Texans hold first festival

by Rodney Barton & Mickey Cecil

A Denton festival feed. (l-r) Barry Tipping, Mica Calfee and David Hares to Brian Shaffer (Barbara Cecil photo)

It all started innocently. Two young but active clubs in north Texas, the Dallas Anti-Gravity Circus and the Denton Jugglers Assn. never got together because their meetings were each held Wednesday nights.

The Denton Club decided to invite Dallas to juggle on Sunday, March 2, Texas's 150th birthday. The rest went something like this:

"Let's print some fliers with a map and phone numbers."

"We could put them up around town and on campus."

"Then we'll have to call it something."

"How about the North Texas Jugglers Festival? We could invite other IJA members in Texas, and what about Oklahoma?"

Soon a group of novice jugglers who had never even been to a juggling festival had organized one. With help from Audrey Bernecker from Dallas, we distributed fliers and made telephone calls. Then we waited.

On the big day, jugglers were waiting in the parking lot when we opened the gym at North Lakes Recreation Center. And they continued to arrive from as far away as Oklahoma City and Austin. More than 60 jugglers and 30 spectators eventually filled the gym.

We all performed our best tricks, but the Oklahomans stole the show. Bill Williams and Jim Howell of Magic Motion demonstrated their skills with ball and plate spinning and mixed object juggling. Karen and Paul Phariss and Kevin Holman of Circus Movement were the star numbers jugglers, passing 11 clubs between them and 8 and 9 clubs between two people. Kevin also juggled the most objects, seven rings.

Other highlights included a four person, 14 club line, a circle feed with three feeders and lots of feedees, and some rounds of combat. Mike Rahl showed us devil sticking, while Sherbert the Clown and Chester the Jester provided lots of laughs. Youngest club passers were Eric Parkey and Andy Rie, age 12. Andy juggled the most unusual props -- plastic vegetables and potato chip cans!

The fun continued well past our allotted time, so everyone moved outdoors where Mica Calfee supervised torch juggling dressed in full fire-fighting gear. There was also a joggling relay race and a line of devil sticks that grew to six people passing five sticks.

Our festival was a hit, thanks to all those who came to juggle and to the Denton Parks and Recreation Department. Afterwards the talk went like this:

"They want us to do it again!"

"Should we try for fall, or next spring?"

"We ought to have some workshops..."

"And a public show!"

"You know, someone in this area should host an IJA convention..."