My favorite thing: Clown figurine
Newsday
by DANIEL BUBBEO
Don't tell Rhoda Newman to send in the clowns - they're already here in her home in North Babylon. Newman has loved clowns since she was a child when her parents took her to the circus for the first time. Now, she has a serious clown collection - about 100 in all from pewter figurines to knitted and handmade clowns. The star of her collection is the ceramic statuette of Emmett Kelly, who performed as Weary Willie, a clown based on the hobos of the Depression era. Newman's son gave her the figurine as a birthday gift about 20 years ago. Newman, a retired school secretary who will turn 80 Nov. 12, wasn't clowning around when she told Newsday staff writer Daniel Bubbeo about her collection...
What is it about clowns that appeal to you so much?
They cheer me up. When I was a kid, I loved going to the circus because I loved the clowns. My mother would say, "Look at the trapeze," but I was busy looking at the clowns coming out of the car. And my mother would never tell me how that trick worked.
That's funny you would say they cheer you up, because so many people seem to be afraid of clowns.
Oh, when my grand-niece was 3 or 4, she came to visit and got so hysterical. I couldn't understand why until her mother said, "Please, hide the clowns."
How long have you been collecting clowns?
At least 30 years. One is actually a doorstop. It has a brick in it. That came from when I was visiting a dear friend who's no longer alive, so I keep it out to remember her. Once in a while, a friend will get me a Precious Moment clown. I got a few in Holland because my son used to live there. They're pewter. And I got some in the Ozarks in Arkansas because it reminds me of the folks who live there.
Why is the Emmett Kelly figurine so special to you?
My family tends to ignore me as far as clowns are concerned, so when my son gave me this for my birthday, it was very special because I didn't even think he ever noticed that I collected them.
That's the only one from the Emmett Kelly collection that you have. You never wanted to get any more?
I probably can't afford them. ... There's one with him and a broom. Maybe someday, I'll treat myself. Maybe I'll put that on my birthday list.
Did you ever see Emmett Kelly perform live?
Only once. He had the broom in his hand, and he tried to sweep up the spotlight. It was wonderful. I was just speechless.
Journalist and entertainer Peter Brown is opening up the world of the regional press in his new book Hold The Front Page And Send In the Clowns. 
He said: "It's not really meant to be an autobiography, although I suppose it is to some extent, but it's about daily life on a provincial newspaper and some of the weird and wonderful things that happened. 
Livingston went on to create read-along sets featuring DIsney, Lantz and Warner Bros characters, but the most successful line was the Bozo series. Voiced by Disney story and voice man, 
McCabe was an animator at Warner Bros in the 30s and directed in the early 40s. After the war, he turned to commercial work and illustration. He returned to cartoon animation in the mid-1960s, animating the titles to The Pink Panther. He continued to work in the business until his death in 2006. Cecil Beard was an animator and story man at Disney and Columbia. He worked on the Fox & the Crow comic books with Jim Davis in the late 40s, and as an illustrator for Western Publishing in the 1960s. He passed away in 1986.
The most striking thing about these images are the compositions. Notice how the white of the page is used and how small windows in the backgrounds open onto other environments. There's some really clever use of perspective and depth cues here. Enjoy! 
Over the weekend, Gumdrop the Clown turned dozens of little faces into pearly pink-nosed kittens, glittery butterflies or menacing masked superheroes, leaving their chins and lips paint-free for snacking purposes. 
Renaissance, the Azheimer's unit at Timber Ridge Senior Living in Eureka, was alive with circus clowns, jugglers and balloons last week as staff and family members celebrated the lives of the residents with an “Under the Big Top” event. 
Everyone has seen a clown, those cheery characters that can put a smile on any face.
With her chalk white skin, bright red curly hair, dazzling orange lipstick, rosy pink cheeks and dressed in a scarlet red coat with a red, white and black bow on her neck, Aleeyah Amanda Ali, 34, is truly a sight to behold. 
Ali speaks about Redzi as though she's another person entirely. "Redzi is a separate entity though she's my alter ego. She's a Trini clown with plenty Tobago flavour and she's been entertaining children all her life. Redzi loves to read and watch children come alive," Ali explained. 
When Donna Kerr Roth was growing up in an orphanage and in a foster home she wasn't sure where her life would take her.
Ever see CU students walking around campus with balloon animals at finals time, or kids playing with balloon swords on Pearl Street?
Bill Young's hard work has paid off.
To be a successful clown says Jess "Woody the Clown" Woods, it's all about the props — a few unique, crowd pleasing props — with a little magic tossed in.
Being a clown is all business for Barry Lubin.
The secret to effective rodeo clowning is spontaneity.
Even on the worst of days, a little clowning around can make everyone smile. 
Who she is: Tana Fillingame, 46, of Vidor, married, three children. 
Who she is: Gumdrop, a.k.a. Gloria Lindsey, 54, of Nederland, a warehouse clerk who is mother of four, grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of one. 
Who she is: Shoo, a.k.a. Virginia Russell, 59, of Lumberton, a retired widow, mother of two and grandmother to five. 
Daluni
Saturday afternoon, families from the Moose Jaw area went to the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds for the Rural Appreciation and Fall Family Fair. 
Brownsboro Independent School District children were privileged to witness the antics of a Culpepper and Merriweather clown Friday, October 5. The clown, named Skeeter, entertained the students with rope tricks and even handed over two free passes to volunteers for one of her balancing acts. 
The Union Square Theater is carving out a niche as a home for a kind of barely verbal foreign import that has become a standard feature of the Off Broadway menu. These high-energy spectacles — the offspring of hits like “Stomp” and “Blue Man Group” — are sometimes called events or experiences, and audiences are usually told that the shows are a sensation somewhere very far away. 
It was 1997 and, Donna Feltner says, her husband of 27 years took off with his new girlfriend and cruised around town on a red Harley-Davidson. 
Feltner had a house in Wesley Chapel. She had a job doing data processing for a technical school in Tampa. But she was sad and lonely. 
Professor Steve's class was in session Thursday. 
The library's multicultural program coordinator, Maria Polacio, said Saturday's event was part of an effort to attract the Spanish-speaking population to the library through its celebration of Hispanic culture and traditions. Attendees were encouraged to wear costumes from their native countries.
"We've been celebrating (Hispanic Heritage Month) for years, but we've recently been able to build it up more because we've been able to bring in more talent," Polacio said. The festivities were highlighted by a performance from Galacctín the Clown.
Considering the impressive turnout, Polacio said, Saturday's program was "a resounding success."
More than 100 clowns, from 16 countries like the United States, Canada and France came to turn the holiday into a season of laughter. After a brief opening ceremony, came the rapturous stilt band, the Hunchback of Notre Dame; then the jumping Kangaroo men. The audience response seemed to demonstrate that laughter knows no borders. 
TRIBUTES were today paid to a popular Ipswich children's entertainer who died after a short battle with cancer.
When Jim Bob Feller, 56, was a boy, his father was a preacher, so the family moved around a lot. 
There were a bunch of clown doctors that showed up on the shoot at one point, doctors dressed as clowns. One is a dwarf with a red cape on, they're calling her Capa Rosa, she's dressed like Little Red Riding Hood. She's a clown, plus she's a doctor. And she also happens to be a dwarf. They just walk around Mexico City, they're just crazy doctors dressed like clowns to cheer up dying kids. And then you're supposed to have complete faith in them. Think Patch Adams meets Traffic. That's probably a good theme for the whole thing. We were sick, we behaved like children. I don't know if they were trying to cheer us up, but Capa Rosa was wonderful, she was sweet. They came in a big ambulance and just hung out around us. There was a fire-breathing clown right around when that happened. He was conducting traffic. 