skinned youth and billed him as Feta Sajii. After one season, he left the circus and began playing segregated
schools and churches in an ever-broadening territory. In summer, he performed tableside magic at the leading “sepia” nightclubs in Washington, D.C.,
Chicago, and New York City, working in clubs with Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, and other famous musicians. For the rest of his life Sanders recalled his
season with the circus—the performances and the parades, riding behind the elephants on a camel—with great fondness. COLLECTION OF SAMUEL PATRICK
SMITH
62 White Tops

Spring 2023 63

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE CIRCUS FANS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Spring 2023

Edith Johnston Memorial Fund
2023 Grant Application
A bequest by the late Edith Shrimplin Johnston was used to establish
a trust from which earnings would be used for grants to
circus-oriented organizations engaged in circus activities.
The application form for the 2023 grants can be found below.
This is the only issue of The White Tops that will contain this grant
application. Be sure to include along with the completed form:
1. The proposed use of the funds
2. The names of two members of your board of directors
3. The mission statement of your organization
4. The name of your member who is an active member of
CFA, and their CFA membership number
5. Eight copies of all materials are required.
Based on the 2022 earnings from the principal holdings,
approximately $10,000 will be the total available for the 2023
grants. Since 2000 over $58,000 in grant funds have been
awarded.
The voting members of the EJMF Board are:
Jan Biggerstaff
Tim Bessignano
Jim Fry
Diane Jones
Pat Stevenson
John Wiler
and the current CFA President and immediate Past President.
These eight members evaluate the requests. They will make
the final determination as to eligibility and the amount to be
awarded. Approved grants will be awarded before the end of
the year.
If you organization qualifies, send in your grant request now.
Don’t wait. The deadline of August 31, 2023 will be strictly adhered
to.

2 White Tops

Winter 2023 3

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