As in times of yore, a caravan of circus vehicles will arrive in Hugo Saturday morning, and the cast and crew members of the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus will spring into action to raise the Big Top in Lions Park.
The flurry of activity is a precursor to the main event, a one-ring show featuring high-wire acts, unicyclists, jugglers and Trey Key's "Jungle Cats" -- all acts that will take place just a few feet from the audience.
"It's very personal," said Pete Pedersen, a member of the Hugo Lions Club, which is sponsoring performances at 2 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday and next Sunday. "Unlike those at the Met Center [or Target Center], at this one you're 5 feet away from the performance. It's right there."
While tickets are needed for the 90-minute performances, it's free to watch the setup and take a walking tour of the Circus City. Guides will even be on hand to introduce some of the performers, give a history of the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus, show off some of the animals, and talk about the veterinary care and grooming they get.
"People can really see how it operates," said Pedersen.
Now in its 27th year, Culpepper & Merriweather got its start when Robert Johnson, Jim Hebert and Curtis Cainan started a small show and passed a hat at the end of each performance. From there they slowly added employees, equipment and animals, and gained a reputation for quality family entertainment. The circus has been featured on National Geographic's Explorer TV series, Entertainment Tonight and on A&E's "Under the Big Top" and Nickelodeon's "On the Road with Kids."
This year's lineup includes Miss Simone on the single trapeze, the Arlise Troup on their unicycles, juggler Angel Perez, Silverlake's sizzling whips, Karina and her hula hoops and Key's "Jungle Cats," an act in which lions and tigers "that don't like each other" perform inside an enclosed space, Pedersen said.
This is the fifth time the Hugo Lions have hosted the circus, whose main audience is children 10 and younger with their parents. The shows are a major fundraiser for the Lions Club, which has about 30 members. Proceeds from the four performances will be used to award $1,000 scholarships to two high school seniors who live in Hugo. The Lions also put on the city's Good Neighbor Days in June, and, at Christmas, a party for seniors.
