Air Calliope #1

Scan10207, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Lots of parades on Memorial Day bringing to mind the circus parades of old and one of their most stellar attractions, the calliope. After finishing our morning chores at Baraboo, Bobby Gibbs and I would sometimes cross over the bridge while the "America" was building up steam. Often the earliest visitors were groups of senior citizens who at the first scream from America's whistles, sent canes, walkers and crutches flying in all directions. We would then go over and help with the dead and wounded. Bobby once asked an old lady if she had been frightened and she replied, "Of course not, I always wear them down around my ankles!"