Trustee David Carlyon, a CHS member for three decades, began his romance with circus when he flopped in his first performance as a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus clown. But learning from mentors, audiences, and mistakes, he soon wasn’t entirely terrible. By his 3rd year he was chosen as Ringling’s “Advance Clown Ambassador.” Before circus, he earned a University of Michigan degree, and a law degree from the University of California-Berkeley, paying his way by fighting forest fires in the West. He also served in the Army as a military policeman. Clown and MP experience may explain why, later a New York actor, he specialized in comic roles and authority figures. Earning his PhD from Northwestern, he turned his dissertation into the award-winning Dan Rice: The Most Famous Man You’ve Never Heard Of. CHS awarded the Stuart Thayer Prize for his second book, Education of a Circus Clown: Mentors, Audiences, Mistakes. He’s written about the circus for Bandwagon, the Smithsonian, academic journals, and given talks around the country.

Trustee Chris Berry’s two passions are broadcasting and the circus — though not necessarily in that order. Growing up just outside of Sarasota, at an early age Chris had the opportunity to meet some of the great circus stars of the 20th century and the fire was lit. By the time he was 14 Chris was a member of the Circus Historical Society and a regular volunteer at the old Circus Hall of Fame. His interest in circus history and expertise in the area of circus lithographs blossomed as he learned and was mentored by some of the most respected circus historians of the time. After a career with CBS and ABC where he held executive positions in Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York and Chicago – Chris now is a Senior Vice President at iHeartMedia where he divides his time between gathering and distributing the news of today, and the studying the history of the circus in America.

Trustee Maureen Brunsdale is a graduate of St. Olaf College, the University of Iowa, and the University of South Dakota. Maureen has been a Special Collections and Rare Books Librarian at Illinois State University since 2009. It is there where her world first collided most delightfully with the circus. She oversees four unique collections in her job at the Milner Library, none more fascinating (or alluring) as the Circus & Allied Arts Collection!

Richard Flint, a CHS past president (1982-85), earned his M.A. in history and museum administration from the Cooperstown Graduate Programs. In 1973-74 he was recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship for a year-long study on the history and traditions of the circus and its people enabling him to gather oral histories from many then-veteran show folk. He has worked at a variety of museums including the library of the Circus World Museum and the Smithsonian’s Division of Performing Arts where he annually directed for four years a large-scale indoor/outdoor festival on popular entertainment and as well as related academic conferences at the Museum of American History. He was the curator and catalog author for the Strong Museum’s 1977 exhibit “Step Right Up: Turn of the Century Amusement for All” and conceived and curated “Mermaids, Mummies & Mastodons” at the historic Peale Museum in Baltimore, comparing and contrasting the museums of the Peale family and P.T. Barnum. Underwritten by one of the largest competitive NEH grants ever awarded for a museum exhibit, it received the 1991 award as the year’s outstanding history exhibit from the American Association of Museums. In addition, he has served as advisor to television documentaries including “Sideshow: Alive on the Inside” for the Discovery Network and “Barnum’s Big Top” for the PBS American Experience series. He is the author of numerous articles on topics related to 19th and early 20th-century popular entertainments as well as graphic and decorative arts appearing in various academic books, journals, and exhibition catalogs (a selection is freely available at academia.edu). Before his recent retirement, he worked several years for the Ringling-Barnum circus reviewing more than 10,000 boxes of business records as to their value for historical retention. Over the course of several years, he also spent a total of seven months as a program vendor living on the iconic Ringling circus train as it traveled on both coasts. His varied contributions to the history field, cultural institutions, and bibliographical matters resulted with his election by colleagues in 2008 to membership in the American Antiquarian Society, one of only 2000 historians so chosen since its founding in 1812 as this country’s first national historical organization.

Trustee Julie Parkinson With over 25 years of experience in the circus and entertainment industry, Julie Parkinson is the first third-generation member of the Circus Historical Society. Julie’s performing career spanned 15 years, beginning at Circus World Museum and later performing for 4 years on Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Blue Unit, among other shows. In 2003 Julie joined the Big Apple Circus where she served as Company Manager for 3 years. Next Julie joined the staff at Cirque du Soleil’s The Beatles LOVE while the show was in creation. She stayed with LOVE for 5 years, later moving to VIVA Elvis and finally Zarkana, completing over 7 years with CDS in lead positions. Recently Julie managed the social media for The Ringling for over a year. She currently resides in Sarasota, while working as a freelance designer and artist for Cirque du Soleil and other large-scale production companies. Julie is the daughter of Greg Parkinson, who was the Executive Director of Circus World Museum for 17 years and the granddaughter of Bob Parkinson, founder of the Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center at Circus World Museum. Julie enjoys collecting circus posters and learning about circus history. She is thrilled to have been recently elected to the CHS board of directors and hopes that her experience, ideas and network will help generate new memberships for the organization.

Kat Vecchio’s work explores American entertainment history and popular culture. She has written articles for Atlas Obscura and Narratively about circus and burlesque history and produced and directed a feature documentary about roller derby. Her current research focuses on the lives of female performers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. At the 2018 CHS convention she gave a presentation on female circus performers participation in early movie stunt work. She is the CCO at Fork Films, a nonfiction media company based in New York City.

Trustee Jim Foster’s professional career as a newspaper journalist always included circus stories and interviews with such luminaries as Henry Ringling North, Rudy Bundy, and Dr. J. Y. Henderson. Later, in retirement, the circus became a labor of love as he edited The White Tops for the CFA. Through the years, however, he was most drawn to the logistics . . . laying out the lot, spotting the wagons, providing food for personnel and animals, and then getting it all loaded in proper order on the flats to hurry on to the next town. He clearly remembers as a youth standing at a rail siding in the dark of night as the last generator wagon was pulled up the runs. His dedication to circus history is a natural follow-on.

Trustee Fred D. Pfening III is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan and holds a master’s degree in economic history from Ohio State University. He has been a CHS member almost his entire life, having joined in 1961 when only twelve years old. He is a past President (1986-89), has bee a Trustee since CHS was reorganized in 1997, and has served as Managing Editor of Bandwagon. He is CEO of the Fred D. Pfening Company, manufacturers of bakery and allied machinery, Columbus, Ohio.

Trustee Deborah Walk retired from The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, as the Deputy Director of Legacy and Circus. She led the team that oversaw the building and installation of exhibits in the Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning Center (Phase I & II). Her publications include the catalog The Amazing American Circus Poster: The Strobridge Lithographing Company (2011, co-curator, co-editor and contributor), Circus: The Photographs of Frederick W. Glasier (2009, co-editor) – winner of the American Association of Museum’s Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design for 2010, The Circus in Miniature: The Howard Bros. Model Circus (2008 and 2016, editor and contributor), Ca ‘d’Zan: The Restoration of the Ringling Mansion (editor), A Guide to the Archives of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, The Letterbook of Frederick Wolcott Lyman, and two pocketbooks published by the Eakins Press Foundation as well as other articles on archives, conservation, and the circus. She is the Secretary for the Board of Directors of the Circus Arts Conservatory, on the Advisory Board for the Historical Society of Sarasota County and is the Historian/Archivist for the Founders Garden Club of Sarasota, Garden Club of America. She is a past president of the Circus Historical Society, Sarasota County Historical Commission, and the Society of Florida Archivists and a past member of the Florida State Historical Records Advisory Board.

Trustee Peter Gorman is a long time member of the CHS and Board Member of the Circus Hall of Fame for 23 years and currently Vice President and Inter-Museum Liaison. Peter is also a CMB member whose model is on exhibit in French Lick, Indiana and is the proud owner of 7 historic circus wagons including the Two Hemispheres Bandwagon. Peter is currently lobbying various Indiana State Organizations for the restoration of the Peru Winter Headquarters and multi-purposing of the property as part of a larger long-term community redevelopment.

Bruce E. Hawley, who is a distant cousin of Phineas Taylor Barnum, was born in Bridgeport Connecticut with “sawdust in his veins.” His great grandfather Edwin Noble worked as a wheelwright in the Barnum & Bailey Circus Winter Quarters in Bridgeport from 1896 until the early 1900s. His great uncle William “Bill” Lewis and several other relatives worked as performers and staffers on the “Barnum Show” and in other circuses up until the 1970s. In keeping with his circus heritage, Bruce learned some basic trapeze and wire walking skills as a boy and built a miniature circus that was later displayed in the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport for about 10 years. He became president of the Friends of the Barnum Museum in the 1980s. He has been a member of the CHS since 1986 and was a member of the CHS Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2014. He Co-Chaired the Worldwide Circus Summit in 2015 and will co-chair Circus Summit 2019. A lawyer by profession, Bruce retired from the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a brigadier general in 2005 after 34 years of active duty and reserve service. He recently retired from Stewart Title Guaranty Company where he was an executive vice president and director of Stewart Title’s national Commercial Services division. Bruce resides in Stratford Connecticut with his wife Debbie. They have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

Trustee John F. Polacsek became interested in tracing the routes of early circuses after discovering an 1835 metal printing plate that a branch of the Zoological Institute used to advertise their menagerie while traveling through Ohio. John extended his research and in 1974 produced The History of the Circus and Menagerie in Ohio Before 1860, as his Masters Thesis at Bowling Green State University. By researching early circuses, he has used newspapers, diaries and route cards, and route books to verify a number of circus routes. He has also provided numerous photographs for the route books and advertising that has been issued by the Carson & Barnes Circus. In addition to being a Director of the CHS, he served as the President of the organization.

Trustee Wayne McCary has been a lifelong circus enthusiast. He is a graduate of the University of Hartford and has spent his entire professional career in the fair, circus and arena industries. He recently retired as the President of the Eastern States Exposition, the nation’s fifth largest fair. In 1970 he founded and produced through 2012 the Exposition Super Circus that remains one of its premier attractions. He was also the longtime producer of the Maine Shrine Circus tour and is the namesake of CFA Tent 172. Today he is an active circus producer and consultant in the fair industry and serves as Vice President of the Federation Mondiale du Cirque in Monaco and chairs the OABA circus committee.

Trustee Al Stencell is a CHS Past President. Al is a Canadian and has been a trustee since the 1997 reorganization. A retired showman, he worked his way up through concessions, novelties, and bill posting until becoming a showman. From 1973 to 1976 he was part owner of Royal Bros. He and his wife founded and operated Martin and Downs Circus from 1977 to 1983. In 1983 he built Super Circus International and toured it until 1992. A gifted raconteur, his knack for storytelling led to writing two popular books, with a third soon to be published.

Trustee Emeritus Dave Price was born in Nashville the same year that both Barnes-Sells-Floto with RBBB Features and Robbins Bros with Clyde Beatty played the town. His earliest circus memories are from 1943 when he saw two circuses; at one he saw Beatty and at the other Gargantua.  He has collected circus posters since 1952. Price worked as a billposter on the advance of eight different circuses, both large and small, and his wife Mary Jane was a press agent when they were with the Hanneford show. He eventually earned a B. S. from Middle Tennessee State College and an M. A. Ed. from Tennessee State University. Dave joined the CHS in 1958 and attended his first convention in 1966. His first piece to appear in Bandwagon was in 1967 followed by more than a dozen over the years.  He served as secretary 1968-69 and secretary/treasurer 1996-2003.