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Written by Head Clown, Higbee, a k a Chief Freddy Howell, Kings Bay, GA.
It was October 9, 1911; the 40th anniversary of the "Great Chicago Fire of 1871," and President Woodrow Wilson issued the first Fire Prevention Day proclamation. Then in 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the first week of October as Fire Prevention Week. Twenty eight years ago, in October 1981, a memorial was established in Emmitsburg, Maryland, at the National Fire Academy, where each year a plaque containing the names of fallen firefighters from across the country is placed. Firefighters and surviving family members travel from across the country to attend this event and to pay tribute to those who have fallen in the line of duty.
Each year, another group of firefighters also travel to also participate in this event. These firefighters don't bring honor guard attire or class A uniforms. Instead, they bring goofy looking clothes, large shoes, wigs, and grease paint. These firefighters are also clowns, and that list of items is clown attire. But just having those items does not make you a clown. These firefighters possess something else: talents for making people laugh.
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Every year, several new faces appear among these firefighter clowns, but the core group is returning clowns that have been to numerous weekends. They share stories from past weekends about families they have met, and especially kids they have clowned for. Although these clowns, while in make-up, laugh and have fun, they also have the opportunity to see the emotional side of losing a loved one in the line of duty. As one clown said, "Not everyone gets to be one- on-one with the kid and gets to hear the story about their dad or mom who is an LODD. Not everyone gets to see the face on that kid and hear it in their voice as they tell their story." In these cases, clowning is a tough job. "Knowing how to react or what to say is sometimes difficult," says one clown, "but it seems someone from upstairs always sends the right words to us. It has also helped that we have been to numerous events, and we can recall from past experiences."
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During the weekend these clowns sometimes stay in character, costume and make-up up to 8 hours. On average it takes about 1-hour to put their face on and another half-hour to take all their unique gear off. Although it's well worth the time and effort, it takes a lot to get pumped up for it. As one clown asked, "Have you ever tried to be excited, laughing and having fun for 8 hours? I mean, without a stiff drink?" It's tough, but the clowns play off of each other, recharging each other throughout the weekend.
For the Memorial Weekend, clowns' schedules usually start on Thursday evening when these unique men and women enjoy meeting up with old friends and meeting the new ones. In addition, they have a meeting to discuss some dos and don'ts and the weekend's schedule of events. After the meeting, there is a refresher balloon sculpture training session that sometimes last for hours. During this time, some newly learned tricks and clown secrets are also shared. The hotel employees and guests are usually the winners of this because they get all sorts of balloon critters and other hard to explain balloon items as the clowns get their creative juices flowing.
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Friday around lunch, the clowns start putting on their make-up and getting into character, and one by one they show up in the lobby of the hotel, which seems to come to life with the appearance of these dedicated firefighters. The clowns carpool to the host hotel to participate in the family registration and welcoming dinner. During this time, the clowns break up into groups where they make balloon animals, face paint, perform skits, help with craft projects, and play all sorts of games with the kids and families. To break up the routine and stay fresh, the clowns usually rotate positions every half-hour or so. "The room gets a little loud and chaotic at times but you have to go with the flow," says one clown. After several hours of clowning around, the clowns finally get the okay to call it a night. It is then time to get cleaned up and have dinner, though not necessarily in that order.
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Saturday morning after breakfast, it's time to get back into costume and character. Again, the hotel comes to life as one clown at a time makes it to the lobby. This time they car pool to the National Fire Academy to participate in the day-long sessions. Once they arrive, the security guards are first to get clown-barded, and after a quick shake down and a few laughs the clowns are allowed to enter the compound. While the escorts, honor guards, drummers and bag pipers are practicing for Sunday's memorial ceremony, the clowns make their way through, stopping for a few pictures and several chances to clown around and evoke a few laughs. The clowns reach the designated area and break out all sorts of stuff: more balloons and face-painting, but most importantly equipment for the day's games. Once the kids arrive, they are put into groups and led to the fire clown games.
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First, it's a relay game in which the kids have to put on fire gear (helmet and coat) and race through an obstacle course, where they ring a bell and return to pass the fire gear off to the next kid in line. This seems pretty easy; but, when you have a group of clowns distracting you and trying to participate, it becomes quite humorous. From there, the clowns escort the kids to the next game where there is a large rubber ball hanging on a rope between two poles. The children are divided into two groups where they are equipped with two large water cannons and then shown how to get water out of a huge water tank. The object of this game is to squirt the water out of the cannons and move the ball to the other group's side of the rope. Again this seems easy; but, with the help of some red-nosed clowns, it gets pretty ridiculous. Once everyone has had their chance, the clowns move the kids on to the next game. At this point, the energy level is sky-high as two clowns man a large slingshot while another clown passes out water balloons to the kids. A couple of other clowns man a large safety net at a good distance away. Each kid is given the opportunity to place their water balloon in the slingshot, pull it back, and hit the target. Although the target is very large, there is the added twist and unpredictability of two clowns manning it. Again, this event turns into laughs, with more than a few wet clowns holding a large target. These events and activities don't stop until the kids are escorted back to meet their parents to head to the dinner and candlelight service. After picking up the games and gathering their face-paints and balloons, the clowns finally head to take their make-up and costumes off. Another weekend of clowning has been completed. Worn down from all the laughter and fun, the clowns come back together that evening to share their experiences around the dinner table.
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This group of clowns is grateful to have the opportunity and honored to perform for this event, but it shouldn't be a secret this isn't just a group of hired performers. These men and women are professional firefighters from across the United States. Back home these firefighters teach fire and life safety messages around their local areas through their varied clown characters. These firefighters believe that clowning is an effective tool in teaching public safety messages. They believe in it so much that many train and help train other firefighters in their areas on how to clown. Several also teach it on the State level at their state fire training facilities.
If you are a firefighter clown and you are interested in being part of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, please contact the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and let them know. These clowns are always looking for a new clown to teach how to throw pies!