Maggie the Clown

Sheila's dad, Will, is quite tall but looks like a young kid next to Maggie!  It's funny... 
I can actually see the little boy in Will in this photo! I suppose there is a little boy 
in each of us which shines through at these shows...

Most people don't like being called a clown... but Maggie the Clown does! She seems to thrive on being a clown and entertaining kids. There is no doubt that Maggie is good at what she does and she enjoys doing it!

In all the years we have been attending the annual Amherst Railway Society train show, Maggie the Clown has been an active participant in keeping the young kids entertained all through the weekend.

Maggie personally greeted Lukey and Kenzie shortly after they arrived at the show... she introduced herself and invited them to her show... offered them balloons... and we learned a bit more about Maggie this year...

Maggie the Clown actually lives on a train! She is a clown with the Ringling Brothers Circus and, as many of you probably already know, this circus still travels around the country by train. The animals travel by train... all the circus performers live on this train. Every year, in January, she finds her way to Springfield, Massachusetts to take part in entertaining thousands of kids at the Amherst Railway Society's annual Railroad Hobby Show. 

After Maggie introduced herself to the kids upon their arrival, we viewed a few more operating train layouts and then bought some lunch. Maggie's stage is situated next to the concession stands in this first of four buildings so we ate lunch in the stage seating while watching Maggie perform her show for the kids.

Later in the afternoon, the kids spotted Maggie making her way through the crowd on her stilts greeting kids and posing for photos. Lukey was screaming, "MAGGIE...  MAGGIE..." to get her attention as we trailed behind this happy clown with long legs and a huge stride. She was casually strolling a few yards in front of us but, with an eight foot stride, it was tough catching up to her! Sure enough, Maggie heard Lukey's little voice, turned around, and came over to talk with Lukey and Kenzie again.

We have seen her at this show so often that the show wouldn't be the same without her!