Butler scurries to prepare for 34th IJA Convention as world's jugglers wait

It seems that time has been speeding up lately. The days are now racing by as July 14 approaches. Maybe that's because my time has been monopolized by last minute preparations for the convention.

I imagine as June passes I'll have even less free time, so I've taken the attitude that when July 19 rolls around and the largest gathering of jugglers ever assembled in the World leaves Cleveland, that all of the work will have been well worth it.

In the meantime I'll tell you some things about this year's convention you won't see in the official schedule of events. I have heard from jugglers all over the country, Canada and Sweden indicating they'll be juggling their way to Cleveland this summer. The juggling clubs from Erie, Buffalo, Rochester, Atlanta, Charlotte and the University of Iowa will be represented by their members. I've heard from many jugglers who'll be attending their first convention as well as a few who were in Jamestown, NY, in 1948 for the first convention.

For those coming in early, there are two very large street fairs which are interested in having jugglers participate. One is the Coventry Street Fair, July 11 - 12 and the other is the AlI-Nations Festival, July 13 - 16. Each attracts over 100,000 people. A list of post-convention area fairs will be posted at the site.

Two events on the schedule which deserve a more detailed explanation are the Public Show and Parade. The Public Show will be downtown in the Music Hall, a beautiful professional theatre with seating for 3,000. We're hoping to draw a respectable, if not large, crowd to view our best jugglers. If you think you have talent to perform with the best, let me know when you arrive at the con­vention. For the first time, a percentage of profits from the Public Show will be divided between all performers.

The Parade will be at Cleveland Stadium before the Cleveland Indians/Chicago White Sox baseball game. We will parade around the perimeter of the field inside the stadium and are invited to stay and watch the game afterwards.                                                                                    .

Everyone I talk to is excited about the juggling convention coming to town, so you should enjoy a very pleasant welcome from the City of Cleveland. I'm looking forward to seeing most of you there and will be working hard until then so you can enjoy yourselves.

See you in July,     

Terrence R. Butler 

                                                                                                                                         

 

This photo of Bobby May, IJA Honorary Life Member, appeared in 1940. Now 74 years old and living in Euclid, Ohio, close by the site of the 1981 IJA Convention in Cleveland, May retold the story of his incredible head-stand-five-ball-bounce trick.   "I was 15 when I thought of doing head stand juggling," he said. "It took about a year's practice to get it with three balls.  Once I did it in England atop a 20-foot pedestal, but the guide wire slipped and I didn't try it from that high anymore. "I practiced it with five )acrosse balls later and did that a few times in public in the late '30s as a finale trick. I was at Jack Lynch's Walton Roof Hotel Night Club in Philadelphia when someone called the photographer to get this picture."   Though his mobility has been hampered by a stroke two years ago, May said he would attend some convention activities if he feels up to it.

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