The CorridorJugglers had marched in pa­rades before, but this was no ordinary

parade. The 13 fourth and fifth grade stu­dents from Eugene, Oregon, could hardly believe it when head teacher Mike Garling excitedly told them they had been selected to juggle in President Bill Clinton's Inaugural Parade!

The opportunity to see Clinton and be seen by the millions of viewers on television took the Corridor Alternative School by sur­prise, but with community and juggling group support they pulled off this dream­of-a-lifetime.

 

The students and five adult supervisors, flew to Washington, D.C., and juggled past the presidential reviewing stand as the eighth of 75 units in the I4-block parade. "} did see the president, and he saw me and waved to me," recalled Mike Pluth, one of three torch jugglers in the Corridor entourage. "We walked with our torches for a little way, then lit them and started juggling when we got to the president."

 

Mike Garling, head teacher at the school and juggling club leader, said the biggest thrill was at the beginning, as the jugglers turned from the staging area onto Pennsyl­vania Avenue. He said, "The weather was great and we were ready. When we rounded the corner to begin the parade we saw thou­sands of people on both sides waving Amer­ican flags and cheering. When the kids started juggling the crowd just went nuts."

 

He continued, "We stopped juggling as we approached the presidential reviewing stand and the kids all held their equipment up in the air. As soon as Clinton looked our way everyone started juggling at once. I thought Tipper Gore would pass out! They all smiled and waved as we went by."

 

They had practiced marching and juggling for several weeks in inclimate Oregon weather, but meteorological conditions were not a factor on the big day for their hour-and­a-half in the international spotlight.

 

The entourage alternated between three planned routines along the route, getting new props for each routine from Corridor School staff who marched alongside earring equipment bags. Marching in close order in two parallel lines, they juggled freestyle, did takeaways and passing, and juggled rings. Garling said, "We wanted to represent unity and cooperation, and tried to do that with partner juggling and passing."

 

Dressed in matching jester hats, pants and collars, they were the youngest unit in the parade, and Garling said that fact impressed the audience. "Some of them were juggling clubs that were almost as big as they were, so the crowd really loved it," he said.

 

So did the media. The Corridor Jugglers appeared on Entertainment Tonight the evening before the parade, on the CBS Morn­ing Show the morning of the parade, and were shown by all the networks covering the event live. The young jugglers returned to a hero's welcome in Oregon, to a school fes­tooned with signs welcoming them home and a room draped with crepe paper stream­ers and highlighted by a bouquet of juggling clubs hanging from the ceiling.

 

They did a homecoming show to thank their sponsors, and sent out thank-you let­ters to those who had contributed to cover expenses. Their notoriety also prompted many more requests for performances back home than the group could fill, Garling said. They did honor a request to juggle for the Oregon legislature on March 1, and planned to do several charity jobs this spring and attend the Portland Juggling Festival in April.