By Ian Kelly, Cambridge, England

The Cambridge Jugglers' Association came into existence in October 1980. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first ever juggling club to form in Europe.

In its first year, what has the CJA done? It has provided the opportunity for people to learn to juggle and for "closet" jugglers to get together every week. At the time of writing, it has signed up 92 members, with about 25 coming to Tuesday practice sessions.

The club has also held special events. A day­long workshop in January included a public show.

Four jugglers performed, most notably Mark Robenson. In May, 20 of us traveled from Cambridge to the West End in London to see the Flying Karamazov Brothers' act. Shortly afterwards, Tim Robens and Steve Bemard (two juggling, sword-swallowing European travelers) visited the club.

There has been considerable media interest in the CJA. The Observer newspaper ran a photo and there have been television features, including a Thames TV program transmitted throughout Britain.

What was necessary to form the CJA?

1. Provision of a regular meeting place. We got the Latimer Room in Clare College, which is given free of charge every Tuesday evening.

2. Finances. A capital grant from Cambridge University Societies' Syndicate was a considerable help. Most of the money was used to buy dog balls for beginners. People who come more than twice are usually willing to pay an annual membership subscription of one pound sterling.

3. A formal structure. To obtain a grant from the university, it was necessary to elect officers, draw up a constitution, open a bank account and keep membership lists.

4.  Publicity. Attracting interest has not been difficult since Cambridge is a lively town with a large student population. The main lesson has been that juggling in public is the best advertisement.

Money spent on posters was wasted.

How should the CJA develop from here? What follows is my personal opinion. The main functions of the club will remain to provide a regular meeting place for jugglers and to teach beginners. The club has been successful at drawing students.

Against that, however, only eight of the members come from outside the university. In an effort to attract more town people, two more workshops are scheduled.

If more residents become involved, it should be possible to keep the club running throughout the year, instead of just during the university term.

Last year's special events were great successes.

Seeing and meeting experienced jugglers gave people the juggling bug, so it is to be hoped that such events can occur every year.

I especially hope that jugglers from everywhere will visit Cambridge and drop in now that the CJA is established. I appeal to American jugglers who visit Europe to include Cambridge on the agenda. I should add that Cambridge is one of the few towns in Britain where the authorities allow street perform­ing. Not even a license is required. So come to Cambridge and contact either Adam Weir in Churchhill College or Claudia Kennedy in Queens College.

LOST AT CONVENTION

 I lost a Gahr High School class ring at the Cleveland convention. It has a blue stone and the initials "RJC" inside. Please contact Ricky Coleman, Cerritos, CA  if you found it. A reward is offered.

1) RING, RIND, REND, REED, FEED, FLED, FLEX, FLUX, FLUB, CLUB. FLUB is in Webster's New Collegiate but not in The American Heritage Dictionary. To avoid using FLUB, the last four steps can be changed to FLEE, FLUE, CLUE, CLUB. I prefer to keep FLUB because I think the two words preceding it make the chain exciting!

2) BALL,BELL,SELL,SEAL,SEAT,SLAT, SLAB,SLUB,CLUB

The solution to number I might be shortened to an eight step solution as follows: RING, SING, SINS, SONS, SOUS, SOUP, SLUP, SLUB, CLUB

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