Today, as I sit in my broker’s office at Kent Station’s Coldwell Banker Bain Real Estate, reading the Kent Reporter article on how the elephants will be removed from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, my mind drifts back to the hot summer day in 1975, when I rode an elephant in the circus parade from the Seattle waterfront to KeyArena.
The funny thing was that I had never even been to a circus. That summer however, as an “advertising executive,” I was handling Ringling Brothers’ public relations and advertising in Seattle and Portland.
All the tie-ins with local celebrities were arranged. I had presented Mr. Fred Meyer himself with his circus whistle so that he could begin the “Greatest Show on Earth” as our honorary ringmaster in Portland. I had presented the Liger cubs (lion father, tiger mother) to an appreciative group of TV reporters, and I had taken two clowns to Seattle Children’s Hospital and Washington School for the Deaf.
Now the circus was ready to start in Seattle. As the animals lined up for the parade, we discovered that one of our local Seattle disc jockeys had not arrived in time for his ride. Everyone said, “John, you do it!” So with great enthusiasm and youthful abandon, I climbed onto the elephant’s neck. You ride just behind the ears.
What no one had mentioned was that unlike horses, which move back and forth, elephants move in four distinct swaying directions as each foot moves. Also no one told me that the literal bristles on their necks would be tearing through the lightweight business pants I was wearing.
Today the plight of elephants worldwide is of significant importance, and I am pleased that the Ringling Brothers Center for Elephant Conservation will be giving these great animals their well-deserved retirement. I can say without hesitation that 40 years ago, in my six months with the circus, I always saw every animal treated with great respect, compassion and care.
– John Klopfenstein
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