November is upon us and 2026 draws closer to the end! Where does the time go? To those of us who have reached our 90th decade, we can state with absolute certainty that the months fly by. It’s difficult to accept that our clown troupe has been together for 12 years, and that we have done probably over 500 gigs here in Florida. I’m so proud of our accomplishments and Volunteer Services to so many communities and agencies in South Florida. We are down to only a few clowns, but we will try to continue clowning as long as possible.
Many of you have read my second article in the October Viewpointe announcing our complimentary classes for kids. It’s disappointing for me to report that so far I have not had any inquiries from the Community. Perhaps I’ll have some interest in the next few weeks.
Our October visit to the YMCA pre-school classes was, as always, a tremendous success. You can see by the faces in the photos how much the kids love our sessions. This was the largest combined group we have done in the 4 years we have been offering Red Nose Readers to the YMCA. There were about 35 in the younger group and 32 in the older group . We did the mostly 3 year olds first and Twinkle Toes came fully made up, and I had no make-up on and just my Red Nose shirt and flowered pants. When we sat down in front of the children 4 of them would not join the class on the big rug, but each one chose to sit on a teacher’s lap and watch from a distance. Of course this indicates some discomfort or even fear of clowns. None had to leave the class, so I knew there was some interest in what was to come, and I was quite certain they would join in when they felt more comfortable with a clown being there; however, I didn’t think it would happen as fast as it did! We introduced ourselves, she was Twinkle Toes and she was a clown and I was Miss Harriet, just a person. We recited the Red Nose Mantra- “Who Can Be A Clown? Mommy’s and Daddy’s, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, Kids, Friends and Teachers”! I then explained that I was going to put on some make-up so my face would look different, and I pointed out each part of Twinkle Toes face I was adding, and demonstrated what happened to my face when I added eyebrows, eye lines red cheeks— By the time I got to eye lines- all four kids had joined their classmates on the rug and were totally absorbed in watching and enjoying my simple transformation. I added my colorful vest, a funny hat, and of course my huge clown shoes, and then introduced myself as Florabelle the clown. I can’t tell you how meaningful this experience was for me personally! I was able to change these 4 children from fearful and apprehensive to completely captivated by the clown who appeared before them! Just another example of the joy we all feel when we get such a positive reaction.
Just to continue in this vein, Twinkle Toes and I went to First Watch for lunch after we finished. As soon as we walked in the door and sat down people started smiling at us, several stopped at our table to inquire where we were coming from, as people passed us on their way out, every one of them smiled when they saw us. It was really so special. In these trying times, how wonderful it is that people of all ages can take to the time to notice and react to a happy clown face. Let’s try and enjoy the lighter side of life!
The Halloween event at The Club is coming up and I hope to see lots of kids from the Community. It’s always very successful, so look for us there!
That’s it for this issue. Don’t forget to wave if you see a clown on campus!
