LANGLEY AFB, VA. –
Thursday, September 28th the Carson and Barnes three-ring circus took to the Lighter than Air side of Langley Air Force Base to put on two shows in front of a packed house.
The more 135 members Car sen and Barnes crew quickly turned an empty field of grass into a complete circus complete with four Asian elephants, camels, goats and even zebras.
To some of us Air Force Veterans this might seem crazy, camels with Raptors, but this is not the first time the Car sen and Barnes crew has taken to Langley, they were here in 1997.
By 4:30 p.m. the 27000 square foot tent was filled, between the two shows the Car sen and Barnes crew of 80 performers put smiles on the faces of more than 3,200 service men, women and not to mention kids.
"Planning for the circus return to Langley started over a year and a half ago," said 1st Services Squadron, marketing specialist, James Murrell. "We wanted a fun for the whole family activity."
"I think we achieved our goal," said Denise Ross, 1st Services Squadron Happenings publisher. "I saw many of the adults in the audience having as much fun as the 5-year-olds."
"Although tickets to the event cost money the shows were nearly sold-out at 4,000 tickets, and 40% of the ticket cost goes back to Langley to support base-wide programs," said Mr. Murrell. "We want to thank the augments, security forces and services."
As a matter of fact the circus was such an overwhelming success that plans are already in the works for the next return of Car sen and Barnes in 2008.
The Car sen and Barnes crew travels the road doing two performances a day from mid March to mid November in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.
"They are typically booked two years out, so 2008 is earliest we could book them," said Murrell.