CIRCUS DAYS a New Festival in Petersburg and the history of the Kelly Brothers Circus

Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Jeff Williams. In the studio with me today, we've got Samantha Tawzer. How's it going, Samantha? Did I say your last name is that?
Samantha Tawzer:
You know… you actually did really well! I mean, a lot of people TOWzer it, but you Tawzer-ed it, so well done! (laughter)
Jeff Williams:
Tawzer, right? Yeah, you did it. Okay, so Samantha Tawzer, she's the events committee head, is that correct? That is correct.
Samantha Tawzer:
I'm with the Menard County Tourism Board.
Jeff Williams:
Right on. And then next we also have Jan Costello in, right Jan? And Jan, you're the member of the Menard County Tourism Board. Is that correct?
Jan Costello:
Yes, with Sam.
Jeff Williams:
And you're also the grandchild of Dan and Kitty Kelly, which we're going to get into in a minute here. Right. And then also we have Cathie Smith. She's also the grandchild of Dan and Kitty Kelly, Kelly brothers. Like I said, we'll get into that. She's a board member of the Menard County Historical Society. Is that right?
Cathie Smith:
That is correct.
Jeff Williams:
Holy smokes, look at this. We've got three, all three of them are in here. So if anybody wants to start and say what brings you in today?
Samantha Tawzer:
Before we dive into the history, which is amazing, I'm going to start with how Circus Days, which is our big event we're going to talk about, really came to be. You might have guessed I'm not from around these parts. And so when I was living in Petersburg, we had this wonderful gallery, which I know you're familiar with called Perspectives. And there was a fantastic exhibit by the artist Pam Hamilton that focused on Petersburg's circus history. Now, I didn't know that that's what it was about.
Jeff Williams:
Same. Until then, I didn't know.
Samantha Tawzer:
No clue at all, right? And I knew Jan because we had been on the board together and she'd always been really friendly and really lovely. And so I was chatting to her about how, oh, isn't this interesting? And she pointed to a picture and said, that's my grandmother. And I was like, sorry? And I just, I mean, and it was this beautiful painting of Kitty Kelly who was on her rolling ball with her dubs on her arms. And it was just absolutely stunning. But I just got bitten by the circus bug after that. And I'm like, how is this not everywhere in Petersburg? We need to be talking about this incredible history. It's so unique. And not to be rude to the Lincoln lovers, but my gosh, we have Abraham Lincoln everywhere in Illinois, don't we? And lots of respect to him. But this is such a fun bit of history. And I'm like, we've got to tell it. So that's really how the birth of the event was.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, love it, love it. Well, the thing was, when I first, like before that, like what you had just mentioned, out in Petersburg Perspectives Gallery, when that show and Pam Hamilton had that particular piece, I thought it was more attributed to Jacksonville. in a way. That's what, that's my original kind of understanding. And I think I, my wires got crossed somewhat because like the…
Samantha Tawzer:
Ferris wheel stuff there and.
Jeff Williams:
Didn't really know that much.
Samantha Tawzer:
But here's the thing, you know about that because of that very cool statue that's, you know, that plaque that tells you about the circus, about the Ferris wheel factory. And we need something like that.
Jeff Williams:
No doubt. Now let's turn it over... either to Jan, or Cathie, either of you want to tell us a little bit of this. You brought some stuff in too that I see here.
Jan Costello:
Well let me just give an introduction and Kathy's going to get into the deep history and I'm going to get into more our grandparents, Dan and Kitty Kelly, who were performers. But a lot of people don't know this, but in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Petersburg was like a mecca for circus people. And they had a ring barn there and people would practice there and perform in the wintertime. At one time there were about 100 circus performers who lived in Petersburg.
Jeff Williams:
Isn't that crazy? It's crazy.
Jan Costello:
So they would do that in the wintertime and then during the warmer months they would travel with the big shows like Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey and Sells Floto and Hagenback Wallace. What we want to let people know is that Petersburg has so much history that we'd really like to share.
Jeff Williams:
Absolutely.
Jan Costello:
So, Cathie will kind of start out talking about the original folks that got the whole thing started in the 1st place.
Jeff Williams:
Right, on. So, Cathie, tell us a little bit about this.
Cathie Smith:
Our circus history actually begins in about 1868 when a young fellow, about 13 years old, Harry Lampkin, ran away with a circus. A circus from Galesburg passed through Petersburg and he was so enamored off he went. And Harry Lampkin did what everyone who leaves home and aspires to be great did. He made it. He did become great and very accomplished. He came back to Petersburg about 15 years later.
Jeff Williams:
And this is after his time in Galesburg.
Cathie Smith:
No, he travels with this circus.
Jeff Williams:
Just with the circus. I see. I didn't know if he... Okay, gotcha, gotcha.
Cathie Smith:
And when he comes back, he has married a girl by the name of Clarinda Lowande.
Jeff Williams:
Wow, that's quite a name.
Cathie Smith:
Isn't that a beautiful name? And the Lowande’s were phenomenal bareback riders and had been for three generations. So, tapping into the Lowande’s was really what brought the circus to Petersburg.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. So, do you know where they were located from?
Cathie Smith:
Well, actually they came from different parts of the country. Alex Lowande might have been born out east. But they came to think of them as largely a South American family. They traveled throughout the world like a good friend of the father. was Don Pedro. And in those times, circus people were kind of high society. Oh, yeah. And so, they traveled all over South America, were well known as the circus family, traveled to Cuba, traveled to Europe. Right. So, Clarinda's family eventually comes to Petersburg. Okay. However, the story gets a little more interesting.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, here we go! Hold on everybody! (laughter)
Cathie Smith:
Here we go! Harry was what you call an equilibrist. He was a foot juggler and he would juggle tables, barrels. He was also a leaper. He loved Petersburg. He loved his mother. And he loved his half-brother, and so when he and Clarinda come back to winter in Petersburg, he teaches his half-brother. Edward Shipp, how to be a bareback rider.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Cathie Smith:
And he becomes an outstanding equestrian.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, wow. Okay. Well, you know, sorry to interrupt here. It is wild. Like my grandfather was involved in vaudeville stuff, you know, and it was the same thing at the time. It's like you are like rock stars, you know, and kind of like before that circus was like that was like the rock.
Samantha Tawzer:
And they were very interconnected, like vaudeville and circus.
Jeff Williams:
That's true. That's true. And so anyhow, just wanted to throw that in real quick.
Cathie Smith:
That's exactly what happened. And his Ed Shipp then, remember he's Harry Lamkin's half-brother, marries Clarinda Lowande's half-sister. And her name is Julia... It is the circus…
Jeff Williams:
It's the circus! (laughter) So the equivalent, I kind of had a little, a Jerry Springer little thing kind of going up too back then. Hey, we got to admit it, we all got something going on, you know? (laughter)
Cathie Smith:
So, they also have a brother who comes with them, and his name is Alex Lawande. Alex Lawande marries Carrie Kemp, who's another fantastic equestrian. And they stay in Petersburg. They don’t just winter here, but their extended family comes and stays. So, we have an older generation that comes and then we have their children and they stay here and become friends with the community. I might also tell you that Parthena Jane's mother is Nancy Armstrong. Nancy Armstrong is Jack Armstrong's sister. And Jack Armstrong is the one who had the wrestling match with Abraham Lincoln.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, yeah. Okay. That's right. The name I was like that name rang a bell. Okay.
Cathie Smith:
Yeah. So that's our connection with the Lincoln story.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Cathie Smith:
If you're looking for one there.
Jeff Williams:
Right.
Cathie Smith:
But.
Samantha Tawzer:
You actually haven't shared the Parthena Jane naming story.
Cathie Smith:
I will share that Parthena Jane McHenry. Okay. All right. Parthena Jane was the daughter of Nancy Armstrong and Henry McHenry. Okay. When they are living close to Oakford, (Illinois) in Robinson Mills.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. Oakford, yeah.
Cathie Smith:
Abraham Lincoln rides through And believe it or not, Parthena Jane's about three years old and doesn't have a name.
Samantha Tawzer:
Neglect. (laughter)
Cathie Smith:
And this is all family story, but it's recorded everywhere we look. And kind of like the Ann Rutledge stories, I guess. And supposedly, Abraham Lincoln asked if it would be okay if he were to name her. And they said, certainly. And he decides on Parthena after Parthena Hill, who also lived at New Salem. I don't know where the Jane came from.
Jeff Williams:
Right, So the baby was running around nameless for a while. They were like, at some point, we'll get to that at some point, but let the kid, we'll figure it out at some point… somehow … and then Abraham Lincoln comes along! (laughter)
Cathie Smith:
I know! (more laughter) he gives her a name. I know, It's a good story.
Jeff Williams:
Oh yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
Cathie Smith:
But I want to tell you also how the Winter Circus in Petersburg came to be. This was all the doings of Harry Lampkin. Harry Lampkin felt that if they could train in the wintertime, it would make all of them better performers.
Jeff Williams:
Sure, yeah.
Cathie Smith:
Because right now when they traveled, it was more like six months of the year. They left in the spring, back in the fall. So, if you were to have a winter circus, a training ground, the family could stay there. It would give family stability. And if you performed, you could have a little money coming in also. Oh yeah, it would also draw more people to Petersburg. The people of Petersburg were receptive to all these circus performers. It helped them as well as the circus performers. It was making everybody better. Sure, and it was a big success. We think that Harry Lamkin built the first circus barn in 1880. And people would come. It was a barn built right behind the northeast corner of the square in Petersburg.
Jeff Williams:
The northeast corner. It's like an antique store? An old antique shop that's right there on the northeast corner?
Cathie Smith:
At one point it was. When we grew up, it was a hotel and it was a nice hotel.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, it looks like that. You can tell it looked like the structure. Is it three or four stories, maybe something like that? So that was in case anybody's wondering if you remember like where like Broadgauge (Restaurant) was, it would have been on the opposite north corner. Is that correct? Just to try to visualize somewhat or pizza place, Leo's Pizzas afterwards.
Samantha Tawzer:
Well done! Look at you knowing your piece of geography. (laughter)
Jeff Williams:
I get out there quite a bit!
Cathie Smith:
So, this continued until 1886 and Harry Lamkin was young, an untimely death and he contacted some disease while he was in Panama performing. So, at that point the barn became the property of his half-brother, Ed Shipp. Now when it was Harry Lamkin's place, it was called Lamkin's Amphitheater. So that was in essence the first circus barn.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Cathie Smith:
All right. And then Ed Shipp has it for about four years and decides that it would be nice to have a bigger and better barn. So, a block over He builds the second barn and it's called Shipp’s.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Cathie Smith:
And it remains in Ed Shipps' name and it does a great business. He brings in wonderful performers, and more and more people come to Petersburg and they stay. Red Ship decides that he wants to go back to South America and kind of stay there.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Cathie Smith:
So, in 1908, our grandparents purchased the circus barn.
Jeff Williams:
So, the circus was still going then into like 1908 as you said.
Cathie Smith:
Yeah, that's when it becomes Kelly Brothers Winter Circus.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. And so, pardon me to interrupt here. So, you've got the first location which was kind of behind the or was it in place of on the northeast side of the square like where the building that we were just talking about the big hotel right it was kind of like behind that area across the street just across the street.
Cathie Smith:
And the abstract office which is still standing a red building that is where their mother lived Mrs. Mrs. Shipp at this point. And she sold tickets from the window of her home. And you can tell which is the ticket window because it's a little lower than all the other windows. And so that sufficed for 10 years. And so, Ed Shipp has the new barn and is going great guns except he decides he wants to go to South America and stay there. He sells the barn in 1908 and that's when Dan and Pat Kelly purchased the barn.
Jeff Williams:
Who are your grandparents?
Cathie Smith:
Dan is married to Kit and they are our grandparents.
Jeff Williams:
Okay, gotcha, gotcha. Right on. Wow.
Cathie Smith:
And so, we're not sure when the circus officially closed. We have found clippings from the Petersburg Observer that indicate to us it was probably about 1914, 15 along (that time).
Jeff Williams:
So, it kind of just started to wane a little bit from that point, is that how?
Cathie Smith:
However, I also found in the Petersburg Observer in 1920 and 1921, Alex Lowande, the sister, was having a circus at the Menard County Fairgrounds.
Jeff Williams:
And that's where it's located today then out there.
Cathie Smith:
Where the fairgrounds are today.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, where the fairgrounds are today. You've been listening to Community Voices, and we've been hearing from Samantha Tawzer, Jan Costello, and Cathie Smith about Circus Days, this new two-day festival coming to the square in Petersburg, Illinois. And we're back with Community Voices to hear more about Circus Days. This new two-day festival is coming to the square in Petersburg, Illinois. And we'll learn more about the history of Kelly Brothers Circus in Petersburg. then as far as like your event that you or did you want to get into the event itself at all?
Samantha Tawzer:
We can do that at the end.
Jeff Williams:
At the end. Okay, sure, I wasn't sure. Yep.
Samantha Tawzer:
I just want actually before we move on to your grandparents I want to just give a little shout out to Parthena Jane because one of the things about the circus that I'm learning is I mean she had two sons that obviously worked incredibly hard to get their circus talents but also were really smart business people too. I mean they were entrepreneurs They had incredible like athletic ability and everything. And I always say it always goes back to the mom, doesn't it? So, she raised him. She raised him.
Cathie Smith:
Happy Mother's Day.
Jeff Williams:
Shout out, shout out to the moms! Oh man, love it, love it! (laughter)
Cathie Smith:
And Jan's going to tell you about our grandparents who purchased this circus in 1908.
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha.
Jan Costello:
Just to give you a little background on how it kind of transferred from the Shipp family to the Kelly family. Well, first of all, our grandfather was, at a very young age, very interested in the circus because it was right there in Petersburg. And he was a farm boy. And what could be more exciting than leaving the farm and going to the circus? So, our grandfather Dan and his brother Pat, who later actually owned the Kelly Brothers Winter Circus. And another younger brother of theirs, George, all joined the circus. And George he died at kind of a young age. So, it really was Dan and Pat who really pursued the circus and started developing their own acts. Our grandfather, Dan, was a clown. And he walked on stilts and trained horses and ponies and dogs. And he just had a lot of fun. He loved the circus. And he met Kitty Kelly, who also lived on a farm in Petersburg. And one winter night, they were together. And it was dark. And our grandmother would tell us a story that they lit a match light so they could get a better look at each other. And when she looked into his eyes, she immediately knew he was the one. So not only did he talk her into marrying him, but he also talked her into joining the circus.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, yeah. It's all goes together.
Jan Costello:
Yeah. And she said, well, yeah, I think I'd like to do that, but I'm not just going to follow you around in the circus. I want to develop my own act.
Jeff Williams:
Right, yeah.
Samantha Tawzer:
Feminist, circus feminism!
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, we love it. We love it. Yeah.
Jan Costello:
So, as I mentioned, our grandpa was a clown and our grandmother, the act that she wanted to do was called the Rolling Globe Act. She walked on a big white wooden ball, about the size of an exercise ball. She'd stand on that and walk the ball. She'd walk the ball up and down a teeter-totter. And then while she did that, 12 white doves landed on her arms. So, it was Kitty Kelly's rolling globe bag.
Jeff Williams:
You know, you just think up something, say, hey, I'm going to figure this out.
Jan Costello:
Yeah, all three of those things on their own are pretty impressive, but all together, right, Our Uncle Pat was, he was a tight wire artist. So there was also a trapeze act called the Four Kelly's and it was some other Kelly relatives there too. It's just amazing to hear the stories that they used to tell us. And I don't know if you want me to take the next step on that. Okay. But There were six of us kids growing up with Kathy and I had four other siblings, and we would hear a lot of stories from grandma and grandpa about the circus. They just lived down the road in the country from us. So, we would go down there all the time. And our grandmother not only had that act that I told you about, the Rolling Globe, she also was a photographer. So, she took these amazing photographs of the circus She was a seamstress also and would sew a lot of the really cool costumes in the circus. So anyway, we would go down to their house as kids. This was the most amazing thing in the world because they'd pull out their circus trunks all their scrapbooks with all kinds of photographs from the late 1800s and the early 1900s and show us all these wonderful pictures and we'd try on the costumes and our grandpa walked on stilts and he used to wear these gigantic papier mache heads. So, then we'd get to go out into the shop and see those heads and come back in and have some circus lemonade that grandma would make and you know it was just magical.
Jeff Williams:
I've got to say, I've got a fear of clowns, so it would have, so this all would have, it would have freaked me out!
Jan Costello:
No, he was a happy clown! (laughter)
Jeff Williams:
Happy clown. Oh, look at this! (Jeff sees vintage pictures)
Jan Costello:
He was the most handsome and happy clown you've ever seen.
Samantha Tawzer:
And I have to actually say, because of Kitty Kelly, this incredible woman, there are almost 400 photographs, preserving the history of this time. I think there's like over 50 of them are displayed at the Monarch County Historical Museum. So, you can actually go there and you can see, which is what I did right after Jan and I were at the art gallery looking at Pam Hamilton's piece. We went straight over to the Historical Society. And yeah, I mean, I just then, my mind was like, what can we do to preserve this history? Because it is so amazing and it needs to be preserved.
Jeff Williams:
Where's that located at then?
Cathie Smith:
The Historical Society is on the southwest corner of the square.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. Oh, so it's by where, or at least used to be, a haunted house.
Samantha Tawzer:
Oh, it's still there. Terror on the Square! It’s still there. And Crazy Daisy!
Jeff Williams:
Over there. That's right. I have seen, I've seen that there. Yes, indeed. Okay. Yeah. And are there the hours or regular hours that people can come or is it by appointment or?
Cathie Smith:
It is by appointment, but also on Friday and Saturday from 11am to 2pm. Okay.
Samantha Tawzer:
So, I mean, we just kind of sat down, didn't we? And we said we must do something to celebrate this. We just think we want to create something really fun, but also make sure that we are telling the story. Scott, we've got one more story.
Cathie Smith:
I think we need to mention the importance of music to the circus. Oh, yes, and every circus appearance, especially with the big shows, was preceded with a parade. And that's when the band would shine and would attract all the people of the town to come to the circus. And we had many people involved in the music part of it, and particularly the Fegans Family Band. It was a family band. At one point, there were eight members of the family in that band. And the dad was the leader. And when the band wasn't going anymore, then the son-in-law took over the band.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Cathie Smith:
So, it did keep going. It just had the same name, but a different director.
Jeff Williams:
Okay. And the last thing I'll just ask before moving on to actual circus days. So, relatives. Do you know how many relatives are still kind of in the area of people who are like, yeah, I get.
Cathie Smith:
Many people who are tied to the circus really don't know it because it's probably 6 generations. Many of them now.
Jeff Williams:
Exactly.
Cathie Smith:
We were unusual in that grandma and grandpa were older and that they lived right next to us and were healthy and able to take care of us.
Jeff Williams:
Gotcha, gotcha.
Samantha Tawzer:
But you got to talk about some, because I think this is quite interesting. Your grandchildren are incredibly talented. You've got some amazing grandchildren who you actually might have even seen in shows because they've appeared in Springfield shows, haven't they? I know. Look, that's right. No, you had Stella was in Hades, the Hades town, wasn't she? And I think Jesse was in, was he in Joseph? Yeah.
Cathie Smith:
Yes, he was.
Samantha Tawzer:
So yeah, no, and I mean, you just sit there and go, well, that little, that little entertainer gene, he.
Jeff Williams:
Keeps going, he keeps going.
Samantha Tawzer:
So, all three of them, like of her grandchild, isn't that amazing?
Jeff Williams:
Very nice, very nice.
Samantha Tawzer:
I know. So, so.
Jeff Williams:
Great. Love it, love it.
Samantha Tawzer:
So anyway, we just said, what do we want to do? I mean, we, as I said, the main thing we wanted to do was come up with something that was fun and memorable that was really going to preserve the history. And so, we thought we want to try and create an annual event. So, We came up with the name, or I came up with the name Circus Days, and I wanted to do it on a Saturday. And my friend Jan here says it's got an S on. It can't be one day if it's got an S on. I mean, you have no idea the stress of this S because I didn't want to call it Circus Day. I thought that sounds terrible. (laughter) It's got to be Circus Days. So, we have created a two-day event. And what we've done is on the Friday, we are making it the grown-ups. It's circus for the grown-ups. So we have Vava Circus coming out and they are going to put on a burlesque show. Salem on 7th is the theater.
Jeff Williams:
Is that the little theater right in the middle?
Samantha Tawzer:
Of the- Yeah, so underneath Terror on the Square. Everybody knows Terror on the Square. It's a beautiful theater. It's so lovely. They're incredible performers, the burlesque girls and boys. And then there's also just going to be like lots of fun things going on in all the, you know, the bars and the restaurants. And so that's the grown-up day, which I think is kind of our gift to the parents because we know the next going to be really hard for them. There's going to be a lot of sugar involved, let's just say. And so, yeah, so the next day is all about the kids. We really wanted to sort of create an event that brings the community together that's low cost because we think these are pretty tough times at the moment. And so, we want people to come out and just It's going to be just nothing but fun entertainment. We are having a parade, but not like a traditional small-town parade. This is more about performances. So, it's kind of like if you think about on a much smaller scale, like the Macy's parade, how they stop and they do a performance. We're going to be doing that sort of thing. And so, we've got that going on. We've got a stage with lots of entertainment. We've got games. We've got animals. We've got face painting. Face painting! Don't forget about face painting. Now, the thing is, I must give a huge shout out because when we first sat down and talked about doing this, we were kind of like a bit clueless. I don't know. I've never put on anything circusy. I mean, you know, I've done events before, but this was a little bit out of my wheelhouse. The Ansar Shriners have come forward and they're sponsoring us and they're helping us and they're guiding us and they have been phenomenal. So we owe them a huge debt and gratitude because I think they gave us the confidence to because we're like, we're thinking of doing this and they were like, yeah, no, that's good. So, they've been a huge help, which has been really great. I mean, our community's really embraced it too. We've been getting a lot of support from various businesses, but also individual members of our community who have supported us. We had a trivia night fundraiser with Joe Crane. You know, Joe Crane, everyone knows Joe Crane. So, he came out and emceed… he was our ringmaster and we managed to raise money to help pay for this. The reception that we've been getting from people has been really, great. Grown-up night is the evening of June 19th. The burlesque show is at 7.30, but it's basically going to be from 5 until 9 because there'll be drink specials and the shops are hopefully staying open late.
Jan Costello:
Speaking of drink specials, I think we're going to have Kitty Kelly cocktails.
Samantha Tawzer:
Oh yeah, Kitty Kelly cocktails. I know. Oh yes, for sure. We're going to have Kitty Kelly cocktails. But yes, so no, we'll have all that going on. And then on Saturday, the parade will kick off at 11 and then we are going to 5 at night.
Cathie Smith:
And also mentioned the Presidential Museum.
Samantha Tawzer:
Well, yes, this is something exciting. So, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum's director of exhibits heard about this because he happens to be my husband and he lives in Petersburg. I was thinking, shall I just fess up there? I will. I'll fess up. And so, they are actually going to be doing, that when you go to the ghost show, they have that ghost cube where you kind of can see a community thing going on. So, they're going to be featuring in June of the circus history. So yeah, they're doing a great job.
Jan Costello:
They're even going to have the globe in there, Kitty Kelly.
Samantha Tawzer:
They are. They're going to have Kitty Kelly's globe there. And I think Illinois State Museum's been doing some great things with you as well.
Jan Costello:
We've done some oral history. history with them and written some stories. They're doing land of stories to celebrate the 250th.
Samantha Tawzer:
Right, Yeah, so no, that's all its yeah, no, it's been it's been really great.
Jeff Williams:
So, online presence.
Samantha Tawzer:
You visit Monard County on Facebook.
Jeff Williams:
That would be Monard County on Facebook.
Samantha Tawzer:
Yeah, just say visit Monard County on Facebook and we've got a Facebook page and we've got an event page and that's going to be continually updated as we get things more secure with times and all that sort of thing.
Jeff Williams:
And so both Friday evening during the day, those will both be just, on the Petersburg Square then it says. Yeah, but right on the.
Samantha Tawzer:
Historic square. And so. And just like the.
Jan Costello:
Circuses of old, this will be for children of all ages.
Samantha Tawzer:
Yeah.
Jan Costello:
And it will be the greatest show on Earth.
Samantha Tawzer:
It certainly will. It's the greatest history on Earth.
Jeff Williams:
Once again, in the studio, we’ve got Samantha Tozer. I've got Jan Costello. I've got Kathy Smith. Talked about the history of the Kelly Brothers Circus, which was in Menard County, basically Petersburg. And then also to talk about Circus Days, which is coming up in June, June 19th, June 20th.
Samantha Tawzer:
Visit Menard County on Facebook. It's the Monard County Tourism Board's Facebook page. Wow, good stories.
Jeff Williams:
And thanks all of you for coming in. Oh, thank you.
Samantha Tawzer:
Thank you for having us. Yeah, no. Right on, love it, love it.
Jan Costello:
Just keep tuning in to that Facebook page. Yeah.
Samantha Tawzer:
And anyone who, if anyone's got some circus backgrounds, like if there's jugglers out there in Springfield and they want to come on out, you know, come and join us. You know, we'd love to see you. Yeah, for sure.
Jeff Williams:
That'd be great.
Jan Costello:
Awesome.
Jeff Williams:
Well, once again, thanks everybody. Definitely. Thanks, Jeff.
Samantha Tawzer:
Well done. Bravo, girl. Bravo, girls!
Jan Costello:
I think that went really smoothly!
Samantha Tawzer:
Yes, no, well, I think, well, you two are so good at covering all the history.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, no, yeah, let me see.
Jan Costello:
That's her grandmother and her grandmother.
Jeff Williams:
That's so awesome. Yeah, that's, well, it's great that there's a bunch of the photographs too, but you know, so for sure. Community Voices is a production of NPR Illinois.