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The Circus is
Coming
By Sharon Hopper
I am just 5 years old and my dad comes into my room before daylight and
says “get up or we will be late”. Then I remember that this is the day
that the train is bringing the circus to town and dad and grandpa are
taking me to watch them unload and watch the parade from the train to
the fairgrounds.
I am hurrying to get dressed and into the car so we can pick up grandpa
and get down to the rail station to see the circus unload. And it is
raining. “Dad will they still have the parade in the rain?” I ask and
he laughs and says “Sure Will”. Grandpa says “ I already have the
tickets for The Greatest Show on Earth and you little girl will
remember this day for the rest of your life.”
Today I am much older and I have seen the Ringling Bros circus several
times and visited their winter home in Florida. The last time I saw the
circus live was in Daytona Beach and we took my grandmother to see the
circus and she was a mere 90 years old and the biggest kid there. Last
night I cried a bit as I watched the final performance on streaming TV.
And I was amazed at how the circus has changed from the hey day of its
time. Because of the activists there were no elephants, or big cats,
and the clowns seemed to be really working rather than having fun.
I remember petting the elephants and even feeding them peanuts. But
what I marveled most at was the work they did to put the big circus
tent up. Oh yea! That was in the day when the circus played under the
“big top” in all weather conditions and after the show was over
everyone got busy, packed up the gear, and the Elephants following
orders from their trainers lowered the circus tent and readied those
large poles for the circus train to do it all over again the next day.
I could see last night that the circus along with many other things had
reached the point of extinction in our society. For some strange reason
we do not appreciate the work and dedication of artists who try their
level best to entertain and thrill us. We have become complacent to the
live performance that is sometimes off perfection because it is done by
real human people in real human time. I do not know of any human who is
100% all the time. But I do remember going to the circus. I liked
seeing the side shows, and being thrilled and feeling very lucky to
have had such a privilege. The Circus like many things will be missed
for a time and then forgotten.
Life changes. Not always for the best but it changes and we have to
adapt ourselves to new things and new ways. But it is fun to remember
that once upon a time we had so much fun right in our own backyards. My
backyard at the time was Mansfield, Ohio. Not a big city, but an
everyday city and that is where the Greatest Show on Earth played and
gave the Greatest Show on Earth.
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