Happy May Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and the whole beautiful month of May! The snow birds are almost gone and Publix is once again our local store without long lines and packed parking lots!
The summer months used to be packed with clown events and our clowns were bringing smiles to so many different groups. We have a beautiful web site titled Boca Clowns “Call us Clowns” that lists most of the organizations and events that we used to do on a regular basis, so it’s really difficult to accept that times have changed so radically. Many of the non-profits are no longer doing walks and fund raisers where clowns can contribute their services. Summer camp type programs which were thrilled to have us come and either entertain or teach clown skills, no longer have time on their busy schedules to include us, even though there is no charge for our services. Events that involve long travel time are no longer feasible. I remember about 5 years ago a non-profit group for handicapped youths had an Uber drive us to Miami and then came back for us. They were so happy as this allowed us to participate, and we had a great time. Our particular group of clowns always goes over so favorably, probably because we love what we do and it shows !!!
Two recent examples – On April 4th, Candy Bar, Twinkle Toes, Giggles, Juggles and I entertained at the Country Club for their annual Easter Egg Hunt. They moved the setting to the outdoor patio and had a Bounce House a wonderful face painter and us taking part. Candy Bar did “walk a round” magic, Juggles did all kinds of juggling and his huge bubbles, and Giggles, Twinkle Toes and I blew up balloons and made hats, swords and dogs. It was a solid 2 hours of twisting and we never stopped! The beautiful kids and their young parents were very friendly and so appreciative. It was wonderful to see a huge number of families at the Club, all enjoying themselves for no cost. Kudos to management for sponsoring this great event.
The following Saturday, the five of us were joined by Pretzel for the annual “Healthy Kids Day” at the Boca YMCA. We got there before 10:00 and didn’t leave until 1:00. This is our 4th year at this event and we have never seen so many people! There were thousands in attendance! There were so many booths all over the outside fields and free food from several vendors. The six of us never stopped working! I always bring at least 250 balloons to an event this size and we blew every single one up. When we ran out of balloons we still had a long line of kids waiting. Volunteering for a gig of this size is nothing like working and getting a fee for your services. Obviously there is a contract, a specified time, and types of activities you agree to perform and you are locked in to that agreement. We, on the other hand, offer to come for whatever time we decide to arrive and leave, and what we will be doing, so staying that long and not wanting to leave kids unhappy was a big deal for us, and I know the staff at the YMCA appreciated our efforts greatly. We got so many thank you’s and smiles, it was wonderful! But— we were exhausted at the end!
We have one event so far in May. Candy Bar and I will be doing a “Mother’s Day” Red Nose Reader program for the 70 pre-schoolers at the YMCA. Kids love watching her do her fascinating kids magic, and before she returns east she will entertain them. I’ll be doing a Mother’s Day reading and some music. It should be lots of fun! That’s it for now. Don’t forget to wave if you happen to see a clown on campus!
