Friends of Circus World to gather at annual Gala
By Brian D. Bridgeford /News Republic Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010 9:22 pm
Friends of Baraboo's Circus World Museum will enjoy an evening of fine food and drink Sunday when the museum holds its annual Circus of Chefs, The Gala 2010, organizers say.
The festivities begin at 5 p.m. and take place in the W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion on the south side of the Baraboo River near the Parkinson Research Library on Lynn Street. Tickets are $125 per person with $100 of that amount being a tax-deductible donation to the museum, according to the CWM Web site.
Chefs, vintners and brewers representing 34 area restaurants, wineries and breweries will be sharing their creations with guests, said CWM Executive Director Steve Freese. It represents the largest group of food and beverage providers who have yet come to The Gala.
"People will have an opportunity to taste appetizers, entrées and desserts from the chefs, plus beer, wine and coffee from the beverage purveyors," he said. "We have Yahara Bay Distillery providing the vodka for the (complimentary) martini bar."
The CWM Web site lists a wide variety of restaurants represented, from Baraboo's The Barn Restaurant and Glacier Rock Restaurant and Bar in West Baraboo to Kaminski Brothers Chop House in Wisconsin Dells and Restaurant Magnus from Madison.
This year the museum will have an unusually large number of items to offer through the live and silent auctions, Freese said. In years past CWM has benefited anywhere from $25,000 to $45,000 from items people buy during the auctions.
Wine enthusiasts can participate in the cork sale, he said. CWM will have one of the lion cages filled with bottles of wine with values from $10 to $300. People can buy a cork with a number corresponding to one of the bottles of wine in the cage, Freese said. "There will be like Crown Royal and Wild Turkey and some of the premium alcohol in there," he said. "Everybody's a winner."
Circus of Chefs contributors will also enjoy a circus show right in the Deppe building, he added.
Freese said they have already had a strong response of businesses and individuals purchasing tickets, often occupying whole tables, so he expects a good turn out of guests and a strong benefit for the museum.
The Circus of Chefs is one of the largest fundraising events in Wisconsin, he said.
"We have already sold $131,000 in table sales so we're well on our way to exceeding our goal of $150,000," Freese said. "I think we will hit the 500 mark on guests."
Freese said CWM's staff has been very busy and response from the public has been good since the performance season opened in May.
"We've had enormous (public) turn out," he said. "Opening weekend with the Wild West Show just broke all records for the opening weekend."
Information about the Gala, CWM's summer performance lineup and museum exhibits may be found at the Web site -
http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org.
Send e-mail to
bbridgeford@capitalnewspapers.comIf You Go
• What: Circus of Chefs CWM Gala
• When: 5 p.m. Sunday
• Where: W.W. Deppe Wagon Pavilion, near Parkinson Library on Lynn Street
• Tickets: $125 per person with $100 a tax-deductible donation to CWM
• Info online:
http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.orgThirty-four chefs, vintners and brewers from around South-Central Wisconsin will provide an evening of fine food and drink. CWM will provide a circus performance and live and silent auctions will be held.
The way this car has the angled braces going up in different directions, tells me this was a stock car at one time and has been cut down and is now being used as a flatcar. Anyone have any other thoughts?
This straight sided flatcar doesn't have the rounded ends like a Standard Steel Co. car. I'm wondering if this is one of the straight sided Mt. Vernon's similiar to the #8 flatcar still in existance at the Circus World Museum?
I love the artwork in this old Billboard issue. Not many of the Billboards had color covers.
I threw this one in here as this is the only photo I have seen of the 1954 paint job. This is a Howard Tibbals photo from the Ringling Museums.
This was taken at Circus World in Florida. At one time this cage still had a leopard in it at Circus World. Where were all these cages located after the close of the Big One under canvas? Were these all at the Deitch Zoo in New Jersey for the Madison Square Garden dates?
This was the clean out or back side of the cages. This one is At Peru, Indiana facing an ever uncertain future.
Babe Woodcock and the good Colonel were still living in Lancaster, MO. after Billy Hall's death in 1932. Fortunately for us, she took several photographs over the years including these next few. This first one is sitting on one of Billy Hall's spur tracks. The next two were taken in December of 1934 after the Robbins Bros. Circus equipment which had been sitting idle for almost 3 years, was sold to Jess Adkins and Zach Terrell to form the nucleus of the new Cole Bros. Circus.
A lot of detail in these photos. Does that ticket wagon look familiar? Don't feel bad, someone had to tell me too!
Having toured the country on the 1938 Robbins Bros. Circus, we see that this wagon has had the pipes removed, had corners designs added to the center opening and recieved a pretty nice paint job. Now with the undergear gone, this amazing photo was taken in 1956 at the Bradley farm in Rochester, Indiana where this once proud parade vessel was now being used as a coal bin.
Fully restored now at the Circus World Museum, it has now had a unafon added to the inside.
Here are a few pictures of something we will never see again in our lifetimes. These are large billing stands. Perhaps, we'll get a comment or two. I believe these were also referred to as daubs but I'm not a billposter to know for sure.
Here is another spread posted by head billposter C.H. Benedict and his crew in Schenectady, NY.
This is a Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus billing stand taken in Columbia City, Indiana. The show played there July 23, 1910. Notice the billposters at the bottom of the photo. This was in the Billboard July 30, 1910 on page 18.
This 4 page courier looks like it was printed yesterday. It is handwritten at the top saying 1953.
Here's a good picture of one of the International Harvester tractors used on the train.
The CHS Convention is rapidly approaching. This year features the thrill of the Flying Trapeze. We are incredibly lucky to have some of the most legendary living trapeze artisites in the world join us all at the same time. This alone will be an event never to happen again.
Here are a few pictures from Circus and Carnival Fan Ed Tracy's sets he offered for sale years ago. This is the World of Mirth Shows taken in 1958.
I think the Hitler exhibit had a car they claimed was his inside the wagon.
Ready to pull out of town. Orange was either the favorite color or the cheapest color. Was this some of the military surplus paint like the Cole Bros. Circus used?
This is the World Of Mirth all loaded up and moving out. This is an old Stock car that has been cut down. If I remember the history right, that was one of the Tim McCoy stock cars from 1938.
