A Hometown Circus Great On the High-Wire

Today was an exciting day here in Sarasota…it was the day when our own town’s circus great and Guinness Book of Records world record-holder, Nic Wallenda, performed a high-wire act at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, just a mile down the street from where we live!  He rigged a tightrope (only the width of a nickel!) between the hotel and the building next-door, 200 feet up in the air, and then walked the 600 feet across it, even with the blustery winds blowing!  Not only that, he stopped a few times along the way to KNEEL on the wire, and in one instance he actually LAID DOWN on the wire!  Wow…talk about a real-deal daredevil with some SERIOUS talent when it comes to balancing!  You can watch it here.  

There were lots of people crowded below to watch, and others watching from balconies in the nearby buildings, and all of the television news crews were there, including the ABC Channel 7 station (which is also just down the street from us, located right in our neighborhood).   

Although Nic Wallenda has performed in circus acts and set world records in other cities around the world, this was the first time he ever did so here in the town where he grew up, so it was a special event all-around. 

Unfortunately, I was at work in Tampa today, Gus was at daycare, and all the neighborkids were at school, so none of us were able to witness the amazing feat in person - not even our own neighborhood acrobats!

  

 

Instead, when we met up at the end of the day, we decided to watch the video on the internet.  While we watched, we listened to the story of Nic Wallenda.  We learned about how he is a seventh-generation circus performer.  His family started starring in the circus back in 1780, first as a troupe of acrobats, clowns, jugglers, and animal trainers, and then also as a flying trapeze act known as The Flying Wallendas.  

Nic’s family came to America from Germany in the 1920’s, when they were invited to join the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus after John Ringling witnessed their amazing 3-level human pyramid on the high wire.  Nic has continued the family tradition, setting new records by riding a bicycle on the high wire, and now preparing to cross the Grand Canyon on the high wire!  He has said that he wants to do this to honor his grandfather, the great Karl Wallenda. 

Nic’s connection to his family over many generations is a lot like the cross-generational connections that many scavenger hunters have with their families here in our neighborhood.  Like how Amorie and his brothers, sisters and cousins have a special connection with their great-grandmother, Miss Barbara. 

And how Aaron, Tyler’s baby son, is growing up with his mom, his grandmother, his great-grandmother, and his great, GREAT grandmother…not just in our neighborhood, or on the same block, but right next door to each other!       Here is a picture of Tyler and Aaron's great, GREAT grandmother:

The other thing about Nic’s story that reminds me of our neighborhood scavenger hunters is that Nic’s talent as a high wire artist first started to develop when he was a kid – no older than our neighbor-babies Chunk Chunk and Cassi!  

 

Nic told reporters, “I started walking the wire at 2 years old and started getting pretty good at 4 and my first performance up high on a wire was when I was 13. Since then, I've broken a couple of world records and don't plan on stopping soon."  

That reminds me of another fellow Sarasotan I met last year around this time – Mercedes Pages, of the Flying Pages.  

Mercedes and her family were at the special circus mass at St. Martha's Catholic Church, which is also just down the road, less than ¾ of a mile from our neighborhood.   St. Martha’s is known as "the church the circus built" because in the 1930’s circus families put on special performances to help finance the construction of the present church building.  Many circus families are still part of the St. Martha’s congregation, and there is a special circus mass each January.

Mercedes is now 12 years old and she lives not far from us, just outside Sarasota.  She is already a world-renowned trapeze artist and circus performer, with a special pony act where she rides two ponies at one time!  Her whole family is part of the fabulous Flying Pages, including her mom, her dad and her older brother.  

Here is a video of them practicing together, and here is a video of Mercedes leading the family in their amazing performance.  While Holly watched the video of the Flying Pages she said, “I bet Mercedes could skip 4 monkey bars at a time on the jungle gym at our park!” 


We are lucky to live in a circus town - not only is Sarasota the winter home of the Ringling Brother Barnum and Bailey Circus, but we've also got Circus Sarasota and Sailor Circus here, and a close-by opportunity every year to see UniverSoul Circus, the world's "first black circus!"

Marveling at all of these local circus greats has got me thinking – what are the world-class talents growing in each of our neighborhood scavenger hunters – talents that we might already be able to notice if we pay close attention?  And then, once we begin spotting these talents, how might we all be able to play a part in helping these talents to keep growing?  Seriously – with all the gifts already sprouting in each and every one of our scavenger hunters, not to mention gifts that even the scavenger hunters themselves have not yet discovered, just imagine what’s in store for our neighborkids and our neighborhood!