From Don Covington #2

---- — PERU, INDIANA — Hundreds maybe even thousands lined the sidewalks and streets of Peru as one of the country’s last Circus Parades began winding through the streets of Peru. “This is one of the only circus parades left in the country,” Bruce Embrey, president of the board of directors for the Circus City Festival, told the crowd prior to the start of the 55th Annual Circus Festival Parade. “And it’s one of the biggest parades in the country.” Led by the Miami County Sheriff Department, Peru Police Department and Indiana State Police, the circus parade featured an array of authentic circus wagons, horse-drawn floats, clowns, calliopes, wild animals and bands. The more than 70 floats and parade participants began at Wayne Street and East Main Street, then winded down Broadway and made their way south to Canal Street. “This is a wonderful community event,” said Rick Woodall, who works security at Dean Baldwin Painting, an airplane painting company located at Grissom Air Reserve Base. “This is my fifth year,” he said as he snapped photos of the parade. “It’s something good that brings the community together and something good for the kids. This a very historical parade and the only one left in the United States.” “The parade is really something,” said James Graybel, who manages the carnival part of the festival. A native of Augusta, Georgia, Graybel has been managing the week-long carnival in Peru for three years. “This is my third year in Peru, but I’ve been on the road with the carnival since 1986,” he said. “You drive around Peru and it looks like a pretty small town,” said Graybel, who now lives in Huntington, West Virginia. “I don’t know where everybody came from. I’ve been to a lot of parades, but I never seen anything like this.” Former Peru resident Deb Mylet said she wouldn’t miss the parade for anything. “When I lived here, I came to the parade all the time,” said Mylet, who now lives in Tampa, Florida. “This has always been a big thing here,” she said holding her granddaughter, Allison, as the floats and horse-drawn wagons streamed by. “We came up here to visit this summer and heard about the parade on the news. My son lives in Sheridan so I told him we have to be up by 8 a.m. to see the parade.” Mylet said she remembers bringing her son, who is now 34, to the parade when he was a kid. “We now have three generations here,” she said. “It’s a lot bigger than it used to be. It’s good to have a town that’s committed to it.” After the parade, the crowd made their way to the carnival for rides, games and food set up around the courthouse concluding the week-long festivities. Dave Melton of Bremen drove down to Peru to see his first parade in the Circus City. “My friends told me about it so we decided to drive down,” he said. “I think we’re going to the circus later. My friend and I was wondering why the circus is so big in Peru.” He’d have to go way back to find that answer. The City of Peru’s website states that in April 1884, Ben Wallace, the owner of the local livery stable joined with his partner, James Anderson, and bought a circus in Peru. They presented their first show in 1884. The show eventually traveled under the name of The Great Wallace Show. In 1890, Wallace bought out his partner, and in 1891 established the Wallace winter quarters on land purchased from Chief Godfroy, the website states. In 1907, the Carl Hagenbeck Circus became the property of Wallace and thus became Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, according to the city’s website. After buying out the other partners, John Talbot was Wallace’s only partner. In 1913, the year of Peru’s largest flood, Wallace suffered greatly financially and sold the show while it was on the road. Members of the syndicate purchasing the circus were C.E. Cory, John O. Talbot and Edward W. Ballard. The American Circus Corporation was formed in 1921 with Jerry Mugivan, Bert Bowers and Ed Ballard as directors. During the 1920s, Peru became known on the maps as the “Circus City”. John Ringling purchased the entire A.C.C. holdings, including the Peru quarters and farms in September of 1929. Two years later, 126 circus wagons were burned, effectively ending the old circus era in Miami County. Many famous performers gave their talents to the circuses and called Peru home. Mickey King and husband, Antoinette and Art Concello, Emmett Kelly, Otto Griebling, Terrell Jacobs, Clyde Beatty, Tom Mix, Ken Manard, the Hodginis, and many others were all a part of Peru’s golden age of the circus. The old winter quarters are now the home of the International Circus Hall of Fame.