Capitol Update By Joan Galvin, OABA Government Relations Consultant
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or circus fans everywhere, an exciting event took place this year on the National Mall in Washington, DC as part of the Smithsonian Institute’s annual Folklife Festival. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, this year’s Folklife Festival was a celebration of circus arts and culture and drew children of all ages from across the globe to our nation’s capitol. Featured prominently was the easily-recognizable Circus Sarasota big top, provided by Dolly Jacobs and Pedro Reis, directors of the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC). Performances by wellknown U.S.-based youth circuses such as Circus Juventas, Sarasota’s Sailor Circus (part of the CAC) and Circus Harmony took place both under the big top and at various performance venues along the mall. Storytelling, circus arts demonstrations (including trapeze), clown makeup workshops and interactive discussions
drew visitors into the magical world of the circus and its transformative impact on art and culture. While today’s circus community faces many challenges — rising costs, competition from modern entertainment choices and, of course, the incessant and uninformed shrillness of animal rights
activists — one thing remains crystal clear: circus still has an amazing power to connect people to one another, as evidenced by the crowd’s response to the performers and performances. And what better setting than Washington, DC during the week when we celebrated America’s birthday! H
World Circus Federation founding director Laura Van der meer at the Smithsonian circus festival.
2017 Circus Fund
Kathleen Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000 Forepaugh-Lubin Tent No. 2, CFA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 National Showmens Association, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Paul Gutheil – in fond memory of Johnny Welde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Felix Adler-Paul Binder Tent No. 12, CFA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Bill & Chris Schreiber – in memory of Johnny Welde, bear trainer, circus man & friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Kenneth Fake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Robert K. Momyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 James Rittle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 TOTAL
$2,175
To contribute to the Circus Fund, make your check payable and send to: OABA Circus Fund, 1035 S. Semoran Blvd., Ste. 1045A, Winter Park, FL 32792 It is important that we maintain this fund so we are able to hire professionals to assist with challenges such as legislation that threaten our members’ businesses. Please consider and make your contributions to this very important resource pool. Feel free to be creative such as matching dollars, innovative fundraisers, endowments and memorials, to name a few. Another option is to designate a percentage or daily amount of your ride operation to be set aside for this important fund. AUGUST 2017 | OABA ShowTime Magazine H
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