Tradition continues with Rochester festival by Todd McLeish

The eighth annual Spring Juggle-In at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology April 20-21 brought together nearly 200 jugglers from eight states and Canada for a weekend of open juggling, workshops and videotapes.

 

As usual, participants came in all ages, shapes and sizes, and with varying degrees of ability. The variety of workshops played to everyone from beginning jugglers through advanced club passers. Workshops most heavily attended covered devil sticks, diablo, hat juggling and comedy conducted by Buffalo Juggling Club members Rich Chamberlin, Jim Neff and Paul Kois.

Later in the day, Alan Howard and Neff staged an impromptu three-ball demonstration and amazed the assemblage with their speed and finesse.

Among the most impressive jugglers was 16-year-old Will Stafford of Vestal, N. Y ., who showed off his abilities with seven rings, seven balls and five clubs. His father, Steve, stole the show, however, by winning two raffle prizes.

In a more unusual vein, Mark Hamilton arrived on the scene with 20 cylindrical Quaker Oats oatmeal boxes. He claims to hold the record for stacking these boxes while held aloft. Unfortunately, he was unable to break his previous mark of 19.

Holly Greeley, IJA championships director, was used as a "junkyard" by a number of club passers. In a variety of passing patterns, jugglers threw all kinds of unusual passes at her, but she held her own and somehow threw almost all of them back.

On a beautiful spring day that most non­jugglers spent outside, the jugglers in Rochester that weekend wouldn't budge from the RIT gym. That's a sure sign of success!