Tigers, elephants and camels, oh my!

MILLBROOK — Where can you find two camels, three elephants, five tigers and clowns in Dutchess County? On Saturday, June 18, the answer was Millbrook, thanks to the Millbrook Lions Club. That’s when the Kelly Miller Circus took over the village. The Kelly Miller Circus travels to different small towns throughout the county every year. It last visited Millbrook in 2008.“People really look forward to it and they enjoy it,” said Cecilia Collopy, circus coordinator for the Lions Club. She said the group has been fundraising, promoting and preparing for the circus since winter. “It’s really something different for Millbrook.” The circus has a diverse group of performers including jugglers and acrobats. Two new acts have joined since 2008. The first was the Poema family from Argentina, a family-juggling act, which juggled each other. The second performer was Miss Mikkita, from Australia, who was a high-wire trapeze artist. The Lions is an international organization that works to raise money for a variety of causes. “Originally we worked on vision health, helping people with a variety of vision problems both locally and worldwide. But then the Lions really expanded,” said Collopy.Now the Millbrook Lions helps people with hearing problems access hearing aids. It also supports causes such as training guide dogs for the visually impaired, providing support for autistic children and helping to fund research for juvenile diabetes, according to Collopy. “Any sort of service that we can do, we do,” she said. “For example, if there is a disaster in Haiti and Japan, we always try to support those victims. And we offer a scholarship every year for one of our high school students [in Millbrook].”The scholarship goes to a student who not only excels academically, but who also shows a commitment to community service. The Millbrook Lions spend months selling tickets for the circus; profits from ticket sales are donated to organizations supported by the Lions and the Lions scholarship. “I am very excited,” said Collopy. “It’s a good fundraiser [and] really worthwhile work.” By 9 a.m. Saturday morning people from the community had already gathered to see the animals, hours before the first show started at 2 p.m. “It’s almost like a parade when they come in, there are all these trucks and animals that come up Franklin Avenue, and people come out and watch,” said Collopy. “And the big exciting thing that people really love is when the elephant puts up the big top. They still do it the old-fashioned way.”Collopy said aside from being able to be a part of a great fundraiser she just enjoys seeing the audience react to the circus.“I think everybody really loved the circus,” said Collopy. “I think they enjoyed it.”