Clown Corps love a parade
Toledo Blade
by RYAN E. SMITH
If you ever get in a tight spot and need a balloon animal - fast! - Russ Wood is your man.
"I could make a dog in under five seconds if I needed to," he said.
Good thing, too, because as a member of the Distinguished Clown Corps who will take part in Toledo's Downtown Holiday Parade on Saturday, his services will be in demand. Fortunately, he's developed quite the repertoire.
"You can do a giraffe, dog, apples, hats, swords, pregnant poodles, bumblebees, hummingbirds ... [and] snakes!" said Wood, who is senior vice president for Huntington Private Financial Group. "Snakes are easy."
He expects to be joined by more than 70 other local executives turned clown-for-a-day who are part of the Clown Corps when the parade kicks off at 11 a.m. Each clown's company donates $500 to support the parade, and each clown is repaid in smiles.
"It's absolutely awesome to see the kids' faces," Wood said.
Leading the 90-minute parade this year will be Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr., who lives in Napoleon with his wife, Crystal. As the grand marshal, he will join some 50 units as they march through downtown before tens of thousands of onlookers.
The event, which will be televised on WUPW-TV, Channel 36, is expected to feature eight marching bands, four giant helium balloons, and an early visit from Santa, according to Julie Champa, executive director of CitiFest Inc., which organizes the parade.
And, of course, the Distinguished Clown Corps will be there in force, as they have been for the last 20 years, when they formed to underwrite and reincarnate the parade at a time when it had not been held for a number of years. Some members also take their act to local hospitals afterward.
Bob Savage, general chairman of the Distinguished Clown Corps who is from Savage & Associates Inc., has been involved from the beginning. You just might not recognize him in his green and white clown outfit, which includes shamrocks and more.
"My hat must be 18 inches high. I have pink hair," he said. "I'm just a lovely sight."
Savage said he tries to spend time with kids along the route who look like they need the attention the most.
He doesn't talk during the parade - Savage is a mime - but he doesn't need to in order to bring a smile to the faces of young onlookers along the route. When it's all over on Saturday, this businessman's smile could be as big as theirs.
"I have a great time," he said. "We're all little kids inside."
