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Suite treat: Kids from Warren Family Mission get to see circus in style
YOUNGSTOWN
From the suite on the top floor of the Covelli Centre, the view is quite impressive.
The kids would be able to see all three rings of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, no doubt — and they were looking forward to it.
This year was the second year in a row the Rudzik family of Struthers had donated its suite so families from the Warren Family Mission could enjoy the circus with tickets through a program called Tickets for Kids.
Approximately 12 children all together, some who were coming for the first time, would be attending the opening night of the show, LEGENDS!, which continues today through Sunday at the downtown entertainment facility.
Seven families were represented, said Lisa Dudley, the mission’s director of development.
Kids who attended last year “just loved it,” and the kids who were coming for the first time were very excited, said Cheryl Parsons, the mission’s director of public relations.
“A lot of the kids have never seen this; they come from a different type of life,” Parsons said. “So this is a treat for them.”
The mothers and their children were from the mission’s women and children’s shelter, Parsons said. They typically come from domestic-abuse situations with nothing. The shelter helps them obtain copies of birth certificates and driver’s licenses, helps them pay any outstanding fines they have and helps them get jobs.
Upstairs, it was almost show time, but not before a special meet-and-greet event.
Samantha Wood, 7, who had seen the circus last year, liked the giraffes and their long necks best.
Cassie Boyer, 8, who also came last year, liked the clowns.
She especially would like the surprise the circus sent up to the lobby outside the suite for the kids — two juggling clowns named Sandor and Andrew. Some of the kids even got to try their hands at juggling.
Even so, Johnathan Hoysak, 8, said becoming a clown did not appeal to him.
Why not?
“Ya gotta have big boots,” he said.