Families turn off TVs and movies for tantalizing circus

 HIDALGO – Eduardo Gutierrez was on a mission to get back to his seat for the Shrine Circus on Sunday.

He eagerly tugged at his mother who was paying for cotton candy at the State Farm Arena, but even treats could not distract the 7-year-old from the acrobats who had just finished their portion of the show.

"My favorites are the girls," he said. "They spin really fast in the air. … I’d be dizzy and scared."

The Gutierrez family was among hundreds who enjoyed this weekend’s debut of the 100-year-old Shrine Circus, which awed crowds with stuntmen, elephant and donkey rides, gymnasts and pictures with a python.

"My kids had no idea where we were driving to this afternoon," said the boy’s mother, Carla Guitierez. "I can’t get them to listen at all … even when I ask if they want cotton candy."

Like other parents there Sunday, she said the entertaining spectacle—which touts itself as the only interactive circus in America — offered a much welcome alternative to movie and television screens.

The Al Amin Shriners, a Corpus Christi-based fraternal organization, hosts the circus annually and uses the proceeds to fund operations for their charitable activities during the year. The Shriners already operate several free children’s hospitals throughout the state but donated $20,000 worth of circus tickets to Valley non-profit groups that work with children.

Jim Caughman, a first vice president with the Shriners, said the circus was meant to tantalize the hospitable Valley residents and some of the children’s hospital patients.

"It gives the children the chance to interact with animals they’ll never see," Caughman said. "They can look at (elephants and pythons) on TV, but now they can smell or touch or take pictures with them."

He said the Shriners get a lot of support in the Valley and the event — filled with a BMX bike stuntman and comedic acts from English sheepdog trainers — was simply a way to give back to the community.

Juan Prado of Edinburg said he was not aware Caughman’s group hosted the event but was thankful for a change of pace.

"I rode the elephant with my 2-year-old," he said. "Normally she’d be in front of the TV or crying in a theater.

"I hope she doesn’t think this is normal though," Prado said.