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SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Circus brings smiles

By Mary Brienza, Staff Writer
   Cloudy skies and intermittent rain showers did not deter about 2,000 people from attending the Zerbini Family Circus last weekend.
   The South Brunswick Lions Club sponsored the annual event May 14-15 at Crossroads Middle School South on Major Road and raised about $4,000 for the organization, club treasurer Barbara Hendrickson said.
   Ms. Hendrickson said the organization collected a percentage of the ticket sales from the event and a good number sold before the shows.
   The money raised at the event will go toward six $500 scholarships for township high school students, township rescue squads and club sight projects, including eye exams, glasses and anything that helps residents who are blind, according to Ms. Hendrickson.
   Lions Club International, founded in 1917, is the largest service organization in the world with more than 1.35 million members in 46,000 clubs in 194 countries, according to the South Brunswick Lions Club website.
   Ms. Hendrickson said the club has sponsored a circus in the township for about eight or nine years, and the club has had the Zerbini Family Circus perform in the township for about five years.
   The Zerbini Family Circus, based in Florida, is an old-time family circus that is basically for children, said Monmouth Junction resident and third vice president of the Lions Club of South Brunswick Jack Hendrickson on Saturday.
   The circus features trapeze artists, jugglers, balancing acts and clowns, and there are no lions, tigers, bears or elephants so children are not overwhelmed, he said.
   ”Kids just have a great time,” he said. “(It is) very family oriented.”
   Hightstown resident Katie Marshall said before the show that she was attending with her children because of a cancelled baseball game. She said the circus was close and did not cost a lot of money to attend. She said she had not been to a circus since childhood, and it was the children’s first time attending a circus.
   One of her children, Allison Marshall, 6, said she was looking forward to the dog show.
   There were camel and pony rides, an inflatable slide, inflatable bounce house and a concession stand selling food outside the big top tent. Inside the tent was a ring for the acts and a stand selling balloons and toys.
   The circus opened with trapeze artists performing gravity-defying stunts to the gasps, whistles, cheers and applause of the crowd before being joined by a clown, whose intentional missteps brought laughter from the audience.
   After the trapeze performance, there was a juggler who performed using pins, rings, balls and hats.
   The third act consisted of two aerial ballerinas who performed gravity-defying twirls on a large rope.
   Then a clown with a whistle brought three people from the audience into the ring and gave them a tiny guitar, a microphone, drumsticks and wigs. The three audience members then gave a mock performance of the song, “Poker Face,” by Lady Gaga.
   After that performance, there was a two-person balancing act on a ladder, then a man came out with an African python, a little African alligator and, later, a large African alligator, which he eventually kissed on the snout.
   The final act before the intermission was a trampoline act.
   During the intermission, attendees could pay to have their photo taken with either the snake or a pony and pay to have their face painted.
   After the intermission, two people performed on the tightrope. The final act was the Flying Condors swinging and jumping into a net, including one performer jumping through a hoop.
   Old Bridge resident Allie Lockhart, 9, said her favorite part of the show was the acrobats.
   Millstone resident Julianna Conforti, 8, said she liked the trampoline act and the clown with the whistle that performed.
   Old Bridge resident Shelby Lapierre, 11, said she liked the dogs and thought they were cute.
   ”They were trained well,” she said.
   Old Bridge resident Cassidy Lapierre, 9, said her favorite part was the trampoline acts since she could do almost all the tricks that were performed.