THE FUNNIES

SUMMER IS HERE! SO ARE MANY MORE GIGS! AND YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR THEM!  BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND – We are having a FACE PAINTING JAM! Bring your face painting materials and ideas.  Candy “BUTTERSCOTCH” Will has volunteered to lead us in this JAM!  And she is GOOD! We are here to learn and to pass on things that we know.  Come and join in the fun.  The more that you learn and know, the more that you are sought after as a clown/entertainer. It will be FUN!  Remember, your club is only as good as you make it!  And to remind you that we are having our CLUB ELECTIONS!  We DO need a quorum at the meeting to be able to vote on a new board.  Come and exercise your democratic right to vote!  You all say that you are PROFESSIONAL clowns.  So stand up, attend the meeting, and make your voice heard! We will see you all at the June meeting.
- PRESIDENT PAM-

At our May meeting we had another SWAP MEET.  We even had some outside people set up tables and sell their clown wares.  We had some really nice things that people were selling.  Those that missed the meeting also missed out on the WONDERFUL items that were selling this time.  I know that I, and many others put big dents in our pocket books and went home with LOTS of new clowning items.  A huge THANK YOU to all those that participated in this event.  And without a quorum, we did not hold our club elections.  Again John Whiteriver (THANK YOU JOHN!) and myself brought the food.  But we had some others participate also.  Thank you to EVERYONE who did bring something.  And we always wish to thank ALL-AMERICAN BALLOON SUPPLY for allowing us to hold our meetings at their facility.  THANK YOU ALAN AND STAFF!

Notice the above title? I had stated in last month’s newsletter that May would be my last month writing this column as we were having our club elections and I would no longer be the club president.  Well, for some UNKNOWN reason we did NOT have a quorum at our May meeting.  Only you that did not attend know the answer to this.  My famous saying that I have been using during my two years as the president of Funny Business is as follows:  “YOUR CLUB IS ONLY AS GOOD AS YOU MAKE IT”.  Well. . . . . .?  You say that you are “PROFESSIONAL CLOWNS” and that title usually denotes that you are responsible people.  And my mother taught me that with responsibility lies accountability.  We are all adults so enough said on this subject.

What do you want from our club?  “STEP UP TO THE PLATE & TAKE CHARGE”!  If you want the club to continue then run for office.  Give your ideas and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!  June will DEFINITELY be my last month as President of the club.  Wendy Olson is running for President.  YEAH Wendy! We also have openings for Vice President, Secretary & Treasurer.  And Paulette “Pom Pom” Rosen has agreed to stay on as Webmaster and Newsletter editor.  THANK YOU PAULETTE!  She does a SUPERB job and really tries to make the club better.

And a side note on my dad, Bob “SNIKKERS” House.  He had 3 screws put into his right hip in April.  He just went to the surgeon this past week and he will now be putting 50% weight on his right leg in his therapy sessions for a month.  He is Still in Alamitos West Rehabilitation in Los Alamitos and is healing remarkably fast for his 83 years.

COME TO THE JUNE MEETING & MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The Funny Business calendar year runs from June 1st through May 31st. Membership dues will be $18.00 per year per person. REMINDER YOUR DUES ARE DUE FOR THIS YEAR.

Hello Fellow COAI members! Clown week is coming!  You know, August 1st through the 7th.  This is where we make ourselves as clowns known to the public.  One way to do it is to write to the Mayor of your town and ask for a proclamation.  Bonita "Bon Bon" Love is the COAI director of Education and she is also a member of the San Diego All Star Clowns.  She is very much an expert on getting a proclamation from many cities around the San Diego Area.  Other ways to celebrate Clown Week is to contact a facility in your town and let them know you will be out and about on a day during that week, promoting clowning in any way you would see fit, either just meeting and greeting or putting on a show, or even doing balloons or face painting, whatever you feel you can handle best.  Make sure that it is okay with the facility or organization though before you show up.  One wonderful thing about Clown Week is that if you keep track of your activities with pictures and a log, and then put them in a binder, and of course you are a COAI member, you can turn them in to the Clown Week Chairperson for COAI which is now Betty "Princess" Andrews and also a great friend of Bon Bon.  If you plan to do a Clown Week binder, make sure to get it to Princess before September 1st.  Every entrant receives a "Charlie Award" plaque and the winner receives the "Charlie Award" clown shoe trophy to be traded back by the next year with a beautiful winners plaque.  All addresses, phone numbers and emails are in the New Calliope.  Have a great month of June and see you soon! Butterscotch  

By Terry Parrett/Laugh Makers Magazine –Vol. 13 No. 1. 1004
This is a continuation of last months article.

THE INTERVIEWS:  USING SAMPLE TRICKS & BALLOONS – When you go to see the manager, bring along two or three of your best tricks, if you are a magician, or several balloons if your are a balloon sculptor.  Of course, first make sure you are on time for your appointment.  I always arrive 5 to 10 minutes early.  When you meet the manager, shake hands, sit down, and thank him or her for taking the time to talk with you.  Explain again that you are a professional entertainer, and that you feel you could help improve business and/or the ambiance of the restaurant.  Utilize the approach you’ve decided on as an appropriate to the restaurants particular situation.  Asking questions about the business can help you put this into play:

1. “Do you have one particular night where you feel business isn’t as strong as it could be?”
2. “Would you like to develop a larger core of ‘regulars’?”
3. “Would you like to strengthen your store’s image versus competitors?”

All of these questions are designed to have the manager answer “Yes!”  The theory is you want to condition the manager to say yes a few times before you make your actual pitch.  Use good judgment, and be careful not to sound too slick! 

After a few minutes, show the manager a trick or two, or make a balloon.  If there are a few tables, ask if it would be all right if you performed for them.  If so, ask the manager to watch peoples’ reactions, and to imagine the impact of each table having that experience.  Now, it’s crunch time!  This is the real test.  Whether you are performing just for the manager or for a table be, good!  Working for a table is much better, because it is a more natural situation, and allows the manager to see how his or her customers really do like it.  Do a trick or two, an animal or two, and thank them.  NEXT MONTH WILL BE THE FINAL RESTAURANT INSTALLMENT ON “CLOSING THE DEAL”.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!  On August 12th there will be a picnic for abused children.  Come to the meeting and find out the details.  It would be nice to have as many of our club members as could, assist at this picnic. 

Bob “Erie Sponsible” Gretton presented the first Red Nose Relief Award to Red Cross CEO Mike Zabko.  Mike was recognized for creating the statement of understanding between the Red Cross and Red Nose Relief.  Mike is the CEO of the Southern Maryland Chapter of the Red Cross.  In house training for shelter response is being developed.  When it is completed, it will be rolled out for all.  It will be mandatory for any Red Nose relief Responder desiring to visit shelters or perform in the community area of shelters under the umbrella or RNR. It As for membership materials, these materials will be rolled out as soon as they come back from the printer.  We know they are important to everyone.  Please keep in mind that Red Nose relief is a start up service organization.  Everyone involved is a volunteer.  There is no full time professional staff involvement at any level.  While we have made tremendous strides since our founding, there are things that take time.  Membership materials are coming. And as for the RNR Organization, we have approximately 215 responders on our rolls.  And we have another 60 or so who have to complete the enrollment process.  We have three positions in RNR.  We have (1) Responders (2) State and Regional coordinators (3) Board members.  That’s it!  So we have approximately 275 responders (we are all that first) and then 47 state and regional coordinators and 8 people on the board.  And the RNR responder base is basically made up of clowns and non-clowns alike.  Become part of this organization!  Pam House – State Coordinator, Red Nose Relief

You, the club, had voted NOT to have a sign up sheet and just to let people decide if they wanted to bring food and then bring it monthly.  There are still a few “REGULARS” who bring the main part of the food most months but others are starting to bringing things. We need more people to “take charge” and to bring some of the food to the monthly meetings.  “YOUR CLUB IS ONLY AS GOOD AS YOU MAKE IT!    - Still President Pam -

4th of July Parade

Dear Anaheim Hills 4th of July Participant:
We look forward to seeing you at Canyon High School on Tuesday, July 4th at 1:30 p.m. The parade begins at 3:00 p.m. and will finish at 4:30 p.m. at Santa Ana Canyon & Pinney Drive. Theme this year is Let Freedom Ring.

All entries are to enter the Canyon High School Parking Lot from Imperial Highway. There will be an information booth where you will receive your parade number and you will be directed to your space. Your parade number, staging number and position in the parade will all be the same number.

Please try to have participants carpool to the staging area. Vehicles not in the actual parade, but simply transporting entrants must proceed immediately out of the staging area after dropping off the participants. They may then proceed to either the dispersal area for pick up or park on any of the side streets adjacent to the parade route. Absolutely no parking at the high school unless the vehicle is in the parade. If possible, please carpool to the staging area.

If you have a parade participant to pick up, please make arrangements to meet them at Santa Ana Canyon & Pinney Drive or Peralta Park. Everyone Loves a Parade

Your Funny Business Board and Associates:

Pam "Twinkles d'Klown" House, President
562-431-6955 klassyklowns1@yahoo.com

Candy "Butterscotch" Will, Vice President and COAI Regional Vice President
949-489-9971 Btrsctch4h@cox.net

Wendy Olson "Wendy" Secretary/Treasurer
714/524-2897 dolson970@sbcglobal.net

Jackie McDoniel "Sweetheart" Co-secretary
714-636-7966 jmcdoniel@socal.rr.com


Send all Articles by the last Monday in the previous month to:
Paulette "Pom-Pom" Rosen, Newsletter Editor
and Webdesigner and Webmaster for "Clown Pages" our Funny Business Website
714/539-4472 pom-pom@pom-pomclown.com
Funny Business Website http://clownpages.com

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