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Circus calls Hugo ‘home’
By Sally Boswell
Published August 2, 2009
HUGO, Okla. — “The circus is coming to town!” It’s a call from all our childhoods, one that tugs fondly at our memories and takes us back to when we were young and a day at the circus meant fun and adventure and excitement.
In Hugo, Okla., when the circus comes to town, it really means “coming home.”
“Hugo has been a circus town since before World War II,” said Dudley Hamilton, an agent for several of the circuses in Hugo for more than a quarter of a century. “Over the years, there have been more than 20 circuses that have called Hugo home. Just a few years ago, there were as many as five at the same time.”
Hugo’s circus roots began in 1937, when local grocery store owner and self-professed circus fan, Vernon Pratt, drove from Hugo to Mena Ark., where what was then known as the Al G. Kelley-Miller Circus was wintered. Pratt met the owner, Obert Miller, and extended an invitation to Miller to bring his circus to Hugo, not just for a performance, but for good. Miller accepted the deal and the next year Hugo’s first circus came home.
Since those days, a total of 22 circus have headquartered in Hugo, including Carson & Barnes, Stevens Bros., Cole & Walters, Don Karr, James Christy and Fairlyland Circus. Pratt himself formed the relatively short-lived Hugo Bros. Circus. Culpepper & Merriweather Circus and Circus Chimera joined the list within the past few years.
Today, Hugo is home to three circuses — Kelly-Miller, Carson & Barnes and Culpepper & Merriweather.
For generations, the circus has been a vital part of the community and culture of Hugo.
“When I was growing up I went to school with the circus kids and we always enjoyed it when they came back to town,” said Janece Rankin, a longtime resident of Hugo and retired business owner. “They usually got home a few weeks after school had already started. We watched for them. They were our friends. We really looked forward to the circuses coming home. It was part of our family coming home.”
“The idea of a Circus City Museum in Hugo has been in the back of my mind for 20 years or more,” Hamilton said. “We just never did anything about it.”
Recently, Circus City Museum and Park, Inc. board of directors — including circus owners and management personnel and Hugo-area business people and educators — took the first major step in establishing a museum by purchasing a two-story frame home on East Jackson Street, directly across from the Choctaw County Public Library.
“The home belonged to Carol Rawls, and had been in the Rawls family for generations. The Rawls family owned Kelley Miller for a number of years,” said Marilyn Custer, president of CCM&P. “We organized the board in 2007 and our first goal was to buy the property across the street. We had $20,000 from three different sponsors and we borrowed the rest, so now we formally own the building. Now we have to raise some money and start work on getting the museum and park up and running.”
“Quite a few people retire here from the circus and a lot of the people working the circus own homes here in Hugo,” added Hamilton. “That’s where we expect to find most of the memorabilia we hope to display in the museum.”
The board members recently showed off a few of the items they have already set aside for the museum, including the centerpiece of an elephant’s headgear, antique wooden pulley blocks used to raise tents and rigging for the circus and decades worth of photographs and other printed materials.
Jim Royal, general manager of the Kelly-Miller Circus and a former ringmaster for several other circuses around the world, brought out a show blanket worn by one of the largest of the animals in the circus.
The expanse of material, which took four people to stretch out, was hand made in Hugo, Royal said. Though showing wear in several places, the blanket still retained its bright color and the yards of hand-sewn sequins and paste jewels still caught the light.
Plans for the museum include a number of gallery rooms in the main building, as well as meeting rooms and storage for museum pieces. Board members hope to evoke the spirit of the circus on the grounds surrounding the museum with tents, display pieces and water features.
“Our purpose in organizing and promoting this museum is to celebrate and preserve the rich circus heritage and tradition in Hugo,” said Custer, the manager of a local ranch.
So what was it that made so many circuses over the years decide to call the tiny town of Hugo, Okla., “home?”
“One of the things, certainly, is a warm climate,” Hamilton said. “The circus is only home for 3 or 4 months in the winter time and the weather here is quite temperate in the winter”
“Lots of circuses winter in Florida,” added Royal. “But in Florida, the roads only go north and south. Here in this part of Oklahoma our travel options are wide open. We can start the season traveling in any direction we choose.”
“Some towns aren’t all that amenable to having circuses wintering there,” Custer said. “But Hugo was always very receptive to having the circuses come here. As a resident of Hugo, I can say that the circus owners, managers and people are wonderful. They are great people, top notch in every way and they have contributed in many ways to our community over the years.”
Hugo has adapted to life alongside the circuses, too.
Donna Moos was 9 and living in Paris, Texas, when her father moved the family to Hugo and took over a food service position in the Carson & Barnes Circus. Moos, a former show girl in the circus herself, remembered coming home to Hugo.
“When I was a kid, we didn’t have a teacher on the road,” she said. “We would take our school books along and we took a test when we got back to Hugo to see if we would advance to the next grade or not. I eventually graduated fifth in my class at Hugo High.”
“Today, we have a teacher on the road with us,” added Royal. “The Hugo school district works very closely with our teacher so that the children that leave school early to go on tour can continue their education without interruption. In the fall, when they return, they just zip right back into the school. That’s Hugo for you...”
“Hugo has been good to the circuses, and in return, the circuses have been good for Hugo,” added Hamilton. “The people who work the circuses make their money all across the country, but they come home to spend it right here in Hugo.”
“Even when the show is on the road, the facilities here in Hugo aren’t idle,” he said. “During that time, workers are rebuilding for next year’s show, painting and repairing, sewing costumes, purchasing supplies and materials and services every day from local vendors.”
Each year, according to the members of the board, the Chamber of Commerce in Hugo shows it’s appreciation for their circus family by holding a “welcome home” reception for all of the circus folk as well as the citizens of Choctaw County.
“To give you an example of what it’s like here for us in Hugo,” Royal said. “Trey Key (owner and manager of Culpepper & Merriweather Circus) once told me ‘This is the only town I know where you can go into the local bank and ask for a loan for an elephant and they don’t think twice about it.’”
“It’s always refreshing to get back here if you work for the circus,” Hamilton said. “You look forward to getting back to Hugo where you’re appreciated.”
For more information on the Circus City Museum and Park, Inc., and their fundraising efforts, visit www.familylobby.com/circuscitymuseum.
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