AERIALISTS KEEP TRADITION IN FAMILY

"Miss Paula" made her first appearance in the circus ring at the age 3.

The fifth-generation circus performer doesn't remember the big cats jumping over her as she rested in her father's arms several years ago, but she has seen the pictures.

Paula Valencia, an aerialist who performs with the Franzen Brothers Circus, does remember performing with the Jerry Cottle Circus in England when she was 11 years old.

"My family has been connected with the circus through five generations," Valencia said. "Most of them were animal trainers, but my father didn't want that for me. I became an aerialist."

"Miss Paula," formerly Paula Howes and a native of Ireland, met her husband, Antonio Valencia, while performing in Malaysia.

The aerialist duo are performing under the big top in Cape Girardeau this weekend, with 2 and 4:30 performances scheduled today and Sunday.

The first performance of the circus here was presented Friday night.

The Franzen Brothers Circus, which appeared in Cape Girardeau in previous years in Arena Park, is set up this year at 350 S. Broadview, just north of the Old Central Hardware building.

A Shrine Club spokesman said Arena Park wasn't available when the circus was booked.

The hardware store parking lot is available for spectator parking for the circus, which is being sponsored by the Shrine Club.

"We usually depend on the sponsoring organization to arrange for location," said Bernie Bolstad, who serves as sponsor liaison for the circus.

Bolstad, who spent his first year at a circus in 1941, has been with Franzen Brothers four years.

"I took a 36-year leave of absence from the circus to work for the American Red Cross," Bolstad said.

Workers spent most of the day Friday setting up tents for the Friday night performance.

"Everybody helps," Bolstad said. "When you have a small circus all workers have four or five jobs...they help set up, tear down, take care of the animals and perform."

The Franzen Brothers Circus has 22 members, moves in 10 trucks and covers about 30,000 miles through 22 states from March through November. The Franzen Brothers Circus was founded in 1974.

"Even the animals help set up and tear down," said Bolstad, who watched as Okha, an elephant born in an Asian village by the same name, helped workers set up the big top.

Okha also performs in the circus, and is the world's only football-kicking elephant. Two other elephants, Megu and Kostic, African pachyderms, also perform.

"We have a lot of animal acts," Bolstad said. The circus has several performing horses and 10 Bengal and Siberian tigers.

Also included in the circus' schedule of events are The Dionnes, who perform "rola-bola," acrobatic acts, utilizing teeter-totters, and Cheeko, the clown.

The Valencia name -- "The Flying Trapeze Valencias" -- is a familiar one to circus fans.

"I'm a fifth-generation circus act," said Antonio Valencia, a native of Chile, who has four brothers and a sister who are involved in various circus acts.

One of the Valencia Brothers, Davie, performs for "Circus, Circus," in Reno, Nev.

Paula and Antonio, who make their U.S. home in Dallas, enjoy their work.

"We have traveled all over the world," Paula Valencia said. "We've performed in China, England, Germany, Kuwait and Malaysia."

Miss Paula was a member of the Royal London Circus when she met Antonio Valencia while performing in Malaysia.

Antonio performs both high-wire and low-wire aerialist acts, but at one time he was a "catcher" for his flying family.

"That is a touch act in itself," Bolstad said. "You have to be strong and trustworthy. The trapeze artist flying well above the ground places a lot of trust in the hands of the partner who has to catch them."