From Don Covington

Jason King directs his elephants before the audience on Kelleys Island during the Kelly Miller Circus’s annual visit to the community surrounded by Lake Erie. THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH KELLEYS ISLAND, Ohio -- Every year, performers of the Kelly Miller Circus await their annual visit to Kelleys Island with great anticipation. And that feeling for those living on the small tourist island is always reciprocated.Since 2004, the Kelly Miller Circus has been traveling to northwest Ohio, and across Lake Erie via ferry to Kelleys Island to spend two days riding around in golf carts, swimming in the lake, and performing in a packed tent filled with their most responsive crowd of the season.Case in point: A welcoming party of about 200 gathered Sunday night as the circus trucks and trailers drove off the boats and onto the island, as the ferries pulled into the dock and cheered as the circus unloaded."Everybody treats you so good here," elephant trainer Armando Loyal said. "It makes you feel like a rock star."He said that after traveling from 6 in the morning to three towns in one day Sunday, the circus sees its two-day stay on Kelleys Island as half work, half vacation. Because performers do not have to travel in the mornings, they can sleep in and enjoy their evenings at some of the island's popular establishments, such as the Caddy Shack or The Pump.As the ferries began pulling into the dock, the island -- tranquil on a Sunday night after a weekend of visitors -- came alive with excitement. Fish jumped out of the water to avoid the boats as they pulled in.Karen Sizer of North Ridgefield, Ohio, said she and her family waited on their docked boat for six hours just to see the circus come in."That was super cool because you could hear the applause," Ms. Sizer said.The circus trucks pulled into the village of Marblehead in waves from the previous show Sunday night in Avon, Ohio, and were directed onto the boats by ferry workers.Two ferries -- the Shirley Irene and the Kayla Marie -- made five trips each to transport the entire circus, 40 vehicles, from the village to the island.The ferries also carried noncircus passengers and vehicles during the five-hour transport period from 7 p.m. until just after midnight, when the last boat carrying two trucks with the circus bleachers came in.When the ferry carrying the elephants, camels, and tigers arrived at the island dock, the crowd cheered them on at dockside, then followed along to the circus set-up site at the Kelleys Island ball diamond.There, circus workers set up canopies to shade the camels and elephants.Aboard a ferry, Lorenzo Loyal, 12, led a group of six circus performers in a chant, raising their fists in the air and shouting "USA! USA!" into the wind.Chris Bradford, ferry captain aboard the Shirley Irene, changes his work schedule each year so he can take the circus across the lake waters to the island.