I have a very memorable story that is actually an excerpt that I have in “One day I received a telephone call from Michael Jackson’s manager. had the circus in town at the Meadowlands Arena, and Michael want- ed to come over to see the show. wearing a hat, a beard, gloves and heavy make-up. Even then, rumors about his plastic surgery followed him around. I didn’t believe them, smooth, like glass, without a pore on his face. But even more unusual He edged his way into a seating area to get a closer look at the per-
For 146 years of The Greatest Show On Earth. By R.V. Baugus
back to the suite. Once inside, he pointed and wanted to know who a particular person was performing in the show; it was a small clown I didn’t fully understand what he was talking about.
When you are known by a slogan or motto without saying your actual Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is big-time, and has been for the curtain this May following the company’s announcement of the clos- ing of The Greatest Show On Earth. for their dedication through the decades in bringing the spectacle of circus to IAVM member venues from coast to coast, we say THANK members who were fortunate to have the circus come to town. FM
used to have. Working at the West Palm Beach Auditorium from 1995- big cast and crew party at night. They would then have a grand cele-
- Earth and to have the opportunity to wish everyone a very fond fare- well! Witnessing the birth of tiger cubs in our exhibit hall, the happy faces of the children interacting with the clowns, and the incredible feats of amazement will stay with us forever. We are honored to have Center, Worcester, MA
3 30 Facility Manager Magaziner Magazingazin Faca illi yManagerMagazine acilityM n ne
This was alarming, but I didn’t know if I should take him seriously. I thought to myself, We stopped selling people a long time ago. Instead, I answered: - ed. I never thought much about the clown, or Michael for that matter, demise. I was watching the news reports about his death and one pho- to of him featured Michu standing by his side. I could not believe what I was seeing and I immediately remembered the day Michael had in- PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
I have been in the business since 1974 and have many circus stories, including these two from the Long Beach Arena. In 1976, we had the trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams with a forklift to load the canvas tents on to trucks. He was riding on the back of the lift and guiding me to lift the tents into the carts. As I was backing up I came into the elephant zone where one of the elephants wrapped its trunk around my neck and speaking in German got the elephant to let go. In 1978 we had to babysit 14 Bengal tigers for a week that were
the handler to hook up the cages and move them out to be fed and hosed down twice daily. I got to know them all by name and they got to
I entered the industry in 1959 at the Greenville (SC) Memorial Au- ditorium. I was 12 years old and went to work as a vendor for enter- worked in the venue. There were 13 performances and I recall how enamored I was with the complexity of the event. Beside the vendors’ commissary on the lower level of the venue was the opening of the huge freight lift where the animals went back and forth to the three performance rings. The portable dressing rooms were also next to the
THANK YOU
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