At the Beach Again

From letter dated January 19, 1958

The last night of Dad’s visit he gave me one of the nicest birthday parties I’ve ever had. He talked to Bucher about taking me out to dinner and whether to take the children or get a sitter. Bucher mentioned a new restaurant here I’ve been dying to visit that has a circus floor-show and caters especially to children, so he made reservations there without telling me anything about it.

I knew we were going out for dinner (they had to tell me before I went marketing), so I made the children take good naps. Even so, I think we all were nervous as could be during dinner, wondering if the children could stay awake till nine when the show started.

The food was Italian and really quite good, and the decorations in the place very glittery and attractive. There was a big circus ring in the center, floored with wood, with a carpeted path around the edge, just inside the curbing. A three-piece orchestra, on a balcony above the ring, played for dancing during dinner.

The children managed to stay awake, thank goodness, because we saw an hour-and-a-half of the best show I’ve ever seen in what (despite the children) I’ll call a nightclub. As you know, several circuses, including Ringling, winter in Sarasota, so the best circus acts in the world are available.

An old circus family runs the restaurant and they all are in the show. Papa Canestrelli is a perfectly splendid juggler and he finished up his act with a front flip that had Dad’s eyes popping, since he seemed about Dad’s age. Mama Canestrelli is a great, blondined Italian matron with an enthusiastic, trained opera-type voice. She sang a few songs, led a community singing (with Dad joining in loudly), and won everyone with her personality.

One daughter did a modified bump-and-grind routine that nearly finished off my astounded son and had Dad and me in hysterics over having brought him. (Dad said he was going to tell my sister Mary the sort of entertainment I took my son to…completely ignoring the fact that he was the host.) A son and daughter did a wonderful balancing-on-ladders-and-juggling act. There was a slack-wire act, some girl aerialists, and showgirls strolling around the ring between acts, beautifully and briefly dressed.

One of the best routines was a circus horse for the children to ride. You know how huge those horses they ride bareback look…Well, imagine one pounding by your table at a canter! They started the act with a tiny little girl, obviously a grandchild of Papa Canestrelli. She was buckled into a fleece-lined belt attached to a stout rope that went up through a pulley on the ceiling. Assistants hauled on the rope to hoist her onto the horse and it cantered around with her. After she was through, she was hoisted down and Papa Canestrelli called for volunteers from children in the audience; he was still speaking when Carli reached the center of the ring! So off she went on that enormous horse, hanging on for dear life but having a wonderful time. I wish you could have seen Dad’s face watching her! It really was adorable to watch.

Two little boys rode after Carli (I don’t know if everyone realized those two were part of the act). Then they called the Canestrelli grandson (age 6, I would guess) and he even stood up on the horse as he rode around; at the end they jerked the rope, lifted him off the horse and high into the air where he swung around in huge circles as they let him down to the ground slowly. It really was a delightful act.

And the real high point of the evening (if anything could surpass that one) was a tumbling act…I think their name is Roberti…which we all had seen on Ed Sullivan’s show. They seem to be a father and two sons, who can’t be out of their teens. The father is a comic and the whole act is the fastest thing you ever have seen. They really are fabulous and Dad got so tickled over them that I didn’t think he’d ever be able to talk again. I honestly don’t think I have seen him laugh that hard in all my life.

It really was a toss-up who enjoyed the evening the most, the children, me, or Dad (of course, Bucher was right in there, too). But really, I can’t remember seeing Dad as enthusiastic and as completely entertained with anything, ever. He apparently had a whale of a time and I was thrilled just seeing his pleasure (though, circus-mad as I’ve always been, I was having a glorious time myself).

 

We hated having Dad leave, but he had to get back to the brick company and furthermore, like most men, he was getting jittery. Bucher is the same way about visits. Still, I think he enjoyed it and know we all loved having him here.