ARRIVAL

By Circus Smirkus | Published June 28, 2012

To look at the town of Greensboro on a topical map or road atlas would prove unremarkable.  In the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, distance on Route 16 is measured between country stores and gas stations on a great black strip of pavement pointing north. As I drove, the temperature dropped and the mist wrapped thickly around the trees. The road names weren’t matching the Google Maps directions I had scribbled on a legal pad. I admitted I was lost and pulled off of VT 16 towards Greensboro to ask for directions. There is, after all, only one circus there.

“A gentle chocolate lab named Gyspy greeted me first…”

At the Greensboro Post Office, I asked a woman for directions. She recognized my goal immediately.

“You look like a Smirko,” she said with a smile.  She gave me directions that were totally different to the ones Google had provided and I thanked her and drove in what she said was the right direction. In five minutes I passed the wide and flat waters of Caspian Lake and turned right down Circus Road. I turned around a bend and the road opened up onto a field with several massive, colorful tents blooming on  it. A quiet and gentle chocolate lab named Gypsy greeted me first and then a young woman named Dani in a crocheted hat.  She enthusiastically shook my hand and told me with a grin “Welcome to Smirkus. Welcome home.”

I had finally arrived.

My name is Evan Johnson and I am the communications intern for the 25^th anniversary season of Circus Smirkus. In terms of practical information, I am 21 years old and my home is three hours south of Greensboro in Marlboro, Vermont. I study journalism and writing at Ithaca College and as much as I enjoy writing and photographing any number of topics, this is my first time working for any kind of circus. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to be here. Presently, the performers, their coaches and the crew are in the final stages of preparations. They have created a dazzling act and grown together into a closely-knit community that will perform a summer tour unlike any before it.

Welcome to the Big Top Tour Blog. Welcome to Smirkus 2012.

Evan Johnson

Tour Communications Intern