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Wallkill Valley Times , Wednesday , October 5 , 2016

PUBLIC AGENDA

THURSDAY , OCTOBER 6 Montgomery Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Government Center , 110 Bracken Road , Montgomery . Shawangunk Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 14 Central Ave ., Wallkill Village of Walden ZBA , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 1 Municipal Square .

TUESDAY , OCTOBER 11

Maybrook Village Board , 7 p . m . Maybrook Senior Center , Schipps Lane , Maybrook . Valley Central Board of Education 7:15 p . m . Administration building , 944 Route 17K , Montgomery . Town of Montgomery Planning Board , 7:30 p . m . Town Government Center , 110 Bracken Road , Montgomery .

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The Wallkill Valley Times , ( USPS 699-490 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Wallkill Valley Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550

woman standing on her hands shot a bow and arrow with her legs that popped a balloon in Mary Tighe ’ s first encounter with the Big Apple Circus in their Walden summer quarters . At 23 , she was amazed by the maneuvers of two-legged and four-legged creatures that had gone on while she grew up nearby , unaware . In 2012-2013 , she traveled with them for a year as a production assistant in their long caravan of RVs and trailers .

She was introduced to the circus by then-Mayor Brian Maher . Tighe ’ s grandfather , Micky Millspaugh , talked to him about her theatrical interests , and Maher connected her with circus people .

As production assistant , Tighe said she assisted with “ aerial silks ,” drapes hung from above for acrobats to do tricks on . She worked with them in her off hours , but her responsibility was largely with dogs , horses , and oxen . She groomed the horses before a performance and then made sure they stayed in the ring .

They were all rescue animals that animal trainer Jenny Vidbel trained using positive reinforcement , Tighe said . So they were rewarded for what they did right , not punished for what they did wrong , a strategy that research has shown to be most effective . She recalled a performance where black horses and white horses were choreographed to run

“ Teens learn circus skills as a way to learn life skills ,” Weiss explained . “ They learn juggling , acrobatics , stilt-walking , aerial tricks , and clowning on the way to learning perseverance , cooperation , and self-esteem . The goal isn ’ t for them to get a job at Ringling Brothers . It ’ s about giving direction and purpose .”

Declining to disclose the buyer ’ s identity , Weiss said they would be using the 30-acre property with a 50,000 square foot industrial building for light manufacturing , not acrobatics practice , animal training and circus rehearsal .

The circus arrived in Walden in 1995 , first renting and then buying the property for about $ 2 million , said Weiss . About 125 people were involved , plus animals , including , for a time , an elephant . Although elephant and trainer retired about 20 years ago , when they were both 65 , Weiss notes , touring still requires 75 vehicles , including trucks , RV campers , and trailers that need rental trucks to pull them around the country . The yearly cost in opposite directions .

“ Changes in weather , the dirt under their feet , and audience energy all affected the animals ,” Tighe said . “ My job was to keep people safe from them .”

She admired the performers ’ endless inventiveness . Vidbel is a third generation circus performer and animal trainer , Tighe said . And she remembered Daniel Cyr , from Canada , who invented the Cyr Wheel , an aluminum hoop in which he braced his hands and feet and rolled .

After six weeks of rehearsals , Tighe accompanied the troupe when they packed up their caravan and went to New York for two and a half months of performing at Lincoln Center , then stays

of the caravan is $ 15 million .

That was manageable until 2008 , but with the recession , income ebbed and never flowed again with its former robustness , said Weiss . Performance attendance continued as before , but the corporate parties that frequently hired the circus dropped off , cutting their $ 2 million income from that source by a crucial $ 1 million . Meanwhile traveling logistics became increasingly expensive , and they reduced the number of cities they visited .

So while their community programs continue at a yearly cost of $ 2 million , supplied by donors and some institutions that host them , the circus will not , at least for now . About 125 people have been let go , from performers to hawkers of cotton candy .

“ At least for the 2016-2017 season , about 25 performers are free to take gigs elsewhere ,” Weiss said . “ There are no rehearsals .”

Performers who work with the community program will continue there , but about 30 years ago the community in Georgia , Bridgewater , New Jersey ; Queens , and Rhode Island . She reveled in traveling with the international troupe of performers in trailers .

“ We ’ d have barbecues , and I ’ d hear Russian , Chinese , and Hungarian voices around me . People were telling stories , laughing and making food ,” she said . “ In New York City we parked by the opera house , and I could reach out my window and touch it .”

“ It ’ s a small , intimate circus ,” said Tighe . “ It ’ s an experience people might take for granted .”

They have a particularly intimate show designed for the blind and deaf , she says . These people , whose most functional sense is touch , get an opportunity to feel props , costumes , and dogs , guided by circus members . Circus community service work continues , though the circus does not .

As the Big Apple has stopped touring for the first time in over 35 years , Jenny Vidbel is back at her Windham home doing skype presentations and clinics on animal rescue , rehab and training , says Tighe , who helped clean up and collect props after the circus left in June . She now teaches voice lesson at the New York School of Music in Walden , but stays in touch with circus members on Facebook .

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Mary Tighe and Ring Master John Kennedy Kane .

performers became a separate group from touring performers , Weiss said .“ Some go back and forth , but they can ’ t do both at once .”

The Walden site is being sold to provide money .

“ It ’ s an asset we have ,” he says . “ We ’ re taking the cash equity .”

Should sponsorship make touring possible again , their strategy will not include having a summer location outside New York City . Rather , they will take short-term rentals in the city for a “ downsized operation ,” with shorter rehearsals , Weiss says .

“ That ’ s likely because we can receive philanthropic support from New York City and make an attractive financial deal . But if we could have , we would have stayed in Walden forever and ever .”

So the building where trapeze , acrobatic , and animal acts rehearsed for two decades will return to its former industrial function . Before the Big Apple Circus arrived , it housed wire manufacturing .