by Jeff Saunders

Reporter

Sagamore Hills -- They may not be fat, but four big cats are about to come to town and will, in part, help the family of an area fallen hero.

The Oklahoma-based Kelly Miller Circus will roll into Sagamore Hills Township Park on Aug. 1 for its seventh annual appearance on behalf of the Nordonia Hills Kiwanis Club.

Bonnie Dusek, who chairs the Kiwanis Club's circus committee, encourages residents to purchase tickets in advance, because the club only gets 10 percent of proceeds from sales made on show day.

"We try to encourage advance day sales because that's where we make most of our money," she said.

(See box for schedule and ticket information.)

Circus spokesperson Jill Jones said that despite heavy cost, a new attraction will be a tiger act.

"It's a liability as far as insurance goes," said Jones. "But in the off-season, the owners got together to talk about what acts they wanted and it just so happens, they wanted tigers."

Dusek said that $500 of the club's proceeds this year will go to a fund set up at Fifth Third Bank on behalf of the wife and infant daughter of Twinsburg Police Officer Joshua Miktarian, who was killed during a July 13 traffic stop.

"We voted on it at the last meeting and felt we should do something," said Dusek on July 23.

New acts this year include the upside down loop walk, a horizontal ladder-like structure near the top of the tent on which a performer walks upside down along straps between two parallel poles. Other acts include an equestrian comedy act and a "rolabola act," in which a performer balances on a plank placed on top of a stack of eight or nine cylinders.

In another new act, performers will bring to life a wedding in Spanish colonial Mexico, with a woman on a trapeze playing the "bride," three women performing on ropes hanging from the tent's top, and several men on the ground.

Jones said the circus' new look is largely due to the influence of owner John Ringling North II, a great nephew of the Ringling Brothers, who took over the circus last year.

But not everything has changed. Jones said the Wheel of Destiny and elephant acts will return. The midway will still feature camel, elephant and pony rides and as in past years, residents are invited to come out in the morning to see the animals and witness the elephant Viola raise the Big Top.

"We really enjoy coming there because we basically get packed houses every year," said Jones.

Dusek said that last year, the club's proceeds from the circus was about $3,100.

"We're kind of going for $3,500 this year," she said.

Dusek said the money goes to help local children identified by organizations such as the Emergency Assistance Center and Baskets of Hope.

"For example, we paid for a child's school lunches for a couple of years," she said.

The club also provides one or two $500 scholarships each year to Nordonia High School seniors.

Dusek said that the club enjoys bringing the circus to the area every year.

"It's our biggest fundraiser," she said. "I'm proud of what our little group does and the circus has been fantastic for us."

E-mail: jsaunders@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3169