Shepherdstown

The Circus

Saturday afternoon we packed up the girls and headed to the Berkley 2000 Recreation Center in Martinsburg. What better way to spend a quality afternoon with the grandkids than at a circus?


The Walker Brothers Circus had all the shopping opportunities that you find at these entertainment events. A variety of balloons and fiber optic toys were available at "unreasonable" prices.



What is a circus without food? Flora went to the concession stand and purchased 2 cotton candies, 1 bottled water, 1 popcorn, and two lemonades. She came back and gave her Mom the change. She proudly announced that all this costs only 17 dollars!!




In addition to the gourmet offerings, how else could parents be relieved of their hard earned money? The circus does not want to disappoint so they had available pony rides for only 4 dollars. Yes, the kids were able to ride on a "REAL CIRCUS PONY"! The ride was two trips around the circus ring. Below we see equestrian Flora showing off her riding skills.

The circus clown, Lucho, served as the resident face painter. Rachael, who has always had this fear of clowns, decided that this guy was cute and would take him home!

Another entertainment venue was the "bouncey castle". The girls did bounce in this exciting structure. (Exciting because it periodically deflated when kids were in mid-bounce!)

The performers were the typical acrobats, jugglers, and cylinder balancers that are usually offered in a small circus.

The only animal act was the "REAL CIRCUS" ponies. I thank PETA for helping eliminating from the small family circuses the elephants, lions, and othe exotics - these animals are often abused and live in dire surroundings. (OK- the ponies are not covered by the USDA public exhibitor's license - a license to exhibit animals under the Animal Welfare Act. It excludes horses, ponies and cold-blooded animals.)

Speaking once again of the "REAL CIRCUS PONY" rides. The circus had a 15 minute intermission were you could once again get your face painted, ride the ponies, hop in the castle, or buy a special intermission commemorative balloon and coloring book. Grandma helped Lucy on her first "REAL CIRCUS PONY" ride.

It was a fun afternoon!