Acrobats, elephants and clowns — oh my! For the first time ever in Havre, Hi-Liners enjoyed the colorful sights and playful sounds of the Carson and Barnes Circus, based in Hugo, Okla. The circus troupe put together "one heck of a show" for audience members from birth to senior citizen, as one audience member said. By 7 p.m., excited Hi-Liners filled the area between the entrance and the big top at the Great Northern Fairgrounds as they rode camels and elephants and enjoyed the petting zoo. By 7:30 p.m., the time the circus was supposed to start, Hi-Liners were still filling up the 2,200-capacity big top, hustling to get a seat. Because people were still being seated, the circus crew waited until nearly 8 p.m. to get started. The colorful cast of acrobats, daredevils and animal handlers, along with animals, clowns and the ringleader paraded around the big top at the start of the show. As the first act got under way with the hulahoop champion girls, Hi-Liners cheered and clapped as the girls performed their unique feats — one did various acrobatics while twirling up to five hoops at a time and another twirled the hoops while she hung suspended off the ground. "Look at that," several audience members exclaimed as the next several acts took the rings.A motorcycle daredevil and his lovely assistant propelled a motorcycle in a 360 while two stories above the ground on a highwire. Another family walked across the highwire later with two on the wire, while the other girl did a headstand on top of a stool attached to a bar that sat on her partners' shoulders. "Yeah!," one woman exclaimed as a little girl performed several acrobatics while three men contorted their bodies and used each other as platforms to perform their stunts. Yet another man tucked himself into a box no bigger than a suitcase while audiences oohed and ahed. As audience members filed out of the big top after the show, several people stopped to take another ride on the ponies, the elephants and the camels, while others left the big top discussing their favorite piece of the circus. "I liked the guy twirling his girl around on the silks," a girl said to her friend. "My favorite was the elephants," said one little girl to her mom. This circus presents one show some may not want to miss if Carson and Barnes should ever stop in Havre again.
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