by Deena Frooman, Affiliates Director

 

The IJA affiliates committee met poolside in Las Vegas and determined the following goals for the 1995-96 year.

 

· Increased public awareness of jugglers / juggling, with an emphasis on affiliates being more active in their communities. World Juggling Day will be celebrated June 15-17 and affiliates can reach out to perform at local fairs, charity events, etc.

 

· It would be a great accomplishment for each affiliate to send one deserving young person to the summer festival. If the affiliate can arrange transportation, perhaps the IJA can pick up the event, food and partial accommodations tab.

 

· To have a minimum of one affiliate in each state.

· To send the Affiliate Newsletter to retailers.

· To continue the community service initiative by getting affiliates involved in the Boys and Girls Club in their community or by adopting another charity.

· To continue the Blood Drive... "Give blood, it's the best drop you'll ever make."

· To have an affiliates keg party in Rapid City. .

· To set up ping-pong tables in the Rapid City juggling space for fun!

 

I believe that all of these goals can be accomplished. Please help us! We accomplished every single one of our goals last year and look forward to doing so again with the help of you and the affiliate committee members ­ Jerry Carson, Stuart Celarier, Logan Daffron, Mary Ellen Duffy, Steve Gerdes, Bob Hartman and Larry Olsen.

 

We have a bunch of new affiliates. Please welcome with me the "Muddy Bog Jugglers" from Atascadero, Calif., with Bill Robinson and Leslyn Keith in the lead.

 

From Brattleboro, Vt., it's the "Wild Goose Jugglers" organized by Maria Deluca. Dusty Galbraith is enthusiastically in charge of "Quad Cities Juggling" in the Silvis, Ill. / Moline, Iowa, area. An affiliate comprised completely of young people from the Minneapolis, Minn., area called the "Wise Guys" is directed by Paul Arneberg.

 

And with all the jugglers in Austin, Tex., it's about time they made it official. Thanks to Deborah Campbell for getting the "Texas Juggling Society" together.

 

Finally, choosing a winning banner from all those hanging in the juggling space in Las Vegas was immensely difficult. They were all so great that I want to share the $50 prize with everyone. Help! What should I do?! Please call and help me decide!

 

Local Favorites Host Cape Cod Festival

 

The sixth annual Cape Cod St. Performers Festival featured IJAers Robin Zegge and Henry Lappen, Kalonymous Briskin, and the "Foolsproof' family of Rob, Linda and three­year-old dancer / acrobatjazmine Peck. Also on hand were local favorites "The Suspenders" (festival visionary Al Moniz, producer Geoff "I'll do it my" Way and Bob "Stretch" Pettengill).

 

High points included Suspenders's wacky tandem unicycling/slapstick clowning, Zegge's "Scamway" huckster character named "Chrome Rose," Lappen's audience participation tightrope walking and club juggling, Briskin's dry humor and torch juggling on a rola-bola and Foolsproof's "celebration of imperfections" (also known as "how to subliminally cue the crowd to drop their inhibitions and their money into the hat").

 

The weekend's festivities culminated with a public show. Briskin roused the crowd with three machetes and Foolsproof revved them up with a choreographed three club tango that ended with a running leap-frog takeaway. Lappen and Zegge royally amused them with mutually wacko characters. Keeping a low profile till the end, the host troupe then 'suspended' the crowd's disbelief in kicking off a flaming finish. Once everyone had lit their props, the torch jugglers passed around Moniz. On cue, everyone stopped, lined up, dropped to one knee and blew out their wicks. All except Rob Peck, who did a fake fire swallow gag. Then Zegge, dressed as the matronly "Blanche, The Queen of Clean," lit two cotton wicks and finished by indeed swallowing both of them.