The Schaffner Players

Fair, The Farm Progress Show (four times), The Waterloo Dairy Cattle Congress (Iowa), Farmfest USA (Mankato, Minnesota), The Mid-South Fair (Memphis, Tennessee), Spirit of America Fair (Saratoga, New York), Heart of America Fair (Peoria, Illinois), The Orange County California County Fair, and The National Winnebago Convention. They performed every year at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mount Pleasant.

Juanita was expecting her third child during the summer of 1973. She did not plan to perform, but did the ticket sales and bookkeeping. Darren, their two year old, had the mumps. While performing in New Sharon, tornado sirens sounded. The family went to the basement of a nearby house for safety. Jeanie was with Darren in the enclosed space, and it soon became apparent that Jeanie had the mumps. She had to leave the company, and Juanita had to perform ingénue roles while eight months pregnant.

The company performed at the Spirit of America Fair in Saratoga, New York, in 1974. Jimmy as Toby appeared as the fair’s “Ambassador of Good Will.” He served as emcee for the grandstand show and introduced performers including Tony