© 2024 WVIK
Listen at 90.3 FM and 98.3 FM in the Quad Cities, 95.9 FM in Dubuque, or on the WVIK app!
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Community

Clown Convention in Davenport

Midwest Clown Association

Although some might consider the prospect frightening, more than 100 clowns from seven states will gather in Davenport this week. Wednesday the Midwest Clown Association will open its 41st annual convention at the Clarion Hotel. 

Spokeswoman Angie Gonzalez says for some of their members, clowning is a full-time job, while many others just consider it a hobby or vocation. 
The convention will feature continuing education classes, ranging from make-up and costuming, to juggling, balloon sculpture, magic, slapstick comedy, and even how to "clown" in parades. 

Gonzalez calls herself a "ministry clown" and goes by the name of "Q.T. Pie." 

ANGIE2.mp3
Goes to hospitals and likes to see the children smile.

She admits there are a few people who are scared by clowns, mostly due to some books and movies. And even though it's not really recognized medically, Gonzalez and other clowns call it coulrophobia (coal-ro-fo-bee-uh), and they also teach their members how to handle it.

The Midwest Clown Association Convention continues through Sunday. 
 
(at the Clarion Hotel Conference Center in Dav)

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.