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Gravity Works on Eggs Rather Than Apples at Newton Festival

by Madelyn Dinnerstein

Major days on the April calendar include April Fool's Day, tax day and the Sir Isaac Newton Memorial Juggling Festival! Sponsored by Jugglers Anonymous of Fort Wayne, Ind., this year's event drew jugglers from several nearby states.

Throughout the weekend, Franke Park's Pavilion #1 echoed with the sounds of open juggling. This year's festival -- the ninth annual -- also featured an egg juggling contest, a juggling video party, workshops, a prop raffle and a Sunday brunch.

Darrin Pruka and Steve Ragatz won the egg passing competition by passing for three minutes, six seconds. Dan Drake had thy top run with giant clubs made out of water cooler jugs -- 80 tosses. On the workshop scene, 12-year-old Jay Gilligan demonstrated the finer points of unicycle riding. Jerry Kalke demonstrated one ball manipulation, Ragatz impressed everyone with his devil stick skills and Charlie Willer of the host club promoting juggling clubs to music. Mike Whitlock demonstrated how a person can grab one leg and hop over it with the other. You never know when a skill like that will come in handy!

For those into wheels, Tom Miller of The Unicycle Factory brought unis, unusual bicycles and adult tricycles to ride.

Jugglers Anonymous -- believing imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - borrowed an idea from the Ann Arbor, Mich., Midwest Juggling Arts Festival and fed the throng a Sunday brunch.

Nude Jugglefest Is An Undressed Success

by Sherry Boas

It's easy to describe the events of the Second Nude Jugglefest held at my home, the Cypress Cove Nudist Resort in central Florida. There were hours of open juggling, workshops, endless videos, a parade, show and fire juggling extravaganza.

But it was really as much a lifestyle festival as a juggling festival. Here was an opportunity to experience the pleasure of being unclothed around others in a warm, friendly, safe environment and share in a family situation that celebrates the playfulness that only kids can show us.

About half the 40 people in attendance were return visitors. They came from as far away as New England and Colorado.

Cypress Cove, which has been called "the Cadillac of nudist resorts," is an idyllic setting for a festival. Located within a halfhour of the Disney resort, it is nestled amid range land and citrus groves. Its 250 acres boast a 55 acre lake, tennis courts, pool, hot tub and other recreational facilities. Most activities took place on a large grassy area in front of the beach by the lake. After an hour of juggling in the 80-degree sun it felt wonderful to run into the water to cool off. No need to bother with tight swimsuits or worry about tan lines!

After a full day on the beach passing clubs, devil sticking, waterskiing and swimming, we settled down to an evening feast and a plate full of aloe leaves to spread soothingly on our sunburns.

The warm nights were as fun as the days. We took walks, swims in the pool beneath the stars or went gator searching with flashlights. There were also trips to area attractions to street perform and watch others busking.

Although the festival was officially three days long, many people came early or stayed longer, which resulted in almost a full month of high-energy and happiness for those of us at the home base.