I have never felt the importance of what I do as a clown so strongly, as the night we attended the Celebration of Life. I was there trying to help brighten the day of those in attendance, but I left knowing that I was the one that had been blessed. Thank you for that opportunity. I will always remember that day.
Many of my memories center around the high level of caring and sharing and the goodness of the human spirit that I see so much in the people at camp, and how those things have changed and touched my life. I remember once, my first year, sitting in a wardrobe class that Betty Cash was teaching. She was an icon, something to which I could aspire, so knowledgeable, so experienced. Sheesh! I was too new to know what I didn’t know! Someone interrupted her to ask her a question, something fairly simple that I learned in 4H sewing class! She stopped, looked directly at the person, gave a throrough explanation of why and how and where and did so with such encouragement and gentleness that I’ve remembered her manner always. It made me feel that she really wanted him to succeed, wanted US to succeed.
If I had to pick the single thing that affected my growth as a clown and taught me to ‘get over myself’ it would have to be watching Lou Jacobs. I had arrived for my week at camp with my various sundries and regalia of makeup and application paraphernalia and my 3-way magnified, lighted make-up mirror. Princess that I was, I could not be expected to make up with less. Lou had joined us for the first time that year and …he was BIG. He was, in my head, beyond reality and the closest thing to a legend that I would ever see. I went to watch him apply make-up. He had before him a pole on a tripod contraption of some sort to which was affixed a small (probably about 5 X 7) mirror. He stood there before us, a sweet unassuming little old man…who cracked a joke or two, smiled a lot, and deftly converted his into the most famous clown face in the world….and I thought ‘if he can do this at the age of 84 and without his glasses, who am I to be fussing over whether I have power handy for my lighted mirror! It was a true lesson in humility and simplification.
Randy Munson was conducting a pyrotechnics class in the tent in front of Wimberly Hall and he had a real elaborate system of cables…with safety switches and keys everywhere. The safety systems worked better than the pyro. He was never able to set off any squibbs during the entire class…BUT…one day at Whitney Food Center…during lunch…at the times when various Alleys performed there…Randy’s alley was doing some sort of skit…and Randy had planted a squib on the salad bar. This time it DID go off. Too Well. It set off the fire alarm and summoned the LaCrosse Fire Department. The funny part was Randy standing on top of the serving counter trying to stuff rags into the fire alarm to quiet it down. We could always count on the unusual from Randy. (This story contributed by Barry DeChant)
At the WCA 1997 Convention in Peoria Richard asked me if, on my way to Clown Camp, I would be willing to pick someone up and bring them with me. Being fat, dumb and ugly I answered – Who & Where. His answer brought fear to my heart. Nola Ray at the Chicago O’Hare Airport!
Nola Rae!! International Mime Artist!!! Featured staff member!!!! He would entrust such precious cargo to me! And a question-How do you talk to a mime for five hours?
I told him before he made such an important decision he needed to know a few things about me. First, I had never been to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and anything that had the name Chicago and involved driving scared me to death. Second, I am easily lost. My kids say, “Travel with mom and see the world.” If she didn’t mind possibly visiting Indiana or Michigan before Wisconsin, I ‘d give it a try. Being the brave clown that he is-Richard said, “Go for it.”
On the appointed June morning I actually found O’Hare Airport and the correct terminal without getting lost! Lookin’ good! We didn’t know each other so I came prepared. As the passengers came out I held up my “Nola Rae” sign as I had seen done in countless movies. There are a lot of people who come through those doors! Finally a tiny sprite of a lady came through the doors and looked around. Her face lit up with a big smile as she saw my sign and she began talking. Yes-Mimes do talk!
When we got in the car I explained about being directionally impaired and we began out Great Adventure. As we drove around the airport roads we both tried to decipher the signs and arrows looking for one that said Route 90 – West – to Wisconsin. We found one that said Chicago and I explained – No Way – I’m not going there! We circled the entire airport and came to a dead end. I was lost INSIDE the airport!
We turned around in a lot reserved for limos and cabs waiting their turn to pick up passengers. We smiled and waved and laughed a lot. In desperation I took the Chicago exit. At least we would be out of the airport! Duh! Just past that exit there was the sign, Route 90 – West – to Wisconsin. We were on our way.
The rest of our trip to LaCrosse was really uneventful. Nola was delightful and funny. She has a really wicked sense of humor as anyone who has seen her perform knows. We did stop at the Cracker Barrel for lunch and I introduced her to turnip greens. She said she had never eaten leaves before but they were quite good.
I had a wonderful week at Camp and Nola stole everyone’s heart and left them with sore muscles. I actually got her back to O’Hare on time-first try-and found my way back out.
You know, now that I think about it, the next year she flew right into LaCrosse. I wonder why? Robin “Jingles” Estes
When Lou Jacobs was on staff at Clown Camp, he was staying at a hotel in down town La Crosse. Every night we would drive him to his hotel, making sure he got in his room safely and we would return the next morning to pick him up. One night Leon and Linda McBryde, Lou, Dee and I (Don Burda) were returning Lou to the hotel when he asked me if I could stop somewhere for him to get something to eat. He said he was very hungry. So I informed him that since it was almost 10:00 p.m. we could stop anywhere that was open depending on what he wanted to eat. Well, he quickly informed me that he wanted a circus steak. I looked at Leon with a puzzled look, but Leon quickly told me that we could fulfill Lou’s request, so after driving a few blocks, Leon asked me to pull into a Dairy Queen which was just down the street. I inquired if they would have such an item on their menu and Leon informed me that they would. So we parked the car and all of us walked into the Dairy Queen and Lou immediately walked up to the counter and ordered two circus steaks. Well, everyone behind the counter started to look at each other with puzzled looks on their faces, so after a few seconds, Lou said, “Well, I guess you call them hot dogs.” So after they took his order, the rest of us all ordered something to eat or drink and we all sat down with Lou. I looked around the room and saw that it was filled with customers and about six or seven children were running around the room hiding between the tables. It was at that point that I came to the sad realization that we had Lou Jacobs, one of the greatest clowns that ever lived, eating two hot dogs, (excuse me, circus steaks), sitting among all these people. And yet none of these children or adults having their late night snacks would ever know or realize who was in their presence that one night at the La Crosse, Wisconsin Dairy Queen.