Toomey remains undefeated in IJA membership contests

Darryl Toomey's IJA membership will outlast his mortal soul. The IJA Life Member won an additional year of membership as individual winner of the UA's 1987's National Juggling Day teaching program. By presenting the signatures of 99 people he taught to juggle as part of the Seattle Cascade Jugglers' event, Toomey also won three Stu Raynolds clubs.

 

It was the second IJA contest Toomey has won. Last year he signed up more people as members than anyone else.

 

"I carry membership brochures in my backpack wherever I go," said Toomey. Toomey signed up himself, his spouse, Diane, and daughters Kelly and Kerry as Life Members numbers 14-17 last year. "The girls wanted a car for Christmas, but I knew this was a gift that would keep on giving," he said.

 

The second place individual winner of the contest was another IJA Life Member, Roy Melanson of Highland , Calif. He and his wife, Margaret Ann, decided to teach folks at a retirement community on June 20. "It was a very exciting day," said Roy . "About 50 people showed up at the community recreation hall and almost 30 of them learned. They asked us to come back again!"

 

The Toronto Jugglers came in second in the group category with 32 people signing the "Yes! I learned to juggle on National Juggling Day" form. Club organizer Larry Ellison commented, "Though only that many signed the form, I estimate we taught about 600 people in all."

 

The Tampa Bay Jugglers of Florida came in third in the contest with eight signatures and the Orange Jugglers of Southern California finished fourth.

'Variety' wins big in Halifax

Better late than never... Being three days late to the Halifax , Nova Scotia Buskers '87 Festival didn't hurt at all. The Baltimore couple made the most of the remaining seven days of performances and ended up winning the $10,000 first prize donated by Ford of Canada.

 

"We flipped out!" said Mardine Rubio, who has been juggling with her husband, Ricky Schnitker, for the past three years. More than 17,500 festival-goers who purchased programs cast more "people's choice" ballots for Variety in Motion than for any of the other 37 acts in the festival.

 

Other juggling prize winners were Charlie da Juggla' (Clinton Holzhauer), who won a $500 appreciation award from the city of Dartmouth, N.J., and the Waldo­Woodhead Show, which split a $2,000 Historic Properties Friendship Award with two other groups.

 

The acts who performed were invited from among many others who applied, explained managing director Steven Hirder. Other juggling acts appearing were Ray Jason, Heart & Biko (Jean Michel Pare and John Seglins), Mickey O'Connor, High Street Circu s and Fool's Paradise (Michael Hershbach, Linda Donnelly and Norman Engelburg-Schneiderman).

 

The 38 acts performed for a crowd of more than 375,000 during the ten days of the festival at 35 performance sites in downtown Halifax . There was no appearance fee, but buskers were compensated for travel and accommodation and allowed to pass the hat at each performance.

 

Rubio said she and Schnitker did about six 20-25 minute shows per day. The crowds were large and the hats good.

 

Both performers believed their high­energy show style was the deciding factor. It included Schnitker on an unsupported ladder, a dance routine, torch passing on six-foot unicycles and a three club synchronous dance routine.

 

Schnitker said he hopes the win will help their act gain respect in a broad market. The couple, who were married March 21 , were to work for two weeks on a Caribbean cruise ship in September.