Shrine Circus Trip Friday Features Record Number Of Students
Posted
Staff Report-
The year was 1950.
Dr. Virgil McCleary and other Kosciusko County Shrine Club members were the first Shriners to see the need to take students to the Mizpah Shrine Circus.
Friday, approximately 20 elementary schools with more than 2,100 students, transported by 50 buses, will go to the circus. Additionally, 400 adults, comprised of Shriners, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical service and support personnel will escort the circus.
It is the largest trip in Shriner history because it encompasses two grades this year. Normally, the trip is for third-graders. But since some third-graders missed the trip last year because of the weather, third- and fourth-graders were invited this year.
Since the first trip, hundreds of local Shriners have eagerly participated in the annual event.
The original group included 12 children in private vehicles. After the first trip to the circus, it was decided that all the third-grade children would participate in the event. Many of these children may not otherwise see a circus because of economic constraints.
Currently, every Kosciusko County student in the third grade looks forward to the circus trip. It has become a rite of passage as many 40-, 50- and 60-year-old adults continue to talk about their trip to the circus when they were in school. Many of the circus goers may have never seen this event without the planning and caring of individuals who call themselves "Shriners".
A year of planning is required between each circus. Several organizations are involved in the planning. These organizations include the Kosciusko County Shrine Club; Warsaw, Whitko, Wawasee, Triton and Tippecanoe Valley school corporations; law enforcement and fire departments from the area that provide the escort to Fort Wayne; EMS services; and many other local businesses who assist in sponsoring the event.
Each attending class is lectured by a Shriner. The lecture includes general safety, bus etiquette, timeline and they are made aware that the Shriners are available to help them in any situation.
The caravan is escorted to and from to the circus, ensuring all arrive safely.
Currently, circus lunches are provided for all participants by the school corporations. In the past, Bertsch Vending Corp., along with the Shrine Club, provided all lunches, packing each individual lunch the night before the circus.
The caravan will be video recorded from the air via helicopter and ground by Brian Walsh, of WIOE radio, and Chris Pollnow, of the Wagon Wheel Theatre.
The caravan will leave Big R parking lot at approximately 9:15 a.m. en route to Fort Wayne. Circus goers are scheduled to return to Kosciusko County by 2 p.m. The circus schedule and subsequent return will be announced on WRSW radio.
As the Kosciusko County Shrine Club makes its 61st trip to the circus, the Shriners ask that people remember that Shriners locally and nationally fund a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Children up to 18 years old with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate also are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patient's ability to pay.
Shriners have been changing the world by caring for kids since 1922.
