Bindlestiff After School Circus

"I like having a circus nearby. I like that they teach circus arts to the community especially the children of our community at the Hudson Boys and Girls Club and at the Morris Memorial in Chatham. A few years ago, when Stephanie Monseau started the Bindlestiff After School Circus Arts Program at the Morris there were two or three kids enrolled and barely any children in the town who could ride a unicycle or juggle. There are now over thirty children in the program.

I haven’t spoken to anyone who knows why, but the grant for the Bindlestiff After School Circus Arts Program in Chatham has been withdrawn. I like Chatham. I like the mayor, I like the kids and I love a number of the Chatham bartenders. I know that these are generous people with a good perspective and a peaceful demeanor.

I especially like many of the children and formal children of Chatham, I have taught them the somewhat useless art of music and watched many of them become intelligent, gracious and engaging adults. I would like to see todays crop of kids have the opportunity to put down their phones and juggle some stuff, ride a unicycle, do some slapstick, feel good about themselves and their comrades. This is what the Bindlestiffs are good at, allowing kids to feel comfort in their own skins with achieved skills.

If everyone in Chatham gave a buck to allow the program to continue, that would be enough. If everybody in the village gave 50 cents I would personally make up the the difference, it’s that important to me because I enjoy living in a community that recognizes the importance of this kind of education."

Robert Caldwell