The Greatest Show on Earth

The Greatest Show on Earth


                                                               By Dick Mauer

Every year in Buffalo, at the end of summer, we would experience an
influx of young Canadians looking to spend the winter in Florida.  After
Labor Day the Canadian National Exhibition closed in Toronto and the
Strates Shows Carnival moved to Springfield for their first fall show in
the U.S. All the carnies who have been working for Strates across Canada are
trying to accompany their job south. They can't travel with the show for
obvious reasons, but they have a guarantee of employment is they can
join the outfit in Springfield.

Traveling in twos and threes they make it across one of the three
bridges over the Niagara River, sometimes applying at more than one
bridge and adjusting their story until they make it. They invariably
ended up at the Buffalo Greyhound station looking for transport to
Springfield.

One year we encountered a young French Canadian female carnie traveling
with her USC carnie boyfriend.  Charlene des -------was a real spitfire who
went beserk when she learned that we were taking her back to Canada. She
ripped up the I-213 being prepared and had to be restrained in cuffs.
Meanwhile, the USC boyfriend got into an altercation with bus station
security and got bloodied up pretty good. When Charlene saw that she
threw it into overdrive and was taken back to Canada kicking, spitting,
and fighting. The fun part was while the Canadian Immigration officers
were doing their thing interviewing Charlene, the bloody USC boyfriend
arrived by cab and he was refused entry into Canada. The end of a lovely
courtship. Such was the border in those days.