Big Tops Old & New



Feb. 1995 - May 2011

   Lake Isabella is a vacation paradise located in the Kern Valley in southern California.  It is naturally beautiful  with its picturesque green rolling hills, giant boulders planted along the hill and mountain sides and the waters that practically call out to swimmers and boaters.  However, it's difficult to maneuver anything much bigger than a full sized truck let alone semis and travel trailers on highway 178 leading into the resort town.  Coming from dry isolated Trona, Lake Isabella was a welcomed change in scenery and shopping.  I'll remember this town  not just for its beauty but also because it was the last town in which the circus used its old big top.

  There was a lot of history associated with the old tent that saw far more seasons than most.  Since the show purchased the previous tent in February 1995, there have been 7 weddings held under it.  It's had two owners and over a quarter of a million people inside to watch more than 7,000 performances.  Television stations like A & E and Nickelodeon have come to Culpepper to film portions of and full documentaries. It was raised more than 3,500 times and was taken down for the last time on May 5th 2011.  My brother-in-law, Ron said it well when he likened the tent being retired on the road as a kind of "burial at sea."

  Since my first year on the show in 2000, C & M has always kind of felt like a "home away from home."  Everyone has always been more than welcoming.  This is the show that I restarted my circus career on after having sort of retired for about three years.  I've made a lot of wonderful friends here and even got married under the old tent. We brought Georgia to C&M when she was just a few weeks old back in the spring of 2003 and it was her "home" for her first 3 years.  I was here when 9/11 happened.  It was also this show that I had the honor of being a part of the Zack Lopez scholarship fund raiser at the high school in Kountze, TX.  We've seen the red woods and Mount Rushmore in our travels with Culpepper and have visited Leadville, CO on more than one occasion.

  I've asked Trey for two small pieces of the tent to pass along to the girls, which he happily obliged.  And when the time comes for a new ring mat I'll look forward to a piece of the old one as well.  It was bought brand new in 2001 just for my wedding and as Simone reminded me, it was the first thing that happened on the ring mat.

  The new tent arrived here in Bakersfield.  It sure is pretty and bright with that new tent smell.  Several people have mentioned that it was too bad the show couldn't keep the old tent on the road to set up on the bad lots and put the new one up on the good lots.  That would save on the wear & tear of the new tent but of course is not practical. It occurred to me today that I've never been on a show that saw the maiden voyage of a new big top.  It is yet another special time to be here and to see everyone so happy, myself included, in seeing the new tent be raised for the first time.   In seeing the old big top off and welcoming the new one in, I felt honored to be a little part of Culpepper circus history especially since this show also holds a special part of my own family's circus history.