Cold weather here in South Florida? Who would have expected that when last summer was so hot! Our gig at Tri-County Animal Shelter on January 31st, starting at 10:30 am, was on a very cold day and we all had to improvise with our costumes. Normally clowns don’t wear coats or non-costume jackets! In our northern states there are very few clown events outside, except for St. Patrick’s Day parades, so the need for heavy clown outside gear is non-existent; therefore we learn to wear layers under our costumes. The problem with this is, we can’t discard the layers when the temperature goes up, which it generally does in this climate. I personally spent quite a bit of pre-gig time figuring out how to keep warm without changing my clown look in costume. Fortunately, extra leggings and a long sleeved T-shirt did the trick.
The event was quite successful, although I am sure lots of families decided not to brave the weather. I was very impressed at how many vendors there were with lots of samples and great food from several restaurants, and they never ran out of food choices, which tends to happen at free food events. We had a great time and loved seeing all the various breeds of dogs, many wearing funny costumes! So, Kudos to the staff at Tri-County!
Our second event in February was a Valentine’s Program at the YMCA right here off PowerLine. For those of you who follow my articles, this is part of our Red Nose Reader service. Because I didn’t want to take up time applying our make-up and costumes in front of the kids, to illustrate that “anyone can become a clown,” Lucky and I came in costume. Since one class of 3-4 yr. olds had many children who had never seen us before, I took the time to explain that we were real people just coming to make them smile. 30 adorable kids loved us and we had a great program singing valentine songs to familiar tunes, reading a great book on “Kindness”, performing magic tricks and encouraging them to talk about acts of kindness they each had done. The classes with 4-5 yr. olds (most of whom we knew from last year) were fabulous, and it was really interesting to see how quickly they were able to come up with all kinds of “kind” experiences.
The beauty of this Red Nose Readers program is how much these pre-school youngsters can learn and retain from hearing a story with a particular message and then talking about it. Usually their attention is remarkable and it is a true pleasure to provide a little extra joy and laughter!
If anyone out there is tempted to get more information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 561-362-6695. Remember, we are all Volunteers, without any charges or fees! Don’t forget to wave if you see a clown on campus! I just have to share this- When we were driving to The Tri-County event and stopped at the light at Palmetto, the car next to us beeped and from the drivers seat took a photo. Smiled, waved and drove on. It’s always fun when people see a clown and react!
