Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280053
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ADRIANNE BEE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I was in third grade when my mom thrust clownness upon me. I was reminded of this recently when the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors decreed Aug. 1-7 "Clown Week."
The church I grew up in had the usual: children's choir and Wednesday night Bible studies.
We also had clowns. The younger kids were Mighty Midgets for the Master; the adults were Fools for Christ.
Mom decided I'd make a good midget so we bought some white face paint, a rubber nose, and collected odd garb.
I might have had my smile painted on, big and red with the ends curled skyward like the Joker in "Batman," but believe me, inside I was crying. Aside from using my plastic, yellow flower to squirt people who would tell me that I was just the c-uuu-test little clown, I derived no pleasure from the experience. At first.
Soon, though, I was visiting hospitals and nursing homes and putting on skits for members of our church. And my outlook (over a red, foam nose latexed to my face) started to change. I reveled in crafting balloon animals for children of the knee-high variety. And later I would impress people at parties by juggling random household items. "Wow, where did you learn how to do that?"
"Oh, just a little something I picked up years back when I was a Mighty Midget."
Anything that makes people smile is a good thing. It's amazing what a hand puppet and a Donald Duck voice (my specialty) can do for someone's spirits.
Paul "Barnabas de Cowboy Clown" deGastyne knows this. DeGastyne, a professional clown instructor, has invited clowns from around the New River Valley to join him in celebrating International Clown Week and praising clowns for their service to their communities.
Paul and his wife, Kate, clown around a lot. It all started when Paul went to sleep after watching a video on Christian clowning. He was volunteering at his church as children's director and looking for ideas. He woke with a vision of himself as a cowboy clown. He worked as a clown to make money while in college at Virginia Tech, and that evolved into his own professional clowning business.
He paints his face for grand openings and children's birthday parties, but deGastyne's alter-ego (de Cowboy Clown) has a message. "I want to use clowning as a vehicle," deGastyne said. "I hope to get some sort of Bible school degree to continue my clown ministry."
For now, clowning is deGastyne's way of life. Kate deGastyne works as an administrator of a Christiansburg Day Care Center. "She's a fantastic clown," Paul deGastyne said. "We've done a lot of professional shows together."
Clowns have been known to do some pretty thoughtful things such as delivering Meals on Wheels, working in soup kitchens and homeless clinics, preforming at retirement centers and convalescent homes, visiting hospitals, storytelling in libraries and working with the mentally and physically disadvantaged.
How did a week honoring them come about? It's all laid out in an official document signed by Richard Nixon - a proclamation inviting state governors to issue proclamations urging people to heed the contributions made by clowns.
Here's a run down of the week's activities in the county:
Sunday: 2:00 p.m., Christiansburg Library, show by Barnabas for Summer Reading Program.
Tuesday: throughout the day, Blacksburg, "Ride to Town with a Clown on the Two-Town Trolley."
Tuesday: Dublin, meet and greet at Kid's Day at the New River valley Fair.
Wednesday: Clowns will visit hospitals and nursing homes around the New River Valley.
Aug. 3: 6-9 p.m., Cox's Golf, Putt-a-Round and Batting Cages, Blacksburg "Putt-a-round with a Clown."
Aug 4: 2-5 p.m., "Clown School" at Community Christian Academy in Christiansburg, followed by The Big Show at 7 p.m., same location.
Aug 5: 11-12 a.m., Steppin' Out in Blacksburg, show by Barnabas, then meet and greet with clowns from the New River Valley.
by CNB