A Mudshow Season

Thursday, July 9th. Waconia, MN. 25 miles. Grass, fairgrounds, chance of rain.
Good presale in a town where CM has had some excellent days. This is the suburban Twin Cities so the first shoppers were off for Mall of America by 10:30. Been thinking a lot about small show, small town circuses lately – the kind of show that CM was in it’s early seasons... turning a profit with domestic labor and seats for 300 people. Of course scrounging for equipment for small shows is the easy part, it’s financing booking a show, insurance, the advance, and getting it down the road when it first opens that’s so costly. You can neither succeed nor fail until it's open and moving.

Wednesday July 8th. Arlington, MN. 65 miles. Grass, fairgrounds, overcast then clear.
Reasonable presale and two respectable shows. Economy is reflected more in the per caps than in box office. Circus fan Chris Grieder came by the show. He’s on his way to Wisconsin for the Great Circus Parade this weekend.

Tuesday July 7th. Springfield MN. 38 miles. Grass lot.
Good presale and business for the early show. Second show delayed by storms. Weather looked so severe at one point, the crew actually pulled the seats from the bigtop for a quick tear down. Second show was wet, but no wind.

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Quiet 4th of July holday weekend. Grass lots. Warm to hot weather. Jumps 85 miles to Emmetsburg, IA, then 75 miles to Truman, MN. Tosay, 50 miles to Windom, MN. Weather this week, temps in the 80's with a chance of thunderstorms most days.

George, IA. 55 miles. Overcast, cooler, showers. Grass/gravel lot. Circus kicks off the 125th anniversary of the founding of George -- taking place over this holiday weekend. Strong presale, though rain could dampen gate. Always worth remembering that while the 4th of July is Independence Day in the US, the days leading leading up to the holiday mark the anniversay of Gettysburg -- one of history's bloodiest battles where in 1863 we almost tore ourselves apart. There were plenty of Iowa volunteers in that war.

Spirit Lake, IA. 55 miles. Sunny, hot. Grass lot.

Brent "Cheeko" Dewitt longtimes CM clown was waiting on the lot in Spirit Lake. Fresh from Zoppe and Flora he'll be presenting his unicorn sideshow on the midway for awhile. Strong presale and nice crowds. Iowa business good so far. My son Robin who has traveled with the show since opening leaves on Saturday for a five week stay in Pennsylvania and New York.

Sheldon, IA. 45 miles. Grass. Sunny. Very hot.

Nice short jump. CM always does fair business here. I've been following the news of the military coup in Honduras closely. Lived and worked in Honduras oh-so-long-ago and in recent years it has appeared that the threat of government by coup in Latin America was finally a thing of the past. The dusk to dawn curfew in place is tough on the little circuses from Salvador that are popular in Honduras. Generally a show will set up and stay in a small town or city for as long as a week, but if they can't perform they will literally stay put until they have enough fuel money to move again. Zoo in Tegucigalpa used to do a lot of animal trading with shows looking for fuel money after a tough stretch. Got a polar bear that way.

Tues. Hawarden, IA. 60 miles. Grass, gravel. Sunny. Perfect circus day.

Nice lot, nice town, good presale. Tomorrow Sheldon, IA

Luverne, MN. 95 miles. Grass. Sunny, warm.

A quick jump into MN before a handful of Iowa dates.

Usual VERY comprehensive MN electrical inspection.

Six years ago on a reservation in South Dakota a stray dog jumped into the cab of Trey Key’s truck. He was thin and covered with ticks. X-rays later suggested that he’d been shot with birdshot more than once during a lifetime of misadventures. A vet said he was between six and twelve years old, best guess. Last night on our final evening in South Dakota in 2009 “George” died after a long illness. I suppose I could speculate on whether he held on until he could see “home” one more time, but that would sound pretty silly. He was a trouper till the end. He was a good dog who didn’t bother elephants or get into the towner’s garbage. He was loved and he’ll be missed.

Shadows are fallin’ and I’m running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile

If I leave you it doesn’t mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile

When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile

There’s a train leavin’ nightly for when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile.

Warren Zevon

Sunday June 28th. Jefferson, SD. 115 miles. Grass. Sunny.

Last South Dakota date. After incredible business from California through Wyoming, South Dakota has been a letdown. Hoping things pick up in Iowa and MN.

The world is remembering Michael Jackson, but the news today that cable TV product pitchman Billy Mays is dead at 50 comes as a shocker. Anybody who grew up around midways or the Jersey boardwalks knows just how slick a good pitchman really is. Billy Mays, who came out of western New York was maybe the best of his generation.

Saturday. Salem, SD. 150 miles. Dirt. Humid.

Last minute lot change. Original lot was too wet. This one is tight and dirty. Quiet town.

Friday. Miller, SD. 70 miles. Grass. Very hot.

The extreme heat this week in South Dakota has depressed business. Sparsely attended shows. With another very long jump on Saturday morning we're hoping for cooler weather for the weekend.

Thursday. Chamberlain, SD. 160 miles. Grass, hot.

Beyond the badlands and the plains across the Missouri into corn country and the Central Time Zone. The upper midwest, heartland to traditional circus at least as far back as the Orton show out of Iowa before the Civil War, Yankee Robinson's shows based in Illinois, and the many early Badger State circuses that called Delevan home. We have almost reached our summer grounds.