The Deerfield Village Board may have agreed to bring the circus to town for a fundraising event, but some residents hope the big top turns out to be a big flop.
The dissenting residents, who say circus elephants are treated inhumanely, plan to spend the next few months creating fliers, educating residents about the way the animals are trained and then protesting the traveling circus when it comes to Deerfield in September.
“I don’t want it to end here,” said Riverwoods resident Karen Rappaport. “I would love to see more protesters than attendees.”
With three trustees absent, the Village Board voted 3-1 Monday night to permit the Oklahoma-based Kelly Miller Circus to pitch its tent at Brickyards Park on Sept. 18 as a joint fundraiser for the Deerfield School District 109 Education Foundation and the Deerfield Park Foundation.
Citing pressing financial needs of the two foundations, trustees said the first-time show must go on as planned.
“I would like to support these two organizations this year in this project to make sure they hopefully find the funding that they need to carry out their programs,” said Trustee Bob Benton, who presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Steven Harris.
Trustee Michelle Feldman, the lone dissenter, said casting her vote was “painful” because she was in favor of the charitable groups but not the event. “My vote is not because I don’t support those organizations,” she said.
In a presentation that elicited a few catcalls from dissenters, Deerfield Park Foundation Chairman Bill Smirles said the event could draw 2,400 people and raise $30,000 for the foundations. Split between the sponsors, the proceeds would help the Park District build a playground at Deerspring Park, and the education foundation would fund teacher grants and scholarships, foundation officials said.
Rappaport held up a bull hook — a heavy club with a sharp metal point used for prodding elephants — at the meeting while trying to persuade trustees to reject the circus.
“Ignore all the behind-the-scenes abuse. Don’t think about how they trained these 9,000 pound animals to do these silly tricks and just enjoy the show,” Rappaport told the trustees.
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Sandy DeLisle, a Deerfield resident and former teacher, echoed concerns about the welfare of the animals but also suggested the safety of neighbors near the south side park might be at stake.
“I am certain that the folks who bought at Coromandel and Bristol Estates were not expecting transient circus workers and elephants to be camping overnight in practically their back yard,” she said.
Foundation officials said they spoke with circus and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, who regulate circuses, and were told that the Kelly Miller Circus has no current violations or citations. They have said they would not have pursued the permit if they had not felt comfortable with the way the animals were treated.
While pledging her support for both foundations, DeLisle said she still could not support the circus.
“Everyone I talk to isn’t going to be going, and I hope that others will really look at the issue and vote with their feet and not show up,” she said.
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