A night under the big top
Circus performers dazzle Cherokee County audience
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TIM GULLA / LEDGER STAFF WRITER
Trainer William Morris almost never had to tell Isla the elephant what to do Friday morning. The 31-year-old gentle giant calmly walked from tent pole to tent pole so her harness could be hooked up and she waited in place until it was the appropriate time for her to take a few nonchalant steps.

TOP: Elephants do tricks at the direction of a handler.

Without any struggle at all, she was able to straighten each of the three-story poles and raise the roof of the massive Carson & Barnes tent.

While a tractor was used to share the workload, the tradition of using elephant power to raise the big top was a rare enough sight to bring at least 200 people to Orchard Park on Friday morning. And Isla didn't disappoint.

An enthusiastic group of 28 children from West End Weekday Ministry were among the observers who came out for the pre-circus spectacle. The children peppered Doug Munsell, also known as Poppa the Clown, with question after question, all of which he was glad to answer.

Morris, a fourth-generation elephant trainer, says Isla and the other two elephants that were brought to Gaffney, 34-yearold Isa and four-year-old Olbert, are like family.

CENTER:Doug "Poppa the Clown" Munsell greets children as they walk through the gates of the Carson & Barnes Circus.

"They're very smart," he said.

A typical workday for Morris falls between 14 and 16 hours, he said. "When I go to sleep, someone else comes on to make sure they have food and water and make sure they're happy."

Each of the pachyderms eats 400 to 500 pounds of food each day and drinks up to 100 gallons of water.

"It's not something you just wake up one day and say, 'I'm going to be an elephant trainer,'" Morris said.

Each of the elephants travel four to six months a year and spend the rest of the year on a 500-acre farm in Oklahoma. There's more than 40 elephants performing in the circus and trainers like Morris each are assigned to three or four elephants.

While Isla, Isa and Olbert were the stars of the show, Carson & Barnes brought plenty of other attractions for Cherokee County residents to see.

BOTTOM: Acrobats perform a balancing act for those attending last weekend's circus at Orchard Park.

Trapeze and tight-rope artists amazed from above while acrobats and clowns delighted from the ground level.

The stable of animals that traveled with the circus included a dozen ponies, a half dozen poodles, a zebra and even a hippopotamus.

The event raked in approximately $6,100.

Rev. Rob Blumer, a member of the Gaffney Rotary Club who came up with the idea to bring the circus to Gaffney as a fundraiser for the Rotary Club's scholarship program, was pleased with the turnout and hopes Carson & Barnes will be willing to make another stop here.

The circus plans its routes well in advance and on a regional basis, meaning it's likely that Gaffney won't be in the Carson & Barnes rotation for another three years.

"My aim is for it to be good for the circus to be here," he said, "because I want you all to come back."