In One Ear: Three-ring reunion

Published 6:00 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

Students who participated in the Lewis and Clark Circus are gathering for a reunion from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lewis and Clark Elementary School, 92179 Lewis and Clark Road.

In 1969, Max Bigby, the physical education teacher at the Lewis and Clark School, and his wife, Judy, saw a performance of the Clackamas High School Circus at the Astoria High School gym. He was so inspired by the event, an idea was born, he explained in an issue of Cumtux. 

Soon Max was taking Lewis and Clark students and their parents to Clackamas High School to watch and learn. Scale drawings were made, photos were taken, and the next year, items were purchased, donated and fabricated to make a school circus dream come true. 

Parents were supportive, and so was Clatsop Community College. Several other notables also helped, among them Wilt and Violet Paulson, Hal Norling, Danny and Arlene Jones of the Astoria Beauty School, costume team members Jean Bogh, Nancy Lockett, Mary Longtain; Leonard Vernon, technical support and the use of his calliope; and Ray Propst, Vic Kee and Waverly Warila helped with programs and photos.

“Acts included single, double and triple trapeze, balance and shoot through ladder, teeter board, Spanish webs (hanging rope acrobatics), swinging ladders, adagio quartet, rolla-rolla duet (balancing act), fire eating, bicycle built for seven, unicycles, juggling, hanging perch pole, slack wire and clown acts,” Max Bigby wrote. The spectacular event took place in the former Lewis and Clark School gym.

“The group traveled to perform at Portland State, Ashland, Warm Springs, and at the Seaside Convention Center,” he added. “They even traveled for a personal appearance in Portland with Red Skelton,” an entertainer well known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and the early 1970s. 

The circus, and the images shown, were featured in the Cumtux publication from the Clatsop County Historical Society, Spring 2023 Vol. 43 No. 3 issue.