CONVENTION REPORT

Tom Dewart 

Photos: Roger Dollarhide

 

The 1978 I.JA Convention was the largest gathering of jugglers ever, with a total attendance of almost 350 persons. It was held in the incredibly posh Valley River Inn, which included such facilities in the convention hall . as fold-out walls and a movie screen which dropped from the ceiling, as well as diffused lighting.

 

For some jugglers, the aura of the convention started a day early, on July 11th, when Steve Mills, Edward Jackman, Kit Summers, Lheith, the Haines Family, Gary Calder and others converged in the backyard of Tom Dewart's house for a juggle-in.  As the afternoon rolled on, the group decided to move to larger outdoor facilities - namely Alton Baker Park, the site for the preconvention party the following day. By about 4:00 p.m., more than thirty jugglers were gathered together in the hot sun, on the wide-open lawns of the park. Jugglers remained until dark, then disbanded for the night, only to return the next day for the largest pre-convention party ever.

 

Wednesday July 12th

 

By 1:00 p.m. over 75 jugglers had arrived at the University of Oregon campus for advance registration and to check into the dormitories for the duration of the convention. The weather was 80 degrees, sunny and clear with little humidity and very little wind: perfect conditions for outdoor juggling. Juggling ensued in the quadrangle of the dorms and in the registration room until 4:00 p.m. when everyone departed for the preconvention party in the park. Upon arrival, a massive group of jugglers (later estimated at 150 persons) occupied a large area in the park, and it was obvious to anyone passing by that a most unusual event was happening.         

 

As evening began to set in, an announcement was made that ice cold beer was on tap; needless to say, the I.J.A. went through two large kegs of beer in less than two hours (after all, it was a party). Just about this time, a health-food concession stand called "One Shot Deal" began serving pocket sandwiches, lemonade and watermelon, which was very much appreciated by all the hungry jugglers. Juggling and socializing continued into the night, and finally when it was too dark to juggle, there was an outbreak of fire torches with regular, as well as, green flames. When the last few jugglers finally departed from the park at about 11:00 p.m., there wasn't a single piece of litter on the ground. Bravo I.J.A.!!!

Thursday July 13th

 

Thursday morning the convention attendance had reached the 200 mark. About this time various shouting and applause was apparent in the convention hall as the crowd voiced approval of individual performances. Also apparent in the main room at this time was the presence of several light trees and a film crew with very elaborate equipment. These belonged to correspondent Dan Chaykin from New York City, who spent the next two days intensively filming the convention, with slow motion and special effects, for ABC's Good Morning America, to be aired nationally within a few weeks after the convention (see publicity report, elsewhere in this issue).

 

About 9:00 a.m., the I.J.A. officers present held a short executive board meeting in the lobby, and proposals for the site of the 1979 convention were briefly discussed.

 

At 1:00 p.m., Bill Barr and a group of jugglers temporarily departed from the convention hall to do a benefit show for 80 or so elderly folks at the Celeste Campbell Senior Center in Eugene. The show featured Lenny and La Banana doing a skit with an accordion, Larry Vaksman, Bobby and Price, Edward Jackman (all jugglers); Solange belly dancing while balancing a cane; and Bill Barr as master of ceremonies. The show was very well received: a letter of thanks from the Center was received shortly thereafter which says, "Thank the performers for us for their effort and time spent bringing a most enjoyable day to the lives of our friends."

 

Exuberant and fanatical juggling continued all afternoon and evening. Then, at 9:00 p.m., it was time to show movies; the convention hall was divided into two parts by one of the fold-out walls (Y2 for movies, and the other Y2 for, of course, juggling for the hard-cores). The first and last movie shown was a 16mm film with sound of W.C. Fields in 1934 entitled "The Great McGonicle", an extract from "The Old Fashioned Way" in which W.C. did 3 balls, 3 and 10 cigar boxes, cane tricks, and, of course, his incredible stage presentation. Then recent movies of Dick Francis, Kris Kremo, and Albert Lucas were shown, all very exciting. Next was a hilarious movie of Kit Summers' and Jon Helds' trip to Delaware for the 1977 convention. Two movies of Ignatov were shown, one filmed in 1973 and the other in 1977. Next 'was a movie of Bobby May in 1936 which included such talents as juggling 3 balls off the floor while standing on his head, and tap dancing and hopping on one leg while juggling 3 clubs. Also shown were movies of various jugglers in L.A. and a current movie of Bobby May juggling 3 clubs.

 

Friday July 14th

 

Early Friday morning lots of jugglers were back in the convention hall warming up for the Championships.  This year, the Championships lasted almost 8 hours and ended just before the public show began. Following the Championships there was a mass departure for the traditional public show at Sheldon High School Auditorium in Eugene.

 

The show included Geno the Clown as master of ceremonies and opened with the Flying Karamazov Brothers performing a very refined act which included club passing, cigar boxes, musical instruments and ended with passing nine assorted objects (frying pan, stuffed fish, sickle, Malakoff cocktail, meat cleaver, fire torch, egg, ukulele, and a "smoking hatchet"). Next was Norm Johnson, who rode a unicycle and used a mouthstick with firewheel, while juggling torches (all done to loud drumming in the background). Following came Bobbo Bryant who did a routine while astride a raised rola.bola. Edward Jackman did dynamic ball and club performances, and a devil stick routine correlated to a story. Also performing was James Jason (a mime) who did various sleight of hand movements with thimbles, Greg Dean juggled a mop, rag, and bucket. Molassas (Moses Wright) ate fire and swallowed two swords at once. Kit Summers, Jon Held, and Steve Mills juggled fire torches on tall uni's and did formation riding. Immediately following came Jean Paul Jenack, The Amateur Extraordinare, doing a spoof on the previous act and also juggling shakers. Michael Baldridge did a great routine with tennis balls. Bill Barr did a spoof on teaching someone to juggle, using a woman in the audience. Avner the Eccentric did a mime piece and balanced a ladder on his chin. Lenny and La Banana, otherwise known as the l.J.A. Pit Orchestra, did a skit with an accordian and washtub bass.

 

Magical Mystical Michael performed great feats of magic. Craig Barnes and Lee Letchworth did a comical mime and juggling piece about a street scene in Berkeley. The last act featured the Haines Family Circus trick-riding on 7 ft. and 10 ft. unicycles as well as jumping rope on unicycles. The closing of the show was ''The Big T oss- Up", for which the show was named, which featured the juggling part of the audience all on stage doing their thing(s). The show was a great success, both from the audience's point of view and monetarily for the l.J.A.