The Clown Chronicles: March ‘26

What Happened in February

Tony and Juliana Winiecki perform their juggling act.

Meeting called to order at 6:42. Visitors included Allison Maulshagen, Claudia Fain, and Carol & Pete Walker. The Minutes were approved and the Treasurers Report was given. The banquet last month cost about $70 more than we took in.

New Business

• Tricia suggests it's time to get another roster. We have not had an updated roster since 2019. Ace, Cinde, and Debbie will work together to get the list of paid members by the March meeting and put together a roster to hand out to the members.

• TCA Convention: Cinde is the President of the Texas Clown Association, as well as convention co-chairman. She reported that the convention will be hosted by DFW Clowns "R" Us on August 12-16 at the DFW Airport Westin Hotel in Irving. Committees are working on getting things together. The theme is "Toybox: Out of the box fun. The headliner is from the Corpus Christi area, Danny "Lanky" Kollaa.

• Willie is leaving for the clown mission trip In Guatemala - He had to pay $1100 for 7 days, including food/board. It all came out of his pocket. Cinde suggested The alley would like to offer some scholarship money to help and motioned to donate $150 as a scholarship to Willie. The motion was approved by the general membership and a check was given to him. Matty asks if there's anything Willie needs from us before he goes. Several people gave some advice to Willie, as well.

Old Business

• Last month was the banquet. It was fun. Congratulations to all of the award winners!

• Website: Ace reported that the website traffic is up 593% year-over-year, year-to-date. Matty suggested that one of the reasons might be that the Clown scare is officially over. He's fielding more positive questions about being a clown. It was noted that live variety entertainment seems to be much more popular all across the board at this time.

• David Slick will be the program for March. William has several fun programs planned for this year.

• Newsletter - Cinde: Right now it's just four pages. If you want to share something (magic, article, story, balloon, etc.), send it to her.

• Social media: - Ace has been working on getting admin access to the 1Mid-Cities FB page via Susan Keys.

• Bonita came up with ideas for new name tag buttons for the alley meetings. Everyone loved the idea. She passed around a signup sheet to put your name wanted on the button. You will pick up your button at the beginning of each meeting and turn it back in at the end. We also will have name tags for visitors.

2026 Board of Directors

• President: Tricia Gregory

• Vice President: William Beaty

• Secretary: Ace

• Treasurer: Debbie Davis

• Sergeant at Arms: Willie Thomas

• Past President: Cinde Sanders

Board Members

• Margaret Clauder

• Bonita Riley

• Martha Warren

Announcements

• The Recreation Center needs volunteers for the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 28th from 10am-12pm. This is how we give back to the center for hosting us for free for our meetings and events.

• Martha Warren moves to adjourn, Ace seconds.

• Meeting adjourned at 7:18 PM. Willie brought cake and punch to celebrate his trip

GLOW – We had three GLOW performances

• Tricia Gregory – Valentine Magic

• Deluxo – Going Away Party

• Ace and Sarah – Self Defense

The program was such fun. Tony and Juliana Winiecki performed an adorable act featuring juggling and then provided equipment for everyone to learn to juggle with Balls, clubs, Plates, Scarves, Devil Sticks and more. We all had fun juggling until the Recreation Center kicked us out at 9:00pm.

Ace and Claudia practice juggling scarves.

Make a Difference—VOLUNTEER!

We have three amazing opportunities to volunteer our talents in the next couple of months. Consider signing up and Making a Difference in the Community!

• Saturday, March 28th—10am-12pm—Easter Egg Hunt at the Georgia Farrow Recreation Center, 530 Davis Drive: face painters, balloon artists, walkaround. This one helps us meet our commitment in trade for Free meeting space for the alley. Please try to make this one.

• Friday, April 17th— 3:30-6:30pm—Children's Cancer Fundraising Gala—Hilton Anatole—2201 N Stemmons Freeway, Dallas—Wedgwood Ballroom: balloon artists and strolling entertainment for backstage entertainment—parking passes will be provided, but we need a list of names. This is a very rewarding event that Mid Cities has participated in for many years.

• Saturday, April 18th—10am-2pm—Annual FREE Book Carnival—Community Advocating for Prosperity and Opportunity—Thornton Elementary—2301 East Park Row Drive, Arlington: strolling clowns—this is an event that Happi Tymes has participated in for years.

March Program

David Slick has been entertaining DFW audiences since 2002 as a world-record-breaking variety performer. His talents include juggling, magic, escapes, unicycling, stilts, LED and fire routines—plus some really bad balloon twisting.

This fun program is part show and part hands-on experience. Whether you just want to watch or can't wait to try it yourself, you'll learn a little about unicycles and even get the chance to try riding one (or a safer alternative)!

DFW CRU president, Tricia “Jolly” Gregory

A Few JOLLY Words from Our President

Last month we had a great time having Tony & Juliana Winiecki perform their juggling show for us, sharing other ideas and giving us the opportunity to learn some juggling skills of our own. We all had an awesome time, and a big thanks goes to them both.

As for juggling, this month we will have a great time watching and learning from David Slick who held the 2009 Guinness World Record for juggling. He achieved the record of being the first person to juggle three objects in 12 hours and 5 minutes! Slick is an outstanding entertainer who is not only a juggler, but he is also a great magician, stilt walker, and even more! This month Slick will be sharing with us on how to be a unicyclist!! We may not all have the unction-junction to try to get on one ourselves, but we do have some younger entertainers who could set a goal to learn, and this is what could start a great adventure! Plus being aware and having knowledge of a variety of skills in clowning gives us a more rounded view of the art of all performance.

This month is also a fun month with shamrocks, rainbows, lots of green, and bright shiny GOLD. St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner! You could wear the St. Patty's colors if you'd like!! Here are some fun kiddy jokes for your green shamrock fun!

• What's a leprechaun's favorite cereal? Lucky Charms!

• What should you say to a runner in the St. Patrick's Day marathon? Irish you luck.

• What do you get when you cross poison ivy with a four-leaf clover? A rash of good luck.

• Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day? Real rocks are too heavy!

• How can you spot a jealous shamrock? It will be green with envy!

• What kind of bow can't be tied? A rainbow!

• Why is it difficult to borrow money from a leprechaun? Because he's always a little short.

On our meeting night I happen to have a St. Patrick's show to perform in McKinney. I'm sorry I will be missing David Slick, but I know you all will have an outstanding time. William, Wee-Bo, will be taking my place and I know he will be doing a great job leading the meeting! You guys have a blast!!

DUES ARE DUE

We will be putting together a roster on March 15th so get your dues paid and in good standing with the alley so you can be included on the roster.

$15 for a single clown and $25 for a family

Bring cash or check to the meeting or pay with Zelle dfwclownsrus@gmail.com

The new logo of the Texas Clown Association

The TCA Board has officially accepted the bid for the DFW Clowns “R” Us to host the 2026 TCA Convention!

Putting together a convention takes a lot of helping hands, and we would love for you to be part of it. Our theme, “ToyBox...Out of the Box Fun!”, opens the door to so many creative and playful possibilities. Let’s start thinking outside the toy box and work together to create the most epic convention yet.

Join us for our planning meetings each month from 5:00–6:30 PM, just before the general meeting at the Georgia Farrow Recreation Center. Your ideas, energy, and enthusiasm will help make this convention unforgettable!

Performance Liability Insurance

All performers should have liability insurance. Coverage comes in all shapes, sizes and prices. Most importantly you should be covered for at least $1M per occurrence/$2M aggregate. You should also make sure that you can add venues as additional insured without a fee. Upon research I have found a few companies...some more affordable than others.

• https://www.specialtyinsuranceagency.com – This is a company many of us have used for years, but they seem to have raised the prices recently. They are still good and you can get additional insurance certificates immediately.

• www.peepinsurance.com – The Society of American Magicians and the Fellowship of Christian Magicians are associated with this one. It is also very good.

• https://worldclown.com/insurance/ - WCA has their own insurance policy for members. If you are a member, you might look into this one.

• While researching I also found these two companies that looked like they might have good programs. I don’t know anything about them, but you might want to look into them.

• https://www.kandkinsurance.com/ and https://insurancecanopy.com