Thursday, August 16, 2012
 
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The circus is coming to town

Ladd asks city to waive permit fee

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[August 16, 2012]  Geoff Ladd, director of the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County, appeared before the city council Tuesday evening to talk about a new event that is coming to Lincoln in October.

The Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County, of which Ladd is also the head, will sponsor the Kelly Miller Circus on Oct. 6.

Ladd said the circus typically joins itself with some type of charitable or fundraising event, and it made for a nice match with the foundation to restore The Mill.

Ladd explained that when he was notified that Oct. 6 was the date the circus could be available to come to Lincoln, he quickly realized this was the same date as the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club cruise-in at The Mill.

The cruise-in is held annually in the back lot at The Mill, with proceeds from the day going to the Save the Mill Foundation.

Ladd said he had made arrangements with the car club and Best Western so that all the events of the day will be moved to the empty lot owned by Best Western, next to the Railsplitter Covered Wagon, which is recognized by Guinness as the world's largest.

Ladd said Best Western had agreed to allow the circus to use the property free of charge. Area Disposal is going to provide garbage collection free of charge. Ladd said so far this means that the foundation has incurred no expenses. The only thing left is to get a permit from the city to hold the circus. He said he was in hopes that the city would grant that permit and at the same time waive the $50 registration fee.

Ladd said the restoration of The Mill is still in process, and currently there is a need for approximately $20,000 for HVAC work, plumbing and restrooms. With the foundation receiving a portion of the ticket price for the circus, Ladd said he is hoping to raise approximately $2,500. In addition the cruise-in is expected to raise about $500 for the foundation, so it could end up being a $3,000 fundraiser for The Mill.

About the circus

The circus will roll into town early on the morning of Oct. 6. By 7:30 a.m. the public will be able to come out and watch the activities as the circus sets up.

Everyone is invited to come out and watch the animals being unloaded and fed. The elephants will be used to raise the big-top tent at 9 a.m.

Throughout the day, guides will be available to lead groups around the grounds and talk about how the circus prepares for a show.

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The auto club will bring in their car show at noon and run until 4 p.m. That show will be located at the southwest corner of Fifth and Lincoln Parkway, at the old gas station site next to the USDA offices.

The circus has an entirely new show for this season, so those who may have seen the Kelly Miller Circus in the past can look forward to something new this time.

Council favors support

During the discussion portion of the committee of the whole meeting, Jonie Tibbs said she thought it was wonderful that this was going to take place. She told the council that if they were to take a straw vote now, she would support putting Ladd's request on the consent agenda for next week.

No one voiced any objection to Tibbs' suggestion. When an item is placed on the consent agenda, this basically means that the council has no argument with a request and it may be passed without further discussion.

The council does, however, have the ability to ask that an item be removed from consent for further discussion. This does not happen often and generally is not expected to happen with Ladd's request.

Treasurer Chuck Conzo also complimented Ladd on the nice event he had set up in Broadwell in honor of Ernie and Fran Edwards. He said it had been a very nice day for all those who attended.

Ladd said he was happy with the turnout and grateful to Conzo for being in attendance as a representative of the city.

[By NILA SMITH]

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