YESTERDAY'S TOWNS

HOWDY, MY NAME IS BILL STRONG, I'LL BE YOUR "24 HOUR MAN", ROUTING YOU INTO THE PAST TO SEE WHAT THE CIRCUS WAS IN DAYS GONE BY. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, AND MISS WHAT IT USED TO BE, THEN COME ON ALONG AS WE GO DOWN THE ROAD FOLLOWING THE ARROWS BACKWARDS, TO "YESTERDAY'S TOWNS"! IF YOU HAVE CIRCUS RELATED PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE POSTED, SEND THEM TO,,,,yesterday1@verizon.net,,,,AND WE WILL TRY TO FIT THEM IN. "24 HOUR MAN" WILL HAVE THE FINAL DECISION ON POSTING.

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Location: GIBSONTON, FLORIDA, United States

Three years at CWM made me a real traditionalist, and I keep remembering Bob Parkinson saying, "I want the people to see what the circus used to be, not what it is today. That's what this site is about!

Saturday, December 01, 2007

THE SATURDAY MATINEE: DOUBLE FEATURE THE KIMRIS DUO #1 THE CNE

The reason for going with two clips of the Kimris Duo is because I wanted to explain this monumental rigging job done here. Trudy & I had another engagement with the cradle act, with a fast jump into Toronto for Dobritch International Circus' appearance at the Canadian National Exhibition. We sent the Kimris rigging ahead to be set up by our rigger Willie "Alabama" Bennett, & Dobritch's Prop boss, Leo "Coke" Coffey. First they erected one of our 93' steel poles behind the stage, then added sections from our second pole making a total of 110', next they tied two, 1/2" diameter cables 100' apart to the top of the 120' high grandstand roof, & hooked them to our "crane bar". From the other end of it they ran a single 1/2" cable through a "snatch block" at the top of the pole, down through another one at the "dead man" stakes & pulled it tight with a 2 ton truck, pulling the crane bar to a height of about 90'. The total spread between the pole, & the grandstand was 200+", there was absolutely no sway, & very little bounce, but believe me, the first few trips up the ladders were a little scary.



Personal Observation: Too many people remember "Coke" for his later battle with alcohol, and forget that he was once a member of a now extinct breed
of "Professional Circus Riggers" who you could trust with your life in such a way. He beat his addiction & was later the assistant of the famous dog trainer Victor Jilian, and cared for him until his death.

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