The circus is coming!

From staff reports
For the first time this decade, the circus is returning to southern Leelanau County. Hosted by the Empire Sleeping Bear Eagle’s Club # 4404, the Kelly Miller Circus will arrive at the Eagles’ property on M-72 east of Empire for one day on Saturday, August 18 and raise the tent between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Everyone is invited to come out and watch the animals being unloaded and fed, as the elephants raise the big top. Guides will be furnished for school groups and anyone attending.
The traditional “old style” circus will present two performances at 2 and 5:30. The Kelly Miller Circus’ performance this season promises to be more exciting than ever with many new acts and entertainers to amaze and amuse you. Buy your tickets in advance and save by emailing laurasielaff2@hotmail.com.

Empire Lion’s Club member Hal Pendleton brought the circus to town the last time, he remembers, in 1998 or ‘99. In fact, the Lion’s Club sponsored them five times during the ‘90s. “Kelly Miller present people-type acts,” Hal remembers. “Trapeze, clowns, with some animals but (other than elephants) they’re not too big on that.” In the past, the circus has been held in Empire close to the corner of M-72 and M-22, where the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore headquarters now sits. One particular year Hal remembers his wife Frances was allowed to ride an elephant bareback into the center ring as the sponsors were introduced. “If you’ve ever ridden on a circus elephant bareback, you’ll remember it,” he attests. “The back of the elephant is like my chin after not shaving for three or four days. You can feel it right through a pair of jeans!”
Kelly Prechtl remembers the first time she attended the circus in Empire, as an eight-year-old girl. “This was the first time I had ever seen an elephant, and it was so different than what I had expected from TV. It was so big and I remember being scared, but not wanting my mom to know I was scared so that she would still let me ride it. When I got on I realized the skin was so leathery and thick, but its ears were really smooth. I have to admit that the smell was strong like a horse barn, but the excitement that I felt was like Christmas! I remember that was the first time that I felt really brave.”